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The National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party has asked the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, to call the bluff of the All Progressives Congress senators who asked him to defect to their party in order to retain his seat.

The APC senators, who are in the majority in the Senate, had asked Ekweremadu to defect from the PDP to the ruling party so that he could continue to have their support.

The majority senators said this after they had seamlessly removed the Senate Majority Leader, Ali Ndume, and replaced him with Ahmed Lawan.

However, the PDP asked Ekweremadu, who is the highest political office-holder from the opposition party, not to dance to the tune of the APC senators.

The PDP assured Ekweremadu that nothing would happen to him.

The spokesperson for the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee of the PDP, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said this in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.

Adeyeye said it was wrong for Senator Kabiru Marafa of the APC to have called on Ekweremadu on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday to defect from the PDP to the ruling APC.

Adeyeye said the call on Ekweremadu was unconstitutional and undemocratic.

He said, “Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to Senator Kabiru Marafa on the floor of the Nigerian Senate on Wednesday, January 11, 2017, in which he advised Senator Ike Ekweremadu to defect to the APC in order to remain as the Deputy Senate President.

“This call is unconstitutional, undemocratic and, to say the least, unbecoming of Senator Marafa.”

While calling on Ekweremadu to defect, Marafa had said, “I am using this medium to call on Ekweremadu to simply defect. Section 68(G) of the 1999 Constitution captures this.”

Adeyeye, however, said there was no section of the constitution that stipulated that one must belong to the ruling party to hold an elective office in either the Senate or the House of Representatives.

The former Minister of Works said, “There is no section or clause of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) that provides that one must be a member of the ruling party before he/she can be elected into any position in the Senate or the House of Representatives.

“Equally, it is very distasteful and uncharitable for any senator to stand on the floor of the hallowed chamber and ask his colleague to violate the constitution by cross-carpeting from his own party to join the ruling party.

“Note that it is the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not the Senate of the APC.”

Adeyeye insisted that Senator Marafa was wrong in using the crisis in the PDP as an excuse to call on Ekweremadu to defect.

The PDP is currently divided into two factions.

While Makarfi is leading a group, a former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, is leading the other faction.

But Adeyeye maintained that the PDP was not factionalised.

He said, “It is indeed laughable for Senator Marafa to cite the internal issues in the PDP as a reason for Senator Ekweremadu to defect.

“For the umpteenth time, let us reiterate that there is no faction in the PDP.

“A party is only factionalised when its organs are in disarray but this is different from what we have in the PDP where all the organs are intact behind the National Caretaker Committee under the chairmanship of Makarfi.

“A mere rebellion by a small interest group within the party cannot be referred to as factionalisation of the party.”

In view of this, he said any member of the PDP who used the current leadership disagreement caused by “the rebellious group led by the former Borno State governor, Senator Sheriff to defect is doing so at his or her peril.”

“Senator Marafa or any other member of the APC has no power to make such demands on a member of the PDP,” he added.

He reminded Marafa that Ekweremadu was elected as Deputy Senate President by majority votes from both the PDP and the APC senators.

“Any attempt to remove Senator Ekweramadu for being a member of the opposition party and not because of a constitutional breach or incompetence is a call for anarchy,” he added.

Adeyeye also said the current situation in the Senate where the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President were from different parties should not continue to appear strange to Marafa and his likes in a democratic system.

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Ikorodu Teacher Arrested For Physically Abusing 3-Yr-Old Boy In Viral Video [SEE VIDEO]

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The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency has confirmed the arrest of a teacher following a viral video showing the suspect allegedly physically abusing a three-year-old boy at a school in Ikorodu.

The announcement was made in a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.

The video, shared by Oyindamola, who identifies as #dammiedammie35, captured a female teacher slapping the child’s face.

The video was captioned, “Footage from Christ-Mitots School in Ikorodu, a teacher named Stella Nwadigo was witnessed mistreating and physically abusing a three-year-old boy, Abayomi Micheal.”

The footage has raised serious concerns about the safety and well-being of our little ones in school.”

Reacting to the incident, the Lagos DSVA issued a statement expressing gratitude to those who brought the video to their attention

The statement reads, “We appreciate everyone who brought the disturbing incident of a teacher who was recorded physically abusing a 3-year-old boy to our attention.

We are pleased to inform the public that the teacher in question has been arrested by Owutu FSU, and an investigation has commenced in earnest.

The agency reiterated the state government’s commitment to protecting children, emphasizing that schools must be safe and nurturing spaces.

The statement added, “Indeed, institutions of learning should be safe, warm, and protective environments for all children in their care.

The State Government remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of every child by enforcing strict regulations, holding offenders accountable, and working with stakeholders to promote a zero-tolerance policy for abuse in any form.”

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China Development Bank Approves $254m Loan For Kano-Kaduna Railway Project

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The China Development Bank (CDB) has provided a loan of $254.76 million for the construction of the Kano-Kaduna railway project in Nigeria.

In a statement on Tuesday, the bank stated that the funding aims to support the smooth advancement of the infrastructure project.

The CDB highlighted that the construction is being undertaken by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), with financial support from the bank.

“The Kano-Kaduna railway, with a total length of 203 kilometers, is a standard-gauge railway,” the statement reads.

“Once completed, it will provide direct rail connectivity between Kano, an important northern city in Nigeria, and the country’s capital Abuja, offering local residents a safe, efficient, and convenient mode of transportation.”

In addition to enhancing mobility, the bank mentioned that the project is expected to stimulate economic growth along the railway corridor, generating job opportunities and promoting related industries.

“The Kano-Kaduna railway project has been included in the list of practical cooperation projects for the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation,” the CDB added.

The bank stated that the construction is progressing smoothly and reiterated its commitment to collaborating closely with the Nigerian government to ensure the disbursement of funds and effective management of the next phases of the project.

On July 15, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari launched the construction of the Kano-Kaduna railway project.

The rail project is the third phase of the Lagos-Kano standard gauge railway modernization project.

The first phase (Abuja-Kaduna) and the second phase (Lagos-Ibadan) were inaugurated for commercial operations in July 2016 and June 2021, respectively.

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BIG STORY

ICPC Files Money Laundering Charge Against El-Rufai’s Former Commissioner

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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has charged Muhammad Sa’idu, a former commissioner during the administration of Nasir el-Rufai, ex-governor of Kaduna, to court over alleged “money laundering.”

The Kaduna police command arrested Sa’idu over a petition for alleged diversion of public funds.

Osuobeni Akponimisingha, the ICPC’s assistant legal officer, filed the case against the former commissioner on Tuesday at the federal high court in Kaduna.

Sa’idu served as the commissioner of local government affairs, chief of staff, and commissioner of finance during the administration of el-Rufai.

The ICPC dismissed an earlier claim that Sa’idu had been exonerated of all charges after 10 months of investigation.

The former commissioner is charged alongside Ibrahim Muktar, a staff in the ministry of finance.

According to the suit No. FHC/KD/IC/2025, the defendants are charged on a two-count charge of “money laundering.”

“Sometime in March 2022 or thereabouts, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu, who at that time commissioner of finance, did accept cash payment of the sum of N155m from one Ibrahim Muktar exceeding the amount authorised by law, which sum you received in cash through proxy to wit: Muazu Abdu, your Special Assistant and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section2(a) and punishable under the Section 19(d) of the “Money Laundering(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022,” the charge sheet reads.

The ICPC also alleged that within the same period, Sa’idu “indirectly took control of the sum of N155m received in cash for and on behalf of you by one Muazu Abdul from Ibrahim Muktar, which he reasonably ought to have known, formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity to wit: corruption and you hereby committed an offence contrary to section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the “Money Laundering(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

The anti-graft agency noted that section 18(3) of the “Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022” states that “any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection(2) is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than four years but not more than fourteen years or a fine not less than five times the value of the proceeds of the crime or both.”

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