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FG To Include Families Of Fallen Heroes In Cash Transfer Scheme — Humanitarian Minister Betta Edu

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The Federal Government has announced plans to include families of Nigerian fallen soldiers and members of the Nigerian Legion among the beneficiaries of its Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, said this on Thursday in a statement by her Media aide, Mr Rasheed  Zubair.

The minister was speaking when she paid a visit to the Ministry of Defence in Abuja.

Edu said the move was part of the desire of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to support the vulnerable ex-servicemen, widows and the dependants of fallen heroes.

She, therefore, sought accurate data on the affected families of ex-servicemen so as to include them during the ongoing verification of the national social register.

Edu said further that the president had directed that the national social register be expanded to include those vulnerable groups to enable them to benefit from the social intervention programmes.

“This is in line Mr President’s agenda and I am here to inform you that the programme has been expanded to accommodate retirees of this Ministry, especially deceased families.

“Government intends to support their wives to start up small businesses that will help their children stay in school and provide basic health care” she said.

She also announced the creation of the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP) which aim to help small-scale businesses in the country.

Edu, therefore, appealed to the ministry to provide adequate security cover for humanitarian workers while doing their work on the fields.

Earlier, the Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar, commended the efforts of the Humanitarian Ministry to support the families of the fallen heroes.

Abubakar pledged to strengthen collaboration with the humanitarian ministry to alleviate the plight of Nigerians.

“Including the retirees in the welfare scheme which will go a long way to renewed the hope of retired officers, their families and motivate the working officers to secure the Nigeria territorial integrity,” Abubakar said.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Nigerian Legion, retired Maj.-Gen. Abdulmalik Jubril, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for including the retirees in the CCT scheme.

Jubril said, “The Nigerian Legion is the last hope for retired officers, which keeps increasing by the day.

“We need medical care and a decent livelihood for our members, this organ of the Military, that is the Army, Airforce and Navy retirees needs government support.”

 

Credit: NAN

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BREAKING: Court Finds Natasha Guilty Of Contempt, Fines Her N5 million

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The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday convicted the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, for contempt over a satirical apology she posted on her Facebook page on April 27.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering judgment in the suit filed by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan challenging her suspension, began with the contempt application submitted by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

Akpabio, in his application, argued that the senator’s social media post breached an earlier court order that restrained all parties from speaking to the press or posting on social media about the matter.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s counsel contended that the post was unrelated to the court’s order on her suspension but was about a separate matter involving sexual harassment claims against the third respondent (Akpabio).

However, Justice Nyako ruled that after reviewing the post and the application before her filed by the third respondent, she was convinced it was connected to the suspension case before the court and therefore declared the plaintiff guilty of contempt.

The judge directed Akpoti-Uduaghan to publish an apology in two national newspapers and on her Facebook page within seven days. She also imposed a fine of N5 million.

 

More to come…

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BREAKING: Court Orders Senate To Recall Suspended Natasha Akpoti

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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday ruled that the Nigerian Senate exceeded its powers by suspending Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, ordering her to be immediately recalled to the Red Chamber.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering the judgment, described the suspension period as “excessive” and lacking a solid legal basis.

The court stated that both Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Orders and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, which the Senate relied on, do not specify a maximum suspension length. Therefore, their application in this situation was considered overreaching.

The judge noted that since the National Assembly is only mandated to sit for 181 days in a legislative year, suspending a lawmaker for about the same length of time effectively silences an entire constituency, calling it unconstitutional.

“While the Senate has the authority to discipline its members, such sanctions must not go so far as to deny constituents their right to representation,” Nyako ruled.

However, the court agreed with Senate President Godswill Akpabio on a different issue, ruling that his decision to prevent Akpoti-Uduaghan from speaking during a plenary—because she was not in her designated seat—did not violate her rights.

Nyako also dismissed Akpabio’s argument that the judiciary should not interfere in what he described as an “internal affair” of the legislature, saying fundamental rights and representation fall squarely within the court’s jurisdiction.

In a separate twist, the court imposed a monetary penalty on Akpoti-Uduaghan for violating an earlier court directive that barred both parties from making public comments about the ongoing legal proceedings.

The fine amounts to millions of naira.

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COALITION: We’ll Register New Party As Backup To ADC — El-Rufai

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A leader of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and an important figure in the opposition coalition, Nasir El-Rufai, stated that a new political party would be registered as a backup for the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

El-Rufai explained that the new party would serve as an alternative option to guard against potential infiltration by the All Progressives Congress, APC, into the ADC.

The opposition coalition had chosen the ADC as its platform on Wednesday.

However, El-Rufai noted that there is a possibility the APC could spark a crisis within the ADC by turning old members against the new leadership.

He revealed this during an interview with Radio France International (RFI) Hausa Service on Wednesday night.

“Those who refuse to join the APC face threats of investigations by agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), or Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

“The opposition parties’ alliance in the ADC is temporary, and we may register a new party as a second option, which we will move to should the ADC be instigated into crisis by the government,” the former Kaduna governor stated.

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