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President Tinubu Not Responsible For Current Hardship — Former Bauchi Governor Isa Yuguda

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Isa Yuguda, the former Governor of Bauchi State, on Tuesday, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should not be held responsible for the current hardship and high inflation Nigerians are facing.

At the All Progressives Congress Professionals Forum’s inaugural Asiwaju Scorecard Series in Abuja, Yuguda emphasised once more how the economy was already severely suffering before he took office.

Despite a noticeable improvement in the naira’s exchange rate against the dollar over the last few months, the general public has continued to lament the rising cost of food and inflation.

However, the outgoing governor argued that the unstable state of the economy should not be exclusively attributed to the current government.

He expressed concern that if Tinubu had not taken some drastic measures and reforms that included the removal of fuel subsidy and floating of the naira, Nigeria would seriously be gasping for breath.

According to him, the president inherited several burdens, which were made possible by factors like the subsidy scam, rife corruption in the civil service and the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown where the country allegedly paid billions of naira to subsidise domestic fuel consumption that was at an all-time low.

He said, “The President did not create any of the problems people are talking about whether in the economy or in the other sectors. In fact, what he met on ground would have created a worse situation if not properly handled but he is championing reforms that are required to pave way for a better society.

“We all recall how on assuming office, President Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy but again for the avoidance of doubt, he did not remove subsidy on PMS. It was not in the later part of the 2023 budget but surprisingly the Tinubu administration has had to bear the brunt of subsidy removal.

“Let me quickly add that my opposition to fuel subsidy has been well documented since the Goodluck Jonathan years when as chairman of a subcommittee on the economic meltdown, we recommended its removal after a discovery of the scam being perpetrated in the name of fuel subsidy.

“A recent study also showed that despite the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020, Nigeria still paid billions of naira for fuel subsidy even though in reality, domestic fuel consumption was very low.

“Indeed, the President has today been proved right with the manner petrol importation has gone down by 50 per cent since June 2023 and it is almost certain to go down more in a few months when Dangote refinery begins to produce PMS locally as well as the impending resumption of production at the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries,” he added.

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Brazilian Court Orders Suspension Of X, Threatens To Fine Citizens Who Use VPN $8,900

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Brazil’s supreme court has ordered the suspension of X, formerly Twitter, after Elon Musk failed to meet the deadline to appoint a new legal representative for the social media platform in the country.

In a ruling on Friday, Presiding Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the “immediate, complete and comprehensive suspension of the operation of” X in Brazil.

According to Judge Moraes, “The national communications agency must take all necessary measures to implement this order until X complies with all court orders and pays existing fines amounting to $3.28 million.”

Additionally, Moraes warned that using “technological subterfuges,” such as virtual private networks (VPNs), to circumvent the suspension would incur a fine of $8,900.

According to the judge, inciting speech has been spread through X and is harming Brazil’s democracy.

“We have a right to defend fundamental rights. Those who violate democracy, who violate fundamental human rights, whether in person or through social media, must be held accountable,” Moraes said.

The row began in April, with the judge ordering the suspension of dozens of X accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation.

Reacting to the decision, Musk accused the judge of violating free speech for political purposes.

X, via its official handle, tweeted “power to the people in Brazil and everywhere else”.

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Eguavoen To Lead Super Eagles As German Tax Policy Disrupts Labbadia’s Appointment

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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has announced that Bruno Labbadia’s appointment as Super Eagles head coach has been terminated due to stringent German tax regulations.

As a result, Technical Director Augustine Eguavoen will take charge of the team for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against, Benin Republic (Uyo, September 7), Rwanda (Kigali, September 10).

This marks Eguavoen’s fourth stint as Super Eagles coach, following previous tenures in 2005-2007, 2010, and 2022.

According to NFF President Ibrahim Gusau, the federation cannot offset the concomitant tax percentage on the German coach’s salary.

According to him, the issue of offsetting the coach’s tax was not part of the initial agreement before the announcement of his appointment.

“We have been on the tax issue for the past three days, and I told him clearly that there was no way the NFF will agree to offset the concomitant tax percentage on his salary that will be demanded by German tax authorities. It is not possible for us to shoulder the responsibility of shelling out another money, between 32% to 40% of his salary, after paying the agreed monthly wage.

“The NFF and Mr. Labbadia reached an agreement in principle before we made the announcement that he would become the Head Coach of the Super Eagles. The tax details were never part of our discussions, and he had personally agreed to all terms before the tax issue came up.

“We were doing our best to be flexible in the discussions but he was adamant that the NFF had to pay the full tax amount as well. We simply cannot do that,” President of NFF, Gusau, said on Friday evening.

The NFF had on Tuesday announced its agreement with the German tactician to mount the saddle as the head coach of the Super Eagles.

Labbadia would have become the sixth German, after Karl-Heinz Marotzke (who had two stints between 1970 and 1974), Gottlieb Göller (1981), Manfred Höner (1988-1989), Berti Vogts (2007-2008) and Gernot Rohr (2016-2021) to lead the Super Eagles.

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Gunmen Attack School In Yobe, Kill Three Students

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Tragedy struck at Faudiya Islamic School in Geidam Local Government Area of Yobe State as gunmen attacked the institution, killing three students.

According to Dungus Abdulkarim, police spokesperson in Yobe, the assault occurred at approximately 3:45 am on Friday.

The gunmen, armed with dangerous weapons, arrived on about 10 motorcycles, storming the school premises.

Initially, the assailants planned to abduct four students, but instead chose to kill them to avoid the burden of taking them into the forest.

One student who attempted to escape suffered injuries and is currently receiving hospital treatment.

According to The Cable, Abdulkarim said, “It is confirmed, the divisional police headquarters at Geidam received the report this morning by a certain individual that there was an attack on a particular school,”

“We mobilised our men, and they went there and evacuated three dead persons and one with a bullet wound and was admitted to the hospital.

“The attackers came on a motorcycle, about 10 of them, carrying deadly arms such as AK-47 rifles and other items.

“They entered the school and took four of the students and killed three instantly and injured one person.

“The information we received from one of the injured persons was that the attackers invaded and told them they were there to abduct them to the forest and kill them, but they did not want to carry any load; in that regard, ‘we will just kill you here’.

“We are still investigating to find out the perpetrators and why the attack on the school.

“The attack occurred at exactly 3:45 to 4:00 am today. The school is a day and boarding school. There is a quarter in the school.”

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