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OCCEN engages North West Youth On Democratic Process  And Participation 

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By Ozimi Abdul

In the bid to entrench democratic tenets for effective and wholesome participations amongst the youths of the North West region, Organisation for Community Civic Engagement Organisation (OCCEN) organised a 3-day workshop capacity building where youths from different states of the region are engaged, enlightened and educated about democratic process with the view of passing the knowledge of whatever they learnt during their 3 days engagement to other youths of their individual societies.

According to Mallam Abdulrazak Alkali who is organiser of the workshop said the major objectives of the workshop are to train the youth to understand the generality of what democracy entails and also to provide a mechanism that would empower them to hold those elected to represent them accountable for their actions and inactions.

On his expectations from the participants of the workshop after their 3-day engagement, Abdulrazak exuded the confidence that after the training, they would have increase in knowledge to understand how democracy works, human rights and constitution, while also expecting that the knowledge they learnt to be passed to other youths in their various states.
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“Our expectations are that after the training they would have increased knowledge of the understanding of democracy, rule of law and the rest, so that if they return to their individual states they can do some step-down trainings for those who are not privileged to be here whether because of financial constraint, or other reasons in the same areas and topics, in order to have expanded knowledge amongst young people about the concept of democracy “.

 

Speaking during the workshop, The Director, Centre for Research and Documentation, Professor Muhammad Habu ruled that there are 3 major challenges confronting the Nigerian fledgling democracy since its return in 1999, which he described as” epileptic” considering its weak democratic institutions, the limit in which democracy can elicit good governance, while also adding that the challenges can not be pegged on these three alone as there are other gamut factors putting spanner in the wheel of the development of the country’s democratic process.

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He stressed that for democracy to grow in the country, the government must be responsive and responsible.

“Democracy is a process and as a process it is normal to envisage challenges. But it is also good to remind ourselves that in some countries, they have gone too far to make their institutions of government very strong, unlike these countries, ours are very weak, and the extents which democracy can elicit good governance in Nigeria are very limited, insecurity is another issue “.

He continued,” Democracy has not engendered good governance in my opinion, by good governance, the government must be responsive and responsible, so since 1999, our democracy has been crawling as a troubling one and has never engendered good governance “, he submitted.

Professor Habu regretted that the country is ranked the capita of poverty in the world in spite of the country’s boast for enormous natural resources, which according to him is “disgusting”, with lack of quality health sector, insecurity, lack of infrastructural development and so many other indices that can be used to measure the development of the democracy of any democratic nation or otherwise.

On the role of the youth in effecting positive changes, the political science professor was unapologetically opmistic by emphatically stating that the “raw resources” of the youth need to be tapped, by catching them young, training them on the workings of democracy in participating actively against all odds so that they can have their imprints in rekindling true democracy in Nigeria ; emphasing that the civil societies particularly the youth sector have prominent roles to play.

He said the opportunity to discuss the pending “Not Too Young To Run” bill and the challenges.
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“The raw resources of the youth need to be tapped, catch them young if you like by training, impart in them about the workings of democracy ; and to participate actively against all odds so that the youth would have their imprints in rekindling the country’s dwindling fortune of true democracy. Also, the civil societies especially the youth sector have prominent roles to play in educating the youth so that they can become leaders of tomorrow “, he hoped.

He concluded by advising the stakeholders to come in and never to botch on their responsibilities, noting that it would be in the collective interest of the stakeholders to converge and discuss the issues that affect the growth of democracy in the country, and also frown at some undemocratic tendencies.

He however warned that while the youth have the right to protest or frown at any government’s policies, that there are limitations to such right as it must be within the purview of law.

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President Tinubu Counters Police Academy in Kano, Establishes New Campus in Ogun

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the establishment of a new campus of the Police Academy in Erinja, Yewa South Local Government Area in Ogun State.

A statement by Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President,
Information & Strategy, says President Tinubu also approved a special take-off grant of N15billion for the college.

The President’s approval was in fulfilment of the provisions of the Nigeria Police Academy (Establishment) Act, 2021, particularly with respect to the expansion of the Police Academy based in Wudil, Kano state, into multiple campuses across the country.

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The intervention fund will be sourced from the TetFund 2026 allocation to finance priority infrastructure, academic facilities, student accommodation, and core training assets.

A high-level consultative meeting involving the Minister of Police Affairs, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, officials of the Federal Ministry of Education, the Inspector-General of Police and the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) recommended the siting of the new campus in Erinja.

The meeting considered student intake capacity, funding realities, academic quality assurance, and the long-term needs of the Nigerian Police Force, which is currently recruiting more men.

President Tinubu believes the expansion will strengthen institutional governance, modern policing education and national security.

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Retired Police Storm Villa Gate, Call Contributory Pension Scheme a ‘Killer Disease’

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

Retired police personnel and their families, under the umbrella of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria, on Monday blocked one of the gates of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in protest.

The retirees are demanding the removal of the Nigeria Police Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme, which they described as “fraudulent, illegal, inhumane and obnoxious.”

Protesters carried placards reading “End CPS,” “If military, DSS were removed from PENCOM, why not police?” while many were chanting, “Police dey work, PenCom dey chop.”

They said the protest was aimed at urging President Bola Tinubu to assent to the Police Exit Bill passed by the National Assembly on December 4, 2025, and transmitted to the Presidency on March 16, 2026.

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According to them, the bill, if signed into law, would exempt police personnel from what they called a “slavery and untimely death-inducing pension scheme.”

Speaking in a video of the protest posted by Channels Television, a retired ASP, Nurudeen Dahiru, said, “We are not begging anybody. We have come to fight for our rights. We have suffered.

“We are not here to fight anybody. We are just here to demand for our rights. We have served for 35 years.

“According to the Constitution of the country, when you serve your country for 35 years, you should go home and rest. But see us suffering now. We are not able to take care of our children.

“We have no food to eat. We are dying. Silent killing. So this contributory pension scheme is a killer disease. 35 years is not easy. We are not here to fight anybody.”

Another retired officer said, “We don’t have anything to train them. As I retired 20 years ago, how much are they paying me?

“It is 24,000 that I am paying you because I retired with the inspector. So they have to sign our bill and give us all our money.

“So that somebody can use it for something. You can buy a house. And then now we don’t have a house.

“How can an ASP, a DSP, a CP retire and they are paying him how much? No, no, no. Enough is enough. It is a do or die. Even if some people are killed today, others are coming.”

Speaking to reporters, the National Coordinator of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria, CSP Raphael Irowainu (retd), who led the protest, said the group was at the Villa to press for the President’s assent to the bill exiting the police from the CPS.

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Court Admits Nine Exhibits Against Malami and Family

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

A Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja and presided over by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik on Monday, April 20, 2026 admitted nine exhibits against a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, alongside his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami.

The exhibits were presented before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in its ongoing trial of the former Minister and some family members.

The EFCC is prosecuting the defendants on an amended 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities to the tune of N8,713,923,759.49 (Eight Billion, Seven Hundred and Thirteen Million, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Three Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty-Nine Naira, Forty-Nine Kobo), contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The exhibits, which are documentary in nature, were tendered through the fourth prosecution witness, Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank Plc.

Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, J. S. Okutepa, SAN, the witness told the court that, in the course of his official duties, he received correspondence from the EFCC requesting documents relating to several accounts linked to the defendants and associated entities.

“I work as a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, Maitama branch. My duty includes receiving correspondence from law enforcement agencies and responding accordingly,” he said.

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Bata further disclosed that the bank complied with EFCC’s requests by providing both soft and hard copies of documents relating to accounts belonging to the defendants and companies such as Rayhaan Hotels Limited, Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited, Nashab Limited, Golden Age Global Ventures, and Rahamaniyya Properties Limited.

“My lord, the documents are nine,” he stated, confirming his ability to identify them when presented in court.

Upon application by Okutepa, the court admitted the documents, dated between July 19, 2024 and March 12, 2026, as Exhibits D1 to D9, despite an initial objection by defence counsel, J. B. Daudu, SAN, who noted that “the dates are almost all in March.”

Continuing his testimony under further examination by prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, the witness provided details of transactions contained in the exhibits.

He identified Exhibit D1 as containing account opening documents and statements for accounts belonging to Abubakar Malami and A.A. Malami & Co, including a naira account and a dollar account.

According to him, the statement of account for one of the accounts covered the period from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2023.

The witness confirmed that the accounts were active between 2015 and 2023, noting that “there were transfers within that period.”

He further revealed that total credits into one of the accounts stood at N383,637,21.55 between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2023, while total credits from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2015 amounted to N560,506,465.12.

On debits, he stated that N384,322,120.85 was recorded between 2016 and 2023, while N571,891,174.08 was debited between 2012 and 2015.

Giving further breakdown of transactions, the witness told the court that on November 11, 2020, the account received N194,791,608.00 from New Horizons Limited, and on June 24, 2022, it received N622,500,000.00 from Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.

He added that on July 1 and July 7, 2022, the account received N250 million each from Rayhaan Hotels Limited, while on December 22, 2022, there was an inflow of N500 million linked to Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.

Continuing in that format, the witness identified so many transactions running into billions.

Following the testimony, the defence counsel, J.B Daudu SAN sought an adjournment to enable him study the exhibits and prepare for cross-examination.

“My lord, we need time to go through the nine exhibits tendered,” Daudu said.

Justice Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the matter till May 13, 2026, for continuation of trial.

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