President Bola Tinubu on Friday wrote the Senate, seeking confirmation of Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede’s appointment as the substantive Chief of Army Staff.

“In his letter sent today, President Tinubu seeks Oluyede’s confirmation in accordance with the provision of Section 218(2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended and Section 18(1) of the Armed Forces Act,” Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed in a statement.

The statement is titled ‘President Tinubu writes Senate, seeks confirmation of Lt. General Oluyede as Chief of Army Staff.’

Tinubu appointed Oluyede as the Acting Chief of Army Staff on October 30 following the illness of Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja.

General Lagbaja, however, died on November 5.

Onanuga said, “President Tinubu is confident about the leadership qualities, professional integrity, and experience of Lt. General Oluyede to lead and inspire the army to ensure national security and stability.”

Before he was appointed Acting Chief of Army Staff, Oluyede, a member of the 39th Regular Course, like his predecessor, served as the 56th Commander of the elite Infantry Corps of the Nigerian Army, based in Jaji, Kaduna.

The Nigerian government under President Bola Tinubu has confirmed that it has stopped the October monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenue payment to Rivers State.

The development comes amid the ongoing face-off between Governor Simi Fubara and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesome Wike.

According to the Spokesperson of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, the decision to stop the payment was made in respect of a court order.

Mokwa disclosed that the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) will respect the court order, which barred the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian government from disbursing monthly allocations to the Rivers State government.

His words: “What I got is that the October 2024 FAAC has not been distributed yet. However, the Federal Government will obey the court order on the matter of Rivers State allocation.

“We are going to follow due diligence as long as there is no contrary order. In case there is a contrary, the status will remain.”

He added, “The process of disbursement of the October 2024 monthly allocation is going.”

The court order was obtained by the factional Rivers State Assembly, led by Martin Amaewhule, who had filed an originating summons against the Rivers State Executive, under the leadership of Simi Fubara.

The Amaewhule faction had alleged that the Rivers State Executive was yet to comply with the order of a Federal High Court directing it to re-present the 2024 appropriation bill to the faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The Kano Civil Society Forum (KCSF) Board of Trustees (BOT) has no power to suspend or dismiss any bona fide member of the KCSF, according to Amb. Ibrahim Waiya, the Executive Director of Citizens for Development and Education (CDE).
Waiya’s statement comes in response to reports that the BOT, led by Prof. Mohammad Tabiu, has suspended him from the forum.

Waiya addressed the issue in a press statement, clarifying that the information circulating on social media and other platforms was misguided. “The misguided information in the press release, published on some media platforms, was said to have been signed by one Alhaji Hamisu Isa Sherifai, who paraded himself as the Secretary of the KCSF Board,” Waiya stated.

He emphasized that he does not typically engage in trivial disputes but felt compelled to set the record straight for the benefit of those misled by the media propaganda. “The only crime Amb. Ibrahim Waiya and his colleagues committed was their objection to a kangaroo election organized by BOT to elect the new leadership of KCSF,” Waiya explained. He noted that less than 50 out of 200 registered organizations participated in the election, which he described as lacking accountability, transparency, inclusiveness, and credibility.

Waiya criticized the BOT for not understanding the KCSF constitution and overstepping their boundaries. “KCSF BOT has no right to outrightly suspend any registered member, except on the recommendation of the Executive Council, after a thorough investigation of any offense,” he asserted. He added that the BOT should not assume the role of managing the day-to-day affairs of the organization.

Highlighting the importance of fair hearing, Waiya pointed out that the Nigerian constitution guarantees this right to every citizen. “It is clearly spelt out even in the Nigerian constitution that fair hearing is a fundamental right of every citizen,” he said. Waiya questioned how the BOT received a recommendation from the executive council, given that the BOT-anointed leadership is currently standing trial in a case challenging the validity of the election.

Waiya appealed to all patriotic members of the KCSF, associates, partners, friends, and colleagues to remain calm and disregard the negative propaganda against him. “We must also note that Kano development, the North, and Nigeria are the primary priority of Amb. Ibrahim Waiya, not his reputation,” he stated. Waiya assured that the purported suspension letter holds no water and that the action will be challenged in court.

The statement was signed by Bahir A. Bashir, Media Aid to Amb. Ibrahim Waiya.