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Tag: coordinator

  • Yaminu Musa appointed as pioneer Coordinator, National Counter Terrorism Centre

    Yaminu Musa appointed as pioneer Coordinator, National Counter Terrorism Centre

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of retired Rear Admiral Yaminu Musa as the pioneer Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).

    Mr Femi Adesina, the president’s spokesman, confirmed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The NCTC is established in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) as the coordinating body for the harmonization of all counter terrorism and terrorism financing efforts in the country.

    The NCTC is equally charged with the coordination of counter terrorism policies, strategies, plans and support in the performance of the functions of the National Security Adviser (NSA), as provided in the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.

    Before his appointment, Musa had been the Director of the Counter Terrorism Directorate in the ONSA since 2017.

    He was responsible for the review of the National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST), and the creation of the Policy Framework and National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE).

    Buhari signed into law NACTEST and PCVE in 2016  and 2017 respectively.

    The retired Naval senior officer had also served as the Nigerian representative at the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) for the last 3 years.

    ”His appointment is to take effect immediately and to run for an initial term of 5 years,” Adesina further revealed.

  • #EndSARS protest coordinator testifies before Lagos judiciary panel as Army shuns invitation again

    #EndSARS protest coordinator testifies before Lagos judiciary panel as Army shuns invitation again

    The Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution for victims of SARS and other related matters on Saturday listed eight petitions for hearing.

    The Nigerian Army was at the top of the list as the panel gave the military yet another chance to appear and state its version of the incident of Oct 20, 2020, at the Lekki toll gate.

    Again, the military authorities failed to show up neither were they represented by counsel.

    The panel then listened to the testimony of Serah Ibrahim, one of the co-ordinators of the #EndSARS protest who gave a counter-narrative of the events leading to the Oct 20, 2020 incident.

    She spoke about the interactions protesters had with the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, when he came to the toll gate. She also spoke about interactions with members of staff of LCCI about the billboard, placing of advertisements as well as interactions with police officers on the ground at the Lekki toll gate.

    The panel also listened to the cross-examination of a former commissioner of Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Kenny Okolugbo.

    At a previous proceeding, he had told the panel that his former tenant, Emmanuel Okaka, who owed him four months’ rent, had falsely accused him of the unlawful ejection, forceful entry and stealing.

    Based on these false allegations, Okolugbo said he was arrested, brutalised and charged to court.

    He also accused some online media outlets of conniving with one ASP Sunday Nwauzor and Zebedee Arekhandia of the Legal Department, to publish false information about the case.

    With the petitioner now exonerated and the case struck out on the advice of the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP), Okolugbo said the Nigeria Police Force has greatly damaged his reputation, which threatens his political ambitions in 2023.

    While asking the Panel to recommend the dismissal and prosecution of the two police officers, he sought a ₦30 million compensation for the trauma he suffered at the hands of the police.

  • Confusion after Buhari refers to Osinbajo as ‘coordinator’ of nation’s affairs not Acting President

    Confusion after Buhari refers to Osinbajo as ‘coordinator’ of nation’s affairs not Acting President

    President Muhammadu Buhari says Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will “coordinate” the nation’s affairs while he is abroad for medical treatment.

    A letter sent by the president to the Senate, notifying lawmakers of his trip, however raised questions Tuesday about Mr. Osinbajo’s powers after Mr. Buhari failed to address him as “acting president”.

    Mr. Buhari left Nigeria Sunday night, shortly after receiving 82 Chibok girls who regained freedom after three years in Boko Haram captivity.

    Since coming to power in May 2015, it is the fourth time Mr. Osinbajo will be acting on behalf of the president.

    Mr. Buhari has won praise for promptly handing over power before embarking on each trip.

    This time, the president said his stay in the United Kingdom would be determined by his doctors.

    But his latest correspondence to the Senate, read by the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, was questioned by a Senator who argued that Mr. Osinbajo should have been designated “acting president”.

    Mao Ohabunwa, a Peoples Democratic Party senator, representing Abia North, said it was not proper to name the vice president “coordinator” of the nation’s affairs.

    He was however ruled out of order by Mr. Saraki, after the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, defended Mr. Buhari, citing Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution.

    That section says, “Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.”