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Nigerian Army Pulls Out 29 Retired Generals

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The Nigerian Army on Friday pulled out 29 Generals of the Infantry Corps who retired from active military service.

Out of the 29 retired infantry officers pulled out of active service at the Jaji Military Cantonment in Kaduna State, 19 were Major Generals and 10 were Brigadiers General.

Leading the pack was Maj.-Gen. Victor Ezugwu, who spoke on behalf of the retirees.

Ezugwu encouraged their successors to not only sustain the modest strategic, operational and tactical achievements made but also to surpass them.

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”The frontline is expanding and the Nigerian Army is becoming increasingly committed with the eyes of the nation and the world on it.

”Our Infantry Corps must therefore not relent or rest on her oars as the entire Nigerian Army depends largely on the Infantry Corps to achieve its core mandate and mission.

”I admonish the Infantry that as the threats to Nigeria’s sovereignty are becoming asymmetric in time and space, you must be proactively way ahead of our adversaries in all aspects of the unfolding combat scenarios,” he added.

Ezugwu also called on the Infantry Corps to review some of its tactical and operational strategies in the areas of night fighting capabilities, and frontline intelligence gathering on enemy activities.

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He further advised the corps to strengthen basic field crafts training in the areas of aggressive fighting patrols to dominate at least a 5 km radius of their locations, Ambushes, listening and observation posts as well as all levels of battle drills.

Ezugwu advocated for employment of modern technology and ICT enablers, and deliberate efforts to develop the leadership skills of junior commanders.

“Be rest assured that my colleagues and I will be glad and willing to avail the Infantry Corps of our time, energy and resources until our last breath on earth,” he added.

He announced the donation of 200 books and encyclopedias to the Infantry Corps Centre and Nigerian Army School of Infantry libraries to promote training, reading culture, mentorship and capacity development of officers and soldiers.

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“We are also availing the infantry corps the sum of N1 million to purchase more Corps-related books.

“This is our modest way to encourage the edification of younger infantry officers and soldiers to inspire and motivate them to reach their full potential as they grow in service,” Ezugwu said.

He described a military career as the most priceless, honourable and sacrificial call to duty globally, and thanked God for allowing them to end their careers alive after serving the nation for between 30 -38 years.

The general described the day as full of emotional feelings, nostalgic memories, wholesome gratitude, unending joy and unwavering fulfilment.

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“For every service personnel, retirement from active service remains a natural and inevitable end which begins to count from the day we passed out from NDA as officers in the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

”Our joy and that of our families, colleagues and friends gathered here today knows no bounds as we take a final bow from the Infantry Corps.

“On behalf of my retired colleague Generals, I most respectfully and dutifully appreciate the incumbent Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Taoreed Lagbaja for organising this benefitting and memorable pulling out parade in our honour,” he added.

He also appreciated the Commander Infantry Corps, Maj.-Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, for mobilising the entire Infantry family including veterans and other luminaries in the Infantry Corps to honour them.

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”As I stand on this podium and look around this Parade Ground, I am moved with hysterical feeling of excitement considering the mammoth turnout of the infantry family.

”Host and neighbouring communities of Jaji, Labar, Wusono, Railway, Birnin Yero, Angwan Loya, and other parts of Zazzau Emirate, led by our revered Emir, to celebrate our retirement.”

NAN

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Supreme Court dismisses suit seeking to compel Federal Government’s disclosure of gas earnings

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The Supreme Court has thrown out suit by the 36 state governments seeking to compel the Federal Government to account for its earnings from the sale of liquefied natural gas, natural gas liquids and related products since 1999.

In a unanimous judgment, a seven-member panel of the court, presided over by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji ruled that the court does not have the original jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit, which has the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, as the sole defendant.

Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, in the lead judgment, affirmed the preliminary objection raised against the suit by the AGF and held that the subject of the case had been dealt with by the Supreme Court in its earlier decision in the case of the Attorney General of Bauchi State against the AGF.

Justice Garba agreed with the defendant that the suit amounted to an attempt to re-litigate issues already decided by the Supreme Court in the AG, Bauchi v. AGF case, which relates to the revenues accruable to the government of the federation, which are payable into the federation account.

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He held that the Supreme Court lacked the original jurisdiction to preside over and determine the case.

The judge proceeded to strike out the suit for want of jurisdiction to hear the case as presently constituted.

Other members of the panel, Justices Abba-Aji, Emmanuel Agim, Simon Tsammani, Stephen Adah and Jamilu Tukur, agreed with the lead judgment.

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N5m donation tears Celestial church apart, founder’s son disrupts service

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The Celestial Church of Christ, Acts of Apostle Parish, Ketu, Alapere, Lagos, has been thrown into crisis following the donation of N5m by the church authority.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that the crisis erupted during a Sunday service last week when an acclaimed son of the church founder, Muyiwa Oluponna, stormed the church and disrupted service in an attempt to install himself as the shepherd of the church.

Oluponna allegedly seized the microphone from the acting shepherd of the church, Adetayo Adetola, during the sermon and claimed to have the right to deliver sermons every second Sunday of the month.

A viral video that circulated on social media captured the disruption and showed Oluponna and some members of the church engaging in a heated argument.

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Our correspondent gathered that the development forced the church authority, through a task force, led by Akinbode Adjovi, to shut down the church for 40 days.

Narrating the incident to Saturday PUNCH, Adetola alleged that Oluponna demanded that the N5m donated by the church authority to the parish for renovation and construction of a clergy house be given to the family.

“That Sunday, our shepherd was not around and I was put in charge of the church. I was also assigned to give the sermon. We started the service and everything was going well until he (Oluponna) snatched the microphone from me, demanding to speak.

“I respected him and gave him the microphone because I knew him as a family member of the church founder. Immediately he collected the microphone, he said the N5m given to the church by the headquarters for renovation does not belong to the church but to the family of Oluponna who founded the church.

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“He also demanded that money be given to the family, insisting that the church belongs to the family and not the community or the CCC authorities.

“He also demanded that he be made the church shepherd and be allowed to give sermons every second Sunday of the month. We all kept quiet until he finished.

“After that, I took over to deliver the sermon, but to everybody’s surprise, he came back and snatched another microphone from one of the choristers and came to the pulpit to give the sermon. That was when we all resisted him”, Adetola said.

Also speaking, the Shepherd of the church, Emmanuel Iperepolu, alleged that Oluponna had been causing trouble in the church, threatening him and other church members whom he perceived were against him.

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Iperepolu said the incident had been reported to the church authorities and the police.

“I think the donation prompted him to do what he did, but before the issue of the money came, he had been coming to the church to threaten and abuse me and others. However, immediately after he heard about the donation, he came and demanded that the money be handed over to the family.

“He said the church belongs to the family of Oluponna, hence the money belongs to the family and not the church. The church authority has taken over the issue, and they have invited me and representatives of the family for questioning,” Iperepolu said.

Meanwhile, the Head of Media and Publicity of CCC, Kayode Ajala, said the church was shut down to prevent further breakdown of law and order.

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“The church is a house of God but when things are going wrong and people’s lives are being threatened we have to do something.

“The church authorities cannot fold their arms and allow people to get killed; we have to intervene and this is why we shut down the church temporarily, while investigation is going on.

“All those involved in the conflict are being talked to and resolution is going on and once all that is done, the church will be reopened,” Ajala said.

When Saturday PUNCH asked about whether the church crisis was caused by the N5m donation, Oluponna declined to comment, saying the issue was between the family and the church.

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Credit: PUNCH

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Empowerment projects now conduit for embezzlement – ICPC

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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has raised concerns over what it described as politicisation of empowerment projects in Nigeria.

ICPC also revealed that empowerment programmes had become significant conduits for embezzlement and mismanagement of public funds.

This was revealed in the Phase VI report of the constituency and executive projects tracking exercise, which was released by the commission on Thursday.

A total of 1721 government-funded projects with a total value of N284, 602,881,868.57 were tracked during the exercise which spanned from November 2023 to May 2024.

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In the report, the ICPC identified numerous instances where empowerment items, which are intended for poverty alleviation and to support the most vulnerable, were procured but hoarded by project facilitators for potential use in political campaigns.

The report added that of the total tracked projects, 26.1 per cent—or 449 projects—were categorised as empowerment initiatives, amounting to over N35.5 billion in contract awards.

The report partly read, “Empowerment items are meant to be distributed to intended beneficiaries to empower them or to serve as poverty alleviation items. These items were procured but hoarded by the project facilitators possibly for electoral campaign activities.

“Large-scale soft/fluid projects and empowerment projects as major conduits for siphoning public resources: Empowerment/soft projects deserve special attention in this report in view of their increasing propensity within the budget as more project sponsors now prefer to embed such projects for execution in the budget.

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“In the course of Phase VI project tracking, it was discovered that the aggregate number of empowerment projects tracked amounts to 449 empowerment projects (26.1% of the total tracked projects), while the aggregate sum/value of contract award on empowerment projects is N35,585,340,728.91.

“In all the shenanigans found in the course of tracking empowerment projects, contractors, project facilitators as well as the executing agencies staff cannot be excused of gross connivance.

The ICPC further revealed that in agencies such as the North East Development Commission and the Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission, empowerment items were handed over to stakeholders instead of directly reaching the intended recipients.

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