The Federal Government is set to withdraw the contentious Veteran Federation of Nigeria Bill following strong objections from military retirees on many of its provisions.

The retirees had warned of potential protests if the government proceeded to present the bill to the National Assembly without addressing their concerns.

Since conception, the bill, which was sent to the Defence Headquarters and the Ministry of Justice, has been criticised for several contentious clauses, particularly those related to rank-based appointments.

Confirming the planned withdrawal in an interview with Saturday PUNCH on Friday, the Secretary of the Coalition of Concerned Veterans, Abiodun Durowaiye-Herberts, disclosed that the decision was reached after a meeting with the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Defence earlier this week.

“Based on the meeting we held with the Permanent Secretary on Monday, he assured us that the bill would be withdrawn. A ratification committee will be inaugurated, which will include staff from the Ministry of Defence, members of the National Assembly, representatives from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, and veterans,” he said.

The committee’s mandates, according to Durowaiye-Herberts, include reviewing and correcting contentious sections of the bill, ensuring leadership positions within the veterans’ structure are democratically elected, and presenting the revised bill to the National Assembly for deliberation and approval.

Durowaiye-Herberts added, “Although the permanent secretary told us that the process might not be finalised before the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, he assured stakeholders that the committee’s work would be completed by the end of the month.

“Veterans have expressed cautious optimism about the committee’s work, emphasising the importance of transparency and timely results. We are hopeful that this process will address our grievances and establish a structure that truly represents our interests.”

Efforts to get a comment from the Ministry of Defence’s spokesperson, Henshaw Ogbuike, proved abortive, as he did not pick up calls to his line and was yet to respond to a message sent to him.

Credit: PUNCH

A political economist and 2007 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Prof. Pat Utomi, has advised President Bola Tinubu on ways to tackle Nigeria’s surging inflation and food security crisis.

Tinubu, in his New Year address, pledged to prioritise food production and achieve economic stability by implementing policies aimed at reducing inflation and ensuring food security.

The President also pleaded his administration’s commitment to reduce inflation from its current 34.6 per cent to 15 per cent.

But Utomi said the success of the President’s goals would depend on his administration’s ability to tackle insecurity, provide incentives for farmers, and implement effective agricultural policies to create a stable and sustainable food production system in the country.

Utomi, who spoke in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, cautioned against the idea of massive food importation as a solution, warning that it would worsen Nigeria’s foreign exchange problems and undermine local agricultural production.

He argued that imported food would remain costly due to unfavourable exchange rates, maintaining that any subsidy on such imports would harm the nation’s capacity for sustainable food production.

Utomi said, “There is hunger, real hunger in the land. One of the biggest causes of inflation is food price inflation and it is central to how people feel and their abilities to do other things.

“To address this, the government needs to make a deliberate policy to push down the cost of food by investing in agriculture, giving massive incentives to young people to make farming attractive to them and check insecurity as quickly as possible.”

To address insecurity, Utomi proposed the creation of special agricultural security forces, forest rangers”, to protect farmlands and prevent clashes between farmers and herders or attacks by bandits.

He called on the government to support farmers to embark on irrigation schemes to enable year-round farming.

“The government should create schemes for unemployed youths, provide them with one hectare of land each, supply inputs, and train them in modern agricultural practices. In 90 days, we could see a significant increase in food production that would force down prices,” Utomi explained.

The Nigeria Police Force has detained a yet-to-be-named officer seen in a viral video with Wahab and Raheem, sons of billionaire businessman, Chief Razaq Okoya, abusing the naira.

This was disclosed by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on his X handle yesterday.

According to him, the moment captured in the video involving the police officer is unethical and contrary to the values of the force, stressing that disciplinary action was underway to address the misconduct.

In the video, the policeman was seen holding stacks of currency.

The act violates Section 21(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, 2007, which prohibits the abuse of the national currency.

Adejobi wrote: “The policeman captured in the recent viral video shared by the sons of the Lagos businessman, Chief Okoya, where they were abusing the naira, has been identified and detained for disciplinary action.

“The involvement of the policeman has been condemned, as it’s unethical. We will always strive hard to uphold the sanctity, credibility and core values of the police. Thanks.”

Raheem, one of the sons of the billionaire businessman in the video, has publicly apologised to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) as well as Nigerians over the incident.

Reacting to public outrage over the incident on his X account yesterday, Raheem said: “To the Nigerian people, my actions were not intended to cause any trouble or harm. My intentions were pure and naive.

“I ask for your forgiveness and support as I had no intention of raising such an alarm. I wasn’t fully aware of the consequences of my action.”

The video of the two Okoya sons abusing the naira had attracted widespread criticism with expressing belief that nothing would happen to them because of their father’s status in the country.

In the said video, Wahab and Raheem were dressed in white flowing gown (agbada), flaunting stacks of crisp N1000 notes to promote the latter’s new song titled “Credit Alert”.

As the video continued, it captured the mobile policeman holding bundles of N1,000 notes while the billionaire’s sons danced and flung the cash into the air.