Why I won’t return to Aso Villa – Patience Jonathan

Former First lady, Dame Patience Jonathan says if she is requested to return to the presidential villa to function as Nigerian First Lady, she would decline. In a viral video clip, Mrs Patience, who spoke on Friday at a public function, said “the stress of Nigeria is too much”, stressing that she looks younger than when she was in office. According to her, “If you call me now for villa, I wouldn’t go there. I won’t. Don’t you see how young I am? The stress is so much. “The stress of Nigeria is so much. If God manages to bring you out of it, you should glorify Him. He has taken you there once, why do you want to go there again”? The former president, Goodluck Jonathan exited the presidential villa in 2015 after losing the presidential election to Muhammadu Buhari. During her reign as the First Lady of Nigeria, Patience Jonathan was popular for creating memes in her usual pidgin English such as “na only you waka come”.

Fake Aso Rock Official Arrested For Employment Scam 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says its operatives have arrested a fake official of the State House in Abuja and other suspects for employment scam. Disclosing this in a statement on Friday, EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, said the suspects were nabbed for alleged criminal conspiracy, false representation and employment scam. He identified the culprits as Augustine Enamegbai Umogboi, Eleojo Josephine Idakwo, Kingsley Onuh. While Umogboi claimed to be a former Aso Rock staff, Idakwo claimed to be a fake staff of the Ministry of Information in the Registry Unit, while Onuh was said to have concluded his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). “The suspects were arrested separately following investigation on petitions by various victims who were promised jobs as “Directors General” at the Ministry of Communication, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC and other ministries,” the statement read. “Others are Omata Sunday and Eljayon Nigeria Limited, one of the companies whose bank account they were using to get money from their victims. Besides, they had different account numbers of different banks through which they were receiving the money amounting to N22,350,000:00k (Twenty Two million, Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) only, from different victims. “Umogboi was arrested on June 16, 2024, Idakwo was arrested on April 30, 2024, while Onuh was arrested on April 3, 2024. Many victims narrated their bitter experiences in a series of petitions written to the EFCC.”

Protesters Storm Villa, NASS Over Reinstatement Of Sanusi As Kano Emir

Protesters marched to the Presidential Villa and the National Assembly in Abuja on Friday, demanding President Bola Tinubu’s intervention in the Kano Emirate conflict. The protesters, marching peacefully, carried banners highlighting their concerns about the escalating situation in Kano. They called on President Tinubu to use his authority to resolve the crisis and ensure the restoration of peace and stability in the State. The State Assembly passed a bill titled, ‘The Kano State Emirates Councils (Repeal) Bill, 2024’, which dissolved the establishment of the additional emirates. This made way for the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II on Thursday by Governor Yusuf, four years after he was dethroned by a former governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje. The protesters, under the banner of the Concerned Patriots of Nigeria, accused Governor Yusuf of escalating his abuse of office by dissolving the traditional council. The coordinator, Abdullahi Muhammed Saleh said, “A lot had been going wrong in the state but the Concerned Patriots of Nigeria had thought it best to allow Kano state to sort out its thorny issues. However, Thursday’s brash actions of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State, who sacked five emirs to reappoint Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi as the 14th Emir of Kano has awoken us to the urgency of raising the alarm about the destructive excesses of the state governor. “Since being sworn into office, Governor Abba Yusuf has a string of loutish acts that run like a hardened criminal’s rap sheet. All in the name of rubbishing his predecessor, he started with a demolition spree that has served to impoverish the people whose lives he took an oath to improve. Thus he proved himself to be anti-people. “The Governor then attempted to destroy the structures of political parties in the state. The impish fanaticism with which he pursued this illicit mission saw him intruding into the structure of other political parties, including hiring some charlatans who purportedly suspended the national chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, who is interestingly his predecessor. Thus he proved himself to be anti-democratic. “This latest stunt of sacking five emirs to install his acolyte was achieved by manipulating the Kano State House of Assembly, which he had successfully turned into a rubber stamp for endorsing his illegal acts. He has eroded the autonomy guaranteed by the separation of powers as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). “It is inconceivable that any right-thinking person will descend low to the point of manipulating the traditional institution for political gimmicks. The humiliation meted out to the five emirs was most unbecoming and we have cause to believe that Abba Yusuf has set the stage for using the traditional institution as ancient and as esteemed as that of Kano for a political seesaw will continue since his successor will revert to the five emirates. The Kano governor has thus proven himself to be the anti-traditional institution leader.” The protesters criticized Governor Yusuf’s actions as unreasonable and detrimental to a civilized society, urging him to stop undermining Kano’s peace. They condemned the NNPP-dominated Kano State House of Assembly for being a rubber stamp for the governor’s actions, warning that their desperation could destabilize the city and the country. They appealed to President Tinubu to urgently intervene in the Kano Emirate crisis to prevent further deterioration and ensure peace is restored.