Politics

Nigerian govt seizes N83bn protest funds, arrests political accomplices

Published

1 month ago

August 14, 2024

According to the Nigerian government, at least N83 billion in cryptocurrency and fiat cash were used to fund the most recent countrywide protests which the government has also insisted were targeted at achieving a regime change in the guise of governance reforms.

The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, made the revelation at the inaugural Council of State meeting under President Bola Tinubu. He mentioned that the government $50 million worth of cryptocurrencies, of which $38 million was blocked in four wallets, and N4 billion given by different political figures in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, and Katsina are among them.

Speaking on the subject of “The Nationwide Protest As It Affects National Security,” Ribadu also disclosed that a European has been identified as the mastermind behind the proliferation of foreign flags during the protests and will soon be declared wanted by the Police, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting proceedings on Tuesday.

Speaking under oath due to his lack of authority, one of the sources revealed that local conspirators who were tracked down to the nation’s capital, Abuja, as well as those in Kaduna and Kano, had been apprehended.

“In his presentation, the NSA said the government was able to trace $50m to crypto wallets that were made as donations to the protests. They succeeded in blocking four of those wallets containing $38m.

“They also found out that some political actors contributed N4bn to fund the protests,” one of the sources told The PUNCH.

The President (who also acts as its chairman), the Vice President, all previous heads of state and presidents of the Senate, all former Chief Justices of Nigeria, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and all state governors make up the Council.

The governors of Abia, Adamawa, and Akwa Ibom State virtually joined former heads of state General Yakubu Gowon (retd.) and General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), as well as former presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, for the first Council meeting.

Nevertheless, the meeting was not attended by former President Olusegun Obasanjo or former Head of State General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.).

The event on Tuesday took place a few days after a million-man march through the streets of Abuja, primarily by young Nigerians. The nationwide demonstration against the rising cost of living in the nation entered its tenth day on March 10, which culminated with a poor turnout.

Related Topics:Endbabgovernance Featured Nigeria Protest

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Politics

Ghanian opposition protests, demands audit of voters register

Published

12 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Ghana’s major opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party protested statewide on Tuesday, seeking an independent forensic audit to clean up the voter register for free and fair elections.

NDC leaders said the election commission secretly relocated voters to various voting sites, undermining the register.

In red and black, thousands of supporters marched through Accra’s main streets, blasting reggae and campaign music and calling on international bodies, Ghana’s peace council, and religious and civil society groups to intervene. Protest leaders petitioned parliament and the Accra electoral agency. Ghana’s other 15 regions also saw protests, local media said.

Protester Kwame Acheampong, 68, told Reuters in Akan that his registration had been moved from the capital to Tamale. He asked, “How can I vote in Tamale?”

Meanwhile, the electoral commission claims the flaws were fixed. It suspended a northern Pusiga district director in August for “using his credentials to transfer voters without their knowledge.” Ghana is one of Africa’s most stable democracies, although eight people died in the last election, which was marred by opposition claims that the government unjustly influenced the vote, which it rejected.

Allegations of irregularities tarnish the electoral authorities. Afrobarometer’s July survey found Ghana’s election commission’s trust at an all-time low since confidence polls began in 1999. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, NDC chairman, told demonstrators he wanted “transparent elections.”

Ghana will have general elections for president and parliamentarians on December 7, 2024. President Nana Akufo-Addo cannot run again due to term limits after eight years. Old NDC president John Dramani Mahama will face New Patriotic Party Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia in the election.

The President of Ghana is elected in two rounds, while 275 MPs are elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting.

Politics

South Sudan ready to resume pumping oil through Sudan

Published

17 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to South Sudan’s finance minister and the president’s office, progress has been made in getting South Sudan and Sudan to resume supplying crude oil through a pipeline that goes to a port in their neighbourhood.

South Sudan depends heavily on its oil exports for its income, and Sudan keeps a portion of the oil as a transit fee.

The devastation resulting from a fight between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces forced the closure of the major pipeline that transported oil from South Sudan via Sudan for export in February. According to observers, the stoppage has caused food prices in Sudan, where millions of people suffer from acute hunger, to rise. The damage is likely to cause major environmental degradation.

“Sudanese engineers have accomplished the necessary technical preparations for the resumption of oil production,” South Sudan President Salva Kiir’s office said in a statement late on Monday after a meeting in Juba between Kiir and Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

“Engineers from South Sudan are expected to visit Sudan in the coming weeks to familiarise themselves with the readiness of the facilities to jump-start production.”

“There has been a breakthrough, and (news of) it will come to the public very soon,” South Sudan’s Finance Minister Marial Dongrin Ater told a news conference late on Monday.
Burhan’s office said the two sides would develop an operational plan to restart oil flows.

Due to intercommunal violence, South Sudan’s economy has been under strain recently. Since the civil war that lasted from 2013 to 2018, revenue from crude oil exports has decreased, and more recently, export disruptions have occurred because of the conflict in neighbouring Sudan.

Following its independence from Khartoum in 2011, South Sudan began exporting roughly 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day through Sudan, following a formula that took the majority of the country’s oil production with it.

Before the civil war, South Sudan produced between 350,000 and 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day at its highest point.