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“I don’t know anything about raid of communities, killing of civilians by military as alleged by Reuters,” Gen Eyitayo Abdulwahab tells NHRC panel

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Major General Abdulwahab Eyitayo on Tuesday told the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in the Counter Insurgency Operations in North East that he knows nothing about alleged assault of communities leading to the death of children or other civilians during the period of insurgency in the North East.

The panel was set up by the National Human Rights Commission to investigate Human Rights abuses allegedly committed by the Nigerian military while fighting Insurgency in the North East as contained in a report published by Reuters.

General Eyitayo said the troop under his command in Borno state in 2015 acted professionally in the course of operations and noted that the area of their operations in places like Kukawa, Konduga and Baga, were far away from residential areas, and that allegations of attacks on civilian could not have arisen.

In his oral testimony while being led by the Secretary of the panel, Mr. Hilary Ogbonna, the military top Officer said deployment was designed to be at the “outskirt” where troop will have the opportunity to stop the insurgents from coming to attack the civilians.

He said- “There is no way the soldiers who are protecting these civilians will turn round to attack them for any reason.”

Eyitayo who is currently serving at the Defense Base, Lugbe, Abuja recalled how troop under his command escorted civilians to their farms to ensure their safety when the Boko Haram fighters were stopping them on the way on random, and demanding taxes from them.

In Reuters allegation of abortion assaults which claimed that 10,000 pregnancies were illegally and forcefully aborted by the Nigerian Army as part of its systematic approach towards fighting insurgency in the North East, he said that they never provided medical assistance to the civilians whom he noted do not have any business coming where the troop were.

The former GOC 7 Division also informed the 7- Member panel chaired by Justice Abdu Aboki (rtd) that under his command there used to be media briefings from time to time so that members of the public will be kept abreast of the operations of the military in the North East.

He added that the Army has a human rights desk in 7 Division and the press briefing provided a good platform to clarify issues arising from any complaints that are brought before the human rights desk.

Also defending himself before the panel, Colonel Yakubu Ibrahim who was 22 Brigade commander in Borno state said he only heard about Reuters report, saying that during his time in the state, the troop under his command did not make use of firepower because they hardly met the insurgents during clearance operations.

He told the panel that they did not engage in rescuing or managing civilians but only assisted the communities, especially those who did not have food because of the displacements occasioned by the insurgency.

He also confirmed before the panel that troop carried out medical outreaches with the assistance of Borno state and non-governmental organizations working in the state, pointing out that they never treated civilian, let alone pregnant women.

“Our area of responsibility is Machina, Nguru, Gasua and one other LGA (with other units) and I have four LGA in my area of responsibility. I did not make use of fire power because at that time “we did not encounter insurgents”.

“I was in New Marte as at 2020 and there was no human beings there except the fighters. In Dikwa there were people there, it is a local government. I had a battalion in Dikwa who made sure insurgents did not infiltrate that town. I visited Dikwa as operations demand,” he said.

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Turaki-led PDP wins as Court of Appeal affirms Wole Oluyede as duly nominated candidate for Ekiti

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Dr. Wole Oluyede has been affirmed as the duly nominated candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the Ekiti State governorship election.

The Court of Appeal, Akure Division, made the affirmation in a landmark judgment, thereby giving validity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary election for the same.

In a unanimous decision, the three-man appellate panel led by Hon. Justice Peter Chudi Obiorah, alongside Hon. Justice Jane Esienanwan Inyang and Hon. Justice Peter O. Affen, set aside the earlier judgment of the Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti.

The justices held that the primary election conducted by the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC) was valid, transparent, and complied with the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.

On the 13th of January, 2026, the Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti nullified the Ekiti State Governorship primary election conducted on the 8th and 9th November, 2025.

Dissatisfied with the judgment, the Party appealed to the Court of Appeal and today, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court..

The Court further held that the primary election was duly conducted.

This judgment effectively puts to rest the leadership and candidacy disputes that have shadowed the party’s preparations for the 2026 Ekiti State Governorship Election. By upholding the Turaki-led process, the Court has provided the necessary legal finality to ensure the PDP enters the general election as a unified front.

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India slaps Nigeria, rejects Tinubu’s ambassador-designate

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India and some other countries have reportedly  declined to accept some of President Bola Tinubu’s recently posted ambassadors-designate due to diplomatic policies that discourage receiving envoys from administrations with less than two years remaining in office.

According to reports in the media, India, where career diplomat Ambassador Muhammad Dahiru has been designated to serve, maintains a standing policy against accepting ambassadors from governments with tenures of less than two years remaining.

India is exercising its discretionary powers to turn down the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ request to accept Dahiru’s posting.

According to sources quoted by the report, the Federal Government was already receiving signals from New Delhi and possibly other capitals about their reluctance to grant agrément.

Agrément is the formal approval given by a receiving country to accept a diplomat designated by the sending country, and it is a prerequisite before an ambassador can assume duty.

“They don’t accept an ambassador from an administration that has less than two years in office. So they are giving us that body language already,” a Presidency official was quoted to have said

The source continued, “Some countries are reluctant to accept some people, not because of the individuals but because of time. They are already seeing the Tinubu government as an outgoing government.

“So their concern is that he has just one year left, so what if he doesn’t win the election? Another government may come and remove them. We also understand that some countries have this policy. Any ambassador from an administration that has less than a year or two in office will not get accepted. And one of such countries is India.”

 

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Belonging to two political parties to attract imprisonment

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The House of Representatives on Wednesday amended Section 77 of the recently assented Electoral Act 2026 to prescribe two-year jail term or N10 million fines or both, for anyone who knowingly maintains membership of two political parties at the same time.

Lawmakers during the committee of the whole presided by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Okezie Kalu, made amendment to section 77 of the 2026 Act by inserting three new clauses 8, 9 and 10 which were considered and approved by lawmakers after a heated session of back and forth debates.

According to the new clauses approved by lawmakers, any party member found to be registered as member of more than one political party at the same time will have his or membership of the said parties voided.

Clause (8) of the approved amendment stipulates that “A person shall not be registered as a member of more than one political party at the same time.”

Clause (9) stipulates that “Where it is established that a person is registered as a member of more than one political at the same time, such dual membership shall be void, and the person shall cease to be recognised as a valid member of any political party pending regularisation in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the constitution of the political party concerned.

Clause (10) stipulates that “A person who knowingly registers or maintains membership in more than one political party at the same time commits an offence is liable on conviction to a fine of N10,000,000 or to imprisonment for a term of two years, or both.”

 

 

 

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