The All Progressives Congress, APC has waded in the restructuring debate between Vice President, Professor YEMI OSINBAJO and former vice president, ATIKU ABUBAKAR.

APC National Publicity Secretary, YEKINI NABENA, in a statement said the party agrees with the position of Professor OSINBAJO on restructuring.

Vice President OSINBAJO had stated that what Nigeria required was not geographic restructuring but good governance, honest management of public resources, deeper fiscal Federalism and a clear vision for development.

In its reaction, the APC said that the calls for restructuring by many politicians were often time a populist and opportunistic ploy to latch on and politically exploit simplistic public narratives on the panacea to Nigeria’s problems and not necessarily for its realism and practicability.

The Nigerian Army has reacted to the daring Boko Haram attack on a military base and neighboring communities in Guzamala Local Government Area.

The army said its officers regrouped and have restored total normalcy in Gundubali and other neighboring communities in Guzamala.

The attack on the military base and surrounding communities by Boko Haram insurgents happened on Saturday with scores of jihadists in gun trucks and various caliber of arms, storming the town and engaging in fierce battle that lasted for many hours with the troops

The attack was first confirmed to journalists by the Borno State Deputy Governor, USMAN DURKWA.

Director Army Public Relations, TEXAS CHUKWU, in a statement in Maiduguri, said combined troops of 82 Division Task Force Brigade and 158 Task Force Battalion involved in the counter-insurgency operations in an encounter with the Boko Haram insurgents in Gudumbali did not result in any loss of human casualty.

The Presidency has reacted with dismay to an allegation published by a national daily that Chief of Staff to the President, Malam ABBA KYARI, collected 29 million Naira bribe for the award of a contract for the supply of 15 Hilux vehicles.

Reacting to the allegation in a statement, presidential spokesman, Malam GARBA SHEHU, described the allegation as offensive, saying KYARI never had any private meeting with those making the allegation.

SHEHU said the allegation appeared to be coming from certain persons whose interest was to blackmail the administration of President MUHAMMADU BUHARI as 2019 draws near.

SHEHU also described the allegation as a fiction, saying the contract did not exist in 2016/2017 budgets.

In his own reaction, KYARI stated there was no iota of truth in the story.

 

The Nigerian Army has promised to clampdown on armed bandits terrorizing residents of Plateau State and stop the incessant killings in state following the killing of three army officers by gunmen in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state.

A Major General and commandant of the unit, AUGUSTINE AGUNDU, confirmed the killings to journalists at the unit’s headquarters in Jos saying the soldiers were attached to Operation Safe Haven, a multi-security taskforce maintaining peace in the state.

Pained by the killing of some troops in Plateau state, the Nigerian army has vowed to lock down Barkin Ladi completely.

The army said that no human being is going to cause further havoc in that local government.

Agundu while reacting to the killing of the soldiers said “The peace on the Plateau has been disrupted to a situation that is no longer acceptable.’’

“I have declared enough is enough. What happened in Barkin Ladi will never repeat itself again.

“Whatever is going on in Barkin Ladi local government, Riyom Local Government, Bassa Local Government, Bokkos Local Government, that is enough. My troops are resolved to bring the situation decisively under control.”

He described the recent killings in the state as precarious and an act of lawlessness and vowed that the troops is set to deal with the situation decisively.

He urged leaders of Plateau communities to get their youths to decorum so that residents of the communities can go about their business peacefully and without fear.