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President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that all appointments he makes are strictly based on merit and not based on ethnic or regional balance. Mr Buhari stated this on Thursday during an interview with Arise TV which was monitored by THE WHISPERER. The president has been criticized for allegedly appointing more northerners in strategic positions. In the interview, the Nigerian leader said he cannot jettison seniority and merit for balance and federal character. The Nigerian Constitution states that major appointments and other privileges should be shared in such a way that it reflects Federal Character, that is balance across the 36…

The police command in Imo says its officers have arrested a 40-year-old IPOB and ESN’s native doctor, Uzoamaka Ugoanyanwu. According to the police, Mr Ugoanyanwu is a notorious witch doctor who prepared charms for IPOB and ESN members. In Imo, Abutu Yaro, the Commissioner of Police, confirmed the arrest in a statement signed by the command’s spokesman Bala Alkana. Mr Yaro said the police also arrested nine individuals suspected to have taken part in the attack on the country home of Governor Hope Uzodimma. The police chief said the “breakthrough” followed a painstaking investigation carried out by the command’s tactical…

A member of the House of Representatives from Kebbi State, Kabir Ibrahim Tukura, told his colleagues Wednesday that over 500 persons had been killed, 201 abducted and 15,000 displaced in attacks by bandits and terrorists on farming communities in Sakaba and Danko/Wasagu Local Government Areas of the state. He, however, did not specify the period within which those attacks happened. In his lead debate at plenary, Tukura said though the state police command confirmed that bandits killed 88 persons in the last week’s attacks on Koro, Kimi, Gaya, Dimi, Zulu, Rafin Gora, D’lanko, Dguenge, Chonoko, and Unashi villages in Danko/Wasagu…

Former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu on Wednesday berated those accusing Southeast leaders of keeping silent on the violence in the region. Ekweremadu accused them of playing “dangerous politics with a very serious matter” in order to destroy the opposition in the Southeast ahead of the 2023 general elections. He listed some past and present efforts by Southeast leaders and groups to restore peace in the region and the country. The efforts, according to him, include meeting President Muhammadu Buhari, as far back as 2016. To show that Southeast leader are determined to make insecurity in the region a thing…

Ignore Twitter ban, continue tweeting, National Assembly minority caucus tells Nigerians “Moreover, the ban on Twitter in Nigeria appears to be in favour of criminal and terrorist elements, whose activities fester in an environment of suppressed information flow.” The joint minority caucus of the Senate and the House of Representatives has called on Nigerians to ignore the ban placed by the Federal Government on Twitter and continue to use the social media platform. The National Assembly caucus, which described the ban as draconian, decried that many Nigerians are losing their sources of livelihood to the action. The Minority Leader of…

The Nigerian government has constituted a new board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), THE WHISPERER has learnt. It was exclusively gathered that the members of the newly constituted board have been appointed into various offices in a bid to douse the threats and complaints from sons and daughters of the Niger Delta region. The new board members amongst others include; Bernard Okumagba from Delta State as Chairman of the Board, Samuel Nduku from Bayelsa State as Managing Director, Effiong Okon Akwa who is the Sole Administrator as Executive Director Finance and Administration. There has been tension between the…

Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has dissolved the State Executive Council. The dissolution is with immediate effect. Those affected include the Secretary to the State Government, Sabi’u Baba; the governor’s Chief of Staff, Ladan Salihu, 21 Commissioners, and Special Advisers. In another development, Gov. Bala Mohammed has ordered the immediate release of funds to assist victims of a fire that consumed Sabuwar Kasuwa along Railway road in Bauchi metropolis. Mohammed, while visiting the scene of the incident on Sunday, to sympathise with the victims and witness the level of damage, gave the order for the release of the funds as…

The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Tuesday logged into Twitter and deactivated his account to show solidarity with the Federal Government which had suspended the social media platform last Friday. It, however, remains unclear how Malami was able to log into his account since the Twitter URL has been suspended by all Internet Service Providers in the country. Malami had on Saturday threatened to prosecute Nigerians who were still using the Virtual Private Networks to access Twitter even though no Nigerian law makes it illegal to tweet. The AGF took to his Facebook page on Tuesday, posting…

Disbanding NATFORCE Is Counter Productive– Human Rights Activist Following the declaration of the National Taskforce on the Prohibition of Illegal Importation/Smuggling of Arms, Ammunition, Light Weapons, Chemical Weapons and Pipeline Vandalism (NATFORCE), as an illegal security outfit by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), a pro-democracy activist, Comrade Chike O. Abiandu, has observed that it would be counter-productive. The Lagos-based Human Rights activist said the declaration by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), that the outfit was an illegal security outfit was not in tandem with democratic ethos since the issue was already before…

  The Brigadier Commander of 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, Owerri, Imo state, Raymond Utsaha, has revealed that hoodlums masquerading as "Unknown Gunmen" have killed no fewer than 150 security operatives and civilians in the South East zone in few months. At a joint media interactive session between him and the state Commissioner of police, Abutu Yaro, which held in Owerri, the army chief said that no "responsible Government" would allow such " criminal elements" to continue to have their way. Responding to an question from The PUNCH on the alleged cases of extra judicial killings, intimidation and harassment by the…