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BREAKING: Sultan of Sokoto, set to be dethroned *We’ll resist it – MURIC
“Nigerian Muslims reject any thought of deposing the Sultan. Feelers in circulation indicate that the governor may descend on the Sultan of Sokoto any moment from now using any of the flimsy excuses used to dethrone the 15 traditional rulers whom he removed earlier.”
With this, the Government of Sokoto State, was on Monday, served early warning to banish any thought of deposition of Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, who assumed the exalted throne as the 20th Sultan of Sokoto, on November 2, 2006, Abubakar ascended the throne, following the death of his brother, Muhammadu Maccido, who died on ADC Airlines Flight 53.
Muslims in the country through the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), railed against the idea allegedly being plotted by Ahmed Aliyu, Governor of the state to depose the monarch, who is also the overall leader of the Islamic religion in Nigeria, saying the move will not augur well.
In fact, the monarch’s ouster would not be the first in recent years as Maccido, his predecessor, was the beneficiary of Ibrahim Dasuki, who was dethroned by the late military despot, Sani Abacha, on April 20, 1996, to Zing in Taraba State, after accusing him of unauthorised travels, interference in government affairs, inviting foreign dignitaries without permission, lack of respect for government, misappropriation of funds, among others.
Isiaq Akintola, MURIC’s Executive Director, while pushing back against the alleged move, coming against the backdrop of the current controversy over the Emir of Kano stool, where two royal fathers are laying claim to expressed alarm over the situation, especially on the heels of Aliyu’s recent removal of 15 traditional rulers for various offences, recently.
Stressing that the Sultan’s role is not only traditional but also religious, extending beyond Sokoto to cover all Nigerian Muslims as their spiritual head, the MURIC boss, said: “MURIC advises the governor to look before he leaps. The Sultan’s stool is not only traditional. It is also religious. In the same vein, his jurisdiction goes beyond Sokoto. It covers the whole of Nigeria. He is the spiritual head of all Nigerian Muslims.”
Cautioning Aliyu against provoking Nigerian Muslims into drastic action, citing historical precedent, he added: “A military governor, Colonel Yakubu Muazu, exposed this soft underbelly when he deposed Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki on 20th April 1996. Nigerian Muslims will be forced to make a hard decision if Sokoto governors continue to diminish the authority of the Sultan.”
“For the avoidance of any doubts, Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar is not only the Sultan of Sokoto but the Sultan of the Nigerian people. His performance and style of leadership have warmed him into the hearts of Nigerians. If Sokoto’s leadership continues to undermine the Sultan, Nigerian Muslims might shift towards selecting Islamic scholars as their leaders instead of traditional rulers.
“It will be a farewell to the leadership of traditional rulers over the NSCIA and an irreversible departure from Sokoto’s privileged leadership position. But history will not be kind to Col. Yakubu Muazu and Ahmed Aliyu for ruining the chances of Sokoto. Repeated actions against the Sultan would not be tolerated.
“Once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, and the third time is enemy action. If the deposition of a Sultan and NSCIA leader happens a second time, Nigerian Muslims will not allow the embarrassment to happen a third time. MURIC calls on the Sokoto State House of Assembly to review the state’s chieftaincy laws to exempt the Sultan of Sokoto.
“MURIC reiterates its call on the Sokoto State House of Assembly to either repeal or review the state’s chieftaincy laws by adding the phrase ‘except the Sultan of Sokoto’ to Section 6, Cap 26 of the Laws of Northern Nigeria which empowers the state governor to depose the emirs including the Sultan. We urge Northern elites and Islamic scholars to intervene promptly.
“This is the time to lobby the Sokoto State House of Assembly and the governor himself. If the chieftaincy laws of Kano State can be repealed within 24 hours, nothing stops that of Sokoto State from being reviewed in favour of immunity for the office of the Sultan in a single day to save Nigerian Muslims from humongous embarrassment.”
For those eager to speculate around the sudden death of Mary Habila, a female student who reportedly died inside one of the rooms in the country home of Dave Umahi, located in Uburu, Ebonyi State, there is a message from the Minister of Works – prepare to meet me in court.
The circumstances surrounding the mysterious death of the lady said to be a physiotherapist, has been a subject of intense speculation, since the news was broken on Saturday by SaharaReporters, a foremost Nigerian online newspaper.
Umahi, who had earlier stated how he was shocked by the incident, explained that the deceased was one of the two employees of the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, who had been on secondment to the Federal Ministry of Works as physiotherapists for the past three years until, before her unfortunate passing.
On Saturday, the Minister, had warned those he referred as “tale bearers” to apply caution, to enable the police conduct unfettered investigation into the matter, said to have occurred in his palatial home on June 27.
Conveying the position of his boss, Nwaze, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity had said in a statement: “The attention of the Media Office of the Honourable Minister of Works, Senator Engr. David Nweze Umahi, has been drawn to a publication by a publication concerning the unfortunate passing of Miss Mary Habila in Uburu, Ebonyi State, alleging that the circumstances surrounding her death were shrouded in secrecy.
“The Honourable Minister received the news with profound shock and sadness and has since extended his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. For the avoidance of doubt, immediately the unfortunate incident occurred, appropriate emergency steps were taken. Medical personnel, including the Chief Medical Director of the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, were contacted without delay, while the Nigeria Police was promptly notified in accordance with the law.
“Following confirmation of Miss Habila’s passing, the Honourable Minister personally received her parents, conveyed his sincere condolences, and advised that an autopsy be conducted to scientifically establish the exact cause of death. At the time, however, the family declined the recommendation.
“It is important to clarify that Miss Mary Habila and Miss Anita Baski are employees of the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, who had been on secondment to the Federal Ministry of Works as physiotherapists for the past three years until the unfortunate passing of Miss Habila.
“Following the recent developments and in the interest of ensuring that the truth is established beyond doubt, the Honourable Minister has again reiterated his position that an autopsy must be conducted. He remains convinced that this is the most credible and responsible path to resolving all questions surrounding the unfortunate incident.
“We therefore urge the public to exercise restraint, refrain from speculation or premature conclusions, and allow the relevant authorities to carry out their responsibilities without interference. At this difficult time, our thoughts and prayers remain with the family of the deceased, and we pray that God grants them the strength to bear this irreparable loss.”
Upping the ante, Umahi, told reporters on Sunday during the inspection of work along the Ebonyi section of the Calabar–Ebonyi–Benue–Nasarawa–Abuja Super Highway, saying his lawyers had been fully briefed to pursue legal action against those responsible for circulating alleged defamatory reports against him.
The Minister, who was quoted as condemning what he described as defamatory activities by “evil people who claim to be freedom fighters”, insisting such conduct should never be tolerated, explained that there was nothing hidden about the incident.
Explaining that the family of the deceased was in the full picture of the incident, being the ones who forced open the doors to the room after becoming concerned and immediately sought medical assistance, he said the police was fully in the matter also.
Wondering what led to people insinuating coverup on a matter that was already with the police, he was quoted as saying: “The family broke the girl’s door, called doctors from DUFUTH, who took her to hospital and did everything to revive her, but failed. The family reported the matter to the police, so where is the secrecy?”
For the first time in six years, Nigeria has recorded a crude oil and condensate production increase of an average of 1,735,398 barrels per day in June 2026, after posting consecutive four-month growth.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), which made the announcement on Sunday, also indicated that the also met its production quota set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Against the backdrop of scenarios, where oil theft and other shortcomings in the industry, which seemed peculiar had previously hampered crude production, which at a point dipped to as low as 700,000bpd, the agency through Eniola Akinkuotu, its spokesman, stated that in June, crude oil production hit 1.56mbpd while 0.18mbpd of condensates was produced, meaning the figure exceeded the OPEC quota of 1.5 mbpd by four per cent.
In strict crude oil terms (excluding condensates), the 1.56 million daily average production Nigeria witnessed in June is the highest that Africa’s biggest oil producer has recorded since April 2020, thus representing a 74-month high, the statement added.
Stressing the feat, the agency said in June, the peak combined crude oil and condensate production was 1.89mbpd, reflecting Nigeria’s potential to reach two million barrels per day in the near term, but however, the lowest production was 1.57mbpd for the period in review.
The NUPRC, while also stating that the improved performance was primarily driven by stable production operations across most producing assets, said the absence of any major pipeline outages during the period under review, resulting in enhanced operational stability supported improved production uptime and crude evacuation efficiency.
If a marching order by President Bola Tinubu, is achieved, every Nigerian would be captured in in the national identity database before the end of 2026, going by the signals coming from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
Abisoye Coker-Odusote, Director General and Chief Executive Officer, who gave the out the information, said the President, the directive formed part of the Federal Government’s efforts to establish a comprehensive national identity system capable of supporting effective governance, planning, and service delivery.
A guest on Sunday Politics, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, the NIMC boss, told her host: “The President has given us till the end of this year to make sure that we capture every single Nigerian.
“What we have done is we have partnered through the World Bank ID4D project with front-end partners. They are part of the digital identity ecosystem. These are private citizens that we’ve enabled and given jobs to enrol citizens on our behalf.”
Stressing that the mandate of the agency, she explained that the National Identification Number (NIN) remained a unique identifier, ensuring that every individual is registered only once, stating that presently, Nigeria’s actual population remains uncertain, with estimates ranging from 200 million to 250 million, making a comprehensive identity database essential for national planning.
She said: “That’s why it’s called a unique identifier, so that you’re only enrolled once. It is estimated that we’re 200 million. When we’re done enrolling, we will then know the actual numbers that we have. Some estimates say 230 million, while a few people say 250 million.
“Your identity is basically the foundation for effective governance and service delivery. How can you plan if you don’t know the total number of persons that you have? We have been mandated by Mr President to go down to the community levels to enrol every single Nigerian.”
Dismissing the possibility of double registration under different guises, she said the NIMC boss said the commission’s biometric verification system prevents such occurrences, adding that while the previous system could accept duplicate enrolments before detecting them later, the current process automatically identified and invalidated multiple registrations.
“The legacy system had no way of verifying at the front end whether you had already been captured. Once the record comes into the system, it flags it as a duplicate or that the person already exists in the database.
“You would only have one identity generated for you. The other record goes into a deduplication bucket where it is invalidated. One of the things that this Act has done is to cement our role in capturing biometrics. Private and public sector organisations will no longer capture biometrics independently. They will validate identities through API integration with NIMC.
“The telcos are already doing that with us. If you need a SIM card, they capture your facial biometrics, which are matched against our database in real time to confirm that you are who you claim to be. We’re using biometric validation to tighten security around identity confirmation.”
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