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ACF vows continued support for Tinubu-Shettima administration
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), a prominent quasi-political and socio-cultural group in the north has pledged continuous support to the administration of president Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
During a courtesy visit to the Vice President at the presidential villa in Abuja, ACF leaders conveyed this commitment while presenting an invitation for the Forum’s 25th anniversary celebration.
Bashir Dalhatu, who chairs the ACF Board of Trustees, praised the collaborative relationship between President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima, as well as other northerners serving in the administration.
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“For us northerners, the Vice President is our number one ambassador. His image is carrying our spirit, our image, our aspiration, and we have noticed that he has brought it into this administration.
“He has supported the president a 100 percent. We are very proud of the support he and all our sons and daughters are giving to this government,” The ACF BoT Chairman said.
Dalhatu emphasized the ACF’s dedication to ensuring the success of President Tinubu’s government.
“They are excellent ambassadors. We are proud of them and we shall continue to support them. But, we shall also continue to point out to them areas that we think we can make improvement to the benefit of all Nigerians not just to the north,” Bashir added.
The organization was founded in 2000 with the objective of advancing the political interests of northern Nigerians.
When discussing the Forum’s achievements, Dalhatu outlined various interventions undertaken by the ACF in both the north and across Nigeria.
“When the forum was established in the year 2000, there were quite a few numbers of other socio-cultural organisations. But the leadership at that time – the governors, the emirs and chiefs, the sultan and everybody – the leadership of the north met together and said let us create one single organization that can unite our people, and then move on in the same spirit and unite the country. We have done so.
“We have intervened in many areas of conflict in the north. We have given advice. We have written papers. We have visited and discussed. We have even intervened in many areas of economic development and social intervention programmes. We hope to carry forward this attitude.
“Before ACF came in, there were so many areas of conflict in the north. Even though they have not finished completely, but we have succeeded in reducing a lot of it, and now, I think everybody can see the difference.
“Two, we have continued to propagate and sensitize people on how best to be self-reliant, and how best to join efforts to create a good economy for northern Nigeria, and consequently move in to contribute in the development of the economy of this country.”
According to the ACF leadership, the silver jubilee anniversary will serve as an opportunity to strengthen peace and unity across Nigeria’s diverse regions and ethnic groups for national advancement.
“We are creating this occasion to create goodwill, peace and good wishes to Nigerians. We have invited other socio-cultural organisations in the south, like the Afinifere, the PANDEF and the Ohaneze Ndi-Igbo, so that they can come and share with us this happy moment of spending 25 years in progress, and hope to also visit and learn from all walks of life of Nigerians on how best to continue to keep this country together united as one indivisible nation in progress,” Dalhatu said.
Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor of Oyo State, on Thursday, finally threw his hats into the ring by declaring his intention to run for president in 2027, with a message – history beckons.
The governor, whose ambition has been a matter of speculations for months now and who had teamed up with forces angling to force President Bola Tinubu, out of power, told a teeming crowd in Ibadan on Thursday that time had come to reset Nigeria.
At a mega-rally to announce the alliance between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples’ Movement, (APM), Makinde, expressed worry over the dwindling fortunes of Nigerians, vowing to engage Nigerians to end the drift.
Hear him: “Without a multi-party system, there is no democracy. Where is our multi-party? Where do we go from here? We have been pushed to the wall.
“They calculated and self-opposition cannot unite but I am here to say that the opposition is the everyday Nigerian. This is the time for all us to ensure Nigeria works for us. This is the time to confront it fears. It is time to engage as citizens and not spectators.
“For the opposition political parties, this is the time to unite and work in unity and give our nation the much reset it needs. The time to reset Nigeria is now. Ibadan is the city of warriors. The first grand alliance is formed. The PDP and APM is formed. This handshake will allow us to field candidates from presidency to state Assembly. And so, I declare my candidacy for office of the president of Nigeria.”
Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), on Wednesday, gave a detailed account on how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) manhandled him on Monday.
He told reporters that he was at sea on why he should fall victim to the assault against his person and eventually arrested given that was not right person directly involved in the information the agency sought.
Some operatives of the EFCC who invaded the hospital, had whisked Ekpe away after firing teargas to scare away the workers, patients and visitors to the hospital, following what appeared like a fracas the ensued over what it claimed was a routine duty in the facility.
Ekpe, Deputy Chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), described how an operative had first entered his office to make inquiries on why the hospital was yet to give a response to an EFCC inquiry over a medical report linked to a suspect facing trial.
He detailed how he briefed the operative that the said response was being prepared and even went ahead to show him the draft of a letter in that regard, which needed to go through the gamut of official endorsement before being released.
Hear him: “The head of that internal medicine department looked at the report and also discovered that the name of the doctor that signed the report is not a member of staff of that department.
“I had prepared prepared a response to the EFCC on Monday, May 11, 2026, based on the findings. When the EFCC operative visited my office the next morning to collect the document, I told him that the response was ready in draft. I even showed him the draft, but told him that the document still needed approval from the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital before it could be officially signed and released.
“He pretended to have accepted that. He left, but later later returned with another armed operative and informed me that I was under arrest. I asked him why. I was not the one that issued the medical report. My name is not on the medical report. The report was not issued from my unit.
“But he said I would get the answer when I get to their office. I then asked him to at least wait for my staff member who I sent on an errand before joining them. But they refused.
“They started pushing me. They dragged me out of the office. Then I began to cry while they were dragging me. They had warned me not to speak. They had taken my phone. My cry as they were dragging me, attracted the workers to the scene, who enquired what was going on, but because they ordered me not to speak, I couldn’t say anything. They had their guns.
The members of staff of the hospital initially blocked them from taking me away. They then made a call. After that I saw many masked and armed men came violently, broke the protector, threatening the people that were around and people ran away.
“They picked some staff that were still by me. they dragged me and other staff, five of us into their van downstairs. By that time they discovered that the gate of the hospital were locked. So, they drove towards the gate and packed and the commotion continued. We were inside the van.
“I was so emotionally and psychologically traumatised that I couldn’t even look out of the vehicle to see what was happening outside. But I know that teargas and live bullets were shot. That’s all I can say for now.”
Joyce Abdulmalik, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, heard on Wednesday, how Zenith Bank raised alarm over the huge transaction in one of its branches by Abubakar Malami, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF-MoJ).
The bank said it immediately filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) in respect to the transactions, during its appearance in the ongoing trial of Malami, his wife, and son over allegation of massive looting of funds belonging to the Federal Government during his tenure.
Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with the bank, who appeared as witness in the case, where Malami, et al, are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N8.7 billion, to which they pleaded not guilty, gave the testimony while being questioned on the bank’s roles in the matter.
Details of the testimony conveyed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stated how the compliance officer who was cross-examined by Adebayo Adedeji, lawyer to the defendants admitted that the deposits in the account statements complied with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Arguments had stretched when Adedeji, opposed Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), lawyer to the EFCC, who had asked the witness to explain the meaning of a suspicious transaction report, stressing that there was no ambiguity in the term.
However, Okutepa, in response, maintained that section 215(3) of the Evidence Act did not preclude him from re-examining the witness while urging the court to allow the question for proper explanation.
After Abdulmalik, agreed and overruled Adedeji, the witness told the court that banks were required to alert the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) about fund deposits coming in a repetitive pattern, adding: “Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU.”
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