I’VE NOT DECLARED GOV INTEREST YET, SAYS MALAMI – PUNCH PG. 14
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Tuesday, debunked media reports on his declaration of interest in the Kebbi State governorship election. A national newspaper (not The PUNCH) had quoted Malami as declaring for the Kebbi governorship position. But in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Jubrilu Gwandu, Malami stated that the clarification became necessary due to what he described as the false reports in some sections of the media. The statement partly read, “A video being circulated as the purported declaration was mischievously translated with fabricated insertions and interpolations that cannot in spirit and context establish the malformation circulated.”
NDLEA OPERATIVES RAID LAGOS NIGHTCLUB, CUSTOMERS ALLEGE BRUTALITY – PUNCH PG. 4
Some clubbers have accused officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency of brutality during a raid on Club Lakers, a nightclub in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State. PUNCH Metro gathered that the customers were having a nice time when no fewer than 15 armed NDLEA officials, who came in patrol vehicles, stormed the premises of the club. The officials were said to have ordered the deejay to stop the music, as they subjected the guests at the club and lounge to a search. CCTV footage installed at the club showed as the operatives ordered customers to raise their hands while they searched their pockets, bags and purses one after the other.
MUBARAK BALA, KANO ATHEIST, BAGS 45-YEAR JAIL SENTENCE – DAILY TRUST PG. 4
Bala, who is the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, pleaded guilty to committing blasphemy against Allah (SWT) and Prophet Muhammad (SAW). He made the headlines in 2020 when he was arrested at his residence in Kaduna over blasphemy and incitement. The convict who had been in a correctional facility for almost two years, entered a guilty plea on Tuesday when he was brought before the court on an 18-count charge. While pleading with the court on Tuesday to tender justice with mercy, Bala promised not to repeat the said blasphemous post, saying he did not know it would elicit the sort of reactions it got when he shared them.
ALLEGED N5.2B FRAUD: ‘HOW EX-JAMB REGISTRAR OJERINDE FUNDED OUR RADIO STATION’ – THE NATION PG.3
A former Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Air Commodore Najeem Alade Sanusi (retired), yesterday told a Federal High Court in Abuja how a former Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Adedibu Ojerinde, funded the establishment of a radio station jointly belonging to them. The radio station, incorporated under the name of Ifelodun Communication Nigeria Limited, is one of the companies and property Ojerinde is accused of acquiring with the funds he allegedly diverted while in office. He is accused, among others, of diverting public funds estimated at over N5.2 billion. Testifying as the second prosecution witness, Sanusi said he is from the same Igboho community in Oyo State with Ojerinde and that he brought the idea of establishing a radio station to the ex-JAMB boss.
