Slave trade: We’re not to blame- Libyan government

Following the pool of reactions trailing the alleged slave market in Libya, the Libyan government has finally opened up, saying that there is a campaign of calumny against its government.

The Charge d’Affaires/Ambassador-Designate of Libya to Nigeria, Dr Attia Alkhoder, who spoke with some select government-owned media in Abuja, said the press conference was coming “at a time of fierce media and political campaigns against Libya, claiming that there is human trade market in its territory.”

The Libyan envoy said “the claim followed media assumption carried out by the Cable News Network (CNN) channel of America and political comments follow it.” Recall that there were media reports last week about Nigerians being sold off in Libya at a paltry sum of $400.

The development generated public outcry, with the Charly Boy-led group, OurMumuDonDo, occupying the Libyan Embassy located within the Asokoro district of Abuja on Thursday.

But Alkhoder said “It seems barraging in relation to smuggling them to their destination (Europe) as immigrants not as slaves. The barraging is about the cost of transporting them to Europe, not capture their freedom in order to savage them.”

He, however,  said the Government of National Accord of Libya renewed its condemnation of the criminal practice of trading and trafficking of human beings on all levels, be it a national, regional or international.

“We would like to confirm that any deed that happens to immigrants right is not more than individual action and not the practice of Libyan people. We condemn and reject in totality, the criminal practice of trading and trafficking of human beings on the basis that any relation with immigrants should be conceded with human dignity.

“The Government of National Accord wonders at the fierce and blind campaigns that were carried by the international media and participation of some political officials of friendly countries who should be aware of the immigrants’ situation, and the exceptional condition.

“In Libya, what worries us deeply is the objectives of this campaign which was carried by countries that reject accepting immigrants and do not assist to bear any cost of this phenomena which Libya is most harmed by. It constitutes danger to its security, social constructions and loads on its initial weak economy.

“Libya renews its call to put an end to exploitation, suffering of the ambitious African man looking for better life in Europe and human trafficking, right from the country of source, route and target country.

“Libya calls to initiate international campaign to put an end to these phenomena by providing security, border control to end Libyan crisis, unify its government institutions and end the transition system that contribute a lot in the weakening control of territory, hence allow for smugglers to be more active on their illegal activities,” Alkhoder said.

The Libyan envoy also said the Libyan authority had immediately instructed the relevant agencies to carry out a comprehensive investigation on the criminal claim according to the Libyan law and reveal its findings to local and international community, apprehend and punish persons responsible for it, be it human trafficking of immigrants or human trading.

The Worst days behind Nigeria - - - Emiefele

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele has affirmed that with the Nigerian economy exiting the recession, following a number of policy responses, the worst days were clearly behind the country.

Emefiele noted that based on analyses and understanding of the developments which confronted the country, the central bank took a number of measures, many of which were at the time vigorously criticised, but which helped the economy out of the recession.

Tracing the economic recession to the significant and persistent drop in commodity prices that affected the economy adversely, Emefiele said the resultant effect was depressed GDP growth, rising inflation, depreciation of the exchange rate, as well as depletion of the country’s foreign exchange (FX) reserves, and the decline in average FX inflows.

Emefiele, who delivered the 47th convocation lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) yesterday, pointed out that the vulnerabilities of Nigeria to the global shocks were amplified because of the nation’s over-reliance on the oil sector for FX revenue and for government finances.

“Even at the height of high oil prices, rather than save, we drained our buffers through an excessive dependence on imports, most of which could be produced locally".

“Based on our analyses and understanding of these developments, the Bank took a number of measures many of which were at the time vigorously criticised,” he said.

Robert Mugabe resigns as President of Zimbabwe

Robert Mugabe has resigned as president of Zimbabwe with immediate effect after 37 years in power, ushering in a new era for a country as uncertain as it is hopeful.

The man who ruled with an autocrat’s grip for so many years finally caved to popular and political pressure hours after parliament launched proceedings to impeach him.

He had refused to leave office during an eight-day crisis that began when the military took over last week. Clinging to the formal vestiges of power, he was unable or unwilling to recognise that after so many years of political mastery, he had lost control of both his party and the country.

                                           Singing and dancing breaks out on the streets of Harare

Senate to investigate death of 26 Nigerian girls on Mediterranean

The Senate is to investigate  the death of 26 young Nigerian girls on the Mediterranean while travelling to Italy.

The measure followed a resolution on a motion “On death of 26 Young Nigerian Girls en route Italy”, sponsored by Sen. Rose Oko (PDP-Cross-River) during Thursday’s plenary.

The assembly also commended the Italian authorities for immediately stepping into the matter with the hope of resolving the murders.

It called on the Federal Government to set up an inter-agency committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigerian Immigration Service, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons  to immediately work out a strategy to check such development.

The Senate also called on government to declare a state of emergency on unemployment and come out with more pro-active measures to engage the youth.

“On Nov. 6 it was reported by national and international media the gruesome story of the dead bodies of 26 young Nigerian girls of ages 14 to 18 discovered in a Spanish warship.

I don’t have N1bn to give Jonathan, Metuh tells court

Olisa Metuh

Beleaguered former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja not to set aside the subpoena it issued to compel former President Goodluck Jonathan to appear as a witness in his ongoing trial.

Metuh further challenged Jonathan’s insistence that the defendant must deposit with the court, for and on behalf of himself, the sum of N1billion in line with provisions of Section 241(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, before he would mount the witness box.

Jonathan had in a motion his lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, moved before the court on Wednesday, urged trial Justice Okon Abang to compel Metuh to pay the N1bn to cover travelling expenses for himself and his security personnel from his home town, Otuoke in Bayelsa State, to Abuja and also for time that he might spend appearing before the court as President of Nigeria between 2010 to 2015. Jonathan maintained that the evidence Metuh is seeking from him would amount to an invasion of his personal right to privacy, and family life as provided for in Section 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. He told the court that the evidence sought to be obtained from him was likely to expose him to a criminal charge, penalty or forfeiture.

Ekwueme collapses at home, admitted in hospital

Alex Ekwueme

Second republic Vice-President of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, has collapsed and is currently at the Intensive Care Unit of Memfys Hospital for Neurosurgery, in Trans-Ekulu, Enugu State.

The Punch Newspaper  learnt on Tuesday night that Ekwueme collapsed around 2am last Saturday, at his residence in Independence Layout, Enugu.

The development comes barely 10 days (October 10) after he celebrated his 85th birthday.

Family members disclosed to some reporters that the former vice-president went into coma soon after he collapsed.

“He was trying to get something from the table when he suddenly collapsed and immediately someone raised the alarm, we proceeded to revive him while cautious enough not to attract neighbours,” a relative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.

Medical personnel at Memphys Hospital said that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State broke down in tears on seeing Ekwueme at the Intensive Care Unit on Tuesday evening.

Although the governor’s visit was enshrouded in secrecy so as not to attract the prying eyes of the media and residents in the state, it was gathered that he could not hide his emotions as he wailed uncontrollably.

As grazing law takes effect from today: We’ll head for ICC to protect Benue people from herdsmen— OrtomG

Governor Samuel Ortom 

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has reiterated his commitment to approach the International Criminal Court, ICC, at The Hague, to have Benue people protected from herdsmen attacks as the Open Grazing Prohibition Law comes into effect today.

Addressing thousands of Benue people, including youths and non-indigenes resident in the state under the aegis of Street Movement Against Ravages in Benue, during a solidarity/sensitisation walk to mark the end of open grazing in the state, the governor said he will not renege on his avowed determination to protect the lives and properties of the people.

Represented by his Deputy, Mr. Benson Abounu, Governor Ortom said: “As a law-abiding government that believes in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we will not shy away from our responsibilities to protect the lives of all the inhabitants of Benue State against any forceful perpetration of criminal injustices." That is why this law came into being, And from November 1 (today), the law will come into full force because for close to five years herdsmen killed thousands of Benue people and it was almost becoming a pogrom.

“If it means going to the International Criminal Court at The Hague, talking to people, sensitising, singing and shouting, this government will go the whole hog to protect the lives and properties of our people.”

Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo communities back Ortom

Earlier, speaking on behalf of the Benue Youths Forum, Mr. Daniel Nyikagh, who declared the support of all Benue youths for Governor Ortom, said: “The law is the panacea to the pogrom we witnessed in our state; it is not intended to chase anyone away, but to ensure peaceful coexistence."

Speaking on behalf of displaced persons, Reverend Father Solomon Mffa, said: “President Muhammadu Buhari must speak out against the activities of herdsmen in the country, because the killing of innocent persons is worst than corruption.”

The leaders of Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa communities, who spoke at the occasion, pledged their support for Ortom, the law and its full implementation.

Many of the participants bore placards with inscriptions such as ‘No more wild grazing in Benue,’ ‘Benue people stand with Governor Samuel Ortom,’ ‘Herdsmen respect our laws,’ ‘We are tired of burying our people’ and ‘Open grazing prohibition law is for peaceful coexistence.’

Victims of Nigerian Civil War to receive N50 billion as compensation

Forty-seven years after the Nigerian Civil War, the Federal Government yesterday accepted to pay the victims a total of N50 billion as compensation and spend N38 billion to evacuate abandoned bombs.

A breakdown of the compensation, as adopted by the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, showed that N50 billion is to be paid directly to the victims of the war in 11 affected states in the South-East, South-South and parts of the North-Central regions.

The remaining N38 billion will go for the evacuation of abandoned bombs and other lethal weapons as well as the construction of schools, courts, churches and mosques in the affected areas.

According to a consent judgment read by Justice Friday Chijioke Nwoke in Abuja yesterday, the Federal Government is expected to pay the N50 billion into the United Bank of Africa (UBA) account with number 1018230076 belonging to the nominated counsel for the war victims, Chief Noel Agwuocha Chukwukadibia, while the N38 billion is to be paid into another UBA account with number 1016296801 belonging to Deminers Concept Nigeria Limited for both RSB Holdings Nigeria Limited and Deminers Concept Nigeria Limited, who are expected to evacuate all the abandoned bombs and other dangerous weapons in farmlands, schools, churches and mosques of the war victims, and also, for carrying out construction.

PDP seeks impeachment as Buhari sacks SGF, NIA boss

After many months of dillydallying, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday sacked the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal, and the Director-General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ayo Oke.

Buhari said the decision to sack the duo, who were ‎earlier suspended over allegations of fraud levelled against them, followed his acceptance of the recommendation of the panel to terminate their appointment.

And swiftly, the president announced the appointment of Mr. Boss Mustapha as the new SGF. The appointment takes immediate effect.

Jamb Central Admission Processing System (CAPS): How it Works and Benefits

The newly introduced Central Admission Processing System, CAPS came to replace the manual process of admitting student and human errors associated with it. This post clearly explains in simple terms how this system works and the major benefits to candidates and other stake holders.

How the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) Works

Each school will have its own dashboard on the Central Admission Processing System. This dashboard will be managed by the admission officers of the different schools. The school's admission officer will have to set the admission criteria of their schools and the admission quote of the school on the dash board.

The Admission Officers will set the General UTME cut-off marks, the UTME Cut-off mark for each course or programme, Post-UTME screening cut-off marks, O’level grading as well as other admission criteria the school wants to use in selecting. Please note that the admission criteria differ from school to school. Some school may use all the admission criteria mentioned above while some schools will not.

The Admission officers will equally determine the percentage weight for each of the different admission criteria set on the system. e.g UTME Score =50%, Post-UTME Score = 30% etc (note that the total percentage is 100).

North Korea could test hydrogen bomb over Pacific Ocean in response to Trump’s threats

Kim Jong Un

North Korea could test a powerful nuclear weapon over the Pacific Ocean in response to US President Donald Trump's threats of military action, the country's foreign minister has warned.

Ri Yong Ho spoke to reporters in New York shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made an unprecedented televised statement, accusing Trump of being "mentally deranged."

The forceful rhetoric from Pyongyang came after Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea in a speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. Trump tweeted Friday that Kim was "obviously a madman" who would be "tested like never before."

In a rare direct statement delivered straight to camera, Kim said that Trump would "pay dearly" for the threats, and that North Korea "will consider with seriousness exercising of a corresponding, highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history."

"I am now thinking hard about what response he could have expected when he allowed such eccentric words to trip off his tongue," Kim said. "I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire."

Hours later, Kim's foreign minister told reporters in New York that Pyongyang could launch a nuclear missile test in response. "This could probably mean the strongest hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific Ocean. Regarding which measures to take, I don't really know since it is what Kim Jong Un does," said Ri.

The phrase "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history" could be considered an escalation in the choice of language used, said Vipin Narang, a professor of political science at MIT and expert on deterrence and nuclear policy.

"This is clearly trying to coerce the US into playing ball," Narang told CNN.

ASUU Calls off Strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, last night announced a conditional suspension of the strike it embarked upon five weeks ago.

But the union said that the suspension has time line for the Federal Government to implement what was contained in the memorandum of action the two parties entered into.

Briefing journalists after a meeting with the Federal Government Negotiation Team, the National President of ASUU, Prof. Abiodun Ogunyemi said in event the government in her characteristic nature fails to implement the aggreement, the union will not hesitate to take appropriate action, adding that all the items on the list have a time line.

ASUU and the Federal Government team led by the Minister of Labour and Employment Senator Chris Ngige had lurked in a meeting that started about 4.30pm.

Another 1000 Rifles Container Intercepted At Lagos’ Port.

The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted a container loaded with 1,100 riffles at Tin Can port, Apapa, Lagos state, marking the third seizure within eight months.

It would be recalled that the Tin Can command had previously intercepted no fewer than 1,101 pump action riffles in two different operations at the port.

The Controller-General, NCS, Col. Hameed Ali (retd), disclosed the interception during his visit to the port on Monday where he inspected the seized container which contained the discovered rifles.

Ali narrated that the riffles were discovered in a 20-feet container with number GESU2555208, which previously was not listed for the day examination before been intercepted by NCS intelligence unit.

He said: “The intelligence unit also observed that the seal of this unlisted container, which was conveyed by Vessel MV Bella shuttle, had already been cut and padlocked. this further made the container become suspect and they had to immediately transfer it to enforcement unit.

Adyorough assassinated, wife injured in Benue

Tavershima Adyorough

The Benue State Police Command has confirmed the killing by bandits of Mr Tavershima Adyorough, Principal Senior Special Assistant to Gov. Samuel Ortom on Knowledge Economy and Investment. Adyorough was also a member of the Benue Economic Team. 

Mr. Bashir Makama, Police Commissioner in Benue, told newsmen on Sunday in Makurdi, that Adyorough was killed in the early hours of Sunday. “He was killed in his house by bandits, who also shot his wife. The woman is currently responding to treatment at a government hospital in Makurdi,” he said.

Nigerians are poor not because Nigeria is not endowed but due to massive stealing – Osinbajo

The Acting President on Wednesday urged Nigerians to exercise caution in their utterances and respect each other in their conversations and interactions to foster national unity. 

Speaking at a seminar on national unity and stability at the DSS Training School, Bwari, Abuja, Osinbajo also advised the citizenry to shun all narratives which foment trouble and create divisions and embrace those that unite.

According to the Acting President, the language of exchange in the country must be civil and we must not tolerate a situation where people speak in any way they like.

He was reacting to hate speeches which had crept up in different sections of the country, thereby heating up the polity.

World’s Billionaires 2017: Dangote, Adenuga Soar, Amazon CEO Reigns

Forbes 2017 world’s billionaires list has been released which briefly had Amazon CEO as the richest man with a fortune of over $90 billion, overtaking Bill Gates.

In the list, President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, saw his net worth increase by $162m to $16.2bn while the net worth of the Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga, rose by $7m to $6.2bn.

However, Africa’s richest woman, Folorunsho Alakija, who is the founder and Executive Chairman of Famfa Oil Limited, had her net worth unchanged at $1.6bn.

The new king, Amazon CEO, who started selling books from his garage 22 years ago, had a net worth of over $89 billion as of the close of markets Wednesday, while Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates had a net worth of just over $90 billion.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has overtaken Bill Gates and is now the richest person in the world, with a fortune topping $90 billion for the first time ever.

When markets opened on Thursday, Bezos had a net worth of $90.6 billion, putting him $500 million ahead of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Amazon stock opened up 1.6% on Thursday, adding $1.4 billion to Bezos’ net worth. That was enough to put him ahead of Gates, who was last surpassed on Forbes’ real-time rankings for just two days nearly a year ago by Spanish retail giant Amancio Ortega.

Forbes started tracking billionaires around the globe in 1987. Bezos is now the seventh person to hold the title of the world’s richest person and the third American to top the global ranks besides Gates and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos 

JAMB says no more speedy release of UTME results

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it would henceforth ensure the resolution of all exam issues before releasing results of its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), to avoid cancellation.

Fabian Benjamin, JAMB spokesperson, said this in an interview with NAN in Bwari, FCT, while speaking on the outcome of the mop-up examination results.
He disclosed that the results of supplementary examination conducted by the Board on July 1 in 170 centres for 85, 000 candidates across the country had been released.
He explained that the result was delayed to ascertain there were no hitches all the centres that the supplementary exam was conducted.

Jonathan's response to Nigerians after North issues quit notice to Igbos

Nigeria's former president, Goodluck Jonathan has weighed in on the ethnic tension following an ultimatum issued to the Igbos in the north to leave the region by a Northern youth forum.

It was gathered that Jonathan took to his Facebook page on Thursday, June 8, to share a powerful message to Nigerians.

In his message the former president stated that Nigerians have the right to live in any part of the country.

Nigeria's former president Goodluck Jonathan says Nigerians have the right to live in any part of the country.

He said:

"Every Nigerian citizen has an inalienable right to reside in any part of Nigeria. As Nigerians, we should all tailor our thoughts, actions and utterances to promote this and other rights.

We are all brothers and sisters born from the womb of mother Nigeria. There are no still births or unwanted births from our mother.

We are all one and equal and it is the responsibility of all men of goodwill to appeal for calm and unity in our beloved country Nigerians."

It has been on news that a group named, the Coalition of Northern Youths (CNY) on Tuesday, June 6, issued a statement orderingIgbo people in the north to vacate Northern Nigeria within 3 months.

It was learnt that learnt that the group also urged northern people in the south-eastern part of the country to immediately start moving back to their various states.

The group threatened that from the 1st October, 2017, it will begin to prove to the whole world the north was no longer part of any federal union that should do with the Igbos.

N19tn debt: NESG, Utomi, Rewane, others call for caution

Economic and financial experts have raised the alarm over the nation’s rising debt burden, calling on the Federal Government to spend more on capital expenditure and exercise care in its quest for more borrowing.

The experts, who spoke in separate interviews with our correspondents on Tuesday, reacted to the N7.1tn increase in the nation’s total debt in two years to N19.16tn as of March 2017.

A professor of Political Economy and management expert, Pat Utomi, said, “A country is not different from a household, more or less generally, in terms of how it manages its finances. So, if your personal debt profile is going up at that rate, will you be comfortable?

“However, there are times that you need to spend your way, literally speaking, out of a challenge of output; recession being one of those. But I think that even at that, you need a certain level of care to make sure that you don’t get into an unsustainable debt scenario.”

Utomi expressed hope that the government would be more careful even if the recession required spending.

“My big worry is that the impact of the borrowing may not be reflected on output, in the sense that if we get into a double whammy where our debt balloons, but we don’t have the necessary stimulation of production, especially when our consumption is very external in its orientation, we need be very careful to watch all of those,” he added.

The Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, said it was wrong for the government to be mainly borrowing to support recurrent expenditure.

He said, “We need to move away from debts for recurrent expenditure to debts for capital expenditure, which is projects-specific. The debt level itself is not dangerous, but the debt service level – the debt burden – is very high.

“We are using 66 per cent of our independent revenue to pay interest. So, interest rates must come down substantially, or else, we are in trouble.”

Reps summon Health Minister, NAFDAC DG over beverage packages

The House of Representatives on Wednesday summoned the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, to appear before it to explain likely effects of using plastic containers to package foods and beverages.

Also, Yetunde Oni, the acting Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, was summoned to appear before the house.

The decision was sequel to a motion by Rep. Sergius Ogun (Edo-PDP) entitled: “Need to Regulate the Use of Bisphenol “A”(BPA) Plastics in the Production of Bottled Water”.

Moving the motion, Ogun expressed concern over the effects of drinking water in plastic containers that had been left under the sun or near a heat source, which had been linked to degenerative diseases.

He explained that plastics were hydrocarbons obtained from crude oil which, when heated, became unstable and slowly released chemicals that entered the water.

According to him, most plastics contain a chemical known as Bisphenol “A” (BPA), also known as “environmental estrogen” which causes reproductive defect and neurological abnormalities and prostate issues.

“During the hot and humid weather, the demand for water is on the increase and as such, production of bottled water is on the rise.

“The production of bottled water in most parts is unregulated.

“As a result, the use of BPA plastics, which are by far cheaper than the non-BPA, is generally used by companies producing bottled water,” he said.

Other lawmakers that contributed to the debate called for sensitisation of the public on the health hazard of using plastic bottles to package drinks and foods.

In his contributions, Rep. Oghene Egoh (Lagos-PDP) said, “we need to educate the public on this.“

Also, Rep. Rotimi Agunsoye (Lagos-APC), warned against the dangerous effects of Bisphenol “A“ to the body.

“It is important that we inform NAFDAC and the National Orientation Agency to educate and sensitise the public on health hazard of using plastics to package drinks and foods,’’ Agunsoye said.

The motion was unanimously adopted by members when it was put to a voice vote by Speaker Yakubu Dogara.

It was referred to the House Committee on Healthcare Services for further legislative action.

APC declared winner of ALL Benue’s 23 councils — without election results

The Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) announced on Sunday that the All Progressive Congress (APC) had won all the 23 local government chairmanship seats in the election held on Saturday.

It also announced that the party won all the councillorship positions, with some of the candidates returned unopposed.

John Tsuwa, BSIEC chairman, who declared the results in Makurdi, the state capital, however, declined to release details of votes scored by the candidates.
“The figures are not ready. I will not entertain questions because this is not a press conference,,” he told curious reporters.

Tsuwa said that eight political parties participated in the exercise and listed them to include Accord Party, APC, PDP, SDP, ACB, PPP, LP and NNPP.
He thanked security agencies for ensuring a smooth conduct of the elections, and expressed happiness that no case of violence or snatching of ballot box was reported throughout the exercise.

Minister Dismisses Yari’s Theory On Meningitis

Abdulaziz Yari

Minister of State for Health says the outbreak of Meningitis in some parts of the country has nothing to do with moral or spiritual lifestyles of Nigerians as postulated by Governor  Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State.

Dr. Osagie Ehanire, trashed the governor’s statement in an interview with State House correspondents on Wednesday in Abuja at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting.

President Muhammadu Buhari presided over the meeting.

Gov. Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara was on Tuesday quoted to have attributed the outbreak of the meningitis ‘C’ on fornication and other sins being committed by Nigerians. Clearly, Yari was playing a blame game instead of taking responsibility for his inaction.

Zamfara has been the worst hit state since the seasonal disease broke with reports of vaccine shortage in the state and hundreds of people dying.

Ehanire said that the outbreak of the virus had nothing to do with the lifestyles of Nigerians.

According to him, nature only played “a fast one’’ on the affected states.

“The federal government does not have views of that nature‎ and I am not sure the state government can really continue to make that statement.”

“When things happen, yes you can begin to look this way and that way for the cause of it.”

“But like I said, nature played us an unfortunate stroke but that is not to say we committed sin or anything.”