Headline

Aisha Buhari, Govs’ Wives Preferred Dubai Party To Gender Bills – Group

Published

4 years ago

March 8, 2022

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, on Tuesday, knocked the Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila led Ninth National Assembly over its insistence to drop pro-women bills which members voted on and rejected in the ongoing amendments to the 1999 Constitution.

The group said the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, and the 36 governors’ wives preferred to celebrate the birthday of the First Lady in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, the same day they couldn’t convince the male-dominated National Assembly to pass the pro-women provisions in the ongoing constitution amendment.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, also said the Ninth Assembly has entered the negative side of national history by not giving women equal roles as men in government.

About four-gender related bills failed to pass at the Senate and the House of Representatives last week which has generated condemnations both within and outside the National Assembly.

The rejected proposals include Bill 35 to “provide for special seat for women in the National and state Houses of Assembly;” Bill 37 to “provide for affirmative action for women in political party administration;” and Bill 68 which to give women a quota in the federal and state executive councils or ministerial and commissionership seats.

Reacting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “It is unfortunate that the Ninth Assembly has insisted that it won’t pass the pro-women provisions that would have been included in the yet-to-be amended constitution. The immediate consequence is that the current set of legislators in Abuja have entered the national book of infamy as reactionary elements who are afraid of their shadows because majority of them can’t win in a free and fair contest without bribing voters and the Independent Electoral Commission.

“It is the fear for their political future because their political status now is tainted by corruption and bribery that is why they are scared that if the enabling legislative environment is created for women participation in politics, they do not have any further prospects.

“Their parasitic nature on the political system has made them resort to fighting tooth and nail to prevent the revolutionary laws that would have resulted from the affirmative action and the other pro-women progressive legislations.

“Nigeria must learn from neighbouring Liberia which produced Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as President for 12 unbroken years. Nigeria must learn from Tanzania which currently has Samia Suluhu Hassan as President. Nigeria must learn from the United States which currently has Kamala Harris as Vice-President. Nigeria must learn from world nations providing the atmosphere for women to thrive in politics as well as other areas. The focus should be on capacity and competence and not masculine ego with empty heads.

“HURIWA calls for a repeat of the vote because the last vote was done like a secret cult. However, going forward, there has to be transparent free, fair, accountable and publicly advertised votes so Nigerians can see who voted and who rejected the credible legislation to empower women’s political participation.

“The President’s wife, Aisha Buhari; the Vice-President’s wife, Dolapo Osinbajo; as well as the wives of the 36 state governors now that they must have returned from their birthday ceremony in Dubai, must be vocal at this time to press home their demands. Failure to do this is a betrayal to womanhood.”

PUNCH

Headline

Court Jails Two For Targeting President With Sorcery

Published

7 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

A Zambian court on Monday sentenced two men to two years in prison with hard labour on charges of attempting to use witchcraft to kill the country’s president.

Mozambican national Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Zambian village chief Leonard Phiri were arrested in December in possession of charms, including a live chameleon.

Police said they planned to use the charms to harm President Hakainde Hichilema, and they were charged with professing knowledge of witchcraft and possession of charms.

“The motive of the crime was to kill the head of state,” magistrate Fine Mayambu ruled in the capital Lusaka on Monday.

“The convicts were not only enemies of the head of state but all Zambians. I therefore sentence them to 24 months imprisonment with hard labour from the date of their arrest,” he said.

The prosecution said the men had been hired by the brother of opposition MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda, who is facing trial for robbery, attempted murder and escaping custody.

Headline

Two Nigerians Face Jail Terms In Liberia’s Piracy Trial

Published

7 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Criminal Court ‘D’ in Monrovia is set to deliver judgment this week in Liberia’s first piracy trial, involving two Nigerian nationals accused of hijacking a cargo vessel in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to court records, the defendants were arrested earlier this year after a Liberia-flagged ship was seized by armed men while transporting goods through international waters. The crew sent a distress signal, prompting international maritime forces to intervene.

The suspects were subsequently transferred to Liberian authorities under global maritime cooperation protocols.

According to Liberia’s news platform, Front Page Africa, the case has attracted attention because Liberia maintains one of the world’s largest open ship registries, yet prosecutions for piracy within its domestic courts have not previously occurred. Under international law, Liberia holds jurisdiction over crimes involving ships registered under its flag.

On Monday, proceedings took a new turn when defense lawyer, Cllr. Bestman Juah, informed the court that the defendants had admitted responsibility for the hijacking and were requesting a plea-bargain arrangement. State prosecutors did not oppose the request, leaving open the possibility of reduced sentences in exchange for full cooperation.

Resident Judge Mameita Jabateh-Sirleaf, who presides over Criminal Court ‘D’, will rule on whether to accept the plea deal and determine the sentencing framework. The ruling could also address deportation measures following imprisonment.

Criminal Court ‘D’ handles cases involving armed robbery, terrorism, hijacking, and other serious crimes, and the piracy trial represents a growing trend of transnational offenses being prosecuted within Liberia’s judicial system.
As of press time, the court has not announced the date for sentencing.

Headline

Spain Cancels $825m Israel Arms Deal Over Gaza

Published

7 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

The Spanish government has cancelled a contract worth nearly 700 million euros ($825 million) for Israeli-designed rocket launchers.

The move comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced last week that his government would “consolidate in law” a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel over its offensive in Gaza.

The contract, awarded to a consortium of Spanish companies, involved the purchase of 12 SILAM rocket launcher systems derived from the PULS platform made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance.

First reported by local media and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the cancellation was formalised on Spain’s official public contracts platform on September 9.

The following day, Sanchez unveiled measures aimed at stopping what his leftist government called “the genocide in Gaza”.

It includes the approval of a decree imposing a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel due to its military offensive in Gaza, launched after the Hamas attacks in October 2023.

Spain applied the ban as Israel stepped up its military onslaught.

Spain has also formalized the cancellation of another contract for 168 anti-tank missile launchers, which were to be manufactured under license from an Israeli company.

That contract, valued at 287 million euros, had been first reported by the press in June.

According to Spanish daily La Vanguardia, the government is undertaking a broader review to phase out Israeli weapons and technology from its armed forces.

Sanchez has emerged as one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Gaza policy.

Relations between the two countries have been tense for months.

Israel has not had an ambassador in Spain since Madrid recognized the state of Palestine in 2024.

Last week, Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel after heated exchanges over Sánchez’s new measures.

The Barcelona-based Delas Centre, a security research institute, estimated in April that since the start of the Gaza war, Spain had awarded 46 contracts worth $1.044 billion to Israeli companies, based on public tender data.