BY UTHMAN BABA- NASEER,MINNA

The Commissioner of Police in Niger State, CP Abdullahi Adamu Elleman, has expressed support for the decision to restrict court prosecutions to qualified lawyers, saying it will improve the administration of criminal justice in the state.

Speaking to journalists in his office in Minna, CP Elleman explained that the issue was discussed with relevant authorities as far back as last year due to concerns about workload and delays in prosecution.
He said Niger State has 25 local government areas, 45 divisional police offices, and seven area commands, all of which handle criminal cases daily.

According to the Commissioner, each local government has at least three to four courts, and no court receives fewer than five cases every day. This, he noted, creates a heavy workload that could lead to delays in justice if there are not enough qualified prosecutors.

“We warned last year that without enough trained manpower, this decision could delay justice, and justice delayed is justice denied,” he said. “At that time, our concerns were accepted and the implementation was shifted to January this year.”

The Police Commissioner clarified that the new directive only affects lay prosecutors and does not stop police lawyers who are called to the Nigerian Bar from prosecuting cases. He explained that prosecution is a constitutional responsibility of the police, after the Attorney General, and that trained police lawyers will continue to handle cases.

CP Elleman described the move as a step toward professionalizing prosecution in the country. He revealed that the Nigeria Police Force is now producing more qualified lawyers through the Police Academy, with the Legal Department upgraded to a full directorate at the Force Headquarters.

“We are now getting more police lawyers every year, and they are being posted to state commands and zonal headquarters,” he said. “This will help us cover the many courts and ongoing cases across the state.”

He assured the public that ongoing cases will not be affected by the change, as new qualified prosecutors can take over without restarting trials, except where there is a change of judge.

On security, CP Elleman gave an update on the situation in Agwara Local Government Area, following recent concerns. He said the Inspector General of Police has approved the deployment of more tactical teams to the area.

“About 120 armed tactical personnel arrived in Agwara and were well received by the community,” he said. “They have taken over security duties, and by the grace of God, such incidents will not happen there again.”

The Commissioner called on residents of Niger State to cooperate with the police by providing credible information, assuring them that the command remains committed to protecting lives and property.

He also said the withdrawal of the curfew across parts of the state was based on improved security, adding that continuous patrols across Minna and other major towns have reduced criminal activities to the barest minimum.

“My men are everywhere. We are on top of the situation, and we are equal to the task,” CP Elleman said, while thanking the Niger State Government for its consistent support in both operational and administrative matters.

By Our Correspondent

In its bid to rid the country of corruption, an Audit Report by the Auditor-General for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Councils, that was submitted to the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, has indicted the six Area Councils of Abaji, Abuja Municipal, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali over various financial infractions running into over N100 billion.

The audit report for the year ended 31 December 2021, submitted to the Committee, revealed widespread cases of unremitted tax and VAT deductions, failure to update Fixed Asset Registers, and expenditures yet to be properly accounted for across the councils.

According to the report, the six Area Councils recorded outstanding liabilities amounting to N7.6 billion as of 31 December 2021.

The liabilities comprised unremitted pension deductions, unremitted Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE), unpaid capital project obligations, unremitted Value Added Tax (VAT), and withholding taxes due to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), FCT Inland Revenue Service, Pension Fund Administrators, and contractors.

A breakdown of the unremitted liabilities showed that Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) had outstanding obligations of N2.19 billion, followed by Bwari Area Council with N1.49 billion and Kwali Area Council with N1.46 billion.

The report added that Gwagwalada Area Council recorded N1.01 billion, Kuje Area Council N892.2 million, while Abaji Area Council accounted for N593.8 million, bringing the total to N7.65 billion.

The Auditor-General also faulted the councils for failure to properly maintain and update their Fixed Asset Registers.

The report cited Gwagwalada Area Council, where non-current assets valued at N336 million were not adequately maintained or updated, creating room for asset losses without trace.

The report noted that this weakness was common across the other Area Councils.

Furthermore, the audit raised concerns over expenditure totalling N24.8 billion incurred by the six councils in 2021 on personnel, overheads and capital projects. Despite an 89 per cent increase in total expenditure amounting to N11.7 billion when compared to 2020, the councils have not accounted for how 37 per cent of the expenditure purportedly allocated to capital projects was utilised.

A breakdown of the expenditure showed that Abuja Municipal Area Council spent N5.03 billion, Gwagwalada Area Council N4.66 billion, Kuje Area Council N3.85 billion, Kwali Area Council N3.84 billion, Bwari Area Council N3.74 billion and Abaji Area Council N3.71 billion, bringing the total expenditure to N24.87 billion.

Audit findings for the year 2022 and part of 2023 also identify multiple infractions of financial regulations such as understatement of actual Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), unauthorised assets disposal, non disclosure of statutory revenue and non remittance of withholding tax to appropriate authorities.

Reacting to the report, Chairman of the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee, Hon. Bamidele Salam, confirmed that the audit report had been formally received by the Committee.

He disclosed that three separate letters had been issued to the chairmen of the six Area Councils and their respective Finance Directors, summoning them to appear before the Committee to respond to the audit queries.

Rep. Salam warned that the summoned chairmen and their Finance Directors had been given a final opportunity to appear on Wednesday 11th February, 2026, adding that failure to honour the invitation would compel the House to invoke its constitutional powers to order for their arrest and ensure compliance.

Salam added that the Area Councils were also indicted for failure to audit and submit their financial accounts for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025, contrary to statutory requirements.

He stressed that public funds must be managed with transparency and prudence, warning that any official found culpable would be held responsible in accordance with the law.

End

By Ignatius Okorocha,Abuja

With nearly 200 people killed on Wednesday by Islamic terrorists ​in separate attacks in remote villages in central and northern Nigeria, as confirmed by a Kwara state legislator, residents and police, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to suspend all his scheduled foreign trips in 2026 to enable his government focus on waging relentless counterterrorism campaigns and defeat the terrorists.

In a statement signed and made available to newsmen by, HURIWA National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, the group further stated that the president is heavily distracted by the politics of 2027 poll just as the Rights group blame the All Progressives Congress for putting on the front burner, the re-election of the incumbent president rather than letting president Tinubu to concentrate and pay attention to achieving holistic and positive results in the counterterrorism campaigns.

“It is unfortunate that the APC supported by the President has already started campaigns for the 2027 poll 8n clear violation of the extant electoral law even as serving political office holders of other parties are cajoled, blackmailed and compelled due to the fear of EFCC’S prosecution, to defect to the president’s political party and to even kick-start campaigns for the re-election of President Tinubu.”

HURIWA, a pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group said it is inexplicably shocking that President Tinubu spent 22 days outside of the shores of Nigeria in January 2026 and had travelled across the globe last year just as the bilateral agreements he signed during his foreign tours have had little or no benefits economically to millions of heavily impoverished citizens even with thousands of Nigerians killed by terrorists. The killings show a fundamental failure of governance and the failure of the president to keep to his legal obligation of protecting lives and property of the citizens which is the primary constitutional duty of government. We do think too that governors who lack what it takes to partner with the security forces to protect their people should throw in the towel. The Kwara state governor has indeed failed in his constitutional duty to Kwara people.

In central Kwara state, gunmen attacked the Woro community on Tuesday leaving at least 170 people dead, the lawmaker for the area Saidu Baba Ahmed said by phone.

It was the deadliest assault recorded this year in the district bordering Niger state, an area increasingly targeted by gunmen who ​raid villages, kidnap residents and loot livestock.

Ahmed said the gunmen rounded ‍up residents, bound ⁠their hands behind their backs and executed ​them. The lawmaker shared photographs of dead bodies with Reuters, which the agency was not immediately able to verify.

Villagers fled into surrounding bushland during the attack, he said. The gunmen torched homes and shops.

“As I’m speaking to you now, I’m in the village along with military personnel, sorting dead bodies ⁠and combing the surrounding areas for more,” Ahmed said.

Several people were still missing ‍on Wednesday morning, he said.

Residents told Reuters the gunmen demanded during a sermon that locals ditch their allegiance to the Nigerian state and switch to Sharia Islamic ⁠law. When the villagers pushed back, the militants opened fire.

Reacting, HURIWA is suggesting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu cancel all his already scheduled trips tto foreign jurisdictions so he can lead the armed forces of Nigeria from the front in coordinating the counterterrorism campaigns just as HURIWA said the heads of the security institutions appointed by president Tinubu must be made to sign social contract performance forms of what thresholds each of them must achieve in the war on terror or be fired from office within a specific time frame.

The National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko said HURIWA is miffed that even when 200 citizens were killed by Islamists, there hasn’t been any administrative sanctions imposed on the heads of the security institutions based in Kwara state that committed the spectacular security and intelligence blunders that allowed for the callous slaughtering of Nigerians by Islamic terrorists.