Mr. Keyamo claims that the campaign is following through on the accusations made by Michael Achimugu, who claimed to be a former PDP candidate’s aide.

The All Progressives Congress (APC), the country’s ruling party, has requested that Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s presidential nominee, be detained on suspicion of corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Additionally, the campaign gave the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Conduct of Conduct Bureau (CCB), and the EFCC a 72-hour deadline to arrest the opposition leader.

The spokesperson of the APC presidential campaign council, Festus Keyamo, in a petition dated 16 January, asked the anti-graft agencies to arrest the former vice president on offences of money laundering, breach of the Code of Conduct Act, conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust and misappropriation.

Mr. Keyamo claims that the campaign is following through on the accusations made by Michael Achimugu, who claimed to be a former PDP candidate’s aide.

Mr. Achimugu charged Atiku with utilizing Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to perpetrate financial fraud in a number of social media posts.

Olusegun Obasanjo, a candidate for the PDP, has been the target of Mr. Achimugu’s accusations, according to Mr. Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and current minister of state for labor and employment.

According to the minister, the accuser offered “emails, documents, audio clips, sworn affidavit and his direct oral evidence as to how Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is currently the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate, during his tenure as Vice-President of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007, colluded with his then boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, to fleece the nation and steal public funds using what he termed “Special

Atiku’s departure from the race was urged by the party at a press conference held by the joint media directorate of the APC campaign on Monday.

Atiku violates sections 5, 10, 13 and 17 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, according to Mr. Keyamo, who spoke at the conference on behalf of other directors.

The following is stated in Sections 5, 10, 13, and 17 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act:

A public officer must not put themselves in a situation where their personal interests clash with their obligations and responsibilities, according to Section 5.

A public officer is prohibited from requesting or accepting any type of property or benefits for themselves or any other person as a result of whatever they have done or failed to do while performing their duties, according to Section 10(1).

(2) Unless the contrary is proven, any gifts or advantages received by a public officer from for-profit companies, commercial enterprises, or individuals who have contracts with the government are believed to have been received in violation of paragraph (1) of this section.

According to Section 13, “A public officer shall not, in the exercise of his official authority, conduct or cause to be done, any act injurious to the rights of any other person, knowing such act to be unlawful or opposed to any Government policy.”

Section 17 says “A public officer who does any act prohibited by this Act through a nominee, trustee or other agent shall be deemed ipso facto to have committed a breach of this Act.”

The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition Act), 2022’s Section 18 (2), and Section 311 of the Penal Code Law were also mentioned by him.

Atiku must appear for an investigation and prosecution, Mr. Keyamo continued, as well as refund to the federal government all funds held in the SPVs.

“In this circumstance, since the nation now knows that the Marine Float Account and other similar accounts were ‘SPV’ accounts, it follows that all payments made into that account were monies stolen from the public coffers. Therefore, we call on all security agencies to recover all monies withdrawn from that account by anyone for that matter,” he said.

The text of the conference was co-signed by Mr Keyamo, Dele Alake, Bayo Onanuga, Femi Fani-Kayode and Idris Mohammed, all members of the media directorate of the APC.

Nnamdi Kanu, the imprisoned leader of the organisation, has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government and Southeast governors for designating the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as terrorists.

The IPOB leader is requesting a ruling that “self-determination is not a crime and, thus, cannot be held on to arrest, jail, and prosecute him and the members of IPOB,” according to the lawsuit.

He also filed lawsuits against the Minister of Justice and the Federal Attorney General.

The case was brought before the Enugu State High Court, and the petitioner pleaded with the judge to prevent the respondents from moving through with “any criminal prosecutions of the Applicant and members of IPOB on the basis of the abovementioned proscription of IPOB and its classification as a terrorist outfit.”

The lawsuit was filed pursuant to Order II Rules 1 and 2 of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009, Section 42 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended), Articles 2, 3, and 19 and 20 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Ratification and Enforcement Act), and under the jurisdiction of the Court as preserved by Sections 6 and 46 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended).

According to Kanu, section 42 of the 1999 constitution, as amended, and articles 2, 3, and 19 and 20 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Enforcement and Ratification) Act both make it unconstitutional to outlaw IPOB and classify it as a terrorist organization.

Pastor Tunde Bakare, the serving overseer of Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), has revealed plans by some politicians to rig the upcoming elections and urged Nigerians to exercise caution when casting their ballots.

Pastor Bakare also serves as the Convener of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), during his State of the Nation address and New Year’s message at the church’s Lagos headquarters.

Bakare, who tagged his message: “Bridging the Gap between Politics and Governance”, however, said he foresees a new Nigeria after the forthcoming general elections.

He praised the military commanders on the front lines for their bravery in the struggle against terrorism and other forms of criminality in the nation and paid respect to the nation’s fallen heroes for the ultimate sacrifice they made to ensure Nigeria’s unity.

The former presidential aspirant on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) said that Nigeria was going into the forthcoming elections with issues that had posed challenges to it.

He believes that the fact that the three leading presidential candidates are drawn from the nation’s three largest ethnic groups says much about how God would create a new Nigeria by shining His light in the midst of all-pervasive darkness.

“The election will serve as a reminder of a generational change of some kind because it will take place 30 years after the unsuccessful June 12 elections.

“God has appeared in all of His glory to remake Nigeria into a brand-new nation that people can be proud of once more. The time for divided politicians who exploit the nation is over, he declared.

The preacher warned Nigerians to watch out for vote buying as he discussed the likelihood that some politicians may try to rig the upcoming elections.

But he was pleased that none of the presidential candidates had a military history, noting that this was good for the country’s democracy.

The distinction between politics and governance, according to Bakare, is in the provision of services for the benefit of the general welfare. Bakare advised Nigerians to vote based on personalities rather than sentiments.

He referred to the upcoming general elections as “Nigeria wins” while pleading for Nigeria.

According to Festus Keyamo, the spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Nigeria experienced the highest inflation rate under the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his vice president, PDP presidential contender Atiku Abubakar.

This was said by Keyamo during a Monday morning interview on the morning show of Arise TV. The Senior Advocate of Nigeria stated that President Muhammadu Buhari’s inflation rate is not the greatest in the nation’s history.

He promised that, if elected president, Tinubu would continue Buhari’s work in the areas of economics, security, and other issues.

He noted that “This is not the highest inflation rate. In 2005, under Obasanjo and Atiku, we had a 28 percent inflation rate. Under Obasanjo and Atiku, we had the highest.”

According to a statistic on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s website and Tradingeconomics.com, the annual inflation rate in Nigeria increased to 21.47% in November 2022, marking the tenth consecutive month of acceleration.