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Former governor of Anambra State, Senator Chris Ngige, has called on the Supreme Court to revisit its judgment on local government financial autonomy, saying it undermines the1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Ngige, who was minister for Labour and Employment from November 2015 to May 2023, argued that the judgment attempted to completely knock down Section 7 of the Constitution, which firmly puts the local government areas under the control of the states. Beside the political consequences, he recalled that the same Supreme Court had earlier in 2006 made a pronouncement, warning the Federal Government against dictating to the states how to spend local government funds accruable to them. The previous ruling by the Supreme Court under Justice Mohammed Uwais, Ngige reminisced, was made in a case filed by three state governments, Lagos, Abia and Delta, through their attorneys-general, challenging then President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Local Government Account Monitoring Committee Act 2005. He spoke over the weekend in Enugu, as the guest lecturer at the 29th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Scientific Conference of the Association of Urological Surgeons, Nigeria (NAUS). Speaking on the topic: “Local Government Administration and Primary Healthcare,” Ngige who is a medical doctor and health system administration specialist, said he does not support the direct payment of federal allocation to the local governments without statutory first line deductions for payment of salaries and wages of local government workers, pensions and gratuities, traditional rulers entitlements and customary court allowances. Citing his experience as a Governor, he recalled that council chairmen between 1999 and 2002 owed several months of salaries and allowances, and pensions and gratuities, not only in Anambra State, but almost all the states of the Federation. He said most past council chairmen craved for acquisition of choice estates in Abuja, Lagos and even London, at the detriment of public health centres and schools in their area, where teachers were owed several months arrears of salaries and allowances, stressing that some chairmen even proved to be more corrupt than the Governors. He opined that the judgment of the Supreme Court not only runs ultra vires of the Constitution but also amounts to throwing away the baby with the dirty bath water. According to him, Chapter 1 under the General Provisions (Part 1) of the Constitution, makes it very clear that “This Constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, neither shall any person or group of persons take control of the Government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. “If any other law is inconsistent with the provisions of this constitution, the constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall to the extent of its inconsistency be void.” The two-time minister said the constitution, which the courts are meant to interpret, clearly defines the boundaries of the powers of every institution. Ngige said as far as the Constitution is concerned, only two federating bodies exist in Nigeria, namely the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, with the Federal Government at the top. “Each state of the federation was named in Part I of the First Schedule of the Constitution and the FCT in party II. The Constitution goes on to show the 768 local government areas in Nigeria in the second column of Part I of the First Schedule and six area councils in Part II of the same schedule. “The constitution makes special arrangements for the local governments and puts them in the Fourth Schedule, and in addition to their functions in this schedule, asks the House of Assembly to make laws for them in Section 7. So, the Constitution puts the local governments in the bowels of the states. “Section 162 (6) says that each state shall maintain a special account to be called ‘State Joint Local Government Account’ into which shall be paid allocations to the councils in the state from the Federation Account and from the government of the state. “Hence, the Constitution makes the local government areas appendages of the states. Section 7 gives the House of Assembly the powers to make laws for the establishment, structure, composition, finances and functions of the local government councils. The only power given to the National Assembly is to make provision for statutory allocation of public revenue to local government councils in the Federation and it has so been done. The power of distribution lies squarely with the House of Assembly, working in tandem with the State Economic Board.” Speaking further, Ngige dismissed the widely held notion of the existence of three tiers of government in Nigeria, stressing that more tiers of government exist in the country, including the town and village governments in the South and in the Northern part, the theocratic establishment, ruling through the emirate councils and subordinate councils, and others down the ladder. He blamed the failure of the local government system in Nigeria on the docility of the Houses of Assembly and the flagrant inability of the governors to adhere strictly to all the provisions of the constitution, regarding local government, especially not establishing democratically elected councils and economic planning board, as stipulated in Section 7 (1) and (3) of the Constitution, respectively. He equally attributed the failure of the local government system to the unwholesome activities of governors with itchy fingers, seizing and diverting council funds to other uses, other than public interest. Ngige regretted that when governors overstep their bounds, doing what the constitution did not permit, the Houses of Assembly keep silent, instead of calling them to order. He insisted that the local government system would start working in Nigeria when Governors begin to obey the law and the Houses of Assembly become alive to their responsibilities, including calling erring governors to order. “Section 7 further says it shall be the duty of the local government council within the state to participate in economic planning and development of the area referred to in the sub-section and to this end, an economic planning board shall be established by law enacted by the House of Assembly. The board will determine the utilisation of council funds. “When I was Governor in Anambra, I operated with an economic planning board created first by an executive order and later, an executive bill that I sent to the House of Assembly. It was like the National Planning Commission of the Federal Government. The economic board will formulate the template and send it to the State Joint Local Government Account (SJLGA). Salaries, emoluments and allowances of local government staff, education, healthcare and security, among others, were in the first line charge. Everything worked well, particularly in the primary health care centres, where we employed many young doctors and other health workers for local government hospitals and primary health medical centres in the wards “The SJLGA was strong and efficient under my administration, and we had the State Economic Planning Board with all the chairmen of all the LGA in the state as members. This ensured full participation of the LG council bureaucracy in the projections, both at that level and at the councils. The fund for LG administration and capital projects were thereafter remitted to the LG council account. In this way the people’s money was deployed for work for them. We can’t be moving from the frying pan into the fire. “Under my administration, we used the SJLGA to offset the arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities owed workers by my predecessor. “It is good to note that this was made possible within the first 18 months of my stay in office. Remember that at the inception of this democracy in 1999, the local government chairmen took over from the Head of Personnel who the military used to govern the councils. When I took over in Anambra, local governments were in arrears of salaries, emoluments and allowances of staff, ranging between 15 to 22 months. I am not talking about pensions and gratuity. My predecessor, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju (now late) could not do anything. The local government chairmen left one year before the end of his tenure. Regarding primary healthcare, he frowned at the abandonment of more than 15,000 primary healthcare centres built across the country as constituency projects, and called on the State Economic Planning Boards to ensure that the abandoned health centres were revamped as quickly as possible. He maintained that the local government system has a pivotal role in the basic healthcare system, which former minister of health, Olukoye Ransom Kuti, transformed into a primary healthcare system. According to him, the primary healthcare system could be used to catch those cases that would be treated at that level, while those that cannot be treated there, would be referred to the secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions. He, however, blamed the Commissioners for Health in states for the failure of primary healthcare system, notwithstanding that the National Health Act 2014, championed by himself and other medical doctors at the 7th Senate, namely Ifeanyi Okowa and Bukola Saraki, brought in the Federal Government to devote resources from its Consolidated Revenue, while the state would provide counterpart funding in vaccine for prevention and other aspects of primary healthcare. He noted regrettably, that the states and local governments have been defaulting, refusing to honour their own obligations. He appealed to medical doctors to stop cocooning themselves with fat medical books of Anatomy, Medicine and Surgery, but also to take interest in the government around them, to participate in politics, especially at the local government level, where they would affect lives most.The Kremlin fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine on Thursday in response to Kyiv's use this week of American and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russia, President Vladimir Putin said. In a televised address to the country, the Russian president warned that U.S. air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile, which he said flies at ten times the speed of sound and which he called the Oreshnik — Russian for hazelnut tree. He also said it could be used to attack any Ukrainian ally whose missiles are used to attack Russia. “We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against military facilities of the countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities,” Putin said in his first comments since President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the green light this month to use U.S. ATACMS missiles to strike at limited targets inside Russia. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed that Russia’s missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate range missile based on it’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. “This was new type of lethal capability that was deployed on the battlefield, so that was certainly of concern," Singh said, noting that the missile could carry either conventional or nuclear warheads. The U.S. was notified ahead of the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels, she said. The attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro came in response to Kyiv's use of longer-range U.S. and British missiles in strikes Tuesday and Wednesday on southern Russia, Putin said. Those strikes caused a fire at an ammunition depot in Russia's Bryansk region and killed and wounded some security services personnel in the Kursk region, he said. “In the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in kind,” the Russian president said, adding that Western leaders who are hatching plans to use their forces against Moscow should “seriously think about this.” Putin said the Oreshnik fired Thursday struck a well-known missile factory in Dnipro. He also said Russia would issue advance warnings if it launches more strikes with the Oreshnik against Ukraine to allow civilians to evacuate to safety — something Moscow hasn’t done before previous aerial attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov initially said Russia hadn’t warned the U.S. about the coming launch of the new missile, noting that it wasn't obligated to do so. But he later changed tack and said Moscow did issue a warning 30 minutes before the launch. Putin's announcement came hours after Ukraine claimed that Russia had used an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Dnipro attack, which wounded two people and damaged an industrial facility and rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, according to local officials. But American officials said an initial U.S. assessment indicated the strike was carried out with an intermediate-range ballistic missile. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that the use of the missile was an "obvious and serious escalation in the scale and brutality of this war, a cynical violation of the UN Charter.” He also said there had been “no strong global reaction” to the use of the missile, which he said could threaten other countries. “Putin is very sensitive to this. He is testing you, dear partners,” Zelenskyy wrote. “If there is no tough response to Russia’s actions, it means they see that such actions are possible.” The attack comes during a week of escalating tensions , as the U.S. eased restrictions on Ukraine's use of American-made longer-range missiles inside Russia and Putin lowered the threshold for launching nuclear weapons. The Ukrainian air force said in a statement that the Dnipro attack was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea. “Today, our crazy neighbor once again showed what he really is,” Zelenskyy said hours before Putin's address. “And how afraid he is.” Russia was sending a message by attacking Ukraine with an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of releasing multiple warheads at extremely high speeds, even if they are less accurate than cruise missiles or short-range ballistic missiles, said Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. “Why might you use it therefore?” Savill said. "Signaling — signaling to the Ukrainians. We’ve got stuff that outrages you. But really signaling to the West ‘We’re happy to enter into a competition around intermediate range ballistic missiles. P.S.: These could be nuclear tipped. Do you really want to take that risk?’” Military experts say that modern ICBMs and IRBMs are extremely difficult to intercept, although Ukraine has previously claimed to have stopped some other weapons that Russia described as “unstoppable,” including the air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missile. David Albright, of the Washington-based think tank the Institute for Science and International Security, said he was “skeptical” of Putin’s claim, adding that Russian technology sometimes “falls short.” He suggested Putin was “taunting the West to try to shoot it down ... like a braggart boasting, taunting his enemy.” Earlier this week, the Biden administration authorized Ukraine to use the U.S.-supplied, longer-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia — a move that drew an angry response from Moscow. Days later, Ukraine fired several of the missiles into Russia, according to the Kremlin. The same day, Putin signed a new doctrine that allows for a potential nuclear response even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power. The doctrine is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons. In response, Western countries, including the U.S., said Russia has used irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and behavior throughout the war to intimidate Ukraine and other nations. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Russia’s formal lowering of the threshold for nuclear weapons use did not prompt any changes in U.S. doctrine. She pushed back on concerns that the decision to allow Ukraine to use Western missiles to strike deeper inside Russia might escalate the war. ′′They’re the ones who are escalating this,” she said of the Kremlin — in part because of a flood of North Korean troops sent to the region. More than 1,000 days into war , Russia has the upper hand, with its larger army advancing in Donetsk and Ukrainian civilians suffering from relentless drone and missile strikes. Analysts and observers say the loosening of restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western missiles is unlikely to change the the course of the war, but it puts the Russian army in a more vulnerable position and could complicate the logistics that are crucial in warfare. Putin has also warned that the move would mean that Russia and NATO are at war. “It is an important move and it pulls against, undermines the narrative that Putin had been trying to establish that it was fine for Russia to rain down Iranian drones and North Korean missiles on Ukraine but a reckless escalation for Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons at legitimate targets in Russia,” said Peter Ricketts, a former U.K. national security adviser who now sits in the House of Lords. ___ Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Emma Burrows in London, and Zeke Miller and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Poulin has game winner as Montreal Victoire tops Minnesota Frost 3-2 for 3rd straight winScientists have constructed the first complete proton energy spectrum observed during an eruptive solar event in Martian space, deepening our understanding of the radiation environment around Mars. This study was jointly conducted by researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China, the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Lanzhou Institute of Physics, and the University of Kiel in Germany. It was published in Geophysical Research Letters as a cover article. Solar energetic particle (SEP) events, caused by solar eruptions, are among the most destructive space weather phenomena. During these events, high-energy charged particle flux in space may increase suddenly, posing significant threats to the safety of spacecraft and astronauts. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a protective magnetic field and has a very thin atmosphere, making its surface particularly vulnerable to high-energy particles and secondary particles. Therefore, studying the impact of SEP events on Mars is crucial for radiation protection in future Mars exploration missions. In November 2021, China’s Tianwen-1 orbiter entered its science mission orbit around Mars. Its Mars Energy Particle Analyzer (MEPA) began measuring particle flux. With the capacity to measure the wide energy range from 2–100 MeV, MEPA significantly enhances the capability to monitor high-energy protons in Martian space, providing critical data for this study. On Feb. 15, 2022, MEPA recorded a SEP event with exceptionally high intensity and energy. The event was simultaneously detected by the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Orbiter (MAVEN), and the Curiosity rover on the Martian surface. This is the first SEP event observed by so many different radiation and particle detectors involving Mars. IMAGE In this joint study, the researchers utilized data from multiple detectors to construct the complete proton energy spectrum. The low- and medium-energy proton spectra were provided by Tianwen-1 and MAVEN, while the high-energy proton flux was derived by combining observations from the Curiosity rover on Mars with simulations of particle transport in the Martian atmosphere. By fitting the observed and derived fluxes at different energies, researchers successfully constructed the complete proton energy spectrum of the SEP event, spanning from 1 to 1000 MeV. The researchers then used this spectrum to calculate the radiation dose caused by the event in Martian orbit and on the Martian surface, which is consistent with actual dose measurements. This result validates the reliability of the Tianwen-1 MEPA data and the accuracy of the Martian radiation transport model. This study provides a reference for future research on similar space weather phenomena and also highlights the necessity of continuous and coordinated radiation monitoring on Mars. The research was supported by the Key Research Program and Strategic Priority Program of CAS as well as the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Astrobiology, Space Weather

Two men that own a recruiting start-up have been accused of defrauding a childhood friend that liquidated her retirement savings to invest in their business venture, authorities said Friday. The civil enforcement action filed by the state Bureau of Securities within the Attorney General’s Office alleges misdealings by Bowmo’s chairman and president Michael Lakshin of Fair Lawn and CEO and co-founder Edward Aizman of Brooklyn, New York. Authorities allege that Lakshin and Aizman used “fraud and deception” to convince one of Lakshin’s childhood friends to cash in her retirement account and invest in their start-up. But authorities said most of the money the woman invested went to personal expenses such as a stay at a Cape Cod bed and breakfast and purchases at luxury designer stores such as Brunelli Cucinelli. “The defendants callously used a personal connection to lure an unsuspecting victim into a money grab scheme disguised as an investment opportunity,” said Cari Fais, Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “Our lawsuit seeks to hold them accountable for their unlawful conduct, claw back their ill-gotten gains, require them to make the victim whole, and prevent them from defrauding anyone else.” Between April and August of 2020, Lakshin and Aizman offered and sold at least $84,681 of Bowmo securities to at least one New Jersey investor, authorities said. Lakshin and Aizman allegedly told the investor that her money would earn a significantly higher return if invested in Bowmo rather than her retirement savings account, according to authorities. Lakshin told the investor that Bowmo had made him rich through successfully recruiting and placing job candidates and could do the same for her, officials said. Lakshin leveraged the childhood connection to pressure the woman to invest her retirement savings account with Bowmo after he learned that she had over $90,000 in the account with another financial institution, authorities said. In a series of text messages, authorities said Lakshin pressured the woman to use the retirement savings to invest in Bowmo and earn “a MUCH GREATER return” and said that by the end of July 2020 the company would “already be full” with investors. Lakshin also falsely told the woman that she would not have to pay taxes and penalties if she withdrew the money from the retirement account while also promising to cover any fees she incurred from withdrawing the money, authorities said. After the woman told Lakshin on June 21, 2020 that she was hesitant to make the investment, authorities say he told her that he was “going to look really bad in front of [his] partners.” Five days later the woman liquidated her retirement account, forfeiting over $5,000 in fees and exposed her to tax liabilities because it was not rolled into another qualifying retirement plan, officials said. Lakshin and Aizman provided the woman with access to an investor package that explained how the money would be used to further develop Bowmo’s software, expand marketing opportunities, make strategic hires and cover general corporate expenses among other things, authorities said. On July, 2 2020, the woman met Aizman and Lakshin at a restaurant in Fort Lee and signed a Bowmo subscription agreement and later that month, wired $84,681 to a Bowmo bank account controlled by Lakshin and Aizman, officials said. Shortly after the money reached Bowmo’s account, which had just over $38,000 from a $40,000 COVID-19 disaster relief loan already in it, approximately $55,000 was transferred to an account controlled by Lionscross, a company solely owned by Lakshin and unrelated to Bowmo, according to the civil complaint. Funds were also transferred from Bowmo to Aizman’s wife in August 2020, according to the complaint. Authorities said in the complaint that Lakshin started withdrawing cash, transferring money to family members, and making a $3,201 purchase at Brunello Cucinelli. Larger sums of money were transferred from the Bowmo investment account to Lionscross over the next month and used to make a $25,000 purchase at a Jaguar Land Rover Dealership and other expenses, according to the complaint. Authorities said in the complaint that about $5,000 of the investor’s money was also transferred to an Apple bank account associated with Aizman’s wife and was spent on a stay at a bed and breakfast in Cape Cod as well as cosmetics purchases and restaurant bills. Multiple attempts to reach Lakshin and Aizman for comment were not immediately returned Friday. No attorneys for Lakshin, Aizman or Bowmo were listed with the Attorney General’s Office on Friday. A court appearance in the matter hasn’t been scheduled yet, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Stories by Matthew Enuco Texas man involved in deadly foot chase with N.J. cops is identified N.J. man gets 7 years in prison for sexually assaulting 12-year-old he met on social media Ex N.J. broker admits stealing millions from clients to gamble and purchase luxe items Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com . Matthew Enuco may be reached at Menuco@njadvancemedia.com . Follow Matt on X .Trump world is celebrating after special counsel Jack Smith moved to dismiss two federal cases brought against President-elect Donald Trump. Smith’s team asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss the 2020 election interference case brought against Trump, who was charged with four felonies last year. Later on Monday, Smith also asked to dismiss the classified documents case brought against Trump. Trump and his allies—who have decried the legal cases as politically motivated—are celebrating Smith’s latest moves as Trump prepares to head to the White House next year. “The American People re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again. Today’s decision by the DOJ ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump, and is a major victory for the rule of law,” Steven Cheung, Trump Communications Director, said in a statement. “The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country,” he added. Trump’s allies also flocked to social media to boast about the latest development, arguing that the charges should have never been brought in the first place. “MAJOR VICTORY for President Trump and JUSTICE! These fake (and illegal) charges were used to persecute President Trump for being the biggest threat to the Democrat regime. Political prosecution should never happen in America!!” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wrote on social media platform X . MAJOR VICTORY for President Trump and JUSTICE! These fake (and illegal) charges were used to persecute President Trump for being the biggest threat to the Democrat regime. Political prosecution should never happen in America!! https://t.co/42w7BxCX6c Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) quoted tech billionaire Elon Musk by writing: “[T]he Hammer of Justice is coming. May it be swift.” Vice President-elect JD Vance also weighed in, saying that Trump may have been sent to prison if he did not win the election. “If Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may very well have spent the rest of his life in prison. These prosecutions were always political. Now it’s time to ensure what happened to President Trump never happens in this country again,” Vance wrote on X. And conservative activist Charlie Kirk wrote on X: “The lawfare lost. America won.” Despite Trump and his allies labeling his multiple legal woes as politically motivated, Trump has vowed retribution against his political opponents. Politico reported earlier this month that some involved in Trump’s legal cases could be among Trump’s targets, including Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, as well as many others. The move announced in court papers marks the end of the Justice Department’s landmark effort to hold Trump accountable for what prosecutors called a criminal conspiracy to cling to power in the run-up to his supporters' attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Justice Department prosecutors, citing longstanding department guidance that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted, said the department’s position is that “the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.” “That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” the prosecutors wrote in Monday’s court filing. The decision was expected after Smith’s team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The Justice Department believes Trump can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Stories by Lauren Sforza After failed AG bid, Matt Gaetz has a new side hustle — to get your money NEW POLL: What Americans are saying about Trump cabinet picks Democrat torches N.Y. governor, Biden in latest rant against his party Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com .