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David Frost says EU close to breaching Brexit deal over science programme

A fresh Brexit row has been blown open with Brussels after David Frost accused the EU of being close to breaching the trade deal struck last Christmas.

He said the UK was “getting quite concerned” about Brussels delaying ratification of the UK’s participation in the €80bn (£67bn) Horizon Europe research programme, costing British scientists their place in pan-European research programmes.

Lord Frost said the UK had “not made a great deal of this” but patience was running out.

“It’s not a very happy place,” he said. “We are getting quite concerned about this actually. There is an obligation in article 710 of the trade and cooperation agreement to finalise our participation. It uses the word ‘shall’. It is an obligation. It would obviously be a breach of the treaty if the EU doesn’t deliver on this obligation.”

The UK committed to gross funding of £2bn a year to the programme last December but this is not now being paid in as British scientists cannot be formal participants in the programme despite historically leading on many projects.

Earlier on Monday the House of Commons European scrutiny committee suggested the delay in ratifying this part of the trade deal was punishment for the row over the Northern Ireland protocol.

Frost said he had asked his EU counterpart, Maroš Šefčovič, many times why there was a delay when the membership of other countries including Norway and Iceland had already been ratified. While he could “guess” the reason, he had not got an answer, he told MPs.

The science sector fought hard to retain membership of the Horizon Europe programme last year, arguing it was not just the funding but the collaboration with peers across Europe that was important.

Being part of the seven-year programme would also help the UK maintain a thriving science ecosystem supporting jobs in universities and laboratories as well as acting as a magnet for overseas talent.

One Ulster University scientist told the Guardian he was on tenterhooks over a bid for £7m in funding for a project on the impact of Covid on the mental health of children and adolescents.

Dominic McSherry, who is leading a consortium involving five other countries including Norway, said: “These precious relationships are in serious jeopardy at the moment due to the risk to our access to EU funding”

It came as Germany’s ambassador to London, Andreas Michaelis, warned that Berlin would lose trust in the UK if its negotiators rejected a role for the European court of justice in arbitrating the Northern Ireland protocol.

He said Germany had invested a great deal of political capital in persuading the European Commission to change its approach to the protocol and the outcome was “the maximum flexible interpretation of an agreement we have signed on the European side”.

He said: “If those proposals will not be the basis for negotiating a working protocol but will be rejected by pointing for instance to the European court of justice, we all know on all sides that will impact the trust in the relationship very significantly.”

He said the commission had made a huge effort to cut 50% of the paperwork and 80% of the obstacles.

A European Commission spokesperson confirmed UK scientists could continue to apply funding but ratification to Horizon would have to happened before finance was released.

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Presidential Spokesman Ajuri Ngelale Proceeds On Indefinite Leave Of Absence

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, has proceeded on an indefinite leave of absence.

Ngelale said the decision was taken after significant consultations with his family over the past days as a vexatious medical situation had worsened.

He made this known in a statement issued on Saturday to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.

“On Friday, I submitted a memo to the Chief of Staff to the President informing my office that I am proceeding on an indefinite leave of absence to frontally deal with medical matters presently affecting my immediate, nuclear family,” he said.

“While I fully appreciate that the ship of state waits for no man, this agonizing decision — entailing a pause of my functions as the Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity and Official Spokesperson of the President; Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, and Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen — was taken after significant consultations with my family over the past several days as a vexatious medical situation has worsened at home.

“I look forward to returning to full-time national service when time, healing, and fate permit. I respectfully ask for some privacy for my family and I during this time.”

The leave of absence implies that he would temporarily suspend his duties as spokesperson to President Bola Tinubu

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No tenure extension for IGP Egbetokun – Police

The Nigeria Police Force High Command has clarified the rumoured tenure extension for Inspector General of Police, Dr. Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, stating that there was no extension granted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Instead, the law governing the tenure of the IGP’s office was properly applied.

This clarification was made in a statement released on Friday in Abuja by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Assistant Commissioner of Police, Olumuyiwa Adejobi.

The statement reads, “the attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to various misleading reports and misinterpretations concerning the tenure of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, and wishes to categorically state that what His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, approved for the IGP is not an extension of tenure, but rather the proper application of the law governing the tenure of the office of the IGP.

“Contrary to the misinformation being circulated on social media and in the news, an appointment letter in circulation was issued to the IGP shortly after his appointment was confirmed by the Police Council.

This letter, dated 3rd November 2023, clearly stated that the President had approved a four-year tenure for the IGP in accordance with the provisions of Section 215(a) and Section 28(c) of the Third Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

” It is important to emphasize that the IGP does not need to lobby for any tenure extension as his appointment letter explicitly grants him a four-year tenure from the date of his appointment

“The ongoing circulation of false information is clearly the handiwork of pessimists and mischief makers who are determined to spread baseless narratives against the office and the personality of the IGP for obvious reasons and pecuniary gains.

” Furthermore, the IGP has since been issued with another letter in accordance with the provisions of the Police Act, 2020 (as amended), which supersedes the earlier correspondence.

This clarification is necessary to put an end to the speculations and falsehoods being spread.

” We urge the public to disregard the unfounded reports and to trust that the tenure of the IGP is in full compliance with the laws governing the Nigeria Police Force.

In clear terms, IGP’s tenure of office is not subject to unnecessary debate and should not be a source of perennial distraction to policing system in Nigeria. The law is sacrosanct.”

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EFCC grabs 44 for internet fraud in Kwara

Forty-four (44) suspected internet fraudsters were arrested at different locations in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State on Friday by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Spokesperson for EFCC, Dele Oyewale said in a statement on Friday that the suspects were arrested by the operatives of the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the EFCC.

“They were arrested on Friday September 6, 2024 at Sango, Kulende, Taxaco and Harmony Estate, all in Ilorin, following credible intelligence over their alleged involvement internet- related offences,” the EFCC spokesperson said.

He listed items recovered from the suspects to include six different brands of exotic cars, laptops, smart phones and charms.

The suspects would be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.

The Ilorin Directorate of the anti-graft agency had also arrested 56 suspected internet fraudsters two days ago.