Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
Adamawa State Acting Governor Ahmadu Umaru has
approved the constitution of a seven-man judicial panel of inquiry to investigate the administration of impeached Murtala Nyako from June, 2007 to June 2014.
A statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Tukur Liman in Yola recently indicated that the panel which has Justice Bobbo Umar as chairman, and Mr Sedan Nyari, as its secretary has four weeks to submit its findings. According to the statement, the terms of reference of the panel were to investigate financial accruals to the State from June, 2007 to June, 2014 and the investigation of disbursement and application of funds to ministries, boards, and agencies over the period of reference.
The panel would also identify those involved in inappropriate financial disbursements and application. It further stated that the panel would investigate staff recruitment, deployment and administration of human resources.
Bauchi
Some gunmen, suspected to be armed robbers, have killed
the District Head of Soro in Bauchi State Malam Abdulrahman Baba, and injured two other persons.
The Bauchi Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Haruna Mohammed, who confirmed the killing in a statement yesterday, said the incident occurred at 7.45 pm last Saturday
.He said: “On Saturday at about 7.45 pm, six gunmen suspected to be armed bandits, stormed Soro town in Ganjuwa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, killing the District Head, Abdulrahman Isa Baba, and injuring two other traders. They carted away undisclosed amount of money from their victims and escaped to unknown destination. The entire surrounding had been cordoned off and efforts are being intensified to arrest the fleeing suspects.”
Mohammed also said a 32-year-old man had been apprehended in connection with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that was buried in a building site located at VIO quarters in Azare.
Ekiti
A former Speaker of the old Ondo State House of
Assembly, Chief Femi Akinyemi, says the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, lost his bid for a re-election in the June 21 governorship election to “inexperience and incompetence in politics and governance.”
Chief Akinyemi, who is also the chairman of Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) in Ekiti State, addressed newsmen in his native Usi-Ekiti in Ido/Osi Local Government Area of the state after he received a merit award of the community. He claimed that “Fayemi failed woefully in the election because he did not put reliable structures in all the councils to reach out to the people.”
Describing the SURE-P scheme as a huge success and one of the best poverty alleviation strategies in the country, Akinyemi revealed that “the Federal Government spends a sum of N360 million on beneficiaries in Ekiti annually.”
Akinyemi, however, condemned the states and local governments for not showing enough transparency in the disbursement of the funds to beneficiaries like the Federal Government.
FCT
The Nigeria Immigration Service said recently that 24
officers were to be sent to various embassies abroad to ease the process of obtaining visas and e-passports.
The NIS Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emeka Obua said some Nigerians in Diaspora and foreigners experienced difficulties obtaining visas and e-passports because NIS was not represented at some Nigerian embassies.
The spokesman said to complement the effort of officers, the service would also make provisions for more machines since the passport was mainly done online.
He said that NIS had begun the implementation of the new e-passport reforms, and called on all Nigerians to cooperate with the service to ensure its implementation.
The spokesman said the new 64-page e-passport costs N20,000, adding that those under 18 years and those above 60 years could obtain the passport at N8,750.
Kano
Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano
State, yesterday accused President Goodluck Jonathan of running a government based on ethnic sentiment and religious bigotry.
Kwankwaso, who spoke with reporters in his office weekend, also advised the Presidency to reduce the level of hatred and bitterness among Nigerians, if the government was actually interested in resolving the problem of insecurity.
According to him, the real cause of insecurity in the country was bad leadership being experienced in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)- led government, noting that the inability of President Jonathan to tackle the issue of insurgency in the North and insecurity in other parts of the country had exposed Jonathan’s incompetence to preside over the affairs of Nigeria.
Kwara
The Kwara State House of Assembly last
Monday debunked a report that it had concluded plans to impeach Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed.
The Majority Leader of the House, Alhaji AbdulKareem AbdulGaniyu, told newsmen in Ilorin that the impeachment rumour was fuelled by a report that the House was divided over the second term bid of the governor.
Abdulkareem, however, said the House was united, adding that most of the members were from the same party. He also maintained that the relationship between the governor and Senator Bukola Saraki was cordial.
Lagos
As part of the on-going efforts to prevent the
spread of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, into the country, a team of federal and Lagos State health officials, yesterday, visited the General Overseer of The Synagogue Church of All Nations, Prophet Temitope Joshua, to sensitise members of the congregation about persons from the affected countries in their midst.
The team, led by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, expressed readiness to work with the health team of the Church by way of technical assistance, medical advice and training to ensure that no victim of the deadly disease comes to the Church undetected. Medical doctors attending to an Ebola virus disease victim
Nasarawa
Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board said
it had concluded plans to recruit no fewer than 2,000 teachers to fill vacant positions in schools in the state.
Executive Secretary of the board, Malam Abdulkarim Abdullahi, made this known at a meeting of the board and local government councils’ chairmen and education secretaries in the state in Lafia recently Monday.
Abdullahi said the board had set up a committee to collaborate with the councils’ chairmen and the education secretaries to identify areas where the teachers were needed stated that the committee was also charged with the responsibility of working out modalities of ensuring that only competent hands were employed.
Osun
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has issued a red
alert on the August 9 gubernatorial election in Osun State, saying, about half a million permanent voters cards (PVCs), which were either unclaimed, not handed over to their authentic owners or obtained fraudulently, have been cloned by unscrupulous persons ahead of the election, with the sole purpose of rigging.
”These cloned cards, mostly in the hands of persons from states other than Osun, are to be used along with the authentic PVCs issued to the electorate in Osun state during the August 9 Osun governorship election,” the party said in a statement issued in Osogbo last Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
”Already, we can confirm that the hundreds of thousands of people in possession of these cloned cards all over Nigeria, especially in the states neighboring Osun, are being induced monetarily and instructed to super impose their photographs on the cloned PVCs.
Oyo
The epileptic electricity supply currently being experienced
in Ibadan and its environs will soon be a thing of the past as Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc (IBEDC), in charge of electricity distribution in the zone, has promised a daily 15-hour electricity supply to consumers.
The Managing Director of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc, Engr. Fortunato Leynes, made this promise at the company’s first journey to change knowledge sharing series which held in Ibadan over the weekend.
According to Leynes, one of the greatest challenges hindering uninterrupted power supply to customers is inadequate power generation capacity for his company to distribute to consumers.
Speaking on the essence of the knowledge sharing series being organised by the company, Deputy Managing Director of IBEDC Mr. John Darlington noted, that “the challenges are enormous but if we get our people, technology, attitude and discipline right, in the next two or three years our company will make the difference.”
Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto (left), receiving a souvenir from Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar 111 for attending the Nigerian Defence Academy Alumni 18th Regular Course Re-union in Sokoto, recently.
The Chairman of Malumfashi Local Government Council of Katsina State, Maharazu Dayi, has been impeached.
Maharazu Dayi was impeached yesterday by 11 out of 12 councillors, barely two days before the local government elections in the State.
The councillors reportedly took action following allegations of misconduct and poor governance against the chairman after a dispute over the distribution of the council’s Paris Club funds.
The development has sent shock waves across the local government area, especially as the impeached chairman is among those who failed to secure the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest in the forthcoming election.
The Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association, Mile 1, Port Harcourt, has urged the state government to utilise the available spaces within the area to build phase 3 of the Rumuwoji Market in order to solve the ever increasing needs of traders.
The association, which said this at a media briefing in Port Harcourt, also described as a welcomed development the decision by the state Governor to open the phase 2 of the market for business.
According to the association, “We consider it as an answer to the various cries of the people, because he is a man on a mission who is out to place the interest of Rivers people first. It is a dream come true for the first time for the market to be dully allocated and open for business”
Chairman of the association, Hon Godspower Wobo, who briefed the press shortly after a meeting of the association in Port Harcourt, also urged the public to disregard the activities of some persons whose stock in trade is to cause disaffection in the market.
He said the attention of the association was drawn to the activities of some strange fellows who went about misforming the people about situation in the market, stressing that apart from his association, no other group exists in the market except subdiary unions.
Wobo also tasked the reallocation committee to tread with caution so as to avoid being deceived by any group.
According to him, time has come for the state government to engage in robust discussion with aggrieved shop owners who went to court and those who paid monies to the state coffers and issued with allocation certificates for the overall interest of peace.
He also advised the public to deal directly with his association, stressing that the meeting was to review activities for the last year as well as unveil their new Constitution.
Also speaking, former Chairman of the association, Deacon Kenneth Eze urged the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara to open the phase 2 of the market, as it is long overdue.
Eze who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the association also urged the public to do business with only the Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association as it is the only union recognised by the traders.
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, has debunked reports linking him with the race for Nigeria’s presidency in 2027.
Reacting to the report on his X handle yesterday, following a recent interview with Arise TV, the AfDB boss said his quotes were misrepresented and misinterpreted in several Nigerian media reports.
However, the AfDB president denied the media reports, stating that he never said that he wanted to contest for President.
“A segment of my recent interview on @Arise TV has been both misinterpreted and misrepresented in several Nigerian media outlets. What I said was, “I will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere, including my own country.”
“A listen to the substantive and robust interview, which is available online, will show this to be the case. For clarity and for the record, I did not say that I am running for the office of President of Nigeria,” Adesina said.