Nation
Taraba Group Decries Marginalisation In Ministerial Appointments
Taraba Advocacy for Justice, Equity and Good Governance, a non-governmental organisation, has decried the marginalisation of Taraba central senatorial zone in the appointment of ministers from the state since 1999.
The Secretary of the group in the state, Mr Mahmoud Lamu, stated this while addressing newsmen last Saturday in Jalingo.
Lamu described the situation as a victimisation of a whole senatorial district for the past 24 years of democratic rule in Nigeria.
He said out of 11 the ministers appointed within the period under review, none was from the zone.
The Secretary said while the southern zone in the state had had 11 slots, the Northern Zone had enjoyed only four.
He appealed to the President-elect, Sen. Bola Tinubu, to consider the appointment of Amb. Hassan Ardo, who had worked for the party to achieve its successes in the elections.
“The issue or marginalisation has been bothering us for many years, most especially as the zone is known to be the political heart beat of our great party APC in the state”, he said.
He said in spite the zone‘s performance in giving the party large number of votes, it has been sidelined in the consideration of ministerial appointments.
“It is common knowledge that since the return of democracy in 1999, Taraba had 11 ministerial appointments from only two senatorial zones; the North and the southern zones leaving the central zone with none.
“Available records shows that, the Northern zone produced Dr Mohammed Shatta, Late Aisha Jummai Alhassan, Mr Sale Mamman and Hon. Muazu Jaji Sambo.
“`The Southern zone produced retired Gen. T Y Danjuma, Mr. Obadiah Ando, Mrs Salomi Jankada, Dr. Alhassan Zaku., Ambassador Idiris Waziri , Mr. Darius Ishaku and Mr Mr. Joel Ikenya
“It is equally disturbing that of all the 11 appointed ministers from the state, non was from the zone in spite having produced notable politicians who served the APC.
“In the light of the above, we wish to at this juncture, draw the attention of the national leadership of the APC, President-elect and Vice President-elect to wade into this matter”, he said.
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.