Nation
THE STATES
L-R: Former Governor Of Bauchi State,Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, Bauchi State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hajia Amina Katagum, Vice President Namadi Sambo and Governor Isa Yuguda, during the inauguration of fertilizer blending company in Bauchi last Saturday.
Borno
The Nigerian Army says it has destroyed two
suspected operational vehicles of the Boko Haram sect in the ongoing operations in Maiduguri.
The spokesman of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, Lt.-Col. Mohammed Dole, announced this in a statement.
Dole said that the destruction was to clear the insurgents terrorising motorists on high ways in Borno State.
“We have been able to identify camps used by the terrorists in planning attacks against motorists and innocent villagers in Kaga Local Government Area of the state.
Ekiti
A 31-year-old man, Joseph Idowu, has divorced his
wife, Omolara, for insulting his landlord.
Idowu had filed a suit before an Ikole Customary Court in Ekiti on August 31, seeking the dissolution of his five-year-old “mere association“, which was blessed with two children.
The plaintiff told the court that Omolara insulted his landlord when he was trying to settle a dispute between the couple, and later moved out of his house because she got annoyed for being corrected.
The woman, who denied the allegation, gave her evidence on oath to the effect that she did not insult their landlord.
Kaduna
The Speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly, Alhaji
Usman Tahir, has constituted a seven-man adhoc committee to investigate alleged abuse of recruitment guidelines by the Zaria District office of Nigeria Railway Corporations (NRC).
The investigation was prompted by a motion moved on the floor of the assembly by Alhaji Yakubu Soja (APC-Zaria Kewaye) on alleged abuses in the recruitment of junior staff on grade levels 01-06 by the district office.
According to him, the recruitment violated the provisions of the Federal Civil Service, which provided that such vacancies be filled by applicants where the government offices were located.
Soja informed the members that applicants from Zaria district of the NRC had been sidelined from the exercise.
Katsina
The Katsina State Government has approved N159
million for the repairs of all damaged rural electrification projects across the state.
The General Manager of the state Rural Electrification Board (REB), Alhaji Abdullahi Tanwa, disclosed this at a press briefing in Katsina.
Tanwa said the resolution for the repairs of the projects followed Governor Ibrahim Shema’s directive to that effect, adding that it was to enhance power supply to rural areas.
According to him, some of the rural power installations were damaged by windstorms and car accidents, while “others were vandalised or stolen by unscrupulous persons”.
Kebbi
The National Association of Fish Farmers in Kebbi
State has started updating the database of its members as it gets set to provide soft loans and equipment to them.
Its Chairman, Alhaji Hussaini Raha, told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi that the database would enable the association to obtain loan from a bank so as to expand the scope of fish farming in the state.
Raha said the association has 2,145 major fish pond owners located in Argungu, Birnin Kebbi, Bunza, Bagudo, Shanga, Yauri and Ngaski local government areas that have high production of tilapia and cat fish.
He said there were 4,000 artisans and 300 cooperative societies registered under the association.
Jigawa
The Jigawa State Government has earmarked about
N2 billion for the construction and renovation of schools in the state.
A permanent member of the state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alhaji Bala Ahmad, made this known during the award of the contract in Dutse.
Ahmad said that the projects would cover Early Child Care, Primary and Secondary Schools, and would be funded under the 2012/2013 Universal Basic Education Commission intervention fund.
He said the projects were meant to provide conducive environment for teaching and learning in the schools.
Lagos
Two sales assistants were charged before an Igbosere
Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, over alleged theft of their employer’s goods valued at N469,500.
The accused — Isaiah Uduak, 19, and Esther James, 37 — whose addresses are unknown, are standing trial on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, receiving of stolen money and theft.
The duo pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
But the prosecutor, Cpl. Okete Ejime, told the court that the accused committed the offences sometime between August and September at House L10, Road 13, Close 16, Victoria Garden City Estate, Lagos.
Nasarawa
The Nasarawa State Government has granted pardon to
three prisoners serving various jail terms in the state.
Notice of the pardon is contained in a statement issued by the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Innocent Lagi, in Lafia.
The statement quoted the attorney general as saying the inmates were freed from the Lafia, Nasarawa and Wamba prisons respectively.
Lagi noted that the government pardon was in accordance with Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
Ogun
The Ogun Commissioner for Forestry, Mr Ayo Olubori,
in Abeokuta said the ministry had generated N116.6 million between January and June of this year.
Olubori said this when members of the state House of Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Forestry paid an oversight visit to the ministry.
“The ministry, however, generated this figure out of the N375 million proposed for the same period,’’ he said.
The commissioner further said the ministry raised 450,000 tree seedlings of various species between January and April.
Osun
The Osun State House of Assembly says the 2013
budget performance by ministries, agencies and parastatals of the state government is “below average’’.
The House Committee Chairman on Finance and Appropriation, Mr Kamil Oyedele, made the observation when the budget and planning office of the governor presented budget performance of the organisations between January and September.
Oyedele said the statistics given by the budget office showed that the 2013 was “poorly implemented”.
He said it was time for the organisations to buckle up and be more aggressive, to generate revenues for effective implementation of the budget.
Oyo
The wife of the Oyo State Commandant of the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mrs Foluke Obafaiye, has described the home as the bedrock of peace.
She spoke in Ibadan while inaugurating the state’s chapter of the Civil Defence Officers Wives Association (CDOWA) at the command’s headquarters.
According to Obafaiye, the choice of CDOWA’s motto, “Peace at Home; Peace in the Nation,” showed the importance attached to peace at home.
“Peace is associated with growth and development in any society, but before the society knows peace at all, the home is the starting point.
Yobe
The Yobe State Government has inaugurated trucks and
equipment worth N361 million procured for the construction of roads through direct labour in the state..
Gov. Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, who inaugurated the equipment in Damaturu, said it would be used for the construction of short roads linking villages and towns.
He said the direct labour programme would hasten execution of road projects and save cost.
Gaidam expressed satisfaction with the quality of the equipment saying, there is value for money in the machines.
Zamfara
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in Zamfara State
has dewormed 102 children of Gusau Orphanage Home as part of activities marking its 2013 Physicians’ Week.
The Chairman, Dr Sunday Onazi, said the exercise was aimed at ensuring that the inmates lived a healthy life.
He pointed out that it was important to deworm children regularly to protect them against malnutrition.
“If worms are allowed to grow in children, they would eat up most of the important nutrients in their body and then diseases such as malnutrition will take over.”
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.