Governor-elect rejects N15b Govt House
Fashola, Ambode meet security chiefs
Suntai packs out of Govt House
APC to review governor’s ‘rush hour’ pacts
Some 48 hours to the inauguration of the
Muhammadu Buhari administration, there seems
to be a surge of activities in the land.
Dignitaries are arriving for the ceremony, which
will take place at the Eagle Square in Abuja.
Guinean President Alpha Conde arrived yesterday.
The city’s streets are festooned with flags.
A committee has started the accreditation of the
media for the historic event for which all the big
hotels have been booked.
In states where new governors are to take office
– incumbents will also take the oath of office –
there is a build-up to the day. Lagos State
Governor Babatunde Fashola and Governor-elect
Akinwunmi Ambode met with security chiefs at
the State House in Marina.
Fashola handed the security apparatus in the
nation’s commercial capital to his would-be
successor at a meeting of the State’s Security
Council.
Fashola bade farewell to the Council, which he
has headed since 2007.
Members of the Council at the meeting are:
Commander 9 Mechanised Brigade, Ikeja,
Brigadier General Ahmed Sabo; Commander
AirForce 435 Base, Ikeja, Air Commodore Lere
Osanyintolu; Commander NNS BeeCroft, Navy
Commodore Teikumo Daniel Ikoli; Deputy
Commissioner of Police, Operations, Mr. Johnson
Kokumo, who represented Commissioner of Police
Kayode Aderanti and Director, State Security
Service, Mr. Ben Olayi
Also there were: Chief of Staff to the Governor
Lanre Babalola; Attorney General and
Commissioner for Justice Ade Ipaye; Special
Adviser on Security and Policing Matters Major
Tunde Panox and Executive Secretary, Lagos
State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), Mr. Fola
Arthur-Worrey.
In PlateauState, Governor-elect Simon Lalong has
said he will not work from the new Government
House in Jos, the state capital.
The governor-elect said the N15 billion property
had not been completed, adding that he does not
need such luxury to serve the people.
He said: “I am not going to occupy an
uncompleted building as a government house. In
any case, I don’t need such a house to work for
the people of Plateau State.
“In serving Plateau people, I don’t need a luxury
office. I’d rather prefer people of the state live in
luxury homes with all social services provided. So,
I don’t think a new government house is a priority
of Plateau people. I don’t need such an office to
serve my people.
“I was told that new government house has cost
over N15 billion and it is still uncompleted. I can’t
live in such an office when Plateau people have
no water to drink, children are not going to
school, civil servants are not paid, there is no
medical care in rural areas and most villages
have no roads. So, I don’t need such capital-
intensive government house. Such a project
amounts to a misapplication of scarce fund.”
Lalong said his administration would review
uncompleted projects left by the outgoing Jonah
Jang administration before completing them.
Jang had urged the incoming administration to
complete ongoing projects before starting new
ones.
But Lalong said: “I am going to complete all
ongoing projects I am going to inherit. But I will
have to review them and know the cost
implication. The abandoned projects are
numerous. I have to review all of them. I need to
know which contractor is involved and how much
has been spent so far on each of the projects.
“Governor Jang has claimed he is leaving a debt
of over N8 billion for me, excluding the N28 billion
bond he collected before the election. Then, he is
owing the civil servants at least seven months of
unpaid salaries and unquantified workers’
allowances and pensioners’ funds.
“On all these financial liabilities, I am going to set
up a committee to review them and advise
government accordingly.”
Also yesterday, the state chapter of the Nigeria
Labour Congress (NLC) prevented Jang from
inaugurating some projects for non-payment of
workers’ salary.
The governor was billed to inaugurate a radio
station at the Jos Campus of the State
Polytechnic.
The aggrieved workers barricaded the entrance to
the newly-built Revenue House of the State
Internal Revenue Service.
A spokesman for the workers, Mr Paul Dakogal,
who is also the Chairman of the Senior Staff
Association of Nigeria (SSAN), said: “It is
inappropriate for Jang to inaugurate any project.
Governor Jang did not contribute any resource in
facilitating the project. How then can he
inaugurate it?
“When we heard that the governor planned to
inaugurate a radio station, among other projects
in the state, despite the workers’ strike, we
decided to stop that nonsense.
“He has not paid workers for more than a year
and students are at home because of strike. Yet,
he intended to inaugurate projects.”
Dakojal recalled that for four years, the
polytechnic could only produce two sets of
graduates.
Dakojal said the Education sector in Plateau had
deteriorated in the past eight years.
TheNiger State chapter of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) plans to review what it called
“rush hour” agreements or Memoranda of
Understanding (MoU) by outgoing Governor
Babangida Aliyu with any company or individual.
The party kicked against the lease of the new
state-owned hotel opposite the Government
House in Minna to a private firm to manage for
30 years.
In a statement yesterday in Minna, the state
capital, by its Publicity Secretary Jonathan Vatsa,
the party said it discovered that the hotel was
built from the Subsidy Reinvestment
Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) funds given
to the state.
APC alleged that the facility was leased to a
private firm with interest to the outgoing Aliyu
administration.
APC said it would have disregarded the outgoing
government’s last-minute moves but needed to
lay everything before the people to promote
accountability and fight corruption.
It said: “We feel that the people of the state
should be aware before our party takes over
government.”
The statement warned that “all MoU and
agreements signed at rush hours that are outright
rip-off of the state’s scarce resources and/or
against the interest of the state will be duly
revisited”.
It added: “We will not allow few individuals to
make the majority of Niger residents to suffer.
Rather, it will be that the few will suffer for the
good of the majority of the people of Niger State.
This is even divine. We will, by the grace of God,
restore the glory of Niger State, even if few people
are to suffer for it.
“The era of digital charades aimed at benefiting
the few is over. We shall not be party to
unrealistic agenda in the name of setting the
state on the path of development. Wwe know we
cannot do it alone. As such, we will carry along
all Niger residents on the path of change for
restoration.”
Also, the party expressed concern over the re-
absorbtion of some retired top civil servants into
the civil service – all aimed at creating problems
for the incoming government.
Benue State Governor-elect, Samuel Ortom
warned those wishing to work with his
administration to focus on service rather than
money.
Speaking with our reporter ahead of May 29
inauguration in his Makurdi home, Ortom said his
administration would not condone “primitive
accumulation of wealth by political appointees
and public office holders”.
The governor-elect said it is morally wrong for a
Level Seven officer in the civil service to acquire
expensive property and live an ostentatious
lifestyle.
He said such a government official would arouse
questions about where he or she got the funds for
such a lifestyle.
Ortom said his administration would fight
corruption and flush out corrupt officials so that
the people could enjoy quality living.
The governor-elect urged those planning to use
his administration to make money to go into
private businesses and become richer.
He said he had a vision in 1992 to become the
governor of Benue State.
According to him, his coming to the Government
House in Makurdi is a divine arrangement.
Ortom promised not disappoint the people and
God, who made his dream come true.
The governor-elect also promised to rule with the
fear of God, eradicate poverty, ensure fairness to
all, run a transparent government and promote
love and unity.
His priorities, he said, include the creation of
wealth, restoring peace, growing micro-industries
and promoting massive trading so that people
would not depend on government alone.
“I have been around for a while and I’m
conversant with the challenges. I will do things
that will add value to the people and put smiles
on their face,” Ortom said.
TarabaState Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai
has packed his personal effects from the
Government House in Jalingo, ahead of Friday’s
handover.
Suntai has been recuperating at the Government
House as a ceremonial figure, following the
injuries he sustained when a plane he piloted
crashed near Yola, the Adamawa State capital, on
October 25, 2012.
The governor started packing his belongings on
Monday and continued yesterday.
His wife, Hauwa, held a “strictly by invitation”
farewell party last week with 30 women in
attendance.
Suntai will complete two terms of eight years on
Friday without building a personal house.
His deputy, Abubakar Sani Danladi, who has been
acting, bought a house for him in Jalingo, where
his belongings were packed to.
Taraba residents called for “special prayers” for
him and his successor, Governor-elect Darius
Dickson Ishaku, for a peaceful transition.
The prayers, offered in churches, began last
Sunday.
Scores were killed when the March 28 election
was declared as inconclusive by the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), even as
Ishaku, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
was leading the only woman candidate and flag
bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC),
Senator Aisha Alhassan.
Ishaku’s supporters did not throw a party to
celebrate when he won by a runoff with an
aggregate of 369,318 votes.
“Now, we want to celebrate. People should be
allowed to jubilate and celebrate when they
triumph in an election.
“We were not allowed to celebrate the victory.
Rather a curfew was imposed for a week.
“Before the rerun election, our supporters were
killed because they were celebrating victory. The
inauguration should not be the same, Peter Ada, a
trader, told The Nation yesterday.
Ada urged the Acting Governor Abubakar Sani
Danladi to strengthen security to protect lives and
property during the inauguration.

[i][/i]change[color=#000099][/color]

Cut this long story short na

As expected... Change of power

OP did u ever write a comprehension passage before?