₦airaland Forum

Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi has directed the arrest of suspects in the recent attacks on some political leaders in Okene, Adavi and Okehi local government areas.

In a statement in Lokoja on Tuesday, the governor said he would ensure that the perpetrators faced justice.

The statement, signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mrs Petra Akinti–Onyegbule, condemned the attack, saying it was unacceptable.

“The governor has since directed the relevant security agencies to ensure a thorough investigation into the allegations and bring the perpetrators and their sponsors to justice.

“This is irrespective of political parties or personalities involved,” she said.

According to her, the governor has raised a high-powered delegation led by his Special Adviser on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr Sadiq Ohere, to visit the victims to express government’s condolences to them.

“This is in pursuance of lasting peace and tranquillity in the land, and to reassure them of his commitment to ensuring the safety of lives and property of every resident of Kogi State,” Akinti-Onyegbule added.

She said that the special adviser had since commenced visits to the homes of those affected, including members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who were allegedly attacked, to give them support.

“This government will not condone any form of crime or violence in any part of the state, the government is responsible for the security of lives and property of all residents of Kogi, irrespective of political affiliation,” he said.

He said that perpetrating violence in the name of political support and thuggery was alien to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the culture of the people of the state.

The governor stated further that his administration would not condone any act of violence or attack against innocent and law abiding citizens.

He refuted allegations that the APC masterminded the violence and advised the PDP to stop playing to the gallery.

He assured the PDP and other political parties in the state that his government would never indulge in political violence, urging them to stop playing politics with security.

Bello appealed to people to embrace peace, unity, love for one another while going about their normal businesses without fear. (NAN)

Violence erupted in Okene on March 3 during an empowerment programme sponsored by a lawmaker.

It however escalated to Okehi and Adavi local government areas on Sunday during which hoodlums unleashed mayhem on political rivals in the areas.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/gov-bello-directs-arrest-of-suspects-in-okene-okehi-adavi-violence.html

chai

hmm

sorry

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The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Usani Usani, yesterday, denied allegations that he was behind the crisis in the Cross River State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) because of personal ambition.

The minister said this while fielding questions from newsmen through his Aide, Mr Sam Bassy, at the APC national secretariat in Abuja.

“We are all anxious to have the party moving, it is not about anybody, but about APC in Cross River, if anybody is interested in contesting election, he must have a platform,’’ he said.

He alleged that since his appointment as minister, the Cross River chapter of the APC had been without an effective chairman and was collapsing because of lack of good leadership.

Usani Usani was the APC chairman in Cross River before his appointment.

He alleged that with Mr John Ochalla as acting chairman of the APC in the state after his exit, the party never knew peace.

The minister, however, maintained that with the election of Mr Etim John on February 24 as the new chairman, the APC now had solid ground to win elections.

“We want to win election in Cross River and we need somebody that can stand out and lead the party in the office of the chairman to get us to victory,’’ he said.

He recalled that the 2017 congress which date was fixed by the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun when he received a delegation from Cross River was frustrated by some forces.

“When the heat continued, they said that we should conduct state congress. So, we met the Deputy National Chairman, South, Engr. Segun Oni and the National Organising Secretary, Sen. Osita Izunasor. We told them that we would go for state congress.

“At the congress, we elected Etim John who polled 56 voted against Mathew Atigbo who had 36 votes,” he said.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/minister-usani-denies-spearheading-crisis-in-cross-river-apc.html

A civil society organisation, OurMumuDonDo Movement, has vowed to occupy the office of Department of State Services, DSS on Wednesday if the Abuja Bureau Chief of the Daily Independent Newspaper, Tony Ezimakor, who is currently under the detention of the service is not released unconditionally.

The group in a statement made available to journalists on Monday called on all members of the local and international media to attend the peaceful protest aimed at drawing attention to the increasing incidents of unlawful harassment of the press and the unlawful detention of Nigerians in violation of their constitutional rights by the present administration.

The press statement was jointly signed by Charles Oputa (OurMumuDonDo), Deji Adeyanju (Concerned Nigerians), Ariyo Dare Atoye (Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy) and Bako Abdul Usman (Campaign for Democracy).

“Following the continued detention of Mr. Anthony Ezimakor, the Abuja Bureau Chief of the Daily Independent Newspaper by the Directorate of State Service (DSS), and the continued disregard for his rights to freedom of speech, right to dignity of the human person, and right to fair hearing as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we have decided to occupy the DSS Headquarters in Maitama by 9:00am on Wednesday March 7, 2018.

“The decision to occupy the DSS office was made in a bid to prevent Mr. Ezimakor from suffering the same fate as Sheik Ibrahim Elzakzaky who has been detained illegally at the DSS facility for more than two years.

“We reemphasize our demand for the unconditional release of Mr. Ezimakor by the DSS. In the alternative, we demand that the Federal Government charges him to court as stipulated in the Constitution and give him the opportunity to defend himself,” the statement reads.

The Abuja-based journalist is being held purportedly over exclusive stories on Boko Haram campaign and negotiations with the insurgents by the federal government.

Ezimakor, who has been in DSS’s detention for over five days without charge, is said to be treating hypertension and ulcer and this has reportedly made his family worried.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/-freetonyezimakor-group-to-occupy-dss-office-over-detained-journalist.html

hmmm

hmmm

The Federal Government said it is looking at ways to cut down the price of locally produced rice and to be able to attain self sufficiency in food production.

It also said Nigeria was able to cut down the importation of rice from Thailand from 644,000 metric tonnes two years ago, to a little over 20,000 metric tonnes currently, since the introduction of the CBN Anchor Borrowers scheme.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed disclosed this during a tour of rice farms in Jega, Kebbi State on Sunday.

Alhaji Mohammed who said the number of rice farmers have grown from 5 million to about 12 million in just 2 years noted that 32 states in Nigeria are currently covered under the Anchor Borrowers programme.

He said the rice revolution in Nigeria, has encouraged more production and less importation with countries like Thailand and other Asian countries expressing interests to set up rice mills in the country.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/fg-to-cut-down-price-of-locally-produced-rice-minister.html

More than 14 people were feared killed in attacks on Fulani settlements by suspected Mambilla militia in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State, witnesses say.

Daily Trust findings revealed that about 12 others were also wounded and are now on admission at a hospital in Gembu.

A victim of the attack, Malam Abubakar Ardo, who escaped with his family, told our reporter in Gembu that the attacks started at about noon on Thursday and most of the killings occurred at night. He said almost all the houses in about 15 Fulani settlements were burnt by the attackers.

Malam Ardo said the timely arrival of soldiers and the police prevented more killings and destruction of property, adding that there was calm, but the Fulani had fled the area. He said five of those killed were buried in Gembu shortly after prayers yesterday.

The police spokesman, Taraba Command, ASP David Misal, told our reporter four people were confirmed killed from both sides, and adequate security men were dispatched to the area to restore peace, adding that no arrest had been made.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/mambilla-15-fulani-settlements-razed.html

President Muhammadu Buhari and ECOWAS President Jean Claude Brou yesterday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja discussed stability of the subregion.

Addressing State House reporters later, Brou, who assumed office on Thursday, said issues of common market and common currency were also discussed.

He said he was at the Presidential Villa to inform Buhari that he was the new ECOWAS president and thank him for his support to the subregion.

He said: “Nigeria is the host country of ECOWAS and the most important country of ECOWAS. So, it’s extremely important that we come and thank President Buhari for the continuous support that Nigeria has provided to ECOWAS and inform him of some of the key issues facing ECOWAS. There are several activities, programmes and challenges and it is an opportunity to really seek President Buhari’s guidance, advise and how best we can advance the agenda of integration in West Africa.”

President Muhammadu Buhari at the meeting said ECOWAS must run a leaner and smarter organisation by cutting costs and becoming more efficient to achieve the objectives of the sub-regional body.

According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Malam Garba Shehu, the president urged member states of the organisation to pay their annual contributions as and when due.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/buhari-ecowas-president-discuss-regional-stability.html

The Managing Director of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Engr. Ernest Mupwaya, has said the company requires $150 million (about N54.15bn) to provide meters for its customers in the FCT and the other North Central states under its franchise.

Engr. Mupwaya stated this yesterday when he received the House Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation which was on an oversight visit at the AEDC headquarters in Abuja.

He said AEDC had metered about 150,000 customers so far and that it intended to roll out 500,000 meters at an average of 120,000 annual meter installation.

In his remarks, the committee’s vice Chairman, Shadimu Mutiu, said the essence of the oversight was to ensure compliance of sales and execution of privatised companies and also ensure that AEDC gave customers good service.

He said, “A report before us shows that about 37 different enterprises that were privatised by the Federal Government are heading towards failure. Therefore, we want to ensure that your operations are effective to the satisfaction of Nigerians.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cautioned Nigerians to be wary of investments in cryptocurrency, stressing that virtual currencies are not legal tender in Nigeria.

The CBN’s warning is coming barely one week after the Board of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) cautioned against the haste to draw up regulation on the activities of cryptocurrencies, noting that it would instead confer undue legitimacy which might serve to deceive the general public into believing that there was regulatory faith in the products

The CBN, in a release, reiterated that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ripples, Monero, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Onecoin, etc. and Exchanges such as NairaEx were not licensed or regulated by the CBN.

The statement signed by the bank’s Acting Director in charge of Corporate Communication, Isaac Okorafor, emphasised that dealers and investors in any kind of crypto currency in Nigeria were not protected by law, thus might be unable to seek legal redress in the event of failure of the exchangers or collapse of the business.

The CBN, therefore, warned Nigerians against investing in cryptocurrency as doing so would be at their own risk.

Nigeria is the only member country in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that imports petrol and is currently the largest importer of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in the world, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, said in Abuja yesterday.

Baru, who spoke through NNPC’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Upstream, Alhaji Bello Rabiu, at the 2018 Oloibiri Lecture Series (OLEF) while responding to questions from delegates, said the country had reached such import level because the refineries had not worked to their maximum capacity.

The OLEF, organised annually by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Nigeria Council, in commemoration of the first oil well drilled in Nigeria at Oloibiri in Bayelsa State in 1956, brings together key industry players to chart the right path for the oil sector.

“As we speak today, Nigeria is the only OPEC country that imports petrol and we are the largest importer of PMS in the world,” Baru said.

“We actually import one million tonnes of PMS every month into a country that produces oil and gas and has refinery. It is a shameful thing, it doesn’t make sense and that is what we are trying to address,” he added.

He said the refineries have not been operating at maximum capacity, but that the NNPC was working to address these challenges with the imminent announcement of investors who would bring in funding for the repair of the plants.

“Upgrades of our refineries from the current name plate capacity of 445,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) to at least 1million bpd is the focus. Discussions with relevant investors and financiers are ongoing. The expectation is that the refineries will be fully back on stream by December 2019,” he said.

The Chairman of SPE Nigeria Council, Mr. Chikezie Nwosu said the SPE-OLEF now in its 18th year, had become a forum that brought together key industry players to discuss on topical issues in the energy industry with a view to influencing the right policy direction to enable the growth of the industry and the economy.

Earlier, in an oil industry address, the GMD announced that Nigeria had seen the most aggressive drop in gas flaring from a peak of 2.5 billion standard cubic feet per day few years ago to about 700 million standard cubic feet per day.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/nnpc-nigeria-now-world-s-largest-petrol-importer.html

The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has said the need to avoid crisis ahead of the 2019 general elections is the reason the elective convention of the party has been shifted.

Chief Odigie-Oyegun, in a brief interactive session with journalists yesterday in his office, said the decision taken was not new to the APC in view of similar actions on Ekiti and Osun states in 2014.

He said it was not possible to have unanimity of opinion on the action of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to extend the tenure of the APC officials across all levels by one year.

There were insinuations that some aggrieved members of the APC were planning to drag the party to court for the extension of tenure for the Oyegun-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.

Odigie-Oyegun, who was asked to comment on the division over the issue, said, “I don’t want to talk on this sensitive political issue, suffice it to say that whatever is happening naturally will be contrary viewed.

“So, it will be so difficult if you come out with total, 100 per cent unanimity. But I think the reason of not wanting to hold some of these elective congresses this year is very clear. We have such a mighty work to do this one year and each one has potential of causing crisis. It has always been anyway that once there is an election, it always creates its own issues.

“We are going to have first set of party elections, second set of elections of governmental aspirants, other Houses of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, governorship and so on.

“So, We just felt we could defer some of these issues or the party felt some of these challenges could be deferred for one year for serious tasks before us, which is the national elections, and people gave the good examples of Ekiti and Osun where because of this same problem, elections were due in those two states, the filling of party offices had to be deferred,” he said.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/why-we-delay-elective-convention-oyegun.html

Good one

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A total of N3.514 billion salary fraud has been uncovered on the Benue State Civil Service payroll following the ongoing verification exercise to ascertain the over bloated wage of the state.

The latest finding was contained in the phase II report of the Salary Verification Committee headed by a retired permanent secretary, Tersegha Ikyaabo, and submitted to Governor Samuel Ortom on January 17, this year.

According to Ikyaabo's report, the over N3.514b salary fraud was in excess payments to undeserving staff in seven of the Benue state's Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), with staff strength of 8,913 between June 2015 and April 2017.

He stated that the seven MDAs included; the Benue State Teaching Service Board (TSB), Hospital Management Board (HMB) and five tertiary institution of Akawe Torkula College of Advanced and Professional Studies in Makurdi, Benue State Polytechnic in Ugbokolo, the Colleges of Education in Kastina Ala and Oju respectively as well as Akperan Orshi College of Agriculture, Yandev.

The report also indicated that the recent discoveries of 8,913 staff strength in the seven MDAs were slightly lower than the 10, 300 staff uncovered in the first phase of the committee's findings which uncovered the sum of N1.4 billion wrongly paid to some workers in 60 MDAs in the state between June 2015 and October 2016.

While the document further showed that N301.7 million was paid to non-existing workers who failed to appear before for exercise conducted and their whereabouts was not even known to the managements of their alleged various MDAs just as retired workers whose names should no longer be on the payroll received N619.6million.

The verification committee however removed from the payroll employees that got into

the system through the backdoor, and demoted those that had been promoted without requisite professional and academic qualifications based on various service schemes.

Ikyaabo's committee said the feat was achieved through the technology provided by Remita and the support of its consultants in collaboration with the state's Ministry of Finance, stressing that with the updated data, the payroll process became much easier, eliminates possibilities of fraud, and better positions the state to meet its obligations to its employees.

The committee's discoveries may not be unconnected with the alleged discrepancies which affected workers January remuneration as most of them complained to have been short paid occasioned by the 'cleaned' data which was said to be reviewed and approved by the Commissioner for Finance and used for salary payment last month.

Governor Samuel Ortom who set up the Ikyaabor's committee had in December last year announced his administration intention to reduce the state's monthly wage bill from 7.8 billion to N4.5billion, stressing that the decision to trimmed down was based on the fact that it ranked the third highest wage bill of states in the country.

Meanwhile, the State's House of Assembly in its bid to intervene on the January salary discrepancies has summoned key officers of the state’s Ministry of Finance, including the Commissioner for Finance, Head of Service, and the Remita consultants among others for an explanation on the matter.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/n3-5bn-salary-fraud-uncovered-in-benue-s-payroll.html

Hmm

Good

Did he married two wives? what of the one that died few weeks ago?

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Chai

You are not tell truth.

President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the bill seeking to establish the Nigeria Peace Corps.

The president said the functions of the corps as contained in the bill were duplication of existing security agencies.

Both chambers of the National Assembly had months ago passed the bill and transmitted it to the President for assent.

But in a letter read by Speaker Yakubu Dogara during plenary session yesterday, Buhari cited Section 58(4) of the Constitution as the basis for his refusal to assent the bill.

Buhari said in the letter dated January 25, 2018, that “Pursuant to section 58(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), I hereby convey to the House of Representatives, my decision, on 25th January, 2018 to decline Presidential Assent to the Nigeria Peace Corps (Establishment) Bill, 2017 recently passed by the National Assembly.

“Specifically, reasons for the decision to decline assent to this bill include among others: Security concerns regarding the proposed Nigerian Peace Corps being authorised to undertake activities currently being performed by extant security and law enforcement agencies; and;

‘Financial implications of funding the establishment and operations of the proposed Nigerian Peace Corps, given the scarce financial resources may pose serious challenge to the government.’

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/buhari-rejects-peace-corps-says-it-s-duplication.html