₦airaland Forum

Trendy247:
Uwc bro.. Make sure u reopen dispute b4 ur purchase protection ends o

sure thing

Trendy247:
Just b patient I got mine after few more days. Just cancel the dispute, u can always reopen it

ok, thanks

hello guys, im in a similar situation with the OP, contacted the seller, he said i should be patient, due to delivery to nigeria been slow and all but it will get to me, i actually received the other goods i purchased same day with this one, anyway i have opened dispute some days back, but the seller is begging me to be patient, that its has finished customs clearance ( this is the second time it will be undergoing “customs clearance".

he is asking me to cancel dispute and accept his proposal.. should i go ahead and accept his proposal to wait for my goods and cancel dispute before Ali Express steps in (which will be tomorrow)?

and can i re open dispute after canceling the first one?

PS: whatsup with NIPOST, their tracking services are currently down..

STRONG indications emerged yesterday that following the lingering crisis in the Senate over principal offices by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the PDP, the leadership of the Senate has shifted the resumption date for plenary to Tuesday, July 28.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that the move became imperative against the backdrop of the fact that both parties were yet to resolve the power sharing issue.

The positions in dispute are the Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip and Deputy Minority Whip.

A source toldVanguard that the change in resumption date, was to calm nerves, just as it would allow both groups that emerged during the struggle for Senate presidency to come together, brainstorm and harmonise with a view to arriving at a common position for the overall interest of the Senate.

According to the source, the shift would allow for a Committee headed by Governor Adams Oshiomhole to present its report to governors elected on the platform of APC.

The Unity Forum which supported Senator Ahmed Lawan’s aspiration and Senator Bukola Saraki’s Like Minds are expected to attend.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/leadership-crisis-forces-senate-to-shift-resumption-date-to-july-28/

Cc ishilove

Scores of the Peoples Democratic Party in Bayelsa State on Friday defected to the All Progressives Congress.

The defection saw two-time member of House of Representatives, Chief Warman Ogoriba, and many other PDP supporters, some former aides of Governor Seriake Dickson, embracing the APC.

Those who also dumped the PDP were former commissioners in the state: Charles Opuola, Nelson Belief, Sylvanus Abila, and Ayiba Nelson.
Others are Adolphus Ofongo, Lucky Yeboah, Romeo Ebizimor, Williams Ofoni, John Ebikake and Moses Tariebe, among others.

Prominent APC chieftains who received the defectors at the party’s secretariat in Yenagoa former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva; former Acting governors Nestor Binabo and Werinipre Seibarugu; Ambassador Felix Oboro, state Chairman of APC, Tiwei Orunimighe; his deputy, Eddy Julius; Secretary, Marlin Daniel and Publicity Secretary, Panebi Fortune, among others.
Sylva said APC would, on February 14, 2016, occupy the state Government House, Yenagoa, as the ruling party.

According to him, the PDP is dead in Bayelsa State and the people are only waiting for its funeral, which will come soon.

Urging all members of the APC to unite, the former governor said, “The party is a sweet family. The message is that all of us should come together and form one big family. The dirt on Yenagoa and Bayelsa will be swept off by the APC and thrown into Opuabadi (sea).

“As for the PDP, do not make any mistake. The PDP government in Bayelsa State is dead. Its funeral is being postponed. We will bury it soon.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/scores-dump-pdp-for-apc-in-bayelsa/

Cc lalasticlala ishilove

The Federal Government has introduced a pain-relieving drug for cancer, HIV and other related diseases in the country.

The drug, simply called morphine, is expected to bring relief to patients suffering from the ailments.

Consequently, it has directed that morphine, which had been in use in very low quantity in health facilities in the country, should be supplied by the Federal Government and the American Cancer Society in the next one year.



The programme is being implemented under the auspices of Pain-Free Hospital Initiative.

The Managing Director of Global Cancer Treatment, Dr. Megan O’Brien, who spoke on behalf of ACS during the unveiling of morphine on Thursday evening in Abuja, said the drug will reduce the scarcity of pain relievers.

She said, “In the past, opium pain relievers were not widely used in Nigeria, and as a result, hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have suffered unnecessarily. Their unrelieved pain affected not only themselves; their suffering traumatized their families, their communities and the health workers who took care of them.”

http://www.nigerianeye.com/2015/07/fg-introduces-pain-relieving-drug-for.html


cc lalasticlala ishilove Afam4eva

From left: Deputy Gov. of Yobe State, Engr. Abubakar D. Ali, Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam, Chief of Army Staff, Major General Tukur Buratai, State Assembly Speaker, Adamu Dala Dogo and Major General Alani Gaffar Akunola during the Eid-El-Fitr prayers at the Damaturu Central Mosque. Photo: Kayode Idowu - See more at: http://www.punchng.com/news/photos-army-chief-yobe-gov-observe-eid-el-fitr-prayers/#sthash.cTJyQyFF.dpuf

CC lalasticlala ishilove

The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, says he will enforce the verdict of the coroner’s inquest on the September 12, 2014 Synagogue Church building collapse.

The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Habib Aruna, on Thursday, said his government would uphold and enforce the sanctity of the law in the state, urging residents of the state to also respect the rule of law.

Ambode said, “The coroner’s verdict of July 7, 2015, made a number of recommendations which the state government would act upon accordingly.

“One of the provisions of the Coroner Law, 2007, is the provision that empowers a coroner to commence an inquest to find out the cause and manner of death which occur in an unusual manner.”

The governor added that consequent upon the collapse building on the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, the state government applied that a coroner’s inquest be commenced into the cause of the tragic deaths.

He said, “Therefore, the Lagos State Government will cause the prosecution of the contractor, Akinbela Fatiregun of Hardrock Engineering Company Limited; and the Structural Engineer, Oladele Ogundeji, who constructed and supervised the collapsed building, respectively, at the Synagogue Church of All Nations for professional negligence.”

The governor added that the government would also prosecute SCOAN for neglecting to obtain building approval before commencing the construction of the building, contrary to the provisions of the Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law, 2010.

He appealed to residents of the state to always allow emergency responders to perform their duties during emergencies as they were trained for the purpose.

“Also, land owners within the state, who intend to embark on construction, should employ the services of qualified engineers who must obtain building permit before construction,” the governor added.

http://www.punchng.com/news/ambode-okays-prosecution-of-synagogue-engineers/

Cc lalasticlala ishilove

A photo from the formal Handing and taking over of command between former Chief of Army staff , Lt General KTJ Minimah, and the newly appointed COAS Major General TY Buratai which is taking place now at the Army Headquarters Conference room, Abuja.

http://lindaikeji..in/2015/07/photo-former-chief-of-army-staff.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+/OqshX+(Welcome+to+Linda+Ikeji%27s+Blog)

Cc ishilove

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has said that there is nothing ‘personal’ between him and former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
And that blackmail won’t help her case.

The Edo State Governor in a statement on Thursday said the questions he asked were: how come those accruals into the Excess Crude Account got depleted without the knowledge of the National Economic Council?

The read thus in part

‘BLACKMAIL WON’T HELP YOUR CASE, OSHIOMHOLE TELLS OKONJO-IWEALA

It is instructive at this point in time to state categorically without equivocation that there is nothing “personal” between Okonjo-Iweala and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in terms of the request by the Edo Governor that Okonjo-Iweala should come clean on the issue of revenue that accrued to the Excess Crude Account.

As much as her Spokesman tries to dramatize his response in defense of his boss, he has shown a manifest uninformed disposition to issues of simple economics of naira and kobo.

Here is a former Minister who has changed her position four times in the last forty days; each position exposing her dubiety of facts and inherent contradictions in the concocted tales she has been weaving on one simple issue: what happened to t5he $2.1b ECA funds?

PERTINENT QUESTIONS.

The simple questions which the Comrade Governor asked were: how come those accruals into the Excess Crude Account got depleted without the knowledge of the National Economic Council? How come monies that were supposed to accrue into the said account cannot be found in it going by the balance sheet provided by the former Minister?

How come the Minister unilaterally dipped her hand into the Excess Crude Account to spend money in defiance of the constitution and the laws of the land?
How come that the Minister finds it convenient to publish allocations to States and Local Governments, but refused to publish accruals into the same account for us to know the status of the account at any point in time; how much was left from where she was distributing from?’

More details soon

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/blackmail-wont-help-your-case-oshiomhole-tells-okonjo-iweala/
Cc ishilove

National Security Adviser (NSA) Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno has his job cut out for him – a member of his family is being held by Boko Haram insurgents, Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima said yesterday.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday named Gen. Monguno NSA. He fired the Service Chiefs and replaced the NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) with Monguno.

To Shettima, the change of guards at the military hierarchy has offered a unique opportunity to defeat Boko Haram.

Reacting to the appointment of Gen. Monguno and Maj-Gen Tukur Buratai as the NSA and the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), the governor said Nigeria cannot afford to lose the anti-Boko Haram battle with the new appointments.

Shettima, who described the appointment of the duo of Gen. Monguno and Gen. Buratai as “one of the happiest moments in his lifetime”, said: “The fight to overcome insurgents ‘is now or never’ because with the duo, Nigeria now has the best of chances to overcome the challenges of insurgency facing it since 2009.”

The governor was hosting members of the Insurgency Victims Support Fund Committee, chaired by Lt. Gen. Theophilus .Y Danjuma, who visited him at the Government House in Maiduguri, the state capital.

Shettima said President Buhari’s choice of Gen Monguno and Gen Buratai as a classic case of putting square pegs in square holes, adding that both men have been given the mandate of liberating their state, which has been the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency.

According to him, the military top brass possess ancestral knowledge of the state’s terrain besides being direct victims of insurgency attacks with their relatives killed, their homes destroyed and their towns raided.

His words: “Yesterday was the happiest moment of my life. President Muhammadu Buhari made a strong statement by his decision to appoint two highly competent sons of Borno to the offices of the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Army Staff.

“I think his strategy was to get people with ancestral knowledge of the Borno terrain. Maj-Gen Tukur Buratai is even a direct victim of Boko Haram attacks. He lost family members when his residence was attacked earlier this year in Buratai, a town in Biu Local Government area.

“Monguno (town) was destroyed and once occupied by Boko Haram and that is where the new NSA, retired Maj-Gen Babagana Monguno, hails from. In fact, a key family member of General Monguno is still being held captive by Boko Haram insurgents.

“These two generals are from Borno; they know exactly where it pinches and, most importantly, they understand the terrain and can easily connect with communities to get local support.

“Added to them is also the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who hails from Bauchi, also in the Northeast. AVM Abubakar spent many of his formative years in the military here in Borno State. He has spent over 10 years in Borno; he knows the terrain very well also and connects with the people.

“I think, for us, it is now or never because the President has generously put the sons of Borno and the Northeast to lead the battle for the freedom of Borno, the Northeast and rest of Nigeria, from the murderous threats of insurgents.

“Insha Allah, with the combined efforts of other competent Service Chiefs and all Nigerians, the war on terror will soon be won by the supremacy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The governor called on Nigerians to support the President who,he said, has left no one in doubt about his persistent commitment to ending the insurgency.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/nsas-family-member-being-held-by-insurgents-says-governor/

Cc: ishilove

According to reports, hundreds of militants stormed Mainok village around 5:30 PM and spent about four hours killing civilians.

SaharaReporters has learned that at least 25 people were murdered by Boko Haram terrorists in Mainok village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

According to reports, hundreds of militants stormed Mainok village around 5:30 PM and spent about four hours killing civilians. Mainok is about 45 kilometers away from Maiduguri and located in the Konduga Local Government Area (LGA).

Boko Haram also destroyed an estimated 30 vehicles and burned down hundreds of homes, according to the same sources.

Ali Muhammadu, a resident fleeing the area, confirmed to SaharaReporters that at least 25 civilians were murdered and that many vehicles and homes were destroyed. He added that Boko Haram attacked drivers along the Maiduguri-Damaturu roadway, killing many of them. ''We have buried some but some were burnt beyond recognition,” he said.

A Civilian JTF member, Ba'na Umar, confirmed to SaharaReporters that about 25 bodies were taken from the Mainok village area this morning. However, “many people are still missing, [and] we don't know the whereabouts of some of our teenagers,” he said.

This is the third time Mainok has been attacked by Boko Haram.

http://saharareporters.com/2015/07/14/boko-haram-slaughters-dozens-mainok

cc ishilove ...

The Presidency, on Monday, said President Muhammadu Buhari would consider the All Progressives Congress, APC’s call for the probe of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration over $5.5bn dividends said to have been paid to the Federal Government by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited.

Spokesman of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday, urged the Buhari-led Federal Government to also probe the taxes and dividends accrued to the Jonathan administration through the NLNG in the last six years.

Reacting, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, told The Punch such calls would be considered.

He assured Nigerians that if there was merit in the call, the President would look into it.

Adesina said, “The All Progressives Congress’ position on the NLNG fund is just a call.

“When calls are made, they will be considered. If there is merit in that call, you can be sure that the President will look into it.

“It was a call that came from the party and it just came yesterday.

“Time must be given for the President to consider the call.”

The APC had claimed that apart from the $1.6bn NLNG payment for 2015, NLNG also paid $1.4bn as Income Tax/Education Tax in May 2014; paid $0.3bn as Education Tax to the FG in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and $1.2bn in VAT and Withholding Tax to the FG since 2009.

The party said since those payments were just those made in the past six years alone, there would have been other payments before then.

“In addition, dividend payments totaling $4,728,136,946 were paid to the Federal Government between 2004 and 2009, out of which only $127,851,348.19 was credited to the Federal Government’s Independent Account with JP Morgan, leaving a balance of over $4bn.

http://dailypost.ng/2015/07/14/buhari-gives-condition-for-nlng-probe/?wt=3

cc ishilove

I think we need to audit all the states LGAs

NSC queries NFF over Keshi’s sack

The Federal government through the National Sports Commission (NSC) yesterday threatened to stop the plan by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to unveil Nigerian former international, Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh, as the new Super Eagles head coach on Wednesday, insisting that the appointment did not conform with the Procurement Act procedure for engagement.

This is coming on the heels of the NSC query to the NFF over the sack of former Super Eagles Chief Coach, Stephen Keshi. The Guardian gathered from the NSC yesterday in Abuja that the commission had written to the NFF, insisting that the position of the head coach for the Super Eagles is still vacant, stressing that it has not received any official correspondent from the federation on the appointment and unveiling of any coach to replace Stephen Keshi, who was sacked last week for applying for the vacant coaching job in Cote d’Ivoire while still on the employment of the NFF.

According to an NSC management egghead: “The procedure for hiring Sunday Oliseh did not pass through the Procurement Act. It was the same when the NSC employed the High Performance Directors. The Sports Commission requested for waiver for selective bidding, which enabled us to select people based on their credentials.

“We selected people and interviewed them in the United Kingdom. The Deputy Director in charge of Procurement attended because it is a procurement exercise, which must go in accordance with the Procurement Act.

“The engagement of Oliseh is a contractual one but it is unfortunate that the federation may not have been guided accordingly. If the federation goes ahead to unveil Oliseh on Wednesday without following the due process, they would be violating the Procurement Act, they would be found liable.

“The truth is that even if they have secured the consent of a private company to pick Oliseh’s bills, the law of the land on engagement must be observed. The procedure is for the NFF to write to the Sports Commission informing them of their plans to engage a technical expertise like the Eagles chief coach and his assistants, specifying the terms of relationship.

If they don’t want to advertisement, they can do selective bidding.” The NSC official further noted, “If they must interview and hire Oliseh alone, they must apply for waiver of certificate of no objection giving reason for the decision to settle for him alone.

Unveiling him on Wednesday is tantamount to violation of the due process of the procurement in accordance with Procurement Act.

“Writing to NSC is just a point of information and point of information is not a legal process. NSC has no business with their day-to-day operation but if the operation violates the law, we will draw their attention to it and take any managerial and administrative measure that must be taken.

“As I speak to you, NSC does not know whether there is any unveiling this week because we are an institution guided by official communication and far as we are concerned, nobody from the federation has communicated to us officially if there will be any unveiling.”

Yakmut said the only official information the NSC has received from the NFF was the answer to its query on the sack of Keshi, adding, “They have already sent two pages of explanation on why he was removed.

They told us how his removal would add value to the game. The Sports Commission has accepted the reasons for Keshi’s sack because we don’t know the content of the contract that brought him in the first place and the one that kicked him out.”

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/07/fg-threatens-to-stop-olisehs-unveiling-on-wednesday/

Dr. Cairo Ojougboh was member, House of Representatives, Senate Liaison Officer to late President Umaru Yar’ Adua and currently National Vice Chairman, South -South of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In this interview, he said for the PDP to get it right after its loss in the last elections the truth must be told. He attributed the loss to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s refusal to adhere to an existing agreement. He also, among others, spoke on Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s election as deputy Senate President and the illegality of President Muhammadu Buhari’s bail out to states. Excerpts:

By Henry Umoru

ON why the PDP lost the presidential polls after boasting that it would rule Nigeria for 60 years

Let me take you back. When Abacha died, the South came together to say it was their time to produce the president of this country because Abiola had just won the election that was annulled and he was a Southerner. So the North put themselves together and said this agitation if not well handled could break this country. As Northerners, we love this country so we will give power to the South. That was how cleverly, Obasanjo and Olu Falae contested the election in 1999 and that was how power was transferred to the South.

Then, there was an arrangement by the 34 great men that formed the PDP that they would start shifting power eight years to the North, eight years to the South. It was a gentleman agreement. It was enshrined in the PDP constitution but it is not in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The South-West had the first shot, everybody co-operated, Obasanjo became president. After eight years, it was the turn of the North to become president then problem started. Some people started toying with the idea of third term. PDP said ‘no,’ PDP members of the National Assembly and other parties said ‘no, it will not work.’ The PDP had to produce a candidate and that was how Yar’Adua emerged.

Unfortunately, Yar’Adua did not survive, so the North said, ‘look this presidency is our own, we have to utilise our allotted eight years’ and they were right.

Jonathan himself said he would do only four years. Emirs, leaders and stakeholders in the country accepted that Jonathan will do only four years so that power can shift to the North. When time came, a lot of Maccaba dances started; people started putting pressure here and there and people started encouraging Jonathan to contest.

Unfortunately, Jonathan didn’t have the nerves to say, ‘no, I will keep to my agreement.’ So Jonathan contesting meant that the zoning formula had been breached. The North didn’t take it kindly; they said ‘this is not what we agreed. Even the Christian North that used to be very friendly, especially the North-Central said we had an agreement. Some governors, about five of them left the party because of that, because they saw what was happening. So it was this pressure that the North now agreed that they must take power back, that it was their turn.

Fortunately or unfortunately, only two candidates were presented at the election: Jonathan and Buhari.
Buhari is from the North, Jonathan is from the South. The South had done more than enough for the time being for the agreement of 1998/1999. So the North said look we are going to vote for our son whether he is good or bad.

Well, the members most of them, stood on their ground and worked for the party; if you look at the margin, it’s just two million and where did the two million votes come from? Kano and Katsina.

The North and some Nigerians said that look Jonathan could not be strong enough to keep to an agreement that has been well accepted. When
Obasanjo said it, nobody believed him, but the elders of the party should have had the courage; the founding fathers, the BoT, they sould have had the courage to go to Jonathan and said: ‘look why don’t you keep to the agreement? But party members and stakeholders went ahead endorsing him. So from now on, any agreement reached, the PDP must abide by it.

You were quoted as saying that Nigerians would beg the PDP to return to power, how will this happen?
It is very clear. The PDP is a party and if you look at the APC, there is only one member in APC and that is Buhari. You see, the APC came to power as a result of a gang-up against the PDP and obviously, it is not going to stand the test of time. There will be a lot of confusion and there will be a lot of problems.

Buhari is not going to agree with the persons within the APC because they are not of the same parentage and Nigerians will be very tired because it will be all motion and no movement. In fact, in the next one year, Nigerians will be fed up. You have already seen it and that is the truth of the matter. There will be all motion, no movement.

Will the PDP have a hand in it?

Why would the PDP have a hand in it?

How is the party strategizing to bounce back?

We are repositioning our party and it is when the leaders of the party begin to accept the truth, speak the truth and allow people, who are uncontrollable to take control, work their best and contribute their quota that our party will take over power again. The PDP has remained the most viable and well-built party that this country has ever had.

Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu resigned recently as the national chairman of the PDP, following pressure from the presidency and other stakeholders that he led the party to failure. Is the entire National Working Committee of the party going to be dissolved?

No, you must follow due process of the law. The NWC members were voted into office and their tenure will expire in March. There are two ways to remove them; number one is they voluntarily resign. Second is that National Executive Council, NEC, with a vote of 2/3 will remove them. Anything short of these two, you can’t remove them. So the party must be patient to wait till March, 2016, to be able to effect any change in the NWC. So far, they have woken up and they are working.

Buhari has bailed out states with money the PDP claimed was part of funds saved by former President Jonathan, what is your take?

Yes, it is money left by the Jonathan administration. President Buhari has been in office for just one month, where did he get the money from? But the issue with it is the method of disbursement, did the National Assembly approve it? You see, this is where democracy comes in. Was it appropriated? Does it have legal backing? The PDP is a party and is watching.

APC has produced Senate President while the PDP has produced deputy senate president. How do you look at this development?

The emergence of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as deputy Senate President is a welcome development. You see, it shows you that PDP is the party to beat. It allows you understand that the PDP is a great party.
We speak with one voice. It is a wonderful experience and it is to show any party that you cannot impose your will on Nigerians. The unfortunate incident that led to the failure of PDP in the presidential elections would not happen again.

We are one family and from now on, the PDP will learn to obey zoning because this matter called zoning is very important in Nigeria. It is the Nigerian system of democracy and if you don’t align, there is always a problem.

Is it possible for one man to change the Senate rules?

No, one man cannot change the Senate rules It is because the whole thing didn’t go down well with people, that is why they started casting aspersions and looking for scape goat. Ekweremadu could never have changed the Senate Rules on his own. Because he is the deputy Senate President, which was never expected, they now want to give him a bad name.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/nigerians-will-be-fed-up-with-apc-in-1-year-ojougboh/

Nasarawa State governor, Tanko Al-Makura has said the former minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, is responsible for pitching President Goodluck Jonathan against the North while in office, saying his divisive tendencies along ethnic and religious lines, helped fuel the recurrent crisis in Nasarawa State.

Maku, had at a press briefing in Abuja at the weekend, alleged among other things that innocent citizens had continued to be killed by gunmen as a result of what he described as the “insensitivity” in handling the security situation in the state by the state government which he claimed would have been addressed if he was sworn in as governor of the state in May, this year.

But in a swift reaction on yesterday, the Special Assistant to the governor on Media and Publicity, Ahmed Tukur, said it was rather unfortunate that Maku who had ignored invitations extended to him and other stakeholders on several occasions to brainstorm towards finding lasting solution to the communal crisis in recent past could make unguarded utterances when the state government has succeeded in overcoming the situation.

He alleged that the insecurity in the state in recent past became worse as there was an increase in the proliferation of arms and ammunition when Maku held sway as the supervising minister of Defence, insisting that the former minister should rather commend his boss for the relative peace being enjoyed in the state.

http://leadership.ng/news/446658/maku-instigated-jonathan-against-north-al-makura

Agbon-Eleme people of Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, southern Nigeria, were thrown into mourning on Saturday night as scores were shot by gunmen at the popular Agbonchia Market.
Eleme is the host of multi-billion naira Indoroma Petrochemical plant, two Port Harcourt refineries and other oil and gas companies.

An eyewitness told NE that the gunmen, numbering about three, riding on a motorcycle, shot many times at a group of youths at the motorcycle wash section of the market, killing at least 15 persons and injuring several others.

She said: “The people came into the market with a motorcycle and they were about three. We thought they came to wash their motorcycle, but before we knew it, they started shooting at the people who were washing their motorcycles.

“After shooting, they jumped on their bike and sped off. At the end, we saw not less than 15 lifeless bodies on the ground and several others with gunshot injuries. We don’t know the reason behind the ugly incident.”

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Ahmad Muhammad, who confirmed the shooting, said only five persons were killed in the incident.

Muhammad stated that one person has been arrested in connection with the attack, adding that preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the incident was an attack by a cult group.

“The assailants came on motorcycles, opened fired on a motorcycles wash point at Agbonchia Eleme and fled. Five persons lost their lives.

“Preliminary investigation revealed the incident is related to cult activities. One suspect is right now undergoing interrogation while investigation with a view to arresting the miscreants has commenced,” he said.

Eleme is the only Constituency in the state that is represented in the Rivers State House of Assembly by a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Josiah Orlu

The other 31 lawmakers are members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.


http://www.nigerianeye.com/2015/07/gunmen-massacre-15-people-in-rivers.html

…As LG staff vow to resist move

An indication emerged at the weekend that the Imo State government has concluded plans to slice workers’ salaries by 23 per cent to enable government shoulder the rising wage bill in the state’s civil service.

Governor Rochas Okorocha last week at a meeting with the state’s labour unions on the threat by workers to embark on a seven-day warning strike over non-payment of their salaries, expressed concern at the rate pensions of Imo State and staff salaries was rising, pointing out that there was corruption in the system and government has resolved to fight it to a standstill.

National Mirror gathered that the state government plans to reduce workers’ wage bill by 23 per cent if some punitive measures such as downsizing was not to be taken as alternative.

A source close to Government House disclosed that it was only corruption that the state governor intends to fight, adding that the direction it would take was not yet clear. “The wage bill as the governor said was astronomically high and something needs to be done to arrest the ugly situation. It is not witch-hunting anybody or group of people.”

However, the workers, particularly the local government staff, have said they would resist any attempt by the state government to cut their salaries. Some of the staff who do not want their names mentioned, said that with the bailout from the Federal Government and monthly allocation from the Federation Account, the state government has no excuse not to pay workers’ salaries.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state has concluded arrangements to reduce its workers’ salaries by 50 per cent.

According to a source at the party’s secretariat, along Okigwe Road, Owerri, “if you are earning for instance N10,000, the executive council. EXCO, plans to cut it to N5,000.”

It was gathered that the EXCO is complaining that the party has no money to pay its workers’ salaries, and, as such, it wants to maintain a manageable size workforce.

But some of the workers interviewed disclosed unanimously that the EXCO spent the party’s fund recklessly.

“Today, they want the workers to carry the burden of their recklessness,” one of them said.


http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/imo-govt-pdp-set-to-cut-workers-salaries/