Council
Enugu by-election: APC conducts primary, vows to resist electoral manipulation
Ahead of the October 31 by-election for Isi-Uzo State Constituency, the Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has vowed to resist all forms of electoral manipulation. Newsmen report that the seat became vacant following the demise of the member representing the area, late Hon. Chijioke Ugwueze. It was also learnt that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has chosen the spouse of the late lawmaker as its candidate for the election. But the APC at its primary election on Saturday, held at Ikem Uno Community Primary School, in Isi Uzo Council area of the State elected Engr. Macdonald Ejiofor Okwor, as its consensus candidate, vowing to resist any form of manipulation. Speaking to journalists shortly after the exercise which had Comrade Adolphus Udeh as returning officer, an...
Presidential elections in Ghana, others top agenda at ECOWAS meeting
The 44th Ordinary Meeting of the Mediation and Security Council of the Economic Community of West African States has called attention to the ongoing insurgency in Nigeria, Gambia and Guinea Bissau as well as the political crisis in Mali. The Council at its meeting in Niamey, Niger, on Friday, also focused on forthcoming presidential elections in Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Niger. The meeting was presided over by the Nigerien Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Mediation and Security Council, Kalla Ankourao. Ankourao recalled the challenges COVID-19 has brought upon the region coupled with the breakdown in democratic governance in Mali. He urged the ECOWAS body to take the necessary steps for the preparation and smooth conduct of the upcoming presidential electi...
Nigerian government approves N1.1 billion to accommodate NDLEA officials
The Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday in Abuja approved N1.1billion for the acquisition of a 156-room accommodation for use by Staff of the Nigeria Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, announced this when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the Council. He said: “The memo presented by the office of Attorney General and Minister of Justice is related to National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). “It is a memo that seeks council’s approval for the award of contract for the purchase of a property properly known and described as Plot No. 1123-1129 Cadastral Zone 0607 at Aviation Village, Airport Road, Abuja – a property which consists of 156 rooms in a...
Edo APC: Governor Obaseki recommended the dethroning of Uromi monarch in 2016
The APC Media Campaign Council for the Edo Governorship election has accused Edo State Governor Mr Godwin Obaseki of pursuing the sanctioning of the Ojuromi of Uromi, HRH Anselm Aidenojie II, when he accused him of trying to block his emergence as the next Governor of the State by allegedly backing the PDP in 2016. The APC campaign council, while condemning what it called the ‘divisive message’ of Governor Godwin Obaseki, at the Palace of the Ojuromi of Uromi, accused the PDP candidate of seeking to turn the people against each other to earn sympathy votes following his visible lack of achievements. Governor Obaseki, in his visit to the monarch earlier in the week, charged the king and the people of Uromi to rescue Edo State from the grip of ‘destructive people’. But in response to Governo...
Nigerian government approves N13.3 billion take off for community policing
The Federal Government has approved the sum of N13.3 billion for the take-off of Community Policing initiative across the country. This is as the World Bank has cleared 35 states for the US$1.5billion stimulus package for Nigeria’s states to cushion the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Economic Council (NEC) at its virtual meeting on Thursday, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, resolved that the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, with two other governors, meet with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Finance Minister and the Inspector General of Police to coordinate the proper utilization of the funding of the initiative Attendance at the NEC virtual meeting with state governors, included the Min...
IPOB warns Nigerian government to stop harassment of members
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Thursday, told the Federal Government to halt “the incessant harassment and arrest of its members and their families in South-East.” It also called on South-East and South-South governors, particularly Ebonyi State government, to prevail on the security agents in their states to release IPOB and their family members, particularly its Ebonyi State Coordinator, Mazi Igwe Ogbonnaya, without further delay. The pro-Biafra group said it is particularly upset by the alleged recent arrest of its Coordinator in Ebonyi State; and the intimidation of an innocent woman who recently put to bed in Oji River Council Area of Enugu State by security operatives in the guise of searching for Radio Biafra Station. In a statement by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary...
Oyo deputy governor empowers 500 youths with farmland
The Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Mr Rauf Olaniyan, has donated 250 acres of land in Oyo North to youths for cassava cultivation. The Coordinator of Oke-Ogun Green Revolution, Mr Bola Olalere, announced the donation in a statement in Iseyin on Tuesday. Olalere said that the donation was the first phase to empowerment gesture for 500 youths in the area by of the deputy governor. “The 250 acres of land located in Iseyin Council area is the first phase of the programme, aimed at engaging 500 youths in Oke-Ogun,’’ the statement read in part. “The support of the Oke Ogun Green Revolution project by Olaniyan is to promote agribusiness among the youths in Oyo North, the food basket of the state.’’ He said that an agricultural entrepreneur, Niji Farms, was also supporting the first phase of the pr...
Gunmen kill 21 in fresh Kaduna village attack
At least 21 people have been reported killed while 28 others sustained various degrees of injuries when gunmen attacked Kukum Daji Village of Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Sunday night. While the State Police Command is yet to confirm the incident, the President of the Community, Mr. Yashen Titus, told newsmen that the gunmen, suspected to be herdsmen, invaded the venue of a wedding party in the community at about 10 pm on Sunday night. Titus, who explained that the suspected herdsmen opened fire on the people who attended the party, said 19 people died on the spot while two others later died at the hospital. The remaining injured ones according to him were rushed to the Barau Dikko teaching hospital and other clinics in the state capital for treatment. Kaduna has been exp...
NUJ: Restore military checkpoints on Okene-Lokoja-Abuja road
File Photo Amidst worsening security situation on the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja highway, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called for immediate restoration of military checkpoints on the road. The Chairman of the Kogi State council of NUJ, Adeiza Jimoh, made the appeal in a statement issued in Lokoja on Friday. He said that the incessant kidnappings and killings almost on a daily basis on the road by armed bandits necessitated the call. Mr Jimoh gave kudos to the police for their efforts at checkmating the criminals but said that the establishment of military checkpoints will further reduce criminal activities on the road. According to the statement, the Osara-Irepeni section of the road has become notorious for the activities of the men of the underworld. Newsmen recall that on the same...
Benue university pro-chancellor, other staffers test positive for coronavirus
Juju Films/File Photo The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Benue State University, Makurdi, Prof. Zacharys Gundu has tested positive for COVID-19. Prof. Gundu made his status known in a letter he wrote to the Vice Chancellor of the institution and university community. This came after the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Msugh Kembe last week announced he tested positive while the Deputy Vice Chancellor, DVC, Administration, Prof. Godwin Achinge lost his life to the virus. In the said letter the Pro-Chancellor wrote “This is to write and inform you that samples collected from me and sent to Abuja for COVID-19 testing returned a positive test result to me on July 9, 2020. “A few days after the samples were taken and sent to Abuja, I went into one of the isolation facilities ...
Rivers monarchs accuse IGP of reversing presidential lockdown order
President Muhammadu Buhari has been asked to reverse the order of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on the movement of agricultural produce, livestock, goods and services in Rivers State. The call was made on Saturday by the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, which noted that the IGP had set up a Joint Technical Task Force at the instance of the Federal Ministries of Agricultural and Rural Development, Defence, Environment as well as various security agencies, to ensure free and unhindered movement of food, livestock, agricultural inputs and others into the State. The State Chairman of the Council, King Dandeson Jaja, speaking on behalf of the council in Port Harcourt wondered why the IGP would unilaterally lift the ban on the Presidential order restricting interstate movement...
FIFA to pick 2023 Women’s World Cup host in June
World governing football body, FIFA, will pick a host for the 2023 Women’s World Cup on June 25. The host will be selected by FIFA’s ruling council and it is a contest between Brazil, Japan, Colombia, and a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand. According to reports, the selection will be done in an open vote of the 37-member FIFA Council and the result of each round of balloting and each voter’s choice will be made open. “FIFA is now finalizing the evaluation report, which will be published in early June,” FIFA said in a statement on Friday. Newsmen report that FIFA inspection teams had initially visited the four bid candidates in January and February before international travel was restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 2023 World Cup will be the first to feature 32 teams. Th...
