Governors
Nigerian government asks judiciary, parliamentary staff to call off strike
The Federal Government has directed members of the striking Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) to “urgently” call off their over-two-month-old strike. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, gave the directive in a statement on Tuesday, threatening that the government might be forced to invoke “sections of the Trade Disputes Acts” if the strike persisted longer. The threat is a government’s familiar warning of possible introduction of “no-work-no-pay” policy to break adamant striking workers. “The ministry will not be happy to be pushed into invoking sections of the Trade Disputes Acts capable of eroding all the gains made so far in the negotiations since May 6, 2021,” the statement signed by the ministry of Labou...
JUSUN strike: How we decongested our cells – Police
The police in Lagos say they have devised means to decongest their cells amidst the prolonged strike by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN). The police spokesperson in the state, Muyiwa Adejobi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday that the decongestion was carried out in collaboration with the office of the Chief Judge and Attorney-General of the state. NAN reports that JUSUN, on April 6, directed its members to shut down all courts across the country, demanding the implementation of the law granting financial autonomy to the Judiciary. “The command had been managing the situation in collaboration with the office of the state chief judge,” Mr Adejobi said. He, however, did not give the number of suspects that had been granted bail. “We work with the office of the CJ an...
President Buhari orders IGP to reduce insecurity to barest minimum
President Muhammadu Buhari, has ordered Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba to ensure insecurity is reduced to the barest minimum. This is even as the Police Council made up of the President, Vice President, governors, ministers of Police Affairs, Interior and the Federal Capital Territory, confirmed Baba as the IGP. Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi, who confirmed the development at the end of the one and half hours meeting, said he was unanimously confirmed. President Buhari had on April 6, appointed Baba as acting the Inspector General of Police. Baba was a Deputy Inspector General of Police before his promotion. Briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the meeting held at the First Lady Conference Room, the main purpose of the meeting was to “get the appo...
JUSUN strike: NBA accuses governors of reneging on agreement
Pool Photo The 1st Vice-President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), John Aikpokpo-Martins, has said that governors have not fulfilled their agreement with the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, (JUSUN) who are currently on strike. Aikpokpo-Martins, said that as things are now, the governors are holding everybody to ransom. “The agreement was very straightforward. They are supposed to have paid last week upon receiving allocations. But when they received the allocations, they didn’t pay.” he said According to him, the governors are saying that “we should wait for last week of June when they will get another allocation from the federal purse. But the question is: if they entered into an agreement whose implementation was to start this May, what guarantee do we now have that even in that ...
Resident doctors extend strike ultimatum by two weeks for federal government, states to act
The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has extended its strike ultimatum by two weeks to let the Federal and State governments to address the issues of welfare of their members across the country. The extension is contained in a communiqué at the end of the association’s 41st Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) which held in Nnewi/Awka, Anambra, between May 25 and May 29. The communiqué was release by Dr Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, National President of NARD, in the company of other members of the executive. It said that the association would resume a total strike action if its demands remained unattended to at the end of the period. It said that the strike was suspended following government’s promises as entailed in the Memorandum of Actions, signed at the instance of Minister of Labour...
Ondo governor: No land in southern Nigeria will be ceded to invaders masquerading as herdsmen
The Ondo State Governor and Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has declared that “no inch of the space delineated and known, currently, as South West, and indeed the whole South, will be ceded to a band of invaders masquerading as herdsmen under any guise.” Akeredolu made the declaration in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant Special Duties and Strategies, Dr Doyin Odebowale. The declaration was sequel to a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, on the position of President Muhammadu Buhari, on the farmer-herder clashes and what was termed as “Deep Rooted Solutions to the herdsmen attacks”. Shehu had in the statement revealed the presidency’s position that ranching and revival...
Rivers governor: PDP will suffer if I leave
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has said that his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will suffer if he leaves for another party. Wike made the assertion on Monday while briefing newsmen in Government House, Port Harcourt, the state’s capital. Newsmen report that the governor’s claim is coming barely one week after his Cross River counterpart, Ben Ayade, dumped the part for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. The governor also claimed that he would win election in any party he joins, stressing that PDP in Rivers State lack political detractor. Governor Wike, who described himself as asset to the national opposition party, accused some members of the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) of been “tax collectors”. He said, “If I leave PDP tomorrow, the party will suffer… S...
South East group warns governors, others angling for vice presidency
As discussions surrounding the 2023 presidential election gathers pace, South East Governors and other politicians from the region have been warned against ‘angling for the position of Vice President’. The Association of South East Past Presidents-General, which gave the warning in Enugu at the weekend, said the zone would not accept any one reducing it to ‘second fiddle political status’ in 2023. At an official public presentation of the former Chief Judge of Anambra State, Justice Peter Umeadi, who is also a Professor of Law, the association said the general consensus by equity, justice and fair play was that the next President of the country should emerge from the South East. The former PGs, who lead the over 2000 Igbo communities in the past, stressed that with such understanding, it w...
Anambra guber: Zoning favours APC, not APGA, PDP – aspirant
An All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirant, Dr Amobi Nwaokafor, has argued that if zoning is to be a consideration in the Anambra State governorship election, the APC should be favoured since it has not ruled the state. Speaking after submitting his declaration of interest and nomination form at the party secretariat he insisted that having governed Anambra State previously, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should allow APC to test the seat. He also argued that since Awka indigenes never occupy the position too, he stands a better chance to benefit from zoning. The former President General of Awka Progressives Union also described himself as the best candidate for the race to occupy the states’ number one seat. He argued that with his wealt...
Ebonyi governor: Some people in South-east think 2023 elections won’t hold
David Umahi, governor of Ebonyi state, says some people in the south-east region are convinced that the 2023 elections will not hold. Umahi said those with such a mindset believe that if elections do not take place, the national assembly will declare a state of emergency in the region. In recent times, the south-east has witnessed a spate of attacks on police stations and government facilities including offices belonging to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Speaking at the presidential ministerial press briefing on Thursday, Umahi said the country will remain together under the 1999 Nigerian constitution (as amended), noting that “until it is changed, nobody can do anything about it”. “A lot of people have been brainwashed in the south-east about Biafra. The Biafra I des...
Senator calls for removal of AGF over remarks on herdsmen
Senator representing Osun Central Senatorial District, Dr. Ajibola Basiru, has called for the immediate removal from office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Alhaji Abubakar Malami, SAN, over his argument, equating open grazing with Southerners’ selling spare parts in the North. Dr. Basiru, who spoke in his personal capacity as a patriot and Senator said that, “anyone who cannot rise above primordial sentiments and pursuit of parochial ethnic agenda need not occupy position of trust especially at this time of sectional agitations. It was not dignifying of the status of the nation’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice to make such remarks. The Senator said that equating the activities of nomadic herdsmen, destroying people’s means of livelihood with others, legitimately carryi...
Nigerian anti-graft agencies urged to beam searchlight on professional bodies
Human rights activist, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), members of civil society groups and others have called on anti-graft agencies to beam their searchlight on professional bodies in the country if the fight against corruption must be successful. Falana and others are of the opinion that until members of professional bodies who are found to have aided crimes and criminality are sanctioned, corruption will continue to be on the rise. Falana, Chairman, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), Olarenwaju Suraj, and Executive Secretary, Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC), Mr Sadiq Radda, argued that professionals such as lawyers, accountants, bankers etc should be made to face the same punishment alongside their criminal clients. They made the suggestions on Wednesday...
