Yenagoa
Anxiety in Bayelsa as four local councils cannot pay salaries
Trouble is looming in four local government areas in Bayelsa State over the inability of the council to pay the salaries of its workers. The affected local government areas – Ogbia, Nembe, Sagbama and Ekeremor – are said to be owning three months salaries. The other four local government areas namely Kolokuma/Opokuma, Yenagoa, Southern Ijaw and Brass are said to be struggling but have a financial edge due to the internally generated revenue. Bloated wage bills in the troubled local government councils and the various debts they are servicing have eaten up their finances such that they cannot meet the financial obligations to their workers. The state government had recently taken over the payment of teachers salaries in the Ogbia Local Government Area to prevent industrial action by the tea...
Bayelsa government resolves crisis at Niger Delta University
The mediatory meeting covered Wednesday at the instance of the Bayelsa State Government between the Governing Council of the Niger Delta University, NDU, students’ representatives and other stakeholders has restored normalcy to the state-owned university. Students of the university had been protesting against the closure of the institution’s portal for payment of school fees and alleged enforcement of compulsory wearing of school uniform by the university authorities. But rising from the last round of meetings directed by Governor Douye Diri which were presided over by his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, at the Government House, Yenagoa, it was agreed that the portal for the payment of school fees be reopened. A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara At...
PIB: Ijaw leaders reject ‘disgusting, provocative’ bill
The leadership of the Ijaw nation has rejected the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) just passed into law by the National Assembly describing it as disgusting and provocative. The leaders also called on the Minister of State for Petroluem Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, to use this opportunity to write his name in gold, and on the side of prosperity by standing firm with the Ijaw people against their oppressors. President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), the umbrella body of the Ijaw people, Prof Benjamin Okaba in a packed press conference, he addressed at the Ijaw House, headquarters of INC in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, declared that the Ijaw nation rejects in its entirety the 3% and 5% provisions as compensation, the redefinition of host communities and other provisions including the alloca...
Bayelsa government wades into communal crisis, warns against gunrunning
The Bayelsa State Government has read the riot act to those engaged in gunrunning in the state and warned such persons to desist from the unwholesome activity or they would face the full wrath of the law. Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo gave the warning while addressing the chiefs and people of Peretoru community in the Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state during a resumed meeting in the Government House, Yenagoa, on Saturday. Among those also present at the meeting were the representatives of the state Command of Nigeria Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and Joint Task Force (JTF). A statement on Sunday by the deputy governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, said the meeting was part of ongoing efforts by the state government to resolve the leade...
NDDC: Ijaw youths tackle minister over forensic audit, sole administrator’s tenure
Bayelsa youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide accused the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio of overseeing an unending forensic audit and illegal extension of the tenure of the sole administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Efiong Akwa, describing it as a delib-erate attempt to delay the constitution of a substantive NDDC board. According to the youths, though the conduct of the forensic audit was ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari and supported by the stakeholders from the region, Senator Godswill Akpabio has turned the forensic audit into an unending exercise used to perpetuate corruption and further bleed the commission of scarce funds. The spokesman of the IYC, Comrade Ebilade Ekerefe, who made the statement...
One dead, others injured in Bayelsa cult clash
Tebogo Letsie/Associated Press The Bayelsa Police Command on Tuesday, confirmed the death of a suspected cultist during a clash by two rival cult groups in the state capital, Yenagoa. A spokesman for the Police in Bayelsa, Asinim Butswat, a Superintendent of Police, told newsmen that one person was killed during the clash which left many injured in the Obele area of the state capital. Narrating the incident, Butswat said, “The clash took place in Down Yenagoa. It was a rival cult clash that claimed the life of one person. “We cannot establish the cult groups that were involved until after arrests might have been made, as an investigation is ongoing,” he said. Butswat added that the corpse of the person had been recovered and deposited at a morgue. A resident of Obele, who preferred anonymi...
Bayelsa: We won’t retrench workforce amid dwindling revenues – official
The Bayelsa state government has assured civil servants in the state that it had no plans to downsize the workforce, amidst dwindling revenue. The government said on Thursday that although it was contending with an unwieldy wage bill, it would seek alternative sources of revenue to shore up its finances. The Commissioner for Finance, Maxwell Ebibai, gave the assurance at the transparency briefing for the months of January and February 2021, in Yenagoa, the state capital. Newsmen report that under the state’s Bayelsa Transparency Law, it had become mandatory for the government to make public its income and expenditures on a monthly basis. Ebibai, said the state government received N6.8 billion for February, 2021, as net receipts from the Federation Account, after first line deductions, as a...
Bayelsa governor promises to investigate youth’s ‘death’ during police operation
The governor of Bayelsa, Douye Diri, has ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a youth on Thursday, in Ovom community, Yenagoa Local Government Area (LGA), of the state. Newsmen gathered from residents of the area that the young man was allegedly shot by a policeman, at Ovom surburb. Mr Diri gave the directive on Thursday, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, after being briefed about the incident in Uyo, where he is attending a state cabinet retreat. He also directed that an autopsy be carried out to determine the cause of death. The governor promised that the government would ensure perpetrators of the dastardly act are uncovered and brought to book. “Human life is sacred. As a responsible government, we would not shy away from o...
Police nab two Bayelsa university students with gun
The Bayelsa State Police Command has arrested two students of the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU) for unlawful possession of a revolver pistol and cultism. A statement on Wednesday by the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Asinim Butswat, identified the two NDU undergraduates as Joshua Daniel and Kevin Are. While Daniel is a 300-level student of the Department of Economics, Are is a 200-level student of the Mechanical Engineering Department. Butswat said the suspects were picked up with their gun on Tuesday at the jetty in the university town of Amassoma, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state. According to him, the two of them confessed to be members of the Vikings Confraternity, a secret cult. He said they would be arraigned in court when investigation was concluded. ...
Bayelsa bans open grazing, vows to arrest armed herders
Bayelsa State Government has enacted a law prohibiting open grazing of livestock in the state. The law, Livestock Breeding, Rearing and Marketing Regulation Law 2021, was signed into law by Governor Douye Diri on Monday at the Executive Chamber of Government House, Yenagoa. Governor Diri said the essence of the law is to ensure harmonious living between cattle dealers and other inhabitants of the state and to forestall the violent clashes being experienced in other parts of the country. His words: “Bayelsa State welcomes all and sundry to eke out a living legitimately. The people of Bayelsa want to have a mutual and harmonious relationship with non-natives and natives. The essence of the law is to avert and forestall any clash between herdsmen, farmers, natives and non-natives as experienc...
Ex-President Jonathan enlists colleagues to mitigate electoral crises in West Africa
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has enlisted the support of other ex-presidents and Prime Ministers in West Africa to mitigate elections-related conflicts to promote peace in the region. Mrs Ann Iyonu, Executive Director, Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF) announced this at a news conference in Yenagoa on Friday. Iyonu said that the former leaders’ group christened West African Elders Forum (WAEF) was inaugurated by Jonathan at a virtual meeting held on Thursday. She said that WAEF was an initiative of the GJF aimed at harnessing the goodwill, expertise and experiences of former leaders to promote peaceful elections and deepen democracy in West Africa. According to her, the forum comprises three former leaders of Nigeria, Ex-President Jonathan, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Retired Gen. A...
Bayelsa governor: 2.5% revenue for host communities ‘unacceptable’ to Niger Delta
Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa on Tuesday proposed that 10 per cent of derived oil revenue be provided in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) for the host communities. Mr Diri, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, said this on Tuesday during a townhall meeting on the bill with members of the National Assembly in Yenagoa. The governor said the 2.5 per cent revenue proposed for the host communities in the PIB was grossly inadequate and unacceptable to the people of the Niger Delta. He argued that if the National Assembly members saw firsthand the level of environmental degradation and its attendant effects on the people, they would not hesitate to increase it from 10 per cent. Mr Diri stressed that the PIB was critical in addressing issues such as unemployment, lack of tran...
