Author: The Nation

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has called on the aviation community to volunteer information – pictures, videos or recordings – that would assist its investigation of the Max Air Boeing 737-400 accident.

A Max Air Boeing 737-400 aircraft, with 144 passengers and six crew members, experienced a burst tyre on landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on May 6.

Such information, the NSIB said, will provide useful guide in its investigation into the incident.

General Manager (Public Affairs), Tunji Oketumbi, said personnel of the Bureau were the first responders that arrived at the scene to evacuate passengers from the aircraft without any injury or fatality.

Investigations by The Nation reveal that the aircraft is currently being fixed by engineers attached to the carrier at the Abuja Airport before it can be certified by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) as fit to return to operations.

Read Also : Max Air incident: NSIB, NCAA set to conduct investigation

Meanwhile, the NCAA has picked holes in the portrayal of the incident, saying exaggerated reporting will create unnecessary fear in the public.

According to its Director General, Cpt. Musa Nuhu, the relevant aeronautical authorities took steps to mitigate the situation in bringing the disabled aircraft to the single runway of the Abuja Airport following a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

Nuhu said: “All relevant agencies, including NCAA, FAAN, NAMA and NSIB, swung into action collaboratively to ensure the prompt removal of the disabled aircraft from the runway and reopening of the airport for flight operations.”

• ‘African First Ladies willing to intervene in crisis’

Another batch of 132 Nigerians evacuated from Sudan arrived yesterday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at 9:15am. 

Among them was a three-week-old. This brings the total number of returnees to 1,603.

The Federal Government has also promised that more flights will be engaged in the coming days to hasten the evacuation process.

The returnees were received at the Pilgrims’ Terminal of the airport, by the Director of Special Duties, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Dr. Onimode Bandele. 

Also present were the Head of Consular and Migration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representatives of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, NCFRMI, NiDCOM, and NAPTIP

After clearance by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the returnees were served meals and given N100,000, by the Aliko Dangote Foundation, to assist them travel to their various locations.

Meanwhile arrangements are on ground to draft in bigger planes.

Director of Media and Protocol, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abdulrahman Balogun, said: “Tarco airline has agreed to bring a 500-seater capacity plane, alongside Air Peace which agreed to bring a 250-capacity plane, for back-to-back evacuation of the remaining stranded Nigerians in Port Sudan.”

Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, has said the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) is willing to intervene in the ongoing Sudanese crisis, with a view to preventing further escalation.

Mrs. Buhari spoke during the 10th General Assembly of the AFLPM at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja, noting that all hands must be on deck in the effort to restore peace to Sudan.

The First Lady, who ended her tenure as President of the Mission at the Assembly, also announced the election of the First Lady of Burundi, Mrs. Angelina Ndayishimiye, as the new President, and Mrs. Khadija Bazoum (Niger Republic), as Vice President.

She also announced that the newly completed AFLPM Secretariat in Abuja would be opened tomorrow.

Mrs. Buhari, who noted that kinetic approaches have not helped in ending conflicts, suggested that other approaches must be pursued, such as constructive engagement with wealthy individuals, to create deliberate opportunities for poverty reduction, and engaging the media as a key player to be tasked with its agenda-setting role.

“Another humanitarian window has been exposed with the sudden eruption of violence in Sudan. All hands must be on deck to ensure that the problems do not escalate. This mission is open to engaging with all relevant bodies in this regard.

“Accordingly, other approaches must be pursued such as constructive engagement with wealthy individuals to create deliberate opportunities for poverty reduction, engaging the media as a key player to be tasked with its agenda-setting role, educational institutions must introduce a curriculum of peace studies and promote the development of peace clubs in secondary schools. All of these companies significant roles on their own and in various partnerships,” she said.

• Scheme has fulfilled purpose, says DG

About 400,000 graduates participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) annually, Area Director (North East), Ahidjo Yahaya, has said.

 He spoke yesterday in Bauchi State, on the sidelines of a Unity Walk, as part of activities to mark the NYSC’s 50th anniversary. According to him, the scheme has done well in the area of national integration, promoting affiliation and collaboration among government agencies to make the country a better place.

The NYSC scheme was created in 1973 after the civil war, by former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, to help unite the country.

Yahaya said: “We have done well in the last 50 years and will continue to do very well for the development of Nigeria. When the scheme started in 1973, the corps members were not more than 1,000 in a year. But today we produce up to 400,000 in a year, that is development.

“At inception, our only mandate was national integration. We were mandated to integrate corps members together. But, today, we have a lot of programmes aside national integration.”

Director-General of the NYSC Brig.-Gen. Yusha’u Ahmed said the scheme has fulfilled the purpose for its establishment.

Gen. Ahmed, who led officials on the Unity Walk in Abuja yesterday, noted that since its establishment, the NYSC has been able to unite the country, provide skills for corps’ members and create employment opportunities for graduates. He added that the NYSC has set a target to achieve self-reliance among corps members through skills acquisition.

He said: “Generally, we have done a lot. You can see that in the last election we did well as corps members formed over 75 per cent of the ad hoc staff. We also have skill acquisition programmes which build corps members to become entrepreneurs.

 “We want to carry out transformational changes in terms of skills acquisition so that a lot of these corps members after service will no longer wait for government work. They will depend on their own, establish their own business and become employers of labour. Most importantly the NYSC Trust Fund will give NYSC the opportunity to achieve this objective.”

 The DG noted that the NYSC Trust Fund bill, which is awaiting President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent, would further provide capital for corps members willing to set up their own businesses.

 Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will be the special guest at the opening of the anniversary lecture, while First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, is the Special Guest of honour at the May 16 medical outreach titled ‘Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD)’.

 Gen. Gowon will be the special guest on day three of the event (May 17), where an ICT building/SEAD exhibition centre will be opened, among other activities.

Gombe State All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the Zonal and National headquarters to endorse the expulsion of Senators Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central) and Bulus Amos (Gombe South).

Both were earlier expelled by their ward executive at Kashere and Bambam wards.

But Senator Goje described his expulsion as sub judice since the matter is already a subject of litigation.

Their expulsion was announced the end of the state party executive meeting chaired by Nitte Amangla.

Publicity Secretary Moses Kyari also urged the party’s zonal and national headquarters to endorse the expulsion of Yunusa Abubakar, who represents Yamaltu Deba in the House of Representatives. Deba was earlier expelled from his Lubo/Difa/Kinafa ward.

According to him, the party deliberated the anti-party activities of some members before and during the general

He said: “Notably, those prominently involved are Senators Danjuma Goje; Bulus Amos’ Yunusa Abubakar, representing Yamaltu Deba in the House of Representatives.

“At the meeting, the state executive adopted the decision of Kashere ward of Akko Local Government Area to expel Senator Goje in line with the provisions of our party constitution, and they have followed due process. Therefore, we endorse and reaffirm the expulsion.

“The state executive committee also endorsed the decision of Bambam ward of Balanga Local Government Area on the expulsion of Senator Amos, and the decision of Lubo/Difa/Kinafa ward of Yamaltu Deba council to expel Hon. Abubakar.” The committee then passed a vote of confidence in Governor Muhammadu Yahaya as leader of the party in the state.

• Security tightened in state capital

The Supreme Court has scheduled judgment for 2pm today in the appeal by former Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, against the election of Governor Ademola Adeleke.

Oyetola is seeking the reversal of the March 25 Court of Appeal judgment which affirmed Adeleke’s victory in the last governorship election.

The Appeal Court set aside an earlier judgment by the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which held in favour of Oyetola and sacked Adeleke.

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice John Okoro, announced the judgment time and date after taking arguments from lawyers to parties yesterday.

Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) represented Oyetola and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC); Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) represented Adeleke; Alex Izinyon (SAN) represented Adeleke’s party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while Paul Ananaba (SAN) announced appearance for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Fagbemi argued that the Court of Appeal relied on the old Electoral Act, specifically that of 2010, to conclude that a voter register was needed to prove over-voting. But citing Section 51 of the Electoral Act 2022, which was applied in the conduct of the July 16 governorship election, Fagbemi contended that a voter register was unnecessary to establish claims of over-voting.

Fagbemi also referred to Section 47 (2) of the Electoral Act 2022, and argued that the voter register had no role in establishing over-voting.

He added: “We are now in a new electoral dispensation that is expected to be upheld not only by INEC, but also by the court, as far as over-voting is concerned. It is also important to state that in any election you must not only win an election, but you must win in a manner prescribed by the law. I, therefore, urge your Lordships to allow the appeal.”

On the claim that Adeleke submitted forged credentials to INEC, Fagbemi urged the court to disregard a previous judgment which Adeleke’s lawyered claimed had resolved the issue.

Ikpeazu, in a counter-argument, faulted Fagbemi’s submissions, contending, among others, that a voter register was necessary to prove over-voting.

He urged the court to affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal which upheld Adeleke’s return as the winner of the election.

Ikpeazu also prayed the court to dismiss appeal by Oyetola and the APC for being incompetent and lacking in merit, while Izinyon prayed the court to dismiss the appeal for being unmeritorious

Meanwhile, it was gathered that security operatives have been deployed to strategic locations in the state.

A source close to the Oyetola camp told the Nation that the former governor returned to Osogbo Monday night while the governor is Ede but hopeful of winning.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said the President Muhamamdu Buhari-led Federal Government has built 9,290.34 km of road since its inception in 2015.

He said an aggregate of over 13,000km of roads and bridge infrastructure, as well as other housing sector activities, is part of the infrastructural and human capital development of the President Buhari administration.

According to him, the administration in 2015 inherited N18 billion for road projects across the country, which was obviously not enough for one major road, and so it successfully increased it to over N200 billion.

Fashola spoke in Abuja yesterday at a media presentation of his tour of duty from 2015-2023.

He stressed that the Buhari administration completed the 2nd Niger bridge ‘which, for decades, was a political slogan for different administrations’.

The minister, who noted that the bridge was briefly opened during the festive period, said the government hopes to open it fully by the end of the month since it had awarded the contract for the completion of a temporary link road to the bridge on both states.

Fashola added that the Lagos/Ibadan expressway is stalled by the continuous heavy rains ‘which can ruin the foundation of a road because laterite that is used for road construction can be destroyed by rain’.

He said: “The 2nd Niger bridge has been substantially completed, but contract for one of the two main access roads, the Asaba and Anambra ends, has not been signed. What the ministry did was to award a two and half kilometres temporary access road which will allow the bridge to be used. The temporary access road cannot be compared to the bridge in size because the bridge has three lanes while the temporary access road is a single carriage way that would be used from the Anambra end. That is the position of the 2nd Niger bridge, and it would be put to use by the end of the month.

“On the Lagos/Ibadan expressway, what we have left is about a kilometre as you enter Lagos and another two kilometres as you leave Lagos. The project is being stalled by heavy downpour which is a challenge because the laterite used at base as red sand gets impacted by the rain, which affect the asphalts and causes damages on the road faster than expected.

“Indeed, with the many other projects being undertaken by the Ministry of Works and Housing, comprising over 1,706 contracts in 1,649 projects, aggregating over 13,000km of roads and bridge infrastructure, as well as other housing sector activities, are part of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration’s infrastructural and human capital development.

“Consequently, with the approach of the final leg of the administration, a number of projects are being completed, nearing completion are being commissioned in different parts of the country. It is indeed a season of completion, commissioning and impact.”