The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Tribunal dismisses PDP’s petition against Senator Akwashiki

    The National Assembly/State Election Petition Tribunal holding in Lafia, Nasarawa state has dismissed the case filed by Mr. John Mike-Abdul of Peoples Democractic Party (PDP) challenging the election of Sen.Godiya Akwashiki (APC) in the 2019 general election.

    Mrs. Iboro Ukpanah, a member of the 3-man panel of the tribunal who read the judgement on Friday in Lafia said that the petitioner’s case lacks merit.

    She also said that the petitioner, Abdul failed to prove his case beyond reasonable doubt.

    Read Also: ‘Appoint retired judges to election petition tribunals’

    The panel member also said that the evidence brought before the tribunal by the petitioner are not admissible in the eye of the law.

    Speaking with newsmen, Counsel to Akwashiki, Oludare Akanbi described the judgement as victory for democracy.

    “It is a victory for democracy and for the electorate who voted massively for Sen. Godiya Akwashiki,” he said.

    The Nation recalls that on Feb 27, the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Akwashiki the former deputy speaker of the state House of Assembly winner after polling 54,104 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Mike-Abdul of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 48,133 votes.

  • APC must embrace reconciliation ahead of 2023, Governors Forum DG

    Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Comrade Salihu Lukman has said leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) must embrace what he described as internal reconciliation if the party is to build a formidable front ahead of the 2023 general election.

    Speaking with newsmen about his new book, Power of possibility and politics of change in Nigeria, he said the National Working Committee(NWC) of the party has the responsibility to drive this reconciliation.

    He explained if the party continue on the current part of lack of forgiveness, it may have adverse effect on its chances.

    Lukman said the party has achieved a lot of first in its short life span, which must be sustained, adding that the party must move to achieve yet another first by reconciling all aggrieved party members having being able to take over power from a sitting government and achieving a successful merger.

    While describing the APC as work in progress, Lukman said the APC was blessed with a national Chairman who is one of the best negotiators in the country, adding that Comrade Oshiomhole must bring that negotiating skill to bear in trying to reposition the party for greater achievement.

    Read Also: 2023: INEC learnt vital lessons from 2019 polls, says Yakubu

    He said further that one of the two things that must be done in trying to re-position the party is for its leaders and followers to accept offending each other and commit to the process of forgiveness.

    He said the leaders of the party need to continue, just like they did during the merger process, commit to making sacrifice for the survival of the party, adding that “the sacrifice they have to make may be in the last election where they were denied the opportunity to contest election at various levels.

    According to him: “We must begin to look forward and learn from the lessons learnt from that exercise. The future of this country depend on the ability of leaders to reconcile themselves. If APC can achieve that, they would have make another first.

    “The National Working Committee has a bigger responsibility to drive tat reconciliation. Fortunately, we are blessed with one of the best negotiators in this country as our National Chairman. He must bring that his negotiating skill to bear.

    “On our part as stakeholders of the party, we will work to engage our leaders to embrace reconciliation and recommendations bothering on that. We can only be a better country if our democracy is producing results that our people are happy with”.

    While admitting there can be no politics without conflict, he said that issues around the 2015 election elections which were not properly resolved snowballed into the election and got compounded by the realities of the 2019 elections.

    He identified party funding as one of the problems affecting the APC, but was quick to add that the issue of funding was not restricted to the APC alone as all political parties are expected to be self funding.

    In the area of fighting corruption, he said the APC has done very well and has made alot of progress, adding that unlike the PDP that has not been able to complete its national secretariat complex, the APC has been able to purchase the building currently housing its national secretariat

  • Edo, Police to LGAs: replicate bush clearing in your domains to flush out kidnappers

    The Edo State Government and the Police Command in the state have mandated Chairmen of the 18 local government areas in the state to replicate the ongoing bush clearing along federal highways in their domains to flush out kidnappers hiding in the bushes.

    Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, said on Friday that the strategy to clear road sides of bushes has engendered confidence in the minds of travellers and drivers plying the Benin-Lagos road.

    “At the state level, we are clearing bushes on the highways in partnership with the Edo State Police Command and local government chairmen have been mandated to carry out similar exercise on road sides in their domains, in partnership with heads of divisional police formations” Osagie said.

    He added: “We are of the firm belief that a mix of strategies, including the clearing of the bushes on road sides would reduce the incidence of herdsmen attacks and kidnappings.”

    Read Also: Banditry: Police foil attacks in Katsina villages

    The governor’s aide explained that the bush clearing initiative is a response to the nefarious activities of criminals perpetuated in the thick bushes on the highways in the state.

    He noted: “Our plan is to cascade this initiative to the local councils and rid our roads of criminals. We appeal to village and community heads to mobilise youths in their areas to clear bushes on road sides in their communities.”

    Recall that the Edo State Government and the State Police Command commenced the bush clearing exercise earlier in the week in a move to check activities of kidnappers terrorising motorists along Benin-Lagos Road.

    Addressing journalists at Okada Town on Thursday, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, DanMallam Mohammed, said the bushes would be cleared 30 meters away from both sides of the expressway close to Ore axis of the Benin-Lagos Road.

    He noted, “We found out that the kidnappers take advantage of the deep forest close to the expressway to hide their victims. With support from the Edo State Government, we are clearing the bushes along both sides of the road. With this, we can get a proper view of the forest and also apprehend the kidnappers when they try to run out of the forest.”

    The state Police boss said members of the Command will patrol deep into the forest daily to ensure the camps of the bandits are destroyed while security presence had been beefed up along the Benin – Lagos Express Road.

    He said the state police command had earlier raided the forest and destroyed hideouts before embarking on clearing of the bushes, adding, “This is a strategic security measure put in place to curb the spate of banditry and kidnapping in the state. The exercise started in the last two weeks in order to kick out bandits and kidnappers from the state.”

    Motorists plying the Benin – Lagos Road, who witnessed the clearing exercise, commended the Police and the Edo State Government for the initiative to check activities of kidnappers.

  • How premium travel company, VOMOS was born

    How premium travel company, VOMOS was born

    Every great idea, Every great thing that ever happened to humanity was born out of the vision of one man. Premium travel company, VOMOS that is beginning to define the landscape of luxury and private travel was born through the eye of one man called Mark McNeil, an African-American who saw a need and moved to fulfill it.

    According to McNeil, he was into entertainment and spending a lot of money in transporting artists from venue to venue. It was along this line something clicked and started the process that led to the birth of VOMOS, which started in measured but sure steps.

    “I initially got into the entertainment business prior to being in the premium traveling industry, specifically nightlife. I was spending a lot of money. I could see that I was bringing in artists for $15,000 to perform a gig. When I looked at the rider and the ground transportation taking them from New York and back, it was costing me a quarter of what I paid them.

    “So, I made the decision to purchase an SUV and a van to eliminate that cost of allocating money to a limo agency. I have always been a car fanatic; I would purchase an Escalade or a Mercedes S600 to transport these artists around. They began to inquire about possibly having these same cars in their music videos. That led to requests inquiring about using the cars for their weddings and prom nights. After that I thought to myself: this can turn into a business. After conducting some research to see if there were any other similar luxury businesses out there (this was back in 2003), there were maybe two or three in the country. That sparked the idea to get into the luxury and exotic rental car space.

    “Later, I noticed that the same clients that were renting my cars also flew private and rented houses in the Hamptons. That all-in-one business model that I successfully ran for many years was called Premier Luxury Rentals. We offered private jets, vacation homes, exotic cars, limousines and yacht charters,” he said in an interview.

    McNeil founded VOMOS in 2016 after running Premier Luxury Rentals from 2003 to 2018 and right around 2012 he started to see companies like Airbnb, Uber and VRBO popping up online and not owning any inventory, yet they were receiving insane evaluations

    “I was sitting with $100,000 in monthly car payments. I started to research and discovered the digital space was the next big thing. You do not necessarily own any inventory, but it is about creating a platform where people can come from all over and use these types of services. I decided to take all my years of collecting contacts and turned it into what is now VOMOS. I called it the first U.S. solution that focuses solely on high-end luxury services. You have different companies like Airbnb, Uber, Wheels Up and Turo, and they are all market leaders in specific sectors. VOMOS brings all of these services under one roof,” he recalled.

  • Banditry: Police foil attacks in Katsina villages

    Operatives of the Inspector General of Police’s ‘’Operation Puff Arder’’ on Friday foiled banditry attacks at Sabon Gari Baure and Baure villages in Safana Local Government Areas of Katsina State.

    They also recovered herds of cattle, sheep and motorcycles.

    A statement by spokesman of Police Command, Superintendent Gambo Isa in Katsina, said the attack occurred in the early hours of Friday when a group of bandits numbering about 200 on motorcycles and armed with dangerous weapons, shot sporadically and attacked residents of both Sabon Garin Baure and Baure villages in Safana LGA of the state.

    The statement revealed the Divisional Police Officer DPO of the local government immediately led teams of ‘’Operations Puff Adder” to the scene and engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel that lasted for over an hour.

    Read Also: Banditry: Police rescue 24 hostages, recover two AK47 rifles

    He said: ’’The police teams succeeded in dislodging the hoodlums and chased them out of the village.

    “They also recovered two hundred cows and three hundred sheep, goats and three motorcycles from the bandits’’.

    ‘’The teams right now are combing the fringes of Rugu forest for the remnants of the hoodlums who have escaped with gun shots during the encounter for possible arrest.’’

    The Police Command further appealed to members of the public to continue to partner with security agencies in the fight against crime, assuring that investigation on the matter was ongoing.

    The state is witnessing a lull in banditry attack, boosting farming and rural activities.

  • Eight Adamawa hospitals to get solar power

    Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State has launched a solar energy system for eight rural health facilities, most of them general hospitals.

    The hospitals, located in Gulak, Michika, Mubi, Maiha, Garkida, and Ga’anda will by implication have 24-hour uninterrupted electricity whether or not there is power from public supply.

    The Adamawa scheme, which is part of a wider Solar Nigeria Project, is funded by the European Union(EU) with the Adamawa State Government, UKAide, and others as partners.

    Speaking at the launch of the Adamawa scheme in Yola on Friday, the EU Head of Cooperation, Kurt Cornelis, explained that the Solar Nigeria Programme in Adamawa State is aimed at providing access to sustainable energy supply to off-grid public health facilities in the state.

    Read Also: NB pioneers first solar powered brewery

    The EU will spend 8 million Euros in the state, according to Mr Cornelis who said, “In Adamawa State, we are investing 10 million euros … to provide sustainable energy to eight health facilities using solar PV. They include five general hospitals, one tertiary health institution and two primary health centres.”

    The benefitting communities are in the northern part of Adamawa, the part most affected by Boko Haram attacks.

    Governor Ahmadu Fintiri who launched the project through his Chief of Staff, Professor Maxwell Gidado, described it as a people-oriented, life-impacting project that will bring relief to the Boko Haram ravaged communities.

    The governor thanked the EU for the intervention and said his government would appreciate other projects that would bring relief to people affected by conflicts involving herdsmen and farmers.

  • MTN Nigeria declares N60b interim dividend

    MTN Nigeria Communications Plc will be distributing N60 billion as interim cash dividend to shareholders.
    Shareholders will receive a dividend per share of N2.95 for the first half ended June 30, 2019.

    Key extracts of the six-month report showed that profit before tax rose by 30.86 per cent to N190.4 billion in first half 2019 as against N108.35 billion recorded in comparable period of 2018.

    Profit after tax grew by 34.79 per cent from N73.4 billion to N98.93 billion. Total turnover had grown by 12.12 per cent to N566.95 billion as against N505.67 billion.

    Operating profit had risen by 39.49 per cent from N136.50 billion to N190.4 billion. Earnings per share rose by 34.79 per cent to N4.86 compared with N3.61.

  • IGP orders AIGs, CPs to beef-up security nationwide

    The Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu has ordered the immediate beef-up of security in all the States of the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

    Zonal Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs) and Commissioners of Police (CPs) across the country have also been mandated to ensure that customized security arrangements are put in place in their Area of Responsibilities (AORs) to checkmate the activities of criminals and any possible threat to public peace.

    The Police chief said the order is imperative following the series of violent protest and unrest by members of the El-zazakky group in the FCT.

    Read Also: Man cries out to IGP over wife’s killing at check point

    This is contained in a statement in Abuja on Friday by the Force Spokesman, DCP Frank Mba.

    The IGP also assured citizens that proactive measures including aerial surveillance of major cities have been emplaced to ensure the safety and security of lives and property of all Nigerians.

    Adamu however urged citizens to be wary of circulating unsubstantiated security advisories capable of creating undue fear, panic and apprehension in the country.

    He also advised all intending protesters to ensure they express their grievances within the ambit of the law so as not to infringe on the constitutional rights of other citizens or cause breach of public peace.

  • Ex-Female Police Chief joins Bayelsa governorship race

    A retired Commissioner of Police, Diseye Nsirim-Poweigha on Friday became the first female governorship aspirant to obtain the APC nomination and expression of interest for to contest the August 29, 2019 APC governorship primary ahead of the November 16 governorship election.

    Nsirim-Poweigha who served as Commissioner of Police in Niger state advocate for adequate funding of the nation’s security saying government must put more money into the security architecture, pointing out that it is only in a secured environment that can attract investment.

    Coming into the race with vast experience in security, she said the communication system in Bayelsa state has completely broken down, making it difficult for security personnel’s in one part of the state to communicate with their colleagues in other parts.

    Read Also: Bayelsa guber: I’m optimistic of PDP ticket, says Alaibe

    She also said that the entire Bayelsa state have only two major roads, a situation she said is not good enough, stressing that available natural resources in the state have been left untapped.

    She said “Our youths have now become kidnappers because they don’t have work to do since the government in place has not provided any for them. Bayelsa has alot of mineral resources which has been left untapped. it does not have a good housing system. Everybody is struggling to get houses for themselves.

    “Give us a chance to make the difference in Bayelsa. A situation of saying women cannot rule Nigeria should not be allowed to continue because we have seen women serving as great leaders in other parts of the world. Communication system in Bayelsa state has completely broken down. You cannot communicate with some body in other parts of the state.

    “When we come to power, we will work with the security agencies to address the security situation in the state because without security, there will be no investment or industries in the state. It is a shame that with all it’s resources, there are no industries in the state.

    “It is not what you have in terms of political experience that matters or that will bring you to power. Some of these people have without their political experience have not been able to address the problems in the state.
    “Government need to put more money into the security apparatus of the state. Security is not only government business. It is everyone’s business. Whether state or federal police, what is needed is adequate funding.”

  • Second Ebola wave hits Congo’s Beni region

    A second Ebola infection wave is spreading in Congo’s north-eastern Beni region, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported on Friday.

    More than half of the new cases over recent weeks appeared in the Beni Health Zone, which
    had already seen high infection rates about one year ago for several weeks, the Geneva-based UN
    agency said.

    According to Congo’s Health Ministry, some 2,600 cases have been recorded as of July 23. At
    least 1,765 patients have died.

    However, the WHO suspects that a quarter of all infections might not be detected, as people die
    but their relatives do not know that they had Ebola.

    The WHO declared the Ebola outbreak an international health emergency earlier in July, after the
    haemorrhagic fever spread to Goma, a major urban centre near the border with Rwanda.

    Efforts to curb the spread of the virus are difficult because of the numerous rebel groups that
    are operating in eastern Congo.

    (dpa/NAN)