Abia State Governor Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has approved the immediate suspension of the Rector of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Prof. Kalu Osonwa.
The governor in a statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chris Ezem, did not state reasons for Osonwa’s disengagement, but went ahead to approve the appointment of Associate Professor Haglar Okorie as the acting rector.
Ezem said Haglar’s appointment takes immediate effect.
Rivers State Executive Council has accused a former Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, of trying to instigate hostility between the Igbo and the people of the state, following his recent comments on the legally-foreclosed issue of abandoned property of non-indigenes.
Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State, in his desperation to canvass votes for his political godson and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tonye Cole, had promised that if his candidate emerged victorious, he would return to Igbo owners, their property declared abandoned by the military government after the civil war.
But speaking at the Government House, Port Harcourt after the state Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Nyesom Wike, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, SAN, flayed the former minister’s promise.
He described Amaechi’s obnoxious attempt to play politics with the hot button issue of abandoned property that was considered legally closed and could not be revisited, as “distasteful.”
He said: “You will recall that the Abandoned Property Edit No. 8 of 1969 established the Abandoned Property Custody and Management Authority.
“The constitutionality of that law has been tested in several decisions of our court, including that of the Supreme Court and that law is still a subsisting law, and it has never been invalidated by any judgment of the court.
“It is, therefore, palpably injurious if not completely misleading for anybody to seek to politicise the issue of abandoned property. The matter as far as we’re concerned, is closed legally and cannot be revisited. “
The attorney general said by playing toxic politics with abandoned property issue, Amaechi did not mean well for Rivers State.
He said: “We have to condemn it in its entirety. It is distasteful. It is unbecoming of a leader and every right thinking member of this society must condemn it.”
The Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, said the Executive Council condemned Amaechi’s recklessness in trying to reawaken the ghosts of the abandoned property issue in Rivers.
He said: “I’m sure all of us know that the matter has long been buried, and it is no longer practical or feasible to reawaken it. It beats every reasonable imagination why anybody would want to carry politics that far.
“We are urging every Rivers man or woman and our Igbo brothers, who have lived here peacefully with us, to disregard that misguided utterance, which we all know was said or made, just to, as it were, gain political mileage.”
Commissioner for Information and Communications Chris Finebone noted that Amaechi must apparently be suffering from selective amnesia.
He recalled that as the Speaker of House of Assembly, Amaechi declared the matter of abandoned property closed.
He wondered why the same Amaechi would today turn around to promise to revisit the issue of abandoned property just for political reasons, with the intent to deceive Igbo leaders, just to garner illusive votes for Cole.
He said: “This is what has appalled people across, not just Rivers State, today, but across even Bayelsa. We have received calls from everywhere condemning this kind of rascality. It beats the imagination that somebody who probably did not have any grasp about the issue of abandoned property, will simply jumped into the political arena and want to harvest from it by offering people what is even beyond him, what he cannot offer, let alone somebody he is bringing in to offer.
“So, we are condemning this. We are joining other well-meaning Rivers people to condemn this kind of rascality and to warn the former governor (Amaechi) to steer clear of deceiving people. He has no power whatsoever to revisit the issue of abandoned property. This is a matter that touches on the very fabric of everyday Rivers man’s conscience.”
Umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, has slammed some faceless groups allegedly involved in campaign of calumny against the Executive Vice President of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Tombomieye Adokiye.
It said the call for Adokiye’s probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was distasteful and an affront to Nigerians, who had suffered a lot from economic sabotage and crude oil theft.
Spokesman for IYC Comrade Ebilade Ekerefe said in a statement yesterday that although the EFCC had the power to probe when provided with the strong evidence against individuals, the faceless group under the fictitious name, Niger Delta Youths and Stakeholders Congress, was not known to the youth of the region.
He said such group should not be allowed to succeed in its ‘pull-him-down syndrome’ against a true son of the region like Adokiye.
Ekerefe called on the EFCC to investigate individuals or personalities involved in the sponsored blackmail against the office and person of the Executive Vice President of the NNPCL.
He warned those behind the campaign of calumny against Adokiye to desist, noting that millions of youths from the six states of the Niger Delta were ready to resist any attempt to bring him down.
He said: “We will stop at nothing to thwart the threats of mega protest being brandished in order to force the EFCC to probe where there is no evidence of misdeed.
“For us, blackmailing Adokiye to gain attention is a wrong step for seeking relevance. We don’t have many Ijaw leaders at the top of federal agencies. Therefore, we will not hesitate to take necessary steps to stand by those at the top and not to allow a few sponsored individuals to pull them down.”
On the claims of the alleged involvement of Adokiye in sabotage of the nation’s economy and complicity in crude oil theft, the IYC spokesman described the allegation as “laughable”.
He said the purported petitions against him were sponsored by some group of persons, who were out to dent his image and malign him with unfounded and mischievous allegations in order to drag his name in the mire.
He added: “As a social rights advocacy organisation, we condemn such petitions in totality and call on well-meaning sons and daughters of the Niger Delta region, particularly the Ijaw nation, to support Adokiye for the good work he has done so far at the NNPC management to better the lives of most of our teeming Ijaw sons and daughters from the region.
“Adokiye has worked hard to bring about the transformational policies and programmes that promote transparency, accountability and sustainable development.
“His model of leadership and mechanism has driven the NNPC management to a speedy growth that has added massive economic value to the GDP of our country and also increased the revenue generation capabilities.
“It is also on record that under Adokiye’s upstream operations management, the nation’s crude oil production has increased to about 2.5 million barrels daily.”
The Coalition of Ijaw Ethnic Nationalities has warned against power tussle between the managing director and the board of chairperson of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The coalition in a statement signed yesterday by the Chief Superintending Officer, Supreme Egbesu Order (SEO), Apostle Bodmas Kemepadei, said the Act establishing the commission outlined the functions of the duo and each of them must be guided by such provisions.
Kemepadei said it would amount to a breach of the Act if the board’s Chairperson, Chief Lauretta Onochie, through conspiracies, attempted to usurp the functions of the commission’s Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku.
He said the reports of an alleged plot by Onochie to take over the duties of the managing director in connivance with some forces from the Aso Rock villa should remain in the realm of rumour and speculation.
Kemepadei said Onochie was too intelligent and wise to be part of such conspiracies, which could only throw the commission into crisis and unable to discharge its constitutional roles for the progress and development of the region.
The Egbesu priest said the collation would not fold its arms and watch inordinate ambition for power to frustrate the Ijaw from maximising its opportunity in the saddle as the managing director of the NDDC.
He advised Onochie to work in harmony with Ogbuku to resolve knotty issues confronting the commission such as non-payment of contractors, lack of youth empowerment and other developmental problems in the region.
Kemepadei said: “The Act establishing the NDDC is clear about the functions of the managing director and the board chairperson. The Act is drafted in such a way that there will be no clash between the managing director and the board chairperson. Both of them are from the Niger Delta and we expect them to work harmoniously without rancour.
“While the Act invests executive powers in the managing director, it gives supervisory roles to the chairperson. We do not expect the chairperson to disrupt the functions of the commission by trying to play executive functions allotted to the managing director.
“We want to believe that the reported friction between Onochie and Ogbuku is a rumour being promoted by fifth columnists. We know that Onochie is too intelligent to constitute herself as an obstacle to the progress of the Niger Delta.
“The commission we understand is bogged down by many debts owe to contractors, media houses and other vendors. We call on the commission to offset these debts and initiate a process of rolling out its plans and projects for the region. The time is ticking away”.
The Hydro-Electricity Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) yesterday in Lokoja inaugurated its operational office in Kogi.
The office, which is strategically located, was donated to the commission by the Kogi Government to assist HYPPADEC to execute its assignment to the 10 flood prone local government areas in the state.
Inaugurating the facility, Representative of the commission’s Governing Board, from Kogi, Alhaji Isa Ozi-Salami, described the occasion as laudable and heartwarming to the entire people of Kogi.
“What we’re doing here today is facilitating capacity building and to enhance communication between the commission and the people of Kogi.
“What HYPPADEC is doing across the six benefiting states across the country is serving humanity as many lives, particularly the poor masses, are being touched and uplifted.
“Thanks be to God for the man behind the Commission’s success story in the person of Alhaji Abubakar Yelwa, the Managing Director, who is a genius in service to humanity,’’ he said.
Yelwa, in his speech, thanked Governor Yahaya Bello and his administration for providing the operational office for the commission, describing it as an encouraging gesture that can create the enabling environment for better service.
The HYPPADEC boss said that the commission would use the edifice for five years after which it was expected to build and move into its own permanent office.
“As we appreciate this government for this gesture, as Oliver Twist, we are asking for a piece of land on which we can build our permanent office in the state.”
Kaduna state Governor Nasir El-Rufai has threatened to expose former governors of the state who stole from the state coffers, challenging any former governor to come out and join him in swearing with the holy Qur’an that he did not steal from the state.
Speaking in a Hausa interview on KSMC monitored in Kaduna, the governor, who stated that the loans taken by his administration and all the money accruing to the state in the last seven and half years were spent on developing the state and making it better for the people.
He, however, warned that if they continued to talk, he would tell the world how they looted the money meant for development in the state and ferried some to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other metropolitan capitals to acquire properties.
According to him, one of the former governors was allegedly complicit in a misappropriated N500 million contract to reconstruct the popular WAFF Road, as nothing was done on the road until he came in as governor and constructed a dual carriageway on the road.
“They looted the money, the person they gave the WAFF road contract is dead,” he said.
He singled out former Vice President Namadi Sambo who, as governor of Kaduna state, started a 300 bed specialist hospital in Millennium City, Kaduna but couldn’t complete the project before moving to Aguda House in Abuja, as the vice president to president Goodluck Jonathan in 2010.
He said: “I’m happy with the quality of job we did, it would last many years, not the kind of shabby job done by the previous government which won’t last more than one or two years. But there is more work for us to do because we want someone to enter Kaduna without seeing any untarred road but roads paved with asphalt, with solar powered street lights. Same in Zaria, Kafanchan and other local governments, Soba, Birnin Gwari that is what we wanted.
“Those who said we incurred debt, they can see what we spent the loan upon. We didn’t take the money to Dubai to buy houses, we didn’t build a big mansion on Jabi road to live a luxurious life. That is not who we are, I became Kaduna state Governor with one house in Ungwar Sarki in Danja road, till now that I’m rounding up my tenure that is my only house. I didn’t build a big mansion anywhere and I didn’t steal anybody’s money.
“All those who served as governor of Kaduna state should also come out and swear with the Qur’an that when they were governor, they didn’t take a Kobo. But I can swear with the Qur’an that I didn’t steal anybody’s money.
“For us, leadership is a trust from God and we will give account to God how we manage the trust. So, any amount of money we got from federal allocation, from grants, from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), we spent it in a way it would benefit the people of Kaduna state.”
A 37 year-old man, Moses Abdon Edo has been sentenced to death by hanging for killing his father, Abdon Peter Edo.
Peter Edo’s body and grave have not been found.
Moses Edo was condemned on Monday by Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Etinan.
The Court presided over by Justice Ezekiel Enang held that the convict, a motorcycle rider, had confessed that he single-handedly killed his father in broad daylight on July 29, 2015 in Ikot Ukobo, Nsit Ubium Local Government Area and buried him beside his son’s grave.
Justice Enang said the convict, who is the first son of the deceased, also confessed that he pursued his father to the backyard of his old building and hit his head on the wall where he died on the spot over landed property.
The Court held that once a confessional statement is positive, direct and unequivocal, it is sufficient to secure conviction of the accused even without the evidence being collaborated.
Justice Enang held that by smashing the head of his father on the wall, the convict had intended to kill him.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Maiduguri Zonal Office, yesterday secured a five-year jail term against Alhaji Idris Yahaya, the Auditor-General for Local Government in Yobe State.
Yahaya, charged with misappropriating N19, 900,000, was found guilty and convicted by Justice Muhammad Lawu Lawan of the state High Court.
According to the EFCC, Yahaya received funds from the Office of the Auditor-General for Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Yobe State, for the purchase of an official vehicle, a 2015 Toyota Corolla, and diverted part of the money to his personal use.
He was first arraigned on November 9, 2022 but pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In the course of the trial, counsel for the EFCC, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed called four witnesses and tendered documents.
Delivering judgment yesterday, Justice Lawan held that the prosecution proved the case against the defendant and convicted him as charged. He consequently sentenced him to five years imprisonment with an option of fine.
The Judge directed the convict to pay N10, 100,000 in restitution to Yobe State Government through the EFCC or serve additional two years in prison.
Coordinator of Youth Expressions for Service, (YES), Collins Steve Ugwu, has urged ‘Obidients’ to come out en masse on Saturday to vote for Labour Party governorship candidate Chijioke Edoga and other House of Assembly candidates of the party.
In a statement, he told them they should be proud as they go out to vote the party, adding that in dislodging the opposition they were ‘taking down a “political nest” built on lies, and living large on greed.’
Ugwu charged them to be firm in breaking ‘the jinx of the worst mis-governance since democracy came back, as we troop out to vote massively and fearlessly’.
He hailed ‘Obidients’ who rejected the drinks of the PDP governorship candidate in a viral video.
He thanked them for coming out in their large numbers to vote in the last Presidential and National Assembly elections which resulted in a ‘resounding sweep’.
“What you people did with spectacular bravery, was not just washing our faces clean with the strong detergent of your votes, but infact going further to rinse it in our historic “Ugwu Asho” spring water of purity, to reclaim an integrity known as our unique emblem to global humanity,” he said.
He advised those elected, and those who will be elected on Saturday to work diligently to justify the confidence reposed in them by voters.
Ugwu decried ‘the brutal neglect of Nsukka and her abandonment’.
by an administration supposed to lift the people.
“The crying need to restore the dignity of man democratically, as the host of the premier citadel of learning in Igboland and beyond, is an abiding duty this Saturday,” he added.
A group of northernern professionals under the aegis of Northern Professionals For Good Leadership (NPGL) are rooting for the lawmaker representing Zaria Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, Abbas Tajudeen to emerge as the speaker of the 10th House of Representatives.
National Coordinator of NPGL, Yakubu Dogo made the group’s position known on Monday at Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital.
Dogo, who was in company of other executive members, described Tajudeen as the obvious best and first amongst his equals at the Federal House of Representatives.
NPGL’s coordinator described the House Committee Chairman for Land Transport as the most qualified and best prepared lawmaker to become the new speaker . Dogo also said aside the leadership qualities and educational standing of Tajudeen, he also gave the federal lawmaker deserved credit for being the only federal lawmaker from Kaduna State who has thus far sponsored 74 bills.
He also harped on the fact that Tajudeen is a man of unblemished integrity and he is manifestly loved and trusted by his colleagues .
Moreover, Dogo also alluded to the the burning desire of Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to have Abass Tajudeen as the next speaker . He added that El-Rufai had earlier made his desire known to APC supporters in Zaria that he would love to see the Iyan Zazzau emerge as the next speaker of the House of Representatives.
He quoted Governor Nasir El-Rufai as saying, ” Finally, had wanted to travel to Lagos yesterday and see Asiwaju in respect of the Speaker. He said he would be coming to Abuja today (Monday).
“But the most important thing I will request from him , if at all I contributed to his success in the election, the only pay back is for the Iyan Zazzau to become Speaker.
“I thank you immensely for casting your votes for him. This is because if you had decided not to vote for him, we wouldn’t have gathered here Alhamdulillahi”.
Meanwhile, Dogo also described Hon. Tajudeen as a legislator that is highly favoured by majority of all the returning and new members of the House of Representatives to become their Speaker. He therefore appealed to other returning and new members that are yet to join the Tajudeen camp to queue behind a man who is obviously the most suitable in character, experience and academic qualifications.
“We are glad that the individual being projected today is someone of impeccable character. He is a man of good moral standing and deep intellect.
Hon. Abass Tajudeen is cool, calm, calculated and highly experienced in lawmaking. He is well educated and has done enough to win the trust and confidence of his colleagues. Hon. Abass is undoubtedly the best man for this Speakership and we urge every member of the House of Representatives that may still be outside of the camp to join the victory bound ship of Hon. Abass Tajudeen”.
However, Dogo added that it was important for the APC to tidy up its house in order not to have a speaker that would get foisted on the party through a civilian coup. He stressed that this was necessary so that all the federal lawmakers elected on APC platform would be on the same page ahead of the inauguration of the 10th House of Representatives.
Reeling out credentials of the 59 year-old Abass Tajudeen, described by Dogo as a vastly experienced legislator who has served in various House Committees that include
National Planning and Economic Development, Public Procurement, Defence, Social Duties, Finance and Commerce.
The Iyan Zazzau was also said to have served as the Vice Chairman of Legislative Compliance Committee from May 2011 to May 2015.
More so, Tajudeen is a Doctorate degree holder in Business Management from the Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto
He was awarded his Ph.D award in 2010. Earlier, the lawmaker had in 1993 obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Ahmadu Bello University. The Iyan Zazzau is also a Bachelor’s degree holder in Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He obtained this degree in flying colours in 1988. It was added that Abbas Tajudeen had much earlier attended Kaduna Teacher’s College (KTC) Kaduna where he obtained a grade II certificate in 1981.
Throwing light on the career trajectory of Hon. Abass Tajudeen,
the group’s coordinator said the federal lawmaker worked as a primary school teacher from 1981 to 1988. It was added that Abbas also worked as a polytechnic lecturer before he moved to the Kaduna State University (KASU) in 1993. The lawmaker worked as a lecturer at KASU until 2001 when he resigned to take up another employment with NTC as Marketing Manager from 2001 to 2005.
Abass Tajudeen is an ardent believer in the institution of marriage and this informs why he has since remained happily married with responsible children. He is a Fellow of the Association of Hospitality Management of Nigeria.
Tajudeen has won several back-to-back awards as the Best Performing House of Representatives Member. He had earlier been decorated as the Best Service Manager by Nigerian Institude of Management, Zaria in 2009. The Iyan Zazzau was in 1993 done the honour of Best Head of Department by Kaduna State Polytechnic. In same 1993, he won the award of Best Student in International Finance at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. In 1981, Abass was decorated with the Katsina Teachers College award for the Best Student in History.