The Nation Newspaper

Category: Northern Report

  • Tinubu rescuing Nigeria through foreign investment drive, says NW-APC

    Tinubu rescuing Nigeria through foreign investment drive, says NW-APC

    • Lauds Kano tribunal ruling

    All Progressives Congress (APC) Northwest zone has commended President Bola Tinubu for taking critical decisions to save Nigeria from collapsing, while attracting investors into the country.

    APC Northwest Zonal Chairman, Hon. Garba Datti Mohammed, who stated this in Kaduna after a meeting between the APC chairmen of the seven Northwest states and zonal executive committee, also welcomed the Kano State Governorship Election Tribunal judgment, saying that the party would support the upper court.

    He said apart from the critical decisions,Tinubu had met with various heads of state and government, as well as holding several bilateral talks in the sidelines of major global meetings to ensure that the fortunes of Nigeria is turned around and the economic and security situations are vastly improved.

    He expressed confidence that the upper court would overturn the Zamfara governorship tribunal ruling, which upheld the election of People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) governor, Dauda Lawal.

    He said: “We want to thank President Bola Tinubu for taking critical decisions to save this country from imminent collapse. He was in South Africa, India for the G20 meeting, he was at the (United Nations General Assembly) UNGA, he has held several bilateral discussions with various heads of states.

    Read Also: Afenifere hails tribunal ruling on Atiku, Obi petitions

    “We assure him that the Northwest Zone that has the largest number of votes is with him and we would continue to support him.

    “We are here to assess the judgments of the tribunals in various states of the North-west. We are happy with the outcome of the judgment of Kano state which confirmed the court as the last hope of the common man. We congratulate the winners and other party faithful in Kano.’’

    “We would support the judgment up to the Supreme Court because it is a good judgment. We would challenge the Zamfara state tribunal judgment because we have hope that the judgment would be upturned at the higher court.

    “We are going on a familiarisation tour of all the seven states in the Northwest zone to see and assess what is there. In consultation with the chairman of Governors Forum, we are convening a stakeholders meeting with governors, National Assembly members, ministers and other critical stakeholders to see how we can move the party and the nation forward.

    “We commend our Governors for sustaining the party at all levels. We also resolve to have functional offices of the party from the ward to the local government, state, zonal and national levels,” Hon. Datti said.

  • Bago warns against planned protest over teaching hospital

    Bago warns against planned protest over teaching hospital

    Niger State Governor, Umar Mohammed Bago has dared youths who are planning to protest  the decision of the government to site the IBB University Teaching Hospital in Minna to go ahead.

    According to the governor, anybody who holds such a protest would be arrested alongside their parents.

    The governor gave the warning when he paid a condolence visit to the Emir of Lapai, Umar Bago III, in his palace over the death of his brother.

    The state government has handed over the Shiroro Hotel in Minna to contractors for its conversion into the IBB University Teaching Hospital.

    The governor, who spoke in Hausa, said, “There are some people in this city, I heard them talking about staging a protest because we took the university teaching hospital to Minna. May God help them to do so.

    Read Also: Tinubu celebrates NUPRC boss Komolafe at 60

    “If they do, they will know who Bago is. Not only will I arrest them but I will also arrest their parents.”.

    According to the governor, several university teaching hospitals across the country are usually sited away from the main campus of the university, adding that there is no need for anyone to raise dust about it unless it is for mischievous reasons.

    He said the IBB University would be the first to offer medicine among the Federal and state- owned institutions in Niger.

    The governor further assured the monarch that the government would provide potable drinking water to Lapai, Agaie, and Katcha local government areas to address the age-long scarcity of water in these areas.

  • ARCON decries quackery in oncology

    ARCON decries quackery in oncology

    The Association of Radiation and Clinical Oncologists of Nigeria (ARCON) has decried the rising cases of quackery and unprofessional practices in the oncological profession across the country.

    Oncologists are cancer and turmoil doctors.

    The association expressed their concern at their Sixth Annual General Meeting (AGM) and scientific conference yesterday.

    In a communique issued at the end of the conference in Jos noted that cases of unqualified and improperly registered physicians practising as radiation/clinical oncologists were becoming worrisome to the association.

    The association called on relevant authorities, including MDCN,NMA and ARCON, to proactively address the issue of unqualified and improperly registered physicians practising as radiation/clinical oncologists.

    The association appealed to the government along with other stakeholders to expand the National Health Scheme coverage for oncological patients in line with Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate’s dedication to implement the Nigeria Health Act.

    It stated: “We resolved to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to draft a policy brief containing recommendations for improving healthcare financing and ensuring equitable access to oncology services.

    Read Also: Afenifere hails tribunal ruling on Atiku, Obi petitions

    “The AGM encouraged members to actively participate in meetings and conferences to enhance the association’s visibility and influence.’’

    “The AGM encouraged members to involve in cross professional collaborations globally to achieve professional growth and address health sector challenges.

    “The AGM urged stakeholders involved in employing resident doctors to create simple and easy employment strategies for radiation and clinical oncology resident doctors to address the shortage of resident doctors in training.

    “The AGM charged the authority involved in residency training to always make necessary information available to the resident doctors regarding their exams and practice”

    High point of the annual conference was the election of Dr.Nwamaka Lesebikan as the new  president of the association.

    Other elected members of the executive are Dr.Adebayo Afolabi Oladeji as Vice President; Dr. Ololade Kehinde as General Secretary; Dr.Bolaji Lateef Salako as Assistant General Secretary; Dr. Samuel Kwis as Public Relations Officer; while Dr. Bolanle Adegboyega emerged as Treasurer, and Dr.Foluke Oladele Sarimiye as Financial Secretary, Dr.Temitope Agunbiade as Welfare Secretary and Dr.Temitope Agunbiade as Editor-in-Chief .

  • Floods: Adamawa communities seek Dasin-Hausa dam actualisation, River Benue dredging

    Floods: Adamawa communities seek Dasin-Hausa dam actualisation, River Benue dredging

    People of Adamawa State who live in communities near the River Benue who are prone to flooding have called for the dredging of the river to mitigate flooding.

    The people have also called for actualisation of the abandoned Dasin Hausa Dam, a project, which was initiated in 1982, to avoid flooding that usually results from release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon Republic.

    Communities around the River Benue or its tributaries in Fufore, Yola South, Girei and Numan local government areas made their plea during a sensitisation and training on climate change conducted in the places by the African Activists for Climate Change Justice (AACJ) and Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), better known simply as HEDA Resource Centre.

    The Executive Secretary, Centre, Sulaiman Arigbabu, explained to each community they visited that the purpose was to sensitise them on flood preparedness and resilience as well as to gather their views and needs for transmission to relevant authorities.

    Read Also: Tinubu celebrates NUPRC boss Komolafe at 60

    At the outreach programme tagged ‘Amplifying the Voices of Climate Frontier Communities’, the host communities who consisted mostly of farmers, said a well-built Dasin Hausa dam and dredged River Niger would curtail flooding.

    The Ward Head, Wuro-chekke of Rugange Community in Yola South Local Government Area (LGA), Alhaji Sa’ad Muhammad, said the failure to build the dam had thrown Nigeria into a panic each time the Cameroon authorities announced that it would release water from their Lagdo dam, and flood resulting from such release had often caused havoc for his people.

    One of his people, Kabiru Abba, told reporters during   that he had no farm and had to live in abject poverty after the last flood in the area devastated his farmland.

    At Dasin Hausa, the community at which the much-talked about abandoned dam project is located, the community leader, Shitu Ahmodu, said the project and dredging of surrounding rivers are important if perennial flooding is to be effectively addressed.

    The Assistant Village Head, Imburu Community in Numan LGA, Chief Imyaleyo Bulus, said a vital thing that the Federal Government could do is to drain the River Benue of sand.

    “The river has become shallow because it is full of sand, such that the moment there is some water, either from rainfall or some other source, water rushes out to adjourning communities, causing harm to people and their belongings,” Bulus said.

  • Yobe distributes food items to 137,000 households

    Yobe distributes food items to 137,000 households

    Yobe has so far distributed food items to 137,000 households as palliatives to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

    Executive Secretary, State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Muhammad Goje, yesterday at a news conference in Damaturu, said rice, maize, pasta and condiments were distributed to the beneficiaries.

    He explained that the items were distributed to beneficiaries in Damaturu, Fine, Potiskum, Bade, Geidam and Jakusko local government areas.

    Goje said each household received between 20kg and 50kg of the grains, depending on its size.

    Read Also: Afenifere hails tribunal ruling on Atiku, Obi petitions

    “Sixty-nine per cent of the beneficiaries got the items correctly while the remaining 31 per cent got theirs through clusters,” he said.

    Goje added that beneficiaries were identified by registration and recommendations by traditional leaders, places of worship, political parties, and orphanages and by people with disabilities, among others.

    He assured that other vulnerable groups in the remaining 11 local government areas of the state would benefit from the items as soon as possible.

  • 10th Assembly urged to revive Electoral Offence bill

    10th Assembly urged to revive Electoral Offence bill

    The 10th National Assembly has been urged to revive the Electoral Offences Commission Bill that was presented in the 9th Assembly but  which failed to scale through.

    According to stakeholders, the bill,  when passed would boost the turnout of future elections because it would handle cases of electoral violence in all parts of the country.

    Policy expert and Associate Professor of political history at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife Dr. Adetunji Ogunyemi said the bill would prevent all manner of thuggery, coercion and vote suppression within the system.

    He said this yesterday in Abuja at a High-level symposium on electoral security held by Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI) in collaboration with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Palladium, titled, ‘assessing the electoral security management towards legal reforms’.

    Ogunyemi said, “In 2019 the Senate presented the Electoral Offences  Commission Bill which sought to apprehend all manners of infractions of the Electoral Act, particularly infractions in respect of section 221, 225 and 227 of the Constitution in respect of people constituting organisations to levy force or levy violence or coerce people to refrain from voting for or to vote directly for some other persons in such could be apprehended.

    Read Also: Tinubu celebrates NUPRC boss Komolafe at 60

    “Unfortunately the bill was only passed by the Senate but not concord to by the House of Representatives, which meant that the bill did not succeed.

    “The Electoral bill must be resuscitated, the time has come for the current Senate to adopt the bill because its going to prevent all manners of thuggery, coercion and vote suppression within the system.”

    Team lead KDI, Bukola Idowu said they are hoping that the Electoral Offences Commission Bill would include a tribunal whose sole aim would be the prosecution of perpetrators of electoral violence.

    He also added, “The essence of this programme is basically to bring stakeholders together from the Ministry of Justice, the Executive, Security agencies and the Electoral Commission, all the stakeholders around the elections to see how we can forge ahead around election security.

    “You will agree with me that in 2023 election we had issues of electoral violence intimidation, and suppression. And this has been one of the things affecting the turnout in election. You look at the 2023 election, you find out that the turnout was low. And what it means is that people are not participating.

    “One of the reasons is because of electoral violence, one of the things we’re also looking at today is to see how the election offence commission bill can be revived in the 10th Assembly because it did not see the light of the day in the 9th Assembly.”

  • ‘We shall defeat Muftwang at appeal court’

    ‘We shall defeat Muftwang at appeal court’

    Leaders and stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau State have expressed optimism of upstaging Governor Caleb Muftwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the appellate court.

    Muftwang was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and had his mandate reaffirmed by the Plateau State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal last week.

    Former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ahmed Wase, however, expressed optimism of the APC flag bearer upturning the verdict when he led leaders and stakeholders of the party in the state to the APC National Secretariat.

    Wase later told reporters after a closed-door meeting with the party’s National Chairman,  Drullahi Umar Ganduje and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) on the happenings in the party on the Plateau that the party was hopeful of victory at the appellate court.

    The federal lawmaker said that the party’s candidate, “Mr Nentawe Yilwaltda would upstage Muftwang at the appeal.”

    Read Also: Afenifere hails tribunal ruling on Atiku, Obi petitions

    Wase stated that stakeholders in the state were hopeful that the needful would be done at the appellate court despite the decision of the election petition tribunal which upheld the victory of  Muftwang.

    They maintained that Nentawe would emerge victorious based on the provision of the Electoral Amendment Act as amended and the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    The lawmaker recalled how APC members overcame the odds stacked against them to convince the electorates to cast ballots for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the presidential poll.

    He noted that the over 300,000 votes secured by President Tinubu at the poll in Plateau state was akin to squeezing blood out of stone.

    “As far as we are concerned, the Plateau state APC chapter has done very well. We performed beyond expectation by coming third with 300,000 votes.

    “We squeezed blood out of stone considering the demography in Plateau state due to the Muslim Muslim ticket. Yet we sacrificed so much even when religious sentiments were whipped against us. The religious factor affected us so much that we were looked at as a leper. Yet, I survived it,” he added.

  • Kano govt to spend N600m on Dawanau international grains market

    Kano govt to spend N600m on Dawanau international grains market

    Kano State Agro-pastoral Development Project (KSADP) has approved about N600 million for the provision of facilities at the Dawanau International Grains Market.

    In a statement by Mr Ameen Yassar, a Project Communication Specialist, in charge of the project in Kano, said the project was being funded by the Islamic Development Bank and the lives and livelihood funds.

    Read Also: Tinubu celebrates NUPRC boss Komolafe at 60

    He said the facilities included a four-kilometre road, drainage and street lights, saying that the contract for the construction of the road, drainage and street lights was awarded to the Labour Technical Services Limited, at N508 million.

    Yassar said a contract for three blocks of lavatory, mosque, police outpost, offices and conference room was awarded to AITEC Infraconsult Limited for N92 million.

    He said the project was expected to be completed within 12 months.

  • ‘Road traffic crashes kill faster than HIV, AIDS’

    ‘Road traffic crashes kill faster than HIV, AIDS’

    Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed says road traffic crashes in Nigeria killed faster than Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and other known causes of death.

    The governor stated this at Gombe Park, Bauchi yesterday during the ‘Ember’ Months Sensitisation organised by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Bauchi state Sector Command.

    Represented by the Commissioner, Security and Internal Affairs, Mr Abdulhamid Bununu, the governor said for this reason, the public should realise that road traffic crashes did not respect any one, irrespective of status, age or race.

    “If you want to stay alive, be road safety friendly by observing road traffic regulations and keep your vehicles road worthy.

    “All hands must be on the deck to make our dream of safer roads a reality,” he said.

    Mohammed further appealed to the motoring public that their maximum cooperation would not only be enough in achieving good road culture, but would equally put the nation on the world map of road traffic crashes free countries and promote investment for economic prosperity.

    Read Also: Kano launches operation zero-tolerance to road traffic

    Earlier, the Sector Commander, FRSC, Bauchi, Mr Patrick Ikaba, reminded road users that road safety was everybody’s business and shared responsibility.

    According to him, the ‘ember’ months come with unique challenges and opportunities.

    “As the year approaches its final quarter, we must remain vigilant, conscious and proactive to ensure the safety and well-being on our roads.

    “The campaign aims not only to raise awareness but also to foster a spirit of unity and preparedness among us.

    “Our goal is to reduce road traffic crashes by at least 15 per cent through enhancing Road Safety partnership for intervention and that is the essence of our gathering today,” he said.

    He appreciated the state governor for his support and cooperation with the FRSC and called on stakeholders not to relent in partnering with the corps.

    The News Agency of Nigeria NAN reports that the theme of the 2023 ember month sensitisation is “Excessive speed thrills but kills, drive responsibly and avoid overloading”

  • We’ll recover lost legislative seats in Plateau, says Mutfwang

    We’ll recover lost legislative seats in Plateau, says Mutfwang

    Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang has explained that his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will recover the legislative seats it lost in the National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal.

    The Nation had reported that the tribunal had sacked one senator and three members of the House of Representatives. The party had equally lost some legislative seats in the state House of Assembly to the All Progressives Congress (APC)

    The tribunal had, last Friday, upheld the election of Mutfwang but rejected the petition filed by the Governorship candidate of APC, Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, challenging the election of Mutfwang.

    Speaking at a victory rally in Jos yesterday, Mutfwang expressed optimism that the Appeal Court would reverse the judgment of the Justice Mohammed Tukur -led tribunal.

    Read Also: Tribunal affirms Mutfwang’s election as Plateau governor

    Mutfwang said: “Do not entertain any fear. We shall be victorious in the Appeal Court and also be victorious in the Supreme Court. And if they decide to go to the Appeal Court, God is waiting for us there and if they also decide to go to the Supreme Court, God is also waiting for us there.”

    The governor hailed the tribunal for doing the right thing and prayed to God to continue to bless them.

    “We thank Mr. President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, despite pressure to seek for his interference, which he refuses vehemently. With this singular gesture as a democrat to allow the judiciary to do their work without hindrance or interference, the president has shown himself as a true democrat,” he added