Category: Northern Reports

A governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State, Engr. Umar Mustapha, has discredited Governor Ahmadu Fintiri on his flyover initiative.

Mustapha said the initiative, which has seen to the construction of two flyovers in the state capital, Yola, has been an expensive misplacement of priority.

In an interview session with newsmen in Yola, Saturday, Mustapha said the two flyovers have created problems of their own without decongesting traffic, as there was no heavy traffic in the first place to decongest.

He said he would remove them if he gets the APC governorship ticket and becomes the next governor of the state.

“Why would you borrow money to do these useless bridges which have worsened traffic problem in many ways? What they have done is a blunder, although they don’t want to accept it,” he said.

He said he meant business about dismounting the flyovers, stressing, “If these bridges stand after I am elected, it will mean I have not been chosen by the people.”

Reacting to the criticism, Governor Fintiri’s Director General of Media and Communication, Mr Solomon Kumangar, said the flyovers have solved the problems they were created for and even become things of pride for Adamawa people.

“If opposition politicians choose to twist facts to suit their personal purposes, the masses of the state can see things for themselves,” Kumangar said.

Barely three days after an explosion occurred at International Cattle Market Iware, another explosion has rocked Nukkai, a suburb of Jalingo, Taraba State on Friday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the explosion occured when the entire town was in a blackout due to a power outage.

Hassan Danzumi, an eye witness close to the area, said that several people were injured, but no life was lost.

When contacted, the spokesman of the Taraba police command, DSP Abdullahi Usman, confirmed the incident.

Usman said nine people were injured but could not confirm any casualty.

Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has sued for unity among the people of the state irrespective of their political affiliations to enable them defeat their common enemy.

The governor made the appeal yesterday when he led other dignitaries to witness the burial of Mama Phoebe Mchianan Afatyo, wife of Tor Jemgbagh, His Royal Highness, David Afatyo Ajoko at Tse Ajoko, Mbakyongo in Tombo Mbalagh, Buruku Local Government Area.

The governor, who frowned at unnecessary bickering amongst the people of the state as a result of political differences, said that Benue people have become an endangered species due to the coordinated agenda of Fulani herdsmen attack on its communities.

He said it would only take the unity of the people to survive.

The governor asked the people of the state to shun bitterness and love one another, stressing that except the people come together and work as one, it will be difficult to defeat the common enemy.

Governor Ortom assured that the Community Volunteer Guards would soon be launched to assist conventional security in protecting the people against invasion, saying the law establishing the outfit has been strengthened to give the outfit more powers to bear legal weapons.

While calling on the people to ensure that they register and update their Permanent Voters Cards (PVC), the governor urged them, especially the politicians, to play the game devoid of rancour and hatred.

Governor Ortom described the death of the wife of Tor Jemgbagh, His Royal Highness, Afaityo Ajoko, as painful, not only to him but everyone that came in contact with her and encouraged him to accept it as the will of God.

The Minister of Special Duties and Inter Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, in his brief remark, stressed the need for the people to love one another and enjoined leaders at all levels not to relent in providing solutions to the problems confronting the state. Senator representing Benue North West, Mr. Orker Jev and that of North East, Dr. Gabriel Suswam and the Tor Tiv, Professor James Ayatse, represented by Tor Jechira, Chief Clement Uganden all cautioned the youths against causing disharmony in the society in the name of politics.

A presidential aspirant on the platform of Accord Party, Prof. Christopher Imumolen, has condemned the recent killings in Plateau State by terrorists.

He also condemned the bombing of the Abuja-Kaduna train by terrorists who laid explosives on the rail track on March 28, 2022.

While saying the country is no longer safe for Nigerians, Imumolen said that Nigeria’s security challenges appeared to have overwhelmed the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government.

Imumolen expressed concern that Nigeria is sliding gradually into a state of anarchy, and called for a concerted effort of stakeholders to stem the tide of insecurity in the country.

He said this while reacting to the recent terrorist attacks in the country which saw over 100 people killed and another 140 train passengers abducted in the last few days.

Imumolen, who noted that the country is in a precarious security situation, said the development has shown that Nigerians are not safe anywhere – in vehicles, on the train or on the aircraft.

The presidential aspirant spoke at the Accord Party’s National Secretariat in Abuja, while picking the expression of interest and nomination form for the 2023 presidential election.

According to him, the present administration has been overwhelmed by the situation, saying he was on a mission to “rescue” Nigeria.

He said: “Yesterday, many people were killed in Plateau. A few weeks ago several people were killed in the Abuja-Kaduna train attack. Nigeria is no longer safe.

“We can no longer pass through the roads, the air, and the railways. Our children can no longer go to school. Just yesterday again, some students in Adamawa were kidnapped in school.

“We now live in a society where even the rich are afraid to showcase their wealth. It is so terrible. Those who are poor are getting poorer by the day.

“So, there is a need for Nigeria to look beyond just having those whose faces are out there to begin to run the affairs of this country and dwindle the economy. What we need is sincerity of purpose and straightforward leadership to save Nigeria, which I will provide, if I am elected the President.”

National Chairman of the party, Mohammed Lawal Nalado, urged the youths to engage more in politics to achieve a new Nigeria.

President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated 1,465 housing units constructed under the National Housing Programme (NHP) in Dutse, the Jigawa state capital.

President Buhari said his administration will fulfil its campaign promises to the people before the end of his tenure.

The president, represented by the Commissioner for Water Resources, Sulaiman Adamu said: “As we head towards the end of our tenure in office, I’m also happy to say that we have entered a season of completion when many projects such as this begin to bear fruit.

“With the support of the Jigawa State Government that provided the land, this place has come alive and will now provide shelter for ordinary Nigerians.”

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, represented by the State Commissioner for Works and Housing, Alhaji Sambo Muazu Jaji said: “The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Works and Housing, has delivered projects such as this with the support of the state governors who provided the lands.

Fashola maintained that “for the benefits of Nigerians on this initiative, over 1,200 contractors have been engaged under phases I, II and III of the programme since its inception in 2016 and over 14,500 and 50,140 direct and indirect jobs have been created.”

The minister noted that “during this period, the ministry is undertaking the construction of over 6,000 housing units in 45 sites, out of which 2,465 units have been completed in 35 states and the FCT.”

Deputy Senate President Obarisi Ovie-Omo-Agege yesterday declared his interest in the governorship seat of Delta State in next year’s election.

Omo-Agege, a two-time member of the Senate, representing Delta Central, will contest on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Omo-Agege yesterday declared his intention in the presence of a cheering mammoth crowd at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun (FUPRE).

He said he intended to build a new Delta on the four pillars of Employment and Empowerment, Development, Good Governance and Enduring Security (EDGE).

The senator noted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration in the state had caused poor infrastructural development, relocation of companies and industries, unemployment among youths, and neglect of retirees and pensioners, among others.

He said with the achievements recorded at the Senate, “we are confident that we have set the right standard for others coming after us to follow in the best interest of the people.”

“Proud of our historic parliamentary achievements, I believe we can apply the same model to save our beloved Delta State from its current pervasive ruin and rot that sum up the sustained bad governance, ineptitude and disorderliness of the PDP.”

Adamawa State has declared an end to the cholera outbreak that ravaged the state in recent times. This was after finding no suspected case despite weeks of ‘heightened’ surveillance.

The declaration yesterday, however, came after months the disease had affected 1,959 people and resulted in 55 deaths.

The state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. Isa Abdullahi, who addressed reporters in Yola yesterday, recalled that the cholera outbreak was declared in July last year and that in the succeeding months, there occurred a total of 1,959 suspected cholera cases.

The commissioner said: “Since we have not recorded any case despite heightened surveillance for cholera for several weeks, we (government and partners) are happy to declare the cholera outbreak over.

“Since the beginning of the outbreak, a total of 1,959 suspected cases with 55 deaths were recorded.”

The commissioner, however, cautioned that the declaration of the end of cholera does not suggest a time to relax.

“It is a window of opportunity to heighten our preparedness against cholera and other vaccines preventable diseases,” he said.

He thanked the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), International Rescue Committee (IRC), International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and other organisations that collaborated with the state government in managing cholera from when it broke out in July last year to now to keep infections and fatalities as low as it could be helped.

According to him, while the cholera outbreak lasted, the state government and its agencies, development partners and communities collaborated to ensure prompt detection of suspected cases, confirmation by appropriate tools and appropriate case management.

“The state and development partners ensured adequate risk communication messages to aid the prevention of the disease.

“Reporting and referral were widely circulated. Cholera treatment centres were set up in Specialist Hospital Yola while general hospitals and cottage hospitals, as well as some primary health care centres, were utilised as cholera treatment centres,” the commissioner said.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said it has allocated 4.5 million dollars to its Fadama COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) project, for the implementation of three disbursements-linked indicators.

Alhaji Abubakar Ibrahim, Mandate Secretary for the FCTA Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat stated this at a sensitisation workshop on FCT Fadama CARES, for top policymakers in the FCTA and area councils.

He explained that FCT CARES Programme was a World Bank Budget support to the FCT Administration, for Non-Discretionary expenditure, to support existing and newly emerging vulnerable.

“It is also for poor households, agricultural value chains, and Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) that have been negatively impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic,” he said.

Ibrahim explained that the 4.5 million dollars allocated to the Fadama CARES project was out of a total allocation of 15 million dollars from the World Bank.

“This underlines the significance accorded agricultural development in the territory and the need for us to continue to demonstrate our appreciation of this high level of confidence, reposed in us, by rededicating ourselves to the diligent discharge of our assigned responsibilities.

“The World Bank has set a target of providing grants support to 12,283 individual farmers, as well as the upgrading of 17 Wet Markets, for the FCT Fadama CARES Office,” he explained.

Ibrahim also inaugurated the FCT Fadama CARES Technical Committee to provide strategic policy orientation and guidance to the FCT Fadama project office in the implementation of its programme, under Result Area two.

The secretary called on members of the committee to bring their respective knowledge and experiences to bear, toward achieving a successful implementation of Result Area two, in the FCT.

Ibrahim said the FCT Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat was always ready to provide FCT Fadama CARES with the necessary technical and financial support, to ensure it succeeded in delivering this vital project.