Category: Northern Reports

Some stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) have rejected the proposed February 26 date for the party’s national convention.

The group, under the auspices of APC Youth Development and Solidarity Forum, said the ruling party could potentially disintegrate should it proceed with the convention.

The APC stakeholders made their position known yesterday in Abuja.

According to the Secretary-General of the group Tobias Ogbeh, some party faithful have been working with foreign agents to destabilise the party at the convention.

He noted that the plan is to run a parallel secretariat and institute legal cases against the party to ensure that it doesn’t produce any candidate in 2023.

Ogbeh added that if not properly managed, this could ultimately lead to a mass exodus of party members over unresolved and lingering legal issues.

The APC stakeholders, therefore, urged the party leadership to announce another date for the convention to save it from being hijacked by some vested interests that do not wish the party well.

If this is done, they, however, assured that the APC will remain united and all those scheming to undermine the party would be put to shame.

Lawmakers elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Northeast have passed a vote of confidence in the leadership of the Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Convention Committee.

The vote of confidence was passed following a communique issued at the end of an extraordinary meeting of the Conference of Nigeria States Legislatures, Northeast zone held yesterday in Bauchi, the state capital.

The communique was signed by the Speaker of Bauchi State House of Assembly, Abubakar Y. Suleiman, and Kogi State Assembly Speaker Matthew Kolawole.

According to them, Buni has positively repositioned the great party, the APC.  They observed that the Buni-led committee has done well by trying to make the APC a united entity as can be seen in the number of state governors, legislators, and other personalities who have joined the party.

The lawmakers urged that the position of the president be zoned to the Northcentral, saying it is a position that had hitherto been deprived since Nigeria became independent in 1960.

The communique partly reads: “That the State Assembly Legislators of the Northeast zone pass a vote of confidence in the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee for its positively aggressive repositioning of our great party, the All Progressives Congress.”

They thanked the committee for its purposeful leadership which has attracted men and women of goodwill into the party. The members further urged the committee to do more.

The State Assembly Legislators who endorsed the candidacy of Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello for President come 2023 said he has, against all odds, decided to take the bull by the horn, for joining the race among other notable politicians.

The members thanked him for leading the clarion call for the Presidency of Nigeria to come to the Northcentral zone, even as they urged him to have no fear or doubt in his race for the exalted office as members of the Northeast zone are solidly behind him.

“That the State Assembly Legislators of the Northeast, who were elected by the people of the six (6) States that make up the geo-political zone hereby state that they agree to support our colleagues in the Northcentral to contest for the position of the president of Nigeria in 2023 – which is a position that the zone had hitherto been deprived of since Nigeria became independent in 1960.

“The State Assembly Legislators of the Northeast zone pass a vote of confidence in the President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari (GFCR), for his sterling and cohesive leadership of Nigeria through thick and thin and urge him to be relentless in ensuring that he leaves Nigeria in 2023 a better place.”

“The meeting also agreed to call on the leadership of our great party, APC to zone the presidency to the Northern Region of the country. This is because the North will rule for 10 years at the end of President Buhari’s tenure, while the Southern region has ruled for 14 years,” the communique further read.

Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong has commended security personnel in the state for rising up to the occasion and thwarting the attempts by kidnappers to create fear among citizens.

Lalong cited the rescue of the Gwom Rwey of Vwang District, Da Gyang Gutt Balak shortly after he was kidnapped and the arrest of some suspects as a good development that is worth sustaining.

A similar situation had also happened when three students of the Plateau State Polytechnic Barkin Ladi were rescued shortly after being kidnapped from the school in Heipang.

Lalong, in a statement by his spokesman, Dr Makut Simon Macham, assured that the government will do everything possible to continue to provide support for them to flush out kidnappers and other criminals from the state.

He also assured that he will not hesitate to sign the death warrant for any convicted kidnapper who is found guilty of the crime as the law against kidnapping signed last year stipulates the death penalty which is ready to be implemented.

Lalong also called on citizens of Plateau State to support the security agencies with intelligence that will enable them not only to respond but also to pre-empt the activities of criminals.

Consumers and businessmen dealing in rice in Kaduna State have commended the Federal Government for initiating the rice pyramid, hoping for a reduction in the price of the commodity.

The rice pyramid was unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 18 in Abuja.

The commendation is coming as people of the state host Buhari, who is on a two-day working visit to inaugurate projects.

Yesterday, some rice consumers and dealers expressed joy and hoped the initiation would reduce the cost of rice and other food items.

One of the respondents, Mrs Stephanie Ishaya, advised that the project be monitored strictly to ensure its sustenance.

“Rice is still beyond the reach of low-income earners; the government should ensure that such effort is not sabotaged by unpatriotic people,” she said.

Another consumer, Aminu Audu said the country had the potential to be self-sustaining in rice production, and even export the same.

Mr  Samuel Musa, a consumer, frowned at the attitude of people who were critical of the project.  Mrs Hanatu Alidu, also a rice consumer, described the development as heartwarming, adding that it was a sign of getting close to the promised land of self-sufficiency in rice production.

Alhaji Isyaka Kabo, a rice dealer at the Sheikh Abubakar Mamud Gumi Market, Kaduna, described the initiative as akin to “rice revolution.”

Mr Christopher Musa, a rice retailer, also commended the Federal Government for the feat, just as he lamented the high cost of rice.

He prayed that the unveiling of the rice pyramid would result in a price crash.

In another development, the Kaduna State Government said it will spend N6.6 billion on the construction of township roads this year.

The budget document shows that the construction of state trunk roads and the construction of Kawo Bridge received N2.2 billion each.

The N12.1 billion earmarked for Kaduna State Road Agency for capital projects also showed that N80.6 million would be spent on the construction of box culverts.

The government also allocated N132.9 million for the design and construction of double coat surface dressed roads; N200.3 million for consultancy services on road projects and N85 million for the provision of road signages and markings.

The National President of Campaign for Democracy, an NGO, Mr Abdul Bako, said detailed locations of the projects and the bill of quantity should be provided for transparency and accountability.

Also, a Community Development Charter Champion, Mr Godwin Akau, who described the allocation as commendable, urged the government to make the allocated funds available for full implementation of the projects.

The Bauchi State Government yesterday inaugurated a newly constructed general hospital worth N330 million in the Dambam Local Government Area of the state.

The Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator Walid Jibrin inaugurated the project.

Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, at the inauguration in Dambam, said the edifice has 10 housing units for health workers, especially doctors.

He said the government  had executed projects and programmes that have a direct bearing on the lives of the people.

The governor identified the projects as the construction of roads in urban and rural areas of the state, provision of water and rehabilitation of infrastructure in education and health sectors, among others.

He said the NSHIP also renovated about 12 hospitals, while the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) renovated and built 107 primary health care centres across the state.

A resident of Dambam, Hajiya Aisha Ismaila, said on the sideline of the event, that they used to travel as far as Azare, the headquarters of Katagum and Ningi local government areas to take care of their serious ailments.

She said with the construction of the general hospital, those ailments would be handled by the medical personnel in the hospital.

Former Senate President, Senator Adolphus Wabara who is the Secretary, PDP Board of Trustees, also attended the hospital inauguration.

Over 100,000 birds in poultry farms across Kaduna State are currently facing imminent danger as avian influenza, otherwise known as Bird Flu was confirmed to be in three local government areas of the state.

The state government said the disease is threatening an estimated population of 107,807 birds, in farms in the three local government areas.

The Commissioner for Agriculture Ibrahim Hussaini, at a stakeholders’ meeting with  said affected farms were located in Chikun, Igabi and Lere local government areas.

Represented by the ministry’s Director of Veterinary and Livestock Services Zakariya Pakachi, he said tests were conducted by the National Research Veterinary Institute and were positive to highly pathogenic level.

“Three farms, according to him, have been depopulated and decontaminated while result from the fourth farm was being awaited.

Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has unveiled the Benue State Humanitarian Response Plan (BSHRP) for 2022.

Performing the ceremony at the New Banquet Hall of the Government House Makurdi, Governor Ortom lamented the continued stay of over 1.5 million people, mostly peasant farmers in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.

He stated that his administration is working hard to ensure that the IDPs in various camps across the state are resettled back to their homes, stressing that the security situation has compelled the displaced people to remain in the camps.

He said: “It is the security situation that has kept the IDPs in the camps till now. Those who attempted going back to their homes were attacked and killed,” the governor stated.

He continued: “I don’t desire that anyone should be in the camps. I have interacted with them and nobody wants to be in those camps. It is worrisome for a state such as Benue which is agrarian and supported by the civil service to have over 1.5 million Internally Displaced Persons. Farming activities have been brought to a halt.”

The Chairman, Document Drafting Committee, Prof. Magdalyne Dura disclosed that on June 17, last year, Governor Ortom set up a multi-sectoral technical committee to work on a Humanitarian Response Plan for Benue State.

“Currently, we are happy that the assignment given to us has been successfully concluded as evidenced in the readiness of the Benue State Humanitarian Response Plan (BSHRP) for public presentation.

“The dire humanitarian situation in the state is further compounded by the influx of Cameroonian refugees who were escaping from the conflict in their country into Kwande Local Government Area. The IDPs have had their livelihoods destroyed and are in need of protection, food, shelter and medical assistance,” she said.