Category: South East

Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu yesterday swore in 31 commissioners to head ministries.

Assisted by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh and Head of Service, Mr. Ogbang Akwaji, the governor handed over his administration’s policy templates and timelines as they concerned the ministries, to the commissioners.

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“We want excellent results and I urge you to be focused. No one follows the template handed over to you that will fail. Expectations are high. We have put some foundations on the ground already. We are not bordered about the 100 days in office, which is just by the corner. What is more important is laying a good foundation,” the governor said.

He spoke about the status of the state finances, saying Cross River is owing over N400billion, “but this should not be a deterrent, the story will soon change. Investors are coming soon.”

Otu also spoke about his vision for the management of the state’s rich forest reserve and agricultural endowment.

He said his administration recently lifted the ban on logging and expected that going forward, there would be proper management of the state’s forest.

“Logging has to be legally done and upon every single tree logged, 10 trees must be planted in replacement,” Sen. Otu said.

The governor also swore in two special advisers, namely Special Adviser Budget and Special Adviser Due Process.

Responding on behalf of the new appointees, Education Commissioner  Mr. Stephen Odey thanked the governor for the privilege given to them.

He assured him of 100 per cent loyalty and commitment to the responsibilities.

The swearing-in was witnessed by Deputy Governor Peter Odey, House of Assembly Speaker Elvert Ayambem, Chief Judge Justice Akon Ikpembe, Chief of Staff to the Governor Mr. Emmanuel Ironbar and other dignitaries.

The police in Rivers State have pledged to provide security for Niger Delta youths, to ensure successful conduct of their ongoing ‘Holistic Opportunities, Projects and Programmes for Engagement’ (aka Project HOPE) initiative. 

Commissioner Polycarp Nwonyi spoke yesterday when the Creative Director of the Project (HOPE), Blessing Fubara, led other executives on a visit to him in his office on Moscow Road, Port Harcourt.

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Addressing the youth, Nwonyi pledged the command’s commitment to partner Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), by providing security during its programmes and events, including the ongoing youth development scheme, Project HOPE. 

The CP lauded Project HOPE initiative and its managers, noting that it had proved to be a hopeful developmental intervention for youths of the region. 

Project HOPE initiative is an NDDC programme for youths of the region. It is meant to create a comprehensive potential resource database of the youth population in the oil rich region, with focus on their individual needs identification.

The project is expected to extract the academic qualifications, skills, passion, interests as well as employment status of youths with a view for empowerment, employment generation and capacity development by the NDDC.

The youths are expected to register free-of-charge on www.ndjobsskillsdb.nddc.gov.ng), a website designated for the purpose; for appropriate capture by the commission during execution.

Nwonyi assured NDDC that the police would offer quality security support in all areas of its engagement, to ensure a safe region for youth development.  

Fubara said the scheme was conducting the training and induction of the newly employed supervisors across the 185 local governments of Niger Delta. 

He said the next set of supervisors would be employed at the end of the month, adding that the scheme would serve as a good support system to the police, especially in improving the conditions of correctional centres in the state.

The director thanked the CP for granting his team audience and for his commitments in the security and partnership with Project HOPE Initiative. 

The lawmaker representing Ikot Abasi/Eastern Obolo/Mkpat Enin federal constituency, Uduak Ududoh, has been attacked for excluding three local governments from the list of coastal communities in Akwa Ibom State.

Ududoh, presenting a motion on the floor of the Green Chambers seeking the intervention of the Federal Government to tackle security challenges affecting the coastal areas of the state, had excluded Eket, Esit Eket and Onna.

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The lawmaker’s action has elicited condemnations from a cross section of Akwa Ibom indigenes, including a lawyer, Mr. Ephraim Enembong, who described the motion as “irrational and an illegal pursuit”.

Reacting in a statement yesterday in Uyo,  Emembong wondered why the legislator would feign ignorance of the fact that Eket, Esit Eket and Onna are coastal areas, saying his action was an indication that he was acting a script written by proponents of Obolo State creation.

He called on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, to direct the Committee on Maritime Safety, to reject the motion.

The statement reads: “Recently, the member representing Ikot Abasi/Mkpat Enin/Eastern Obolo federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Uduak Ududoh, gave the people of Eket, Esit Eket and Onna local governments and indeed the entire Akwa Ibom State a dazzling jolt.

“He presented a motion on the floor of the House seeking Federal Government’s interference through increase of security personnel in the coastal areas of Akwa Ibom State, due to the menace of sea pirates, whose activities in recent times have affected the economic fortunes of fishermen in the coastal areas of the state and have resulted in acute scarcity of fish, seafood, loss of lives and property.

“The motion, within the light of its outward intention, was a welcome development, but for the fact that it deliberately excludes the ancestral aboriginal coastal local governments such as Eket, Esit Eket and Onna  to the best of logical calculation, an irrational, illegal pursuit aiming at removing the three local governments from monographic authenticity as coastal communities of Akwa Ibom State.

“At best, this is a betrayal of political trust. Another feature of the deceptive motion was the inclusion of three non-coastal local governments. 

“Whereas in the said motion, Mr. Ududoh mentioned Eastern Obolo, Mkpat Enin, Ikot Abasi, Ibeno, Mbo, Oron, Okobo, Udung Uko and Urue-Offong/Oruko local governments as the only coastal communities in the state, when in reality Okobo, Udung Uko and Urue-Offong Oruko are not coastal local governments.

“One wonders if Uduak Ududoh is not acting a script written by proponents of Obolo State creation. Little wonder, Ududoh who just left the House of Assembly as a lawmaker will feign ignorance of the fact that Eket, Esit Eket and Onna are coastal areas.

“Ududoh has taken a bite too difficult to chew. He has brazenly jolted the attention of the people of Eket federal constituency to the fact that we are presently suffering from deficiency in representation in the House of Representatives.

“Assuming and not conceding that Eket, Esit Eket, Ibeno and Onna federal constituency is without representation in the House of Representatives, the other eight House of Representative members from Akwa Ibom State cannot close their eyes to such an ensuing and embarrassing illegality.

“We call on the Speaker of the House of Representatives to direct the Committee on Maritime Safety, to reject the motion.”

Efforts to get the lawmaker’s reaction to the said motion were unsuccessful, as his mobile lines were not reachable, and he did not respond to text message sent to his phone.

However, the press unit of the lawmaker had come out to state that the action of their principal was not deliberate and intentional.

Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal yesterday reserved judgment in the petition by the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Chijioke Edeoga, challenging the election of Governor Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 18 governorship election.

This came after parties in the matter had adopted their final addresses.

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Chairman of the panel, Justice Kudirat Akano, said the date would be communicated to the parties.

Edeoga is challenging the declaration of Mbah by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as the winner of the governorship election.

Adopting his final address, Edeoga’s counsel, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, asked the tribunal to hold the position of his clients and grant the reliefs sought by his client.

This, he said, was because it had been established beyond any reasonable doubt that Mbah was at the time of the election not constitutionally qualified to contest, having presented forged certificate of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to INEC.

Awomolo said the first petitioner’s witness was an authority representing the NYSC, director in charge of corps certification, as his evidence proved the matter beyond reasonable doubt, as the certificate was not issued by the NYSC.

“All evidence proved that the second respondent (Mbah) did not collect his certificate.

“There is an incontrovertible evidence that on July 3, 2003, the second respondent (Mbah) became the Chief of Staff of Enugu State to Chimaroke Nnamani.

“The third defence witness (Udeh), who claimed that he gave letters to him, said he did not know if he got his certificate.

“The evidence of the third defence witness (DSS) showed that there is no where it is proven that DSS investigated the process. Exhibit 63 showed that he did not come from the DSS authority; it also showed that the second respondent procured his NYSC certificate illegally,” he said.

He urged the court to cancel the election at 19 polling units in Udenu Local Government due to inaccurate computation, 14 units in Nkanu East and Igbo-Etiti council areas due to over voting.

“The court has the power to order a cancellation in those polling units. I pray to the tribunal to uphold justice.”

However, adopting his address, counsel for INEC, Mr. Abdul Mohammed, urged the tribunal to dismiss Edeoga’s petition with substantial cost.

Mohammed argued that the so-called letter written by the NYSC disclaiming Mbah’s NYSC certificate should not be regarded.

“This document did not meet the threshold of admissibility, as no proof of payment of their certification was ever before the court.

“The second petitioner witness was not the maker of the document. We, therefore, submit that having presented substantial evidence in proof of the allegation that NYSC certificate is forged, there is no document for the court to rely on,” he said.

He added that the import of the testimony of 27 petitioner’s witness, who came before the court that the first petitioner was the aspirant in the second respondent party, therefore, by being an aspirant in that party, the first petitioner could not defect to another political party and contest on that platform.

The counsel for the second respondent, Chief Wale Olanipekun, asked the tribunal to dismiss Edeoga’s petitions for lacking in merit and a mere academic exercise.

He noted that the NYSC certificate was to aid the second respondent of his qualifications.

“NYSC certificate is not a qualification for contesting governorship election. With the evidence of the DSS, you cannot convict a process which has not been proved.

“They have not presented any proof. The petitioner’s witnesses, who came to testify in court, were agents without identities. PW 6,7,9,10,11,12,13,22 and 28 admitted that there were no over voting,” he said.

Counsel for the third respondent, Mr. Alex Izinyon, told the court to dismiss the petition in its entirety, as it was a shadow chasing.

He said the evidence required in the polling units was not agents’ evidence, adding that they derailed from their pleading, as there was no evidence of forgery in the certificate before the court.

Justice Akano said the ruling on the argument of the application for the correction of the petitioner’s final written address would come alongside the judgment.

Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu yesterday read riot act to criminals.

Speaking at a gathering of state Executive Council members, the governor said he was concerned about the high incident of “kidnapping, adoption and whatever acts committed for the purpose of collecting ransom, including actions that prevent people from going about their legitimate business.”

Otu said: “Instead of queuing into the new administration’s development strategy, a few criminal elements have resorted to making money, while holding guns over our heads. They have no respect for human lives. I wish to state that enough is enough. This must stop; not tomorrow, but today!

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“Heads of security agencies are, therefore, directed to deploy resources at their disposal to ensure that this menace is stopped; and all hostages are freed, to reunite with their families.”

The Nation reports that doctors under the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) are on strike for over four weeks, following the kidnap of a medical consultant, Prof. Ekanem Philip-Ephraim.

According to the NMA, records have it that 14 doctors in the state have been kidnapped under a period of two years.

Delta Governor Sheriff Oborevwori yesterday condoled with Seplat Energy Ltd, following an accident involving its ‘Majestic’ oil rig near Ovhor Oilfield in Sapele Local Government.

The accident, which occurred on Tuesday, led to the death of one person, with three others reportedly missing.

Oborevwori, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sir Festus Ahon, in Asaba, described the incident as tragic and commiserated with the company as well as families of the deceased.

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The governor urged the company to take steps in searching for the missing crew members and launching an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the collapse of the oil rig.

He said: “I am deeply shocked to hear about the sad incident of your oil rig collapsing on the way to a planned drilling location and the death of one crew member with three others still missing at press time.

“On behalf of the government and people of Delta, I sympathise with the management of Seplat Energy Ltd on the unfortunate collapse of its Majestic oil rig leading to the death of one person and missing three crew members.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the three crew members who are still missing as of this moment as well as the family and friends of the crew member, who lost his life.

“I urge the management of the company to intensify rescue efforts for the missing crew members and also launch an inquiry into circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident with a view to avoiding future occurrence,” Oborevwori said.

• NBA urges security agencies on impartiality, professionalism
• Wants arrested suspects charged to court

Bayelsa State Government has frowned at what it described as discriminatory enforcement of the law and partial implementation of the rules of engagement by security operatives deployed in Opu Nembe to restore peace and security.

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It urged the Nigeria Police to be circumspect and neutral in carrying out its law enforcement duties, to avoid playing into the hands of the opposition party, which it alleged was not ready for a peaceful, free and fair governorship election.

This was the position of the government while reviewing the situation of the embattled community during the 119th state Executive Council meeting, held yesterday at the Government House, Yenagoa.

Governor Douye Diri, speaking through his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, expressed concern that the security agents were quick at showing evidence of arms cache, but failed to reveal the identities of a civil defence and police personnel, as well as three other youths caught with dangerous weapons believed to be working closely with one of the masterminds of the crisis.

The governor challenged the police to parade the culprits, who had earlier confessed to working for a prime suspect in the February 15 killings in Opu Nembe.

Noting that the Bayelsa State Government was not against anyone going into the community to enforce the law, Diri stressed that shielding a known non-state actor and his group could only be seen as grave injustice to the state government and law-abiding people of the community.

He, therefore, appealed to the police hierarchy to pull out its Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) squad deployed in the area, stressing that the Joint Task Force made up of the Army, Police, Navy, Airforce, Civil Defence and DSS were capable of tackling any criminal or security threat in the state.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yenagoa branch, has expressed concern about the reported security issues arising from Nembe-Bassambiri in Nembe Local Government.

The Chairman, NBA Yenagoa, Somina Johnbull, in a statement yesterday by the lawyers’ body, urged the security agencies to be impartial, professional and demonstrate respect for the human rights of all in the discharge of their operations.

Johnbull also demanded that those arrested so far over the lingering crisis should be charged to court within the constitutionally prescribed period, in order for the complaints against them to be addressed.

• 400 workers affected

A multi-million naira automated farm located at Agbobo Umuoga Ossomala Community in Ogbaru Council Area of Anambra State has shut down operations due to flood disaster.

The disaster resulted in the death of more than 25, 000 birds at the poultry section of the farm and affected fish, potatoes and other crops.

Dr. Patrick Sule-Ugboma, proprietor of the farm complex, Matuuci Farms Ltd., disclosed this yesterday when he took reporters round the facility.

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He said about 400 workers of the company had been directed to stop work.

Communities in Ogbaru are living on the River Niger coastline and often experience flooding.

Sule-Ugboma said the farm sitting on 20 hectares had lost a fortune to the flood disaster.

“We have lost more than 25,000 poultry birds, fish in our ponds worth several millions of naira and numerous other property worth several millions of naira,” he said.

According to Sule-Ugboma, the flood has equally affected some bridges on Onitsha-Ndoni Road, especially Umunnakwo Bridge.

The collapse of the same Umunnakwo Bridge in 2022 resulted in a boat mishap, which claimed some lives.

Sule-Ugboma said collapse of bridges on Ogbaru-Ndoni Road posed dangers to residents and travellers, who had resorted to crossing the river by wooden boats.

He appealed to the Federal and Anambra State governments to address the situation.

“I am calling on Governor Charles Soludo to look into the plight of our people, especially with flooding hitting Ogbaru communities again.

“I also call on the Niger Delta Development Commission to consider reconstruction of the Onitsha-Ndoni Road,” he said.

“Agriculture is the main stay of communities in Ogbaru as well as communities in Delta, Imo and Rivers states,” Sule-Ugboma added.