Category: South East

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday suspended the Continuous Voter Registration Exercise (CVR) exercise in Ihitte Uboma Local Government of Imo State.

The decision was taken after an INEC official was shot dead by gunmen, a statement signed by INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, said.

According to Okoye, the official, Mr. Nwokorie Anthony, was shot dead at Nkwo Ihitte (PU 004) in Amakohia Ward (RA 02) of Ihitte Uboma Local Government.

Two other officials involved in the registration at the polling unit are also missing.

INEC said it was making efforts to locate their whereabouts.

“Prior to this incident, the commission had suspended the CVR in Orsu and Njaba local governments on account of insecurity, while the exercise is taking place only at the INEC LGA office in Oru East, Oru West, Orlu and Ohaji – Egbema Local Government Areas of the State,” Okoye said.

“The commission extends its condolences to the family of Nwokorie Anthony and prays that God will grant them the fortitude to bear the loss. The incident has been reported to security agencies to unravel the circumstances that led to this unfortunate incident and bring the culprits to justice.

“We enjoin the president-generals of the various town unions in Imo State as well as all the critical stakeholders to protect workers of the commission engaged in national assignment. The safety and security of our staff is of paramount importance to the commission, particularly with the devolution of the voter registration exercise beyond our state and local government area offices.”

Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Anambra State yesterday restated its commitment to creating a safer motoring environment.

Sector Commander Mr. Adeoye Irelewuyi said at a news briefing that they were not deterred by insecurity.

He said over 1,000 personnel, including 420 regular marshals and 604 special marshals, had been deployed for the Easter special patrol slated for April 13 to 20.

Irelewuyi said: “In anticipation of expected increase in gridlock during the Easter celebrations, we have begun what we call Easter special patrol. We have mapped out critical areas in the state.

“We are paying attention to the Bridge Head, Building Materials and Tarzan junctions in Onitsha as well as flyovers in Awka, to ensure traffic flow and for easy travel.”

On the recent killing of two of his officials on duty, he said: “The morale of our men is not dampened.

“We are committed to creating a safer motoring environment; and we won’t stop to do that, no matter the cost. All we are trying to do is to save lives.

“We are working together with other sister agencies to ensure our men are given security, inasmuch as we do not bear arms.”

Speaking about Wednesday’s crash, which claimed five persons, the sector commander urged motorists to be cautious when driving in the rain and at night.

“The time of the crash indicated there was a rainstorm and it was in the night. The two factors combined together are very challenging in any driving situation.”

Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade yesterday swore in Justice Sampson  Anjor as the new acting president of the Customary Court of Appeal.

He urged to him to be insensitive to politics, religion and ethnicity in the discharge of his duties.

Ayade announced the setting up of Special State Judicial Welfare Review Committee with Justice Eyo Effiong Eta (rtd) as chairman.

The committee is to review the salaries of judicial officers and submit its report in two weeks.

The swearing-in was held at the State Executive Council chambers of the Governor’s Office, Calabar with the Chief Judge, Justice Akon Ikpeme and other justices in attendance.

The governor urged Justice Anjor to focus on peace and reconciliation.

He said: “We are here gathered to celebrate Justice Anjor who is being elevated to acting president of Customary Court of Appeal. I like to say that you are the custodian of our culture, our heritage and so, as you are elevated to this position, I enjoin you to look at the jurisprudence of our socio-cultural setting in dispensing customary justice.

“It is also important that you focus on peace and reconciliation; you must bring a lot of innovation.”

Ayade expressed confidence in Justice Anjor’s capacity to deliver on his mandate.

He said: “Sometimes it is not the office that defines you, it is you that defines the office. Therefore, I do not doubt your capacity to deliver because I know you are God-fearing and that you will be fair to all.

“I urge you to be insensitive to politics, insensitive to ethnicity, insensitive to religion, but let God take control of your office so that you do that which is good before God.”

Justice Anjor pledged to be fair and just in the discharge of his duties.

He hailed the governor for creating the court and broadening the frontiers of justice delivery by appointing more judges.

Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has condemned what it termed senseless and incessant attacks, abductions, killings and criminalities in the Southeast, including recent barbarities in Anambra and other states in the Southeast and Southsouth.

The group, in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, urged youths to unite to defend their land against terrorists masquerading as bandits.

It also enjoined indigenous communities in Nigeria to unite against those it described as vampires, to ensure they did not succeed in their evil mission.

The statement said: “We want to inform the world that IPOB and Eastern Security Network (ESN) members had no hands in the attacks, contrary to baseless allegations by our enemies. We are not involved in the criminal activities of agents of darkness in our land.

“IPOB members are civilised people and are never involved in the barbarities going on in our territory. Anybody linking IPOB or ESN with these devilish activities is a blackmailer.

“IPOB members are not unknown gunmen and we cannot be. We are only after our mandate, which is to protect our communities, bushes and farms against the jihadists masquerading as herdsmen, killing, maiming and raping our mothers, wives and sisters going to farms. IPOB will no longer tolerate such nonsense.

“Indigenous communities in Nigeria must unite against these vampires now. We should not allow them to succeed in their evil mission. They know that time is running out on them. This is why they are on the prowl again.”

Youths in Anambra State have called on Governor Charles Soludo to use them to tackle insecurity.

They said another solution to insecurity was to create skill acquisition centres in local governments to take youths away from crimes.

It was a collective decision by youths under the aegis of National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), during their election debate, held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat in Awka.

They said if Soludo partnered youths, the fight against insecurity would be won.

There have been cases of insecurity in the state in the past few weeks, including the burning of local government secretariats, police facilities and killing of security operatives.

Mrs. Ijeoma Onuorah-Anyakwo, a senior member of the Anambra State chapter of NYCN and chairperson of the group’s election debate, said there was no better way to fight those causing fear in the state than to partner youths.

She said youths had become enlightened, and ready to partner the government against those causing insecurity.

“Our governor has told us that from the arrests made so far, those involved are not even from Anambra State. Our youths are now enlightened and not willing to join anyone who will destabilise the peace and economy of the state,” Onuorah-Anyakwo said.

The seven chairmanship candidates included Godwin Okoye, Chibunna Echegwo, Peter Nnekwe, Francis Igwah, Okwuchukwu Maduekwe, Emeka Obi and Damian Ukatu.

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State, Mr. Alphonsus Eba, has urged aspirants and stakeholders to assist in funding the party and not leaving it to the governor alone.

He said the party had a target and aim of increasing the voting strength of the state to over three million from the current 1.5 million.

Eba spoke yesterday at the state secretariat of the party when he took delivery of a new 2022 model of Toyota  Hiace, high roof, 13-seater bus donated to the party by a governorship aspirant, Nsa Ekpenyong Asuquo, an engineer.

He spoke glowingly of his guest, who said he came to support the governor by assisting the party with the donation of the vehicle and financial support to the party.

Eba said: “I’m glad that a young man who is doing well in the logistics and marine services industries, has come to appreciate the deep seaport and the super highway, and the over 30 industries the governor has built. The cumulative effect is that jobs will be created in the state.”

Asuquo said: “The industries the governor has put in place; we may not be benefiting from them now, but there are visions for future. So we have to support him for us to enjoy in future.

Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade has expressed gratitude to the judiciary for standing firm on the side of truth in his defection judgment.

Speaking yesterday in Calabar during a victory rally organised by Cross River All Progressives Congress (APC) Lobby Group to celebrate the court victory, Prof. Ayade declared that as a state that required Federal Government support, “Cross River has no business with opposition politics. When the time comes, we will show them we are APC state.”

Continuing, the governor said: “It is God that brought me to this office and only God can take me out. That is why I’m here to say thank you to the judiciary for refusing to submit to the imbecilic stupidity and irresponsible conduct of people who believe that money and power belong to them.

“I’m happy that the judiciary rose and said we are too celebrated, we are too cerebral to bow to shenanigans. So we thank God. First, I give God almighty the adoration, the praise, and secondly, I thank the judiciary for standing for justice, for standing firm on the tabernacle of truth.

“As a lawyer, I know how a governor can be removed from office and defection from one party to another is not one of them. The Supreme Court has already settled it that votes belong to a candidate, a human being with flesh and blood and not a party. A party is just a vehicle, an agent, so the votes belong to me, the votes belong to Ayade”

Calling on ‘Cross Riverians’ to go out en mass to register and obtain their permanent voter cards, the governor reiterated his support for power shift to the Southern Senatorial District of the state, in line with Cross River’s governorship rotational principle.

According to him, his administration is youth-friendly and will continue empowering them politically with the view to enthroning a generational leadership shift.

Speaking earlier at the rally held at the Air Force Primary School field, Margaret  International Airport, the APC National Woman Leader and former Commissioner for Health, Dr. Betta Edu, paid glowing tribute to the governor’s leadership qualities, saying he had redefined governance and politics in Cross River.

The Commissioner for Finance and Coordinator of the Cross River APC Lobby Group, Asuquo Ekpenyong Jnr, described Ayade as a lover of youths, recalling how the governor appointed him as commissioner at the age of 29 in 2015.

Anambra State Government yesterday restated its commitment to tackling gully erosion menace through pre-erosion management.

It said the era of post-erosion management, resulting in destruction of scarce land, lives and properties, was over.

Environment Commissioner Felix Odimegwu stated this in Awka at the opening session of the Nigeria Erosion Watershed Management Project – Additional Financing (NEWMAP) Implementation Completion and Result Report Mission (ICRM).

He lamented that the state had lost over 70 per cent of its land mass to gully erosion, urging NEWMAP and its funding partners to declare a state of emergency on the erosion menace.

Odimegwu said: “Anambra today is faced with an existential threat from the scourge of erosion. We are the state with the second highest population density in Nigeria and alongside that, we have the most active number of erosion sites.

“It’s being reported that circa 70 per cent of the land in Anambra State risks gully erosion. This is the precarious state we are in. With less than three per cent of our erosion menace under control, we not only ask for more, but also wish to enjoin NEWMAP and its funding partners to declare a state of emergency on Anambra’s erosion menace.

“As a government, we’re prepared to do things differently this time, to forestall this scourge. Erosion is a man-made activity that weakens soil aggregation and makes the soil susceptible to runoff velocity.”

Declaring the event open, Deputy Governor Onyekachi Ibezim praised NEWMAP’s innovative and holistic approach to watershed management, saying it not only reclaimed landscapes and restored lives, but also empowered people at the grassroots.

Speaking on behalf of World Bank, Dr. Sanje Srivastava praised the Federal Government for its good job, which it noted, led to saving of lives and properties.

Bayelsa State Government has urged the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to recalibrate extant formula for sharing revenue in respect of oil and gas production.

Governor Douye Diri gave the advice yesterday in Yenagoa while declaring open a two-day stakeholders’ sensitisation forum on the use of natural gas as alternative energy.

The governor, represented by his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, decried the current revenue sharing formula, saying it lacked equity and justice for gas producing states like Bayelsa.

He lamented that although Bayelsa ranked as the highest gas producing state in the country, it had yet to enjoy full benefits of its huge natural gas endowment.

Diri said gas flaring had been a severe menace that constituted an existential threat to the people and their right to life in the Niger Delta.

He said Bayelsa had continued to make sacrifices to keep the economy of the nation afloat; adding that in many of its communities, the difference between night and day had been obliterated.

Expressing concern about the severe health losses for the people, caused by gas flaring, the governor said the region had lost over $11billion as estimated economic cost to the menace.

He, however, thanked the Gas Monitoring Committee of the RMAFC for choosing Bayelsa to host the forum.

Diri advised stakeholders to take the opportunity to make valuable inputs to better the lot of the state.

The Chairman, Gas Monitoring Committee, Patrick Mgbebu, assured the governor that the commission will discharge its constitutional responsibility to ensure the Federal Government executes the commercialisation of abundant gas resources in the state.

This action, he said, would reduce gas flaring being perpetrated by oil companies in their host communities.