Category: South East

Imo State Commissioner of Police, CP Rabiu Hussaini has officially retired from active service after rendering 32 years in the Nigerian Police Force.

Speaking to newsmen, officers and men of the command at the valedictory event held at the Command’s headquarters, Owerri, yesterday, Hussaini said he held no regret joining and serving the force.

Hussaini who retired following age limit of 60 years, appreciated the Inspector General of Police, IGP Alkali Baba Usman, Imo Governor, Sen. Hope Uzodimma and officers of the command for their support which according to him aided his recorded successes in the police profession.

He urged his successor, officers and men of the command to remain committed, impartial, corrupt-free, and always ensure justice, fairness and equity while discharging their respective responsibilities.

The police chief also appealed to Nigerian youths to join the force, stressing that it would help to enhance the depleting manpower, “in order to sustain the efforts to rid Imo State and Nigeria in general of security challenges.”

He said, “I have no regret being a police officer and if I have another opportunity, I will also be a policeman because I really enjoyed myself being in service.

“Today in Imo, I am leaving so much legacy. We were able to stimulate our men and enhanced their operational capacity to combat crimes and criminality in the state.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scored Bayelsa State high on response to the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) as it marks the end of third quarter of the exercise which started in June 2021 and ended on March 22, 2022.

The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Bayelsa State, Dr Emmanuel Alex-Hart, made this known yesterday at at a press briefing in Yenagoa, the state capital.

Alex-Hart said that the quarterly break was to allow for the display of the Preliminary Register of Voters (PRV) for claims and objections, handling of complaints and running of Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) for the CVR data.

He said the activities would run from 23rd March to 10th April 2022.

The REC stated: “Since the beginning of the exercise in June last year, Bayelsa people have done pretty well in their response. As at 21st of March, 2022, online pre-registration was 393,129 and those who have contributed their in-person registration is 226,900.

“The over 166,000 other registrants need to go to the nearest INEC designated points to complete the process in order to be effectively registered.

“May I also remind that on 8th March, 2022, we devolved to registration areas level based on a scheduled timetable for the rotation of the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) to communities with the aim of ensuring that the twin challenge of distance and terrain will not hinder those in the remote areas.

“Also worthy of note is the creation of new Polling Units (PUs) which was done last year before the CVR exercise began. Bayelsa State has 440 new PUs in addition to the 1,804 PUs prior to the 2019 general elections. The total number of polling units in Bayelsa State now is 2,244.”

He emphasised that the new units needed voters to make them viable, stressing that new registrants alone could not fill them up.

Alex-Hart, therefore, advised old registrants to verify, take advantage of new location and apply for transfers to the new units.

He said the measure would ensure that by the 30th of June 2022, when the CVR exercise would be put on hold to enable the umpire to prepare for the 2023 elections, the units would have the minimum required number of eligible voters.

He added: “The notice of election was published on 28th of February 2022 in compliance with the schedule of activities as detailed in the election timetable for 2023.

“I want to point out that the Electoral Act 2022 which is the guide for the 2023 elections has activities that are time-bound. Therefore, all stakeholders are expected to take note of this and comply with the schedule accordingly.

“The CVR will continue next quarter from 11th of April 2022 and end on 30th June 2022. All eligible registrants will be notified when PVCs are ready for collection.”

 

It lamented that the previous government was not in charge of its activities, thereby believing everything from political appointees.

The National President of the group, Lawrence Onuzulike, said in a statement that one of the past administration’s deceptions was payment of teachers’ pensions and gratuities.

He hailed Soludo for visiting some schools where he ascertained that teachers’ gratuities and 2021 leave allowances were being owed, enjoining him to address the situation.

Onuzulike said: “Soludo has started well. You won’t know where to start if you don’t go out to ascertain the challenges.

“This was exactly what the governor did by visiting Okpoko Correctional Centre and other places, to observe the level of decay in those places.

“We are impressed by his body language and statements of how he will run the affairs of the state. We’re particularly pleased with the choice of his transition team, a choice that made it clear he wants transparency.

“He should not to lose focus, but be in charge of his administration. He should not sit in the office, believing in only what people tell him.”

Pledging support for the government, Onuzulike advised the people, especially aggrieved politicians from other parties, to support Soludo to move the state forward.

 

 

Ebonyi State Government has petitioned the Commissioner of Police (CP) against three members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for accusing Governor David Umahi of looting N6.7billion from the treasury.

The government accused the PDP members of defaming the governor and urged the police to investigate, and prosecute them.

The three members include Chairman of the party in the state, Tochukwu Okorie, a former House of Representatives member, Linus Okorie and a social critic, Charles Otu.

The PDP Ebonyi State chapter had accused Governor Umahi of looting the treasury in the aftermath of a High Court judgment which removed him from office.

The PDP, in a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), dated March 22, a copy of which was circulated online, alleged that the governor had withdrawn over N6billion in the past one week.

The petition was signed by a lawyer, Nkemakolam Okoro of Dynamic Option Chambers, who claimed to be a lawyer to Ebonyi State chapter of the PDP.

The lawyer in the petition claimed that the said money allegedly withdrawn by the governor was to fund his appeal of the court decision, which sacked him from office.

According to the petition, the money is to be allegedly used to pay the Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) who the governor has hired to appeal the matter.

They further alleged that the fund was withdrawn from the state’s accounts domiciled in about nine commercial banks within one week.

PDP urged the EFCC to stop the governor from further looting the treasury.

The allegations could not be independently verified.

Ebonyi State Government in a statement on Wednesday denied the allegations contained in the petition.

Commissioner for Information and State Orientation Uchenna Orji described the allegations as irresponsibly false and unfounded, cruel and malicious.

He said: “The entirety of the content of the trending petition addressed to EFCC is absolutely and irresponsibly false, malicious and nothing but a serial of the politically-calculated attempt by the PDP and desperados to damage the hard -earned reputation of the governor and the integrity of the state government.”

Orji further claimed that the petitioners wanted to use the allegations “to attack the credibility of the outcome of the dispensations of all institutions involved in ensuring that justice is done in all the legal actions framed up by PDP to distract the ever performing administration of Governor Umahi, especially to cause him distractions in his intention to run for the president in 2023.”

He debunked the allegations, warning that the government would begin legal proceedings against the petitioners for defamation against the governor and the state government.

Noting that the state government’s expenditure is in the public domain, Orji described the governor as a prudent manager of the state’s resources

He said the government had asked the House of Assembly to waive its immunity and invite the EFCC to within 30 days, investigate the issues in the allegations contained in the petition by PDP and any other allegation of financial impropriety raised by them.

He also urged the anti-graft agency to take sanctions against the petitioners for false and fake information if their allegations are not established.

 

Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has inaugurated a seven-man Edo Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) Board, ahead of the local government election.

He said the board was expected to organise a free, fair and credible poll.

“This newly-constituted commission has the task of midwifing a new democratic dispensation at the councils, to deepen the dividend of democracy and bring government closer to our people.

“We as government are very sensitive to the role of electoral empire because we are beneficiaries of a free and fair process.

“Having benefited from a free process, we are fully committed to ensuring that others have the same privileges and benefits we’ve enjoyed that brought us to power.

“With the improvements in the electoral process in the state, we hope to conducts a council election that will been seen as credible and acceptable by the generality of our people,” he said.

Obaseki added: “As a government we will support you to ensure that you deliver your mandate.

“We have gone through diligent and thorough process in selecting you, your records speaks for themselves, therefore I have no doubt in my mind that you have what it takes to succeed in this assignment.

“I also want to appeal to the political leaders in our political space to play the rules so that our people can choose those who will lead them.

“This is because it is only when we have the right people managing the affairs of the state that we can engender sustainable development.”

The Chairman of the board, retired Justice James Oyomire, thanked the governor for the appointment, saying it was a call to duty.

He said the board would carry out its duty diligently in the interest of the state, to deliver a free, fair and credible election to the people.

 

A group, the Young Nigerian Voices, has urged Minister of State for Education Emeka Nwajiuba to join the presidential race.

It said if given the opportunity to serve, Nwajiuba would unite Nigeria and help quell agitations.

Endorsing the minister, the body said it was out to ensure that good leadership was restored to the political process of Nigeria.

The Director General, Prince Collins Aboego, said: “It is high time Nwajiuba declared his position on the presidential election in 2023, considering that his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has zoned the presidential seat to the South, while the clamour for a president of Southeast extraction has gathered momentum.”

He described the minister as a “detribalised Nigerian, whose love for the country knows no bounds. The reason he and his children studied in Nigeria.”

Aboego said Nwajiuba was a bridge between the young and the old generation and would address the gap between them.

He enjoined the group with over five million youths, having endorsed him, to make sure that if given the mandate of his party, the APC, they will ensure he emerges as the next president in 2023.

The National Coordinator of the group, Yahuza Kumbo, said there was no better time for the minister to declare his interest in contesting the presidential election than now.

A member of the body, Prince Richard Bamisile, praised other members for supporting the minister.

 

The Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has described the new Anambra State Governor, Prof Charles Soludo, as another Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in Igboland

The pro-Biafra group said his emergence as the governor would shock Anambra State people and indeed the Igbo.

The Uchenna Madu-led MASSOB, in a statement yesterday signed by the National Director of Information, Edeson Samuel, said Soludo was chosen by the gods for a purpose.

MASSOB congratulated him and encouraged him to do well beyond his campaign promises.

“As a new governor with the zeal of our father, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, always consult and invoke the spirit of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and ezumezu, Anambra ancestors, to enable you achieve the historical Igboland industrialisation, economical and security development in Anambra State.

“MASSOB acknowledges your open invitation for discussion and interfacing with us and other pro-Biafra organisations as brothers for an effective security and economic improvement in Anambra State and Igbo land in general.

“MASSOB enjoins other Southeast governors, irrespective of their political party affiliations, to revive their security and economic synergy with the new Anambra State governor before they leave office next year.

“Ala Igbo must survive this current security and economic challenges,” MASSOB said.

 

Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi will continue his programme of infrastructural and human capital development till the end of his term, his Special Adviser on Media, Steve Oruruo, has said.

He said the governor was committed to serving the people, who gave him their mandate on two occasions and would not be distracted from his assignment by overzealous politicians.

Oruruo noted that the people knew that it had been a tradition to move the governorship from one senatorial district to another, explaining that power sharing arrangement was not the making of Ugwuanyi, but that of the founding fathers of the state.

The media aide said in a statement that it was normal for politicians nursing ambitions to make spurious claims about their capacity or influence, especially as the 2023 general election drew near, adding that the governor did not take the support of Ndi-Enugu for granted.

The statement said: “There are many ongoing projects initiated by our dear governor, which he wants to see to their completion. The first ever long span flyover at the Nike Lake Road T junction, which is geared towards relieving commuters of perennial traffic snarls, has attained more than 70 per cent completion.

“The 200-Bed ESUT Teaching Hospital project in Nsukka and other rural development initiatives are what the governor is particular about more than politicking. His Excellency is focused on his mandate and will not like to join issues with those who want to distract him or plunge the state into unnecessary chaos over political permutations.”

The governor’s aide said Ugwuanyi would pursue his inclusive and ecumenist style of leadership, stressing that the approach had endeared the governor to many people in Enugu State and Nigeria as a whole.

Anambra State Government said yesterday that residents and business owners owed N513.9billion as taxes to the state.

Dr. David Nzekwu, outgoing chairman of Anambra Internal Revenue Service (AIRS), disclosed this at a news conference in Awka.

He said the figure was a total of taxes owed by more than 2.1 million potential tax payers enrolled and uploaded on its digital database.

Nzekwu, who assumed office as chairman of AIRS in March 2018, said the IGR profile of Anambra grew from N17 billion per annum in 2018 to N30.9 billion as at the end of 2021.

The Director General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mr. Folorunsho Coker, yesterday launched the Tour Nigeria initiatives in Calabar, targeted at the indigenes, to discover their natural endowment and encourage patronage within and outside the country.

He said: “Cross River State has always been the cradle of tourism in Nigeria. But in recent times that I visited the state, I did not feel that fire. It was as if all of a sudden, tourism in the state has taken a slow turn. Tourism cannot and should not fail in Calabar.”

Coker, who was at the opening of the Food, Fashion and Art Exhibition titled: ‘Tour Nigeria’, organised by NTDC, in collaboration with the Cross River Tourism Bureau, at the Marina Resort in Calabar, said Cross River’s hospitality was second to none in Nigeria.

He said some people attributed the downturn noticed in tourism in the state to the #EndSARS protest, while others blamed it on the economy, “but it gladdens the mind that the spirit of the people have remained and NTDC will do its best trying to revive it, using the Tour Nigeria project.”

Said he: “Calabar cannot fail in tourism and the entertainment industry, but it is up to the residents to galvanise themselves to support and grow it.

“If you continue to wait for the government to come and do something like this for you, it will take a long time because government has many responsibilities.

“I am going to commit myself further and every year, we will do something bigger in Cross River, especially in Calabar, especially at this Marina and especially at the new island across sea at the Marina, to boost tourism.”

Coker appealed to the residents to use their phones to transfer positive images of Cross River, saying it was the only way the negative composition the nation was suffering from could be reversed.

The Managing Director, Cross River Tourism Bureau, Mr. Utsu Atsu, said launching the Tour Nigeria project in Calabar would improve the tourism asset of the state.

He said one of the things the bureau had been trying to do since 2021 was to diversify the tourism potential of the state, while concentrating on ecotourism.