The Nation Newspaper

Category: South East

  • Anambra APC suspends secretary

    Anambra APC suspends secretary

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) State Working Committee (SWC) in Anambra State has suspended the Secretary, Chukwuma Agufugo, for allegedly ridiculing the party.

    The party, after its meeting yesterday at the secretariat, appointed Ifeanyichukwu Osegbo as the acting secretary.

    Briefing reporters after the meeting, the acting Chairman, Chief Basil Ejidike, said that APC would no longer condone the behaviour of the former secretary.

    He said the party acted, based on the recommendations of a committee it set up on November 28, which was given seven days to submit its report.

    “We want to have a viable party that can win elections in Anambra State.

    Read Also: Anambra APC suspends chairman 

    “We’ve have decided to set up a standing disciplinary committee to be inaugurated on Saturday, during the enlarged stakeholders meeting of our great party.

    “Consequently, the then assistant secretary, Ifeanyichukwu Osegbo, has been made the new acting secretary.

    “Very soon, we will have congresses to elect officers and set up congress awareness committee to put our house in order and to disabuse the minds of the people that the party has compiled names of the new exco,” Ejidike said.

    Agufugo said Ejidike had no capacity to suspend anyone.

    He said he should leave the party, as the leaders and caucus members of the APC would meet in Abuja on Friday to deliberate on how to move the party forward.

  • Monarch to Soludo: run a lean govt

    Monarch to Soludo: run a lean govt

    The traditional ruler of Omor Kingdom in Ayamelum Local Government of Anambra State, Igwe Oranu Chidume, has advised the governor-elect, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to run a lean government.

    He urged him to work with professionals desirous to hit the ground running with policies capable of transforming the economic viability of the state to abundance of wealth.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Ayamelum, the monarch praised Governor Willie Obiano for the cargo and passenger airport that began flight last week.

    He said the airport would impact positively on the economic development of the state and the Southeast.

    Describing Obiano as a serial achiever for the landmark projects he had carried out, the royal father said the citizens were full of excitement and joy over the airport.

    He said: “There is excitement and joy in the air over the airport. The people can now fly to Lagos and Abuja from the state. This will boost the economic viability of Anambra.

    “To crown it all, Governor Obiano bequeathed to Anambra people a resourceful person in the person of Prof.  Soludo, as the next executive governor and successor.

    “Soludo is the greatest gift he has given to the people. He is prudent, intelligent, resourceful and an international figure, who will take Anambra economy to the zenith.”

    The monarch pledged his support for the government.

  • Firm sues Senate over $60m Oil Well dispute

    Firm sues Senate over $60m Oil Well dispute

    The dispute between Hardy Oil Nigeria Limited and Halkin Exploration and Production Limited, over Atala Marginal Oil Field (OML 46), took a new dimension yesterday.

    One of the parties in the dispute, Halkin Exploration, has sued the Senate for N10billion.

    Read Also: Igboho sues CBN, DSS, AGF for failing to pay N20.5b judgment cost

    This is as the Senate, through its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, threatened to issue a warrant of arrest to compel the Managing Director of Halkin Exploration to appear before it based on a petition by Hardy Oil Nigeria Limited.

    Hardy Oil had in a petition filed against Halkin Exploration to the Senate, alleged that Atala Marginal Field (OML 46) owned by it, was allegedly sold to Halkin Exploration by the erstwhile Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

    The Senate, based on the petition, directed its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to investigate the allegation.

  • Oil spill: Lawan seeks punishment for erring companies

    Oil spill: Lawan seeks punishment for erring companies

    By Sanni Onogu, Abuja and Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

    Senate President Ahmad Lawan yesterday called for punitive measures against indigenous oil companies responsible for oil spillages that devastate host communities where they operate.

    He made the assertion in his contribution to a motion titled: “The extremely urgent need to stop the continuous crude oil and gas blow out spill at Santa Barbara well 1, OML 29 operated by AITEO Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited in Opu Nembe, Bayelsa State.”

    The motion was sponsored by Senator Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, representing Bayelsa East.

    Citing Order 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Rules, Degi-Eremienyo noted with concern the continuous gushing and spewing of oil and gas into the waterways and mangrove vegetation of Opu Nembe area of Bayelsa state, “from a long sealed, non-producing oil well 1, Santa Barbara OML 29 belonging to AITEO Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited.”

    In his lead debate, Degi-Eremienyo said the Senate is “worried that even though same oil well has witnessed several oil spills in previous years, the current incident borders on catastrophe due to a long period of accumulated oil and maximum pressure from piled up gas in the well.”

    Read Also: Questions over scope of Nembe oil spill

    The Senate urged AITEO Eastern Exploration and Production Company Nigeria Limited to seek, explore and deploy relevant highest level of expertise and technology to stop the spill and prevent the continuous damage to the environment and restore the life support system of the people.

    The lawmaker representing Bayelsa West, Senator Seriake Dickson, has expressed deep concern about the massive oil spillage from OML 29 Well 1 Platform operated by AITEO Exploration and Production Company.

    He said in a statement that the operators of the oil firm, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Ministry of Environment, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency and others should take steps to rescue the seriously threatened environment from total destruction.

    He called on the National Emergency Management Agency, the Ministry of Environment, NOSDRA, and oil firms to provide relief materials for the affected communities.

    Dickson sought compensation for the people for damage of the environment and their source of livelihood.

  • Nine killed, others injured in Bayelsa accident

    Nine killed, others injured in Bayelsa accident

    An accident has claimed nine lives in Bayelsa State. Several others were injured.

    The victims of the motor accident, which occurred on Saturday on Gloryland Drive at Igbogene area of Yenagoa, included an unnamed women leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogbia Local Government.

    They were said to be on their way to Sagbama from Yenagoa where they had gone to attend a wedding.

    An eyewitness, simply identified as Destiny, said the Hiace bus conveying the victims entered a pothole on the road and somersaulted many times.

    The witness said other vehicles behind the bus rammed into it, causing multiple accidents.

    Read Also; Six burnt to death in Ondo accident

    “If the vehicle conveying them had not been speeding, the accident could have been avoided,” the source said.

    It is yet to be ascertained, information about the other persons killed in the accident and those that were injured, besides the PDP stalwart.

    The police command, through its spokesperson, Asinim Butswat, confirmed the accident.

    Butswat, a Superintendent of Police, said the traffic division of the command had taken sketch marks on the scene and begun investigation into the accident.

    Also speaking about the accident, the Chairman of Sagbama Local Government, Embeleakpo Alale and the member representing Sagbama Constituency 1, Dr. Godbless Nanaotumieyeseigha, after a visit to other victims receiving treatment at NDUTH, Okolobiri and Tobis Hospital, Yenagoa, expressed sadness about the accident.

  • Group flays mounting of roadblocks in Southeast

    Group flays mounting of roadblocks in Southeast

    A group, the Youth and Students Advocates for Development Initiative (YSAD), has called for the removal of roadblocks and checkpoints in the Southeast, to reduce extortion, brutality and abuse of human rights of road users by the police and other security agents.

    The call was contained in a communiqué by the Executive Director, Obinna Nwagbara and other stakeholders, issued yesterday at the end of a one-day awareness campaign in Owerri.

    The group said: “The heavy deployment of security agencies in the Southeast has culminated in the reckless mounting of roadblocks and checkpoints in the region. They make movement of persons and goods cumbersome.”

    It added: “Extortion of motorists and other road users is now prevalent and pronounced in the Southeast, leading in most cases to brutalisation and abuse of motorists and road users by uniformed personnel.”

    The body urged civil society groups, government agencies and other stakeholders to increase advocacy and awareness against the menace.

    It enjoined road users to have their papers and particulars updated all the time.

    “They should insist not to give bribe. Transport unions should as well sensitise their members to stay away from alcohol or drink-driving, which leads in most cases to neglect of traffic rules by motorists and drivers.”

  • ‘SIWP another ploy to delay NDDC board’

    ‘SIWP another ploy to delay NDDC board’

    The Strategic Implementation Work Plan (SIWP), launched by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, has been described as another ploy to delay the inauguration of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board.

    The Ijaw Interest Advocates (IIA), also known as Izanzan Intellectual Camp, disclosed this in a statement in Warri, Delta State.

    It called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore the policy.

    The statement, signed by the coordinator, Arerebo Yerinmene, appealed to President Buhari to follow the bidding of the Niger Delta people for peace and development of the region.

    Read Also: Youths urge Buhari not to rush NDDC report

    Wondering why the calls from Niger Deltans, including traditional and state government authorities, to the presidency for the inauguration of the board continue to fall on deaf ears, the body warned that their stand for peace should not be taken for granted.

    “We the people of the Niger Delta won’t be affected because we don’t have anything to lose. Even if the oil companies’ production is dwindling, they are more of bad than good for us as a people. Some stakeholders in their capacity are still playing their role for peace, just for patriotism to the nation,” the group said.

    Akpabio, during the launch last Thursday in Abuja, said the SIWP would be a “coordinating tool for tracking all planned and budgeted projects and programmes of organisations operating in the Niger Delta.”

  • Suspension of Ohanaeze Ndigbo youth president unconstitutional, says Umahi

    Suspension of Ohanaeze Ndigbo youth president unconstitutional, says Umahi

    Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi has said the alleged suspension of Mr. Daand Okafor, the embattled National President of the Youth Wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, is illegal and unconstitutional.

    Umahi spoke when he hosted the group, who was on a courtesy call at his office, New Government House, Ochoudo Centenary City, yesterday in Abakaliki.

    He said it is illogical for a group of persons to allege to have suspended the Ebonyi representative in the body that was duly elected by the National Executive Council.

    Umahi said: “I learned of what was happening when some people came together and said they have suspended the National Youth Leader of Ohanaeze. For me, it is not correct and it is not something anybody should give any attention to.

    “The constitution is there, you were elected by NEC and it is only NEC that can suspend you.

    “Ohanaeze Ndigbo should not be politically motivated and we stand against that.

    “Defend the course of Ndigbo, because you have members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and you have APC members; the moment you start defending one person, then you are now partisan and it is not right.

    “Nobody can remove any officer that is zoned to Ebonyi and elected by the NEC, nobody, even if the youth leader is standing alone, even if this wonderful men and women are not supporting, he remains the youth leader and nobody can remove him from office.”

    He hailed the Youth Wing of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, led by Okafor, and urged them to lend their voice to the Igbo course in 2023.

  • Ohanaeze: free Kanu, 19 other illegally detained Igbo youths

    Ohanaeze: free Kanu, 19 other illegally detained Igbo youths

    The youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to release the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

    The group also called on the President to release 19 other Igbo youths illegally detained by security agencies.

    It, however, did not name the 19 detainees; neither did it give the reasons for their arrests.

    The body said this in a statement by its spokesperson, Chika Adiele.

    It called on the President to rejig the country’s security architecture to ensure that it performs its duties of protecting the lives and property of Nigerians.

    The group, however, urged Southeast governors to put mechanisms in place to encourage Igbo youths to fully take charge of the operational running of a local security outfit known as Ebube Agu.

    Ohanaeze lamented the “perennial failure of successive leaders since the advent of democracy to arrest social economic drift, which unfortunately has placed the collective future of youths on the slab.

    “We are alarmed that since the advent of our nascent democracy, successive leaders have learnt no useful lessons from our malady.

    “Though nation-building and nation branding policies are in principle available to all countries, we assert that the opportunities and potential benefits of such strategies strongly depend on countries’ historical, demographic, cultural and socio-economic conditions.

    “Nigeria with colonial legacies and a profoundly heterogeneous society, and weak economic foundations, it is pertinent to identify a home grown solution in halting this drift.

    “Nigeria is unfortunately at the precipice; citizens are now at the mercy of economic buccaneers, whose sole purpose is to engineer clash and divert our attention from the realities of our time.

    “The Igbo youths under the leadership of Damian Okafor rightly feels alienated and bewildered over the lack of clarity of vision

    “That the Federal Government should immediately declare a state of emergency on deplorable Southeast roads, which have turned a death trap.

    “That Ndigbo youths should be given a level playing field and empowered economically like their counterparts in other parts of the country, to enable us discharge our civic duties and expedite action on the release of 19 Igbo youths, who are being persecuted on trumped up charges.

    “That the illegal detention of our brother and son, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, be revisited and subsequently released with immediate effect.”

     

  • Fed Govt warned against subsidy removal

    Fed Govt warned against subsidy removal

    Members of the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) have cautioned the Federal Government against the planned removal of subsidy from Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, from next year.

    NAAT, in a communiqué by its President, Ibeji Nwokoma, yesterday in Owerri, the Imo State capital, after the 48th regular meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the union, said subsidy removal “at this time will further worsen the economy and impoverish the masses.”

    On non-payment of Earned Allowances (EA) arrears, the union urged the Federal Government to use the 2009 FG/Universities based unions agreement in sharing of the EA arrears.

    It called for the implementation of the allowances, as contained in the agreement.

    NAAT enjoined the Federal Government and its relevant agencies responsible for the payment of the minimum wage arrears to expedite action and pay, to avert another strike.