A Federal High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State has annulled the governorship primary of the All Progressive Congress (APC) held in the state on May 26.

A former aide to President Muhammadu Buhari on Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Ita Enang, had gone to court, alleging that the APC primary was characterised by illegalities.

Enang, in one of his claims, said Akan Udofia was not a member of the APC in the state.

But Udofia argued that the party had given him a waiver that qualified him to contest the primary election.

Read Also: Court sacks Emenike, affirms Ogah as Abia APC guber candidate

In a judgment yesterday, Justice Agatha Okeke cancelled the APC primary poll and ordered the party to conduct another primary within two weeks.

Justice Okeke dismissed the purported waiver granted Udofia and ordered the party to conduct another primary in a fortnight where the authentic governorship candidate of APC would emerge.

The judge also ordered that Udofia, who claimed to have won the aborted primary election, should not participate in the fresh primary.

Reacting, Udofia assured his supporters that he would be on the ballot.

Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) has demanded funding to enable it tackle ecological disasters by hydroelectric dams in member-states.

The commission lamented that poor funding was affecting humanitarian intervention in the affected states, namely Niger, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Benue and Plateau.

The Managing Director, Abubakar Yelwa, spoke yesterday in Uyo at the opening of a five-day retreat tagged: ‘Building Resilience in Work Place’.

He said: “Since it became operational in 2021, funding has not been optimal in tackling huge humanitarian crises in the host states.”

Yelwa said the operations of the dams usually resulted in perennial flooding, which had affected farming, fishing and other agricultural activities, destroyed buildings, power facilities and rendered residents jobless and stranded.

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He said no fewer than 300 people died yearly from boat accidents in the rivers around the operational areas of HYPPADEC, until the commission intervened to clear the surrounding Rivers Niger, Benue, Kaduna and others of fallen trees and other impediments for free sailing of boats to the shores.”

“The challenges of these communities are enormous and multi-dimensional, while resources to face the challenges are very limited. This has made it mandatory for the management committee to act consciously in taking decisions that will improve the living conditions of communities in our areas of operation,” he added.

Despite poor funding, the managing director said: “We are gradually changing the narrative of the living conditions of people in the communities, especially in the areas of maritime safety, security, education, health, agriculture, water projects, youths’ empowerment and social support packages.”

The Chairman of the Governing Board of the commission, Joseph Ityav, underscored the importance of the forum and urged the delegates to thinker and aggregate ideas towards greater efficiency in work place situations and best practices in delivering on the mandate of the commission.

He reminded workers of the need to address socio-economic challenges affecting the host communities.

Former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices (and other related offences) Commission (ICPC), Ekpo Nta, who chairs the Nigerian Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, advised participants to be conscious of personal security and functional retirement from service for a problem-free life after work place activities.

Commercial activities will resume today at Onitsha Bridgehead market, Anambra State exactly one week after it was shut, following chemical explosion that rocked the drug (Ogbogwu) section of the market, which claimed five lives.

The Chairman of the market, Chinedu Ezekwike, made this known yesterday at the new yam festival celebration of his Public Relations Officer, Peter Okala, at Okasi, Iyiowa Odekpe in Ogbaru Local Government.

A two-minute silence was observed in honour of those killed by the chemical explosion, as directed by Ezekwike, who managed to be in attendance, as he was still mourning the deceased.

Read Also: How collapsed building killed four traders, injured scores in Onitsha market

He said the market was temporarily shut to save the health of traders, as directed by the Commissioner for Health, Afam Obidike, after visiting the market to ascertain the extent of destruction.

Okala urged explosion victims to take heart, praying for the repose of the deceased’s souls.

He bemoaned the impact of the flood that ravaged the state recently, appealing to the lawmakers present and good spirited individuals and groups to assist the victims and find solution to the problem.

Dignitaries at the event included the member representing Ogbaru federal constituency Chuma Onyema; Anambra Drivers Welfare Association Chairman Adindu Okpala; Chairman of Landlords’ Association of Okasi, Fredrick Muogozie and Chairman of the occasion, Chief Bonaventure Ucheagwu.

Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has condemned the alleged attack on Chinedum Elechi, the Director General (DG) of campaign organisation of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate Prof. Uche Ikonne.

The incident, according to a statement yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr. Onyebuchi Ememanka, occurred in Umuahia on Sunday.

The DG was reportedly attacked by an operative of the Ebonyi State Command of the Department of State Security Services (DSS).

The unnamed DSS operative was said to have attacked Elechi with a sharp machete, leaving him with cuts.

Read Also: 2023: Ikpeazu assures Abians of Fed Govt. presence

According to Ememanka, Dr. Ikpeazu praised the courage of the public and the police, who helped to overpower the assailant and recover the instrument of attack.

The CPS said the governor demanded investigation into what he described as inexplicable display of murderous barbarism and urged the police commissioner to ensure that the assailant was made to face the full weight of the law.

“The governor assures well-meaning citizens of their safety, reiterating the commitment of his administration to ensure criminals are not given space to operate in the state, especially as the political space gets set for serious activities.”

“He is grateful to God for sparing Elechi’s life, a former deputy speaker of the House of Assembly and ex- commissioner, and wishes him quick recovery.”

Imo State Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mr. Charles Ugwuh has said former Governor Emeka Ihedioha has been inaugurated as chairman of the Presidential Campaign Council of the party in the state.

He spoke yesterday in Owerri during a stakeholders’ meeting.

Ugwuh said; “Today begins the journey of the PDP to win the 2023 elections in Imo State. We have received formal approval of the Presidential Campaign Organisation in Abuja through a letter to proceed with the inauguration, and this meeting is to brief you as stakeholders.”

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He said in compliance with the guidelines set by the Presidential Campaign Organisation, Ihedioha emerged as Chairman of the council in the state, while former state Chairman Chief Charles Ezekwem was chosen as Director of Campaign.

According to him, the Presidential Campaign Management Committee has 11 basic directorates, as well as the organs and structures of the campaign council designed for the smooth and effective running of the campaigns.

He expressed satisfaction about the composition of the presidential campaign in the state and described the duo of Ihedioha and Ezekwem as round pegs in round holes.

He congratulated them and other directors and members of campaign directorates on their new roles, noting that the task of PDP recording landslide victory in Imo at the polls in 2023 was already accomplished.

By Emmanuel Badejo, Assistant Editor and Oyebola Owolabi

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike yesterday shunned the governorship ambition of Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Olajide Adediran, also known as Jandor, and endorsed Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for a second term in office.

Wike was the Special Guest of Honour at the 2022 National Women’s Conference organised by the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), with the theme: ‘Spring Forth, Stand Out’, held at Eko Hotel and Suites on Victoria Island.

He donated N300 million to COWLSO.

According to Wike, Governor Sanwo-Olu’s performance in office has earned him a second term.

He hailed him for giving women the opportunity to serve in capacities in the state, especially the judiciary.

Wike said the involvement of women in politics and decision making in Lagos State was helping the state to continue to set the pace.

He expressed his amazement at all COWLSO had been able to achieve, and promised to replicate all he had learnt from the conference.

Read Also: VIDEO: Wike backs Sanwo-Olu’s second term bid

“By the grace of God, you will be a second term governor. Lagos State is doing better than other states in this country because Lagos has allowed women to participate in governance in various capacities. I am very happy to participate in this conference. I don’t play politics of ethnicity. Even if Sanwo-Olu is in my party but is not doing well, I wouldn’t have come. I do not regret saying I am in support of you,” Wike told Sanwo-Olu.

He added that his administration had emulated Lagos by ensuring a woman became deputy governor in 2015, as no woman had ever served in that capacity since the state was created in the 60s.

He said all 22 local governments in Rivers State had female vice chairmen.

He lauded Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu for the projects COWLSO had done under her chairmanship in the last three years.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, who praised the organisers of the conference for their positive contribution to the state, said: “I must express how much I am proud of the achievements of COWLSO, especially in the way they have stood by us and contributed to promoting the ideas and objectives of our administration.

“The various philanthropic and humanitarian activities of COWLSO, in addition to their intervention in critical sectors such as health, education, environment and youth development, have continued to impact positively on the lives of Lagosians.”

He urged participants to vote for him for a second term in office, saying they should not be deceived by anyone.

“Don’t let anybody deceive and confuse you. They will come with all kinds of promises. How can someone in this age be about Lagos4Lagos? How can someone be saying Lagos is only for the Awori? This is a Lagos that is for all,” he added.

The Chairman of COWLSO, Mrs. Sanwo-Olu, said this year’s theme was appropriate “as the world is in need of solutions.”

“As women, we owe it to ourselves to emerge into better versions of ourselves as we spring forth and keep pushing forward to make a positive difference,” she said.

She described Wike as ‘Pepper them Governor’.

Lagos PDP has expressed worry about Wike’s public endorsement of Sanwo-Olu.

The party in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Hakeem Amode, said regardless of Wike’s statement, Adediran, who got the party’s ticket on merit, would defeat Sanwo-Olu and his godfathers in the 2023 governorship election.

Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel has rolled out measures and agricultural rebirth programmes aimed at tackling hunger.

Speaking about the growing world recession, leading to global hunger, he said his administration had taken proactive steps to boost food sufficiency and ameliorate hunger.

The governor spoke at the 2022 World Food Day, hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture with the theme: ‘Leave no one behind’.

Represented by Deputy Governor Moses Ekpo, Emmanuel said the state had introduced unique initiatives in food processing, mechanisation and greater hygiene, adding that Akwa Ibom was on top of the game in food safety protocols.

He said the government had embarked on remedial measures, including the multi-billion naira IBB Way flood control project spanning three local governments of Uyo, Ibesikpo Asutan and Nsit Ibom, all within the farming belt of the state as a means of tackling the menace of flood in farming communities.

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The governor described the World Food Day as a global vehicle for awareness creation about hunger, malnutrition and the need for sustainable food production, which he said was a critical sector in the state economy.

Emmanuel said among the agro-rebirth programmes, the green house initiative was very strategic, as it was aimed at mobilising and raising a new generation of farmers.

He said the green house technology had enabled people to register strong participation in the cultivation of shrubs such as tomatoes, onions, green pepper, etc.

The governor said Dakkada Global Oil and Akwapalm Project at Esit Eket were awaiting inauguration.

“It is a vote for inclusiveness, since it takes away the travail of the traditional oil palm production and consequently retains peasants in the state in productive agricultural activities.”

“Indeed, here in Akwa Ibom State, all hands are on deck, and like the United Nations, the driving philosophy is: ‘Leave no one behind’.

“Such inclusive and collective action across the countries of the world is what makes the World Food Day one of the most celebrated events in the United Nations’ calendar, which stresses the need to ensure healthy diet,” he added.

There are indications that the Federal Government may not be working behind the scene to make sure that East/West road project is put to rest before it leaves office next year.

It may also want to make the project one of its signature projects that will stand the test of time long after President Muhammadu Buhari would have left office.

This assertion followed the report of a meeting in Abuja between the Minister of Works Babatunde Fashola and the Council Chairman of Eleme Local Government of Rivers State, Ollomate Ollor, recently, which he made public when he featured in a radio programme in Port Harcourt.

Ollor, during the programme, disclosed that the ministry had concluded paper work for the project, and that part of the delays in commencing the job was due to the changes effected on the original design of the Eleme road to make it stronger and more durable.

Read Also: ‘Masari’ll inaugurate road projects before end of tenure’

He said the changes had also pushed the cost of execution upward, from over N40 billion to over N100 billion.

According to him, the Eleme axis of the road will now carry good drainage system and three dual carriages, bringing it to six lane and concrete reinforcement.

He noted that the job would not be done in isolation from other stretch of East/West road, hinting that even the cost of completing the entire stretch was said to have risen to N500 billion against the former lower value.

Ollor said: “I was with the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, on the issue of the road, two weeks ago when I was invited because of a petition I made to the minister.

“From what I gathered from the meeting with the minister, which was attended by the permanent secretary and director of works, that there was a review of the project and that 15 kiliometer has been added to the sides of the road, apparently for drainage.

“It was said that lack of drainage was the major reason the road collapsed in the first place, and to make the road even more durable, a concrete reinforcement, which was not originally in the design, has been added. Also another lane has been added to it, making the road six lanes, three on each side.

“These changes have been the cost of execution of the project. It has moved from over N40 billion to over N100 billion, while the entire East/West road is going to cost the Federal Government over N500 billion.”

Bayelsa State Government has faulted the BudgIT’s 2022 Fiscal Performance Ranking, which purports that the state sits comfortably at the bottom of the table.

BudgIT, a foremost civic-tech organisation leading the advocacy for fiscal transparency and accountability in Nigeria, recently launched the 2022 edition of its annual States of States report titled: ‘Sustainable Governance Reforms for a New Era’.

In the report, BudgIT rated Rivers State as top of the 2022 fiscal performance ranking, Kaduna and Cross River states made it to the top five, while Yobe, Bayelsa and Benue states sit comfortably at the bottom of the table.

However, Bayelsa State Government condemned the ranking, noting that the recent 2022 Financial Responsibility report on the sustainability of the 36 States of the Federation by BudgiT was merely a rehash of last year’s ranking.

A statement yesterday by the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Maxwell Ebibai, said the state government’s reaction then as now was that not only was the report faulty, but it also relied on tangential parameters inconsistent with economic fundamentals.

Ebibai said: “As before, the current report erroneously depended on opaque data and criteria bordering largely on the ability of a state to meet its operating expenses (recurrent expenditure) with only its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

“The very notion of creating a dichotomy between ‘Federal Allocations’ and ‘Internally Generated Revenue’ is a misnomer that is adding salt to painful injury as, over the years, we have protested the absence of true fiscal federalism and inequity of the revenue-sharing formula that robs states like Bayelsa in favour of the collective.

Read Also: Rivers ranks first in fiscal performance budget

“It is incomprehensible not to appreciate that oil and gas are produced at a significant opportunity cost to states and that the derivation revenue compensates for such brutal environmental degradation.

“As a government, we protested the 2021 ranking as being defective for excluding key revenue sources such as mineral oil derivation funds in the analysis, a position the BudgiT team acquiesced to. We are again bewildered that they returned to this cynical profiling.

“It should be worrisome to BudgiT that the huge revenue that should accrue to Bayelsa State from taxes of oil multinationals operating in the state were being paid to states where the companies have their offices domiciled.”

He said notwithstanding the disequilibrium, the state was happy to state unequivocally that the financial standing and sustainability of Bayelsa were sound and not in any jeopardy as the government could comfortably meet its obligations, including regular payment of salaries and pensions.

Ebibai said it was also disturbing that a state with a low debt profile that was effectively managing its financial liabilities would be ranked low against states with a higher debt profile.

The commissioner noted: “On biometric capturing of the state’s civil servants, we have successfully concluded the process to achieve payroll transparency. Following from this, salaries are paid promptly usually by the 25th of the month.

“The government continues to invest in human capital development and empowerment programmes, without neglecting critical financially demanding infrastructure projects such as the Yenagoa-Oporoma Road and Bridges, the Sagbama-Ekeremor Road with seven bridges and the Nembe-Brass Road with 10 bridges as well as other critical big-ticket projects across the state that will stir its economic life.

“It should be noted that states with limited federal presence are inherently disadvantaged with the ranking methodology where facilities like ports give a clear edge to some states.

“For a fair analysis and a more comparable measure of fiscal sustainability, BudgiT should expand its indices to cover derivation revenue as IGR in future profiling.

“We are, therefore, in strong disagreement with the ranking as released by BudgiT, and wish to state categorically that Bayelsa State Government rejects the report as it failed to rely on key financial instruments that are legitimate, equitable and sustainable.”