The Nation Newspaper

Category: SouthEast

  • Oborevwori sends three commissioner-nominees to assembly  

    Oborevwori sends three commissioner-nominees to assembly  

    Delta Governor Sheriff Oborevwori yesterday forwarded the names of three commissioner-nominees to the House of Assembly for screening and confirmation.

    The list contains the names of Mr. Ekemejero Ohwovoriole (SAN) as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ifeanyi Osuoza, Commissioner for Information and Kalanama Penawour, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

    Oborevwori, in a letter containing the names of the nominees, said the appointment was in exercise of the power conferred on him by Section 192 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, (1999 as Amended).

    In the letter read by the Speaker of the House, Emomotimi Guwor, during plenary, the governor said the nomination for the appointments “was in order, to strengthen our resolve to deliver on the MORE Agenda of my administration.”

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    Guwor, who welcomed members of the assembly back from the Christmas and New Year recess, congratulated Governor Oborevwori, “on his resounding victory at the Supreme Court, on January 19. 

    “The decision of the Supreme Court is a re-affirmation of the landslide victory of Oborevwori in the governorship election on March 18, 2023. The victory is for all ‘Deltans’, democracy and the rule of law. 

    “The decision by the apex court is res judicata (it is final). I therefore call on all ‘Deltans’ to join hands with His Excellency the Governor, to advance Delta State with his MORE Agenda. Let us elevate the overall interest of developing the state above individual, myopic interests.”

    The Speaker lamented that Nigeria was in a critical economic quagmire, saying: “Our people are daily facing hardship never experienced in our corporate existence. 

    “I therefore urge all of us to continue to show love to our constituents in our little ways. I thank members for reaching out to the people during the Yuletide. God bless you.”

    Guwor said the legislature would organise a retreat for members to draw up a legislative agenda for the 8th Assembly.

  • SPDC onshore sale: Centre urges Fed Govt to delay approval

    SPDC onshore sale: Centre urges Fed Govt to delay approval

    • IYC kicks against Shell’s onshore assets sale

    A Niger Delta group, Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to delay granting approval for the sale of Shell Petroleum Development Company onshore facilities asset.

    Besides, the group told the new buyer to also consider taking up the liabilities of Shell in the Niger Delta. 

    Shell had reached an agreement to divest its onshore business in Nigeria to Renaissance, a consortium in a deal valued at $2.4billion.  The deal is awaiting government approval. 

    The consortium includes ND Western, Aradel Energy, First E&P, Waltersmith and PetrPetrolin.

    But the Niger Delta group yesterday warned the consortium that there is more beyond acquiring the assets.

    Mulade Sheriff, national coordinator, Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) and the Ibe-Serimowei of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State) said the host communities must be properly factored into the whole process. 

    CEPEJ said that Shell activities had degraded the ecosystem and environment of host communities and so the need for compensation.

    The group therefore appealed to President Tinubu to ensure that proper compensation is paid out to the host communities among other demands before sanctioning the sales.

    This, Sheriff who briefed reporters in Abuja on the need to save the region from further degradation said, was necessary to ensure the new owners of the facilities operate in a peaceful environment. 

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    Citing judgment against Shell from the International Court of Justice in Hague, for degradation of Niger Delta, Sheriff said: “We humbly seek the indulgence of the Federal Government as we trust that they will give due consideration to these pressing matters and delay the approval of this transaction until the environmental degradation of the Niger Delta is addressed properly.

    “Therefore there is a cogent need for the president to please protect the sovereignty of Nigeria and ensure that it’s consent/approval to the sale of SPDC onshore assets is contingent on the adequate provision for the environment liabilities which is a clear and present danger to any future oil and gas activity in the area.” 

    IJaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has kicked against ongoing plans by Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited (SPDC), to sell off its onshore assets in the Niger Delta to a consortium of five companies.

    Reports of the sale of Shell’s onshore business made headlines last week, causing uneasy calm in the Niger Delta, with accusations of plot to abandon environmental degradation occasioned by the company’s operations in the Niger Delta for decades.

    Shell said it reached the decision to sell off the assets due largely to insecurity in the region, a claim IYC described as shameful and “cheap blackmail,” at a world news conference held in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government of Delta State, yesterday.

    The youth warned the buyer, Renaissance, to steer clear of the assets, as the procurement process violates Nigeria’s Local Content Act.

  • Traders protest leadership harassment, arrests

    Traders protest leadership harassment, arrests

    • CP warns troublemakers to steer clear of market

    Traders at Eke Amawbia market in Awka South Local Government of Anambra State yesterday staged a peaceful protest against leadership crisis.

    The protesters, predominantly women, under the aegis of Amawbia Market Amalgamated Traders Association (AMATA), decried harassment, intimidation and arrest of their elected officers, calling for intervention by the Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye.

    The traders, who marched on the police headquarters, bore placards with inscriptions such as: “Our matter is in court, let court decide”, “Deputy Speaker is sponsoring crisis at Eke Amawbia market”, “Police please stop Deputy Speaker from interfering and causing crisis at our market.”

    Speaking on behalf of the traders, counsel for the association, Chibuzo Ezenwa, alleged that some influential individuals, with the backing of Deputy Commissioner of Police, disrupted their commercial activities, using instrumentality of force.

    He said: “Despite pending lawsuits they filled against the President, Daniel Nwokoye, they still went ahead to harass him and members of his executive, using the police to stop him from carrying out his duties.

    “The marketers are not happy with the DCP directives in charge of state CID, coupled with the fact that the people masterminding the crisis are using armed men to invade the market.

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    “They first filed a lawsuit at the Awka Magistrates’ Court, praying the court to stop the President from parading himself and carrying out his duties, including holding any form of meeting.

    “Again, they proceeded to the National Industrial Court filing the same suit, which is an abuse of court process.

    “The association filled its own suit against the purported suspension letter issued by the Transitional Committee Chairman of Awka South Local Government, alleging suspension of the president.

    “We’re saying the TC chairman has no power under any written law to suspend the President.”

    Acknowledging that no casualty had been recorded during the crisis, Ezenwa attributed this to his legal advice to the traders not to take the law into their hands.

    “Whenever the armed men attack, the traders usually alert me and I always advise them to avoid anything that can cause chaos and security threat, but to use legal means to solve the problems,”

    Addressing the protesters, CP Adeoye hailed them for their peaceful disposition.

    The CP, who spoke through one of his officers, Ibrahim Ezekiel, said the matter would soon be resolved.

  • Ijaw group pleads with Tinubu on substantive MD for Bayelsa FMC

    Ijaw group pleads with Tinubu on substantive MD for Bayelsa FMC

    An Ijaw group, under the auspices of Good Life for Ijaw People (GLFIP), has pleaded with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to appoint the substantive Medical Director for the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    It bemoaned the non-appointment of the substantive medical director after 10 months of conducting exams, interviews and screening of qualified candidates as in other FMCs across the country.

    GLFIP said despite the screening of three candidates with scores and recommendations made on who is the most qualified to be appointed MD of the federal facility by the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), the Federal Ministry of Health (FMH), Department of State Services (DSS) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC); the Federal Government had allegedly been reluctant to appoint the MD to the detriment of the institution.

    The President, GLFIP, Chief Tamunoemi Mindiwari, in a statement yesterday in Yenagoa, said since the completion of the two-term tenure of the former Medical Director, Dr. Dennis Alagoa, on March 10, 2023, the Federal Government appointed an acting medical director to oversee the affairs of the hospital, thereby playing politics with the health of the Ijaw.

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    He said the power of the acting MD was limited, noting that for the hospital to operate optimally for better health care services for the people of Ijaw land, the Federal Government owed the Ijaw a duty to appoint a substantive medical director of the health facility.

    Mindiwari stressed that seven other FMCs where candidates were screened and recommended at the same time had since been appointed and functioning.

    He said: “We want to plead with President Tinubu to appoint the best among the three screened consultants as the substantive medical director, to enable the people of Bayelsa State enjoy the facility.”

    Mindiwari, however, said the GLFIP, as a pressure group, believed in the Renewed Hope mantra of President Tinubu and hoped that the needful would be done soon to assuage the people.

  • Fubara ready for partnership, says SSG

    Fubara ready for partnership, says SSG

    Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), Dr. Tammy Danagogo, has said Governor Siminalayi Fubara is friendly and ready to collaborate with other federal agencies for optimum service delivery.

    He spoke when he received the new Comptroller of Immigration in Rivers State, CIS Mohammed Sadiq, the new Comptroller of Immigration, Rivers Marine Command, CIS Bashir Mohammed Lawal and members of their team in his office yesterday.

    He said: “Wherever it is necessary to support the Immigration Service, His Excellency, Governor Fubara, will certainly do so. Just recently, he supported the Immigration Service with the hosting of the Blue Economy Workshop to unravel new avenues to boost the economy of the state and bring new practices in immigration and blue economy.” 

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    The SSG said Fubara had also provided for the State Immigration Command, a second passport issuing office, which, he said, was a bigger edifice with modern facilities for quick passport issuance.

    He said: “I appeal that you ensure the two offices run simultaneously so that our people will have the opportunity of enjoying these services in real time.”

    CIS Sadiq said the visit was to appreciate Rivers government’s support to the NIS and to familiarise themselves with the SSG.

    “We have enjoyed many things and we are short of words to appreciate what we have seen. We are here to further seek support and assistance from the government,” he said.”

  • Group urges Otu, wife to intervene in crisis

    Group urges Otu, wife to intervene in crisis

    The Joint National Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD) has urged Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu to intervene in the crisis rocking the body.

    It made this known at a news briefing held in Calabar on the steps needed to engender peace in JONAPWD, Cross River State chapter.

    The association called on the governor’s wife to use her office to intervene as a last resort in case a congress at the instance of the police commissioner fails to resolve the issues.

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    The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the association, Prof. Jacob Agba and the Secretary, Marbel Ekpang, made this known in a statement signed by them.

    They demanded that “the peace initiative of the Commissioner of Police already acceptable to all sides should be allowed to go ahead as planned: while Her Excellency can intervene as the last resort, should the congress, at the instance of the Commissioner of Police, fail to resolve the issues.”

  • Assembly passes motion for weekly cleaning of markets

    Assembly passes motion for weekly cleaning of markets

    Imo House of Assembly yesterday passed a motion directing Imo State Amalgamated Market Traders Association to carry out clean-up every Thursday at markets.

    The motion, sponsored by Dr Francis Osuoha (APC -Ohaji Egbema), urged Governor Hope Uzodimma to mandate the Ministry of Environment to issue the directive.

    Presenting the motion, Osuoha observed that majority of the markets were littered with filth and hazardous debris which could cause diseases if regular clean-up was not done.

    He said ensuring the markets were cleaned regularly was in the interest of the people, especially as the governor had their health and well-being at heart.

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    Osuoha, therefore, prayed the house to urge the governor to mandate the Ministry of Environment to direct that three hours be set aside every Thursday for cleaning the markets and environs.

    Supporting the motion, the Deputy Minority Leader, Mr Clinton Amadi (LP-Owerri Municipal), said there was need to ensure that the markets were kept clean to reduce incidence of diseases caused by filth.

    Mr Johnson Duru (APC-Ideato South) said the state of the markets amounted to undermining the governor’s efforts at improving the welfare of citizens.

    Contributing, the Mbaitoli representative, Mr Innocent Ikpamezie (APC), asked that roadside trading be discouraged as it contributed to filth in the markets.

    He also called for penalties for defaulters as soon as the directive was issued.

    Following other contributions, the Speaker, Mr Chike Olemgbe (APC-Ihitte Uboma), ruled in favour of the motion.

  • Nnamdi Kanu gives conditions for reconciliation

    Nnamdi Kanu gives conditions for reconciliation

    Detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has given conditions for true reconciliation to be achieved in Nigeria.

    He gave the conditions as siting of an international airport, seaport and building of good roads in the Southeast, to bring the long-abandoned zone on a par with other regions.

    Kanu, who said he was not opposed to genuine restructuring, insisted that Nigeria should be restructured along the 1963 Constitution, if proponents of restructuring are sincere.

    Kanu, whose position was made public by his younger brother, Prince Emmanuel, after a recent visit to the IPOB leader, said his position on the Nigeria project had not changed.

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    He was quoted as blaming those who aborted his meeting with Igbo leaders scheduled for September 15, 2017 in Enugu, for the current chaos in the Southeast, arguing that if his house was not invaded a day before the meeting, perhaps the meeting would have addressed the issues fuelling the agitation for Biafra.

  • Okocha hails court’s decision on Rivers budget

    Okocha hails court’s decision on Rivers budget

    The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tony Okocha, has said the nullification of the state’s N800 billion budget by an Abuja Federal High Court has created opportunity for Governor Siminialayi Fubara to do the right thing.

    Okocha’s statement followed the outcome of a suit by Martin Amaewhule-led 27 factional lawmakers on the passage of the 2024 budget by four legislators led by Edison Ehie early last month.

    The budget has since been signed into law by Governor  Fubara and already being implemented.

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    Speaking to reporters in Port Harcourt yesterday, Okocha said the decision of the court on the matter was right and that it had provided the governor right standing to present the 2024 Appropriation Bill properly.

    He said the budget was never presented in the first instance because the Amaewhule-led group did not meet the 1/3 statutory requirement of forming a quorum to conduct a legislative business, which, according to the judge, “amounts to putting something on nothing.”

    Okocha said: “The budget was presented in error. There is no way four Assembly members will be sitting as an Assembly when the law stipulated one-third, which is about 10 members. So it means the Assembly never met, and for the governor to take such a risk amounts to putting something on nothing.”

    “So, the decision of the Federal High Court, which also stopped the governor from interfering with the affairs of the Rivers State House of Assembly, is in order and is welcomed by us.

     “Today’s (yesterday’s) decision of the Federal High Court is a victory for the people of Rivers State, as it has cleared the way for the governor to present the budget properly.”

    He called on the governor to go ahead and present the budget to Amaewhule-led Assembly in the interest of the good people of Rivers State.

  • Eno hints on return of Okada riders

    Eno hints on return of Okada riders

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno has promised to approve the reverse of the law that banned motorcycle operations in Uyo metropolis and other parts of the state.

    He, however, said this can only be possible if the recklessness is stopped and the security situation, which necessitated the ban, is improved.

    The governor made the promise when members of Motorcyclists Operators Union of Nigeria (MOUN) inaugurated the state chapter at the Labour Hall, Uyo.

    He advised the operators to demonstrate decorum and prioritise safety and good image of the union.

    Speaking through Mr. Jerry Umoh, the legal adviser of the Ministry of Manpower Development, who also represented the Commissioner, Aniefiok Nkom, the governor implored motorcycle operators to unite against infiltration by criminals. 

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    The state Chairman of the group, Emmanuel Udoewah, thanked the governor for honouring their invitation.

    He thanked members for finding him fit to lead them and pledged to justify the confidence reposed in him.

    He poured encomiums and lavished praises on the National President of the group, Alhaji Sotayo Olusola, who came from Lagos to inaugurate them.

    He appreciated the Commissioner for Manpower Development, Aniefiok Nkom, his counterpart in the Transport ministry, Orman Esin, National/Zonal officers of MOUN, state Chairman of the NLC, Sunny James, the Clan Head of Ubium in Nsit Ubium Local Government, HRH, Etebom Ukpong Udoewah, Transition Chairman of Nsit Ubium, Ifiok Orok, represented by a Special Assistant to the governor on Youth Matters, Obot Ekot and others, who came in their numbers to grace the event.