The Nation Newspaper

Category: Southeast report

  • Ayade pledges peaceful atmosphere for electioneering

    Ayade pledges peaceful atmosphere for electioneering

    Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade yesterday assured the people that there would be a peaceful atmosphere for the 2023 general election.

    He spoke while receiving the new Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Alalibo Johnson, at the Governor’s Office in Calabar.

    The governor advised Johnson on free, fair and credible elections, saying given the REC’s track records and integrity, he had no doubt that he would perform.

    He said: “On behalf of the good people of Cross River State, l hereby give you that commitment that we will guarantee you free and safe elections; we also call on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to please honour its pledge too so that we can have free, fair, credible, reliable and dependable elections.”

    Ayade hailed the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, “who has distinguished himself in this country.”

    Dr. Johnson stressed the need for a conducive atmosphere, saying “this is what is needed for free and fair elections to thrive.

    “There is no way we can conduct a free and fair election without security. We call on you to use your good offices to ensure we have peace in the state.”

    The REC said about 90,000 uncollected permanent voter cards (PVCs) were listed across the 18 local governments and appealed to the registrants to come forward and pick them up.

    With the creation of new polling units, Cross River now has 3281 polling units.

  • Buhari urged to ensure passage of whistle-blowing policy

    Buhari urged to ensure passage of whistle-blowing policy

    The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) has urged the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to ensure the whistle-blowing policy is passed into law before the end of its tenure.

    The Coordinator, Mr. Chido Onumah, spoke in Awka, the Anambra State capital, at a day stepdown training for community-based organisations to strengthen stakeholders’ capacity on the whistle-blowing policy.

    Onumah, represented by the Senior Programme Officer, Godwin Onyeacholem, said the whistle- blowing, still at the policy level, could be disregarded by the next government if not legalised.

    He called for inclusion of rewards for whistle-blowing without financial recovery, as well as protection for the blowers.

    “The Federal Government, through the Ministries of Justice and Finance, is working on a law to back up the whistle-blowing policy. We expect that before the end of the tenure of the current administration, there will be a whistle-blowing law.

    “In that law, they should include reward for people whose whistle- blowing doesn’t include financial recovery and other stuffs. They should find a way of rewarding such persons. That’s one major way of encouraging whistle-blowing.

    “The other thing is to ensure people are protected because their safety is important in whistle-blowing. There must be a robust law in whistle- blowing legislation ensuring protection.

    “We also want the government to build people’s confidence in reporting corruption through whistle-blowing. This we intend doing through enlightenment of those managing the whistle-blowing policy to be honest and try to protect persons that suffer victimisation,” Onumah said.

    The Coordinator of Civil Society Organisations in Anambra State, Prince Chris Azor, said the decision to step down the training was to ensure people at the grassroots were well-equipped to report corruption and other negative practices.

    “It’s a constitutional mandate for the people to take part in their governance and citizens must embrace this charge wholesomely.

    “The deadly culture of silence among the people drives the sustained perpetration of corruption. People must be more concerned about saving the society first and not the monetary gain they get after blowing the whistle,” he said.

     

     

     

     

  • Fear grips Bayelsa community over gas leakage

    Fear grips Bayelsa community over gas leakage

    Fear has gripped residents of Ogbia Local Government of Bayelsa State, as a gas pipeline on Kolo-Otuoke-Bayelsa-Palm Road is leaking.

    It was learnt that the compromise of the pipeline reportedly operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) was allegedly caused by sabotage.

    Speaking about the incident, the Head of Field Operations, Niger Delta Resources Centre of Environmental Right Action and Friend of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Alagoa Morris, said that was the second time incident like that occurred on the site.

    Morris, who visited the scene of the incident, said: “It is not strange for people like us who are always on the field. Issues such as this happen every now and then, especially spilling of oil and gas. It has been a recurring incident on the state and Niger Delta.

    “Concerning this current incident, there are signs that it was man-made because some equipment were connected to the point of the incident. It means there must have been a detonated explosive. This also speaks volumes in terms of security of the pipeline.

    “There are giant anthills on the Agip’s pipeline, which can also help the people to sabotage the system, even in the afternoon, to burst the pipeline because it will serve as a cover for the perpetrators.

    “We have another oil firm’s pipeline on the other side and Agip’s own is there. Both are running on the same line. This means there should be visibility so that people passing by will see intruders either in the day or at night. This can also send signal that something is happening here.

    “This is raw gas coming out of the geological formation. From the formation, we have water, oil and gas from several wells being channelled to wherever they are channelling them to, which makes it more dangerous than gas flares in terms of impact on health and ecology.

    “In Kalaba, Yenagoa Local Government, a woman was badly burnt due to leakage of gas, as she went to her farm with live charcoal. She suffered greatly and this can even result in fire if urgent step is not taken.”

    He said the industry regulator, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), had visited the site, hoping that other relevant agencies such as the Ministry of the Environment that had also visited the place would put a demarcation as to where residents should not go as a result of the danger the leak portended.

    Morris said: “In essence, what we are saying is that there should be enough security officials guarding the pipeline. This is why the recent contract given to some Niger Delta indigenes is very important.

    “They should swing into action to ensure that not only the pipelines are protected, but that the perpetrators should also be apprehended and made to face the wrath of the law.”

    Some residents expressed fears about the incident, urging the authorities to ameliorate their problems.

    Commissioner for the Environment Mr. Isekemo Gbaranbiri could not be reached, as he was said to be in the House of Assembly to defend his ministry’s budget.

     

     

  • ‘Akwa Ibom has spent N1.2b to train pilots’

    ‘Akwa Ibom has spent N1.2b to train pilots’

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel has said his administration has spent N1.2 billion to train the second batch of indigenous pilots and engineers to run the state-owned Ibom Airline.

    Emmanuel made this known yesterday during an interaction with reporters in Uyo as part of activities to mark the 35th anniversary of the creation of Akwa Ibom State.

    He said the first batch of trainees was already undertaking the training meant to provide the needed technical personnel in Nigeria’s flagship Airline Ibom Air.

    The governor said the training was in sync with his administration’s policy, a renewed move to reposition and increase the capacity of the state- owned airline, Ibom Air.

    Emmanuel, who expressed joy at the strides of the airline within a short time, said the MRO facility at the Victor Attah International Airport in Uyo would be ready before the end of the year and would make the state the aviation hub of the Southsouth.

    He said the inability of the airline to acquire more aircraft was due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, as most financial systems were linked to Russia, with the former Soviet Republic, however, facing business and political sanctions and restrictions from many countries.

     

  • Delta PDP chieftain Ekewenu decamps to APC

    Delta PDP chieftain Ekewenu decamps to APC

    A former People Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Delta State, Ambassador Karo Ekewenu, defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
    At the ceremony held at Orho-Erha Secondary School, Ugono Orogun, Ughelli North Local Government Area, Ambassador Ekewenu, a renowned philanthropist and United Nations Ambassador on Sustainable Development Goals, said he took the decision because of the division and lack of internal democracy in the state chapter of PDP, his former party.

    According to him, “My decision to dump the crumbling PDP was borne out of the fact that there’s no transparency in PDP which was evident during the primary election to elect the party’s gubernatorial candidate.”
    He said: “I and my teeming supporters have now moved to APC to ensure victory for all its candidates in next year’s general election. From the National Assembly to the state and the Presidency where we will ensure that the distinguished Senator Ovie Omo-Agege becomes the governor of Delta State and also Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu becomes the President of Nigeria.

    “These are great politicians with the love of the people at heart and who can turn round the fortunes of Delta State and Nigeria respectively going by their antecedents in and out of office,” he added.

    Ekewenu, one of the major financiers of PDP in the 2015/2019 elections and former Executive Assistant to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on Maritime Development, was received by APC State Chairman, Elder Omeni Sobotie, who was represented by APC Delta Central Gubernatorial Campaign Coordinator, Olorogun Ominimini Obiuwevbi.

    Other top party officials including the Ward Chairman, Chief Gabriel Orogun; Ward Executives; Chairman, Orogun APC Elders and Leaders’ Forum, Olorogun Jones Esombi, and APC House of Assembly Candidate for Ughelli North Constituency 1, Barrister Matthew Omonade as well as many other party chieftains and supporters were present to witness the defection of the party stalwart.

  • ‘Why we introduced Reload Multivitamin’

    ‘Why we introduced Reload Multivitamin’

    The introduction of Reload Multivitamin range of products in Nigeria was to contribute our  quota to the  health sector, Bryan Hunsaker, President of Reload Brands LLC, U.S.A has said.

    Hunsaker added that the brand will fill the nutritional gaps found across all age groups.

    He reiterated the fact that the Reload Multivitamins range were designed for different age groups with tailored formulations to suit their nutritional needs.

    Hunsaker spoke at a night of glamour where brands were rewarded for the first time by Consumers through voting for brands considered to have provided a degree of expected value.

    Reload Multivitamin ( www.reloadvitamins.com) from the stable of Reload Brands LLC (RBL) was one of the brands to emerge within the multivitamin category as a brand of value based on the consumer vote on the website.

    Customers were encouraged to voice their pleasure or dissatisfaction with brand performances based on brand claims for three months between April 1 and June 30 , and reload was picked as a brand of value within its category as a result.

    Tony Obot, Chief Executive of Kandaval Communications, stated during the award  that “The leading multivitamin brand had won the category with around 81% of the votes cast, making it the best value for money brand for the coming year 2022”. Later, Reload Multivitamin (https://reloadvitamins.com) was identified as the chosen brand.

    “We are thrilled with the result of the vote that was not influenced by anyone or anything except the influence of the consumers’ experience, and therefore it is a credible statement we will take to the market,” said Jude Elue, a pharmacist and Director of Sales and Marketing at Reload Brands LLC.  Regulators and consumer advocates spoke prior to the presentation of awards, praising the Consumers Value Broadcasting effort and the first edition of the Consumers Value awards as worthwhile endeavors.

    As a regulator, Prof  Mojisola Adeyeye, Director General,   National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in her goodwill message, hailed Consumers Value Broadcasting Limited for winning the inaugural award and urged improvement in order to reach new heights.

    The theme: “The power of the consumers based on the assumption that customers voted for the brands’ encounter/experiences” is appropriate and pertinent as a proactive strategy to mobilize mass public awareness of their right as consumers, she added. She continued by saying that NAFDAC is pleased to be a part of the programme because, as a regulatory body, it takes great delight in fostering consumer confidence by ensuring that the products it regulates are of high quality, secure, and healthy.

    According to Babatunde Irukera, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), it is gratifying that the Consumers Value Awards aims to validate what gives consumers value and address certain misdemeanours in the marketplace”.

    He said: “FCCPC supports the Consumers Value Awards on the basis that in a developing society, it is critically important to support people in recognising and demanding what is appropriate, and he hopes that the Consumers Value Awards can spark people’s interest in demanding the kind of quality they are entitled to in the marketplace.

    Welcoming guests to the event, Chief Adedayo Ojo, Chairman of Consumers Value Broadcasting said in Nigeria’s business environment, consumers are already inundated with almost too much hype, publicity and promotions, some of which are not approved by the regulatory authorities. This situation throws up an opportunity for some guiding light to help navigate through the labyrinth. It is our mission to provide the required guiding light and deliver value that will make brands, products and services more accountable to consumers.

    What sets the Consumers Value Awards apart is that consumers decide on who wins. Therefore, our role as organizers is restricted to facilitating the conversation between products, services, brands and consumers. More importantly, we are committed to doing these transparently, ethically and with integrity.

  • YPP Gov candidate meets Abia lawyers

    YPP Gov candidate meets Abia lawyers

    Abia Young Progressives Party (YPP) governorship candidate Engr Enyinnaya Nwafor (Nana) has met with lawyers in the State.

    The meeting took place at the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Conference in Lagos.

    Nwafor told Abia members of the largest Bar in Africa in the two-day interactive session that he considered them as “opinion moulders, one of the brightest members of the intelligentsia and a group whose exposure and level of consciousness put them in a position of evaluating issues and challenges”.

    The serial entrepreneur stated his candidacy is hinged on “competence, capability, preparedness and sincerity of purpose”.

    He said his work plan has short, medium and long-term ranges that would bring disruptive changes in education, health, infrastructure development, agriculture, enhanced revenue generation, youth/social development, commerce/industrialisation and strengthened governance/security.

    The Chief Executive Officer of Tunnel End Construction Company Ltd informed he has developed seven governance priorities that require basically unapologetic reliance on human, material resources and political will to drive Abia development.

    Read Also:Over 580 PDP officials defect to YPP in Akwa Ibom

    The Founder of Each One Aid One Foundation urged the Learned Gentlemen to be part of the greater number set to dump conventional yet unproductive ways of doing things to result-oriented governance in Abia State.

    A statement by Director Media and Publicity of the campaign, Ben Udechukwu, explained the lawyers expressed excitement with Nwafor’s understanding of challenges peculiar to Abia and the achievable solutions he has proffered.

    Chairman of Aba Bar, Innocent Egwu, Umuahia Bar, Jasper Ejimofor, Ukwa Bar; Ohafia Bar, Nathaniel Ikeocha Nnamdi Ekwueme, Mrs. Ngozi Nwangwa and others assured as change agents, they would give unalloyed support to his candidacy that has all the accompaniments of the required generational shift.

  • Ebonyi: Gunmen attack PDP women in Abakaliki, disrupt meeting

    Ebonyi: Gunmen attack PDP women in Abakaliki, disrupt meeting

    Ebonyi: Gunmen attack PDP women in Abakaliki, disrupt meeting
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    Gunmen on Saturday attacked hundreds of women holding their August meeting programme in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.

    The incident happened at the Peoples Club along the Abakaliki-Enugu Highway in Abakaliki.

    The meeting was said to have been convened by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart, Nwakego Emmanuel, popularly known as Ego Bekee to empower the women.

    The women were said to have gathered from the 13 local government areas of the state in their hundreds when the gunmen stormed the venue.

    They immediately started shooting sporadically into the air forcing the women to scamper for safety in various directions.

    At the time of this report, it was not immediately clear if any of the women sustained any injuries or if they were arrested.

    However, sources said some persons were bundled away from the venue by the gunmen.

    Journalists from various media houses who were invited to cover the event were also chased away from the venue and threatened with an attack if they tried to record the gunmen’s actions.

    Read Also:Gunmen kill soldier in Abia community

    The gunmen were said to have also carted away the canopies and chairs at the venue to an unknown destination.

    The women, it was gathered, have regrouped at the campaign office of the governorship candidate of the PDP, Ifeanyichukwu Ọdịi to continue with the event.

    A rumour that the attackers were members of the Ebonyi chapter of Ebubeagu Southeast Security Outfit, could not be substantiated as Security Consultant to the state government, Stanley Emegha, who is in charge of Ebubeagu, could not be reached for comments.

    He did not take calls to his phone.

    Police Spokesperson, Chris Anyanwu said he was not aware of the incident at the time of this report.

  • APC asks court to disqualify Rivers PDP governorship candidate

    APC asks court to disqualify Rivers PDP governorship candidate

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to disqualify the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Siminialaye Fubara, and other candidates from contesting the 2023 general election.

    The party is praying the court to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disqualify Fubara and 31 others for alleged non-compliance with the new Electoral Act.

    APC alleged that the PDP delayed to forward the register containing the names of its candidates to INEC within the 30 days stipulated by the new law.

    When the matter was mentioned in court, the APC lawyer, Collins Dike, moved a motion exparte for substituted service on the respondents and the court granted same.

    The presiding judge, Justice Ayuah Phoebe, asked the plaintiff to serve the respondents by pasting the process on their walls.

    Phoebe adjourned till August 31 for hearing and directed the plaintiff to effect service to the respondents before the adjourned date.

    The sixteen National Assembly candidates of the Rivers State APC in the coming general election have urged a Federal High Court judge, Justice Stephen Daylop Pam, to recuse himself from a case filed by the PDP seeking their disqualifications.

    They said their outcries became expedient, following the refusal of Pam to withdraw from the case despite undertaking required judicial processes.

    Speaking at the APC secretariat in Port Harcourt yesterday, the candidates said they had no confidence in the “outcome of suit number FHC/PHC/CS/127/2022, as long as it is allowed to be determined by Justice Pam”.

    In a written address read by one of the candidates and 12th defendant, Ezemoye Ezekiel Amadi, the candidate wondered why Justice Pam was saddled with the responsibility of handling all cases of PDP seeking to bar other parties from the 2023 elections.

    Others who endorsed the address are Dr. Ndubuisi Nwankwo, Kingsley Fubara, Ininajiya West, Collyns Gohinda, Chikodi Dike, Henry Odili, Eric Alia, Nwibani Eric and Felix Anokwuru.

  • Over 580 PDP officials defect to YPP in Akwa Ibom

    Over 580 PDP officials defect to YPP in Akwa Ibom

    No fewer than 580 chapter and ward officials of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State have defected to the Young Progressives Party (YPP).

    They dumped PDP, following the defection of Senator Bassey Albert to YPP last month.

    Albert is the chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream and governorship candidate of the YPP.

    Usenobong Akpabio, chairman of Defection and Inter-party Committee of YPP, claimed that the number of PDP officials defecting from the party to YPP is increasing on a daily basis.

    Akpabio, the party’s senatorial candidate for Akwa Ibom North East, also coordinates the committee saddled with the responsibility of receiving and documenting persons defecting from other parties to the YPP.

    He said his committee had received 580 chapter and ward officials, who defected from the PDP at July ending.

    “As at the day Obong Bassey Albert declared publicly for governor in YPP, we wanted to showcase them, but there was no opportunity to do so. As at that day (July 31), I had counted 580 officials. The defection is ongoing. A lot of officials are leaving the PDP. On August 15, two officials and a woman leader from Onna left the PDP and joined us.”

    leaps and bounds in such a manner that anybody who says it doesn’t have people at the grassroots, such a person is not telling the truth. As we speak today, if PDP have their meeting, it is YPP they talk about. Any other party that holds a meeting, it is the meteoric growth of YPP they talk about.

    “YPP is the fastest growing party as far as Akwa Ibom State is concerned. The grassroots is not spared. By God’s grace in all the chapters, we have offices. By the special grace of God, we have also inched into the wards, we have ward offices. In fact, people are donating their houses for ward offices.

    “I don’t know how else one will say there is a grassroots appeal. I can tell you that as far as the grassroots is concerned, YPP is there,” he said.

    Besides party officials, a member of the House of Representatives representing Ikono/Ini, Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo, and two members of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Mr. Usoro Akpanusoh and Mr. Nana Udo, representing Edit Eket/Ibeno and Ikono state constituencies, have also defected to the YPP.

    Ex-commissioner for Works, who later served as chief of staff to the governor, Mr. Ephraim Inyang, and former commissioner for Labour and Manpower Planning, Mr. Sunny Ibuot, who resigned from the state executive council in March, have equally joined the YPP.

    Two special assistants to the governor resigned their appointment in June to join the YPP.

    However, PDP has started replacing the defected officials.