Category: Southeast report

Our Reporter

OBA of Benin Ewuare II has announced the birth of a princess. The birth coincides with the monarch’s birthday and coronation anniversary.

A statement on Monday by Secretary of the Benin Traditional Council, Frank Irabor, said the princess was born on October 20.

The statement said the announcement was delayed because of the tension raised by the #EndSARS protest in October.

It reads: “The Benin Traditional Council, on behalf of Oba Ewuare II, and the Royal Palace of Benin Kingdom, joyfully announces that her Royal Highness, Queen Owamagbe of Benin Kingdom, has been delivered of a baby girl.

“The infant princess and her mother are in excellent health and good spirit. It is our prayers that the princess will grow in good health, excellence and grace and that she shall be blessed by God.”

Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

BAYELSA State has lamented the decline in revenue accruing from the federation account.

Commissioner for Finance Maxwell Ebibai, while announcing the state’s income and expenditure profile for August, September and October, said the state received a gross inflow of N12.8 billion for August.

He explained that the amount consists of statutory allocation of N3.14 billion, derivation (N8.8 billion), Value Added Tax (VAT) N1.97 billion, refund for Pay As You Earn (PAYE) N636 million.

Ebibai noted that deductions from the Federation Allocation Accounts Committee (FAAC) was N1.007 billion comprising foreign loans to the state, while Federal Government recovery was N42.171 million, restructured commercial loan N741.156 million, among others.

The commissioner, who announced N463.9 million as Internally Generated Receipt (IGR) receipt for July, said funds from other sources stood at N500 million.

According to him, total receipts from FAAC, excluding the deductions at source, amounted to N11.8 billion, including the IGR for July, which brought the total receipts to N13.159 billion.

Read Also: Bayelsa residents lament as robbers, cultists take over Yenagoa

For September, N10.285 billion was recorded as gross inflow, including statutory allocation of N2.981 billion, derivation (N6.030 billion) and VAT (N1.27 billion).

Ebibai announced N1.952 billion as total deductions from FAAC, noting that from the deductions at source for August, the total deductions for September was significantly higher by N933 million.

He said the state recorded a sharp drop in its revenue from the federation account owing to two major factors.

According to Ebibai, total recurrent and capital payments gulped N4.3 billion, leaving a deficit of N707 million. He noted that the balance brought forward from September was N995 million out of which the state had a closing balance of N288.7 million.

Our Reporter

Coalition of Northern Elders for Peace and Development has supported a president of Igbo extraction. The coalition insisted that the presidency should rotate to the Southeast.

The group, which said its support was borne out of the need for every zone to have a taste of the presidency, flayed the marginalisation of the Southeast since 1999.

National Coordinator Zana Goni, and National Women Leader Mario Bichi, in a statement yesterday, appealed to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to zone their tickets to the region.

It emphasised the need for all political interest groups to allow the Southeast rule Nigeria for the sake of justice and equity.

The statement reads: “Since President Muhammadu Buhari is from the north, the right thing is that the next president should come from Southern Nigeria and since Southwest and Southsouth have occupied the office, the Southeast is next in line in the spirit of the rotation principle, fairness, equity and justice.

“This will end the manifest marginalisation of the Southeast. It will foster national unity, and also close the bitterness of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war…”

Association of South East Town Unions (ASETU) has supported the quest for a president of Igbo extraction in 2023.

The union however said integrity, competence and credibility must be considered in selecting the candidate.

A communiqué read by the president, Emeka Diwe, after a two-day retreat in Enugu State, lamented that ‘the over-concentration of power at the centre has not helped the development, peace and security of Nigeria’. It added that power must be urgently devolved in such a way to engender involvement, participation and progress.

The communiqué reads: “The 1999 Constitution is in itself an encumbrance to the progress of Nigeria. It is a unitary document which ensures that backwardness, insecurity and agony subsist at the local levels while all the affluence of the country is placed under the control of a few in Abuja.

“It is a fraud which does not have the people’s consent, and does not reflect our aspirations as a country. The 1999 Constitution must be discarded in the interest of peace, unity and prosperity.”

The group also frowned at the exclusion of the Igbo from the security leadership of Nigeria, saying it cannot be rationalised on any grounds.

“It is a threat to national unity for Nigeria to continue to have preponderance and dominance of one ethnic group in all the security agencies in the country. This defeats the notion of federalism, and we reject it,” the group insisted.

By Bassey Anthony, Uyo

Akwa Ibom State has promised amnesty for repentant cultists terrorising Inen community in OrukAnam Local Government Area.

The Chief Judge, Justice Godwin Abraham, stated this at the weekend when he visited displaced victims of cult clashes taking refuge at Ikot Ibritam, headquarters of the council.

Items donated include garri, rice, beans, noodles and vegetable oil.

Justice Abraham, who hails from Inen, appealed to the warring groups to embrace peace as government was ready to talk with them.

He said: “The young men calling themselves cultists are not doing themselves any good, not even to the community. Some have died as a result of this unfortunate incident while others have fled from their homes to take refuge here.

“Children have not attended school; many economic activities are not going on. I appeal to them to drop their arms and embrace peace.”

Abraham assured the displaced persons that their plight would be communicated to government for necessary action.

“The governor loves peace. The moment they accept peace, this government would care for and rehabilitate them. There are legitimate ways of doing things. I am also trusting God that all the young men involved in cultism and terrorising their community will accept peace and allow government to take care of them.”

Paramount Ruler of OrukAnam Akuku Obosi lamented that activities of cultist have created fear and insecurity in the community. He reiterated Governor Udom Emmanuel’s capacity to ensure peace so that residents can return home.

“We appreciate Justice Abraham for visiting the camp to see things for himself and report same to government. Anytime our governor would visit this camp, we would take him to the affected community. I believe the government would rescue us from the hands of these cultists,” he said.

By Emma Elekwa, Onitsha

Chieftain of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Rommy Ezeonwuka has appealed to Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano to lift the suspension placed on some traditional rulers as part of his Christmas gift to the people.

Obiano had suspended 12 monarchs following their trip to Abuja without his approval. Ezeonwuka pleaded with Obiano to toe the path of a true Christian by lifting the suspension which had ‘served its purpose’.

He said: “As a true Christian and Papal Knight of St. Gregory the Great, it will only be ideal if the governor forgives the monarchs in the spirit of Christmas and New Year.

“If you use the right hand to slap a child for an offense committed, you equally use the left to console him as the slap had served its purpose.  Let us use this opportunity to make it known to Christians that Christmas gifts would not only be just about sharing money and clothes, or bags of rice and cows, it also includes love, peace making and forgiveness.

“That is why I am asking the governor to forgive the traditional rulers and lift the suspension placed on them.”

By Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja and Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed the purported suspension of some of its key leaders in Ebonyi State.

A statement on Sunday by the spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, described the news as misleading.

Senator Sam Egwu (Ebonyi North) and 23 other members were purportedly suspended. But the party said no PDP leader in Ebonyi State has been suspended. It added that the document purporting the suspension was fictitious and did not emanate from the state chapter.

The statement reads: “The PDP does not have a State Working Committee (SWC) in Ebonyi State as presented by the fictitious document.  As such, any such body said to have met to arrive at any decision, or any action claimed to have been taken by it, is imaginary.

“The public knows that the body vested with piloting party affairs in Ebonyi State is the State Caretaker Committee, which has since assumed its mandate to the approval of party leaders and members since the dissolution of our state executive.

“Our structure in Ebonyi is intact and the party has become stronger, more united and enjoying the people’s support more than ever before.”

The Concerned PDP youths has told Governor David Umahi that the state and Southeast remains PDP in its entirety.

A statement yesterday by Osita Ugorji said the governor’s dumping of the party will have no effect on its fortunes in 2023. The group maintained that youths in the state remain loyal to the PDP.

Ugorji however said the group supports Umahi’s agitation for a president of Southeast extraction.

The statement reads: “As an organisation poised to providing all-inclusive leadership drive and giving attention to power sharing, having a president of Igbo extraction is long overdue. It’s a right, not a privilege. It’s a cause that is worth fighting.

“Governor Umahi’s defection is more of a move towards actualising self-interest. This is because the All Progressives Congress (APC) he’s running to hasn’t zoned its presidential ticket to the Southeast and the possibility is still in doubt.

“In as much as we plead with the governor to rescind his moves, we are enthused that the house is full with its human-material strength. We shall continue to pay our loyalty to the PDP as it remains the party with the democratic ethos to drive the wheels of good governance forward to the most desired harbour.”