The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Adamawa

  • Adamawa: Bindow, SDP deny adopting PDP candidate

    The media team of Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa State and the state chapter of the Social Democratic party (SDP) have dismissed claims of the adoption of the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the joint unity candidate for the 2019 general election.

    In a reaction to the report Friday, Bindow’s spokesman, Macauley Hunohashi, said the claim that chieftains of both APC and SDP had adopted the Adamawa State candidate of the PDP, Umar Fintiri, as a unity candidate is false and malicious.

    “In as much as we do not want to be drawn into the foray of mischief makers, we are however compelled to react because of the misleading undercurrent of the said story,” Hunohashi said, adding that the story was aimed at blurring the vision of incumbent governor and candidate of the party for the 2019 election, Mohammed Bindow.

    In its own reaction earlier Friday morning, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said its governorship candidate for the state, Chief Emmanuel Bello, will contest in the general election next year as the party has no intention to support the candidate of any other party.

    The state chairman of the SDP, Mr John K. Muva, said, “I state emphatically that there is no truth in that claim and media report… The SDP has no plan of joining any other party in a joint campaign for the 2019 governorship election.”

    He said a ‘self-appointed spokesman for a non-existent’ Coalition of Political Parties that the media report in question quoted was not known to the SDP and so could not speak for the SDP.

    “At best this claim has no place in the contemplation of the SDP in Adamawa State and should be consigned to the political dustbin of the state,” he added, urging members of the party and supporters to regard the ‘fictitious and malicious’ publication as a desperate move by ‘rejected politicians and parties’ to cause confusion,” he stated.

  • UN office spends $70m on humanitarian assistance in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe

    THE United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (COHA) said it has spent $70 million in providing humanitarian assistance in the Northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

    Head of Communications, OCHA Samantha Newport stated this in Lagos yesterday while briefing reporters on the UN’s humanitarian efforts in the Northeast.

    Newport said the humanitarian crisis in Northeast, which has spilled into neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger, is one of the most severe in the world.

    She said: “More than seven million people are affected in the three worst affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

    “1.8 million people are displaced internally. With other global crises competing for scarce resources, the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF) – a funding mechanism – was set up in May 2017.

    “The NHF is managed by COHA under the leadership of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon. The NHF has raised $70 million from 17 donor countries.”

    According to her, the funds have been allocated to urgent life-saving needs, with an emphasis this year assisting new arrivals with food, shelter and safe water.

    She said the NHF had continued to assist internally displaced people in crowded camps and host communities, where services are stretched with new arrivals and hunger, malnutrition and sickness are rife.

    were Nigerians.

    Newport added that the UN, in collaboration with the private sector in Nigeria,  would on Nov. 15 inaugurates its first NHF Private Sector Initiative (NHF-PSI) to provide more funds for humanitarian assistance in the north east.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • 2019: INEC uncovers 1,224 death persons in Adamawa register

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has detected 1,224 dead persons’ names in its Adamawa voters’ register for the 2019 general elections.

    Mr Kassim Gaidam, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, disclosed this during the opening of a two-day workshop for North East Zonal lmplementers on election monitoring and support, holding in Yola on Thursday.

    Gaidam said that the statistic was uncovered during the recent display of voters’ register for claims and objections.
    The commissioner said that the exercise was successfully conducted across the state.

    He explained that during the exercise, the commission recorded 2,113 claims and out of the 1,588 objections, 1,224 were reported death.
    The commissioner noted that during the exercise, 38,658 Permanent Voter Cards were collected across the state.

    Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC Chairman, said that the election monitoring and support centre was one of the significant tools used by the commission in planning, monitoring and implementation of support provision to field officers for credible conduct of the elections.

    Yakubu, who was represented by his Special Assistant, Prof. Muhammed Kuna, said that the commission would use all resources at its disposal to ensure fair and free conduct of the 2019 general elections.

    Read Also: 2019 Delta Council boss sues for peaceful electioneering

    He explained that the workshop was to strengthen the commission’s capacities to monitor the mechanisms and activities put in place for smooth conduct of the 2019 general elections, among objectives.

    Also speaking, Mr Samson Fadare, the representative of European Centre for Electoral Support, said the EU was proud to support INEC’s laudable initiative that sought to ensure free, fair and smooth conduct of elections.

    “It will be recalled that European Centre for Electoral Support supported the conduct of the election monitoring support implementer workshops for the off-cycle governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun in 2017 and 2018, among others,” Fadare said.

    He noted that the workshop was the second of its kind designed for zonal implementers and would be organised across the six geopolitical zones to educate and familiarise the functionaries of the commission across the nation.

    It was reported that the workshop was organised by INEC and supported by European Union.

    Five out of the six INEC resident electoral commissioners from North East with their top management staff were participants, excluding Bauchi State.

  • Psychiatrist raises alarm over drug abuse in Adamawa

    Dr Marcus Vandi, Head of Psychiatric Unit, Yola Specialist Hospital, Adamawa, has raised alarm over the increasing rate of drug abuse among youths in the state.

    Vandi, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Yola, expressed concern over the increasing rate of drug abuse among different age groups.

    According to him, the hospital admits over 100 cases with mental and other related health issues.

    ”The use of psychoactive drugs especially among youths, is becoming an issue of concern.

    ”On daily basis, the hospital receives between three to five mental cases mostly related to drug abuse.”

    Read also: NGO collaborates NDLEA to curb the menace of drug abuse

    He said that almost all the patients were males between ages 13 and 55.

    Vandi advised parents to inculcate good moral upbringing in their children, to enable them to stay away from drugs.

    He said that the hospital lacked modern equipment and adequate personnel and urged the state and Federal Government to support the hospital in these areas. (NAN)

  • ‘I never said Buhari will lose in North East’

    Senator Bukar Abba has denied media reports that he said President Muhammadu Buhari will not win in the North East, saying the president would win conveniently in the forthcoming 2019 presidential poll.

    Bukar Abba stressed that there is no way the ruling party; the All Progressive Congress (APC) will lose the election.

    His conviction, according to a statement signed by his media aide, Mr. Yusuf Ali was based on the great work the president has done in the last three and half years.

    Yusuf quoted the senator as saying that: “As far as I am alive, there is nothing that will make Buhari fail in the North East. Not in Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, or Taraba. There is no way he will lose the election. By the grace of God, Buhari will win the election and serve his second term.

    “I Bukar Abba, I am in APC now, tomorrow I will be in APC by the grace of God. I will forever be in APC, if they don’t change the party. Nothing will separate me with my party the APC”.

    Read Also: Buhari to deal with killers

    The senator, Yusuf added has vowed to forever be a member of the All Progressives Congress, a party he fought hard to build. He said it was him and Dr Ogbonnaya Onu the then Chairman of the ANPP that first initiated the merger for the mega party of the opposition to form APC and save the country from the PDP.

    Describing the Senator as “an Elder Statesman in his own right who does not He deserve to be called unprintable names”, Yusuf said it was obvious the three time lawmaker was quoted out of context, noting that “he has pledged his support for the APC and Buhari in the 2019 general elections.”

     

  • Two fraudsters in DSS’s net over extortion

    The National Social Investment Programme says two fraudsters have been arrested and handed over to the Department of State Security Service (DSS) in Yola, in Adamawa.

    Its Focal Person, Mr Usman Sali, told the Our reporter on Wednesday in Yola that the suspects were arrested for allegedly extorting money from unsuspecting members of the public.

    The National Social Investments Programmes (NSIP) was established by the Federal Government in 2016 to tackle poverty and hunger in the country.

    Read Also:I have no plans to dump APC, says ex-DSS Boss

    Components of the programme include: N-Power, Conditional Cash Transfer, Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSF) and Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).

    According to Sali, some undesirable elements in the state are going round impersonating as supervision officers of the programme and extorting money from people to recruit them into the programme.

    “Two of such criminals were apprehended and handed over to the DSS for interrogation.

    “Also, in Hong Local Government Area of the state, some suspected criminals, who paraded themselves as agents of the programme, were arrested for collecting N40, 000 from each of their victims.

    “They were arrested and handed over to the police for being in possession of fake forms and selling the forms to people in the area.

    Among the major challenges facing the smooth implementation of the programme’s components in the state is the activities of fraudsters and lack of proper supervision,” he said.

    Sali then urged the state government to show interest in the programmes, saying it was designed to assist the common people.

  • Flood: Adamawa victims call for urgent intervention

    Persons affected by recent flood disasters in Adamawa have appealed to the Federal Government to come to their aid to ease their hardship.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that between July and September this year, thousands of people were affected by the flood in 18 out of 21 local government areas of the state.

    Findings revealed that majority of the affected communities were those located close to River Benue.

    Majority of the victims are currently living as IDPs in temporary camps provided by state government across the state.

    In separate interviews with NAN in Fufore ,Yola South and Girei Local Government Areas, the victims said they lost almost all their belongings to the flood.

    Mr. John Garba ,a rice farmer from Njoboliyo village in Fufore said he lost all his property in early August this year due to heavy downpour that caused the flood.

    ” Following the heavy flood in August this year, I lost my house and three of my rice farmlands.

    ” Since then, I and my family have been squatting in my neighbours’ house and had not received any assistance from anybody,” he lamented.

    Alhaji Usman Barde, a large scale rice and maize farmer from Girei area , equally said that the flood had submerged his maize farms.

    ” Last year ,I harvested over five hundred bags of maize, but this year, due to the flood disaster , it will be difficult for me to harvest even one hundred bags ” Barde said.

    Read Also: Osinbajo visits Bayelsa, Rivers flood victims

    Also lamenting, Malam Umar Hassan , a resident of Yolde-Pate village in Yola South said that the flood completely destroyed his house.

    Hassan said he had been forced to take refuge in one of the temporary camp set up by State Emergency Management Agency in Yolde-Pate. and had not received any assistance from government.

    Reacting, Dr Muhammad Sulaiman, Executive Secretary of Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA) said a total of 357, 343 individuals, 7,893 Houses and 95,474 farmlands were affected.

    He said that the State Emergency Management Agency had forwarded the information to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for possible intervention.

    When contacted about the development, Mr Slako Lugard, the NEMA Head of Emergency Operation Centres ( EOC) in charge of Adamawa ,Benue and Taraba said that they had carried out inspections and assessment of all the affected areas in Adamawa.

    ” We have submitted our findings to the headquarters and are waiting for their response to enable us reach out to the victims. ” Lugard said.

  • ‘Nigeria needs Atiku’s experience’

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial candidate for Adamawa Central Mohammed Chubado Modibbo has canvassed support for the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on the strength of his experience and capacity.

    Also, a former governorship  aspirant in Adamawa State, Adamu Modibbo, yesterday asked politicians, especially those from the Northeast, to eschew their political differences  and work for Atiku’s success.

    Chubado Modibbo, who addressed members of the Correspondents’ Chapel in Yola at the weekend, said: “Atiku has vast experience of politics. He has vast knowledge of leadership and he has the personality to go with it.

    “Atiku is a cosmopolitan, who could relate well with people everywhere around the country. He is not a parochial leader controlled by five people from his section of the country.”

    He added that Atiku’s time has come, especially given the support he is getting from unusual quarters.

    He said: “When people like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Bishop Mathew Kukah are endorsing Atiku, you know that the present government has failed the nation and a new dawn is required.”

    On his own part, the ex-governorship  aspirant, who spoke while addressing his supporters in Yola, reiterated that Atiku had the political experience to deliver the country.

    Adamu Modibbo, who withdrew hours to the Adamawa PDP governorship primary, said he had  resolved to remain in PDP,  to work aggressively for the candidates of the party at all levels, including the Adamawa PDP governorship candidate Umaru Fintiri.

  • APC picks two women senatorial candidates in Adamawa

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has picked two women to contest Senatorial seats in Adamawa State

    Senator Binta Masi (Adamawa North) and Aisha Dahiru (Binani) a former House of Representatives member (Adamawa Central) will represent the party.

    Binani defeated four male contestants, polling  1, 282 votes. The runner up Alhaji Wakili Boya scored 599 votes.

    Senator Ahmed MoAllayidi was returned unopposed as Adamawa South candidate

    Sen. Abdul-Azeez Nyako currentl;y representing Adamawa Central defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) where he is the goverorship candidate.

  • Bindow embraces Buhari as Atiku’s PDP victory divides Adamawa

    Governor Mohammed Umar Jibrilla (Bindow) of Adamawa State has declared unreserved loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari and support for his candidacy of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2019 presidential election.

    The declaration came against the background of the emergence of a son of the state,  Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,  as the presidential candidate of opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a development which has divided an Adamawa State that was otherwise solidly behind Buhari.
    The state Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Mr Sajoh Ahmed, who spoke for Bindow at a press conference in the Government House in Yola Monday, condemned what he described as a looming blackmail by elements who he said were planning to design a poster pairing Bindow with ‘the presidential candidate of another party’,  a ploy which he said was wicked and baseless.
    “Bindow is an APC governor working for APC and has no intention to support or canvass support for any presidential candidate outside APC. He has no support for any candidate other than Buhari,” he asserted,  adding that  anybody who prints any document to portray anything to the contrary should be disregarded.
    The commissioner who refrained from specifically mentioning Atiku’s name in his initial address,  submitted at the question and answer session of the press conference that Atiku as an Adamawa man winning the presidential ticket of a major opposition party was ‘a factor’ but that Bindow already had the candidate of his party and that Adamawa would always choose reality rather than promises.
    He said Buhari had done enough for Adamawa State since he became president to make the people prefer him to any other candidate.