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Tag: Akwa Ibom State

  • Senate rescinds confirmation of Buhari’s INEC nominee

    The Senate Thursday rescinded its confirmation of Elder Monday Udo Tom as Resident Electoral Commissioner from Akwa Ibom State.

    Over turning the confirmation of Tom followed a motion by Senator Bassey Albert Apkan.

    The Akwa Ibom North East senator in the motion prayed the upper chamber to take a second look at the confirmation of the nominee.

    Akpan said that his motion to rescind the confirmation of Tom became necessary because it was obvious that the Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission that screened the nominee and gave him a clean bill of health did not take recourse to a weighty petition against him.

    He said, “I have the report of the committee; there is no indication that the petition against the nominee was considered by the committee. The committee failed to take cognizance of the weighty petition against the nominee.

    Read Also:Senate grills two INEC nominees

    “I therefore move that the confirmation of the nominee be stepped down and the nominee referred back to the relevant committee for further legislative action in the interest of fair play.”

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Samuel Anyanwu also told the Senate that his committee received a petition against the nominee.

    Anyanwu (Imo East) said that they were waiting for the INEC committee to conclude it screening for them to consider the petition against the nominee.

    Senate President, Bukola Saraki, put the proposal to rescind the confirmation to a voice vote.

    It was unanimously adopted. Saraki referred the nominee to the INEC Committee for further legislative action.

    A source said that the thrust of the petition was that Tom is a disguised member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The nominee is also said to be an aide to former member of the House of Representatives who is now in APC.

  • Hoodlums abduct INEC official in A’Ibom

    ….Demand N10m ransom

     

    Hoodlums suspected to be cultists have abducted a staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), serving at the commission’s area office in Ukanafun local government area of Akwa Ibom state.

    The victim, one Otobong Sylvester Ukpong, an indigene of Iwukem village in Etim Ekpo local government area, was reportedly kidnapped Tuesday morning while going to work.

    Our correspondent gathered that the incident occurred near the Government Primary School, Oruk Ata2 along the Ukanafun-Azumini expressway.

    The victim’s brother, Mbetobong Sylvester Ukpong, told reporters, “My brother was kidnapped at Uruk Ata2, in the morning hours of Tuesday, June 5, 2018, on his way to work in his office at Ukanafun Local Government Area office of INEC”.

    Read Also:Gunmen abduct wife of retired Agip employee

    Mbetobong explained that his brother, whom he explained, “is the last in the family”, was on a major mission to the office, despite crisis of insecurity in the area, to distribute Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) to the electorates.

    He said his brother’s captors have contacted the family, and are demanding N10 million as ransom. “They used my brother’s phone number to call the family to disclose their ransom before they release him, but the elders of the family have told them such demand is outrageous for a largely peasant family to pay”, he said.

    When contacted, the police public relations officer (PPRO), Odiko MacDon DSP told our correspondent that he was yet to be officially briefed by the Etim Ekpo Area Command on the incident.

    “Somebody called me from that axis of the state that a staff of INEC has been kidnapped, but as I speak I can’t confirm that information because I have not been officially briefed by the Etim Ekpo Area Command,” he said.

    It could be recalled that there have been series of killings and abductions in the area, the recent being the kidnap of two female students of Obong University, a private varsity in the area.

  • 15 illegal filling stations in A’Ibom to pay N2.5 million to DPR

    Fifteen illegal filling stations in Akwa Ibom State are to pay the whopping sum of N2.5 million to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

     DPR operations controller Eket Field, Mr. Tamunoiminabo Kingsley Sundaye said the 15 stations have been operating illegally in the state between last year and May this year.

    Speaking with journalists yesterday , Kingsley-Sundaye said the stations would pay the sum of N2.5 million each as fine for going contrary to the Petroleum Act of 1969.

    He said the act states that nobody can store or sell petroleum products without license in Nigeria.

    Kingsley-Sundaye explained that the marketers were operating without documentation from DPR’s office in the state.

    “We have sealed 15 petrol stations from last year to date in the state because they do not have any documentation from DPR office,” Kingsley-Sundaye said.

    He noted that the filling stations had been operating without licence from DPR’s office for more than six years.

    Read Also: DPR seals 4 filling stations in Anambra

    Kingsley-Sundaye said that the department was collaborating with security agencies to prosecute the offenders.

    “We have written to NSCDC, that the filling stations that we sealed should not operate because they have not regularised their stations and should not operate until further notice.

    “The security operatives are putting eyes on them to ensure that the government seal order are not tampered with,” he said.

    The DPR Boss added that those illegal stations could not stand the purpose it was meant for.

    He said that two fillings stations violated DPR seal order and one was under dispensing in the state.

    Kingsley-Sundaye advised petroleum marketers to ensure that their facilities have current approval or licenses before operating their businesses.

    “Those stations that are adamant will have their stations sealed until they do the needful.

    “There are some stations that are built without approval and we observed that some good standard stations are illegal in the state,” he said.

    He said that the department had done jingles severally to ensure that filling stations would come to regularized their stations in the DPR’s office but to no avail. 

  • Governor Emmanuel’s audacious feats in the Akwa Ibom State health sector

    Sometime in September 2017, the World Economic Forum released the Global Competitiveness Report for the years 2017-2018. This report which features the Global Competitiveness Index also sets out to assess the competitiveness landscape of 137 economies, and thereby providing unique insight into the drivers of the productivity and prosperity of these nations’ economies.

    The 2017-2018 World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index showed the ranking of 137 economies by their ability to sustain inclusive growth. It measures the kind of growth that delivers positive change and benefits citizens and the environment. The index looks at 12 pillars of competitiveness including Primary Education and Health, institutions, innovation, infrastructure and the macroeconomic environment.

    Switzerland was ranked as the world’s most competitive economy, a position the country has held for six years. The report showed that the country ranked highly on nearly every pillar of competitiveness. Its economy is resilient, its labour markets are strong and its people and businesses are good at absorbing new technologies. Swiss citizens benefit from high levels of public health and education, while Swiss businesses demonstrate high levels of sophistication and innovation.

    The United States followed as Second while Singapore clinched the third spot. Netherlands, Germany, Hong Kong, Sweden, United Kingdom, Japan and Finland, were placed in the 4th-10th positions. Sadly, the report only begins to mention an African country when it gets to the 45th position with Mauritius emerging as the most competitive economy in the continent. Nigeria was appeared in the 125th position.

    But there is something very profound that this Global Competitiveness index did for me. It was after I took time to study this ranking, especially the import of the 4th pillar of competitiveness (Primary Education and Health) in advancing the economic standing of nations that I came to understand and appreciate the significance of an initiative that I was privileged to be a part of earlier in that year.

    Sometime in July in that same 2017, I was privileged to be among the about 45 Akwa Ibom citizens who volunteered to undertake an independent fact-finding tour to one of the oldest and strategic General Hospitals in Akwa Ibom – The Etinan General Hospital, Etinan.

    Our mission was to confirm the veracity of the claims made by the Governor Udom Emmanuel led administration that the Government had totally reconstructed and fully equipped the Etinan General hospital which had been hitherto branded by a lot of Akwa Ibom people as a deathtrap.

    When we arrived at the hospital, we were greeted by an array of reconstructed blocks within the hospital premises. The internal roads within the hospital had been constructed as well. But then, aware that fine buildings alone do not make a hospital worth its name, I told myself that I will only give my entire impression of the entire effort after I had seen what the interior of hospital looks like after the effort.

    With the Chief Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr. Ime Eshiett as our tour guide, we were conducted round the entire hospital. From the Accident & Emergency unit, to the Out Patient Department, OPD, hospital theatre, male, female and children wards, drug store and administrative offices, the interior of the entire hospital had showed signs of a complete overhaul of the hospital. I was pleasantly surprised to find some automated beds with ultra-sound scanners in the same hospital that was once branded as a deathtrap.

    And since I do know that the most appropriate segment of people to talk about how this new effort has impacted on the lives of the people are the patients and caregivers. I sought to speak to the patients.

    Mrs. Abigail Umoh, a teacher in one of the public secondary schools told me she only came to the hospital to deliver the baby after she heard that the hospital had been totally reconstructed and functionally equipped. In her words “I only decided to register for my antenatal when I arrived here to confirm what I have been hearing about that this hospital has been rebuilt and fully equipped. This is my third child. When I gave birth to the other two, this hospital was a deathtrap. I could not have taken the risk of delivering my two children in this hospital back then, as the place was not worthy to be called a hospital. I had to undergo the antenatal and also gave birth to my first two children in Uyo. Thankfully, this present Government has seen the need to reconstruct this hospital and that has restored my confidence in the health facility.”

    After that tour in June, I did not give much thought to the implication of the effort by Governor Udom Emmanuel to completely reconstruct and functionally equip this hospital until I came across the 2017 Global Competitiveness Report in September. The discovery that the commitment by any government in expanding and ensuring access to quality health care by her citizens was one of the most important pillars that defines the nation’s standing in Global Competitiveness ratings forced me to take more than a passing interest in the healthcare delivery sector in my state.

    From that time, I made deliberate efforts to not only follow whatever effort the present Government in Akwa Ibom state was making to expand the access to quality healthcare for our people, but also dig out information on the efforts of Governor Udom Emmanuel in this important sector.

    Interestingly, my findings show that Etinan General Hospital is just one out of the many healthcare facilities in Akwa Ibom State enjoying this complete reconstruction and total reequipping by the Governor Udom Emmanuel-led administration.

    Shortly after he assumed duties as the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Governor Emmanuel turned his attention to the popular St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua, where he succeeded in giving the hospital a commendable facelift. This effort at Saint Luke’s Hospital produced a brand new Gynecology Block named after Dr. Ann Ward, an Irish female gynecologist and Reverend Sister who once worked in that hospital. Although this health facility is not owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government, that outing by Governor Emmanuel at that hospital earned for it a total rehabilitation of the Administrative Block and Hospital Wards. Of course, those who have been in Akwa Ibom would recall that this Hospital, for a long time, has remained a reference Centre in gynecology and pediatric services. It is when views from this prism that one begins to appreciate the significance of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s intervention at the St Luke’s hospital.

    As you read this, the General Hospital in Ibiaku Ntok Okpo, my mother’s Local Government is also enjoying the same good fortune of the Etinan General Hospital with the complete reconstruction of the Hospital. From what I gathered, the General Hospital in Ikot Ekpene is targeted too in the ongoing efforts of by this administration to completely overhaul and reposition the State’s public healthcare facilities. Also, not long ago, Governor Emmanuel had flagged off the construction of an Ultra-Modern General Hospital at Ituk Mbang. Strategically located at the site of the existing hospital at Ituk Mbang, the new hospital under construction is meant to service the healthcare delivery needs of Akwa Ibom people within Uyo metropolis and the Ibom International Airport.

    What excites me the most about the commitment of Governor Udom Emmanuel in reconstructing these public health facilities is that these reconstructed facilities are coming to meet adequate modern medical equipment and deliverables earlier imported by the Governor for the purpose of equipping these hospitals. Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information Charles Udoh while briefing newsmen last year on this development had hinted that about 16 containers of medical equipment had already arrived Akwa Ibom State and these medical equipment and deliverables were distributed to these public hospitals immediately after the reconstruction in line with their peculiar needs.

    Other bold and audacious moves made by the Governor Emmanuel administration in the Akwa Ibom State health sector include payment of Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) to Medical and Dental practitioners in the state with effect from June 2015, sustaining the Free medical services for children below 5 years, pregnant women & the aged, as well as throwing her weight behind the Continuing Professional development for Doctors which is a mandatory requirement by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. This development, I understand, is a prerequisite for the annual renewal of license to practice.

    Governor Emmanuel led administration has extended his efforts at transforming the Akwa Ibom state Health sector to reach institutions saddled with the responsibility of training manpower for the health sector with the distribution of various intervention items and as well as provision of basic amenities to the various schools of Nursing and well as Schools of Midwifery in the State.

    Just last week, the quaternary health facility in Akwa Ibom State, the Ibom Special Hospital had recorded a major feat in her operations with a successful neurosurgery carried out in the hospital.

    It looks to me that Governor Udom Emmanuel clearly understands how a functional healthcare delivery sector fits into the larger picture of the socio-economic standing of the people he is privileged to govern. This thinking is strengthened by the fact the Governor was recently quoted to have said that the huge resources his administration was channeling into the results-oriented task of improving the State healthcare delivery sector is not an expense but an investment on the people whose mandate he holds in trust.

    Let’s face it. Through these audacious moves in the State’s health sector, Governor Emmanuel is only providing an insurance of some sort to the people of Akwa Ibom since all his efforts at wealth creation, job availability, infrastructural expansion and poverty alleviation, will make no meaning without a healthy population people to enjoy them.

    Borono Bassey, a Public Affairs analyst, wrote in from Uyo.

     

  • Manufacturers advice against EU-ECOWAS economic partnership agreement

    Chairman of the Cross River/Akwa Ibom State branch of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Engr Giandomenico Massari, has advised the Federal Government against signing the European Union-Economic Community of West African States (EU-ECOWAS) Economic Partnership Agreement and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.

    Speaking at the 11th Annual General Meeting of the association in Calabar, Massari said the agreement, is aimed at opening the doors for influx of European products at the expense of made in Nigeria goods.

    Massari urged governments at the states and federal levels patronize made in Nigeria goods in order to grow the economy faster.

    “We hope that states and federal governments will make it a policy to buy Nigeria and grow the industries, the economy and indeed the naira. We as manufacturers understand the association have a commitment to quality and high standards as can be attested to by SON, who we have graciously invited to speak to us today, NAFDAC and other regulatory agencies.

    “We use this medium to appeal to his Excellencies to always reach others to man when policies that have direct bearing on the manufacturing sector and the economy are being designed as well have the wealth of experience and have demonstrated commitment to work with government in developing a viable economy and make Cross River and Akwa Ibom states the preferred destinations for investors in Nigeria. We also request that members of the association be put in boards of departments and agencies in the states so as to bring to bear their expertise in growing the states as is done at the federal level and some other states,” Massari said.

    The President of MAN, Dr Frank Udemba Jacobs, urged state governments to set a minimum percentage threshold for government purchases of made in Nigeria products.

    Jacobs pointed out that at the federal level, a 40 percent minimum threshold of purchases has been fixed for SMEs through Executive Order One.

    He also called on them to give an acceptable 35 per cent margin of preference in terms of price consideration for those products as against foreign ones.

    This, he said, would mean that even if local products cost a little more than foreign made ones, the local ones should be patronized within the set margin of preference.

    He urged the state governments to patronize made in Nigeria products as government remains the largest single spender in the economy and could drive industrial development and economic growth by increasing its patronage of locally made products.

    “It is an established fact that when we buy foreign goods, we pay the returns to factors used in producing them in the originating countries. That is to say we pay wages, rent, interest and profit to foreign countries with our local resources. On the other hand, greater patronage of made in Nigeria product would enhance the manufacturing sector, and this would result in increased revenue to government through taxes, employment creation, reduction in antisocial vices as well as peace for the populace of the state,” he said.

  • Police smash six-man robbery gang in A’Ibom

     

    The police in Akwa Ibom State have arrested four members of a-six-man robbery gang.

    The suspects were alleged to have robbed customers of a new generation bank of the sum of N3.2million.

    Those nabbed include Aniefiok Sunday (29), Remembrance ObIke (35) Obe Awa (29), and Benjamin Emeka(29).

    When interrogated, Sunday, one of the suspects said said, ‘we to go to a bank and observe somebody who will come out with money and we pass the information on to our members outside to attack the person.

    “We have robbed the bank on two occasions before I was detected on that day. We didn’t kill’’.

    Another member of the gang, Obike explained that the security officers attached to bank identified them during a fresh operation and they were immediately arrested, admitting that they were informants to a-six-man gang of robbers who specializes in trailing and robbing customers withdrawing hefty sum from the bank.

    ‘’On February 6, we got to Uyo and we went to the bank and one of the security officers saw my colleague and followed him and held him. When I came in, they also held me. I am informant to Obe and Emeka. The CCTV noticed him (Sunday) during the last bank robbery’’, he said.

    Read Also: Police to domesticate community in Enugu

    Obe, a graduate of Business Administration and Management, River State Polytechnic lamented that he was driven into armed robbery because of joblessness and lack of money to take care of his pregnant wife.

    He lamented: ‘’ we are robbers. Two of our members were arrested in Uyo and they brought the Police to Port Harcourt to arrest me.  We are six and the remaining two persons have escaped. We have robbed banks in Port Harcourt and Uyo.  I handled one of the AK 47 and our major aim is not kill the person but to collect the money and go. I am into armed robbery because I lost my job, that is why I joined and my wife is pregnant but she doesn’t know that I am a robber’’.

    Similarly, Emeka confessed that he was lured into the illicit trade by his friend at large and that he was arrested in Umuahia while enjoying his loots.

    Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Odiko Macdon , a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said Sunday and Obike led the Police crack team to Port Harcourt and Umuahia respectively ,where Obe and Emeka were nabbed ,while their kingpin simply identified as Elder bolted away, but assured that the Police  were on his trails and would soon pick him up to face the music.

    The Police spokesman warned criminals to steer clear of the state as the Police were determined to make the environment not conducive for them to operate, with a view to making the state a haven for the indigenes and visitors alike to carry out their businesses.

  • Passionate governor with sport-full medals

    The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel is one of the few passionate Governors who have shown tangible commitment to youth development through sports. On assumption of office over two years ago, many thought the coming of this financial guru will mark a death kneal to the magnificent Godswill Akpabio International Stadium and also kill the vision of sports activities in the State because of his background. Today, the Governor has fulfilled part of his inaugural promises, which was, “To leverage and build on the Uncommon Transformation of the Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio’s administration.”

    Governor Emmanuel’s passion for sports development is second to no other State Governor in the country. As soon as Mr. Emmanuel dotted his leadership seat at the Hilltop Mansion, his first port of call was the State football team where he diagnosed, analyzed, and proffered a therapy for the sickening state team. Today, serial victories recorded by Akwa United Football Club are testimonials to the Governor’s magic in the sports subsector.

    Within the Governor’s two years in office, Akwa United FC have become two times winner of AITEO cup, and fully participating in the on going continental competition. Through Governor Emmanuel’s support, Team Akwa Ibom finished 2nd on the medals table at the 2017 National Sports FESTIVAL; and Ibom Angels emerged first runner-up in the 2017 Nigeria Female FA Cup. That was the first time a female team from the state qualified for the finals of a major national competition.

    Governor Udom Emmanuel is currently undertaking construction of ten sports centres in the ten federal constituencies of the state. One of the centres as currently implemented would be an international stadium. The first of the ten stadia at West Itam Secondary School, Itu LGA was commissioned in May 2016 during the Governor’s first year in office. The second centre at Ikot Mbong, Onna LGA has reached advanced level of completion. Eight others are at different levels of construction.

    Worthy of note is that under Governor Udom Emmanuel, Akwa Ibom State hosted all home qualifier matches played by the Super Eagles in the build up to Russia 2018 World Cup. The support the people and government of Akwa Ibom gave the national team during those matches were significant motivators to the successes recorded by  National team.

    Last year, the Governor said “Akwa Ibom won’t wait for anyone; we want to make sure that this state produces future champions and I only want people to give us 7 years, we will be ready.

    “Come to think of it, if champions are not hatched in the Nest of Champions- The Godswill Obot Akpabio Stadium where else can they possibly be hatched? This administration sees sports development as a valuable gift to our children and youth. We know that when we expose them to the best sporting facilities at an early age, we have given them wings to soar and the sky can only be the limit. Such thinking gave vent to the establishment of sporting centres in each of the ten Federal constituencies of the State by my administration”.

    Another exciting programme in Governor Udom Emmanuel’s sports rebirth is the State Youth Sports Festival (AKSYSF). The programme which started in 2017 afforded pupils and students from the 31 Local Government Areas opportunities to participate in sporting activities of their choosing. The 2018 edition of AKSYSF which ended on Saturday, 10 March 2018, attracted 15,000 athletes, all from primary and secondary schools in the State. Twenty-three (23) sports, athletics, badminton, baseball/softball, basketball, boxing, chess, cricket, cycling, football, handball, judo, karate, kung-fu and traditional boxing (Mbok), scrabble, squash rackets, special sports, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling, were up for competition. Paralympics was a special feature during the festival.

    In his remarks at the opening of the second edition of the festival, Governor Emmanuel said his administration “will not rest until [it] gives the world another Serena Williams. Let us not rest until stars in the mould of Lionel Messi, Christiano Ronaldo, Lebron James and Usain Bolt are discovered here in Akwa Ibom. That is not impossible. They are all here, and it is our challenge to fish them out. If we do our part as we are doing, I have the faith and belief that going forward; no Nigerian National team will be complete without an Akwa Ibom child.”

    That emboldening statement re-echoed the commitment of the Governor to take the attention of Akwa Ibom youth away from politics to greater self development in sports.

    Governor Udom Emmanuel’s commitment to sports development has attracted the attention of sports stakeholders and lovers in Nigeria to Akwa Ibom State. That attention earned the Governor a unanimous vote as the Sports Governor of the Year at the 2017 Nigerian Sports Award held in Lagos State.

    More so, Akwa Ibom State has received the 3 Diamond National Sports Summit Awards 2017 by the Federal Ministry of Sports. The state won that award for having the Most Comprehensive Sport Development Programme in Nigeria 2017; being the state with the Best Sports Infrastructure in Nigeria 2017 and the Most Patriotic Sports Supporters in Nigeria.

    Spokesperson for the state, and Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Charles Udoh, said government investment in sports is aimed to redirect sports tourism in Africa to Akwa Ibom State.

    “Government is spending so much money on Sports because he wants to alleviate poverty, create jobs and wealth for youths in the state and beyond.”

    Governor Udom Emmanuel’s passion for sports development is right, hence giving Akwa Ibom State a place in the world’s most sought sports destinations is possible.

  • Wike alleges plot by FG to use INEC to rig 2019 elections

    Wike alleges plot by FG to use INEC to rig 2019 elections

    Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has alleged plot by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to print illegal gubernatorial ballot papers for three South-south states ahead of the 2019 elections.

    Wike made the allegation  in Port Harcourt,  the state capital today when he received a letter of nomination as “Independent Newspapers  Political Icon of the Year 2017.

    The state he named are Rivers, Delta and Akwa Ibom states.

    According to him in the alleged plan, certain newly registered political parties would be deliberately excluded in the illegal ballot papers for the three states to serve as reason to nullify the elections of the three states and schedule a rerun.

    Quoting what he described as credible intelligence report available to the State Government said, the indiscriminate registration of new political parties by INEC is for just to serve this purpose.

    Wike said,  “All the the mass registration of new political parties is a deliberate plan by INEC to manipulate elections in three states.

    “Rivers State, Akwa Ibom and Delta States have been earmarked for the printing of ballot papers where some newly registered political parties will be excluded as a ground for the  nullification of the elections by the tribunal.

    “After the nullification by the tribunal as planned, EFCC  will be used by the APC Federal Government  to arrest the three governors, so that they will not be around during the repeat elections.”

    The governor also alleged that the second strategy of the APC Federal Government is to use security agencies to unleash vicious violence on the day of the governorship elections in the three states to facilitate cancellation by INEC.

    Read Also:  Wike  signs 2018 budget

    He noted that the entire struggle to hold the Presidential election ahead of other elections is one of the schemes at rigging the polls.

    Governor Wike said that the APC Federal Government has performed woefully, hence they have nothing on ground  to campaign with, except to use INEC and Security Agencies to rig.

    “APC is not a political party in the true sense of the word.  It is a congregation of people who did not want Former President Goodluck Jonathan to continue in office for personal reasons.

    “The fight against Jonathan was not  in the interest of Nigeria.  They have realised their mistakes, but they lack the  courage to apologise because of their ego. If you move around, you will  see that things are bad.” he said.

    He urged journalists to take up the responsibility of explaining to Nigerians the need to elect a credible Federal Government in 2019.

    Earlier, the Managing Director of Independent Newspaper, Ade Adigun said that the newspaper nominated the governor as the Political Icon of the Year 2017 because of his commitment to the development of true democracy.

    He commended him for his contributions to the revival of PDP as a viable opposition in the country.

  • FG’s non-refund of N140billion hampering road projects in A’Ibom

    FG’s non-refund of N140billion hampering road projects in A’Ibom

     

    The continued delay by the federal government to remit N140 billion spent by the Akwa Ibom State government on federal roads in the state has affected the number of roads that would been executed in the state.

    State Commissioner for Works, Mr. Ephraim Inyang-Eyen told reporters yesterday in Uyo that the FG owes Akwa Ibom state not less than N140billion being amount expended by the state government on the construction and rehabilitation of federal roads in the state.

    He said the Governor Udom Emmanuel administration is currently handling 44 major road projects across the state despite the huge amount owed by the FG.

    The works commissioner stressed that the non-refund of the whooping sum has negatively affected the pace of work and number of roads that would have been done across the length and breadth of the state.

    Read Also: Police nab 16 cultists, seven child traffickers in A‘Ibom

    His words, “We are currently doing 44 roads in Akwa Ibom. If the federal government had refunded even a kobo to us, we would have done 80.

    “The federal government is owing us in the region of N140billion. And from genuine approvals and verified positions, they came to the conclusion that in the first tranche, they will give us N70 billion as the first payment.

    ” They (FG) also said that at the completion and verification as the other jobs are ongoing they will pay us the balance but as we sit today, the FG has not refunded any money, not even a dime to the Akwa Ibom state government.

    “But we are hopeful. His Excellency the Governor keeps getting promises and assurances from Abuja that he would be paid but as at today, nothing yet”.

    Inyang-eyen said the achievements recorded by the administration in roads infrastructure and other key areas was due to Governor Emmanuel’s prudence in the management of the lean resources which accrues to the state.

    He said the state government has rehabilitated 45 internal roads in Uyo, the state capital, 8 in Oron and Eket adding that such interventions have been extended to other local government areas in the state.

     

  • Senators, Reps exchange blows in Akpabio’s house ahead of convention

    Senators, Reps exchange blows in Akpabio’s house ahead of convention

    Ahead of the National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), members of the National Assembly caucus of the party on Thursday night exchanged blows at the residence of a former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio, over the choice of the next national chairman of the party.

    Akpabio, who is the Minority Leader in the Senate, had convened a session on how to keep the party united and ensure a rancour-free convention.

    The session was also meant to allow the National Assembly Caucus to interact with all the aspirants of the party.

    The fracas occurred at the residence of Akpabio in Asokoro District, Abuja.

    A top source, who was at the meeting, said: “The Senate Minority Leader convened the session in his house to enable us interact with all the aspirants on their programmes and form our opinion on who to vote for.

    “We were barely settling down for the session when some members of the House of Representatives raised issues concerning some aspirants for the office of the National Chairman and others disagreed.

    “The development led to shouting match and fisticuffs among some Senators and members of the House of Representatives.

    “The rowdy session was witnessed by the Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, and some of the aspirants in attendance, including a leading candidate, Prince Uche Secondus.”

    Another source at the meeting said: “The meeting ended abruptly when some lawmakers started exchanging blows over who should lead the party.

    “I think the clash was a carry-over of some political misunderstanding among some members of the National Assembly in some states over the choice of chairman for PDP. But we all bore the brunt of the fisticuffs.”

    A member of the House of Representatives, who was hit at the session, said: “I think some of our colleagues at the session were just being overzealous by taking sides. They misread the intent of what we were to do.

    “The assumption was that the session was meant to adopt a candidate for the Office of National Chairman of PDP.”

    When contacted, Akpabio’s spokesman, Mr. Jackson Udom, said: “Why can’t you get in touch with the Senate Minority Leader himself? I do not speak on party matters.”

    The chairmanship candidates are a former Acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus; a former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran; a former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George; a former Minister of Sports, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja; a former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; a media mogul, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi; and Aderemi Olusegun.