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Tag: Bauchi

  • Bauchi gets new judge

    Governor Mohammed Abubakar has sworn in Justice Adamu Muhammad Kafin Madaki as a judge of Bauchi State.

    He expressed his administration’s readiness to establish more high court divisions.

    This, he said, would ease the administration of justice in the state.

    According to him, the judiciary occupies an important place in the presidential system of government in the country.

    A statement by the governor’s Press Secretary Abubakar Al-Sadique quoted Abubakar as saying that the  administration attaches priority to the Judiciary because it is the institution that arbitrates between the Executive and Legislature, while serving as the last hope of the common man.

    “That explains why a judge must be a person of high moral value and should possess all the qualities expected of a good leader. I am happy that the person we are swearing possess these qualities and a good understanding of the Judiciary, having served as a Magistrate and Chief Registrar,” the governor said.

    Abubakar said his government is determined to provide the necessary facilities needed to create conducive working environment for Judicial officers to perform their duty effectively and timeously. He urged judicial officers to continue to uphold the virtues of the profession and continue their support to government as it strives to improve the administration of justice in the state.

    Meanwhile, the governor has urged workers in the state to adopt the modern concept of unionism where dialogue is emphasised as against industrial action in resolving industrial disputes.

    The governor made this appeal in an address during the celebration of workers’ day in the state. He appreciated the state chapter of the Organised Labour for maintaining good rapport with the state government.

    “Governor Abubakar appealed to the Nigerian Labour Congress and workers to ensure that the rapport and cooperation continued in the interest of the state, while his administration it strives to serve the people in the face of paucity of resources.

    He lamented that about N16 billion was handed over to his administration as outstanding gratuity when he assumed office in 2015, saying measures had to be put in place that ensured the stabilisation of salaries and prompt payment of pension while cutting down all unnecessary expenditure.

    “Through these measures we have succeeded in entrenching accountability and transparency which are the hallmark of good governance,” the governor stressed.

    “When after payment of the Paris Club repayment by the Federal government and payment of outstanding salaries I set aside money to commence repayment of those gratuities, a whoping  N26.3 billion was given to me,” the governor revealed.

    Abubakar said workers’ day presents an opportunity for workers in the public and private sectors to unite and reiterate their commitment to their employers with assurance of participating in the crusade against corruption, indolence and all other vices, with a view to charting out a new course.

    The governor said the challenge of workers is to emulate the good virtues of the civil service and return to the “good old days where discipline was the order of the day and issues of concern between employers and their employees were discussed and resolved amicably” without workers resorting to industrial action.

    The governor added that industrial action is inimical to the development of the country as valuable man hours are lost which translates to loss of millions of naira.

     

  • Bauchi can’t pay N66,500 minimum wage, says governor

    Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abubakar yesterday declared that the state cannot afford to pay the proposed N66,500 minimum wage to its workers.

    But the governor was quick to add that “unless the federal allocation to state increases” as demanded by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

    Abubakar spoke at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi, where workers gathered to mark the 2018 Workers’ Day.

    The governor, who said the state generates little revenue, noted that “unless there is an upward review of the monthly allocation from the Federal Government Bauchi State cannot meet the demand for an increase of salary of workers”.

    He appealed to NLC to call for the upward review of monthly allocation, not only to Bauchi State alone, but to all states of the federation.

     

  • Bauchi to prosecute bond defaulting doctors

    Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar has said the  state will soon take a legal action against doctors, who undertook their medical training on bond without fulfilling the terms.

    A statement by his press secretary, Abubakar Al-Sadique, said the governor spoke while receiving members of the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association  (NMA), who visited him a  as part of events marking this year’s World Malaria Day.

    The governor lamented that scarce public resources were used to train doctors, most of whom were from poor families.

    He said many left the state without serving out their bonds, a reason, which he said, contributed to the paucity of qualified manpower to serve the increasing Bauchi population.

    While explaining that health has been a focal point of his administration, which resulted in the allocation of over 15 per cent of what was agreed in the Abuja declaration, the governor revealed that plans are underway to pay medical and health workers’ emoluments that will not only retain them, but attract others from neighboring states.

    “We are in the process of creating an agency that will be saddled with the responsibility of promoting hygiene and environmental sanitation, just as we empaneled a committee for the re-establishment of drainages in the state capital all of which targets prevention of the prevalence of malaria,” the governor said.

    The statement said since the assumption of office, Governor Abubakar’s administration has focused on preventive health, which included the construction of 19 primary healthcare centres in order to eliminate preventive diseases like malaria fever.

    NMA chairman, Dr Abdullahi Sani Giade said the World Malaria day was marked to sensitise the public on the dangers of malaria, especially to the people of the Third World countries.

    He said 60 per cent of death of children under the age of five result from malaria, adding that the disease claims one life every two minutes.

    The NMA chairman praised the governor for several critical interventions in the health sector, particularly allocating over 15 percent of the state’s appropriation since in 2015.

  • FRSC blames construction companies for road accidents

    The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps ( FRSC ), Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, has expressed worry over the high rate of accidents at road construction sites in the country.

    Speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Monday, Oyeyemi said that most of the accidents were caused by lack of traffic signs at diversion points in construction areas.

    “We have been having problems with the construction companies, and we have taken this up with the Minister ( Power, Works and Housing ).

    “The major problem is at diversions; we lost 22 people on the Lagos-Ibadan road just two days and 25 people recently.

    “The crash that happened between Bauchi and Kano on Feb. 13, in which school children died, was also at a diversion point in a construction area.

    “I will step up my meeting with the minister to ensure that these construction companies comply with the statutory mandate of ensuring appropriate signage in construction areas,’’ he said.

    However, Oyeyemi said that the Corps had recorded about 70 per cent compliance by commercial vehicle owners with installation of speed limiting device, whose enforcement started on Feb. 1, 2017.

    According to him, most of the local assembly plants had complied with the policy by installing the device in vehicles being produced at the factory.

    He commended the National Automotive Design and Development Council and the Dangote Group for complying with the policy.

    He said, “The only thing remaining now is to get the full buy-in of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, and we are almost at the last stage.

    “The essence of this is to cut down the rate of crashes. Notwithstanding, we have made provision in our budget this year to buy more radar guns and focus on private vehicles.’’

    Read Also: FRSC advises passengers to caution reckless drivers

    Oyeyemi stated that although accidents involving commercial vehicles had dropped, their fatality rates had remained “a bit high’’ due to the large number of people involved.

    “We are having more problems now with the private vehicles than commercial ones. The assault level is more with the private vehicles.

    “That is why we have so many court cases now; we have taken them to court, and will continue to do that.

    “We currently have about 201 mobile courts, but I am writing to the Chief Judges of the states; we want to increase it to about 300 by the end of the year so that mobile courts can be sitting every day.

    “We are not a revenue-generating agency; our aim is to deter. So, if we prosecute you now, and you are jailed for one week, it is enough for me.

    “The fine is not the issue but the attitudinal change for it to be useful to the country,’’ he added.

    NAN

  • Assets declaration: CCT convicts 16 defaulters in Bauchi

    The Code of Conduct Tribunal ( CCT ) in Bauchi has convicted 16 civil servants and political office holders found guilty of non-declaration of assests.

    Mallam Ibrahim Alhassan, the Head of Press and Public Relations of the CCT disclosed this in an interview with the newsmen on Thursday in Bauch

    He said the convicted persons failed to submit a written declaration of all their assets and liabilities within the prescribed period of three months that violated various provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.

    Alhassan said that the action was contrary to paragraph 11( 1 ) of the Fifth Schedules, Part One of the Constitution, punishable under Paragraph 18( 2 ) of the Fifth Schedule.

    He said out there was a total of 55 defaulters out of which 16 persons were convicted.

    “The Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar gave a fine of N5, 000 to N30,000  fine to the convicted defaulters and  ordered that the fine be paid within 30 days.

    Read Also: Buhari vists Bauchi on Thursday

    “Failure to remit the fines within the stipulated 30 days will cause the convicts to vacate their positions as state government staff or political office holder.

    ‎”At the instance of the prosecution the tribunal withdrew charges against 12 persons that appeared before the tribunal while 10 defaulters were absent in the tribunal.

    “Therefore, 27 cases were adjourned to Abuja on different dates.

    “Some of the defaulters were cautioned and given second chance due to the factors surrounding their inability to declare their assets,” he said

    The newsmen reports that of the 55 defaulters, 18 are political appointees,10 police officers, four NDLEA personnel, one Customs officer and 22 career civil servants working with the Local, State and Federal Governments.

    NAN

  • Buhari for Bauchi

    President Muhammadu Buhari will visit Bauchi State on Thursday.

    He is expected to launch 500 tractors and roads built by the Mohammed Abubakar-led administration.

    Commissioner for Information Ibrahim Sade, who spoke yesterday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat, said each benefiting farmer will deposit 10 per cent down payment of N15 million, which is the cost of each tractor.

    Some of the roads to be inaugurated are within Bauchi metropolis, while some are at Azare and Misau local government areas.

    This is the first time Buhari will be visiting Bauchi, a place he regards as his second home, since his election in 2015.

  • NiMet predicts cloudy weather for Tuesday

    The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted cloudy weather conditions over the Central States on Tuesday morning.

    NiMet’s Weather Outlook by its Central Forecast Office in Abuja on Monday, also predicted day and night temperatures in the range of 29 to 40 and 17 to 28 degrees Celsius, respectively.

    According to NiMet, there are chances of localised thunderstorms over Abuja, Lafia, Yola, Bauchi, Ilorin and Mambilla plateau, during the afternoon and evening hours

    The agency predicted that the southern states would experience cloudy conditions over both inland and coastal cities with chances of localised thunderstorms over Calabar and Port-Harcourt in the morning.

    It also predicted prospects of isolated thunderstorms over Lagos, Ibadan, Abakaliki, Obudu, Calabar and Port-Harcourt with day and night temperatures of 32 to 35 and 22 to 25 degrees Celsius, respectively.

    According to NiMet, Northern States will experience partly cloudy to cloudy conditions with localised thunderstorms over Southern Borno, Gombe, Kano, Kaduna and Gusau.

    “Northern states are expected to have day and night temperatures in the ranges of 39 to 42 and 26 to 29 degrees Celsius, respectively.

    “As more moisture influx is expected in the country, partly cloudy to cloudy conditions are expected over the extreme northern cities.

    “There are chances of isolated thunderstorms over some parts of northern states down to the southern cities in the next 24 hours,” NiMet predicts.

    NAN

  • NiMet predicts cloudy weather for Tuesday

    The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted cloudy weather conditions over the Central States on Tuesday morning.

    NiMet’s Weather Outlook by its Central Forecast Office in Abuja on Monday also predicted day and night temperatures in the range of 29 to 40 and 17 to 28 degrees Celsius, respectively.

    According to NiMet, there are chances of localised thunderstorms over Abuja, Lafia, Yola, Bauchi, Ilorin and Mambilla plateau, during the afternoon and evening hours

    The agency predicted that the southern states would experience cloudy conditions over both inland and coastal cities with chances of localised thunderstorms over Calabar and Port-Harcourt in the morning.

    It also predicted prospects of isolated thunderstorms over Lagos, Ibadan, Abakaliki, Obudu, Calabar and Port-Harcourt with day and night temperatures of 32 to 35 and 22 to 25 degrees Celsius, respectively.

    According to NiMet, Northern States will experience partly cloudy to cloudy conditions with localised thunderstorms over Southern Borno, Gombe, Kano, Kaduna and Gusau.

    “Northern states are expected to have day and night temperatures in the ranges of 39 to 42 and 26 to 29 degrees Celsius, respectively.

    “As more moisture influx is expected in the country, partly cloudy to cloudy conditions are expected over the extreme northern cities.

    “There are chances of isolated thunderstorms over some parts of northern states down to the southern cities in the next 24 hours,” NiMet predicts.

    Read Also: NiMet predicts cloudy, dust haze weather for Tuesday

  • Police recover arms in Bauchi

    •Govt poised to eradicate polio

    The Bauchi State Police Command has said it recovered 83 assorted illegal arms and 702 live ammunitions from suspected criminals and volunteers.

    The spokesperson, Kamal Datti Abubakar, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police Sanusi Lemu, said “the recovery of arms from volunteers followed the directive of the Inspector-General of Police (IG) Ibrahim Idris to mop up illegal arms.

    He said: “Among arms recovered are 30 Sk-47; one AK-49 rifle; 20 fabricated Dane guns; five single barrel guns; two double barrel guns and four pump action guns.

    “Others are a K2 rifle; 20 pistols; 702 live ammunitions and 70 cartridges.

    “The IG’s Monitoring unit and Alhaji Ali Kwarra, a hunter, engaged three suspected robbers at MalaDumba Forest, Misau, and killed them.

    “Arms recovered from the robbers are three AK-47 riffles; a locally-fabricated double barrel gun; 210 live ammunitions of 7.62 calibre; six cartridges of double barrel gun and three empty magazines of AK-47.

    “Also recovered are a Golf 3 (AH 471 GWA), suspected to be their operational vehicle; a cutlass; two pairs of police camouflage uniforms and N16,900.”

    Governor Mohammed Abubakar has directed local government chairmen, traditional and religious leaders to strengthen the resolve to eradicate polio in the state.

    Abubakar, who spoke yesterday at the Government House in Bauchi, when he kicked off the April 2018 Round of Polio Immunization, said his government will remain focused and alive to its responsibility, especially in delivering effective healthcare services.

    The governor reiterated that health care delivery remains a key priority of his regime, hence the allocation of 16 per cent of the 2018 budget to health and other interventions, as well as the timely release of counterpart funds for polio eradication.

    This, he said, is besides the five-point health agenda which the government is executing by renovating and re-equipping hospitals and other health facilities, introduction of free drugs, essentially for women and children under five.

  • Police, hunter kill three robbers, recover 83 illegal arms in Bauchi

    The Inspector-General of Police ( IGP ) Monitoring Squad in collaboration with a renown Hunter, Ali Kwara, has killed three suspected armed robbers in Bauchi.

    ‎The Public Relations Officer of the Police Command in the state, DSP Kamal Datti, said in a statement on Tuesday in Bauchi that the robbers were killed during a shootout.

    ‎ “A combined team of IGP Monitoring Unit in conjunction with Bauchi renown hunter, Ali Kwara, trailed three suspected armed robbers to Maladunba forest in Misau Local Government Area while planning to attack unsuspecting members of the public.

    ‎”On sighting the team, the suspects engaged them on a fierce shootout which lasted for some minutes.

    “As a result, the three suspected armed robbers sustained fatal injuries and were taken to General Hospital, Misau, and the medical doctor on duty certified them dead,” Datti said.

    ‎According to him, three AK47 rifles; one locally fabricated double barrel gun; 210 live ammunition of 7.62mm calibre; six cartridges and six empty AK47 riffles magazines were recovered from the suspects.

    ‎”Other exhibits recovered from the suspects were: a silver-coloured Golf 3 Station Wagon with registration number AH 471 GWA; one cutlass; two pairs of police uniform and N16,900,” Datti said.

    ‎The police spokesman said that investigation into the matter had begun.

    ‎He also said that the command had recovered illegal firearms and ammunition from‎ bandits and other suspects across the state.

    “The illegal arms recovery‎ was a concerted effort following the 21-day ultimatum given by the Inspector-General Of Police ( IGP ), Ibrahim Idris, in February.

    Read Also: Police recovers arms, ammunitions in Bauchi

    ‎”The order which was extended to April 30,2018 directed individuals and groups in possession of prohibited and illegal‎ firearms to surrender them to Commissioners of Police in the states,” Datti said.

    ‎He said the commissioners of police in the states and the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT ) were also dire‎cted to set up a Joint Task Enforcement Teams to mop up, seize and recover all illegal arms from wrong hands.

    ‎” In compliance with IGP directives, the Commissioner of Police Bauchi State,Mr Sanusi Lemu, inaugurated Police Joint Task Enforcement Team.

    ‎”Consequently, the command has so far successfully recovered a total of 83 prohibited/illegal firearms and 702 live ammunition from suspected criminals and persons that voluntarily surrendered their firearms to the command,”he said.

    ‎The Police Spokesman also disclosed that the arms recovered ‎were; 30 AK47 rifles, one AK49 rifle, five single barrel guns, 20 fabricated guns and two double barrel guns.

    ‎”Other arms recovered include; four pump action guns, one K2 rifle, 20 pistols, 702 live ammunition and 70 cartridges,” he said.

    NAN