The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Bauchi

  • Photo: Children’s day celebrations in Nigeria

    Photo: Children’s day celebrations in Nigeria

  • Insecurity: Jonathan blames governors

    Insecurity: Jonathan blames governors

    President Goodluck Jonathan has taken a swipe at governors of states plagued with insecurity in the North East part of the country accusing them of failing in their duties.

    Apparently referring to Governor Kashim  Shettima of Borno State and Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State, Jonathan at  the  North East Zonal Rally of the PDP in Bauchi on Saturday,  Jonathan said it was wrong for the governors to blame the federal governor for the situation in the states.

    He however noted that the Federal Government will not rest on its oars in bringing an end to the insurgency in the region.

    “It is shameful for a governor who has stayed in power in his state for up to six years or more to come to me and talk about bad leadership when you have youths in your state that more than half have not attended primary and you are doing nothing about it.

    “State Governors should be ashamed when our children do not go to primary and secondary schools and they decided to carry arms. We had insecurity challenges in Bayelsa when I was deputy governor and later governor   and we handled them. It is not the duty of FG to send children to Primary and Secondary schools but it is the constitutional right of the Federal Government to make sure children attend tertiary institutions which we have done, “Jonathan said.

    The President said the situation in the North East is sad but assured that peace will be restored in the affected states soon.

    Speaking on the fortunes of the PDP come 2015, the President boasted that his party will surely reclaim Adamawa, retain Taraba and take over Borno and Yobe States.

    He noted that those claiming to be strong opposition in Adamawa state are only “leaving with one vote”.

    Other Speakers who spoke at the zonal rally acknowledged the insecurity in the region.

    The National Chairman of the PDP Ahmadu Adamu Muazu called on the aspirants in the party to go back to their villages and solicit for their mandate, stressing that there is no God Father in PDP today. Only the God of Adam and Eve that can give you power.

  • Bauchi to generate 2,000mw by 2017

    Bauchi to generate 2,000mw by 2017

    Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda said yesterday the state would generate 1,000 – 2,000 megawatts in the next three years.

    He spoke in Abuja when he received a licence for the state-owned Yankari Power Company Limited to generate 35 megwatts from the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

    The governor said the 35-megawatt project would be completion in the next three months.

    Asked about funding, the governor said the state was a beneficiary in the $1.6 billion loan the Federal Government secured from the China-Exim Bank.

    He said the state would get $200 million from the China-Exim Bank facility to generate 120 megawatts, adding the state would also access a loan from the Bank of Industry (BOI).

    “I am happy to announce that the Federal Government has graciously accommodated this project in its funding arrangements with the China Exim Bank.

    “We are one of the beneficiaries of the $1.6billion facility from the bank. This will be for 35 years.

    “We are also looking for the counterpart funding from the Bank of Industry for the electricity intervention fund provided by Mr. President. Sovereign Guarantee has been provided.

    “With the equity that the Bauchi State government has already provided, it is sufficient for the beginning to the end of the first phase of the power plant.

    “On the issue of gas, this power plant will not run on only gas, it can run on crude oil, it can run on LPFO. So, we have other options. If gas cannot fix it, LPFO can fix it, if LPFO cannot fix it, crude oil can fix it.

    “And we have so many sources. I want to also add that we have gas in Yankari Basin extending to Gombe. There is a well with 30 billion cubic feet of gas.”

    The plant is located at Gundu Industrial Layout, Bauchi. The power generated from the plant is to be evacuated into the distribution network operated by the Jos Electricity Distribution Company.

    The parties have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding, which provides the framework for the collaboration between the parties for the connection of the IPP to the distribution network.

  • Immigration Recruitment: One dead, two hospitalised in Bauchi

    Nigeria Immigration Service in Bauchi on Monday officially confirmed that one person died and two others were on admission at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.

    State Comptroller of Immigration, Ejukwule Usman disclosed this on Monday while talking to reporters in his Federal secretariat office in Bauchi

    He said the two casualties were responding to treatment at the hospital in the state capital.

    Usman opined that ” Mudashir Mohammed Ahmed , the only person that lost his life, at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, venue of the recruitment exercise, hails from Shira local government of Bauchi state”.

    The Comptroller however said ”the Service is yet to ascertain the cause of the death of Mudashir M Ahmed as there was no autopsy conducted on the body of the deceased before he was buried that same day according to Islamic rites”.

    The state Comptroller disclosed there were 9383 applicants out which Bauchi state had 8,883 applicants while Yobe had 500. The Yobe applicants had to come to Bauchi due to the insecurity in that state.

    But an unofficial source within the Service told our correspondent that the recruitment exercise in the state was poorly organized and some Immigration officials did not help matters as they even rough handled some applicants a situation that led to the stampede.

    “The problems we faced during the recruitment exercise in the state was due to very poor preparation. The command received a very short notice, for the exercise so we could not notify the applicants ahead of time”

    “Secondly, the command did not shortlist qualified candidates, instead it gave an open invitation to all the applicants and that was why there was a massive turnout that led to the stampede at the Stadium,” the source said.

  • Gunmen kidnap legislator in Bauchi

    The Bauchi State Police Command on Tuesday confirmed the kidnap of Alhaji Yusuf Nuhu, a member of the state House of Assembly, by unknown gunmen.

    The Spokesman of the command, Mr Haruna Mohammed, told newsmen in Bauchi that Nuhu, who represents Lame constituency in the House, was abducted on Monday night in Zalau village.

    Mohammed said that a police patrol team pursued the kidnappers into a forest on the boundary between Bauchi and Kaduna states.

    He said that the kidnappers abandoned their car when they realised they were being pursued by the police and took Nuhu into the forest.

    He said that the police had cordoned off the area and were searching for the kidnappers and their victim.

    Mohammed said that the car had been recovered, adding that eight rounds of ammunition were found in it.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nuhu is the latest victim of kidnapping in the state.

    It would be recalled that three health workers on polio vaccination exercise were abducted in Darazo town on March 2; two of the workers were later released.

    The third victim, Malam Ali Garba, is still being held by the abductors, even as the police command says its men are doing their best to free Garba from his abductors. (NAN)

  • Bauchi loses appeal in tax suit

    The Northeast Tax Appeal Tribunal sitting in Bauchi yesterday upheld the N427,627,849:61 million appeal filed by a telecommunications service provider, L.M. Ericsson, against the Bauchi State Internal Revenue Board.

    In a 47-minute judgment, Justice Halima Sa’adiya Mohammed, on behalf of the Tax Appeal Tribunal Chairman Justice Suleman Audu, said: ’’The respondent (Bauchi State Internal Revenue Board) has failed to prove satisfactorily that the appellant (L.M. Ericsson) maintained a presence in Bauchi, from 1998 to 2008.’’

    The tribunal upheld that ‘’the Best of Judgment (BoJ) raised against Ericsson does not conform to the requirement of the law, as such is a complete misrepresentation of facts.’’

    It also said “the appellant is only liable to pay tax to the respondent only from 2009 to 2011.’’

    The tribunal added: ‘’The purported assessment and Best of Judgment (BoJ) charged on the appellant from 1998 to 2008 has no basis in law and accordingly same is hereby dismissed.’’

    LM Ericsson, in an appeal dated February 14, last year, sued the board and asked the tribunal to declare that the respondent’s tax demand was unlawful.

  • Dry season farming creates job for Bauchi youths

    The dry season rice farming initiated by the Federal Government to boost rice production is already yielding positive results, in Bauchi State, a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey has shown.

    The survey showed that many youths, who before now travelled to the southern part of the country in search of menial jobs during the dry season, were now engaged in dry season farming in Bauchi, thereby having a stable means of livelihood.

    A correspondent of NAN who visited some of the farm sites at the weekend observed that the programme had provided job opportunities for youths in the state.

    Malam Yau Abdullahi, the Chairman, Zingiwa Rice Farmers Association in Gamawa Local Government Area, told NAN that the Zingiwa rice cluster had engaged about 50 youths, doing various kinds of job.

    Abdullahi said that the youths were engaged in farm clearing, watering, transplanting and weeding and were being paid between N700 and N1,000 daily, depending on the kind of job.

    Malam Abdulahi Usman, the Chairman of the local government’s branch of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), also said that so far, more than 1,000 jobs had been created in the area.

    “One hundred and thirty youths are working in my farm alone on a daily pay of between N700 and N800 each, where I am cultivating about 50 hectares of rice.

    “Sixteen others are employed as permanent staff,” Usman said.

    In a separate interview, Malam Auwalu Saidu, the Chairman of RIFAN in Itas-Gadau local government area, said that another set of 30 youths were engaged, 14 of them from Jigawa State.

    Some of the youths who spoke with NAN commended the Federal Government for initiating the programme, saying: “the programme has given us something to do.”

    Yau Sule, a labourer at Zingiwa cluster, said he made between N700 to N1,000 daily, doing various kinds of jobs.

    Sule said that during the dry season, most of the youths of the area usually travelled to other states, sometimes as far as the southern part of the country, in search of menial jobs.

    “But this year, many of us are gainfully engaged in rice farms making money, as many of us did not have to travel anywhere.

    “We have no reason to, since what usually takes us away from our homes is now available at our door step,” he said.

    The story is the same for Salisu Barde, who said he usually travelled to Port Harcourt or Ibadan during dry season in search of jobs.

    “With this development, I have no reason to go anywhere. Rice farming has filled in the gap. Now we are economically engaged during the rainy season as well as the dry season.

    “My dream is that someday, I will get my own permanent space to also participate in the dry season farming,” Barde said.

    Another beneficiary of the initiative, Malam Umaru Nahabu, a wash-bore maker in Rimi, Alkaleri local government area, said that the dry season rice farming had made wash- bore making business very lucrative.

    NAN reports that a wash-bore is a locally made borehole produced manually through digging of the soil with a sharp object to a certain depth that produces water for irrigation farming.

    “I charge N10, 000 per washbore and so far, I have drilled 30 of them in Rimi, making N300,000 in just a month, and there is still, a heavy demand for my service.

    “Dry season rice farming has really given me the needed opportunity to put my skills to proper use and make money. I really commend the Federal Government for the initiative,” Nahabu said.

  • Bauchi NAWOJ hails FG, commission on gay suit

    Bauchi State chapter of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists has hailed the Federal Government over the law banning same sex marriage, describing it as unnatural and immoral.

    The body also commended the Bauchi State Shariah Commission for its effort in tackling homosexual cases in the state.

    In a communiqué issued at the end of its quarterly congress held at NUJ Secretariat in Bauchi yesterday, NAWOJ noted that the seven suspected homosexuals arraigned by the Commission in Bauchi recently is a giant step to curb such ills in the society.

    NAWOJ, in strong terms, condemned same sex marriage in the country, saying ”it is against the teachings of Islam and Christianity, which are the major religions the majority of Nigerians profess.”

    The association further charged the commission to tackle diligently and seriously rape cases and severely punish any person found guilty of defiling, especially teenagers.

    It also thanked the state government for initiating policies and programmes that have impacted positively on the lives of youths and women in the state.

     

  • Police probe man’s death

    The police in Bauchi State are investigating the death of a robbery suspect in Dass Local Government.

    The suspect was reported to have died at the General Hospital in Dass, where he was receiving treatment.

    Police spokesman Haruna Mohammed said the matter was being investigated.

    It was gathered that the police discovered that the deceased was under the influence of drugs, which prompted officers to rush him to the hospital.

    According to information obtained from the police, Mutaka Adamu was arrested on January 14, following a complaint by Nuhu Haruna that Adamu and others allegedly stole his recharge cards worth N35,000.

    The suspect was arrested at about 7pm by Corporal Aminu Adamu and brought to the station in Dass for questioning.

    The body, according to the police spokesman, had been released to his relatives for burial.

  • 44 prison inmates set free to decongest Bauchi prison

    The Bauchi state Chief Judge Justice Ibrahim Mohammed Zango last Friday set free 44 inmates of the Bauchi Central Prison as part of steps to decongest prisons in the state.
    According to a statement by the Nigeria Prison Service Command’s Public Relations Officer, Abubakar Adam, “the freedom of the inmates followed the Chief Judge’s on- going review of minor cases of awaiting trial inmates who have stayed longer than necessary and without trial’’.
    The statement quoted Justice Zango as saying that prison congestion can cause security breach in the prisons, and assured that the exercise will be a continuing process.
    He urged stakeholders in criminal justice to fast-track the delivery of justice.
    Meanwhile the Bauchi state Controller of Prisons, Mallam Ado Ahmed has hailed the Chief Judge and other stakeholders for touching the lives of those less privileged inmates a positively.
    Ahmed disclosed that Bauchi prison has capacity to house only 500 inmates but currently accommodating 893 inmates a situation that is posing a serious security threat to prison.
    The Controller revealed that out of the 893, 723 inmates in the state, 81% of them are awaiting trials, while 170 [19%] are convicts.
    Ahmed also charged the freed inmates to be of good behavior.