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Tag: Deputy Governor

  • Deputy Governor: Kogi APC stakeholders move to replace Faleke

    Deputy Governor: Kogi APC stakeholders move to replace Faleke

    Following the refusal of Abiodun Faleke to accept the position of Deputy Governor, stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress in Kogi West have commenced process for his replacement.

    They also called on the Kogi State governor-elect, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, and the national leadership of the party to accept a replacement from them.

    While insisting on the supremacy of the APC leadership, the stakeholders in a communiqué yesterday in Abuja advised Bello to be careful of some political jobbers who have constituted a nuisance to APC in Kogi West.

    This was one of the resolutions of Kogi West APC after a meeting convened by a former Deputy governor of Kogi State, Clarence Olafemi and Senator Dino Melaye held in Lokoja.

    The resolutions were signed by over 40 members from Mopamuro, Kogi/Koto, Yagba East, Yagba West, Ijumu, Kabba/Bunu and Lokoja Local Government Areas of Kogi State.

    The signatories included Tope Ajayi (Mopamuro); Shaban Shuaibu (Kogi/Koto); Kayode Adebayo (Yagba East); Gbenga Azagun (Yagba West); Dolapo Abanida (Yagba West); Lamidi Salihu (Ijumu); P. O. Olorunfemi (Kabba/Bunu); and Alhaji Bala Salihu (Lokoja).

    The communiqué reads, “The unity among all the component elements of Kogi State is not negotiable and so also is the cordial relationship between Kogi Central and Kogi West Senatorial districts. The APC stakeholders in Kogi West have absolute confidence in the representation and leadership of Senator Dino Melaye.

    “Since Hon. Abiodun Faleke has made it abundantly clear that he does not want to be Deputy to governor-elect, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, we the APC stakeholders in Kogi West hereby appeal to the governor-elect and the party leadership to accept a replacement from the West, the process for which we are already embarking on.

    “We call on the party leadership and governor-elect to watch with keen interest and take appropriate action against the politicians who are political jobbers and who always cross-carpet from APC to Accord Party, to the Peoples Democratic Party and back to APC as they constitute themselves as nuisance to the APC in Kogi West and formed illegal stakeholders that are not known to the APC as a political party.”

    The stakeholders also congratulated the governor-elect and promised to cooperate with him to turn Kogi State around.

     

  • Appoint deputy governor as CBN governor, says Sanusi

    Appoint deputy governor as CBN governor, says Sanusi

    Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Chief Joseph Sanusi has urged the Federal Government to appoint one of the deputy governors of the bank as governor at the expiration of the tenure of the substantive governor.

    He spoke during the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC’s) second celebration of leadership excellence dinner  at  Orietal Hotel, Lagos. The institution celebrated two former CBN deputy governors, Mr Victor Odozie and Prof Kingsley Moghalu.

    Sanusi said only an experienced deputy governor who knows much about the tradition of the apex bank could carry its tradition to the next level.

    He urged the government to give the deputy governors of the bank priority in choosing any candidate to succeed governors of the bank.

    He said: “One thing about the CBN is the quality of people the bank always has as workers; they are not just any how persons but quality people who are used to the task. We are unhappy that the CBN  has not deemed it fit to allow experienced and qualified deputy governors to be appointed governor.

    “A situation where we make commercial bankers to head the deputy governors, is a thing to be looked into.

    “I believe the best thing is to bring people from outside at the level of deputy governor so that by the time they become governor, they would have imbibed the tradition of the Central Bank and I hope the government will appreciate the need for experienced hands for the post of the CBN governor.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • No Zamfara pilgrim died in Saudi, says deputy governor

    No Zamfara pilgrim died in Saudi, says deputy governor

    Zamfara State Deputy Governor and leader of the state’s delegation to the hajj, Alhaji Wakkala Muhammad, has said none of the pilgrims died in the stampede.

    He said although two of the pilgrims, a man and a woman, were missing, their names were not on the list of the dead pilgrims.

    The deputy governor, who spoke yesterday with our correspondent in Makkah, said: “We have searched for the pilgrims in the hospitals and morgues and we didn’t find them. So, we cannot say they are dead. We will continue to look for them.”

    On the transport of the pilgrims back home, he said he led 4,006 pilgrims to the holy land and close to 3,500 had been transported to Nigeria.

    Muhammad said the exercise would be concluded next Monday.

  • Ondo deputy governor illegally appointed, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has called on Lasisi Oluboyo to stop parading himself as deputy governor.

    It advised him to vacate the office for the impeached deputy governor, Ali Olanusi, or risk jail for false assumption of office.

    A statement in Akure by its Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Adesanya, said: “We have it on good authority with incontrovertible evidence that the oath of allegiance and oath of office purportedly taken on April 27 by Lasisi Oluboyo were administered by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Eyitayo Jegede.”

    It said: “This was against the provisions of Sections 185 (2) and 187 (2) of the 1999 Constitution. Sections 185 and 187 empower the Chief Judge, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi, to administer the oaths of allegiance and oath of office on the governor and deputy governor of Ondo State.

    “Contrary to these constitutional provisions, Justice Kumuyi delegated his constitutional responsibilities and powers to Jegede for reasons best known to him.

    “The chief judge, thereafter, issued a false certificate claiming to have personally administered the oaths, which the government has been relying on to cover up this constitutional aberration.

    “The CJ’s action is illegal and an abuse of office. In view of this illegality, in the eyes of the law, Oluboyo’s swearing-in is null and void.

    “Therefore, he is not known to law. He should stop parading himself as deputy governor and we advise him to vacate the office or face criminal prosecution that may land him in jail.”

    Adesanya praised the National Judicial Council (NJC) for the query issued to Justice Kumuyi.

    “We appeal to the NJC to thoroughly investigate the matter, and that Justice Kumuyi be punished for abdicating his constitutional responsibilities.

    “Similarly, we are calling on the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee to sanction and debar Jegede (SAN), because he cannot claim ignorance of the law for his action.”

  • Scores wounded as hotel collapses in Delta

    Scores wounded as hotel collapses in Delta

    No fewer than seven persons, including a female police officer and ADC to the First Lady of a northern state (names withheld), were injured in the wee hours of Wednesday, when the popular Mekaval Hotel located in Effurun-Warri, Delta State collapsed.

    It was gathered that the collapse hotel was similar to the collapse of the Synagogue of All Nation Church in Lagos, as the victims were mostly indigenes of neighboring state who besieged the city seeking salvation at the Christ Mercy Land Church, headed by Pastor Jeremiah Fufeyin, popularly called ‘Ijaw TB Joshua’ by followers.

    Although the cause of the collapse was yet unknown at the time of this report Wednesday, the Deputy Governor of the state, Mr Kingsley Otuaro, a lawyer and deacon, hinted of possible structural defect.

    Otuaro, who raced to the scene of the incident at about 10:45am, immediately ordered the closure of the hotel buildings, as well as the standing two-storey main wing of the hotel, as a precautionary measure to avert further loss of lives.

    He said, “The state government has ordered that the hotel be closed immediately to avert further loss of lives. We are going to send engineers straight away.

    “It is very possible that there have been some structural defect ab initio during construction works because that place seems to be a waterlogged area and maybe the proper engineering works were not done.”

    Otuaro spoke with newsmen at the Divine Grace Clinic, where five of the victims, including a pair of brothers and three females were being treated, decried the incident and described it as devastating.

    He laments the devastation and trauma suffered by some of the lodgers at the hotel, including a lady from Bayelsa simply identified as Evangelist Florence, who spent over seven hours under rubles of the collapsed hotel.

    While stressing that it wasn’t time for bulk-passing, the Deputy Governor assured that competent engineers were on their way to the site to assess the immediate and remote causes of the building collapse.

    He commended public-spirited individuals and organizations like the Red Cross which promptly responded to distress call and assured that the state government would pick up the medical bills of the victims some of whom were being treated at the nearby Divine Grace Clinic.

    Otuaro, who also visited five of the victims, thanked God for their safe evacuation from the scene and assured them of the support of the state government.

    He advised inhabitants of buildings close to the scene to evacuate them pending examination by professional to ascertain the state of the structures.

    Nevertheless, The Nation independent check revealed that the victims of Wednesday disaster were mainly religious pilgrim from outside the state, who were in Effurun for a church programme organized by Pastor Fufeyin

    The ADC to the northern state First Lady, who was simply identified as Adeza, told Otuaro that she hit the city from Abuja on Tuesday afternoon in search of solution to some family problem.

    The lady, who hails from Agbede, Edo state said, “I am a Muslim, but I came here to see the man of God. Only recently I lost my elder brother who was in the Army and so many things had been happening in my family. So I came here for prayers.”

    The lady, who occupied Room 206 before the unfortunate incident, said at the time of her rescue she was still hearing voices from under the rubles from the collapsed hotel building, hinting that more people could still be trapped underground.

    Her view with contrary to those expressed that by the hotel management that the seven recorded lodgers had all been rescued alive at about 11am on Wednesday.

    Speaking in the same vein, another victim, who simply identified herself as Evangelist Florence, told our reporter that she came from Yenagoa, Bayelsa state for the church’s programme.

    “Immediately I got into town I went to the mountain for prayers. It was after the prayer that I came to Mekaval.

    “As I was sleeping, at about 2am I heard a sound creaking sound and everything came down, I tried to unlock my door but I couldn’t; it seemed like the door was locked outside. I was under the ground till about 7am when I was rescue,” she added.

  • Photo : Ogun commits to affordable health care

    Photo : Ogun commits to affordable health care

    The Ogun State Deputy Governor Chief Mrs Yetunde Onanuga (middle), The Chairman of Nigeria Medical Association Ogun chapter Dr Mrs Adenike Odewale (right), The former Senate member Senator Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora at the 2015 Annual General Meeting (A.G.M)/Scientific Conference of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) Ogun State branch recently in Abeokuta.
    The Ogun State Deputy Governor Chief Mrs Yetunde Onanuga (middle), The Chairman of Nigeria Medical Association Ogun chapter Dr Mrs Adenike Odewale (right), The former Senate member Senator Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora at the 2015 Annual General Meeting (A.G.M)/Scientific Conference of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) Ogun State branch recently in Abeokuta.
  • Photos: FGN delegation condoles with Borno government

    Photos: FGN delegation condoles with Borno government

    L-R; Leader of Federal Government Delegation and National Security Adviser to the President Major General Babagana Monguno condole the Bornu State Governor Alhaji Kashim Shettima and the El-Kanemi Shehu of Bornu, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai over the death of the State’s Deputy Governor later Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha at the weekend Maiduguri Bornu State.
    L-R; Leader of Federal Government Delegation and National Security Adviser to the President Major General Babagana Monguno condole the Bornu State Governor Alhaji Kashim Shettima and the El-Kanemi Shehu of Bornu, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai over the death of the State’s Deputy Governor later Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha at the weekend in Maiduguri Bornu State.
    Bornu State Governor Alhaji Kashim Shettima welcomes Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Household and Social Events., Mr Sarki Abba, Permanent Secretary General Service Office, Office of the SGF, Alhaji Mohammed Bukar and National Security Adviser to the President Major General Babagana Monguno. With them is Alhaji Kyari Monguno left when federal Government delegation visit to Bornu on the death of the State’s Deputy Governor, later Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha at the weekend Maiduguri Bornu State
    Bornu State Governor Alhaji Kashim Shettima welcomes Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Household and Social Events., Mr Sarki Abba, Permanent Secretary General Service Office, Office of the SGF, Alhaji Mohammed Bukar and National Security Adviser to the President Major General Babagana Monguno. With them is Alhaji Kyari Monguno left when federal Government delegation visit to Bornu on the death of the State’s Deputy Governor, later Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha at the weekend Maiduguri Bornu State
    The El-Kanemi Shehu of Bornu, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai receives the Federal Government Delegation led by the National Security Adviser to the President Major General Babagana Monguno, Permanent Secretary General Service Office, Office of the SGF, Alhaji Mohammed Bukar, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Household and Social Events., Mr Sarki Abba and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu. With them is Kyari Monguno left during a condolence visit on the death of the State’s Deputy Governor, later Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha at the weekend Maiduguri Bornu State
    The El-Kanemi Shehu of Bornu, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai receives the Federal Government Delegation led by the National Security Adviser to the President Major General Babagana Monguno, Permanent Secretary General Service Office, Office of the SGF, Alhaji Mohammed Bukar, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Household and Social Events., Mr Sarki Abba and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu. With them is Kyari Monguno left during a condolence visit on the death of the State’s Deputy Governor, later Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha at the weekend in Maiduguri, Bornu State
    Leader of Federal Government delegation and National Security Adviser to the President, Major General Babagana Monguno with the Bornu State Governor Alhaji Kashim Shettima during a condolence visit on the death of the State’s Deputy Governor later Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha at the weekend Maiduguri Bornu State
    Leader of Federal Government delegation and National Security Adviser to the President, Major General Babagana Monguno with the Bornu State Governor Alhaji Kashim Shettima during a condolence visit on the death of the State’s Deputy Governor later Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha at the weekend Maiduguri Bornu State
  • Buhari, Atiku, TUC mourn Borno deputy governor

    Buhari, Atiku, TUC mourn Borno deputy governor

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday eulogised the late Deputy Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Zanna Umar Mustapha.

    He extolled his  commitment to excellence and service.

    In a tribute to Alhaji Zannah, read on his behalf by the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd.), who led a presidential delegation to condole with the government and people of Borno State, Buhari said the young, hardworking politician would be missed.

    Former Vice President and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Atiku Abubakar and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) said the death of Zanna was a great loss to the generation of young politicians.

    Buhari, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said: “His was a life of service and excellence as attested to by many people who interacted with him,”

    He prayed that Almighty Allah would comfort members of Zanna’s family as well as the government and people of Borno State, on his sudden death, and grant the late deputy governor a peaceful rest.

    Governor Kashim Shettima, who received the delegation in company of the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn-Garbai El-Kanemi; the Shehu of Bama, Alhaji Kyari Ibn Umar Ibrahim El-Kanemi and the Shehu of Dikwa, Alhaji Abba Tor-Masta, described the late deputy governor as a perfect deputy who was “simply irreplaceable”.

    The governor thanked President Buhari for his sympathy and the solidarity of the Federal Government with the  government and the  people of the state.

    He expressed  the people’s  appreciation of the effort by the military to end the Boko Haram insurgency, which, he said was yielding positive results.

    Other members of the presidential delegation were Alhaji Bukar Goni, the permanent secretary, General Services, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Household Matters, Mohammed Sarki Abba and the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

    In a condolence message from his Media Office in Abuja, Atiku said the death was a big loss.

    He expressed deep grief at the death of such a vibrant politician, whom he said, represented the hopes and aspirations of new-breed politicians.

    The former Vice President said the fact that the late Zannah proved himself in office in a crisis-ridden state, such as Borno reinforced his faith and confidence in the abilities of young politicians.

    He said if given the opportunities, youths could prove themselves in every role, adding that the deceased was a perfect and shining example of what young politicians could achieve if given the opportunity.

     

  • Rivers Deputy governor Banigo to doctors: be compassionate

    Rivers Deputy Governor Ipalibo Banigo has urged medical practitioners to be more compassionate in discharging their duties.

    Banigo spoke on Wednesday when members of the Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA) association called on her in Port Harcourt.

    She called on the association to revive the ethics of their practice as medical doctors and Christians as Christ demonstrated in his encounter with the sick while on earth.

    “It’s is important we practice with love as believers in this profession to save lives,” she said.

    Banigo advised the group to bring healthcare closer to the rural dwellers through their medical outreach programmes.

    She commended the doctors for keeping the vision of the founding fathers of the association and urged them not to relent in their service to God and humanity.

    Banigo noted that the State Government was determined to provide quality and affordable healthcare service to the people.

    “The State Government will soon embark on the training and retraining of medical personnel to update their knowledge on current practices in the profession,” she said.

    Dr Friday Aaron, the State Chairman of CMDA, said that they had been on special medical mission to attend to medical, physical and spiritual needs of patients.

    Dr Chima Onoka, Chief Executive Officer of CMDA in Nigeria, said the association was currently providing succour to 1,500 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) through its manpower.

    Onoka called for financial assistance from the state government to touch more lives in the rural areas of the state.

  • Impeached Ondo deputy governor petitions EFCC against Mimiko

    Impeached Ondo deputy governor petitions EFCC against Mimiko

    •Olanusi: governor ‘is a personification of corruption’

    Impeached Ondo State Deputy Governor Ali Olanusi said yesterday he has written a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe allegations of corruption against Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

    He urged “indigenes and patriotic Nigerians to beam a searchlight” on the activities of the governor, alleging that he had derailed.

    The septuagenarian politician, who returned to his native Akoko with his associates, rejected the allegation of gross misconduct leveled against him, before he was impeached by the House of Assembly.

    Reiterating his innocence, Olanusi, who is now the leader of the state All Progressives Congress (APC), alleged that Mimiko was a personification of corruption.

    He told reporters in Lagos before departing home that Mimiko failed to paint him as a corrupt deputy after he rejected the governor’s plan to run Ondo State as a sole administrator.

    Olanusi said the “one-day impeachment drama” against him underscored the personality of the governor as a corrupt politician.

    The former deputy governor said if the anti-graft agency failed to investigate the allegations, the alleged looting would continue.

    Olanusi alleged that N80 billion debts and borrowing have pushed the state into stagnation.

    He urged the people, including civil servants, “to gird their loins”.

    The way forward, he added, was for the people to propose a closure to the “corruption of the government” and insist on the “recovery of the stolen and looted funds”.

    Olanusi added: “I urged civil servants and the people of Ondo State to help prevent further theft of our resources and step up this engagement by documenting credible reports of corruption going on in high places within the government.”

    The former deputy governor noted that his warnings and advice to the governor delayed the drift, stressing that the administration regressed into a gale of forgery and falsification of financial records and documents when he stopped listening to his wise counsels.

    Olanusi challenged the governor to dispute the claim of forgery and falsification of the State Oil-producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC) Appropriation Law 2014, which he said, led to the alleged squandering of N18 billion meant for frontline services and the implementation of people-oriented programmes in riverine communities.

    He said the governor should clear the air on the alleged forgery and falsification of 2014 Re-Ordered Budget to cover N6.7 billion, which, he alleged, was channeled into specialised conduit-pipes.

    Other allegations made by Olanusi included the alleged falsification of the House of Assembly resolution authorising the borrowing of N2.4 billion for the Wealth Creation Agency (WECA), the diversion of money meant for the Residency Card Project by the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), the manipulation of the N27 billion bond and diversion of its proceeds without the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) approval and falsification of records of the House of Assembly on his impeachment.

    Olanusi added: “The more you look, the more you see tactical incursion, divorced from the machinery of an elected government that seeks to undo checks and balances created to protect the supremacy of parliament and the independence of the judiciary.”