The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Godwin Udeuhele

  • Ugwuanyi sacks three commissioners

    Ugwuanyi sacks three commissioners

    Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has dropped three commissioners in a minor cabinet reshuffle announced on Thursday.

    Those affected were commissioners for Information, Dr Godwin Udeuhele, Youth and Sport, Mr Charles Ndukwe and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Mr Smart Ogbe.

    The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Uwakwe Abugu confirmed the development to Government House Correspondents in Enugu.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that two commissioner nominees earlier screened by the state House of Assembly were sworn-in during the State Executive Council meeting.

    Those sworn-in are Mr Ogbuagu Anikwe, a veteran journalist who takes charge of the Information Ministry while Joseph Udedi was posted to Ministry of Youth and Sport.

    Until his appointment, Anikwe was the Chairman, Editorial Board of Business Day Newspapers and had worked at various times with the Guardian and Daily Times newspapers.

    NAN reports also that the third commissioner nominee also cleared by the assembly, Mr Donatus Ani, was absent during the event.

    According to Abugu, the change is the first step by the governor to reshape his cabinet for effective delivery of good governance to the people.

  • Enugu State to pay N80m for illegal demolition

    Enugu State to pay N80m for illegal demolition

    Enugu State Government says it will pay N80 million compensation for the illegal demolition of a property belonging to Chief Fidelis Okoro within 90 days.

    The property situated at No. 11 Savage Crescent, GRA, Enugu, was demolished in 2005 on the orders of the then governor, Dr Chimaroke Nnamani.

    Okoro, who was then representing Enugu North Senatorial Zone in the Senate, proceeded to court and obtained judgment against the state government for the payment of N140 million for the illegal act.

    However, the matter lingered as the last administration did not honour the judgment.

    The State Commissioner for Information, Dr Godwin Udeuhele said that the approval to pay the damage was given at the meeting of the State Executive Council on Wednesday.

    Briefing newsmen on Thursday on the outcome of the meeting, Udeuhele said that the action of the then administration was without justification.

    He said that the council made the approval to forestall further litigation as the ex-senator had threatened to approach the court for enforcement of the judgment.

    “Okoro got the judgment during the past administration in the state but the state government could not honour it.

    “The last administration could not pay the money and the senator had threatened to approach the court for an enforcement order.

    “The state government approached and negotiated with him after which he decided to forfeit N60 million from the original amount considering the state of things in the economy,” he said.

    Udeuhele said that the outstanding N80 million would be paid within 90 days of the approval and was free from Value Added Tax or any other deductions.

    The commissioner said that the ex-senator needed to be commended for his patriotism in forfeiting such huge amount to the state government.

    Okoro, who hails from the same senatorial zone with the current governor, was at the Senate from 1999 to 2007.

  • Enugu awards N30m scholarships to 300 students

    Enugu awards N30m scholarships to 300 students

    The Enugu State Government has approved the award of N30 million scholarship to 300 students for the 2017/2018 academic session.

    The State Commissioner for Information, Dr Godwin Udeuhele, told newsmen on Friday in Enugu that the beneficiaries were drawn from the three senatorial districts of the state.

    Briefing newsmen on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting, held on Thursday, Udeuhele said the gesture was to relieve parents of the financial burden of training their wards.

    According to him, the beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme are second year students in institutions of higher learning in the country.

    He explained that the scheme covered students studying Science and Technology, Medical Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Agricultural Sciences and Special Education courses.

    He said that following an advertisement by the Enugu State Scholarship Board, 2,704 candidates were shortlisted for a written interview.

    “After the written interview, 300 successful candidates were chosen,’’ he said.

    Udeuhele said that each of the beneficiaries would receive N100,000 for the academic session.

    Also speaking, Prof. Uche Eze, the Commissioner for Education remarked that the scholarship was in line with the vision of the state governor of encouraging youth to acquire education.

    He said physically challenged students were given special consideration in the selection process, irrespective of their zones.

    “In selecting the beneficiaries, candidates were tested in English Language, Mathematics and current affairs with a cut-off mark of 40 points.

    “All those with one form of disability or the other that took the test were selected,’’ he said.

    Eze said that to make the selection process all encompassing, each zone was allowed to determine its distinct cut-off mark.

  • Enugu, EEDC disagree over N2.6bn electricity debt

    Enugu, EEDC disagree over N2.6bn electricity debt

    The Enugu State Government and Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) are embroiled in debt row as each claims that the other is owing it.

    A Director and board member of EEDC, Dr Steven Dike told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Wednesday that the state government owed the company N2.6 billion in unpaid bills.

    Dike said that the debt was an accumulation over the years, the highest any organisation or government agency had ever owed the company in the state.

    He said that all efforts to get the state government to pay the debt had failed.

    The director accused some government officials in the state, including two serving commissioners and some hoteliers of power theft, adding that the debt had worsened the financial state of the company.

    “Two serving commissioners and some hoteliers intentionally by-passed their pre-paid meters and when you do this the masses suffer the consequences,” he said.

    According to him, instead of paying the debt, the government has resorted to unleashing the state assembly on the company.

    “The assembly passed a vote of no confidence on the EEDC because the state government does not want to pay the debt,” he said.

    Dike said what the company needed from the state government was cooperation and not vilification.

    He said that the state had the largest pool of staff in the company.

    “Ezeagu, Udi and Nsukka local government areas of the state have the highest employees in the company. Yet, the state government is fighting the company over debt it owed it,” Dike said.

    However, the Enugu State Commissioner for Information, Dr Godwin Udeuhele in a swift reaction refuted the debt claim by EEDC.

    Udeuhele said that contrary to the claim, it was the company that owed the state government N300 million from over billings.

    The commissioner said when the debt issue arose, a joint committee was set up to sort out the matter as well as to find out the true position of the debt.

    He said that before the committee started work, the state government had in error remitted N100 million to EEDC as part of the supposed debt.

    “The true position is that the state government had paid N100 million out of the outrageous bills they brought.

    “The two parties then agreed to set up a committee to reconcile the bills.

    “The joint committee sat severally and observed that the EEDC was the one owing the state government N300 million in over billings.

    “Unfortunately, the representatives of the EEDC in the joint committee refused to sign the report of the committee they participated in and this gave rise to the intervention of the state assembly,” Udeuhele said.

  • Enugu approves N10m for prisons’ decongestion

    The Enugu State Government has approved the sum of N10 million for prisons’ decongestion in the state.

    The state Commissioner for Information, Dr Godwin Udeuhele, said this on Thursday while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the state executive council’s (Exco) meeting.

    Udeuhele said the money would be used to contract legal practitioners to handle bail cases and for the welfare of detainees.

    The council directed that the various chapters of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in the state as well as legal based organisation should be contacted for support and cooperation, he said.

    According to him, the council has also directed that the NBAs and other organisations as well as private lawyers will be engaged to handle cases of bail for those awaiting trial.

    He said that the council also directed the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Milletus Eze, to liaise with the Chief Judge of the state to conduct periodic jail deliveries in the prisons and cases of awaiting trials.

    Speaking, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Milletus Eze, said that, “the N10 million is just a palliative to take care of the three prisons in the state’’.

    He said such services would also be extended to indigenes serving various prison terms in other states across the country.

    “The major effect of the decongestion will come from jail deliveries that will reduce pressures on prisons in the state,” he said.

    Eze said that no fewer than 300 prison inmates from the prisons in Nsukka, Enugu and Oji River were released during the 2016 jail deliveries.

    He said that the state governor also granted amnesty to some prisoners toward the end of 2016.

    “This has gone a very long way to decongest the prisons; but because crime wave is not static, the prisons soon get congested again,” he said.

    He said that the Federal Government as the sole owner of the prisons did not anticipate the number of prisoners.

    The attorney-general called for interplay between the federal and state governments to address the challenges that led to prison congestion.

    “The prison in Enugu has less than four vehicles with which they convey inmates to the various courts in the state.

    “There are more than 20 magistrates’ courts in Enugu urban alone and others in parts of the state. The state has 18 high courts with criminal jurisdiction.

    “The prison authorities are supposed to convey prisoners to all these courts for their cases but do not have facilities to do that,” he said.

    Eze said that the Constitution of the country had made it explicit that inmates must be present during their trials, adding that the dearth of facilities was mostly the problem affecting quick dispensation of justice.

    He said that it would be difficult to determine the number of inmates that would benefit from the N10-million-prison-decongestion largess.

    “The number of beneficiaries will depend on the willingness of the lawyers willing to accept the amount that the government will be ready to pay them as legal fees,” Eze said.