The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Gov. Nasiru El-Rufa’i

  • I am confident of El-Rufai’s re-election – Uba Sani

    Senator-elect (APC – Kaduna), Dr Uba Sani, says he is confident that Gov. Nasiru El-Rufai would be re-elected.

    Sani, former Adviser to  El-Rufai on Political matters, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in  Kaduna that he personally monitored the exercise in parts of Kaduna after casting his vote at his  polling unit in Kawo LEA Primary School, Kaduna.

    Sani defeated the incumbent Shehu Sani of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in the Feb 23 Presidential and National Assembly elections to clinch the Kaduna Central senate seat.

    “ Every one of us is happy, optimistic and in high spirit that Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of All Progressives Congress  will come back as newly elected governor for the second term.

    “Yes, I can tell, the All Progressive Party (APC) will defeat the opposition party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna State,“ Sani said.

    Read also: Massive vote buying in Niger

    He, however, said the seeming low turn out of voters was as result of smooth process of the exercise, where the electorate did not have to wait.

    “What you saw at most polling units was impressive, the whole exercise was so smooth that voters were casting their votes and leaving in good time,“ he said.

    Sani commended INEC for addressing most of the challenges the process faced during the Presidential and National Assembly polls in the state.

    He appealed to the electorate to conduct themselves peacefully after the election for faster development and growth of the state. (NAN)

  • Union urges Gov. El-Rufa’i to reopen Gidan Waya College

    Union urges Gov. El-Rufa’i to reopen Gidan Waya College

    Three unions of the Kaduna State College of Education, Gidan Waya, on Friday urged Gov. Nasiru El-Rufaí to reopen the institution which was closed down due the recent crisis in southern Kaduna.

    Officials of the College of Education Staff Union (COEASU), Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Union made the appeal at a joint congress meeting in Gidan Waya.

    Noah Danlami, the COEASU Chairman, said the appeal became necessary due to the “total return of normalcy in southern Kaduna in general and Gidan Waya in particular.”

    Danlami pointed out that primary and secondary schools as well as other businesses in the area have been in full operation and wondered why the governor was reluctant to reopen the institution.

    According to him, the closure of the college is counterproductive and negates government policy of providing free access to education to its citizens.

    He stressed that reopening the college would enable the Academic Planning Division of the institution to come up with modalities cover the time lost during the closure.

    The COEASU chairman, however, commended the Federal Government for launching Operation Harbin Kunama ll, which helped to restore normalcy to the area.

    Also, Sunday Sani, Chairman, Senior Staff Union of the college, said that the continued stay of students at home would make them more vulnerable to social vices.

    The Chairman of NASU, Danjuma Amar, noted with satisfaction that the college did not lose either a staff or student during the southern Kaduna crisis.

    He therefore called on the state government to allow for full resumption of academic activities.

    The unions also appealed to the government to exclude the institution from the Treasury Single Account and implement the 65-year retirement policy for staff.

    They further canvassed for the implementation of CONPCASS and CONTEDISS salary structure, to stop brain drain in the institution.

  • Kaduna Assembly repeals traffic agency law

    The Kaduna State House of Assembly, on Wednesday repealed the law establishing the state transport agency, popularly known as KASTELEA.

    ” The Kaduna State Traffic Law and Environmental Law Enforcement Agency (KASTELEA) Law No.12 of 2014 is hereby repealed,” the Deputy Speaker, Mr John Kwaturu, said at plenary.

    In its place, the Assembly has passed a new law to establish the state traffic authority.

    The News Agency of Nigeria [NAN] reports that Kaduna State Traffic Law Enforcement Authority 2017 was passed by the assembly during the sitting.

    The new body would take over only traffic matters excluding the handling of environmental issues.

    Kwaturu said the new body would implement and enforce the provision of the Road Traffic Law cap 135 Law of Kaduna State 1991 and Road Traffic Regulation 2007.

    It would also direct and control traffic on public roads in the state, inspect vehicles, issue certificate of roadworthiness, impound erring vehicles, and enlighten motorists on road safety measures.

    The agency is also mandated to safeguard the roads from encroachment by traders, motor parks, hawkers and beggar.

    Other responsibilities include registering and licencing driving schools, installation of road traffic signs, and designating bus stops and terminals in the state.

    The deputy speaker directed the Clerk of the Assembly to forward a clean copy of the law to Gov. Nasiru El-Rufa’i for his assent.

     

  • Tambuwal, El-Rufa’i renew commitment to tackle Meningitis

    Gov. Nasiru El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State and his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal on Tuesday pledged total support to end the spread of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM).

    The two governors made the commitment during an emergency meeting with members of Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care, in Kaduna.

    Rufa’i expressed sadness over the recorded number of deaths across the country, saying the state has recorded 17 cases in 11 local government areas from January to date.

    According to him, only one confirmed case of type C meningitis and one death were recorded in the state.

    “The State Government have intensified surveillance and engage the media on public enlightenment on meningitis.

    “While repositioning appropriate medicine and medical supply in our hospitals for free, active case management of suspected meningitis and prevention is going on.

    “We acknowledge the role of the World Health Organization in providing technical and logistic support and also thank the Federal Government for its quick intervention in the fight against the disease,’’ he said.

    He noted that early awareness and intervention has slowed down the spread of the disease.

    “We hope that the royal fathers will take up the battle like that of polio to curtail further spread.

    “We are confident that same success will be achieved and prevent future reoccurrence,’’ el-Rufa’i added.

    On his part, Tambuwal said Sokoto state had developed active  collaboration with traditional leaders to address various health challenges.

    According to him, the state have recorded no fewer than 1000 cases in seven local governments.

    “The state government and traditional leaders are collaborating to create awareness on how to increase ventilation and decongest homes.

    “The Federal Ministry of Health has supported the state with over 20,000 doses of vaccines, but our target is to have two million vaccines for those eligible to receive the vaccination,’’ he said.

    Also speaking, the representative of the Department for International Development (DFID), Dr Salma Kolo expressed the organisation’s concern over the CSM spread.

    According to her, since the outbreak of the epidemic, DFID has contributed 800,000 doses of vaccines through WHO.

    “It is part of our activities to ensure that cases of meningitis were treated using all available resource within our limit to support government and use existing platform to create awareness.

    “I want to appeal to state governors to put more effort in strengthening the health sector, especially the PHC

    “We in Northern Nigeria are not privileged, especially the vulnerable groups who are mainly women and children that are jobless and have no access to fund. Their care must be provided free,’’ she said.

  • Kaduna Assembly approves N214.9bn 2017 Budget

    Kaduna Assembly approves N214.9bn 2017 Budget

    The 2017 Kaduna state’s Budget of N214.9 billion has been passed into law by the State House of Assembly on Thursday.

    The figure is N1 billion less than the budget proposal forwarded by Gov. Nasiru El-Rufa’i to the assembly on Oct. 12, for approval.

    The Speaker of the assembly, Alhaji Aminu Shagali, who read the content of the budget clause by clause, said N83.46 billion was approved for recurrent and N131.45 for capital expenditure.

    He said the budget would cover from now till Dec. 31, 2017.

    The Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed, later told newsmen that the N1 billion cut from the original proposal was from the expected revenue of two agencies.

    He said that revenue projection of the state Geographic Information System and Internal Revenue Service was reduced by N500 million for each of the agencies, “in view of current economic realities.”

    He assured that the assembly would monitor the implementation to ensure that it serve the people better.