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Tag: Katsina

  • Defection: We still retain majority seats in Senate- Lawan

    The Senate caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has insisted that it still retains majority seats in the upper legislative chamber despite the defection on Tuesday of 14 of its members to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Briefing journalists after an emergency meeting held shortly after the plenary session, the senators said the defection did not in any relegate them to minority status in the Senate.

    Read Also:Defections from APC good riddance – Oshiomhole

    Senate Majority Leader, Ahmed Lawan who spoke on behalf of his colleagues said the APC still has 52 members, while the PDP has 50.

    Senator Joshua Dariye who is presently serving a 14-year jail term was counted among the 52 senators of the APC.

    The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has three; the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has two. There are two vacant seats occasioned by the death of two senators from Bauchi and Katsina.

    Lawan said the APC would win back the two vacant seats occupied by Senator Ali Wakili (Bauchi) and Mustapha Bukar (Katsina) until their death recently.

    This, according to him, would raise the membership strength of the party to 54.

  • Flood: Katsina searches for permanent solution

    KATSINA State Governor Aminu Masari opened the floodgate of opinions on what led to the flooding which swept away scores of people, livestock, and washed out farmlands and houses, among others, in Jibia, a community in the state.

    “I can say that I have never seen this kind of disaster in my life,” he said. “The water level is above 10 feet high and it is purely a natural disaster as the government had constructed drainages that were emptying into Jibia River. The water from the river moved in a reverse order and came back to the town and caused the flooding.”

    Many blamed the disaster on structures built on the Jibia River bank, and on residents’ refusal to vacate the low-lying areas, as the authorities had warned.

    Sixty-five-year-old Muhammed Jafaru, a resident of the town recalled that this is not the first time such an incident is taking place, adding that the difference this time is the magnitude of the flooding. He admitted that the victims who were mainly artisans, herders, fishermen and low-income earning settlers, scrambled for land to build their houses.

    He said, “The last flooding before this one was three years ago but it was not as big as this one, the construction of dam around the river side equally did not help matters as it blocked the passage of water and provided dry land for people to build houses.”

     

    Quest for permanent solution

    Two major approaches adopted by the Katsina State government to permanently resolve the perennial cases of flooding in the town include resettling the victims elsewhere away from the flood prone environment. Already a cross section of the IDPs interviewed by the Nation prefers their resettlement elsewhere rather than returning them to their destroyed homes, if rebuilt by government.

    Another approach is by engaging the professional expertise of the staff of the state ministry of environment to come up with a better technical design that can permanently address the issue of flooding in Jibia.

     

    Re-channeling the drainages

    The governor’s decision to re-channel the drainages, which he said he had directed the state ministry of environment to do is seen as a welcome development as it will certainly ensure the diversion of the water from having a direct contact with the river.

     

    Seeking outside assistance

    Governor Masari has already ruled out seeking the assistance of the federal government or that of the neighboring Niger Republic in addressing the flooding challenges except when it is absolutely necessary, noting that since the incident happened within the confines of the state. the government will face it squarely.

     

  • Katsina flood: ‘50% of IDPs have left camp’

    More that 50% of the internally displaced persons, IDP, of the recent flood disaster which hit Jibia town in Katsina state have left the Central Primary School camp Jibia where they were temporarily quartered in the aftermath of the disaster which occurred Sunday July 17

    The Executive Secretary of Katsina State Emergency management Agency, SEMA, Dr Aminu Waziri told newsmen on Monday in his office while giving an update on the incident that about 60% of the victims have received relief materials including cash supports. He said that a joint committee involving personnel of the local government, state government, SEMA and NEMA were supervising the distribution of relief materials.

    He said 466 houses have been verified as lost in the disaster while about 5o % of the IDPs have left either to joined their relations, seek refuge or rent apartments in areas they considered more comfortable with the cash refunds they have collected from us’’

    ‘’we also solicited and received medical supports, mobile medical laboratory, and sanitary facilities. We have received donations including cash and food stuffs from Philanthropists’’.

    Read Also: Polio Immunization: Kano takes campaign to IDPs camp

    ‘’The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, Dr Abdullahi Bichi Bappa was in Jibia on Monday and donated 100 bags of rice,100 bags of spaghetti and 23 bags of millet’’.

    ‘’I just received a call that the catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah is on his way to Jibia to donate relief item to the IDPs and I hope to be there to receive him’’

    The SEMA boss further provided a breakdown of the total number of displaced persons to include 2604 persons made up of 65 adult males, 559 adult females, 1804 male children, and 908 female children

    He said the agency had to carry out a head count of the victims to specifically categorize them according to their special needs, nutrition, diets and education

    He said that so far N5m have been received as cash donations outside other relief materials

  • NJC poise to stop pension fraud

    The Executive Secretary, National Judicial Council  ( NJC )Ahmed Saleh has disclosed that the council is determined to rid the it’s system of any form of irregularities as it has paid eighty per cent pension arrears to retirees of Federal Judiciary from 2013 to date.

    Saleh made this known on Tuesday, shortly after inspecting enrollment exercise for retirees of the federal judiciary in Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Kaduna states respectively.

    According to him, payment of monthly pension and outstanding arrears has been one of his major priority since his assumption to office.

    “When I assumed office in 2017, I didn’t mince words, I made it clear that pension administration is one of my priority areas and as such all operational and structural frameworks must be put in place to ensure timely and prompt payment of monthly pension, clear outstanding arrears of pension owed, have a reliable and accurate data of pensioners and deployment of a robust platforms to detect and do away with ghost pensioners,”

    “The pension administration in NJC has recorded remarkable achievements since my assumption. These include introduction of E-monitoring solution to the accounting processes, -voucher, introduction of Direct Data Capture machine, computerised computation system and contributory pension module that will aid in minimizing errors or omissions in preparation of remittance to pension fund administrators,” Mr. Saleh revealed.

    Further more, he added that, the council has set up a data base centre for the Pension department and organised series of pre-retirement training for the staff of federal judiciary with the sole aim of preparing them for life after service.

    The council has also established a toll-free complaint line where pensioners can lodge in their complaints in order to a avoid duplications by blocking any loopholes against fraudulent acts.

    Responding to the legal backing of handling pension by the commission, Saleh said the administration of pension of federal judicial officers was transferred to the National Judicial Council via the Pension Rights of Federal judicial officer ( administration of pension) Act 2007.

    He explained that with the enactment of the act, the NJC was mandated to cater for funding of it’s pension costs through budgetary process which hitherto was being handled by the office of the head of civil service of the federation and that challenges such as inadequate funding and misappropriation of pension funds to delays in payment of benefits, lack of authentic records of pensioners, existence of ghost pensioners among others have been taken care of.

    “In 2013, the National pension commission also transferred the administration of accrued rights of all federal judiciary staff to the NJC and thereby making it the responsibility of NJC to source the funding of all accrued rights of federal judiciary staff.

    “Consequent upon this His Lordship, the Chief Justice of Nigeria Walter Ononghen approved the upgrading of the pension unit to a full fledged department,” the Executive Secretary revealed.

    An enrollee from Court of Appeal Kaduna, Asabe Bawa expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the exercise.

  • Again, Senator wants Buhari to declare State of Emergency in Zamfara

    Says all is set to impeach Governor over killings

    In order to end killings, the Senator representing Zamfara Central Constituency, Sen. Saidu Dansadau, for the second time appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to declare state of emergency in Zamfara state.

    The Senator, speaking during a media briefing on Thursday in Abuja described the request as long-overdue considering the increasingly helpless situation of the people.

    Dansadau, who called for the impeachment of the Zamfara State Governor, Yari AbdulAzeez accused the state administrator of abandoning his sole responsibility of protecting the state.

    The lawmaker in 2016 had petitioned the President asking him to declare state of emergency in the state.

    According to him, Yari’s public resignation as the Chief Security Officer of the state made the declaration of state of emergency in the state inevitable.

    He said Yari has shifted focus from his primary duty to his political ambition, adding that he was willing to retain power at all cost.

    Read Also: Gunmen kill district head in Zamfara

    His words: “I appeal to Mr. President to invoke his powers under section 305 (3) & (5) of the Constitution and declare a State of Emergency in Zamfara State and appoint a competent administrator for the state until such a time when the President, through the administrator is satisfied that normalcy has been restored, anything short of this will turn the thick forest between the southern border of Zamfara state with Katsina, Kaduna, Niger and Kebbi States into a national park of criminals and killers, worse than the nation has seen in Sambisa Forest”

    “The Zamfara State Governor’s recent pronouncement that he has resigned as the chief security officer of the state makes the declaration of State of emergency in the State inevitable. I make bold to say that we have finished all necessary preparation to impeach Abdulazeez Yari Abubakar, if inspite of this unprecedented breakdown of law and order and colossal loss of lives we do not persuade.

    “Mr. President, while it is acknowledged that similar tension exists in other states like Katsina, Kaduna, Niger and Kebbi states which shares common border with Zamfara, the approach of the governors of these states in managing the problem has substantially brought the situation under control…” he added.

  • Katsina hands over Songhai Agric coy to Dangote group

    The Katsina State government has handed over the multi-million naira Songhai Agric Company to Dangote group of companies.

    The company was handed over on a 10-year lease agreement as part of efforts to resuscitate the economy and lift ailing industries.

    Governor Aminu Masari, who signed for the government, said entering into an agreement with Dangote group has brought in facilities that will improve the people’s standard of living.

    Masari noted that the cultivation of over 10,000 hectares of land for tomatoes farming and processing along Zobe Dam is a worthy investment being encouraged by an investor-friendly government.

    He said: “This day will go down in history as one of my happiest days, both as governor and an indigene of the state. Dangote is investing into perpetuity and on something that will add value to the lives of our people.”

    “We will ensure the success of the projects because we want to put something in place that will outlive us.”

    President of the Dangote Group Aliko Dangote, who signed for his group, said his company’s aim is to put the state’s arable lands into economic use. He promised to pay up the lease agreement within the week as a mark of goodwill.

    He said: “Katsina is my second home and the governor is my senior brother because there is no difference between Kano and Katsina .We want to see what we can do in Agriculture. While the entrepreneur takes the risk, the duty of government is to provide the enabling environment for investment.”

    Director-General of the state investment promotion Council Tukur Jikamshi traced Dangote’s decision to invest in the state to the state economic summit which he co-sponsored.

    He gave details of the agreement to include the takeover of the Songhai Agricultural Initiative, to be converted into a world-class Agric Research Institute for students and the teaching of Agriculture and other Agro-allied businesses.

    The company is expected to establish a tomatoes processing factory along Zobe Dam.

  • Police bursts four man armed robbery gang in Katsina

     The Katsina state Police command yesterday has announced that they successfully burst a 4man armed robbery gang and that one of the suspected fleeing armed robbers died in a lone ghastly accident involving the vehicle that he and his colleagues snatched from a woman in Katsina.

    According to the command, the dead suspect in his early twenties, had on Wednesday,27, June,2018,along with his colleagues ,earlier stormed the house of the owner of the vehicle at about 7.30 p.m, where they snatched  the vehicle, along with other items.

    Katsina Police Commissioner, Muhammadu Wakili who confirmed the incident to newsmen during a press briefing , said the corpse of the suspect was later found inside the vehicle where it was involved in a lone accident .

    He said “On 27/6/2018 at about 19.45 hrs,patrol team attached to Sabon Gari Division received a distress call that armed robbers were attacking one Hajiya Aisha Abdullahi in her house at Sabuwar Unguwar Quarters ,Katsina ,who robbed her of motor vehicle Toyota Highlander ,2003 model,ash in colour with Registration number AS 579 KTS.

    Read Also: Police nab official of fake recruitment agency in Edo

    “The police team swung into action and while moving towards the scene sighted a motor vehicle with the said description in an accident scene adjacent to GRA Jummat mosque, Katsina’’.

    “The only occupant, suspected to be one of the robbers died in the accident.”

    Wakili said investigation revealed the identity of the armed robber which also led to the subsequent arrest of other three suspects who are now in police custody. 

    He gave the names of the suspects as Sanusi Abdullahi,22;Mansur Abdullahi 21 and Aliyu Salisu,22,all ,residents of Katsina.

    The police boss further recalled that Salisu was caught with another stolen vehicle, a Honda CRV with Nasarawa state Registration number:BE 788 NSR said to belong to one Nasiru Lawal ,a resident of Katsina.

    “All the suspects will soon be charged to court after our investigation,” he said.

  • 23 drug traffickers jailed, 110 others on trial in Katsina – NDLEA

    The Katsina state command of the National drug Law Enforcement Agency, , said it has prosecuted and jailed 23 drug suspects to various terms of imprisonment while 110 other cases are at various stages of trial at Federal High Court Katsina.

    The state commander of the NDLEA, Hajia Marym Gambo Sani, who made the above disclosure at a press in Katsina, held to mark this year’s commemoration of United Nations day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking said the occasion calls for sober reflection on the impact of efforts by government, public institutions, parent, teachers, individuals, religious organizations, made  towards winning the drug war.

    She said’’ As the theme suggests, we must Listen First to the children and the youths who are the vulnerable groups. It is by listening, that we are seen to reckon with their worries, concerns and anxieties and by so doing our policies and programmes would be more focused and result oriented’’.

    She further decried the high rate of drug abuse and other substance of abuse within Katsina state which said is so enormous but that the synergy between the command and other sister agencies and stakeholders has been fruitful, commendable and exceptionally rewarding.

    She said ‘’our performances in terms of demographics in arrest and drug seizures showed a lot of improvement. The command apprehended 443 drug suspects with 336.4043 kgs of various illicit drugs and 2,553.06 litres of Cough syrup with codeine from January 2018 to date’’.

    Read Also: ABCON, NDLEA tackle money laundering

    ‘’Accordingly a notorious drug syndicate that has existed in Funtua, Sandamu and Katsina was busted and a sizeable quantity of different psychotropic substances was seized which includes cough syrup with codeine 24,000 bottles, 51 kgs of cannabis sativa and 53 kgs of tramadol tablets.’’

    Haji Sani also condemned the disturbing involvement of students of higher learning and children aged thirteen in illicit use and dealing in drug activities which has led to the arrest of 21 students with 128 bottles of cough syrup with codeine.

    She announced the construction of a rehabilitation centre which she said has been achieved and made possible by the assistance of the state government which will enable the command counsel and rehabilitate many arrested drug users and those referred to the agency by parents.

    In a related development a Non-governmental organization: Queen Dijah Women and Children Awareness Initiative, called on the youths and members of the community   to change their mindset on the activities of the drug dealers and drug addicts which it said is alarming, worrisome and pose dangers to humanity.

    A release signed by the Public relations officer of the organization, Malam Bashiru Bello, said the organization is using the occasion of the International Drug Free Day to warn members of the community that they have a role to play by reporting drug dealers and their hide outs to the enforcement agencies to ensure arrest and prosecution.

  • Lagos Tanker Fire: Togolese President condoles with Nigeria

    President Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo on Friday in Katsina,  condoled with President Muhammadu Buhari on the fire disaster caused by a fallen petrol tanker in Lagos on Thursday.

    Eyadema, who is currently the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority, said he was in Katsina to brief President Buhari on the latest situations in the sub-regional organization.

    He, however, used the opportunity to commiserate with Nigeria over the Thursday’s Lagos tanker fire.

    “I came here in my capacity as Chairman of ECOWAS Authority to brief him on the different situations in our region – the situation in Guinea Bissau; the situation in Mali which is going to have presidential election at the end of July including my own situation in Togo,’’ he said.

    Read Also: Photos: Tanker fire guts over 20 vehicles in Lagos

    “I used the opportunity to express my condolences to the President over what happened last night in Lagos state,’’ he said.

    At least nine persons were reported killed in the petrol tanker fire around Otedola Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Thursday after it caught fire and spread the inferno to the vehicles behind.

    President Buhari had on Thursday expressed shock and sorrow over the fire incident in Lagos where many people are feared killed with several vehicles burnt.

    “I’m very sad to learn of the tragic loss of lives, tens of vehicles, property and other valuables in the petrol tanker fire,’’ he said in reaction to the early reports reaching him concerning the incident.

    President Buhari expressed his deepest condolences to the government and people of Lagos over the tragic incident.

    NAN

  • $322m Abacha loot: Cash transfers to poor homes begin in July

    The Federal Government says it will commence disbursement of the recovered 322 million dollars Abacha loot through Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) to 302,000 poor households in 19 states in July.

    Mr Tukur Rumar, of the National Cash Transfer Office (NTCO), said this at a roundtable on assets recovery organised by the Swiss Embassy on Thursday, in Abuja.

    The event was organised to intimate citizens and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on the efforts both nations were making on asset recovery after the Post-Global Forum on Assets Recovery (GFAR) held in Washington D.C. in Dec. 2017.

    At the forum, Nigeria made commendable commitments on beneficial ownership, tax transparency, asset recovery, transparency management of recovered funds and payments to victims of corruption.

    The states are: Niger, Kogi, Ekiti, Osun, Oyo, Kwara, Cross River, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarrawa, Anambra and Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs) in Borno.

    According to Rumar, the benefiting households will receive N5,000 monthly and are derived from the National Social Register (NSR) that the 19 states are already on.

    He said the programme was designed to also train beneficiaries on livelihood skills, social skills and other programmes that would change their lives completely.

    Rumar, however, said that NCTO had been making payments to the 46,000 poor and vulnerable households across the 19 states since Dec. 2016, adding that the number had increased to 290,000.

    Mr Iorwa Apera, the National Coordinator, National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO), said 503,055 households were already on the NSR register from the 19 states, adding that by July, there would be a social register for all the states of the federation.

    He said that of the Abacha loot, about 302,000 poor homes across the 19 states would be mined by the NCTO to begin to receive the Abacha loot.

    Apera told the participants that the Federal Government would begin with those states, because they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NASSCO to put in place certain infrastructure to empower the national register.

    “Some of the states delayed, but the other ones were quick enough to set up infrastructure that allowed us to start work there, but all the states are now on board as they have set up their state operating offices and donated office equipment to us.

    “As states come on board, we enroll and so they extend to the beneficiary register, and presently we are generating data in all the states now,’’ he said.

    Read Also: EFCC launches probe as $500m Abacha loot goes missing

    Mrs Linda Ekeator of the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment said the Abacha loot was invested in the social investment programme, because it was a programme that was already supported by the World Bank.

    She said that before the money was returned to Nigeria, there was an agreement with the Swiss government that it should be used for alleviating poverty and this was to be done with the supervision of the World Bank.

    The Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Eric Mayoraz said the 722 million dollars of the Abacha family money that was hidden in Switzerland was fully repatriated in 2005.

    He also said that the 322 million dollars that was repatriated in Dec. 2017, was money that was frozen by the Swiss Attorney-General, but was not domiciled in Switzerland, but in other countries, mainly Luxembourg.

    He, however, said measures had been put in place to ensure that Swiss banks were not used to hide stolen funds from other countries.

    “For possible new cases, the Swiss legislation has fundamentally changed.

    “The law in Switzerland does not allow bank secrecy anymore, and all banks and financial institutions have a due diligence duty to ask everyone coming with money where it is coming from.

    “That does not mean that there are no illegal or stolen assets now in Switzerland, but then there is another instrument I signed myself with the Nigerian Ministry of Justice and Switzerland two years ago on mutual legal assistance and this is for new cases.

    “Now, this agreement with our own Ministry of Justice and Nigeria is that there will be direct communication and exchange on mutual legal request and we are really collaborating with EFCC and other agencies in Nigeria,’’ Mayoraz.

    The Executive Director, ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor, said for Nigerian citizens to not keep spreading rumours about the whereabouts of recovered loots, the government must be transparent in all the processes.

    He also said that CSOs should be given access to the social register to enable it monitor properly whether or not the beneficiaries received what was due to them.