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Tag: kwara

  • INEC releases names of nominated candidates for by-elections

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released names of political parties and their nominated candidates for by-elections in Kastina, Bauchi, Kwara and Cross River, scheduled for Nov. 17.

    The list was released in a statement signed by INEC National Commissioner, and Chairman, Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye on Thursday in Abuja.

    The by-elections are for Kankia/Kusada/lngawa Federal Constituency of Katsina State, Toro Federal Constituency of Bauchi State, Ekiti/lrepodun/Isin/Oke-Ero Federal Constituency of Kwara, and lkom ll State Constituency of Cross River State.
    According to INEC, four political parties submitted nominations for the Kankia/Kusada/lngawa Federal Constituency of Katsina State by-election, as at Nov. 6, which was the last day for the submission of Forms CF001 and CF002.
    The parties and their nominated candidates are Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Nasiru Kankia; Yes Electorate Solidarity (YES), Abdullahi Umar; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) , Abdussamad Abdullahi; and the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abubakar Kusada.

    Read Also: INEC begins display of voters’ register in Borno

     

    The Commission also disclosed that two political parties submitted nominations for Toro Federal Constituency of Bauchi State by-election.

    These are PDP with Shehu Umar as its candidates, as well as the APC with Yusuf Nuhu as its candidate.

    For Ekiti/lrepodun/Isin/Oke-Ero Federal Constituency of Kwara, the Commission said five political parties nominated candidates including the Labour Party, Femi Ana-Ara; and the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Olaniyan Ayorinde.

    Others are PDP, Jimoh Damilare; Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) Ajayi Bidemi; and the APC, Olawuyi Tunji.

    Okoye also disclosed that only the PDP nominated candidate, Egbong Nkoro, for the by-election in the lkom ll State Constituency of Cross River State.
    “The by-elections will hold as scheduled on Nov. 17. To this end, all arrangements have been made for the successful conduct of the elections.
    “The Commission implores all participating political parties and their candidates to cooperate with it to ensure peaceful and successful elections,” he said.

  • How we grew IGR, by Edo, Kaduna, Kwara

    Governors of Edo, Kaduna and Kwara states have explained how they were able to increase their states Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the last three years.

    Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara said his government has achieved growth in its average monthly IGR from N600 million in 2015 to N2.2 billion in the first quarter of 2018.

    On his part, Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna said  the state annual IGR of N11.8 billion in 2015 has moved to a total of N26.5 billion in 2017, while Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo, said his state had increased its monthly IGR from N600 million to N2.4 billion.

    The governors spoke yesterday at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Secretariat’s 4th Annual National Peer Learning Event in Abuja.

    Ahmed explained that difficult economic challenges in 2014 pushed the government to think outside the box, especially when its IGR dropped to an all-time low, with the defunct Kwara State Board of Internal Revenue (BIR) raking in about N600 million, which could not augment the allocations to pay salaries or fund the state infrastructure.

    “In that same year, a study of the infrastructure needs of Kwara State identified a N255 billion gap.

    “This discovery led to the Kwara State Infrastructure and Financing Strategy, a comprehensive and targeted plan to systematically address the infrastructure deficit.’’

    The deficit, according to the Governor, made the government to embark on urgent financing strategies and reforms in its revenue generation.

    He said the reforms included the passage of some laws, signing of the Kwara State Revenue Administration Law, and replacing the state BIR with Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS).

    “Based on these changes, KWIRS achieved growth in the monthly IGR from N600 million monthly as of 2015 to a monthly average of N1.45 billion in 2016, and a monthly average of 2.2 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2018.

    “On account of these growths in our internal revenue, we have consistently been able to augment monthly federal allocation to ensure prompt payment of salaries.

    “It also helped to fund major projects, introduce new ones and pay off existing debts owed to contractors in the state,’’ he said.

    Ahmed added that it was incumbent on all stakeholders in the governance of states to strike the necessary balance between economic and social costs of generating increased internal revenue through taxes, fees, levies and fines.

    He said that was necessary as the nation prepared for a new minimum wage law which was expected to put even greater strain on states’ finances.

    Ahmed posited that the current situation in the country called for sub-nationals to increase the revenue generating capacities.

    He said that it was clear that the new minimum wage was coming with an added responsibility and the current revenue profile was not likely to take it on.

    Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna on his part said that the state had grown its annual IGR of N11.8 billion in 2015 when he assumed office to a total of N26.5 billion in 2017.

    “In 2015 we collected a total N11.8 billion, in 2015 it jumped to N22.5 billion which was the first year of implementation of tax code; in 2016 it rose to N26.5 billion and as at the end of October 2018, we have collected N24.5 billion.

    El-Rufai listed some of the steps taken to increase to state’s IGR was the establishment of a tax code, the update and consolidation of the state tax laws from 1914 to date, as well as engaging consultants’ service to reform the state tax agency.

    He said that also included the establishment of a new revenue collection agency which eliminated cash collection; as well as the constitution of the Joint Tax Board between the state and its local governments.

    El-Rufai said that the objective of the state was to live within its means.

    He, however, disagreed with the idea of a uniformed or national minimum wage that was being determined by the Federal Government, but that each state should be allowed the pegging of its minimum wage according to the level of its income.

    “If you look at the 1963 constitution, minimum wage was not in the inclusive list, it was added during the military rule.

    “There are number of laws that were enacted during the military rule and there is a need to look at them and do something about them.’’

    Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo, in a presentation on “Mobilising Domestic Financing for Development’’ said his state had increased its monthly IGR from N600 million to N2.4 billion.

    Obasaki said what the state did was to engage revenue agents, consolidate collection into a single account, and to use technology to drive both assessment and collections.

    He said that the plan of the state was to grow its IGR by 50 per cent year-on-year.

    Obaseki added that the state IGR was linked to its infrastructure development plan, saying “you cannot improve IGR if there is no economic growth and one of the key drivers of economic growth is infrastructure.

    “When you build roads, schools, hospitals, things that aid and enable businesses, you begin to see economic growth.

    “As people do well, income goes up and businesses grow, then you have a basis to levy taxes which you will now have to improve the state.’’

     

  • Offa bank robbery: Kwara accuses police of blackmail

    Kwara State government said yesterday that the Police was being economical with the truth as regard the April robbery suspects in Offa.

    The police had reportedly blamed attorney-general and commissioner for Justice for delaying arraignment of the suspects.

    They said they had concluded investigations and sent the case file to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who directed that the file be sent to the state attorney-general.

    Reacting to the police statement in Ilorin, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN) described the police utterances as ‘cheap blackmail.’

    Said he: “I see this as a cheap blackmail by the police. They have something to hide, which they are yet to tell Nigerians. I am sure at the end of the day, Nigerians will know what has transpired in this matter. That is why the police are passing the buck. They can now see that Nigerians have started asking questions that if you’ve arrested suspects since April and they are yet to be arraigned, then there must be something about it. I urge people to ask questions about this matter.

    “I am surprised, particularly the statement coming from the police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood. Moshood, without being personal, is from Ilorin. He has contacts and I am sure he follows events in the Kwara Command. He knows that the suspects are still with him at the police headquarters.

    “Why will he now mislead the public that we are yet to prosecute? How can you prosecute people kept in Abuja in Kwara State High Court? It is not possible.”

    The attorney-general added: “I want to confirm to you that a letter was written from the Office of the Director of the Public Prosecution of the Federation under the Office of the Attorney-General of them Federation. My office received the letter on August 27.

    “The content of the letter had to do with the investigation report on the Offa robbery and directing my office to take up the prosecution of the matter.

    “Immediately we received this letter on September 6, we wrote a letter through the Office of the State Director of the Public Prosecution to the Office of the Attorney-General requesting them to provide for us the original case diary in the Offa robbery and to transfer the suspects to Kwara State Police Command. We waited for about three weeks and did not hear anything from them.

    “I then met the AIG Legal, David Ogbodo and requested that the original case diary be sent to Kwara to enable us start prosecution of the matter. I also requested him to send the suspects to Kwara State and he told me that he had directed the man in charge. That is Abba Kyari.

    “We waited for another week, we could not get anything from them. So, I directed my DPP to liaise with the police this time. He liaised with the police both in the state and with Abbah Kyari. They promised everyday that they would send the suspects to Kwara and the original case diary, to no avail.

    “You cannot prosecute under the law without having the original case diary. You cannot even file a charge without the case diary and in filing a charge, you have to exhibit what we call proof of evidence.

    “This proof of evidence entails the statements of witnesses. Statements of witnesses in this sense, we are talking of the people that investigated Offa robbers. We don’t have all these with us. We don’t have the suspects on ground, we don’t have the witnesses on ground.

    “How do you file a charge? How do you prosecute people you cannot see?”

  • Offa bank robberies: Kwara accuses police of cheap blackmail

    The Kwara state government on Monday said that the Nigeria Police Force is being economical with the truth as regards the April robbery suspects in Offa, Offa local government area of the state.

    The police high command had reportedly blamed the Kwara state Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice for delaying the arraignment and trial of the Offa bank robberies suspects.

    The force added that it had concluded investigations into the multiple bank robberies and sent the case file to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who directed that the file should be sent to the state AG.

    Reacting to the police’s statement in Ilorin, the state capital Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN) described the police utterances as ‘cheap blackmail.’

    Said Ajibade: “I see this as a cheap blackmail from the police and at this instance they have something to hide which they are yet to tell Nigerians about this case. I am sure at the end of the day Nigerians will know what has transpired in this matter. That is why the police are  now passing the bucks. They can now see that Nigerians have started asking questions that if you arrested suspects since April this year and they are yet to be charged to court; then there must be something about it. I urge Nigerians to ask questions about this matter.

    “I am surprised particularly the statement coming from the Police Spokesperson Jimoh Moshood. Jimoh Moshood without being personal is from Ilorin here. He has contacts and I am sure he follows up with events in the Kwara command and he knows too well that all the suspects are still with him at the police headquarters.

    “Why will he now come to mislead the public that we are yet to prosecute? How can you prosecute people kept in Abuja in Kwara state High Courts? It is not possible.”

    Continuing the AG added: “I want to confirm to you that a letter was written from the office of the Director of the Public Prosecution of the Federation under the office of the Attorney General of the Federation. My office received the letter on August 27th this year. And the content of the letter had to do with the investigation report on the Offa robbery and directing my office to take up the prosecution of the matter.

    Read Also: Troops kill three suspected Gana boys in Zaki Biam

    “Immediately we received this letter on the 6th of September this year, we wrote a letter through the office of the state director of the public prosecution to the office of the Attorney General requesting from them to provide for us the original case diary in the Offa robbery and also to transfer the suspects to the Kwara state police command. We waited for about three weeks and did not hear anything from them.

    “I then took it upon myself to personally meet with the AIG legal one David Ogbodo and I requested that the original case diary be sent to Kwara to enable us start prosecution of the matter. I also requested him to send all the suspects to Kwara state and he told me that he had directed the man in charge. That is one Abba Kyari.

    “We waited for another week, we could not get anything from them. So I directed my DPP to liaise with the police this time around. He liaised with the police both in the state and also with Abbah Kyari. They promised every day that they would send the suspects to Kwara and the original case diary to no avail.

    “You cannot prosecute under the law without having the original case diary. You cannot even file a charge without the case diary and in filing a charge you have to exhibit what we call proof of evidence. This proof of evidence entails the statements of witnesses. Statements of witnesses in this sense we are talking of the people that investigated Offa robber. We don’t have all these with us. We don’t have the suspects on ground, we don’t have the witnesses on ground. How do you file a charge? How do you prosecute people you c an not see?”

  • Ahmed swears in six perm secs

    Kwara state Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed on Wednesday swore in six new permanent secretaries in the state.

    He charged them to align with the policy objectives of his administration.

    During the ceremony, he noted that his government is committed to completing all ongoing projects, upscaling human capital development, especially health, functional education, and entrepreneurship even as his administration winds down.

    He disclosed that the appointment of the new Permanent Secretaries were based on individual track records of performance and their potential to add value to governance.

    He urged them champion the government’s prudent utilization of resources while motivating staff to imbibe the diligence for which the state is known for.

    Read Also: Mother, four children electrocuted in Niger

    Ahmed also urged them to justify the confidence reposed in them by continuing to uphold the diligence which recommended them for the position.

    Earlier in her address, the state Head of Service, Mrs Susan Modupe Oluwole said the appointment of the new permanent secretaries was necessitated by the retirement of permanent secretaries.

    Responding, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, Alhaji Abdulganiyu Opeloyeru expressed gratitude to Governor Ahmed for the appointment and assured the Governor of their readiness to bring their experiences to bear in achieving the lofty aspirations of the state government.

  • Kwara police declare war on thugs

    Ahead of next year’s general elections, Kwara State police command has vowed to rid the state of undesirable elements and political thugs to ensure a peaceful polls.

    The commissioner of Police,  Mr Bolaji Fafowora this in Ilorin , the state capital, while answering questions on a Radio Kwara personality programme “Playing Host.”

    The police boss said the command would sweep the entire streets of Ilorin and its environs of thugs and cultists, who may be recruited by some politicians before , during and after the election’s.

    Fafowora added that policing has nothing to do with politics, but to protect the lives and property of law abiding citizens and enforce the law.

    He warned politicians against violating the electoral laws, saying he would soon hold a meeting with the registered political parties and their leaders on how to play the game of politics in line with the laid down rules and regulation.

    Fafowora urged parents to be wary on the type of  group their children or  wards relate with.

    The police commissioner described the state as a relatively peaceful state compared with some other states in the federation.

    In spite of this, he said the command would not take it for granted and go to sleep stressing that it is always at the time of peace, that security operatives prepare for eventualities and the ontowards.

  • Accord, MAJA, APA produce governorship candidates in Kwara

    In Ilorin, Kwara state based legal practitioner, Yahaya Kaale Saadu, has emerged as the governorship candidate of the Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA) party.

    Alhaji Saadu was elected in Ilorin, the state capital, during the party’s primary and affirmation by delegates.

    Also, a businessman Kolawole Sarafadeen has got the governorship ticket of the Africa Peoples Alliance (APA).

    The Offa born-businessman turned politician, was chosen through consensus by delegates.

    Speaking after his election, Saadu promised to revive the lost glory of the state.

    He said: “I will focus attention on legal reforms, infrastructure and provision of graduate employment. Others are reviving the lost glory of the state going back to 1967 till date.

    “My administration we will revive the dead cooperative, gateway company,  Kwara furniture, Sugar Company Bacita, paper mill, Jenna,  textile, tate and line and many others.”

    Sarafadeen said “I hail from Offa,  Offa local government area of Kwara state. I am a businessman.  I did all my schooling in the state.

    “I was once a civil servant. That means I know the state inside out.  I know what is happening in the state.

    Ever since the commencement of this government, we noticed there has not been any positive change.  “There have been security challenges, poor educational system, poor infrastructure. The youths are disillusioned.

    “That is why  we out to correct these anomalies especially in my area. We lost a lot to the over five months old Offa bank robbery.

  • 268 get N22m scholarship in Kwara 

    A non-governmental organisation, Bayo and Bunmi Babalola Foundation, has awarded scholarship to 268 students in Kwara State for the 2018/2019 academic session.

    The foundation is spending a sum of five million on the scheme this year.

    In the previous awards, the foundation said it had expended no less than N17 million.

    The breakdown of beneficiaries showed that 97 students of higher institutions and 171 pupils from secondary schools in Omu Aran, Eleyin, Ajase, Ilale, Oko, and Oro, among other towns, benefited.

    Speaking during presentation of scholarship awards to the beneficiaries in Omu Aran on Thursday, the founder of the organization, Mr Sunday Babalola, said that the scheme is aimed at complementing government efforts at boosting quality of education in the area.

    He said that aside this year’s beneficiaries, a total of 545 students, comprising 194 students in tertiary institutions and 351 students in secondary schools, had benefited from the scholarship scheme since maiden edition in 2015.

    “In this year’s edition, a sum of N5 million will go directly to the beneficiaries, while we have invested N17 million directly to the beneficiaries, who are mainly students and pupils from indigent homes in our local government, since the scheme took off.

    The founder, who said that the need to provide quality, affordable and accessible education could not be over emphasised, added that it is only a nation with pool of educated, knowledgeable workforce and enterprising people that can develop.

    “These investments are part of our humble contributions to assist in boosting quality of education and making it accessible to indigent students, who otherwise would have had to continue their studies but may have had to drop out. It is also our humble contribution to the educational development in Kwara state. Our schorship scheme is also geared towards accelerating human capital development as well as prevent young people who are blessed with incredible energies and potential from being lured and used as tools for violence, prostitution and other crimes”, he said.

    Babalola, a former Kwara state governorship aspirant also said that teachers and other personnel in the education sector of the national value chain should be well motivated through timely training and adequate remuneration to engender impartation of quality information and skills in students and pupils in the state.

    “It is therefore, disheartening to hear about the increasing complaints of degrading environment as pupils in Kwara state are said to be studying in dilapidated classrooms which expose them to dangers and make education unattractive. There are also complaints that instuctional materials, notebooks and textbooks, registers as well as other requirements and logistics are not provided in our schools.

    “It is sad and worrisome that teachers are being owed many months of salary arrears. Recently, some teachers of primary and secondary schools in the state protested and threatened not to resume academic activities as they claimed that they are being owed salary arrears of many month,” he said.

  • UNDP Human Devt. Index: Obaseki targets best-performer status for Edo

    The Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has said that the ongoing reforms in education and health sectors would put Edo in the league of the best performing states in subsequent human Development Indices of the United Nations Development Programme.

    Obaseki gave the assurance in Benin City, the Edo State capital, following the release of the UNDP HDI Report 2018, on Friday, using year 2016 performance in: Access to decent living; access to knowledge and health.

    Edo State was ranked 12th by the UNDP  2016 Report with a value of 0.5299, followed by Imo, Osun, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ondo, Anambra, Plateau, Benue, Taraba, Kogi, Oyo, Ebonyi, Adamawa, Kaduna, Gombe, Niger, Kebbi, Jigawa and Kano states.

    The top performers, according to the report, are Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Ekiti states.

    Obaseki said: “The National Human Development Index released by the United Nations Development Programme which placed Edo State in the 12th position, is an eye opener but our target is to be the best-performing state using the criteria set by the UNDP.

    Read Also: Obaseki inspects new Specialist Hospital, High Court

    “It is instructive to mention that the performances used were those of 2016 and we have since scaled up our activities in education and health sectors to earn us the top spot. We are ready to unveil 7000 digital primary school teachers soon, to transform the way teaching is conducted in our basic education sector.

    “We have commenced the construction of primary health centres across the state to take healthcare to the door steps of our people, no matter how remote their locations are.”

    The governor added: “It is our hope that all these efforts would be captured in subsequent UNDP Human Development Indices to reflect Edo State’s current standing among the comity of states in the country.”

    According to media analysis of the report, with a value of 0.6515, Lagos outperformed all the other states. It also retained the title as it had placed first in the 2013 HDI with a value of 0.6716.

    “The FCT ranked second with a value of 0.6289. It jumped six places as it had placed seventh in the 2013 HDI, with a value of 0.5112.

    “With a value of 0.5909, Bayelsa placed third, stepping a place down from the second place it occupied in 2013, with a value of 0.621.

    “Akwa Ibom ranked fourth with a value of 0.5641. The state retained its placement as it had also occupied the fourth position in the previous index, with a value of 0.5698.

    “Ekiti, occupying the fifth position with a value 0.5608, was one of the highest performers in terms of ranking, as it moved 11 places by jumping from the 16th position it occupied in 2013 to the fifth in the latest ranking.

    “Sokoto, Katsina, Bauchi, Yobe and Zamfara states are at the bottom of the National Human Development Index, according to the National Human Development Report 2018 released by the United Nations Development Programme.”

    The UNDP explained that HDI represents a geometric average of normalised indices for each of the three dimensions of health, knowledge and standard of living.

  • Police arrest couple, others with human skulls

    Kwara police command yesterday paraded a couple and three others for allegedly being in possession of 11 human skulls and several human bones.

    Addressing reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, the Commissioner of Police, Bolaji Fafowora said eight of the human heads found at the home of the suspects were already dried while the remaining three were fresh.  Detectives also found suspected human hair in possession of the suspects.

    He listed the suspects as Azeez Yakubu,  Salima Azeez,  Isiah Wasiu,  Abubakar Isiaka and Soliu  Yakubu. The chief suspect,  Yakubu is 37-year old and works as a commercial driver.

    The police boss said: “Acting on intelligence available to the command about suspected ritual killings around Adewole area of Ilorin by some ritualists,  detectives from the police command swooped on a building located at No. 20, Ile-Opa area of Aromadu,  Adewole and one Yakubu Azeez and four other suspects were rounded up,  a search was conducted in the building and 11 human skulls,  several suspected human bones,  a bunch of suspected human hair and other items were recovered. “