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Tag: kwara

  • Kwara appeal panel denies allegations

    Chairman of the Kwara State Appeal Panel for the All Progressives Congress (APC) state congress Osita Egwuatu has denied allegations his members were prevented from having access to aggrieved members.

    He said the committee neither received a petition nor protest to warrant an investigation.

    On allegations that the government kept them somewhere, Egwuatu said: “Go and tell them, we have been here for three days; this is the party secretariat and we are supposed to be here, we even pasted the information about our activities on the secretariat board, and we are here in the party secretariat. So how could we have been camped?

    “The fact that they make such a claim means they acknowledge we were here. We have not received any petition up till now, so it is sufficient to say that all went well.”

  • Kwara shuts 40 illegal schools

    •Governor Ahmed appoints new aides
    •‘No petition from Kwara APC’

    The Kwara State Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development said it has shut about 40 illegal schools in the three senatorial districts.

    A statement yesterday by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Mariam Garba, said the schools were operating without approval.

    She warned the affected schools not to violate the government’s directive because the government is committed to the provision of quality education.

    Some of the schools shut are Graceland Nursery and Primary school, Asa Dam Road, Ilorin; Al- Bayan Nursery and Primary School, Share; Solid Foundation Nursery and Primary School, Shonga, IPS Nationwide, Offa.

    Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has approved the appointments of new special advisers, senior special assistants and special assistants.

    The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Isiaka Gold, in a statement yesterday, said the appointments were part of the governor’s efforts at strengthening governance and promoting inclusiveness.

    The special advisers are Olokoba Toyin Sulyman; Emmanuel Bello; Mr. Rasaq Akanbi Jimoh; Aliyu Mohammed Salihu; Prince Tunji Moronfoye; Ibrahim Dare Abiodun; Chief Moses Olabode Adekanye and Mr. Amusa Bello.

    The senior special assistants are Mr. Salihu Mohammed Yahaya, Mrs. Monsurat Oyidamola Omotosho and Hajia Sulu-Gambari Aishat.

    The special assistants are Halidu Danbaba; Tsado Manman; Ige Muideen Olayiwola; Sunday Ogunniyi; Abdulkadir Oba Aluko; Lawal Muhammed Olalekan; Manzuma Ibrahim Kawu and Issa Abdulrahman.

    They will be sworn in today at the Government House at 10.30 am.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Congress Appeal Committee has said there is no petition or appeal against the state congress.

    Committee Chairman Osita Egwuatu, who spoke when the committee visited  Ahmed at the Government House, said they were in the state to hear petitions arising from last Saturday’s state congress.

    He confirmed that the committee has not received any complaint.

    Ahmed said the state would continue to support the party to ensure its victory and sustenance in power at the national level.

    According to the governor, the election is a reflection of what happened at the ward and local government congresses due to the inclusive process allowing input into the selection and election processes.

    He said: “The successful ward, local government and state congresses were largely due to the peaceful environment, and most importantly, the inclusive process that the state allows.”

    Ahmed added that the inclusive style of the party allows for ventilation of differences and amicable resolutions, saying the appeal committee might receive petitions, but non-genuine ones.

  • ‘Over 14,000 Kwara poor get N5,000 monthly’

    More than 14,000 persons in Kwara State are receiving the N5,000 monthly stipend under the Federal Government Household Uplifting Programme, also known as Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme (CCTS).

    Head of the programme Hajia Aminah Yahaya spoke yesterday in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin.

    According to her, the beneficiaries are drawn from 480 communities in the 16 local government areas.

    She said: “Every local government has 30 communities uniformly. When we multiply this by 16 councils, it gives us 480.

    “So, we have over 14,000 beneficiaries from the state so far. Of course, there is a plan to step up that number though we wouldn’t know when because we are not directly in-charge of targeting the beneficiaries.

    “Ours is to pay the beneficiaries. So, as soon as names are available, it will be shared with us and once it is shared, we will start payment.”

    Hajia Yahaya explained that as one of the eight pilot states, Kwara had started getting success stories from the beneficiaries as the money helped in changing their lives for better.

    “The programme is about uplifting the household; changing their situation from what it is for the better, and one of the strategies we put in place is forming them into groups.

    “We have what we call savings and group mobilisation training for all beneficiaries, where we teach them how to save from little, and most of them have been able to follow the example we gave.

    “With the coaching they got, some of them have gone into petty trading, but the petty trading did not just start like that.

    “In the group formation, they formed themselves into cooperative groups within a community and during every payment circle, they make rotational contribution among themselves. They inject this contribution into their businesses and they are telling a good story today,” she added.

  • 2019: INEC registers 104,388 new voters in Kwara

    independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 104,388 persons have registered for their permanent voter cards (PVC) since the commencement of the exercise in April 2017. Administrative Secretary of INEC in the state, Paul Atser, said this in Ilorin, the state capital during a meeting he had with stakeholders on Friday. He said the Commission has taken delivery of 10, 221 new PVCs from the headquarters, adding that many more will be delivered to the Commission very soon.

    He expressed happiness that the 242,000 uncollected old PVCs have been depleted as 4,388 have been collected by their owners leaving 238,000 to be collected. Atser therefore called on those who registered for PVC since 2015 to visit INEC registration centres for collection. He added that the new PVCs received will be ready for collection as from Monday, May 21 throughout the country and were for those that registered in 2017 either for new PVCs, loss of PVCs, damaged PVCs or transfer PVCs.

    He however declared that there would not be collection by proxy as everybody who registered must come physically to collect their cards with the temporary voter card (TVC) as evidence before collection. He added that anybody that has lost his or her TVC, will need to fill a form after checking the register for his or photograph to confirm that the person was the owner of the card.

    Atser hailed the stakeholders, particularly political parties for the cooperation the Commission has been enjoying and making Kwara peaceful. Representatives of the police, customs, immigration, prisons services, Civil Defense and Directorate of State Security attended the meeting.

  • Parallel congresses in Ondo, Enugu, Kogi, Kwara, Zamfara, others

    Some of yesterday’s State Congresses of All Progressives Congress (APC) were marred by violence and disagreements leading to parallel congresses in some states, including Ondo, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Kwara, Zamfara, Adamawa, among others.

    In Ondo State for example, no fewer than 50 persons, including some reporters who covered the congress, sustained severe injuries when some political thugs invaded the venue of the congress held by a faction of the party.

    Another state where thugs chased out some delegates during yesterday’s exercise was Enugu.

    Although there was no violence in Imo and Niger states, the outcome of yesterday’s congresses there also left much to be desired. While a faction of the party in Imo held the congress in a secret venue in spite of a court order, in Niger, some contestants publicly shed tears when the leadership opted to adopt affirmation.

    Besides these, many other states, including Adamawa, Kwara, Delta, Lagos and Abia states reportedly held parallel congresses.

    There are also reports of some top APC chieftains, like the National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun of Edo State and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, from Bauchi, who boycotted the exercise.

    These problems notwithstanding, the exercise was successfully conducted in the majority of the states where new executives were either elected or unanimously retained.

     

  • 70,000 voters registered in Kwara

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kwara State has said about 70,000 voters have registered from last April till date

    The Administrative Secretary, Paul Atser, who spoke in Ilorin at a meeting with members of the Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC), said the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) PVC of the registered voters were on their way.

    He added that about 4,000 PVCs of the 242,000 unclaimed cards had been collected.

    Atser said the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) was going on peacefully as the state had not witnessed any ugly incidence.

    He promised that the newly-printed PVC for voters who registered since 2017 would soon be ready and that stakeholders would be adequately informed. Cards owners would however have to collect their cards personally.

    The Administrative Secretary said the meeting was called to intimate political parties with developments that had happened since their last meeting.

    He urged IPAC members to approach the Commission’s office on any issue that is not clear to them.

    IPAC chairman Comrade Abdul-Mumeen Onagun hailed INEC’s openness in handling matters relating to political parties and creating a level playground.

    He, however said registration centres were still inadequate despite the additional centres created, coupled with the fact that they were far from the people.

     

  • Codeine ban: NDLEA arrests 17 suspects

    Following FG ban on codeine, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Kwara Command, has arrested 17 suspects in different parts of the State while trying to smuggle the drug to other destinations for sale.

    Our reporter recalls that the Federal Government had banned companies from producing codeine.

    Addressing newsmen on Thursday in Ilorin, the state Commander of the NDLEA, Mr Onah Ogilegwu, said his men arrested 13 suspects with assorted drugs in different locations across the state.

    He said: “13 suspects were arrested at various locations by the Air Force authority in Ilorin and transferred to the command with assorted hard drugs,” he said.

    Ogilegwu stated that the Command on Saturday nabbed another two suspects with 12 cartons of codeine containing 600 bottles of the product.

    “The two suspects were in the taxi trying to travel down north with the drug but my men intercepted their car and while checking they discovered 12 cartons of codeine.

    “They confessed that they are travelling to Kaduna with the drugs to deliver them to a man.

    Read Also: Tackling drug abuse beyond codeine ban

    “They said that they have been involved and making money from the business for a very long time.”

    He added that on Tuesday another two suspects were arrested along Tanke area, Ilorin, by personnel of the agency.

    “Surveillance was placed in the area following a tip off. Men of the command swung into action and the two suspects arrested are presently undergoing investigation,” he explained.

    Ogilegwu charged all drug sellers and producers to abide by directives to submit banned substances in order to receive commendation from the command,” adding that failure to do so will lead to arrest of culprits.

    He added that other assorted drugs like Tramadol should be placed on poison box by the pharmacists and should be sold strictly on medical doctor’s recommendation.

    “Any other vendor found selling drugs aside licensed pharmacists will face the wrath of the law when arrested,” he warned.

    He also urged the Federal Government to fast track a bill to ban production, sales and distribution of the drugs.

    NAN

  • Police parade six for alleged murder, cultism in Kwara

    The Kwara state police command Thursday paraded the son of a police officer, Lanre Mohammed Soliu and five other persons for alleged murder and cultism.

    Others paraded with him are Abolaji Safti Ojulari, Azeez Mayaki, Suleiman Babatunde, Yusuf Habeeb and Umar Yahaya.

    All confessed to be members of Aiye Confraternity, adding that they have been involved in some killings and criminal activities in Ilorin, the state capital.

    Parading the suspects in Ilorin, the state Commissioner of police. Aminu Saleh said the ex-policeman’s son aka Askari was arrested on Tuesday after a manhunt for him over alleged killing of late Yemi Bayero of Ago market, Ilorin.

    The commissioner added that the suspect had confessed to have carried out the killing with one Abolaji Safti Ojulari, Adeyi and Tiro.

    The CP said Abolaji Safti Ojulari of Kankatu area in the metropolis has been a notorious cultist.

    Mr. Sale added that the suspect alongside 13 of his accomplices had killed 11 people, including a notorious hoodlum Bayo Ajia, between 2016 and 2018.

    The commissioner said that “the suspect was arrested on May 5, 2018 after a manhunt. He has been in the command’s wanted list for over two years. He lives at Kankatu area Ilorin where he was hiding.

    “He confessed to be an active member of Aiye confraternity. He also named his 13 accomplices.”

    He added that the 26 years old Azeez Mayaki was also arrested on Tuesday, saying that the suspect had confessed to killing of one Lateef on February 2, 2018 at Ode Alfa Nda Ilorin.

    “Also, one Suleiman Babatunde, male 26 of Gambari area of Ilorin was arrested after a discreet investigation linked him to killing of one Owolabi, male at Amilegbe area of Ilorin in July, 2017 with one accomplice, Olaitan,” he said.

    The police boss added that Yusuf Habeeb and Umar Yahaya were arrested for alleged criminal conspiracy and being members of secret cult.

    He said that the suspects among others who fled, were arrested while congregating at Kangile village, via Royal valley estate, Ilorin.

    The police commissioner said that all the arrested suspects would soon be charged to court.

    He advised criminal elements in the state to eschew criminal acts, adding that the command was prepared to run them out of circulation.

    Read Also: Police bust Anambra gun dealer, 10 others in Benue-Taraba axis

  • Kwara: APC faction rejects congress committee

    A faction of the All Progressives Con-gress (APC), in Kwara State has kicked against the choice of Senator Mohammed Ohiare as the chairman of the party’s state congress committee over allegations of bias.  In a statement issued after an ordinary meeting of the stakeholders of the party at the weekend by the factional chairman,  Olayemi Olabanji in Ilorin, the faction said the state congress committee as currently constituted cannot conduct a free and fair congress in the state.

    “We were able to pull together former national assembly members, former state executive cabinet members, gubernatorial aspirants and relevant stakeholders of the party to a meeting, where we discussed issues that can return the party to the path of honour and sustain its acceptability by all and sundry in Kwara State. We discussed the appointment of Senator Ohiare as the Chairman of the Congress Committee in Kwara State.

    “Senator Ohiare is a known political ally of Senator Bukola Saraki. We can conveniently say that Senator Saraki whose ally will supervise the congresses in Kwara State is the leader of a faction of the party. Note also that we had earlier rejected the inclusion of Mr. Kawu Baraje on the convention committee because he belongs to a faction of the party here in Kwara State. We therefore reject Senator Ohiare and other members of his committee and we request for immediate replacement,” the release read.

    The faction further decried the decision of the national leadership of the party to hand nomination forms to a faction of the party. “We are deeply touched by the display of lack of  respect for democratic tenets by the Balogun Fulani led state executive that prevented majority of party members from obtaining nomination forms to participate in the ward congress. Majority of party members willing to contest for one office or the other were turned back at the secretariat by Chief Bode Adekanye and Mr. Tunji Buhari.

    “You can’t build something on nothing; this congress can’t stand and we call for its total cancellation in Kwara State. It is only in Kwara that the state executive issued a statement stopping sales of nomination forms by 12.30pm while hundreds of people were still willing to buy. The congresses in Kwara is already enmeshed in fraud and we fear that a procured congress committee is in place under the chairmanship of Senator Ohiare,” he said.

  • Kwara: Buhari/Osinbajo group protests non registration of members

    In Kwara State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) ward congresses took place yesterday across the 193 wards in a peaceful atmosphere.

    However, some members of the party, who identified themselves as supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, protested around Government Secondary School (GSS) area in Ilorin, the state capital, against alleged disenfranchisement.

    Confirming the peaceful conduct of the congresses, the APC Chairman, Congress Committee for ward and local government in Kwara State,

    Senator Mohammed Salami Ohiare, said the congress was fantastic.

    Said he, “I am here with my other members to monitor and take stock of the results of the congresses.

    “I think Kwara State, particularly in Ilorin here, there is peace, there is harmony and the congresses are being conducted peacefully. Even if there are some grievances, it is very minimal.”

    Also speaking with reporters, state chairman of the party, Alhaji Shola

    Balogun-Fulani, said that “reports from across the state indicated that party members came out en-mass early in the day to pick their leaders in a free and fair manner.”

    Asked about reports by some party members alleging they were sidelined in the process, the APC chairman denied the claims pointing out that the party had deliberately extended the deadline for purchasing of the forms till midnight.

    Spokesperson of the group, Alhaji Abdulganiyu Saka, had said: “basically, we are here to tell the world that since our defection to APC in 2015, we have not been given membership cards. The last year local government election in the state showed that people really love President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Yemi Osinbajo, but the hands in which our party are in the state have made many politicians to quit our party,” he said.

    The protesters wielded placards, some of which read: ‘They are working against the interest of Buhari;’ Buhari/Osinbajo support group;’ ‘We are being denied membership since 2015,’ “we say yes to internal democracy of our party,’ “No stage-managed congress,’ ‘They know us to be supporters of PMB,’ ‘Legacy members denied both party positions and appointments, etc.’