The Nation Newspaper

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  • Lagos to fix Ladipo market link roads

    The Lagos State Government has said it would fix the link roads in Ladipo market to ensure free flow of traffic in the area.

    Deputy Director, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Sina Thorpe in a statement yesterday, said the government had decided to rehabilitate and upgrade the roads to a dual carriage way.

    He said the government realised the economic value of the area, which is a 2.87km road, connecting Agege motor road to Apapa Oshodi Expressway service lane at Toyota Bus stop.

    Thorpe, in his response to a report in a paper about traders lamenting the state of roads in the area, said the government was also rehabilitating and upgrading Alhaja Akinwunmi Street, which connects Ladipo Street to Apapa Oshodi Expressway at Five Star Bus stop; Obagun road, which links Badejo Kalejaiye street with Fatai Atere Way and also connects Ladipo Street with Agege Motor Road.

    He added: “To ensure the interconnectivity to the network of roads and ease traffic in the corridors, part of the ongoing expansion and upgrading of the Oshodi International Airport Road would see the provision of a U-Turn ramped bridge to serve the motorists in the area.”

    He urged road users and commuters along the corridors to cooperate with the contractor in order to speedily deliver the road projects as scheduled, while mindful of their present albeit temporary discomfort.

  • Fayose has link with IPOB funding, says Ekiti APC

    Fayose has link with IPOB funding, says Ekiti APC

    The Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Governor Ayo Fayose of giving financial and logistics support to Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

    The party urged the nation’s security agencies and the International Police (INTERPOL) to investigate the governor’s alleged support for IPOB, which the Nigerian military high command just declared a terrorist organisation following the seizure of weapons by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) suspected to belong to the group.

    In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, Ekiti APC said Fayose “demonstrated the seriousness of his support for the collapse of Nigeria” when the governor released his telephone number and email address on April 27 to those interested in the Biafra cause to contact him.

    According to Olatunbosun, the telephone number and the email address Fayose released to the public for identifying with the Biafra struggle are: 070300000393 and email: mystory2006@yahoo.com.

    He described the governor’s action as a “treasonable act”.

    The party’s spokesman said the governor’s lawyer’s statement at the weekend calling for dialogue to resolve the Biafran crisis is an afterthought.

    He said the Army was only performing its constitutional role of preserving the nation’s unity and bringing secessionists and their backers to justice.

    Olatunbosun said: “On April 26 and as published by The Nigerian Tribune and its Tribuneonline publication on April 27, Fayose said he was working in conjunction with Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu to raise funds for Kanu, stressing that he was taking his support for Kanu beyond showing solidarity in court by raising funds that would be deposited in an account opened in Kanu’s name.”

    He said: “He led a campaign to the Chinese Embassy in Abuja and later to Beijing, the Chinese capital, to urge the Chinese government not to help Nigeria out of recession.

    “Relentlessly, he led hate campaigns against the symbol of the Nigerian authority, President Muhammadu Buhari, wishing him dead, including hounding and haunting the President across the world, on his sick bed and threatening to expose the President on a life-support machine. All these were in spite of (Fayose) swearing to uphold the Constitution of Nigeria and to be loyal to the Nigerian state and its President.

    “As reported in the media on May 25, he said: ‘Ekiti State is now part of Biafra’, which drew the ire of several Yoruba groups…”

    Olatunbosun also quoted Fayose as saying: “We are just driving the cause. As soon as we receive his account details, we will be made available. People have the right to agitate for independence. Even in traditional institution, people agitate for autonomy.

    “As many as lawyers willing to fight the oppression should join the struggle for liberation from the oppression.”

    He added: “All the Southeast governors, including Ekweremadu, have opposed Kanu in his secessionist activities while Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has warned him and IPOB to stay away from Rivers. But Fayose declared Ekiti State as part of Biafra. This has confirmed the report that he is part of Biafra’s financiers as he had publicly declared to the media.

    “No wonder, just four months after Fayose started mobilising funds for Biafra, thousands of deadly weapons, including military assault rifles, were smuggled into the country but were intercepted by Customs. It was also discovered that uniformed Biafran militants already have military training camps where they are planning deadly assaults on Nigeria after threatening its leaders.

    “We had earlier alerted security agencies to the presence of armed gangs and stockpiling of arms in the Ekiti State Government House. Fayose’s present activities at raising funds for Kanu confirm that he is part of a rebellion against the Nigerian state.

    “We have always insisted that Fayose is a threat to Nigeria’s unity and the economic survival of its people.”

    Olatunbosun added: “His support for Kanu in funds mobilisation for his treasonable act and the activities of Fayose’s media men in promoting the Biafran cause only point to one agenda to destabilise Nigeria. That has proved us right that Fayose has no agenda than the destabilisation of Nigeria to enable him escape all illegal and criminal activities linked to him.”

    But Fayose dismissed the allegation of funding IPOB and its leader Nnamdi Kanu.

    Reacting last night while featuring on his monthly radio and television media chat: Meet Your Governor, he said: “The APC is hallucinating” by accusing him of giving financial and logistics support to the separatist group.

    The governor wondered why the state’s opposition was accusing him of sponsoring IPOB while he condemned the alleged killing of its members during what he called a military crackdown and occupation of the Southeast.

    Fayose said: “We cannot all be cowed. The militarisation of Nigeria, being witnessed now, can only be likened to 1984 when Buhari was military Head of State.

    “Killing people in the Southeast just because some people are agitating is wrong. I wonder why none of our so-called human rights activists is talking.

  • Ambrose’ agent denies Liverpool, Newcastle link

    Ambrose’ agent denies Liverpool, Newcastle link

    Dudu Dahan , who represents Celtic midfielder Efe Ambrose, has played down speculation linking his client with a move to English Premier League pair Liverpool and Newcastle United.

    The Israeli agent says there has not been contact with the clubs, meaning Efe Ambrose is likely to remain at the Scottish champions this season.

    ”For the moment , there are no teams really interested in Efe. None at all (showing concrete interest, ed). Liverpool and Newcastle United? No way, ” Dudu Dahan said to allnigeriasoccer.com.

    Efe Ambrose has contractual obligations with Glasgow Celtic until June 30, 2015.

  • ‘Labour Minister Wogu has no link with firm’

    ‘Labour Minister Wogu has no link with firm’

    Messrs Masters Energy yesterday clarified the ownership of Pinnacle Contractors. It said the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emaka Wogu, has no link with the firm.

    Its clarification followed speculations that the minister’s relationship with the company has compromised the ongoing probe of oil subsidy.

    But the company, in a statement, described the claim as a falsehood, which it blamed on detractors

    The statement reads: “In recent times there appears to be a sustained media campaign to smear the image of our company Masters Energy and its subsidiary, Pinnacle Contractors on one hand, and that of the Honourable Minister of Labour & Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, on the other hand.

    “It is not in our policy to join issues with our detractors on the pages of the newspapers.

    “In keeping with the spirit of our policy, we have maintained a dignified silence on the assumption that the facts will speak for itself.

    “However, we have now decided to break from our usual tradition of silence and speak up in order to lay the facts out to the public, lest falsehood will be dished to unsuspecting members of the public as facts.

    “We are somewhat amused that Mr. Dino Maleye, who after his failed re-election bid, has suddenly become the new crusader against corruption in Nigeria. Who is fooling who? How interesting? Well, there is actually nothing wrong if an idle mind tries to engage himself. But there is everything wrong when a man who cannot take personal responsibility for his action attempts to take on a moral high ground to launch attacks against others who clearly stand shoulder above him on the moral pedestal.

    “The Management of Masters Energy Oil & Gas Limited wishes to, and hereby refutes the false, misguided, malicious and misleading reports in the media linking the Wogu family with Pinnacle Contractors Ltd and state that we duly acquired Pinnacle Contractors Ltd from the Wogu family on March 23, 2010. The business sales/takeover agreement between Masters Energy Oil and Gas Ltd and Pinnacle Contractors Ltd is hereby attached.

    “The Honourable Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, has no stake in Pinnacle Contractors. For the avoidance of doubt, let us restate here that he has NO HAND in the company and he is NOT a signatory to Pinnacle Contractors’ account.

    “The political opportunist and perpetual election losers, who have joined the fray to call for the minister’s resignation without checking the facts should look for credible issues to use against the minister and not the issue of ownership of Pinnacle Contractors.

    “All those making desperate efforts to smear his name and drag him down, using the so-called subsidy scam, should understand that using the issue of alleged subsidy scam to attack Pinnacle Contractors or the Minister cannot withstand elementary scrutiny in the face of hard facts. It is unfortunate that some people will do anything to smear other people’s reputation without even considering the implication on their businesses.

    “The Presidential Committee on the Verification of Subsidy payment deems this clarification necessary in view of the public interest generated by the false reports and the purported indictment of the company.

    “While we will not join issues with the committee, it will also be of public interest to note that the attached extract of the report of Ernst & Young, a reputable audit firm hired by the committee, did not indict Pinnacle Contractors Ltd.

    “We also wish to state further that contrary to the reports you may have read, our company Pinnacle Contractors Limited is a registered company with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with RC No: 419968

    “The petroleum products for which the subsidy claim was made was actually imported into the country and sold in the country as evident in the bill of lading, certificate of clearance and reports of the various regulatory agencies.

    “Pinnacle Contractors is not a faceless organisation. It has employees; it pays its taxes; it pays VAT and also has its own bank account. You cannot have all these in place if your company is not registered. You cannot have a tax number if you are not a registered company; you cannot have a VAT number if you are not a registered company. Except our detractors would want Nigerians to believe that it is possible to do all these without having the appropriate registration in place.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Sylva has no link with governorship candidate’s suit

    A Group, Bayelsa Democratic Front (BDF), yesterday said former Governor Timipre Sylva has no link with the governorship candidate of the Change Advocacy Party (CAP), Dr. Imoro Kyboh.

    The group described the claim that Sylva sponsored Kyboh as childlish.

    BDF said Sylva has always been a loyal party man and has never associated with any political party outside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    In a statement by Promise Okpoebi,the group said: “A recent report alleging that Chief Timipre Sylva is behind the resolve of the Change Advocacy Party (CAP) governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, Dr. Imoro Kuboh, to pursue justice is, at best, childish. It is one of the pinpricks of the present administration in the state, which Bayelsans and other Nigerians just have to ignore and get on with their lives.

    “We, too, would have ignored the absurd lie but for the fact that the Seriake Dickson camp is laying Bayelsa people open to ridicule with such undignified pursuits at a scale that we can no longer fold our arms and watch. The report attributed to the state CAP Chairman, Mr. Deme Kolomo, claimed that the party had dissociated itself from its candidate’s search for justice in the governorship contest after several failed attempts to upturn Dickson’s “popular victory.” The report said CAP was worried by Kuboh’s insistence on seeking redress at the Supreme Court when he stood no chance, concluding, “From evidence at our disposal, the immediate past governor of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, is the sponsor of Kuboh.”

    “Even the most uninformed of minds could see through the tragedy of fabrications and intellectual idleness that were being celebrated in the said report. Chief Sylva has not shown any association with any political party outside the Peoples Democratic Party. He has remained a loyal party man, despite the numerous attempts to frustrate him.”