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  • 2019: Ebonyi APC drums support for Buhari

    2019: Ebonyi APC drums support for Buhari

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), Ebonyi chapter, says it will support the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

    “The Ebonyi chapter of APC would throw its full weight behind the President should he declare interest to run again,’’ Acting Chairman of the party, Chief Eze Nwachukwu, said on Thursday.

    Nwachukwu said this in Abakaliki that the party took the decision after close assessment of the achievements of the present administration especially in, job creation, economic revitalisation, agricultural revolution and war against corruption.

    According to him, it is natural for the party to back Buhari, so as to consolidate on the gains so far achieved.

    The chairman said the national leadership of the APC should prevail on the President to go for second term.

    “We have assessed the achievements of the present administration and have come to an undeniable truth that Mr President has done so much in areas of physical infrastructure, war against financial graft, job creation, economic repositioning among others.

    “It is only natural that the President is given another opportunity to consolidate on the gains so far made in enthroning genuine democracy and putting the nation’s economy on the paths of economic growth.

    “We are going to mobilize both party and non party members to support Buhari for second term.

    “We are only praying that Mr President will listen to the popular voices calling on him to throw himself in for re-election in order complete the good work that his administration has started, ” Nwachukwu said.

    He claimed that the APC was `robbed’ of electoral victory in 2015, but assured that it would have a “clean sweep at the governorship and presidential polls in the state come 2019.

    “We are set to take over the Government House in Abakaliki by 2019 and APC will have 100 per cent votes cast in both the governorship and presidential elections.

    “Ebonyi belongs to APC and I am saying that APC will take 100 per cent of votes cast for the Presidential and governorship polls and we are going to prove this fact in 2019.”

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  • Gov. Ugwuanyi visits 478 communities in 2 years

    Gov. Ugwuanyi visits 478 communities in 2 years

    Dr Eric Oluedo, the Head, Visit Every Community ( VEC ) Directorate, Office of the Governor Enugu State, say Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has visited 478 communities and some special communities within two years.

    Oluedo disclosed this in Enugu on Thursday.

    “The visit, an interactive session between the government and people of each of the communities, is meant to get community-needs assessment from the people to drive the ongoing bottom-up approach of development adopted by the state government.’’

    He said that the visits had afforded the governor the opportunities to meet with his people one-on-one and felt their pains and gains while living within their communities.

    The governor’s aide said that the visits had given the people the voice to say their most pressing needs or challenges and how they could be tackled with collaborative efforts of the people and government.

    “Visit Every Community (VEC) Initiative, has led Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to sit down one-on-one with community members to chart realistic and inclusive community development programmes for them.

    “You can see that we have hundreds of community-based developmental projects ongoing in Enugu State through the instrumentality of the VEC.

    “And now, the community members are part of the projects since they monitor and report to the VEC office on how their projects are being executed.

    “In some communities, we handed over the entire project to a formidable and trusted committee to execute, while the state government releases money in phases as each phase of the project is completed.

    “In all, we have micro-community projects or projects that will be between five million naira and N12 million as well as those that will gulp up to N20 million.

    “So, with this, basic community needs like Primary Health care centre, boreholes, electrification and construction of town halls, markets, primary schools are done to solve communities’ immediate and pressing needs,’’ he said.

    Oluedo, former Enugu State Commissioner for Rural Development, urged other state governments to adopt the bottom-up approach to fast-track development in the country.

    He said that part of the problem of development in Africa had been the up-to-down approach to development which had left no room for people in the communities to contribute and participate in developments meant for them.

    According to him, the ongoing bottom-up approach to development in Enugu State has given every community and group in the state a sense of belonging and allow holistic development to get to rural communities.

    Special community categories, include conglomerate of motherless babies homes, orphanages, old people’s home, schools for the deaf and dumb, schools for the blind and schools for children with special needs, among others.

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  • 11,000 pupils benefit from FG’s cash transfer in Niger

    11,000 pupils benefit from FG’s cash transfer in Niger

    No fewer than 11,000 pupils from indigent families have benefited from the Federal Government’s Conditional Cash Transfer ( CCT ) scheme in Niger, an official said on Thursday.

    The scheme, run with support from the state government and UNCEF, is being implemented in 12 local government areas in the state.

    Alhaji Yahaya Garba, Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Education, told newsmen in Minna that the aim was to support out-of-school children pursue their education.

    Garba said that N360 million was spent on the scheme in the last two years, with each pupil receiving N5, 000 stipend quarterly and N20,000 per academic session.
    The permanent secretary disclosed that the state government has approved N50 million as its counterpart funding for the commencement of the second phase of the scheme in six additional local government areas.

    He said the six focal Local government areas are: Gbako, Agaie, Rafi, Munya, Mariga and Mashegum.

    According to him, as soon as the state resources improve, the government would scale up the programme to cover more local government areas to enhance enrolment of children into schools.

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  • NAFDAC offers standardisation facilities to exporters of agro-allied products

    NAFDAC offers standardisation facilities to exporters of agro-allied products

    The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control ( NAFDAC ) has urged exporters to use its facilities to standardise exportable agro-allied products free-of-charge.

    The agency’s Director of Special Duties, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, made the appeal when he spoke in Enugu on Thursday.

    Jimoh said that the use of its facilities was part of the agency’s contributions to Federal Government Zero Export Reject Initiative.

    “The agency is currently implementing no fee charge for inspection, laboratory analysis and export licence when exporting products.

    “NAFDAC recently established Small Business Support Desk to guide small businesses, including agro-allied products exporters on how to achieve this with ease in line with the Executive Order on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria.

    “This is to ensure that the agro-allied products meant for export from the country gets NAFDAC certification from our internationally accredited and standardised laboratories in order for the product to gain quick international acceptance,’’ he said.

    According to him, the international accredited laboratories are in four locations, namely; Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and Anambra.

    Jimoh noted that the agency was already synergising with other government commissions and agencies involved in export business and control to ensure that Nigerians, especially young entrepreneurs succeed in this direction.

    He said that NAFDAC had been working in partnership with Nigerian Investment Promotion Council; the Nigeria Export Promotion Agency and others to promote export in order to diversify the economy.

    “I know this is good news for businessmen and women from the South-East, who currently are leaving  import-side of business to the export-side of business.

    “It will ease standardisation and make the agro-allied products meant for export meet with international package and guideline.

    “This means more foreign exchange for our people and expansion of the current agro-allied businesses and their value chain in the country,’’ Jimoh added.

    “I know with the seriousness people of the zone attach to business, this new export-driven initiative will succeed when we get it right.

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  • Igali promises to improve wrestling in Nigeria

    Igali promises to improve wrestling in Nigeria

    The President of Nigeria Wrestling Federation ( NWF ), Daniel Igali, on Thursday promised to help in improving the wrestling sport in the country, through improved refereeing and coaching. 

    Igali who is attending the ongoing United World Wrestling ( UWW ) Referees and Coaches Education Course at Manchester in the UK said he would do this by imparting knowledge.

    The Sydney 2000 Olympics gold medalist said participants in the course were being taught wrestling specific technical knowledge such as coaching, refereeing and safety rules updates.

    “It is a professional development course which commenced on Sunday and is expected to end on Saturday. It’s been such a demanding and rewarding experience,” Igali said in Abuja.

    He added that the course would be very handy ahead of the African Championship of February 2018.

    “The various officials of the game must be aware of the little changes in the elite sport.

    The UWW Referees and Coaches Education Course is a seven-day event.

    Read Also: Lagos unveils Football Forever

  • INEC registers 104, 805 new voters in Bayelsa

    INEC registers 104, 805 new voters in Bayelsa

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) said on Thursday it had so far registered 104, 805 voters in the on-going Continuous Voters Registration ( CVR ) in Bayelsa.

    The INEC Administrative Secretary in the state, Mr Clement Oha disclosed this in an interview  in Yenagoa.

    Oha explained that 68, 825 voters were registered in the first phase, while 35, 980 voters were registered in the second phase of the CVR which ended on Oct. 19.

    “INEC has successfully concluded the two phases of the CVR exercise.

    “It has been a huge success in spite of challenges caused by weather, especially at the second phase,’’ he said.

    The secretary said that INEC also distributed a total of 1, 452 Permanent Voter Cards ( PVCs ), during the first and second phase of the exercise.

    He said that a total of 818 voters were transferred from one polling unit to another, made up of 474 in the first phase and 324 in the second phase.

    Oha added that 5, 982 voters also had their PVC reprinted, comprising 4, 272 in the first phase and 1, 710 in the second phase.

    “The reprinting is for those that have lost their PVC, those that have errors in their card among others.

    “On the whole, I am impressed with the outcome; initially when we started, the turnout was very low, but INEC headquarter graciously approved more centres in the state.

    “New centres were also opened in Riverine communities.

    “The additional centres made an increase in the first phase; now, in the second phase, the number of persons that came out to register dropped considerably,’’ he said.

    Oha called on eligible voters who were yet to register to take advantage of the third phase of the exercise beginning on Nov. 9 across the eight local government areas of the state to obtain their voter card.

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  • Customs intercepts 365 bags of smuggled rice in Sokoto

    Customs intercepts 365 bags of smuggled rice in Sokoto

    Mr Nasiru Ahmad, the Controller of Nigerian Customs Service ( NCS ) in Sokoto /Kebbi/Zamfara Area Command, said the command had intercepted two trucks with 365 bags of foreign rice.

    Ahmad, represented by the command’s Spokesman, Mr Magaji Mailafiya, said on Thursday that the seizures were made last week Thursday and Friday along Illela-Sokoto road.

    Ahmad said the seized trucks belonged to Dangote Group, while the duty paid value of the 50kg bags of rice was N8.7 million.

    He said the foreign rice were among the items prohibited from entering the country through land boarders, adding that the action contravened Federal Government’s fiscal policy on rice importation

    He said that the contraband rice were arrested as a result of the vigilance of his men on border patrol.

    “The contraband has a Duty Paid Value of N8, 748,320 and the two suspected importers along with the contraband items were arrested.

    “They are in our custody and will soon be prosecuted accordingly,” Ahmad said.

    He urged Nigerians to complement government’s efforts on rice cultivation and other agriculture development programmes by establishing processing industries  geared toward viable economic development in the country.

    He enjoined individuals, traditional and community leaders as well as groups to assist government to achieve “smuggle-free” society.

    Ahmad described smuggling as “cripplers of nation economy which deterred employments, revenue and nation’s security progress”.

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  • Kogi House of Assembly extends tenure of LG administrators

    Kogi House of Assembly extends tenure of LG administrators

    The Kogi House of Assembly on Wednesday approved a six-months tenure extension to local government administrators in the state.

    The Wednesday extension is the second this year after the law makers gave a similar approval six months ago.

    The approval followed the adoption of a letter from Gov Yahaya Bello requesting the extension of the tenure, after it was read on the floor of the House by the Speaker, Prince Matthew Kolawole.

    Bello, in the letter, cited paucity of funds and insecurity as responsible for the inability of the state to conduct elections into the local government councils as provided for, in the 2017 budget.

    The tenure of the local government transition committee had earlier expired on May 5, but was extended by the House to Nov. 5, following the adoption and approval of a similar letter from the governor.

    The latest approval extends the tenure of the administrators to April 5, 2018.

    Deliberating on the matter, Kekere Sanni (APC Okehi), who supported it, explained that reasons adduced by the executive were enough to endorse the request, in view of its necessity.

    However, John Abba (APC-Ibaji), reminded his colleagues that N450million was appropriated for the conduct of local government polls in the 2017 budget, and wondered why the executive failed to conduct the exercise.

    Sani urged his colleagues to promote and protect democracy at all times, saying that the appointment of  caretaker committees to lead local governments was an illegality.

    “We should approve this request but make it clear to the executive that it will be the last; we must tell the executive that we can no longer continue in illegality. No more extension.

    “We must sound it clear to everyone that election must be conducted within the period,” he said.

    In their separate contributions, the Majority leader, Bello Abdullahi-Hassan (APC-Ajaokuta) and Linus Eneche (APC-Olamaboro), urged their colleagues to approve the request to avoid a vacuum in the running of local governments.

    Mr Sunday Shigaba (PDP-Bassa) in his contribution, challenged the legislators to always strive to avoid illegality.

    “It has become practically impossible for the state government to conduct election; but whether we like it or not, we cannot continue like this. We must strive to install democratic governance in the local governments,” he said.

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  • Magu in Austria, says EFCC recovered N738.9bn in two years

    Magu in Austria, says EFCC recovered N738.9bn in two years

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC ) on Wednesday in Austria said it recovered loots totaling N738.9 billion or $2.9 billion between May, 2015 and Oct. 20, 2017.

    Its Acting Chairman, Mr Ibrahim Magu, stated this at the ongoing 7th Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption holding in Vienna.

    Spokesman of the commission, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, gave account of Magu’s engagement in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.

    In a presentation titled: “International Cooperation in Relation to Tecnical Assistance: The Nigerian Experience”, Magu said the sum was exclusive of smaller currencies in Durham, CRA and British Pound.

    He stated that the commission had made a lot of recoveries locally using the mechanism of the non-conviction based forfeiture provided under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.

    “Within this year alone, the commission recovered stolen assets running into several millions of US Dollars and billions in naira.

    “These include the sum of $43 million recovered from Deziani Allison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum and N2 billion spread in seven accounts within three Nigerian banks laundered from the Federal Capital Territory Police Command Salary Accounts”, he explained.

    Magu, who was said to be a panelist at the Implementation Review Group attended by over 100 delegates, detailed the Nigerian efforts in asset recovery.

    He said the country had also made progress in specific cases related to Abacha loot, Malabu Oil, Diezani and associates, and the arms procurement scandal.

    These efforts, he said, cut across Switzerland, USA, UK, UAE, Jersey Island and Panama.
    In his recommendations, the EFCC boss sought improved coordination and cooperation among state parties in asset recovery.

    He said this could be done through the consideration and adoption of measures that would remove traditional barriers such as bank secrecy in line with Article 46(8) and dual Criminality Article 46(9) as well as simplify legal technicalities in the recovery and repatriation of stolen funds.

    He further sought measures to reduce cost of recovery of assets for developing countries and ensure speedy return of all stolen assets to victim states in line with the current resolution sponsored by Nigeria.

    He also called for sanction and prosecution of any financial institution that violates AML/CFT measures and the maintenance of a public register on beneficial ownership.

    Meanwhile, Nigeria has received global commendation for its doggedness in tracing and recovery of its solen assets, according to the commission’s spokesman.

    Uwujaren said the commendation came at a meeting between Magu and Dr Nassar Abaalkhail, the Head of International Collaboration, National Anti-Corruption Commission, Saudi Arabia.

    The meeting, which held on the sidelines of the conference, followed Magu’s presentation, Uwujaren said.

    He quoted Abaalkhail as saying that Nigeria’s efforts at loot recovery were remarkable.

    “From what I have heard, Nigeria’s effort at asset tracing is remarkable. Nigeria is indeed a role model for countries, including developed countries.

    “We have so much to learn from Nigeria”, he said.

    Uwujaren said the Iranian National Focal Point for the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, Dr Mohsen Mardal, also commended the Nigerian presentation.

    Similarly, the Commissioner, Sierra Leone Anti-Corruption Agency, Ady Macauley, said the EFCC was not only “formidable, but a pride to the African States”.

    “My men were in Nigeria a fortnight ago to understudy your operations, I must confess, we have a lot to learn in investigation, prosecution and asset recovery”.

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  • REC advises INEC staff to earn public trust ahead of 2019 elections

    REC advises INEC staff to earn public trust ahead of 2019 elections

    Mr Mike Igini, the Resident Electoral Commissioner ( REC ) in Akwa Ibom, has advised staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) to work hard to earn public trust ahead of 2019 elections.

    Igini gave the advice in Uyo at the end of a tour of INEC local government offices in the state.

    The REC, who reported for duty in the state in September, noted it had been observed all over the country that the electorate do not trust INEC staff, adding that this situation was worrisome.

    “Before my posting to this state, the commission has been doing so much in the course of preparing for the 2019 elections.

    “I have now come to join all of you to help make that preparation. There is need for change or re-orientation of mindset of staff as it will no longer be business as usual.

    “No election can be credible where people believe that votes are sold and bought and election outcomes do not reflect the wishes of the people as expressed at the polling units.

    “INEC staff must earn public trust and confidence, as these are bedrock principles that underpin a credible electoral process.”

    Igini advised urged all staff members to create and sustain an environment of trust, openness and inclusiveness.

    “The perception of impartiality on the part of INEC staff lends credibility to the commission and the electoral process.”

    He said that his tour of the 31 local government area offices of INEC had helped to acquaint him with the staff and their working environment.

    The REC stressed that staff members were the most critical asset of the commission and emphasised the need for them to demonstrate competence, impartiality and neutrality in the elections.

    “I have toured the entire local government areas and today, Uyo, which is the state capital and the biggest with 175 polling units is the grand finale of the tour.

    “And having gone round the 31 local government areas, I have been impressed by what I have seen since Oct. 30 that the tour commenced.”

    He observed that though some areas had challenges in terms of physical infrastructure, the state was blessed with good road networks.

    Receiving the INEC Commissioner, the Uyo local government Electoral Officer, Mr Onyemaeze Mba, complained of poor facilities in the office and appealed for urgent repairs or replacement.

    Mba, who was represented by the assistant Electoral Officer, Mr Sebastian Etefia, explained that the office had no electricity for over eight years, following disconnection due to unpaid bills.

    The electoral officer further said that poor work environment had resulted in truancy as staff members had no desks to enable them to settle down and perform their duties responsibly.

    “The office has remained without electricity since 2009 when the Power Holding Company cut the light because of outstanding unpaid bills.

    “There are no furniture for staff to use and no borehole for water supply. The office has an uncompleted fence, the doors to the offices are all in a deplorable condition.

    “The office building needs a facelift. As INEC office in the state metropolitan town, it should ordinarily serve as an annex to the commission’s state Headquarters office,” the electoral 0fficer said.

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