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  • Bayelsa Kingdom gives red card to PDP, backs Lyon

    A dominant kingdom in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the Epie-Atisa Kingdom has issued a red card to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the November 16 governorship election in the state.

    Members of the kingdoms, who rose from their meeting in Yenagoa under the auspices of Epie-Atissa Voice (EAV), raised red cards insisting that they were no longer interested in the PDP following the party’s failure to develop their area.

    They said they were all moving to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to support its governorship candidate, Chief David Lyon accusing the PDP of under-performance.

    The Coordinator of the Epie\Atissa Voice, Kalizibe Joseph, who likened government to a football, said the PDP had been in the field for a long time without scoring expected goals and should be given a red card.

    He said: “We want peace in the state and we all know that when a football has not gone so well, It is left for the referee to issue a yellow card as well as a red card. So our case is likened to that of a football game.

    “It is on this note that the Epie/Atissa people have decided and unanimously rejected PDP and want to take over government through the ballots. We are backing the All progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Chief David Lyon, whom we believe has come to our rescue.

    “We are using this medium to say that in as much as the restoration government and the PDP are deriving joy in underdeveloping our people, we have also resolved that come February 14th 2020, they have to quit because they dont have any other option than to leave our residents”.

    Also speaking, the Director General, David Lyon Youth Vanguard, Comrade, Moso Duenize, said the journey to take over their destiny has just begun, adding that the PDP has done nothing but to underdeveloped the capital city where we are from and the state in general.

    Read Also: Ex-Bayelsa PDP senator joins APC

    He said it was pathetic that Yenagoa became the darkest capital in the country under the PDP government despite the huge federal allocation received monthly by the state.

    He added: “When there’s rain the whole state is always flooded, for about eight year the government is not even looking towards that direction. Its so pathetic that Yenagoa is described as the darkness capital in the country. The level of crime experienced currently has never been as terrible in the history of the state.

    “We can’t sleep with comfort because of the government’s failure to curb criminality in the state. We can no longer as a people continue in this direction, even as we play host to the capital city but we are relegated to the background”.

    A chieftain of the APC, Chief Preye Agama, who moved the motion for the issuance of a red card to the PDP, said the decision was adopted by the over thirty communities of in the kingdom.

    “We have tested the PDP for eight years and nothing came out of it rather we have suffered exclusion, total darkness ,flooding due to bad drainage and insecurity.

    “Yenagoa has become the Darkest state capital in the country. We are the landlord and we have sacked the PDP to pack out and the APC should come in with Chief David Lyon come November 16th,” he said.

  • NDLEA arrests seven drug barons in Kwara

    National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Kwara state command on Thursday said it has arrested seven drugs barons in different parts of the state.

    The agency added that it also arrested 19 drug offenders.

    State Commander of the agency, Umoru Ambrose told reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, saying that cannabis sativa of 40kg weight was seized at different warehouses and joints owned by the drug barons and distributors.

    The NDLEA boss, who said that the arrest and seizure were made between August 14 and September 14, 2019, added that the suspected barons nabbed with cannabis were arrested at Ganmo, Maraba, Oja Iya, Osere; in the Ilorin metropolis, including Omupo, Jebba and Kaiama towns.

    He said that one of the suspects, Chukwuemeka Odehokewu Johnson, aka Chuks, was first arrested by the command in 1994, adding that the command located his drug warehouse and recovered 396 bags of cannabis weighing 4,356kg in 2017 and was declared wanted.

    Read Also: Man jailed for drugging and robbing victim

    The NDLEA commander also said that the suspect that had been on the watch list was eventually apprehended on August 26, 2019 due to intelligence.

    He said that raid carried out on some drug joints at such locations as Ilofa road GRA, Ajikobi, Adewole, Tanke, Maraba motor park, Oko Olowo, Malete and Omupo led to arrest of 19 suspected drug users.

    The NDLEA boss said that the warehouses had been sealed, adding that the suspected barons would soon be prosecuted.

    “In the ongoing Operation Keep Kwara Drug Free, some people who use drug that were arrested have been counselled and released to their respective families, while seven are currently undergoing care, treatment, and rehabilitation at the state headquarters with a view to reintegrate them to the society”, he said.

  • Xenophobia: Nigerians in South Africa thank Onyema, Abike-Dabiri

    Nigerians resident in Western Cape have praised chairman of Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyema, for the evacuation of over 500 stranded Nigerians following the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

    They said Onyema has demonstrated great patriotism by airlifting Nigerians in the Rainbow Country free of charge.

    Such selflessness, according to them, was not only exemplary but also commendable.

    In a statement on Thursday, they also praised the chairperson/CEO of Nigerian Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) under Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa for playing great diplomatic roles in the evacuation exercise.

    The statement reads: “We, the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the NCWC wish to wholeheartedly express our appreciation to Barr Allen Onyema the CEO of Air peace for the charitable gestures to ensure the successful evacuation of Nigerians from South Africa as a result of recent xenophobic attacks.

    “We also use this chance to appreciate the Nigerian Consulate under His Excellency, Godwin Adama, the Consular General and the whole member of staff.

    “We thank the leadership of the Nigerian Citizens Association South Africa (NICASA), the national body for Nigerians in South Africa.

    “Their efforts and contributions as the organization on the ground made the evacuation successful.

    Read Also; Xenophobia and Onyema’s patriotism

    “We equally cannot ignore the Nigerian Diaspora Commission(NIDCOM) under Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa who has been doing a lot for Nigerians in the Diaspora in general.

    “The NCWC wish to encourage Nigerians to allow the recent attack on Nigerians to rethink about our nationality.

    “The actions and activities of Barr. Chief Onyema, the Consulate, NICASA and NIDCOM has illustrated that we can work together for the greatness of our country. Let us join hands together to make positive impact in our society.

    Xenophobia

  • BREAKING: Nigeria loses $1.35b (N481b) to oil theft

    Nigeria has lost 22.6 million barrels at oil to the activities of petroleum pipeline vandalism and stealing of crude oil in the first six months of this year.

    The quantity lost is estimated at $1.35 billion (N481.95 billion).

    This was disclosed to State House correspondents by Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, at the end of the National Economic Council meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    If the loss is not checked, he said that Nigeria will lose $2.7 billion by the end of the year.

    To check the trend, he said his committee recommended to the Council the needs to restructure the maintenance and ownership of pipelines in the country.

    The recommendations, he said, also included prosecution of criminals and creation of special court to handle the cases.

    He said the committee also recommended that NNPC should endeavour to engage the National Intelligence Agency to track countries benefiting from the stolen crude oil.

    According to him, the Council resolved that the recommendations should be forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the Minister of Petroleum.

    Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi disclosed that his committee submitted report to the Council and proposed N100 billion budget for the National Livestock Transformation plan.

    While participation by states are voluntary, he said the Federal Government is to contribute 80% of the budget while interested states will provide 20% of the budget the land and other logistics.

    Details shortly…

  • Obaseki nominates Iyase as commissioner

    The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has nominated Benjamin Iyase as commissioner in the state and has forwarded his name to the Edo State House of Assembly for confirmation.

    The governor has also appointed Dr. Ikponmwosa Omorodion as his Special Adviser on Technical Education.

    Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Frank Okiye, and members of the House have been notified of the new appointment.

    In a statement, Osarodion Ogie Esq. said “Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki, has approved the nomination of Benjamin Iyase to serve as a commissioner in his cabinet. His name has been forwarded for consideration and confirmation by the House of Assembly.”

    Read Also: Obaseki to religious groups: address societal ills

    He added that Obaseki also approved the appointment of Dr. Omorodion as Special Adviser on Technical Education.

    Recall that the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration embarked on a recent cabinet reshuffle that saw the appointment of new hands to head different ministries in the state.

  • PHOTOS: Court of Appeal Abuja flooded

  • Staff, litigants groan as flood ravages Appeal Court in Abuja

    For some staff and individuals, with cases pending at the CA, Abuja division, it will take a while to overcome the effect of the negative impact of the rainfall experienced in the city in the past few days.

    Unlike the case last year, where minor flooding was witnessed around the court premises, the impact of the flood experienced between Monday and Tuesday this week was massive.

    Not only were vehicles submerged, offices were flooded with files and documents impacted.

    Most affected was the Abuja division, sitting on the lower end of the sprawling structure, which also houses the Court of Appeal headquarters.

    “Some of our files were affected. We intend to work with lawyers in cases affected, for replacement. We have never had it so bad,” a senior official, who prayed not to be named, said.

    Another, who sought to be identified with her first name, Juliet, said her car was among the vehicles that were affected.

    “We had to escape without our vehicles. We were only able to recover our vehicle the next day, when the flood receded.

    “My car is currently with the mechanics. They are battling to fix it. The car was totally submerged in the flood.

    “Beside the engine that is said to have been affected, all the documents I had in the car were also affected,” she said.

    A lawyer, Isaac Okechukwu said he was in court to ascertain the condition of things upon being informed about the development.

    “I heard that the court was flooded and some offices and case files affected. I came to see if my cases were among those affected,” Okechukwu said.

  • BREAKING: Tribunal upholds Emmanuel’s election

    The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State Capital has affirmed the victory of the People’s Democratic Party candidate, Udom Emmanuel as the duly elected governor of the state.

    In a ruling that lasted for more than four hours amid anxiety and tension, the three-man panel headed by Justice A.M Yakubu dismissed the petitions of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Obong Nsima Ekere and his party for lack of merit.

    The petitioners, Ekere and the APC had, on the May 29, 2019 filed a petition challenging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s declaration of Emmanuel as winner of the March 9 governorship elections

    The Petitioners approached the tribunal with the argument that the election was invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2015.

    They also alleged that the 1st Respondent, Mr. Udom Emmanuel was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election.

    In their Petition, the petitioners prayed for the following reliefs;

    1) That it may be determined and declared that the 1st Respondent, Mr Udom Emmanuel did not secure and could not have secured the majority of lawful votes cast at the elections;

    2) That it may be determined and declared that the election was void and invalid due to non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2015 (sic);

    3) That it may be determined and declared that the election being invalid by reason of non-compliance was null and void;

    4) That it be determined and ordered a fresh election for the office of the Governor in Akwa Ibom state, except in Etim Ekpo and Essien Udim where Elections were held in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, 2015 (sic).

    Reading the over 590 paged judgement, the Tribunal first noted that the Petitioners  failed to call witnesses in eight (8) local government areas out of the twenty one (21) local government areas where they claimed to have won.

    Consequently, the court discountenanced every documentary evidence “dumped on the court” as regards the petitioners complaints from those Local Governments which included Abak, Eastern Obolo, Ika, Eket, Mbo Mkpat Enin et al. Citing the supreme Court case of Nweke v INEC, the court noted that documentary evidence however daring cannot be thrown on the Tribunal without oral evidence linking the documents to the issues in the case (petition).

    The court in her ruling adopted the two issues formulated by the Petitioners for the Determination of the suit. The issues as adopted were:

    1. i) Whether in the light of issues joined, the March 9 Elections were not held in non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2010;
    2. ii) Whether the non-compliance as established in evidence are not substantial to affect the general outcome of the election and thus justify a cancellation of the entire elections

    The court then proceeded to appraise the evidence of all parties at the Tribunal and in their considered ruling held, inter alia;

    1) That the Petitioners having abandoned their prayers where they claimed ab initio that the first Petitoner, Obong Nsima Ekere was the winner of the elections, all the evidence given in effort to substantiate the said ground is expunged from the considerations of the court in the judgement;

    2) That the Petitioners having abandoned their prayers hinged on the ground that there were corrupt practices in the conduct of the elections, all the evidence given in effort to substantiate the said ground was also expunged from the considerations of the court in the judgement;

    3) The petitioners failed to follow the laid down rules in frontloading and listing all documents they sought to rely on in proof of their Petition “Consequently the efforts and attempt by the petitoners to sandwich-in documents not pleaded nor listed by the petitoners is condemnable.” The court equally noted that the documents were not linked to any parts of the petition and that most of them were mere photocopies of public documents and not the required Certified True Copies of the documents;

    4) That the onus is on the Petitioner who alleges irregularities and non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010 to prove same. That the Petitioner failed woefully in the discharge of such burden;

    5) That the Petitioners could neither prove non-compliance nor substantial non-compliance to lead to a cancellation of the elections. For the Petitioner to have complained of non-compliance and irregularities in elections in 799 polling units and only end up calling 43 was grossly inadequate to satisfy the burden of proving non-compliance and irregularities with the provisions of the Electoral Act which requires a unit by unit prove, by law.

    6) The Petitioners made several allegations of a criminal nature in their petition. The law is that in such cases, the allegation must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. Unfortunately, the Petitioners in this case could not prove anything, the doubts in their allegations still dangling, we resolve those cases in favour of the respondents.

    In the end, the three man panel, unanimously upheld the elections of His Excellency, Mr Udom Emmanuel at the March 9, 2019 elections and dismissed the petition of Obong Nsima Ekere and the All Progressives Congress, APC.

     

  • Wike urged to be humble in governance

    The representative of Rivers East Senatorial District in the 8th Senate, Andrew Uchendu, has urged the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, to be humble in governance.

    Uchendu, a former member of the House of Representatives, Thursday through the telephone from Abuja, expressed dismay over the way Wike had been conducting himself in office.

    The senator reacted to the remarks earlier made by Rivers governor during the funeral of the mother of a chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Sergeant Awuse, in Emohua Local Government Area of the state.

    He said: “Wike, during the funeral service, was mischievous and unnecessarily arrogant, when on one hand, he claimed to be congratulating President Mohammadu Buhari, on his victory at the tribunal and at the same time, he described the President as a bad man, who, according to him, is not doing well. This is an unnecessary display of arrogance in power.

    “Wike needs to be humble enough to attract the benefits due Rivers State from the Federal Government. Only Rivers State, under Wike, failed to provide land for the housing scheme by the Federal Government. When other states were submitting details of federal roads and projects executed for refund, Wike’s administration failed to submit its.

    Read Also: Fayemi hails Wike as Mr. Project

    “Wike should be respectful of the Federal Government, in order to secure the needed assistance for Rivers State. The time of playing politics is over. Rivers governor should face governance, in the interest of our people. Being arrogant will continue to rob us of the needed federal support.”

    Uchendu also asked Rivers governor to focus on people-oriented and capital-intensive projects and programmes, rather than continually playing politics.

    Wike’s Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, could not be reached as at press time, for reaction on behalf of his boss.

  • Just in:Buhari, Service Chiefs meet in Aso Rock

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday met behind closed doors with Service Chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting is coming almost 24 hours after the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, was directed to proceed on indefinite leave.

    A statement issued from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on Wednesday, said Oyo-Ita’s indefinite leave was to allow conclusion of the investigation being carried out by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

    Read Also: Oba of Benin: Edo will benefit from Buhari’s govt

    The agenda of the meeting is however, unknown to newsmen as at the time of filing the report.

    NAN however, gathered that the president may be briefed by the service chiefs on the nation’s security developments in preparation for the UN General Assembly engagements.

    The President is bid to attend the 74th Session of UN General Assembly in New York on Sept 22.