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Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo on Wednesday urged foreign firms seeking to invest in the country to create jobs for Nigerians.

Adebayo spoke in Abuja when the leadership of some foreign firms visited him.

The firms are: Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), from Korea and Datasonic Group Berhard from Malaysia.

The minister expressed satisfaction that foreign firms were for investment opportunities in the country.

He urged them to use their investment to create jobs for Nigerians.

While Samsung came for business expansion and vessel fabrication in Nigeria, Datasonic is seeking government’s support for a $100 million investment in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solution services in the country.

Adebayo said: “Such investment plans should give top priority to job opportunities for Nigerians, especially the youths. The government is also not relenting on creating an enabling environment for businesses as long as they would create jobs.

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“As a government, we are excited that you are here seeking investment opportunities in our country. The fact is that it is the priority of President Muhammadu Buhari to create jobs for our youths through direct foreign investments (DFIs).

“It is also exciting that you are coming now at the right time when we are settling into our new functions to take the nation to the Next Level, which makes your coming part of our plan. As you progress with setting up of your businesses, staff from the ministry will assist in your areas of needs.”

The Managing Director of SHI Samsung Limited, Mr Jejin Jeon, told the minister that his firm had invested about $500 million in Nigeria in the last six years.

He proposed to site a factory in Nigeria to make the country the vessel fabrication hub in Africa.

Also, the Chief Executive Director of Datasonic Group Berhad, Mr Chew Ben Ben, told the minister that his firm, in partnership with Chrome Group of Nigeria, had a multimillion dollars ICT project plan for the country.

The project, he said, would cover production of secured passports, chip-based driver’s licence, international passport, integrated security, surveillance systems, auto-gates with facial recognition systems, all of which would create several jobs for Nigerian youths.

The Chairman of Abuja Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ABUCCI), Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, expressed confidence that the project would further drive the economic diversification agenda of the current administration.

He said the firm, as one of the foremost ICT companies in Malaysia, was poised to establish a world-class range of technology products in Nigeria within the next 24 months.

Adetokunbo added that the firm looked forward to government supports in the form of top-level incentives and waivers to upscale government’s agenda in job creation.

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has alleged that the police were responsible for killing of two students of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE).

The President, Comrade Bamidele Akpan, alleged that the report of the students’ body’s fact findings showed that the undergraduates were shot dead by men of the Counter Terrorism Unit of the police.

The students last Tuesday protested in Oye-Ekiti over incessant power outage in the host community, leading to an attack on Erelu Bisi Fayemi’s convoy while on an empowerment tour of the town.

They were said to have engaged the security operatives detailed with the governor’s wife in a ‘mortal combat’, resulting in the alleged shooting of the students.

Read Also: Stop politicising killing of FUOYE students, Ekiti elders warn politicians

Two undergraduates, a 100-level student of Crop Science and Horticulture, Oluwaseyi Kehinde and Joseph Okonofua, a 300-level student of Biology Education, died. Several others were injured, with over a dozen of vehicles vandalised by the students.

Akpan spoke during a meeting with the FUOYE management, led by its Vice Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, on Tuesday.

He said the visit was to review the past event that led to the tragic incident and unravel its immediate and remote causes.

“We are here on a very sad note first to sympathise with the management and students of the school on the unfortunate incident.

“We have been in Ekiti for three days doing fact- finding. We have sent an advanced team to see if, and to ensure that students with capacity to foment trouble are not allowed to do so. No students have been seen fomenting any trouble.

“We sympathise with you in this time of grief and assure you of our support. We have identified those who shot the students. They are men of the Counter Terrorism Unit of the Nigeria Police,” Akpan alleged.

Prof. Soremekun hailed NANS for its effort in promoting the interest of the students across the country.

He said the issues at hand would be resolved soon.

Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola has hailed the Federal Government for supporting the state and for approving the establishment of a zonal fire service headquarters in the state.

The governor singled out President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, for commendation, saying the gesture would further complement the efforts of the state towards preventing and combating natural disasters.

He advocated the need for the people to always apply preventive measures and cultivate the habit that would enhance safety and strengthen the security of lives and property.

Governor Oyetola spoke on Wednesday when he received the Controller-General of the Federal Fire Service, Dr. Liman Ibrahim and his entourage who were in the state to inaugurate state-of-the-art fire-fighting trucks donated by the Federal Government.

Oyetola, who reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring safety and security of lives and property, said the government would promote enlightenment programmes that could help to expose the public to precautionary measures against natural disasters.

Read Also: Oyetola seeks France’s support on vocational education

“First of all, I must thank President Buhari for the wonderful support for the state. I equally commend the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, for finding it necessary to support the state in this regard.

“You will recall that about a month ago, we inaugurated 11 fire service stations across the state alongside the fire- fighting trucks that we rehabilitated as part of efforts to prevent and combat inferno.

“This is to boost swift response system to any form of distress, particularly when there is fire outbreak.

“Our administration has demonstrated high commitment to the welfare of our people, as we have been alive to our constitutional responsibilities, particularly on their security and welfare.

“Our administration understands the need to ensure the protection of lives and property of the citizens, which is why we are doing everything possible to ensure safety at all cost,” the governor said.

Dr. Ibrahim lauded the state government for being committed to the security and welfare of the people.

He said the agency was aware of the state’s commitment to strengthen the capacity of the agency for efficient and effective service delivery.

The Fire Service boss disclosed that the Federal Government had through the Ministry of Interior, approved the establishment of a Federal Fire Service zonal headquarters in Osogbo.

He said the newly-procured fire-fighting trucks were donated in confirmation of the take-off of the new zone.

Ibrahim said approval had been given for the relocation of the Federal Fire Service Training School for the Southwest presently in Lagos to Osun State, noting that the relocation became necessary due to the recent affiliation of the National Fire Academy, Sheda, to the Nigeria Defence Academy, Kaduna for the purpose of running a post graduate programme in disaster management.

Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has reaffirmed the decision of his administration to prosecute any official found involved in corruption.

This is in line with his resolve to ensure accountability in public service.

He spoke yesterday at the Government House, Makurdi while swearing in the chairman and commissioners of Local Government Service Commission, as well as a member of the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC).

The governor, who also inaugurated the Benue State Planning Commission, with him as the chairman and his deputy, Benson Abounu, as alternate chairman, urged the appointees to be transparent.

Read Also: Ortom: I’m on course

He stressed that only transparency could make public officials free from prosecution when they leave office,

cautioning public officials who indulge in sharp practices to desist or face the consequences.

Responding on behalf of the Local Government Service Commission, the Chairman, Dr. Bem Melladu, thanked the governor for the responsibility given them and promised that they would work hard to justify the confidence reposed in them.

Terkaa Mamwoo, Ochekliye Adugba, Nyigba Godwin and Dr. Tsetim Ayargwer were sworn in as commissioners of the commission, while Mr. Sunday Agbaji took oath as a member of BSIEC.

The petitioners and respondents in the legal tussle over the 2019 governorship election in Kano State on Wednesday adopted their final defence at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal presided over by Justice Halima Shamaki.

Abba Kabiru Yusuf (first petitioner), alongside Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)(second petitioner) had  dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) (first respondent), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (second respondent) and All Progressives Congress (APC)(third respondent) to the tribunal challenging the  declaration of Ganduje as the winner of the Kano State governorship election.

The respondents urged the court to dismiss the pleadings made by the petitioners, saying they have failed to discharge the burden on proof.

The respondents told the court that the exhibits tendered from the bar by the petitioners were not Certified True Copies (CTCs). They prayed the tribunal to dismiss the petition.

Read Also: Mixed reactions trail tribunal judgments in C’River

Counsel to the first respondent (INEC) Ahmed Raji (SAN) told the tribunal that the issues raised by the petitioners were bankrupt in merit. He argued that the petition lacked the fertility of life.

He said Kabiru failed to produce direct evidence to substantiate his claims that INEC wrongfully declared his opponent, Ganduje, as the winner of the poll, arguing that the electoral act is strict on the petitioners appealing to the tribunal to on this ground dismiss the petition.

Ganduje, responding to the petition filed against his victory, said the petitioner failed to produce result that was contrary to that which was declared by INEC.

Ganduje, through his counsel, Offiong Offiong (SAN), submitted that Kabiru invoked presumptions in an attempt to prove to the court that he was duly elected as governor, praying the court to dismiss the claims made by the petitioners.

The third respondent, APC, told the tribunal that the petitioners in their claims made an unlawful translation of the provisions of the law.

The respondent, through its counsel, Alex Iziyon (SAN), said the petitioners failed to tender voters’ register that indicated the number of voters, who voted and the number of votes scored, to substantiate their claim as winners of the election.

According to him, INEC possesses the inherent jurisdiction to cancel elections and proceed to order for a rerun, arguing that on March 9 INEC acted rightly by declaring the Kano State governorship election as inconclusive.

Iziyon (SAN) further argued that the petitioners in their claims to election victory acted in contrast to the provisions of the law by presenting pink copies result sheets, explaining that jurisprudence has transited from submission of pink copies to another stage. On this ground he prayed the court to dismiss the petition and uphold the emergence of APC and its candidate, Ganduje, as winner of the election.

Responding to the submissions made by the respondent, counsel to the petitioners, Kanu Agabi (SAN), urged the court to ignore the response from the respondents on the issues raised.

He said on March 9, elections were held and results were announced, adding that Yusuf of the PDP scored the highest number of votes. “Unfortunately INEC refused to declare PDP as the winner of that election.”

Agabi argued that the rerun election held on March 23 was null and void, stressing that therefore the results from the rerun, which declared Ganduje as duly elected governor, was null and void. That the court should declare the results of March 9 as the valid results and return PDP and its candidate Yusuf as the winner of the election, urging the tribunal to so hold.

Justice Shamaki said the tribunal would communicate to the parties the date the final judgment would be delivered

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Minna, Niger State has upheld the election of Governor Abubakar Bello.

It dismissed the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Alhaji Umar Nasko, declaring that it lacked merit and failed in its entirety.

The hearing lasted for about five hours during which the tribunal delivered its rulings on all motions and preliminary objections before delivering judgment on the merit of the petition.

On the allegation of the petitioners that the election was marred by intimidation, violence, vote-buying, among others, the tribunal said they were bereft of pieces of evidence and were bound to fail.

On the allegation of forgery and falsification of documents against Governor Bello, the tribunal held that the allegation could not be proved, as the petitioner could not produce the Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO) to authenticate the result.

Read Also: Tribunal judgment: No grudge against anyone, says Bello

After striking out the allegation of forgery and falsification of documents, the tribunal went on to determine whether the petitioner discharged the onus of proof to show that the respondent did not score the majority of lawful votes cast.

On this, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove that the respondent did not score the majority of lawful votes cast.

On the allegation of vote-buying, corrupt practices,  use of state power, intimidation of voters, misuse of security agents to influence the outcome of the election of March 9, 2019, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to establish the allegations, as no cogent and credible evidence were adduced to substantiate the allegations beyond reasonable doubt.

The tribunal also held that nowhere during the length and breadth of the trial did the sole witness of the petitioners, PW1, Mr. Tanko Beji, gave evidence in respect of the allegation of non-compliance.

Counsel to Nasko, Idris Ndayako, said they are not satisfied with the judgment, adding that they will meet to decide what to do.

Bello’s and All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) lawyer Jibrin Samuel Okutepa said they were satisfied with the judgment, as the tribunal proved it was objective.

He said they knew from the onset that the accusations and claims were false and baseless.

Okutepa said the judgment was based on facts and the pieces of evidence on ground.

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said the frequency with which Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike churns out quality projects justifies his world acclaimed title: ‘Mr. Project’.

A statement by Wike’s media aide, Simeon Nwakaudu, said Fayemi spoke yesterday at the opening of the Rumuwoji International Market in Port Harcourt. Fayemi praised Wike for his outstanding performance.

He said: “We are proud of Governor Wike; we are proud of the work he is doing in Rivers State. He will continue to inaugurate projects till September 27, which is almost 10 days from now.

“Even if it is one project per day, it will be almost 10 days. Now I understand why they refer to him as Mr. Project.”

Read Also: Fayemi: no Mosque demolished in Rivers 

Governor Fayemi, who noted that governance was about improving the people’s standard of living, said Wike had worked hard for Rivers people.

“The promise that the governor made is what he is fulfilling today. That is what governance is all about; it is about affecting the lives of our people. Governance is about improving the quality and condition of our society; it is about ensuring that we fulfil promises that we make to the people,” he added.

Wike said opening the Rumuwoji Market is a fulfilment of his pledge to rebuild it.

“I made a promise to build this market; we started from the foundation to its completion. When we make promises, we are bound to fulfil them. Hold us accountable to our promises because there is no need for excuses. We made a promise and we have fulfilled that promise,” he added.

The governor reiterated that the government had finished paying for the project. He also raised a management committee to ensure the market serves the people.