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Tag: Nigerian Newspapers

  • Aero kicks off Benin-Lagos operations today

    Aero contractors will begin its Benin-Lagos flight operations, with the inaugural flight scheduled for today.

    The flight schedule, according to Head, Ground Operations of Aero Contractors, Peter Omata, is as follows – Lagos to Benin (Departure – 2:10pm; Arrival – 3pm); Benin to Lagos (Departure – 3:30pm; Arrival – 4:20pm).

    Read Also: Xenophobia: Don’t pay for evacuation flight from S/Africa, Air Peace tells Nigerians

    Benin Airport Manager Olatokunbo Arewa said: “The flight operations will run twice daily in Benin Airport from Monday, September 16. The airline wishes to start with Lagos–Benin route and before the year runs out, promises to open some other new routes.”

  • Akinyemi urges Fed Govt to sue South Africa at ICJ

    ONE-TIME External Affairs Minister Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi has urged the Federal Government to take South Africa before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for failing in its duty of care and protection for Nigerian citizens in the country.

    He also called on Nigeria to file complaints against specific South African officials at the global court for aiding and abetting the xenophobic attacks.

    In a statement issued in Lagos on Sumday, Prof Akinyemi listed the culpability of South African officials as follows:

    • The statement credited to Dr. Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, South African Minister of International Relations, that Nigerians were drug dealers;
    • The statement credited to Deputy Police Minister Bongani Mkongi that they fought for their land and that that land would not be surrendered to immigrants;
    • The statement credited to the South African Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula that South Africa is an angry nation and that the country could not prevent the xenophobic attacks;
    • Various statements credited to South African diplomats blaming the immigrants;
    • The anti-immigrant acts by the South African immigration service officials, which for all practical purposes amount to holding Nigerian immigrants hostage by refusing to allow them to be evacuated

    Akinyemi said: “I have come to the conclusion that the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other immigrants are acts sponsored or condoned by the South African state in violation of Article 2, paragraph 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;  Article 2, paragraph 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;  United Nations Convention on the elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination; and International Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers.

    “I, therefore, call on Nigeria to sue South Africa before the International Court of Justice for failure in its duty of care and protection of Nigerian citizens resident there.

    “I call on Nigeria to file complaints against specific South African officials at the International Criminal Court for aiding and abetting the xenophobic attacks.”

  • ‘Nigeria can generate electricity from waste’

    The lawmaker representing Apapa I constituency, Mojisola Meranda, has advocated the need to generate electricity from waste.

    She spoke at a stakeholders’ constituency meeting which aimed at reorienting the community on the need to properly handle environmental challenges. The meeting also gave suggestions on ending threatening environmental challenges.

    The event, held at the Apapa Amusement Park, was tagged “Environmental challenges: Community Engagement to Facility Lasting Solution”.

    Read Also: ’We will restore lost glory in waste management’

    Meranda urged the community on the need for proper refuse disposal, admonishing them to place bin bags at the corner or frontage of the house, where appropriate waste can be deposited, as they await arrival of the LAWMA officials who will pick them up on designated days.

    The lawmaker hinted that the Lagos State government has taken measures to sensitise the public on how well to separate wastes that can be recycled, from wastes that cannot be recycled, to make it easy for waste collectors.

    She said: “At a time like this, when our community is being ravaged by flood due to improper waste disposal, there is urgent need to organise a program like this, to sensitise the public on how well to manage waste.”

    On ways to combat flooding, Meranda said the first thing to be done is desilting the drainages. She added that once the primary and secondary channels are cleared, flooding will be a thing of the past.

    “The safety of our environment is a collective responsibility; it should not be left out to the government alone,” she added.

  • MOSOP welcomes military operations in Ogoniland

    The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has described the current military operations in parts of Ogoniland, Rivers State, as a step in the right direction.

    The military operation is to weed out criminals, vandals and cultists who MOSOP said has turned the area into a blood river.

    A statement on Sunday by its President, Legborsi Pyagbara, said an end must come to criminal activities in Ogoniland.

    Read Also: Wike pledges improved security for Ogoni communities

    The statement reads: “While we hail the deployment of military personnel in Ogoniland, we urge that the operations be carried out within the ambit of the law and respect for the rights of innocent citizens so that unnecessary collateral damage will not be experienced.

    “We urge the people to remain peaceful, law abiding and support the legitimate operations. We assure the people that we are monitoring the process to ensure that innocent lives are not lost. We will promptly take actions against any of such operations that lead to any unnecessary attack on innocent individuals.”

    MOSOP added that any breach of professional rule of engagement observed during the military operations should be reported to the appropriate military authorities and to the office of the umbrella organisation of Ogoni people.

  • Indomitables game app debuts on play store

    Dufil Prima Foods, makers of Indomie Noodles, has launched The Indomitables mobile game on Android.

    The Indomitables is riding on Indomie’s well-known superhero cartoon characters. It features superheroes – Vision, Tweeny, Stretchy, Swifty and Big Boy, collectively known as The Indomitables – who take on the Hunger Monsters unleashed by General Wrath.

    On the modalities for playing, Brand Manager Nikhil Das explained that the player could play as a superhero by collecting bowls of Indomie Noodles that satisfy hunger and Indomie amulets that give superpowers.

    In the highly engaging game, The Indomitables face an insurmountable challenge; the despicable tyrant, General Wrath, has unleashed ‘Hunger Monsters’ across Nigeria and fled. These monsters feed off their victim’s, leaving them weak and helpless.

    Read Also: Don Jazzy, Miyonse, Uriel are Indomie BBN ambassadors

    The General will return to rule after his monsters turn healthy Nigerians into weaklings.

    To tackle these evil monsters is to keep your stomach full and body healthy with Indomie Noodles. With superpowers and their favourite Indomie Noodles, The Indomitables can stop the Hunger Monsters.

    Das said: “These superpowers are deployed by the player to vanquish Hunger Monsters and energise the players. Players can have fun as they run, slide, jump, swipe right and left and attack to save Nigeria. The player cum superhero with the most points will make it to the top of the leader board.”

    Group Public Relations and Events Manager of Dufil Temitope Ashiwaju noted that the game was another way the brand engages its consumers.

    He said: ‘’The Indomitables is the first game a food brand has launched on play store in Nigeria. This is another first by Dufil Prima Foods, pioneers in the noodles market … to keep our consumers engaged with the brand.”

    He added that the company would work towards making the 55MB game available on IOS not to leave anyone behind.

  • PDP governors okay appeal against tribunal judgment

    PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) governors have given their backing to the decision of the party’s 2019 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar to appeal the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal’s judgment upholding President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory.

    The PDP Governors Forum said the tribunal stood justice on its head in the September 11 verdict.

    It added that if the verdict is not challenged at the Supreme Court, it may have far-reaching implications for Nigeria’s democracy.

    In a statement by its Chairman and Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson, the Forum said the tribunal’s judgment attempted to lay a faulty moral foundation for future generations.

    The governors said: “After painstakingly and prudently understudying the line after line tenets of the judgment, several holes were picked and countless anomalies identified by us.

    ”We would be doing a greater disservice and moral injustice to our party, our democracy and Nigerians in general if we turn blind eyes, swallow such bile and applaud that rape of justice.

    ”The judgment, to say the least, has further painted our judiciary with darker colours; only this time around with a never-before-seen blemished coat of tar.

    ”However, we are hopeful that the Supreme Court will re-write that history by ensuring that such stains and tar are removed from our judicial archives.

    “The apex court should know that its integrity is at stake and in order to avoid it been shredded to particles, must employ all known technicalities to save our nation and the future of Nigerians yet unborn from a development that may further make us a perpetual laughing stock amongst the comity of nations.”

    The Forum said Nigerians were very hopeful that the tribunal’s “wrongs” will be made right by the Supreme Court.

    “Without any iota of trepidation, it is most paramount for us to once more restate and reconfirm our undiluted loyalty, deserving support and maximum commitment to our great party and the Atiku-Obi presidential ticket.

    “This is our stand, now and in the future. Posterity would judge us harshly if we did otherwise,” the governors added.

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) also faulted the judgment.

    In a statement by its leader Uchenna Madu to commemorate its 20th anniversary, MASSOB said Nigerians expected a different outcome from the tribunal.

    It said the “lamentations and wailings of millions of Nigerians across the globe” in reaction to the verdict showed that justice was not seen to have been done.

    MASSOB said the anniversary was to remember those who died for the cause of Biafra.

    MASSOB restated its commitment to continue its agitation for an independent state of Biafra.

    “Biafra is the answer to the slavery Nigeria subjected Ndi Igbo to, ranging from political, economic, academic, religious, cultural and social slavery.

    “These undeniable realities are the reasons the Nigerian state is afraid of Biafra, which represents the truth they cannot legitimately counter.

    “Biafra speaks of the truth Nigeria know they are guilty of, so out of weakness and fear, Nigeria resorts to repressions, persecutions, killings and detention of Biafran agitators,” the statement added.

    A human rights group, the Access to Justice, urged electoral courts to shift their approach to determining petitions in order to protect the integrity of the electoral process.

    In a statement by its Convener Joseph Otteh, the group said it was concerned that the presidential election tribunal’s inquiry was significantly coloured by the application of technical rules of evidence to an electoral complaint.

    The group said there was less of an overarching desire to interrogate the transparency and integrity of the February elections and to hold the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accountable for its actions or inactions.

    “This is not entirely blame on the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC). Nigeria’s electoral jurisprudence places too heavy an emphasis on the adversarial technique and its technicalities even in electoral decision-making.

    Read Also: APC to Atiku: Scammers deceived you on server

    “This is not a good framework for exercising the court’s role in safeguarding Nigeria’s fragile democracy and needs to change.

    “When an electoral court insists on ‘proof beyond reasonable doubt’, which is a standard applicable to the adjudication of criminal cases, in order to prove that voter figures were tempered with, the court raises the bar for reaching the truth about the integrity of the elections conducted and the fairness of its process and outcome and makes it harder to ascertain whether announced results were derived from actual votes cast in an election.”

    Access to Justice noted that in civil cases, the thresholds are not that high, and the courts accept the principle of the “preponderance of evidence”.

    It said there is a compelling and strategic need for making this burden even lighter, not heavier, in electoral cases.

    “The court’s approach, therefore, ultimately inclines towards suppressing the truth and keeping it buried under the rubric of the high thresholds it has set.

    “This makes it harder for electoral courts to play their watchdog roles of restoring and reinforcing the choices made by the electorate.

    “In the end, legalism defeats justice, while ‘democracy’ and the electorate are the ultimate losers.

    “Access to Justice does not in any way imply that the truth of the claims advanced by the petitioners in this case was buried in the hubris of legal or evidential technicalities.

    “We think rather that our courts’ philosophy of electoral adjudication needs to be reconceptualised and reconstructed to realign it better to the need to both protect Nigeria’s fledgling democracy and the electoral process.

    “It will as well help it hold electoral bodies accountable for delivering free, fair and transparent elections.”

  • Delta spends N377m on water reticulation

    Delta State government has spent N377 million to provide potable water for homes in Asaba and Ughelli.

    It built 5km water pipelines each in 10 urban areas of Issele-Uku, Patani, Ogharefe, Ozoro, Kwale, Koko, Orerokpe, Burutu, Obiarukwu and Ogwashi-Uku.

    Commissioner for Water Resources Martins Okonta, who spoke yesterday in Asaba, urged residents to consume water from the public water system.

    He said water from private boreholes were not as safe as that from public supply.

    Read Also: Free medical care for 700 in Delta communities

    “Most private boreholes do not have treatment plants; they don’t have quality control, they just put the boreholes, get water and start using it without treatment. But the government or public water sector has treatment plants and when treated you will see the difference – there will be no colour, no taste and no odour,’’ he said.

    “Water from the public sector has a lot of advantages because it goes through quality control, data control and is treated, unlike private boreholes that are usually sunk near cesspits, which amount to taking contaminated water into your system.

    Continuing, Okonta said:  “I will not subscribe to drinking water from private boreholes because they are not treated and the boreholes are cited close to cesspits. Even when your well is not close to a cesspit, your neighbour cites his cesspit close to the borehole.

    “The government has committed over N233 million into the Asaba Regional Water Scheme, while the Ughelli Regional Water Scheme has received N144 million.

    ‘’In a bid to get water distributed to homes, the government has also built 5km water pipelines in 10 urban areas – Issele-Uku, Patani, Ogharefe, Ozoro, Kwale, Koko, Orerokpe, Burutu, Obiarukwu and Ogwashi-Uku.”

  • Our plan to improve Niger Delta, by NDDC chair-designate

    Chairman-designate of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Dr Pius Odubu has said the board, when constituted, will adopt a needs assessment approach to select projects to execute.

    Odubu promised that the board would live above board and ensure quality work in Niger Delta. He addressed reporters after attending the 70th birthday thanksgiving of Mrs. Roseline Edaghuase Imariagbe, mother of former Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, Samson Osagie.

    Read Also: ‘Don’t transfer NDDC to Niger Delta ministry’

    He said: “The God who started it will finish it. We intend to have a vibrant NDDC; one that will prioritise the needs of the people. We are going to adopt the NEEDS assessment.

    “We will go to the various communities to ask them their needs; we will not force projects down their throats. We will take the Adams Oshiomhole template to NDDC by having daily inspection and ensure we get value for money. Accountability will be the word; we will turn the region around.

    “Look at the calibre of people going there; they are men of impeccable character; they are neither hungry nor in need of money; people who are already contented. It remains, therefore, for us to work; to do our best so that we will continue to bless this land; do our best and join President Muhammadu Buhari in taking the Niger Delta to the next level.”

  • No sacred cows in $9.6b judgment probe

    THE Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami (SAN) on Sunday said there would be no scared cows in the ongoing probe of the criminal conspiracy surrounding  the  $9.6billion judgment debt against Nigeria.

    He also said the investigation would be extended beyond the shores of the country.

    According to him, the investigation could establish proof of fraud behind the award of the contract and other underhand deals. In addition, it will afford Nigeria the opportunity to set the judgment debt aside.

    He asked Nigerians to ask the PDP government that awarded the contract why it was given to a company, whose address is in care of a lawyer’s office.

    He, however, said judges are not under investigation by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit(NFIU).

    Malami, who spoke during a chat with some reporters in Abuja, said there are no limitations as to who should be invited.

    He made the submissions while reacting to a question on the interrogation of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alfa Belgore by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over his role in the award of the $9.6billion damages against Nigeria.

    Although the AGF refused to mention any name, he said all those implicated in the deal were being investigated.

    He said: “There is indeed investigation being intensively and extensively carried out by agencies of government and it is indeed unearthed, borderless and there are no limitations as to who and who can be invited and not invited.

    “I won’t like to speak on the personalities but I want to state categorically that those that were involved in the process of drafting the agreement;  in the process of signing and executing the agreement; in the process of the conduct of arbitration; in the court of the trial before the high court relating to a subsequent case that was filed and all  other personalities of interest( local and international) are indeed being investigated to get to the bottom of what indeed transpired for the purpose of establishing the existence  or otherwise of fraud, conspiracies within the parties or among the parties.”

    Malami said the President Muhammad Buhari administration will not sell out the interest of the nation to satisfy some selfish Nigerians.

    He added: “However, I want to say that while I don’t wish to say so much on the P&ID matter, I want to state clearly that the Nigerian Government will not sell out the interest of the country and the Nigerian people in order to satisfy some elements who are consciously out to extort the Nigerian people for their selfish aggrandizement.

    Read Also: Malami: what Buhari told me about justice ministry

    “It is to be noted that while we are willing and ready to negotiate and meet the terms of agreements reached with all genuine investors which have done business or are still doing business with Nigeria on mutually beneficial terms, we will not allow fraudulent local and foreign collaborators to rip off the resources of Nigeria for no just cause in order to be seen as being nice or ‘investor-friendly’.

    “Those who are clapping for P&ID and blaming Abubakar Malami and the Buhari administration for the huge  $9.6 billion slammed on the country as a result of the so-called Gas Supply and Processing Contract awarded the firm on January 11, 2010, five years before President Buhari came to power and I became minister, should be kind enough to ask those who awarded the ‘so-called contract’ what it was all about and why there was no attempt by either those who awarded the contract and the contractor to implement even an aspect of it.

    “Nigerians should also ask the PDP government that awarded the contract why it was given to a company, whose address is C/O of a lawyer’s office: Trident Chambers, P.O Box 146, Tortola, British Virgin Island and that means the company does not have an office of its own and has no record of executing any project of any kind close to what it was awarded in Nigeria.”

    Malami raised six posers which Nigerians should ask the PDP government which awarded the contract.”

    • In whose interest was the critical contract awarded and what was it to achieve?
    • Why was the centre of arbitration taken to London, and not Nigeria, a sovereign nation?
    • Why was the contract not passed unto the Federal Ministry of Justice for vetting?
    • Why was the Federal Executive Council’s approval not sought for in the execution of the agreement?
    • Was there any Direct Capital Inflow arising from the contract?
    • Was NNPC, NPDC and IOC’s who were to have supplied the gas component of the agreement not made parties to it?

    “So, it is clear from all indications that the so-called contract was a well-organized scam consciously, deliberately and intentionally orchestrated by some dubious and well-placed Nigerian government officials at the time with some shrewd foreign collaborators to defraud Nigeria and inflict heavy economic and financial loss on Nigeria and its people.

    “There is a comprehensive report by Bloomberg BusinessWeek on the whole scam and those who want to know more about the so-called contract can read up on: Is One of the World’s Biggest Lawsuits Built on a Sham?”

    He insisted that Nigeria has a case if it could prove the fraud surrounding the award of the gas contract to Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID).

    He said: “The truth of the matter was that as at the time we came on board as a government, there was already in existence of an award and a quantum determination of about $6.9billion. As at the time we came in place, the time with which could have appealed had already elapsed. There was no time for us to appeal because the previous administration had not appealed against the award when it was made in June 2014.

    “So, with the lapsing of the time to appeal, you could not have filed an application to either set aside the award or to stay execution as of right. You require the leave of the tribunal to appeal the award. And that leave could have been very difficult process because Nigeria as at then could have been adjudged to have slept over its right to appeal which you could do within a regulated time.

    “So, the only immediate option open then was to consider the possibility of negotiating. And that was what informed our decision to accommodate the possibility of negotiation.

    “But along the line, many facts came to light inclusive of the fact that gave rise to the possibility of insinuations of fraudulent underhand among the parties involved. And for your information, legally speaking, fraud could be a ground for setting aside an award without necessarily having to go through the route of seeking for leave.  So, if you can establish fraud, there is no time limit within which you can raise it

    “So, when fraudulent insinuations manifested arising in the course of engagement, it is only logical that Nigeria should have a consideration for investigation as relating to fraudulent elements which could afford the country an opportunity to have the entire award set aside if fraud can now be established.

    “An issue was raised about lack of diligent prosecution. I have stated earlier that the lawyers that were on board as at the time this award came in place were engaged by the previous government as at the time the award was made in June 2014. And when we came on board, we had cause to intensify the existing legal consortium and we brought in additional lawyers to strengthen the team.

    “Even if indeed and in fact any case at any point was struck out, the implication is that it was struck out at a time when the lawyers engaged by the previous administration were handling the matter because as at the time we came on board, all opportunities for appeal, setting aside, stay of execution were closed taking into consideration that the time in which to appeal had indeed elapsed.”

  • ‘Don’t transfer NDDC to Niger Delta ministry’

    Iwere People’s Congress (IPC) has kicked against plans to transfer supervision of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from the Presidency to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

    The Itsekiri group, in a statement by its spokesman, Prince Francis Fari, said the proposition, as indicated by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, would not align with laws establishing NDDC.

    “The ministers of the Niger Delta Godswill Akpabio and Festus Keyamo (SAN) have made statements with regards to their supervisory control of the…NDDC

    Read Also: APC youths protest against Abia NDDC Board commissioner- nominee

    “They have stated …plans to subsume the commission’s operations under the Ministry of Niger Delta… This will also make the commission answerable to the ministry … as against the Presidency as originally intended.

    “We…will like to clarify that subsuming the NDDC under the Ministry of the Niger Delta will be going against the letter of the Act …

    “However, it is also trite to state that NDDC is older than the ministry …we do not think it is right to place the commission under the control of the ministry …Niger Delta people will prefer the…commission …the way it is.’’