The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian Newspapers

  • Tribunal to adopt written addresses Sept 10

    The governorship election petition tribunal in Akwa Ibom state has fixed September 10 to adopt written addresses in the suit between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its candidate Governor Udom Emmanuel (first and second respondents) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate Nsima Ekere.

    The tribunal fixed the date after an intensive defence for days which resulted in the first and second respondents calling 31 witnesses.

    While the PDP witnesses affirmed the credibility of the 2019 election won by Emmanuel, the APC and its candidate alleged irregularities in the election and called for a cancellation.

    Read Also: Tribunal upholds Aduda’s election as FCT Senator

    Governor Emmanuel and the PDP on Wednesday closed their case for the third respondent being INEC to open its defence. But INEC said having examined the case before the tribunal from the beginning, it has come to the conclusion that there is nothing whatsoever to prove again by calling additional witnesses, and that the commission has adopted the first and second respondents evidence in the case.

    INEC, therefore, closed its case and called on the tribunal to fix a date for adoption of written address, which is expected to happen within one week since the tribunal will close on September 25.

    Tribunal chairman Justice A. M Yakubu praised all the lead counsels in the petition for their cooperation and orderly conduct. He also praised the participating lawyers for the roles.

  • INEC to distribute 49,819 PVCs

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will distribute 49,819 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in Bayelsa State ahead of the November 16 governorship election.

    Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Monday Udoh spoke on Tuesday at a stakeholders’ forum on modalities for collection of PVCs.

    Udoh, represented by the Executive Secretary, Boco Ekong, said the distribution would begin in the eight local governments on September 2.

    He said the distributionwould hold at the Registration Areas (RAs) level from September 2 to 31.

    Read Also: Bayelsa governorship: APC disqualifies ex-Cross River REC Briyai

    A breakdown of PVCs to be distributed shows that 4,452 are for Brass; 4,707 for Ekeremor; and 2,718 for Kolokuma/Opokuma.

    “In Nembe, we have 8,206 cards; 1,682 (Ogbia); 5,091 (Sagbama); 765 (Southern-Ijaw) and 21,601 (Yenagoa).

    “Our workers have been directed to distribute the cards on September 2 by moving from RA to RA, Monday through Friday. I, therefore, urge all eligible persons yet to collect their PVCs to use the opportunity to collect them,” Ekong said.

    Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) Mr. Eneyi Zidougha and stressed the need for stakeholders to support INEC to enable it to achieve a credible election.

  • Bayelsa governorship: APC disqualifies ex-Cross River REC Briyai

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship election screening commit in Bayelsa State has disqualified the former Cross River State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Frankland Briyai, from participating in the August 29 primaries.

    Briyai was reportedly disqualified because he was said not to have been a card-carrying member of APC for up to one year.

    Those cleared for the primaries are Preye Aganaba, Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, Ms. Diseye Poweigha, Mr. Lyon David, Prof. Ongoebi Etebu and Heineken Lokpobiri.

    A report by the Isa Song-led committee, addressed to the national chairman, said only Briyai was not cleared.

    The report added that the committee conducted its exercise in line with the party’s guidelines.

    Read Also: I’ve not been disqualified from Bayelsa guber race, says ex-Cross River REC

    It said the guideline stipulated that aspirants must have been card-carrying members for one year; must show their original credentials, and in the case of multiple declaration of age, harmonise same.

    The report reads: “Each aspirant was questioned in relation to qualifications and conduct in line with both party constitution and election guidelines. We also asked them to produce evidence of their membership of the party, voters’ card and payment of the prescribed fees, as well as the original copy of their credentials for sighting.

    “Therefore, Dr. Frankland Briyai was not cleared and disqualified on the grounds of Section 3 paragraph ‘L’ of the guideline for nomination of candidates.”

    But Briyai has denied being disqualified from the governorship race, saying his waiver to contest the election was being processed.

    He said: “How did you know I was not cleared? Don’t forget that my waiver is being processed. That I am not cleared doesn’t mean that I have been disqualified. The NWC is looking into the waiver issue; it is being processed. There is an online report that says that I have been disqualified, it is only NWV that can disqualify anybody.

    “What the screening and appeal panel do is to recommend to the NWC their findings; disqualification comes from the NWC. So, I have not been disqualified.”

  • Vigilante chief urges Aregbesola to prioritise internal security

    THE Head of Harmonised Vigilante Group in the Southwest, Alhaji Rilwan Yasalam Hussein, has urged the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, to prioritise the re-arrangement of the nation’s internal security architecture.

    In a statement he personally signed, Hussein stressed that Nigeria’s internal security arrangement needs to be overhauled. The vigilante leader said an heterogeneous society like Nigeria cannot effectively police itself without the active participation of all members of the society.

    Hussein, who advised the minister to set up a virile committee that will monitor the nation’s porous borders and find a lasting solution to it, said the menace had contributed to internal security challenges.

    He said: “I am convinced that the new Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, will take the issue of community policing serious and give it necessary attention and consideration, going by his antecedents in Osun State in the area of security.

    Read Also: Aregbesola vows to set new internal security agenda

    “By the mandate of his office, he must strive to come up with a robust arrangement for internal security that will make a difference and reflect community participation.

    “Paramilitary organisations, like the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), among others, are strong agencies that could be used to effect formidable internal security arrangement in collaboration with communities.

    “The minister made this work in Osun State while he held sway as governor for eight years. He came up with virile security measures that gave responsibilities to all strata of the society to be vigilant and involve in policing their communities in collaboration with security agencies.

    “My group played a significant role in this arrangement, and it turned out to be a huge success as the state under Aregbesola was peaceful all through.

    “I will want him to work closely with the Ministry of Police Affairs and other security agencies to thoroughly fine-tune modalities for the implementation of community policing.”

     

  • Buhari congratulates Afe Babalola on AU award

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with legal luminary, educationist and philanthropist, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), for being recognised by The General Assembly of the African Union (AU ECOSOCC) with the “African Role Model AU Agenda 2063 Ambassadorial Award”.

    In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the President rejoiced with the renowned philanthropist on the global recognition for his efforts to uplift many out of poverty through employment, scholarship, training, health care and coaching on entrepreneurship.

    He believed Aare Babalola’s large-heartedness and love for humanity sets him apart for recognition at home and abroad by governments and institutions. President Buhari underscored his contributions to national development through investments that directly impact the livelihood of Nigerians.

    Read Also: Afe Babalola rehabilitates two mentally-ill orphans

    The President noted that the Premier Continental Ambassadorial Award is well deserved for the successful lawyer and educationist.

    He praised the recipient for once more bringing honour to the country.

    President Buhari expressed appreciation to The General Assembly of the African Union for the thoughtfulness.

    He assured the leaders that Aare Babalola will be more motivated to support the AU Agenda 2063 of providing a better livelihood for Africans.

  • Yobe okays N365m for council retirees

    Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni has approved the release of N365 million for payment of accumulated pension arrears and gratuities to 279 local government retirees.

    Director-General, Media Affairs to the governor Alhaji Abdullahi Bego, in a statement, said the  approval followed the recommendations of the Committee on the Payment of Local Government Staff Pensions Arrears, Death Benefits and Gratuities headed by the Auditor-General for Local Governments.

    Read Also: Yobe’s push for quality education

    “Of the 279 beneficiaries, 71 are deceased and their benefits, amounting to N110 million, will be paid to their next-of-kin through the probate division of the State High Court.

    “The remaining N254 million will be electronically paid directly to the remaining 208 living retirees.”

    Buni in July, also approved N228 million for the payment of the benefits of  l98 other local government retirees.

  • Presidency tackles ex-Vice President Atiku over Obasanjo

    THE Presidency came hard on Tuesday on the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the February 23 presidential election Atiku Abubakar over the latter’s allegation that President Muhammadu Buhari plans to frame former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    It said the former vice president got it wrong by assuming that the one-time president could be framed by any other person more that he (Atiku) had done.

    Atiku had on Monday declared that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was bent on framing Obasanjo to stop his criticism of the  Buhari’s administration.

    In a statement by his media office, Atiku also alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was feeding the media with falsehood to cause disaffection between him and Obasanjo on one hand, and between Obasanjo and Nigerians in general.

    But a Presidency source told The Nation in confidence that Atiku had so much framed Obasanjo that nobody could beat his record.

    Read Also: Buhari not qualified to run, Atiku insists

    The source said: “When Mr. Atiku Abubakar reflects on some of the things he said of President Obasanjo, he will realise that having framed the former President so well in the past, Obasanjo cannot anymore be framed by anyone, no matter how he tries.

    “On the unresolved issue of the mismanagement of the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF) under their government, Mr Atiku’s revelation before the Senate was that Obasanjo took N10 billion to kick-start his third term campaign.

    “This is how the press captured it: ‘Abuja — The ill-fated third term agenda re-echoed yesterday in Abuja at the public sitting of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) when Vice President Atiku Abubakar alleged that President Olusegun Obasanjo approved the immediate release of N10 billion in the thick of the battle to push the agenda in the National Assembly.’”

    Another source recalled what Atiku said about Obasanjo on the $16 billion spending on electricity, which he noted nothing to show.

    The second source quoted Atiku as saying: “The issue of electricity is a thing that I feel very emotional about it, because I believe if we had handled the issue of electricity when we were in office by 2005 we would have provided enough electricity for the people of this country; but unfortunately we did not follow that route.

     

  • NECO releases May/June 2019 exam results

    The National Examinations Council (NECO) has released the results of 2019 June/July examinations with 829,787 candidates, representing 71.59 per cent, making five credits and above, including English Language and Mathematics.

    Its Acting Registrar/Chief Executive, Abubakar Mohammed Gana, added that the number of candidates, who made five credits and above, irrespective of English Language and Mathematics, is 1,041,986 – representing 89.90 per cent.

    Gana, who announced the release at the NECO Headquarters in Minna, adjudged the 2019 June/July SSCE as a huge success, stating that NECO has “once again delivered on its mandate”.

    He recommended three schools in Kastina, Kebbi and Oyo states for de-recognition from conducting its Senior Secondary School Examinations (SSCE) for two years.

    According to him, the schools were de-recognised for their involvements in mass cheating and being special centres.

    Gana said 17 supervisors were also blacklisted for various offences ranging from poor supervision, aiding and abetting and connivance with non-candidates to write answers on the chalkboard.

    He added that 40,630, representing 3.53 per cent of the candidates who sat for the examination, were involved in various forms of malpractice. The number of malpractice cases when compared to 2019 increased with over 50 per cent, the Acting Registrar said.

    Read Also: WAEC releases May/June WASSCE results, withholds 180,205

    He explained that the reason for the higher figure of malpractice cases in 2019 was not unconnected with the deployment of the new biometric verification device used in the 2019 SSCE, “more robust monitoring by staff and external monitors also contributed to more sensitivity in detecting malpractices”.

    Gana said some members of NECO staff alleged to have been involved in malpractice cases have been recommended to face the appropriate disciplinary measures, stressing that once they fail to satisfactorily defend themselves, they would be dismissed or punished appropriately.

    Giving an analysis of the performance of the candidates, the acting registrar said 1,151,016 candidates, including 146 blind candidates, sat for the 2019 June/July SSCE examination.

    He said 984,152, representing 85.50 per cent of the candidates, made credit and above in English Language while 954,399, representing 83.03 per cent of candidates, made credit and above in mathematics.

    The registrar also debunked an online publication which urged candidates to log on to a different website to assess their results even when the results were not yet released by purchasing scratch cards.

    Gana emphasised: “NECO has abolished the use of card in all its operations as everything is now 100 per cent online.

    “The approved website of NECO remains www.neco. gov.ng and has not changed. We advise parents, schools and candidates to disregard that publication and to visit only the approved site to check their results as well as to get information on our operations.”

  • Lagos Assembly raise panel to probe Ambode’s 820 buses

    THE Lagos State House Assembly on Tuesday raised a nine-man ad-hoc committee to investigate the purchase of 820 buses valued at N45 billion by the administration of the immediate past Governor of the State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.

    Chaired by Fatai Mojeed, the committee has Gbolahan Yishawu; Bisi Yusuff; Afinni Olanrewaju; Rasheed Makinde; Yinka Ogundimu; Mojisola Meranda; Temitope Adewale and Kehinde Joseph as members.

    The House of Assembly said it has become imperative to investigate the acquisition of 820 buses out of the 5,000 buses proposed by the former governor for mass transit in the state.

    According the legislature, the governor went ahead to buy the buses despite objection by the Assembly.

    In a motion titled: Lagos State House of Assembly Motion Number 2, Yishawu stated that the House noted that at the Executive/Legislative parley held at Golden Tulip in FESTAC in September 2017, Ambode informed the House that 5,000 buses would be bought by the government.

    He added that the executive proposed to spend N17 billion to purchase the buses in the 2017 budget, saying however, the House declined approval as it did not follow stipulated terms.

    The lawmaker said: “In the 2018 and 2019 budgets, the state government proposed N24 billion and N7 billion respectively, but these were not approved.

    Read Also: Why Lagos Assembly dropped three commissioner-nominees

    “The state government still went ahead to import 820 buses at N7 billion, and out of them 520 are still awaiting clearance at the ports.

    “The buses were later bought without approval by the state House of Assembly.”

    Yishawu added that the House was worried that 520 buses were still awaiting clearance from the bonded warehouse at the Port and that they were purchased with taxpayers’ money without approval.

    He submitted that the House should set up an ad hoc pane to investigate all the issues relating to the purchase of the buses.

    Besides, he urged the House to investigate the cost of the purchase to prevent a re-ocurrence.

    Speaker Mudashiru Obasa pointed out that the House needed to prevent waste because the deed had already been done.

    He said: “The vehicles are in the ports and they have been there for almost a year. The state will continue to suffer if we allow the buses to stay in the ports.”

    Obasa noted that contrary to the practice in the state, Ambode’s administration delved into operation, when “we should be the regulators of transporters, the state should not operate buses.

    “How much are we giving the buses out should be addressed. We should get the buses to the roads and safe the state from further wastes”, he said.

    The Speaker directed the committee to invite the Accountant-General of the State, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and any other official involved in the purchase to give testimonies on the purchase.

    He also told the panel to invite the current Commissioner for Finance, the Managing Director of LAMATA and others.

    Yinka Ogundimu said: “We need to investigate every transaction that has to do with the procurement of the buses. It would become a bad precedent if we don’t do anything about this. A huge amount of money still needed to be paid on the purchase of these buses. Whoever has erred should be brought to book.”

    Saka Solaja said: “In awarding a contract there should be two parties. The contractor should note if the company is viable and if it is provided for in the budget. Yet, the contractors went ahead to take up the contract.

    “We need to investigate the issue and whoever is culpable should refund money to the government. By getting ISPO without budgetary approval should attract punishment.”

    In his view, Rotimi Olowo (Shomolu I) stressed that the provision of the 1999 Constitution in Section 120 has been flouted with the purchase.

    Olowo noted: “They told us that they wanted to start a pilot project, yet they went ahead with the project. Can we still wait for the vehicles to be in the port and attract demurrage.

    “The incumbent governor of the state should ask for waivers from the Federal Government so that we could retrieve the vehicles from the ports.”

  • AbdulRazaq sends N135b supplementary budget to Assembly

    Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has forwarded 2019 revised supplementary budget estimate of N135.2 billion to the House of Assembly for approval.

    This is against N157.8 billion earlier approved by the 8th legislature as the state’s 2019 budget.

    The new budget estimate represents 15 per cent decrease.

    The supplementary estimate was contained in the governor’s letter to the house, dated August 21, and read on the floor of the House by the Speaker Yakubu Danladi Salihu.

    According to the message, the new recurrent revenue is N97.2 billion as against N121.8 billion earlier approved, representing 21 per cent decrease.

    Read Also: AbdulRazaq sends anti-poverty bill to Kwara Assembly 

    Revised capital estimate is also now N62.8 billion against N79.6 billion, representing 21 per cent reduction.

    The recurrent expenditure is N72.3 billion with  N24.9 billion  as transfer to capital development fund against N78,207,986,550 with N43,638,537,912 as transfer capital development fund earlier approved, representing  eight percent decrease.

    The Speaker called on the House Leader Abubakar Olawoyin Mogaji to lay the estimate on the table, directing the House Committee on Rules and Business to slate the supplementary estimate for second reading.

    The House equally received a bill for a law to establish the State Social Investment Programme to tackle poverty, ensuring equitable distribution of resources and economic growth.

    The bill was contained in a message by the governor to the Speaker, dated August 19, urging the House to pass the bill into law to further enhance the wellbeing of the people.