The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Saidu Dakingari

  • Former PDP chairman, 25,000 members decamp to APC in Kebbi

    Former PDP chairman, 25,000 members decamp to APC in Kebbi

    The former Kebbi State PDP Chairman, Alhaji Bello Doya and 25,000 other members of the party including key party stalwarts decamped to the APC on Sunday.

    Gov Atiku Bagudu,APC executives, and hundreds of supporters from the 21 local government areas of the state were on hand to receive the decampees, among whom were Alhaji Isah Muhammad Argungu,the former director general of the campaign organization of former Gov Saidu Dakingari and the 2015 PDP gubernatorial candidate, Gen. Bello Sarkin-Yaki (Rtd).

    Others are three current PDP State House of Assembly members lead by Alhaji Muhammad Ismail, ten former local government council chairmen, as well as former local government party and ward chairmen.

    No fewer than 160 former PDP councillors, businessmen and contractors, as well as women and youth groups decamped.

    The State APC chairman, Alhaji Attahiru Maccido,said the decampees joined APC Willingly without condition.
    In his remarks Gov Atiku Bagudu,promised to give equal treatment to the new members of the APC.

    “APC is a blessing to Nigeria, it has become the party of all, in APC everybody is equal, all will be treated equally and fairly” he said.

    Spokesman of the decampees, Alhaji Isah Muhammad Argungu said their decision was sequel to noticeable in the APC administration at the state and federal government levels.

  • EFCC arrests ex- Kebbi governor over PDP campaign fund

    EFCC arrests ex- Kebbi governor over PDP campaign fund

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday in Kano arrested and detained former Governor of Kebbi State, Saidu Dakingari.

    The ex-governor is being quizzed over his involvement in the sharing of N450 million Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign fund.

    Also, he is been asked to explain how another N550 million state funds were diverted to the PDP during the 2015 presidential campaign.

    The Head of Media for the EFCC in Kano State, Mr. Medard Ehimika, disclosed these in a statement on Friday afternoon.

    The statement said the ex-governor is cooperating with EFCC operatives in their investigations.

     

  • EFCC quizzes Dakingari over fund mismanagement

    EFCC quizzes Dakingari over fund mismanagement

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday quizzed ex-Governor of Kebbi State, Saidu Dakingari over alleged mismanagement of N3.8billion.

    As at 5.24pm, the former governor, who was invited by the EFCC, was still at the Operations Department of the anti-graft agency.

    The EFCC had earlier grilled ex-First Lady of Kebbi State, Hajiya Zainab Dakingari (the daughter of late President Umaru Yar’Adua) and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alh. Haliru Bello Mohammed over alleged N2billion contracts and money laundering in the state.

    The Nation gathered that the invitation of the ex-governor followed a petition on non-execution of some contracts in Kebbi State when he was in charge.

    The Head of Media and Publicity of EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the invitation of Dakingari.

    But he did not give details on why the ex-governor was invited by the commission.

     

  • Kebbi lawmakers serve impeachment notice to governor

    Kebbi lawmakers serve impeachment notice to governor

    Members of the Kebbi State House of Assembly on Wednesday served an impeachment notice to the state governor, Saidu Usman Dakingari, who is expected to complete his tenure next month.

    The lawmakers rose from their emergency meeting on Tuesday night and constituted an impeachment committee which drafted a six- count charge against the governor.

    The impeachment notice which was signed by the lawmakers and made available to journalists stated that the governor violated provision of Section 5(1) (a) of the Kebbi State Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Bureau Law 2008, which required the Chairman of the Bureau to be a retired Civil Servant.

    The notice reads:

    “But you appointed one Barr. Aminu Usman as Chairman of the Bureau, when was the Permanent Secretary/Solicitor General of the State Ministry of Justice.  With this move, you have committed a gross misconduct.”

    “You Usman Nasamu Dakingari obtained a loan facility to the tune of N2billion from Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Support Fund set up by the Central Bank without obtaining necessary confirmation from the Kebbi State House of Assembly.”

    “You also violated section 7 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(as amended) which enjoys you to ensure the existence of democratically elected Local Government Councils, but you continue to work with unelected local councils in the State.”

    “Between the period of January and April 2015, you misappropriated the sum of N1, 800,862,872.00K from the Kebbi State Government funds in the name of general election 2015 and there is no provision for that expenditure in the Appropriation Law 2015.”

    “Misappropriation of N965,000,000,00 during official visit of Mr. President, Vice President and First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria between November 2014 and March 2015, and that Mr. Vice President and the First Lady did not make any official visit to Kebbi State within that period and thereby committed a gross misconduct.”

    “That you issue the renovation and furnishing of the Presidential Lodge and other government lodges at the cost of N558, 560,416.00 to unknown contractor in September 2014 and you wrongly inflated the cost to the tune of N788,813,490.54k from N1,347,373,906.54K.”

  • Like Aliyu, like Dakingari

    Like Aliyu, like Dakingari

    Their ambition was to leave the Government Houses in their states for the Upper Legislative Chamber of the National Assembly, but they got their calculation wrong.

    The journey to the Senate was more than merely clinching the tickets of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the duo of governors Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Saidu Dakingari (Kebbi).

    When they won the tickets, their election looked like a fait accompli until they lost their bids to represent their senatorial districts in the hallowed chamber at the National Assembly election on Saturday. The results were announced yesterday by the Returning Officers (ROs) assigned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Their two-term tenure of eight year will expire on May 29 and they had planned to remain politically relevance as ‘Distinguished Senators’.

    Interestingly, the two incumbent governors lost at the poll to their challengers from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

     

    Aliyu

     

    Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, a two-term Governor of Niger State, doubles as the Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF). Aliyu, who preferred to be addressed as the ‘Chief Servant’, lost his deputy, Muza Ibeto to the rival APC. The NSGF chair, who was initially unsparing of President Goodluck Jonathan’s plan to seek a second term on the platform of the PDP, backed out of an alleged agreement by seven aggrieved PDP governors to dump their party for the APC. He had told whoever cared to listen that President Jonathan signed a single-term pact with the North. He was beaten by David Umaru of the APC by 149,443 to 46, 459 votes. Aliyu lost in five of the nine local government areas in the Niger East Senatorial District, which he was seeking to represent.

     

    Dakingari

     

    The ambition of Sa’idu Dakingari,  Kebbi State Governor, collapsed on Saturday as he failed to get the nod of the electorate to represent Kebbi South Senatorial Zone at the Senate.

    Dakingari, a son in-law to the former President, the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, lost to his APC challenger Bello Argungu, who polled 139,197 as against the governor’s 70,148 votes.

     

  • Kebbi proposes N166.825b budget for 2015

    Kebbi proposes N166.825b budget for 2015

    Kebbi State Governor Saidu Dakingari has presented N166,825,048,092 budget proposal to the House of Assembly for the 2015 fiscal year.

    The budget comprises N126,888,545,719 capital expenditure and a recurrent expenditure of N39,939,502,373, indicating an increase of about N15 billion over the 2014 budget.

    The budget, tagged: Making Economic Development a Reality for All, is expected to be financed with N179,298,352,20.

    Dakinari, who was making his last budget presentation, explained that Kebbi State had witnessed tremendous economic and social development over the years because of the prevailing peace in the state.

    Other areas in which the governor said it had recorded success include the construction of an international airport, the recruitment of 4,000 teachers and the creation of 500 jobs for youths at the new airport.

    He said a new Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Livestock Management had been created while extension services and fisheries would get priority attention in 2015.

     

  • Kebbi governor in minor cabinet reshuffle

    Governor Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi on Wednesday appointed two new commissioners “to add vigour to the state executive council and ensure proper implementation of policies.”

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the new commissioners were sworn-in in Birnin Kebbi by Justice Abbas Ahmed on behalf of the state Chief Judge, Justice Bala Mairiga.

    The commissioners are Alhaji Samaila Kamba who replaced Alhaji Abdullahi Kamba as Commissioner for Education, and Alhaji Isa Mera who took over from Alhaji Sani Kanya as Commissioner for Agriculture.

    Kanya was moved to the Ministry of Information to replace Alhaji Sani Kangiwa who died recently.

    The governor charged them “to improve on the administration’s performance in the education and agriculture sectors.”

    He directed the commissioner for education to ensure that academic activities resume in all the new secondary schools built by the state government, and to improve on the students feeding programme.

    “Don’t hesitate to sack any school principal colluding with feeding contractors to derail the feeding of students,’’ the governor ordered after the two commissioners took the oath of office.

    Dakingari also advised the new agriculture commissioner to focus on commercial agriculture, especially rice production in the state.

     

  • Army moves to check aliens’ incursion

    The Brigade Commander, 1 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Tasi’u, has called on Governor Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi State to partner with the Army in preventing incursions of bad elements from neighbouring countries.

    Tasi’u made the call in Birnin Kebbi on Thursday when he paid a visit to the governor.

    He described the state as strategic, saying: “I am here to rub minds with the government on aversion of common threats from across the borders.

    “I commend the diplomatic approach by the state government in preventing breach of peace with communities in neighbouring countries.

    “The 1 Brigade of the Nigerian Army I am heading will partner with the state to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria.

    “The new security challenge facing the country was the exploitation of the peaceful nature of Nigerians by bad elements to invade and cause havoc in society but we would counter such,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the commander as saying during the visit.

    He called on the state government to embark on enlightenment campaigns on the need for members of the public to remain alert.

    Tasi’u said that this was particularly true for those “criminals pilling dangerous weapons to cause havoc.

    Responding, Dakingari assured the brigade commander of maximum cooperation with the army in the protection of lives and property.