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Tag: tackles

  • Osinbajo tackles Obasanjo, IBB, Jonathan over oil cash

    •VP flays spending on infrastructure

    •‘Restructuring won’t solve our problem’

    VICE-President Yemi Osinbajo has spoken again on how huge funds went down the drain in previous administrations, which earned much and invested little in infrastructure.

    Prof. Osinbajo, who rejected the seemingly popular notion that Nigeria’s problem could be solved by restructuring, said only prudent management of resources could save Nigeria.

    He was answering questions from Nigerians at a town hall meeting in Minnesota, United States on Sunday, according to a statement issued yesterday by his media aide, Laolu Akande.

    On OPEC statistics on oil revenues accruable to Nigeria under successive administrations between 1990 and 2014, the Vice President said not much had been done in terms of infrastructure, despite the huge oil revenues.

    He said: “Under the IBB / Abacha administrations (1990 – 1998) Nigeria realised$199.8 billion; under the Obasanjo / Yar’Adua governments (1999 – 2009), the country got $401.1 billion; and during the Jonathan administration (2010 – 2014), Nigeria got $381.9 billion from oil revenues.

    “The question that we must all ask is, what exactly happened to resources? The question that I asked is that where is the infrastructure?

    “One of the critical things that we must bear in mind and see is that this government, despite earning $94 billion, up until 2017, we are spending more on infrastructure and capital than any previous governments; so we are spending N1.5 trillion on capital; that is the highest we have spent since 1990,” he said.

    On concerns over  recovered funds, the Vice President said the Buhari administration was committed to a transparent use of the funds in providing infrastructure.

    He said: “What we are doing with the proceeds of corruption is making it a line in the budget so that it can be accounted for properly; it is not a special fund somewhere that is just being used in any way, but as a single line in the budget for infrastructure, which is our major spend.”

    On agriculture, Osinbajo said the target was to attain self-sufficiency in the production of rice, tomato and other cash crops.

    He said “We are doing a lot of work in agriculture. Take rice, for instance, we are doing a lot in rice production and we have increased local production such that we are no longer spending $5 million daily on rice import.

    “Today, we are doing 11 million metric tons of paddy rice and are now importing only 2 per cent of what we used to import.”

    On Nigeria’s rise on the World Bank’s ease of doing business index, he said though the challenges were daunting, the government was committed to going beyond the 24 places it moved up to in the last rankings.

    The Vice President said that reforming Nigeria’s port system was top on the agenda of government as efforts were underway to improve the turnaround time for cargo clearance at the ports.

    He said: “If you look at the port issue, for example, we must be able to clear our port system; people must be able to import and export their goods in hours not weeks and months.

    “So, we have to work our port system and one of the things we have been able to do is what we call the National Trading Platform or the single window. We are getting to the point where we are going to launch the national trading platform where the whole port system is integrated into one.”

    On improving the health budget at both the state and federal levels, Osinbajo said the focus was on trying to do run the National Health Insurance because funding health care through budgeting has proved to be practically impossible.

    He said: “We simply do not have the resources, the states and Federal Government cannot do enough. So, the National Health Insurance is a very basic part of it and we are currently working now with the World Bank and with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to establish a proper National Health Insurance Scheme.”

    Osinbajo stressed that prudent management of the nation’s resources and the provision of essential needs  of the people were better ways of addressing Nigeria’s development challenges.

    He said: “The problem with our country is not a matter of restructuring and we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into the argument that our problems stem from some geographical restructuring.

    “It is about managing resources properly and providing for the people properly; that is what it is all about.

    “I served for eight years as Attorney General in Lagos State and one of the chief issues that we fought for in Lagos State was what you call fiscal federalism. We felt that there was a need for the states to be stronger, for states to more or less determine their fortunes.

    “So, for example, we went to court to contest the idea that every state should control, to a certain extent, its own resources (the so-called resource control debate). We were in court at that time up to the Supreme Court and the court ruled that oil-producing states should continue to get 13% derivation.

    “While we were at the Supreme Court, only the oil-producing states and Lagos were interested in resource control; everybody else was not interested in resource control for obvious reasons. Now, that is the way the argument has always gone; those who have the resources want to take all of it, while those who do not have want to share from others.

    “My view is that we must create the environment that allows for people to realise themselves economically because that truly is what the challenge is with our country.” he added

    He said the that Buhari-led Federal Government has put in place an economic structure that was able to function properly despite previous challenges, particularly corruption that led to a slowdown in the economy.

    On the impact of corruption on the economy and the solution adopted by the administration, Osinbajo said: “Unless we are able to deal with the fundamental questions, especially around corruption, our economic circumstance will keep going one step forward, two steps backwards.”

    “When you talk about corruption in Nigeria, the truth is stranger than fiction. It is the kind of thing that would cripple an economy anywhere because you simply don’t have the resources for the graft and the greed of the numbers of people who want to steal the resources.

    “All that we have been able to deal with is grand corruption. When we started the TSA, the whole point was to aggregate all of the funds of government that were in private banks. So we put all of the money in the Central Bank so that we could at least see the movement of money and by doing so, we were able to save 50% of the corruption that was going on then.”

    Osinbajo assured Nigerians in the US that Buhari’s administration could be trusted, adding that “we can say for sure that the President is not going to sign off money and just bring it out to share”.

    Nigeria’s Ambassador to the U.S., Mr Sylvanus  Nsofor led other Nigerians within and outside the state of Minnesota to the meeting held in Minneapolis.

     

  • High hope as govt tackles building collapse

    High hope as govt tackles building collapse

    Can this year be devoid of building collapse? Yes, says the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA). “It’s  a tall order, ” others say. However, while some stakeholders and experts agree with the agency, they, nonetheless, insist that certain measures have to be put in place to attain this feat. MUYIWA LUCAS examines the impact of this agency in the built environment. 

    NO fewer than 81 buildings collapsed in the last five years across the country, with Lagos State accounting for most of the incidents, according to the Building Collapse and Prevention Guild (BCPG).

    The list includes a three-storey at 24, Daddy Aladja Street, Oke Arin on Lagos Island, which collapsed on May 29, 2017 during renovation. On July 22, 2017, another building went down at 7, Saidu Okeleji Street, Meiran in Agbado Oke -Odo Local Council Development Area (LCDA). On July 25, a building at No 3, Massey Street, Lagos Island, collapsed in the morning, during a rainstorm. The structure was initially planned for a three-storey before another floor was added to it.  Another three-storey  crashed at Saka Oloro Street, Ilufe Road, Alaba International Market, Ojoo on August 28, 2017.

    Other notable incidents are the September 12, 2014, Synagogue Church guesthouse in the Ikotun-Egbe area of the state, and the March 8, 2016 collapse of a five-storey at the end of Kushenla road in Ikate Elegushi, Lekki, belonging to Lekki Gardens.

    Indeed, building collapse has remained worrisome to many stakeholders and the government. This is mainly because of the lives lost during such incidents, the financial setback as well as the psychological impact on the citizenry.

    This is why states, especially Lagos, have provided guidelines on land use designation to guarantee orderliness in development. It is believed in some quarters that the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development‘s (MPP&UD’s) response to requests for planning information ensures that the public is adequately informed on land use zoning, permissible use, plot size, building coverage and height, setback, airspace and parking requirements, among  others, for potential developments.

    Although there were some incidents in the state last year, stakeholders agreed that they were not as significant as the preceding years. BCPG immediate past President, and first Vice President, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Mr. Kunle Awobodu, explained that the reduction could be traced to some steps taken by the government, through the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA). One of such, he said, was the recruitment of 395 construction professionals, mostly young graduates, to improve on the monitoring capacity of LABSCA.

    Through this agency, the government intends to transform the building and construction industry by enhancing skills, promoting professionalism as well as improving design and construction capabilities, reducing building collapse to zero and, most importantly, achieving safe, secure and habitable buildings in the state.

    Managing Director, Tavote Nigeria, a design, construction and maintenance firm, Mr. Joseph Muagba, expressed confidence that given the drive in LASBCA, building collapse would soon be reduced drastically, if not eliminated. He explained that unlike in the past where the industry battled with structural integrity issues, drawings that pass approval test were now adequately vetted by the agency to ensure that they were of standard. The agency’s officials, he said, are strict with compliance to government’s regulations.

    “No doubt they (LASBCA) have added value as an institution. They have also simplified the process of getting approvals and enforcement of standards. They have recruited and trained a lot of people to carrying out enforcement and compliance. They are courteous and dedicated people.  However, sometimes, there are unnecessary interference from the Ministry of Environment as their responsibilities are duplicated,” Muagba, an engineer, told The Nation.

    Although he revealed that working with the agency initially was not ‘cordial,’ a development he blamed on resistance to change, for him, the birth of the agency is  welcome, as it has made engineers more relevant in the built environment than they used to be.

    Muagba explained that though it is not yet uhuru, LABSCA was the government’s response to the lawlessness in the private construction industry and other critical happenings which needed to be standardised. “LASBCA’s coming is gradually standardising the building industry in Lagos state. For instance, one of the rules now is that apart from having an approved drawing and project board on site, an engineer must be present on site. Additionally, the engineer’s visit to the construction site is to ensure compliance at every stage and a certificate of habitation is issued on completion before the house is certified for occupation. This has created jobs for engineers and professionals in the industry, as well as ensuring standards and integrity of a building,” he explained.

    Curbing the past

    While new buildings are easy to monitor and enforce compliance on during construction, worrisome is the state of old structures which were built pre-LASBCA. Awobodu warned that barring any shoring or stability mechanism, sub-standard buildings constructed in the past would eventually fail, leading to collapse.

    LASBCA General Manager, Mr. Lekan Shodeinde, explained that the agency was  aware of this threat. This, he said, was why the regulator embarked on a cleansing of old buildings across the state, last August. By September, after due notice to distressed property owners, the agency embarked on the demolition of buildings prone to collapse on the Lagos Island. In that exercise, 57 buildings out of the 114 identified, were removed in the first phase, following the approval of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

    Explaining the process leading to demolition, Shodeinde said before his agency demolish any building, the owner is required to conduct a “Non-Defective Test”, within three weeks and the result sent to the agency. Non- compliance with this will be deemed to mean that the building is distressed. The LASBCA boss explained that the choice of starting the demolition on the Lagos Island was premised on the preponderance of more distressed structures already identified in the area. He regretted that owners of such buildings had ignored advice by the government to remove the structures themselves, necessitating the agency’s proactive steps to avoid a disaster, which may result if the buildings fall off by themselves.

    Commenting on the cost implication of the demolition and the ownership of the land after such exercise, Shodeinde explained that the land still remains the property of the owner. The property owner, he said, is, however, required to pay the state government the cost of demolition, which will be communicated to the property owner in writing.

    “We are rendering a service to the property owner and not to confiscate the land because the building has not collapsed. We just remove the structure and communicate the cost to you, if you refund the cost to the government within 90 days the land is still yours; but if after 90 days of demanding the refund of money and there is none, or we do not get a correspondence from the land owner, the land then stands forfeited to the government,” Shodeinde explained.

    Solution vs Prevention

    Awobodu, though supports the exercise, says the solutions to building collapse should be a two-pronged approach. firstly, he said such should be derived from its causes. “If competent professionals are backed by the law to handle construction, from design through to post-construction stages, there would be less crisis in the building construction sphere of the country. The responsibility of appropriate designs should rest on qualified architects and engineers while that of the building production management should be borne by the professional resident builders,” Awobodu said.

    Importantly, he explained that the agency needs to focus more on what people are building, especially at the foundation stage because that is where most developers get their buildings wrong. Besides, he is convinced that the focus should be on prevention rather than finding solution after collapse because being proactive is better.

    Shodeinde agrees. He said his agency works  with other sister agencies/ministry, including the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA), Lagos State Ambulance Services, and Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA) to make the buildings in the state secure, liveable and habitable. LASPPPA is the agency that issues building permit.

    Equally, he said as a form of its best practices regime, it expects owners and developers to conform to basic rules and regulations of the agency before the commencement of any new development/special project, amendment to existing buildings, renovation of buildings; before commencement of any forms of demolition, installation of renewable source of energy, maintenance that involves erection of scaffolding, renovation, rehabilitation, re-engineering improvement of any building , converting the use of any building, commencement of building construction, obtaining certificate of completion and fitness for habitation and verification and certification of General Contractors’ All Risk Insurance policy for buildings under construction as well as existing ones.

    Furthermore, the LASBCA boss explained that the agency has also put in place a whistle-blowing avenue, which he reckons will go a long way in checking unscrupulous acts in the industry. Whistle-blowing mechanism, he said, is a partnership to save lives and also an avenue where the agency advises people to expose what is not being done right in the industry. “Whistle-blowing is an avenue to give us whatever information on any structure, be it construction or reconstruction, that is structurally defective,” Shodeinde said. He urged the public to call the agency’s toll free lines to give information of deviation from approved permits and approvals and other atrocities on sites capable of jeopardising safety.

     Public reaction

    For Mrs. Adijat Adekunle, a 72-year-old fish seller on Lagos Island, the demolition of a three-storey at 152, Adeniji Adele Street, Lagos Island, belonging to the Aroba family is a welcome development, given the danger it posed to people in the area. Also, a student of Kwara State Polytechnic, Mr. Babatunde Afolabi, of 3, Ajanaku Street, Lagos Island,  commended the state government’s effort on the demolition. He told The Nation that the demolished building was “too weak and could pose a danger to the lives of the people on the street”.

    A retiree, who pleaded for anonymity because he resides on the same street housing the demolished building, said the structure, built in the 1990s, belonged to the Adeseye family. According to him, it was clear from the time of construction that the building had structural integrity issues. Hence, according to him, it was a welcome development that the building was pulled down by the government.

    At 54 Aroloya Street, Lagos Island, a 40-year-old barber and father of one, Mr. Bolaji Abdulahi, who has lived in the area for 15 years, explained that the house, belonging to the Olokodana family, had long been vacated by the tenants because of its state. He revealed that entreaties by the community to the children of the owner to either renovate the house or pull it down fell on deaf ears. So, the LASBCA initiative of pulling down the house was okay.

    But it has not been all praises for the agency. Some residents and perceived owners of demolished buildings on the Lagos Island were bitter with LASBCA for asking them to pay for the demolition. Although they refused to be identified with their buildings for what they termed “security reason”, they said the cost charged for the demolition was too high.

    A man in his late 50s, who identified himself as ‘Sesan’, however  described it as ridiculous when the government expected him to pay to reclaim his family land after losing a property. To him, it amounted to double loss. “How can they expect us to pay N250, 000 to get the land back?” he asked rhetorically. Findings by The Nation revealed that the payment for the demolition starts from N100, 000, depending on the type of building.

    According to Sesan, the charge was ridiculous, given that all LASBCA did was to use hammer to break the buildings in pieces and not pulling them down. “As you can see, the buildings they claim to have demolished are still standing; they only used hammer to break them in bits. So, is this what they expect us to pay such huge amount for? They are simply after revenue generating. If they had brought tractors to level the buildings and asked us to pay such amount, then it would have been a different ball game,” he lamented.

    Zero tolerance for collapse

    Shodeinde revealed that his team was working hard at ensuring that not a single building would collapse this year. This, he said, was why no stone was being left unturned to achieve this feat. The LASBCA boss told The Nation that the agency has begun combing every nook and cranny of the state to identify and  arrest structures that are either defective or may fail. The new strategy will include identifying intransigent and contraventions of building laws. The government, he said, would not hesitate to remove any illegal or unsafe structure to prevent loss of lives.

    Last week, the agency demolished 21 buildings erected illegally on the government’s land around Ogudu area of Lagos. The buildings, located on a swampy land, are not habitable and residents never got the government’s approval for such illegal development.

    “We will ensure that buildings in Lagos State are designed, constructed and maintained to high standards of safety to avoid loss of lives and properties through our building regulatory system. We aim to achieve zero percent building collapse, strict adherence to international best practices; we also intend to comb the entire state to remove distressed buildings after giving enough notices to owners and developers,” he assured.

    Re-invigoration

    Shodeinde is unfazed by the public reaction to his agency, especially after a structure has been removed. To him, such reaction is a confirmation that the agency is discharging its duties as prescribed by the law establishing it. Besides, he shares Muagba’s views that people are averse to change, not liking to leave their comfort zone even in the face of hazard to their existence.

    Rather, he said, he and his men were coming out stronger to enforce compliance with building laws. LASBCA, he further revealed, “is coming out heavily than before” on defaulters. For instance, he revealed that henceforth, defaulters, after prosecution, would have their names published in national newspapers, irrespective of their standing in the society. Also, where deaths of human beings are recorded in a collapsed building, the owner of such property will forfeit the land to government and also face prosecution.

    Shodeinde warned that the agency’s monitoring team and officers are combing the state for any on-going construction without appropriate permit; distressed/abandoned or soon-to-collapse building.

    More than ever, he said the game is up for defaulters who had taken delight in breaking the government’s seal on their premises as they will face the law.

    Contraventions

    Contraventions, according to LASBCA include development of property without an evidence of planning permit; development and use of structure without obtaining certificate of completion and fitness for habitation as prescribed by the law; use of non-professionals (quacks), and building without approval.

    Shodeinde advised that public to contact LASBCA at least seven days prior to commencement of construction at the site, adding that after two years of not commencing construction, any approval given will need to be resent for assessment and approval.

    Moving forward

    The agency, determined to achieve its dream of “no building collapse this year” says it has now become mandatory for owner/developer must apply to her for final inspection and issuance of a certificate of completion and fitness for habitation. This can be done via a simple written note to the technical team in charge of issuance of certificate and final stage inspection will be arranged between the engineers/architects (construction team) and the building control officers. Equally, developers must fully comply with development permit granted, Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010, Building Codes and Building Regulations. The services of relevant professionals must also be engaged, including the usage of standard materials, and observance of health and safety prevention on site.

    Awobodu agreed with the position of the agency He added that nations with effective building codes hardly have cases of building collapse. The NIOB chief is convinced that if the National Building Code could be passed into law and abided by, the frequency of substandard construction would be very low.

    He wants more monitoring of sites by government officials, as this will ensure the conformity of building construction with the approved building plan.

    Stakeholders, like Awobodu and Muagba, are convinced that while the agency has done quite well in the delivery of its mandate, more can still be achieved with more public sensitisation.

     

  • Professor Johnbull tackles illicit drug use in new episode

    THE use of illicit drugs among youths and the damage it causes will take the centre stage in this week’s episode of popular TV drama series, Professor Johnbull, sponsored by telecommunications firm, Globacom.

    Titled: High People, the lead character in the series, Kanayo O. Kanayo (KOK), is joined by Nollywood star actress, Patience Ozokwor, a.k.a. Mama G, to condemn the ugly trend.

    In the episode, erudite Professor Johnbull organises a seminar in tandem with Mama G on the debilitating effects of hard drugs.

    While the seminar is underway, Flash the Boy (Stephen Odimgbe) is rushed in in a delirious state occasioned by his romance with illicit drug, which he obtained from a fellow student identified as MacChukwu Ilodibe.

    Like Flash, Jumoke (Bidemi Kosoko) is also discovered to have tried getting ‘high’, as an antidote to the disappointment experienced when she was jilted by her boyfriend. She takes indiscriminate doses of cough syrup, which is another of the substances, which youths abuse in order to be ‘high’ either to enhance their performances or get relief from a depressing situation.

    The episode comes on air on NTA Network, NTA International on DSTV Channel 251 and NTA on StarTimes at 8.30 p.m. today, with repeat broadcast at 8.30 p.m. on Friday on the same channels.

  • Balarabe Musa tackles judge in court

    Balarabe Musa tackles judge in court

    There was  a mild drama  at an Akure High Court yesterday when former Kaduna State Governor Balarabe Musa tackled Justice S.A Sidiq for imposing a lawyer on his Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).

    Musa, who is PRP national chairman, was in Akure, the Ondo State capital, to witness a suit filed by the party against its exclusion in the local government election conducted by the State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) last April.

    When the case came up for hearing, Musa was stunned when a lawyer, Segun Ogodo, who was not hired by the party, announced appearance for the party.

    The former governor, who was in court with the state chairman, Tunde Ali, said they did not brief Ogodo to represent them and that the party had briefed Femi Borisade as its lawyer.

    The duo said since Aborisade was not in court, they had briefed another lawyer, Udofot Ekereke, to stand in for him.

    Musa expressed dismay that a lawyer who was not retained by the party could go to court without the litigants’ knowledge and representing the party without authorisation.

    But Justice Sidiq said since Ogodo had been representing the party, he should go ahead with the case.

    This led to a shouting match as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) council chairmen and councillors accused the judge of predetermined judgment.

    Security agents, led by an assistant commissioner of Police, later calmed frayed nerves.

    Justice Sidiq adjourned till March 31 for further hearing.

    Addressing reporters after proceedings, Musa said: “I was surprised that a lawyer can go to court to represent PRP without being briefed.

    “The second surprise is that I wanted to tell the judge that I do not know the lawyer who pretended to represent me.

    “I wanted to tell him that Femi Borisade is the one I briefed as the national chairman of PRP in this case, but I was surprised the judge did not allow me.”

    The PRP filed a suit alleging that its logo was missing in the ballot papers for the April 16, 2016 local government election.

    The suit, which was filed by Borisade, has ODIEC, PDP and the government as defendants.

    Since the election, which had the party’s logo on the ballot papers and result sheets, the party had abandoned the suit.

    Musa said since the party’s grievances had been addressed by ODIEC, the suit had become unnecessary, wondering who authorised Ogodo to resuscitate the suit on behalf of the party.

  • CIN tackles malaise in financial institutions

    The Compliance Institute for Banks and other Financial Institutions in Nigeria, Ltd/Gtee CIN, has resolved to tackle the malaise of money laundering, funding of terrorism and other acts inimical to the country’s financial institutions.

    President/Chairman, Board of CIN, Pattison Boleigha, who stated this during the institute’s first certification workshop in Lagos, said inculcating the culture of compliance is the only antidote to correcting the ills in the country.

    Boleigha enthused that “As an initial starting point, we started from our catchment areas,which are financial institutions, but we actually intend to spread the compliance culture across all sectors of our environment.”

    The CIN board chairman disclosed that the institute’s ultimate intention is to apply for a charter.

    ”If approved by the National Assembly, it will then make the institute become a national institution and by so doing, we will be able to manage the compliance professionals and set standards,” said Boleigha.

  • Ambode tackles Fed Govt over Lagos Airport Road

    Ambode tackles Fed Govt over Lagos Airport Road

    Governor: Ministry of Works frustrating us

    Lagos State yesterday accused the Federal Government of frustrating its plan to rebuild the Oshodi – Murtala Muhammed Airport road.

    Besides, six months after President Muhammadu Buhari directed that the Presidential Lodge in Marina should be ceded to the state, it is yet to take over the edifice, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said.

    The governor spoke after inspecting projects which he plans to inaugurate as part of the Lagos at 50 celebration and the second anniversary of his administration.

    Lagos State was created on May 27, 1967. Ambode mounted the saddle on May 29, 2015.

    Speaking to reporters at the Lagos House, he described the Airport Road as “a national embarrassment”.

    He said although his administration had come up with a design for the reconstruction of the road and the funds for the project, the Federal Ministry of Works failed to give it the green light.

    He said: “The road linking Oshodi to the International Airport, you would all agree with me, is a national embarrassment. In the spirit of the regeneration and urbanisation that this administration has set out to achieve, we believe strongly that the image that is exhumed by the decadence of that road must be repaired and we took it upon ourselves to appropriate in the 2017 budget that the House of Assembly should approve the total reconstruction of the Airport Road from Oshodi to the International Airport.

    “The State currently has a design of 10 lanes to come from Oshodi to the International Airport with interchange and flyover that would drop you towards the Local Airport. The contractor is already set to go and we already have the cash, but we are having challenges with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. This is a Federal and not a state road. The Federal Ministry of Works believes that they should do the road, but they have not been able to do it all these years past.”

    Ambode said the Federal Government was owing the state N51billion, spent on repairing federal roads over the years. In spite of this, the state is ready to fix the Airport road.

    Ambode said if given the approval, his administration was ready to begin the construction within two weeks and finish it within six months.

    He urged the Federal Government to avail the state of the N2billion appropriated for the Airport Road in the 2017 National Budget to carry out the project as addition to what the state would spend on it.

    “I just want to appeal to the Federal Ministry of Works, to let go or reimburse us with whatever it is that they are owing us and even if they are not willing to pay us now, we have the money to do it. It is a national disgrace. We would like to do it as part of the celebration of Lagos at 50,” Ambode said.

    The spokesman of Mr. Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Power Works and Housing, Mr. Hakeem Bello, said last night that he would consult and get back to The Nation, but his reaction did not come until the newspaper went to bed.

    On the Presidential Lodge, Ambode said: “As we speak, we are yet gain entrance into that place. It’s frustrating our programme. So, I want to use this medium to appeal and say that the approval of Mr. President should be rightly honoured and the agencies concerned, that is the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and the Security Services, should honour that promise by Mr. President.”

    The Ojodu Berger regeneration project, the Abule Egba Flyover Project and the Aboru Abesan Link Road are to be inaugurated as part of the state’s golden Jubilee celebrations.

    Ambode said compensation had been paid to owners of properties that had to give way for the Oshodi and Ojodu Berger regeneration projects. Property owners at Abule Egba are also to get their’s within the next four weeks, he added.

  • Ruggedman tackles Blackface

    Ruggedman tackles Blackface

    In a post titled ‘Let’s educate the illiterate as he leads the protest’, Blackface chided his former bandmate; 2Baba over the latter’s proposed protest against the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari-led government saying that 2Baba needs to be educated over some facts concerning the present administration before leading the protest.

    He however caught the ire of another singer, Ruggedman, who feels that 2Baba, instead of being criticized, should he encouraged to bring some of the nation’s issues to the table of President Buhari.

    He said: “Blackface you be my guy and 2baba na my guy, but I will tell you that this your move right here is very disappointing. You sang hard life and all when things were even a bit bearable, but now that things are really messed up you have kept quiet. But here you are mouthing off over a 2Face move? Guy you fall my hand.

    “Talking about educating people; it is not a protest being led by 2face. He said he saw the post and thought to lend his voice to it. Something a few other artists and people have done.  So you knew about all the governors embezzling funds and yet you said nothing. But you are quick to shout now because 2face name has come out on something. But you make it too obvious you have something against 2face and you should have let all this go by now.”

    Ruggedman thinks Blackface may not have gotten over the split of the Plantashun Boys which they both belonged alongside another partner, Faze.

    He urged Blackface to understand that the proposed protest of February 5 is not a personal matter. “Nigerians are suffering and you are just monitoring 2face. At least he has chosen to lend his voice to something all Nigerians believe is needed. What have you done? You have details that should be out there for all to see but you only decided to speak because 2face is involved. Guy change your ways; I know you as a crusader and not a 2face hater. The people need voices that can be heard, I know you are one of them. Do the right thing brother. Life in Naija now is harder than it ever was and Buhari’s people should let Nigerians know what they are doing right and also let Nigerians know who and who is doing wrong,” he said.

  • Rivers APC tackles Wike for asking INEC officials to write wills

    The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has faulted Governor Nyesom Wike’s request that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials scheduled for the fresh elections ordered by the election petitions tribunal and the Court of Appeal in Abuja to write their wills first.

    APC in Rivers, through its Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, yesterday in Port Harcourt declared that with the shocking statement by Wike, lawyer and former Minister of State for Education, he had finally exposed himself as responsible for the violence and killings recently witnessed in Rivers State.

    The tribunal sacked 20 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members of the 32-member Rivers House of Assembly, including the Speaker, Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, of Andoni constituency, but now at the Appeal Court. In Rivers Assembly, 31 members are of PDP, while one belongs to APC.

    The election petitions tribunal also sacked Wike, the three Senators and 12 of 13 members of the House of Representatives, all of PDP. The National Assembly members proceeded to the appelate court – where the tribunal’s judgments were upheld – as the final bus stop for other elections except governorship.

    It ordered INEC to conduct fresh elections within 60 days of delivering the judgments, while the Rivers governor indicated that he had contacted his lawyers to proceed to the Supreme Court, rather than going for fresh election within 90 days as ordered by the Court of Appeal.

    Wike spoke on Thursday, while addressing his supporters at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, on arrival from Abuja, and later at the Rivers secretariat of the PDP on Aba Road in Port Harcourt during the inauguration of the modern multi-purpose hall and one-day seminar for party officials and government functionaries.

    Wike alleged that there was an ungodly grand conspiracy to take over Rivers State, insisting that God would disappoint the evil conspirators. He asked Rivers people to look beyond him to stop the evil wind of enslavement being propagated by the conspirators.

    He added that anyone detailed by the conspiring forces to rig elections in the state would face dire consequences, noting that Rivers people would never be enslaved by political groups only interested in stealing the state’s resources.

    At the Rivers secretariat of the PDP, Wike said: “There is a grand conspiracy to take over Rivers State for reasons that are known to all of us, but God will disappoint them. I pity any INEC official who will want to be funny. Such an official should be prepared for the consequences.

    “We will use the National Assembly rerun elections to prove to the world that these unpopular politicians have been lying about Rivers State all this while. If you know anyone planning to rig the Rivers State National Assembly rerun elections, tell him to have a rethink.

    “You cannot rig in a place where you are not popular. Those planning to rig for pecuniary reason are not popular in this state. We shall return all our National Assembly members.

    “I call on Mr President to use the National Assembly to institute the change he has talked about with the National Assembly elections. Rivers State is a PDP state and we cannot be shaken in this state, because the party is deeply rooted. We cannot be intimidated with the use of soldiers and policemen during any election.”

    The Rivers governor also urged PDP leaders to maintain their resolve to challenge the forces of darkness, stressing that strong mobilisation of the people across the state should be intensified to resist those being used against the interest of the state.

    APC in Rivers, however, said: “After months of pretence and living in denial, the Governor of Rivers State, Barr. Nyesom Wike, yesterday (on Thursday), in full glare of the world on live television (African Independent Television, AIT), threw all caution to the wind, when he confirmed that he was responsible for all the killings and maiming that characterised the 2015 elections, as he openly told his PDP faithful to be ready to unleash violence in the forthcoming rerun elections in Rivers State.

    “The governor (of Rivers), who addressed his supporters at the Port Harcourt International Airport on arrival from Abuja and later at another event in Port Harcourt, asked his members to not only return any slap given to them, but do so in threefold, among other unprintable things.

    “His audience was shocked, when he warned that INEC officials sent to Rivers State who contemplate carrying out malpractices should first write their wills, as they will be put to instant death.

    “To all decent minds that saw or listened to the statements of the governor yesterday (on Thursday), Nyesom Wike’s vituperations were the ranting of a drowning man.”

    Rivers APC also stated that Wike, by his unguarded utterances in Port Harcourt on Thursday, confirmed that he was behind the violence and criminality that were strangulating Rivers state since he came to power.

    The party said: “For the APC, what happened yesterday (on Thursday) was God’s way of exposing a man, who has been living in falsehood, in order to fool the people and even God Himself. All the pretence about worshipping God, by paying visits to churches and holding prayer sessions for the benefit of television cameras, were mere attempts to mock God by Nyesom Wike, but God cannot be mocked.

    “The APC wishes to remind Nyesom Wike that his unguarded diatribe against the Nigerian state, President Muhammadu Buhari and innocent Rivers people will not be taken lightly. While immunity protects a governor from prosecution, it does not protect him from investigation.

    “We call on the relevant authorities, especially the INEC, to hold Nyesom Wike responsible for any violence or harm that may be done to INEC personnel, while on duty during the forthcoming rerun elections in Rivers State.”

    The APC in Rivers also stated that it believed that the state governor was merely talking tough to mask his inner despondency and misery, arising from his recent legal losses.

    Rivers APC noted that the discerning members of the party were smart enough to take notice of Wike’s antics, stressing that it heard that the Rivers governor was being fondly referred to as “High Tension,” but declared that “High Tension” without power, would be nothing.

  • Tenant tackles landlady over illegal ejection notice

    A Lagos-based barber, Damilola Adebowale, of  No 23 Major Akinola Street, Aboru, a suburb of Lagos State, has accused her landlady, Mrs S.O Sodimu, of planning to forcibly eject him from the house.

    Adebowale said he was shocked to receive a quit notice from his landlady shortly after he paid  a six month rent.

    It was learnt that Adebowale had communicated his inability to pay one year advance rent to Mrs Sodimu, following which he paid for six months covering up to the  June.

    He said the woman collected the money for him and subsequently issued receipts for the payment.

    He said that he was surprised to receive a warning  from his landlady to vacate his apartment by May 31, 2015.

    “I have been paying one year advance rent since I moved into the house a few years ago. This time around, I explained my inability to pay a one year advance rent and offered to pay six months’ rent and she agreed. She gave me receipts for the payment. My rent was to end by June, but I was shocked to receive a quit notice from her a few days after she collected the money from me. “

    “The quit notice was issued by her lawyer called Bola Owosho and I believed that it was wrong for her to eject me from my apartment before my rent is due.

    A copy of the ejection notice signed by Barr Bola Owosho reads in part: “I M.B.A Owosho hereby as solicitor to your landlord, Mrs S.O Sodimu, do give you notice to quit and deliver up possession of the one room (apartment) with appurtenances situate at the above address which you hold of him (sic) as monthly tenant on or before the 31st day of May 2015.”

    In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, Barr Owosho said:” It is true that I issued the quit notice to Adebowale, but I cannot tell you the reason why his landlady instructed me to do so. The landlady is my client and the rationale behind the quit notice is not meant to be revealed to anybody.”

    Meanwhile, Adebowale’s counsel, Barr Omobolaji Adejumo, cautioned against forcible ejection of his client.

    Adejumo in a letter to Owosho, said:” Our brief revealed there is a subsisting and valid yearly tenancy agreement between our client and your client reserved the right to terminate such tenancy agreement. Our client does not wish to detain possession but will however insist on his legal right of being served the statutory six month notice of a yearly tenant.”

  • Group tackles Delta Police over murder suspects

    A Warri-based civil rights group, Centre for Vulnerable and Underprivileged ,(Centrep) has raised the alarm over alleged attempt by the Delta Police Command to shield suspects involved in the  murder of the vice-chairman Oteri Community, Blessing Unuesefe.

    In a petition to the Inspector-General of Police,  co-ordinator of the group, Oghenejabor Ikimi , accused a top official of  the Ughelli vigilance group   and an accomplice of  the extra-judicial murder and disappearance of the corpse of the slain youth.

    According to Ikimi, the deceased was murdered on February 3rd, 2015 and the corpse mysteriously disappeared from the morgue of Central Hospital, Ughelli.

    The group alleged that two Hilux vans filled with members of the Ughelli vigilance group stormed the premises of the deceased ostensibly on a peace mission

    Ikimi said the deceased who had been  absent from home had  walked into his premises only to be shot dead  by the vigilance official after ascertaining that the deceased was alone.

    The group  claimed that men of the Nigeria Police at “A” Division, Ughelli  “have refused and/or failed to investigate same, as it seems that they are clearly taking sides with the said culprits.”

    Ikimi described the statements credited to Delta Police Command image-maker, DSP Kalu Tina to the effect that the slain youth was a cultist involved in a shootout as an ‘afterthought’.

    Ikimi urged the Inspector General of Police to investigate the conduct of the  persons mentioned in the petition over the death of the deceased with a view to prosecuting them, adding that the said persons do not have the constitutional rights to bear arms.