Engr. Marvellous Godwins Omobayo has reaffirmed his position as the legitimate Deputy Governor of Edo State, emphasizing that he continues to execute his duties as prescribed by the Nigerian Constitution.
This declaration was made during a solidarity visit by the leadership and members of Edo State’s three major transport unions: the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), and the Edo State Drivers Welfare Scheme.
Despite ongoing legal disputes concerning the Deputy Governor’s office, Omobayo assured that these challenges have not deterred him from his commitment.
He expressed his dedication to supporting Governor Godwin Obaseki in his efforts to advance the economic development and transformation of Edo State.
Omobayo extended his gratitude to the unions for their steadfast support since he took office, and he acknowledged their loyalty to Governor Obaseki.
Earlier, Comrade Monday Orhue, Chairman of RTEAN, and Chief Odion Olaye, Chairman of NURTW, conveyed their solidarity by visiting the Deputy Governor.
They reiterated their endorsement of Omobayo as the authentic Deputy Governor, affirming their confidence in his role.
Chief Olaye expressed optimism for a successful conclusion to the Obaseki administration.
Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, the 22nd Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), has officially retired from service upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Born on August 22, 1954, Justice Ariwoola’s retirement marks the end of a distinguished judicial career.
Justice Ariwoola was appointed to the Supreme Court bench on November 22, 2011, and later became the substantive CJN on June 27, 2022, following the resignation of his predecessor, Justice Tanko Muhammad.
His appointment as CJN was formally confirmed by the Nigerian Senate on September 21, 2022.
As events marking his retirement unfold at the Supreme Court, there are strong indications that Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun may be named as his successor, making her the new Chief Justice of Nigeria.
Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) has secured a post no debit on account linked to the alleged local government contract scam in the state, blocking N160million while moving to recover N440million.
This is as investigators of the commission are expected to continue the quizzing of some of the key figures in the investigation.
It was also gathered that Musa Garba Kwankwaso, nephew of the leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, will be quizzed by the investigators, on Thursday.
He is expected to answer questions regarding the involvement of his company, Novomed Pharmaceuticals, in the alleged contract scam.
The contract, said to have been awarded without due process, involves each local government paying about N9 million monthly, amounting to N396 million in total every month.
The scandal came to the fore when Bello Galadanchi, a United States-born Nigerian filmmaker and content creator, alleged that the state government directed each of the 44 local government councils to pay about N10 million for the drug supply, with the contract awarded exclusively to Novomed Pharmaceuticals.
According to Galadanchi, 25 local governments, including Tofa, Bebeji, Dambatta, Dawakin Tofa, Doguwa, Kumbotso, Tudun Wada, Gezawa, Ungogo, Warawa, Ajingi, Kabo, Kura, Madobi, Bichi, Gwarzo, Rogo, Garun Mallam, Takai, Shanono, Kiru, Makoda, Nasarawa, and Gabasawa, have already made payments for August to the company’s account.
Critics had alleged lack of transparency in the dealings of the local governments’ interim management committees appointed by Governor Yusuf in March, after the tenures of the elected council chairmen expired.
Governor Yusuf had, late last week, distanced himself from the contract by denying prior knowledge of the deal and ordering an immediate probe into the matter.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Trust, the chairman of the PCACC, Muhuyi Magaji, said: “We’ve already issued invitations to about five or six individuals, including the permanent secretary of the Ministry for Local Governments, the Director of Planning, and the Director of Local Government Inspection”.
He said the commission also summoned the chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Kano State, the state secretary of the association, as well as the chairman of the Local Governments Directors of Personnel Management Forum. Also invited is the public relations officer of the forum.
Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has given the nod for a minor resufflement of his cabinet to improve quality service delivery and productivity.
This is contained in a statement by the Director of Press and Public Affairs to the governor, Mr Gyang Bere, on Tuesday in Jos.
Bere quoted the governor as saying that the move would ensure effective and efficient service delivery to the people of the state.
”Under the new dispensation, Mr Noel Nkup, the current Commissioner for Water Resources and Energy, will take charge of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
”Similarly, Mr Bashir Datti, the commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, has been posted to the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy,” he said.
According to him, the new arrangement took immediate effect.
Barring an urgent intervention by ‘Mr. Project’, Chief Nyesom Wike, the Honorable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Jabi Lake Recreation Park may soon be taken over by hoodlums and street beggars who throng the arena daily in search of sustenance.
The real danger however, is the definite possibility of dangerous criminals infiltrating the arena some day and effecting traumatizing acts like an abduction.
The Jabi Lake, an aquatic splendour of some sort, is one of the iconic landmarks of Abuja, the Federal Capital city of Nigeria, Africa’s most important country.
Jabi Lake, Abuja: Aerial View
Constructed in 1981, as an earthen dam, Jabi Lake is a body of water that was initially created as the first major source of water supply to the people of Abuja. The lake is over 1,300 hectares in total surface area. The reservoir may have initially supplied water to about 100,000 people..
Even though man-made and limited in size, the lake has morphed into a natural aquatic ecosystem, with the potential of standing Abuja in the same stead as one of the beautiful cities in a hinterland decorated with a body of water like Cairo on the bank of the Nile River or the six great lake cities of the United States.
In a bid to enhance its status as a recreation and tourist centre of good reckoning, the Jabi Lake area was reconstructed and re-kitted to become a beautiful recreation park in 2007. The new centre was inaugurated by then President Olusegun Obasanjo. As a reflection of the administration’s high hopes for the park, christened as the Jabi Lake Resort, it invited the American actor and global entertainment icon, Wesley Snipes to grace the occasion.
Unfortunately, all that is history now. Jabi Lake Resort has become a shadow of its old self. The lake has been taken over be seaweed (water hyacinth) while wild bushes have grown around the precincts of the body of water, both completely defiling its scenic beauty.
Overgrown with Seaweed
Most infrastructural facilities provided have been totally vandalized. Armoured cables buried several feet in the ground to connect security lighting poles have been uprooted and carted away. Public conveniences have been taken over by hoodlums and the destitute who have converted them to their abodes.
Uprooted Armoured Cable (left)
Street beggars, urchins and hawkers abound, littering the complex with human and material wastes. At the Jabi Lake recreation Park today, fitness enthusiasts who throng the arena daily to walk out, have to wangle through columns of beggars and their wards, mostly out-of-school children who pack into the arena to eke out a living.
Mango and other ornamental trees planted for flora and climatic control are routinely violated and felled.
Hawkers and other petty service providers have erected shacks and other makeshift shelters in the complex thereby giving it a complete slum-look.
Destitute/Beggars
Residents of the FCT, revelers, fitness enthusiasts and potential investors who spoke to Nigerian Anchor wonder why such a great recreation facility could be left to waste.
Efforts to get the opinion of officials of the Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA) on the issue proved futile.
Experts on tourism suggest the Ministry of the FCT should take steps to extricate property from whatever ownership encumbrances, revamp the facility and put it to some kind of commercial use.
Better still, a Private, Public Partnership could be evolved to ensure that the complex, which was constructed at a great cost to taxpayers is not lost to hoodlums.
Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano has sworn in Maj Gen, Muhammad Inuwa Idris (rtd) as the commissioner for the newly created Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security in the state.
The Governor announced the portfolio shortly after inaugurating the new boards of Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil, Yusuf Maitama Sule University, and Kano State Polytechnic.
Daily Trust reports that the ministry was created about five months ago but no commissioner was assigned until now.
The governor charged the new appointees to be skillful and efficient while taking bold steps in providing governance and leadership that will stimulate rapid growth.
The new ministry is expected to address the internal security challenges Kano faces and also ensure the local governments align with the Yusuf-led government in creating an atmosphere of peace and prosperity.
Former Kano State Governor, and Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has fired back at the Kano State government over allegations that he masterminded the disappearance of a corruption file from a courthouse.
Ganduje denied the allegations, accusing the state government of orchestrating the violence that led to the file’s disappearance.
In a statement, Ganduje’s Chief Press Secretary, Edwin Olofu, claimed that the state government was responsible for the violence and the missing file.
Olofu stated that the allegations against Ganduje were baseless and comical and that the state government was trying to divert attention from their own culpability.
Not done, former Governor Ganduje called for a federal investigation into the matter, demanding that those responsible for the violence and the missing file be brought to justice.
An incident observers described as one more death too many has occurred as a humanitarian worker and Executive Director of Concerned Youth Development Initiative (CYDI), Chris Terfa, has been reportedly killed by yet-to-be identified gunmen near Logo 1 axis in Makurdi metropolis, Benue State.
The deceased was said to have been gunned down Friday evening by the assailants who allegedly traced him to his office within the Logo 1 vicinity in Makurdi.
Terfa’s killers also reportedly shot at the security man on duty while trying to gain access into the office premises.
The assassins reportedly covered the deceased’s mouth with a pillow before shooting him.
Witnesses said that Terfa was rushed to the hospital after the gunmen fled but was confirmed dead on arrival.
His corpse was said to have been deposited at the morgue of the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) in Makurdi.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Catherine Anene, had yet to confirm the incident as her telephone line was not reachable.
Lamenting the spate of killings in Benue state, Joseph Anawah, a community leader and former aid to Sen Gabriel Suswam, erstwhile Governor of Benue state said, “I lost more than 100 relations, very close to me, to Fulani herders. There was a time when they invaded my settlement at Chembe, out of the 43 people killed in just one night, 23 of them were my blood relatives.”
A Nigerian police officer has been killed and another injured during a suspected gunmen attack at a checkpoint on Nnewi-Oba Road in the Idemili South Local Government Area of @AnambraState.
The incident occurred around 9:20am on Friday when gunmen threw explosive devices at the officers stationed at the Omata Junction.
In a statement released on Friday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the attack and stated that the Commissioner of @NigeriaPolice, Nnaghe Itam, had ordered an intensive manhunt for the assailants.
“The Commissioner of @NigeriaPolice, CP Nnaghe Itam, has ordered a manhunt operation for the gunmen who attacked the police team at about 9:20 am today, 9/8/2024,” Ikenga said.
He added that the operation, led by the Assistant Commissioner in charge of Nnewi Area Command, is already collaborating with local residents to track down the attackers.
During the exchange of fire, one @Nigeriapolice officer was fatally struck by an explosive device, while another officer, who sustained serious injuries, is currently receiving treatment in the hospital.
“The police team has secured the area, and further details will be communicated,” Ikenga stated
Massive flooding, following a heavy downpour has cut off a significant part of the Kano-Maiduguri Expressway at Malori-Guskuri, a community in Katagum local government area of Bauchi State.
The development has rendered the road impassable, forcing motorists to use alternative routes to their destinations, Leadership reports.
Speaking at the scene on Thursday, Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, emphasised the importance of the road, which serves as a critical link between the North-West and North-East parts of Nigeria.
He appealed to the Federal Government to urgently intervene and repair the damaged part of the highway to ease transportation of goods and services for the overall benefits of the citizens.
To him, urgent intervention by federal government was necessary to prevent carnage and associated hardship on the highway.
Governor Mohammad added that his administration would work out apt modalities to maintain some of the Federal Roads in the state as the rainy season continues.
