The Special Assistant on Parliamentary Matters to Governor Ayodele Fayose, Mr. Samuel Ajibola, has resigned his appointment.
Ajibola, in his letter of resignation, said he quit Fayose’s administration “on basic developmental issues and the economic situation in the state which he can no longer pretend over.”
In his May 28 letter, Ajibola said: “I humbly write this to formally notify you that I am resigning from my position as your S.A on Parliamentary Affairs.
“Sir, within my personal conviction, I am satisfied that I have in honesty and utmost loyalty served the PDP, the people of Ekiti and government in general.
“Therefore, I premise my resignation on some basic developmental issues and the economic situation in the state which I cannot continue to pretend over. My resignation takes off immediately.”
Ajibola was the only Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member of the House of Assembly before Fayose came to power on October 16, 2014.
He was later joined by six All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers who defected on the day Fayose was sworn in.
Fayose, has, however, approved the appointment of Mr. Alexander Adeojo to replace Ajibola.
The governor thanked Ajibola for his meaningful contributions to the administration and development of the state while he was Special Assistant, Parliamentary Matters to the Governor. [myad]
The ousted National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has said that the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, is not fit to be anybody’s Vice President in Nigeria. Modu Sheriff, who spoke for the first time since his war with governors elected on the platform of the PDP started at the controversial National Convention of the party in Port Harcourt, Rivers State started, said that all the excuses being given by the Governors as reason for their plot to remove him were laughable and lack common sense. Speaking on what led to his fight with the governors, the former Borno State Governor said he never mentioned to anybody that he wanted to be President in 2019 and could not have offered the vice presidential slot to Fayose. He said that he knew the antecedents and character of Fayose and does not see anyone making him such a offer. “I am eminently qualified to seek for the presidency of Nigeria, but I have never told anybody I want to be President. “But even if I want to be, I cannot offer such a sensitive position to a character like Ayo Fayose, who has exhibited gross disrespect for others.” He said that it was not true that he made promises to any of the governors on any issue. Rather, he said what he did was to try to tolerate them as stakeholders, knowing that none of them can manipulate, bribe or dominate him to do only their biddings in a party as big as the PDP with so many big names on parade. Modu Sheriff challenged any of those who alleged that he made promises to come up with a single proof of any commitment he made to them or anybody.
“I am by far their senior and I have done all these things they think they can do in the party, but I do not deserve the type of treatment they want to mete out to me.” [myad]
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, has directed Assistant-Inspectors General of Police and the Commissioners of Police in the South South and South East zones to disarm members of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) who are agitating for the Republic of Biafra out of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Police boss who gave the directive in a statement said that the directive followed the manifestation of the disposition of the armed IPOB activists to undertake premeditated attacks on police officers engaged in operations aimed at restoring public order in the states.
The statement which was issued by an acting Commissioner of Police, who is the Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, quoted the inspector-general as saying: “the targeted attacks on police personnel showed that the activists have crossed the threshold in their misguided attempt to test the common will of the nation.”
Arase condemned the killing of policemen by members of IPOB and directed the arrest of any member of the group found in possession of firearm and be made to face the law.
He said that all IPOB activists arrested in connection with the killing of policemen would be charged to court.
He reiterated the determination of the Nigeria Police Force to continue to work diligently toward eliminating any threat to internal security and assured Nigerians of their safety. [myad]
The 31 Artillery Brigade of the Nigeria Army, Minna rose on Tuesday to quench the religious violence that claimed four lives in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.
Information reaching us indicated that the Army, Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps rose to the occasion to restore peace in the area.
It all began when one Methodus Emmanuel, a 24-year-old trader based in Padongari, was killed on Sunday by a mob over allegations of blasphemy.
Confirming the incidence to news men, the Assistant Director of Army Public Relations Officer, Major Njideka Agwu, said: “three other persons, including personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps also lost their lives.
“Troops of the 31 Artillery Brigade of One Division, Nigeria Army, quickly intervened and restored law and order while a dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed in the town.”
Agwu said that a religious house and a shop were burnt even as 25 other shops were looted following the violence.
She said that the hoodlums embarked on further violence on Monday morning, looting shops and blocking the Lagos-Kaduna Road, a major highway connecting the northern and southern parts of the country.
The spokesperson said the army had made some arrests in connection with the incident, adding that the suspects have been handed over to the police.
“The army and other security agencies have commenced confidence building patrols in all the nooks and crannies of the area toward restoring peace.
“As part of measures to de-escalate tension and ensure lasting peace in the town, the military is working with the local government council authorities and community leaders, including the Kagara Emirate Council, to pacify all aggrieved parties and build on the peace so far established.”
Agwu said the army would continue with its non-violent approach to maintaining peace in the area.
She, however, warned that the army would deal with any person attempting to promote violence in the community even as she enjoined members of the public to abide by the conditions of the curfew put in place in order to maintain peace. [myad]
Farmlands in five communities in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State have been submerged by flood.The flood was caused by the blockade of a dam being constructed by the Federal Government in Npu,Anuri Local Government Area of Enugu state.
The affected communities are Ameke, Okue, Amaokwe, Ngwogwo and Obodo.
Governor David Umahi, who raced to the site of the dam on learning of the development on Monday, ordered a comprehensive report of farms and cash crops destroyed by the flood.
The governor said that the report would be sent the Federal government to call for its assistance to the state and farmers whose means of livelihood have been severely affected.
“We came to the point of the Ukeh River Dam that is being constructed by the Federal Government in Npu,Anuri LGA of Enugu State.
“A comprehensive report will be carried out so that we can seek Federal Government’s assistance not only to the state but to the farmers whose agricultural produce have been seriously damaged.”
The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ivo LGA, Chief O. Ude,b who accompanied Governor Umahi to the site of the dam said the blockade caused water to overflow backwards, thereby destroying the farmlands in the affected communities. “If you look back from where we are standing, you will see a river coming down from there,that is Ivo, and this river is Ukeh.So the rivers meet here and it is from here that the contractors created an embarkment that makes water to flow backwards.” The chairman of Ngwogwo Community Development Union, Mr. Johnson Ukpai, lamented that the flood had destroyed agricultural produce like yams,cassava, rice,Maize and cocoyam.
He pleaded with the Federal government to come to their rescue.
“The blockage of dam which resulted in the over flow of flood to this our community has caused enormous damage to this our community. Our crops like, Yam, Cassava, Rice, Maize, Coco yams has been destroyed.”
Youths of the area were seen displaying cassava tubers which had decayed due to the impact of the flood.
Barr. Augustine Ossai, a liaison officer in Ivo legislative council, also lamented the damages done by the flood and called on the Federal Government and the National Emergency Management Agency to immediately come to the assistance of farmers in the area. [myad]
The Niger Delta Avengers have disowned the claim by the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Yusuf Buratai, that they killed over 50 Nigerian soldiers in the region.
the group said that it was not its members that killed the soldiers but their inexperience in the terrain where they had come to operate.
The Niger Delta Avengers in two tweets on Monday morning said the soldiers sent to the creek had no amphibian training and as such ran into troubled waters.
It said that if it were not the intervention of local fishermen, over 100 of the soldiers would have died.
“Chief of Army Staff we not the ones killing your Soldiers STOP LYING.” [myad]
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) has been named to head the Presidential Inter-Agency Committee on recovery of loans granted to commercial banks and corporate organizations by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON)
A statement made by the minister’s spokesman, Comrade Salihu Othman Isah, said that the inauguration of the committee was held on May 19, during said that AMCON was established by the Act of the National Assembly to prevent the collapse of the Nigerian banking sector following the banking crisis as a result of the Bank Consolidation Reforms in 2008.
Malami pointed out that the crises led to huge indebtedness for banks, which culminated in the eventual purchase of the toxic loans by AMCON in order to stabilize the banking sector and, by extension, the Nigerian economy.
However, the debtors who cut across the aviation, banking and oil and gas sectors, failed to repay the loans while some of them had resorted to court actions all in their bid to frustrate the loan recovery efforts of AMCON, saying that in some cases, this was with active conspiracy of some financial institutions among others.
Malami explained that this resulted to President Muhammadu Buhari’s gracious approval and directive for the establishment of an Inter-Agency Committee to effectively pursue the loan recovery.
Among the terms of reference of the Committee are to ascertain the current status of AMCON recoveries in terms of achievement from inception to date as well as the total outstanding viz value of assets, and to ascertain how government at various levels can be made to honour their debt obligations to the Corporation.
It is also to request and obtain information from any person or persons and/or entity or entities onshore and offshore with the full support and weight of the Federal Government and her agencies towards the pursuit and realization of the Committee’s mandate, as well as to assist in third party investigation outside AMCON office relating to obligors and identify the criminal nature of commercial transactions that would assist in pursuing criminal prosecutions.
In addition, the Committee will ascertain how government agencies can collaborate to support AMCON’s recovery effort in: (a) ensuring payments due to Obligors are made to AMCON; (b) the possibility of going into a Joint Venture Agreement with AMCON; (c) the acquisition of forfeited assets from AMCON; and (d) take-over of recalcitrant businesses/companies where feasible.
It is also expected to establish the working framework for the Committee such that AMCON could have direct contact with the agencies for assistance and report be made to the Committee on achievement and challenges as well as to design and come up with workable strategies to pursue aggressive recovery of the AMCON loans.
Members of the Committee include representatives drawn from the following Ministries, Departments and Agencies: Malami as Chairman; Senator Hadi Sirika, Minister of State (Aviation); the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase; and Ibrahim Magu, the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crime Commission.
Others are the Alhaji Ahmed Idris, the Accountant General of the Federation; Dr. Ibe Kachukwu, the Group Managing Director Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation; Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, the Director General, Debt Management Office; Farouk Ahmed, the Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency; and Alhaji Ahmed Kuru, the Managing Director, AMCON. [myad]
A 46 year old woman, identified as Celestina Mamah, from Udenu local Government Area of Enugu state, is said to have committed suicide by stabbing herself to death in a forest after testing positive to HIV from a nearby hospital.
Police in Enugu state has confirmed the incident.
It was gathered that the victim had left her home on Saturday the 28th of May, at about 6pm and headed to a forest near Ogwu rest house in Udenu local Government Area of Enugu state where she allegedly stabbed herself to death before the dead body was found the following day at about 11am.
Family members said that Celestina had earlier visited a nearby hospital where she was tested HIV and was subsequently counseled but that she refused to be consoled.
“But we didn’t know that she has decided to take her live because of that.”
Meanwhile, the police public relations officer, Ebere Amaraizu has said that the command has commenced investigations into the alleged incidence, as the dead body of the deceased has been deposited in a hospital Mortuary. [myad]
The Sokoto State Governor has announced the employment of no fewer than 10,000 qualified teachers, which he said is part of the recommendations in a report of a technical committee he had earlier set up to advise the government on the education sector.
In a media chart on Monday to mark the 2016 Democracy Day in Sokoto, the governor said that the committee was headed by Professor Riskuwa Shehu, the immediate past Vice Chancellor of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
“The State Government set up the committee as part of the measures to improve the standard of the education sector in the state.
“According to the committee’s report, we are short of no fewer than 10,000 qualified teachers in the state.
“We will do everything possible in moving our standard of education forward in order to guarantee a productive citizenry in the state.
“The government will also cover the training and retraining of teachers in line with the global trend of making education a priority.”
Governor Tambuwal said that the state of emergency on education already declared in the state would remain until the government achieved the desired standard even as he said that the committee had recommended the construction of additional 6,000 classrooms in the state.
According to him, the government will implement the committee’s report so as to generally improve the education sector in the state.
He called on the people of the state to always complement the efforts of the government in funding education at all levels.
Tambuwal advised the people to jealously guard all ongoing projects as well as assist the government in their routine maintenance. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the formation of a Presidential Commission on the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who announced this while presiding over the first Quarterly Consultation between the presidency and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), said: “the commission will have a secretariat to be headed by a private sector professional,” who will be appointed to lead the secretariat of the presidential commission that will now pay even greater attention and focus to the issues of doing business in the country.”
At the consultation, MAN raised among many concerns, their worries about cases of multiple taxation, and in response the Vice President promised to follow -up on the matter, adding that “one of the key issues the presidential commission which I am heading would be looking at is the case of multiple taxation.”
He added that this is also an issue that the Ministry of Trade and Investment is actively engaged with.
At the end of the meeting, the President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs, told State House Correspondents that the association is concerned about the acts of vandalism in the nation’s oil and gas installations describing such as economic sabotage.
“The association is happy about what the Federal Government is doing, but we are concerned about what is happening in the Niger Delta area which is a kind of sabotaging the economic activities of government and therefore we want to call on them to lay down their arms in the interest of the country.”
He called on the militants to join hands with government and move the country forward, adding that diversification of the economy is the best way to go now, given what is happening in the internationally.
He said the association is “keying” into government policy in terms of diversification of the economy by doing their best to increase the capacity of production. [myad]
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The Special Assistant on Parliamentary Matters to Governor Ayodele Fayose, Mr. Samuel Ajibola, has resigned his appointment.
