Abuja Electricity Company, Kogi Govt Partner To Channel Excess Power From Dangote’s Obajana Plant

May 17, 2015

The management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and the Kogi State government are exploring the possibility of accessing the excess power being generated by the Dangote Group at its cement plant, located at Obajana in Kogi State.
The Dangote Group is said to be currently generating electricity in
excess of the requirement of its cement production plant in
Obajana area of the state.
At a meeting held in Abuja mid last week, the AEDC management and the Kogi state government resolved to work together towards getting the Dangote Group to sell off the excess energy to the Disco, in order to help boost power supply to various parts of the state.
Present at the meeting held at the AEDC office in Abuja were the
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Neil
Croucher, while the Secretary to the Kogi State Government, Professor Olugbemiro Jegede led the state government’s delegation.
Others at the meeting include Engineer Abimbola Odubiyi, Executive Director, Regulatory and Stakeholders Affairs, AEDC; the company’s Chief Finance Officer, Mr. Andrew Atterbury, and its Executive Director, Technical Services, Engineer Joe Chiyassa, while Professor Jegede
was accompanied by the Senior Special Assistant to the Kogi State
governor on Power, Dr. Paul Attah.
Both the AEDC and the Kogi government state were hopeful that such surplus energy, once accessed from the Dangote Group, will help significantly to enhance electricity supply in various parts of the State.
Mr. Croucher used the opportunity of the meeting to reassure the
government and people of Kogi State that the AEDC does not bill its unmetered customers arbitrarily even as he revealed his company’s plans to roll out its mass metering
project for its customers in Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger states, as well as
the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The AEDC boss advised those who
cannot wait for the company’s metering plan to take advantage of a scheme put in place by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) called CAPMI.
The CAPMI-Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation-is intended to speed up the metering project nationwide by allowing
customers to advance money to the Discos to meter their premises,
while the latter reimburse such customers in various installments.
Earlier in his remarks, Professor Jegede extended Governor Idris Wada’s appreciation to the management of AEDC for delegating a high-powered team led by an executive director, to an earlier meeting held with representatives of the state government in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.
At the meeting held in Lokoja, various issues of mutual interest
between the state government and the company were discussed, with a resolve to review progress made in implementing resolutions passed at that forum after one month. [myad]

2015 Kogi Guber Poll: 9 Aspirants Emerge In Central Under APC

Greenbarge Reporters

May 17, 2015

Even before the release of time-table by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the governorship election in Kogi state later this year, no fewer than nine aspirants have emerged in the Central Senatorial District of the state, seeking the ticket of All Progressives Congress (APC).
On the list of the aspirants, in the election that may hold in November or December 2015 is the former Managing Director of the Daily Times Plc, publishers of Times group of newspapers, Dr. Onukaba Adinoyi Ojo. Dr. Adinoyi-Ojo was also special adviser on media and publicity to the former Nigeria Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.
Dr. Adinoyi-Ojo who is a Journalist, Play write and currently lectures media art at the Abuja University, was on the shortlist for the 2010 Nigeria Prize for Literature. He also contested the governorship of the state under Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011.

Also on the list is also a veteran Journalist, renowned public relations and advertising expert and former Deputy Director (Media and publicity) in the National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria (NICON), Prince Emman Otu- Adeku Omadivi.
Prince Omadivi, who has a Master’s Degree in communication art from the premier University of Ibadan, is currently Chief Executive Officer of Spotlight Communications Limited in Abuja.
He was born on December 22, 1955 and at different times, worked with the Kwara State Ministry of Information and Kwara Broadcasting Corporation.

Also in the contest is the former Assistant Chief Accountant in the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commissions (RMAFC) in Abuja, the Nigeria Federal Capital Territory, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, popularly called FairPlus.
He was born on June 18th 1975, at Okene in Kogi state, studied at the Faculty of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State where he bagged a Bachelor of Sciences, Accounting (B.Sc Accounting). He went on to obtain Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the same Faculty of Administration of the same ABU.
Alhaji Yahaya Bello who is a member of various professional bodies, including Chartered Fellow, Association of National Accounts of Nigeria (ANAN) in 2004, Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria (ICPAN) in 2002: Member and others, founded and financed the Kogi Youth Arise Group (KYAG) that successfully mobilized and delivered Kogi state for APC (Buhari/Osinbajo presidency 2015).

Other aspirants are as follows:

Alhaji Sadiq Adabara

Alhaji Aliu Akaaba

Alhaji Rasheed Bello

Alhaji Sufiyanu Atta

Mr. Lamidi Itopa

Major Hitler Aliu. [myad]

Governor Oshiomhole Says His New Wife, Lara, Is Mother Of His House, Children

Greenbarge Reporters

May 16, 2015

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state has described his new wife, Lara Forte as mother of his house even as she has also accepted to be the mother of his children who were born for him by his late wife, Clara.

Governor Adams told newsmen shortly after the wedding yesterday that his new Lara Fortes is “understanding, caring and a loving lady.

“She is very humble. She appreciates the nature of my job and life; that I return home late, sometimes 3am. She understands my weaknesses; she is more or less the mother of the house, the one that has accepted to be the mother of my children.
“I am happy that all my children are at home with her and accept her as their mother even though she is not old enough to be their mother. She has accepted to fill that gap” he said.

Governor Oshiomhole expressed joy with his family for the support given to him to remarry, adding: “this is something that one is happy about. I am also happy that I have friends across all political divide. The occasion reminds me that across all divides, we have friends and well-wishers.” [myad]

Togo Boils As 2 Presidents Emerge After Election, Protest Rocks The Country

Greenbarge Reporters

May 16, 2015

Togo is boiling as two Presidents emerged in the Presidential election held on April 25, even as thousands of opposition supporters marched through the Togolese capital today to protest the results of the election that extended the Gnassingbe family’s nearly five decades in power.

Though national and international observers have called the April 25 election free and transparent even as the United Nations has approved of the conduct of the vote, but the opposition in the west African nation of some seven million people has labelled the results fraudulent.

President Faure Gnassingbe won a third term in office with 59 percent of the ballots while his closest rival, longtime opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre, finished with 35 percent.

“We need people to be aware of the seriousness of the situation and that, together, we are working to stop it,” Fabre, who has declared himself the elected president, said today.

Adele Wavisso, a 32-year-old bread seller among the protesters in Lome, said: “those in power know very well that we did not vote for Faure. Our president is Fabre, and we will not give up.”

The opposition has said it decided not to challenge the results at Togo’s Constitutional Court because it was biased in favour of the president.

Gnassingbe’s father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, seized power in a coup and ruled with an iron fist for 38 years over the former German- and French-administered colony until his death in 2005.

The military then installed his son as leader and elections later that year were marred by allegations of rigging as well as violence which left up to 500 people dead and thousands injured.

Gnassingbe then won 2010 elections that the opposition also declared fraudulent but which were judged acceptable by the international community. [myad]

Buhari Uncomfortable With His Admirers Trekking For Him, Asks Them To Stop It

Greenbarge Reporters

May 16, 2015

Duduwale, another treckker escorted by some of his kinsmen as he began the journey

Disturbed by the growing number of his supporters and admirers that have now taken to trekking in solidarity with his victory in the March Presidential election, the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari has cautioned them to stop it.
He particularly appealed to his supporters who are planning to either trek from far distance or hitch a ride to Abuja to witness his inauguration onMay 29 to put such plans on hold.
General Buhari was addressing a group of eleven youths who rode on bicycles from his hometown, Daura to Abuja to meet him.
The President-elect who took the health of such trekkers into consideration, also described the action as distractive as he needed quality time to concentrate on the task of fixing the nation from May 29.

[myad]

Re-Elected Borno Senator, Ahmed Zannah, Dies

Greenbarge Reporters

May 16, 2015

Senator Ahmed Zannah, who was re-elected in the April, 2015 election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent Borno Central Senatorial District, is dead. He died today at the age of 60 after a brief illness.
Zannah who is a ranking senator, was once quoted as saying that he knew where the the female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno were being kept by members of Boko Haram who abducted them last year. He is the fifth senator to die while still in the Senate.
Others who have died include Gyang Datung, representing Plateau North, Pius Ewherido, representing Delta Central, Awaisu Kuta, representing Niger East and Uche Chukwumerije, representing Abia North.
Zannah is a successful businessman, and a member of the board of many federal establishments.
In 2000, he was in the board of the National Electrical Power Authority (NEPA). In 2007, Zannah was one of the organisers of the Democratic Women Forum, an organisation that supported the political aspirations of former military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida.
He was also a member of the Power Sector Reform Committee.

Man U Goalkeeper, de Gea, Set To Join Madrid, On 4 Million Pounds Per Annum

Greenbarge Reporters

May 16, 2015

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea is set to leave Old Trafford this summer after agreeing personal terms with Real Madrid.

Marca report that the 24-year-old star has reached an agreement with the La Liga giants for a deal worth around £4million a year after tax and believed to be between five and six years in length.

The Madrid-based newspaper also suggests that the only thing missing in the deal is for United and Madrid to agree a fee for the player. It could reach upwards of £30 Million.

De Gea was pictured on a flight to Madrid earlier this week as he took some time off, leading to reports that he was in fact on his way to sign for Los Blancos.

Louis van Gaal is targeting a move for Petr Cech after claims that David de Gea will join Real Madrid this summer.

The Manchester United manager admits he is already preparing for the Spanish goalkeeper’s potential exit. [myad]

Pope Describes Palestinian President Abbas ‘Angel Of Peace,’ Israel Angry

Greenbarge Reporters

May 16, 2015

Pope Francis has described the Palestinian President, Mahmud Abbas as “an angel of peace,” even as the Holy See has announced that it is preparing to sign its first treaty with Palestine, two years after officially recognising it as a state.

These developments are coming today; days after the Vatican said it was preparing to sign its first accord with Palestine, the pronouncement that angered Israel.

Pope Francis had met Mahmud Abbas today for about 20 minutes for a private audience, a meeting that comes a day before the pope is due to canonize two Palestinian nuns, who will become the first Palestinian Arabs to gain sainthood.

A bilateral commission is putting the final touches to the agreement, on the Catholic Church’s life and activities in Palestine, which then “will be submitted to the respective authorities for approval ahead of setting a debate in the near future for the signing,” the Vatican said.

Some observers speculated that the agreement could be signed during Abbas’s visit.

The news of the treaty immediately drew the anger of Israel with its foreign ministry official saying: “Israel heard with disappointment the decision of the Holy See to agree a final formulation of an agreement with the Palestinians including the use of the term ‘Palestinian State.

“Such a development does not further the peace process and distances the Palestinian leadership from returning to direct bilateral negotiations. Israel will study the agreement and consider its next step.”

The agreement, 15 years in the making, expresses the Vatican’s “hope for a solution to the Palestinian question and the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians according to the Two-State Solution,” Antoine Camilleri, the Holy See’s deputy foreign minister, said in an interview earlier this week.

In an interview with the Vatican’s Osservatore Romano newspaper, Camilleri said he hoped “the accord could, even in an indirect way, help the Palestinians in the establishment and recognition of an independent, sovereign and democratic State of Palestine.”

The Palestinian Authority considers the Vatican one of 136 countries to have recognised Palestine as a state, although the number is disputed and several recognitions by what are now European Union member states date back to the Soviet era.

Abbas’s visit came a day before two nuns who lived in Ottoman Palestine during the 19th century will be made saints at a Vatican ceremony.

Marie Alphonsine Ghattas of Jerusalem and Mariam Bawardy of Galilee will become the first Palestinian Arabs to gain sainthood.

Ghattas was born in Jerusalem in 1847, and died there in 1927. She was beatified — the final step before canonisation — in 2009.

Bawardy was born in Galilee, now in northern Israel, in 1843. She became a nun in France and died in Bethlehem in 1878.

She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1983.

Although there are several saints who lived in the region during Christianity’s early days, Bawardy and Ghattas are the first to be canonised from Ottoman-era Palestine.

The canonisation of a third Palestinian — a Salesian monk — is still under review by the Church. [myad]

Omotola Takes Trekkers To The Cleaner, Says They Are Silly Youths Trekking Their Future Away

Greenbarge Reporters

May 16, 2015

Renowned Nollywood actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, has taken young Nigerians who have embarked on trekking to honour politicians in the country in the wake of the 2015 general elections, saying that they are ‘silly youths trekking their future away.’

Omotola, in a post on her Twitter page, expressed displeasure with the actions of the youths who she said should rather have been trekking to bring awareness to their suffering instead of doing so to honour politicians.

“Silly youths trekking their futures away: you don’t trek to bring awareness to your suffering plights but trek to celebrate politicians? Smh!”

In 2014, she was honoured by the government as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) for her contributions to Nigerian cinema

Since the end of the 2015 elections, more than seven Nigerians have trekked for either President Goodluck Jonathan or President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari. [myad]

Ogun, Lagos States Give Demolition Notices To 60,000 Houses, And Communities Cry Out

Greenbarge Reporters

May 15, 2015

Ogun and Lagos State governments have given a seven-day demolition ultimatum to landlords and occupants of the 60,000 houses, including mosques, churches and public schools within the Water Pipeline area in Akute, Baale Akin-Osin and Oke-Aro communities in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, even as elders and community leaders have sent a Save-Our-Souls appeal to the governors of the two states.

Among the affected buildings is the one housing the headquarters of News Express online newspaper.

Information reaching us showed that shock from the sudden notice by the Ogun State Urban and Regional Planning Board has already claimed the lives of two landlords while several others have taken ill.

The plight of the citizens, some of who have been residing in the area for over two decades, was the subject of a press conference held yesterday in Akute. It was addressed by leaders of the joint Community Development Councils (CDCs), who identified themselves as dual citizens of Lagos and Ogun states, controlled by the same All Progressives Congress (APC), which they claimed to have overwhelmingly voted for in the last general elections.

The community leaders and elders said that they are not against the Adiyan Water Project by the Lagos and Ogun State governments which is designed to benefit the public.

But, the grand patron of the CDCs, Alhaji Ganiyu Busari said that the communities want the Ogun State government agency to re-consider the measure of the specified area to be demolished instead of the expansive 50-metre “set-back” which could conveniently be reduced to 20 metres “set-back,” so that less houses would be affected.

“We wish to intimate the government that most of the affected house owners are aged and retirees who have no steady means of livelihood. Pulling down their homes will further aggravate their predicament. We also wish to call the attention of the government to the fact that any meaningful project should be people-driven.”

They said that accepting the 20 metres set-back would ensures effective synergy of the government water project as houses marked for demolition do not by any means constitute obstruction to the project.

The Community elders noted that most of the 50-metre expanse shall be reserved for machinery and equipment during construction work which, thereafter, may be abandoned, making it a hideout for hoodlums and social miscreants who constitute a burden for the law enforcement agents and threat to peace in the communities. [myad]

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