Stakeholders in Anambra State, including civil society groups, political party leaders, community leaders, media, and women’s groups, have urged Governor Chukwuma Soludo to expedite the process of conducting local government elections in the state. This call was made during a one-day engagement organized by the Africa Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) and Strengthening Transparency, Accountability in Governance, and Electoral Process (STAGE), in collaboration with various civil society groups. Itia Otabor, Director of Strategy at Centre LSD, emphasized the need for local government elections, citing the desire of most Anambra people for elected local government leadership, rather than…
Author: Ifeanyi N.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called on President Bola Tinubu to implement the recommendations of the 2009 Nimi-Briggs committee’s renegotiated agreements. In a statement on Thursday, the Ibadan Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Professor Oyebamiji Oyegoke, urged Tinubu to address the central demands of public university lecturers and stop being insensitive to their plight. Oyegoke highlighted that the federal government has not mainstreamed billions of Earned Academic Allowances owed to ASUU members, nor has it commenced the implementation of the Nimi-Briggs Renegotiated 2009 draft agreements. He expressed concern over the pauperization of the intelligentsia, leading to an increase…
The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Mr Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as the chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) ahead of its meeting on Monday. Other members of the committee confirmed include CBN Deputy Governors Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, Bala M Bello, Emem Usoro, and Phillip Ikeazor. Also confirmed are Lamido Yuguda, the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); Jafiya Lydia Shehu, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance; Murtala Sabo Sagagi, Director at the CBN; Alloycius Uche Ordu; Aku Pullen Odukemelu; Mustapha Akinwunmi; and Bandele A. G. Amoo.…
The Senate has passed a bill seeking to establish the South East Development Commission, almost two months after it was passed by the House of Representatives. During plenary on Wednesday, the Senate Leader, Michael Opeyemi, presented the Bill for an Act to Act as a Catalyst to Develop the Commercial Potentials of the South East and for Other Connected Matters, 2024 (HB.626) for concurrence and second reading. The bill, which had been passed by the 8th Senate but was not received by former President Muhammadu Buhari, was finally passed by the House of Representatives in December 2023, following years of…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has cautioned the Senate President, Godswil Akpabio, to be mindful of his statements to avoid escalating the already tense political climate in the state. Tambari Sydney Gbara, the party’s publicity secretary in Rivers, criticized Akpabio’s recent remarks at an event in Port Harcourt. Akpabio had appealed to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to consider a candidate from the Ogoni ethnic group to succeed Governor Siminialayi Fubara. While acknowledging the importance of the Ogoni governorship project, Tambari stated that Akpabio’s timing was inappropriate given the current political climate and…
The Chairman of the Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship direct primary election committee, Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu, has announced that a fresh primary will be conducted in 192 wards across the 18 local government areas of the state. Governor Otu made this disclosure while addressing newsmen at the Lushville Hotel and Suites, Gapiona Avenue, Government Reservation Area in Benin on Thursday. He stated that the last Saturday’s controversial primary election had been canceled. The ruling APC removed Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma as Chairman of the Election Committee after the controversy that trailed Saturday’s governorship primary…
The Federal Government has announced the halt of cooking gas exportation in a bid to lower the price of the commodity in Nigeria. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ekperikpe Ekpo, made this known during the ‘Internal Stakeholders’ Workshop’ in Abuja, with the theme ‘Harnessing Nigeria’s Proven Gas Reserves for Economic Growth and Development’. Ekpo stated that the country would temporarily stop exporting Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), commonly known as cooking gas, to address the scarcity and steep price surge within the country. “We are interacting with critical stakeholders to ensure that there is no exportation of LPG. All LPG…
The Nigeria Police Force has announced plans to review its ban on tinted glass permits, which was initially imposed in 2022 due to concerns about the role of tinted glass in aiding crimes such as kidnapping, armed robbery, illegal transportation of firearms, and human trafficking. In a statement, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, stated that the proposed lifting of the ban would be accompanied by stringent measures to prevent abuse and ensure strict compliance with guidelines governing the issuance and use of tinted glass permits. Adejobi revealed that ICT analysts and Enforcement Officers nationwide would undergo comprehensive…
Philip Shaibu, the Deputy Governor of Edo State, has emerged as the winner of a factional Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary election. The primary was held for the September 21, 2024 governorship election. Shaibu was declared the party’s candidate after receiving 301 votes out of the total 559 votes cast at the primary, according to Honourable Moses Bartholomew, the Returning Officer. The primary was not without controversy, as personnel of the Edo State Security Network (ESSN) reportedly stormed the venue shortly after the voting process. Armed personnel blocked the entrance, preventing delegates and journalists from leaving the premises. Prior to…
Dr. Bishop Akhalamhe has emerged as the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) candidate for the upcoming Edo governorship election. The party chairman was adopted by party members in a primary election held in Benin, in the presence of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials. In his acceptance speech, Akhalamhe expressed gratitude to the party members for their confidence in him, promising that if elected, Edo State would witness significant development. “When a man is prepared for a mission, he is always excited when he has the support of the people. Today, I don’t just have the support of the people; I…
Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, a governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has announced his withdrawal from participating in the party’s governorship primaries scheduled for February 22, 2024. Ogbeide-Ihama, the immediate past lawmaker for the Oredo Federal Constituency, cited an unjust process skewed to favor a particular aspirant as the reason for his withdrawal. He was also one of the nine aggrieved aspirants who protested against the conduct of the party’s ward delegates congress by the Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah. In a letter dated February 12, 2024, addressed to the National Secretary of the party, Senator Sam…
Former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has criticized the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, for discussing the 2027 presidential election while many Nigerians are facing economic hardship and hunger. Eze described Wike’s comments as “ridiculous and insensitive,” noting that many Nigerians have been reduced to the status of hunger-stricken refugees in their own land. Wike, speaking at a Thanksgiving Service in honor of Senator Barinada Mpigi in Koroma, Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State, had boasted that no one can challenge him at the polls…
The Ogun State House of Assembly Committee on Public Accounts and Anti-Corruption has clarified that the invitation extended to former Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Waheed Odusile, and a serving Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Governor on Media, Emmanuel Ojo, was not an indictment but a step to seek clarifications on the audit report of the ministry. The committee, led by Damilare Bello, had earlier invited Odusile, Ojo, and two other career officers to shed light on financial anomalies spotted by the assembly. While addressing officials of the State Hospitals Management Board at the Assembly Complex in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta,…
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has discharged and acquitted Fubara Ohaka, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, of charges filed against him by the Federal Government. Ohaka, who serves as the Deputy Chairman of the Youth Movement in Emohua Local Government Area of the state, had been standing trial on six counts, including alleged involvement in illegal oil bunkering, terrorism, illegal refining of products without a license, and conspiracy. These charges were brought against him by the Federal Government through the Department of State Services (DSS) since 2022. In delivering the judgment,…
The Labour Party (LP) has confirmed the arrest of its national chairman, Barrister Julius Abure, and the state chairman of the party, Mr. Kelly Ogbaloi, by a combined team of police officers and operatives of the Department of State Security Services (DSS). The arrest of Abure was forcefully carried out by security operatives on Wednesday in Benin City, the Edo State capital, as earlier reported by the media. A video clip capturing his arrest went viral on social media. This arrest comes barely two days before the party’s governorship primaries for the November 21, 2024, governorship election in the state.…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has appointed Bassey Otu, the governor of Cross River State, as the chairman of its governorship primary election committee in Edo State. This decision came after a series of petitions calling for the removal of Hope Uzodinma, the chairman of the election committee, from various quarters. Hope Uzodinma, the governor of Imo State and the chairman of the panel, had overseen the committee, which became controversial after it produced three different candidates – Dennis Idahosa, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and Anamero Sunday Dekeri – and declared Dennis Idahosa as the winner of the exercise. In response…
Sociopolitical critic Reno Omokri has called on Nigerians to refrain from blaming President Bola Tinubu if the naira further depreciates to N2414 to a dollar. Omokri highlighted the impact of Nigerians’ extensive importation of food items from countries like China and Thailand on the naira’s value. Omokri emphasized the need to support locally-made goods, citing Nigeria’s annual expenditure of $6 billion on food imports. He criticized the importation of items like rice, toothpicks, and even pizza, which can be produced locally. In a post on X, Omokri stated, “Let the Naira fall. It is good. When we can no longer…
The Senate has confirmed the nominees appointed by President Bola Tinubu to serve in various capacities, including the Director General of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), commissioners for the National Population Commission (NPC), and the chairman and members of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON). The confirmation came after the Senate Committees on Health, Secondary and Tertiary, National Identity Card and Population, and Foreign Affairs presented and considered reports on the nominees. Dr. Kelechi Ohiri was confirmed as the Director General of NHIA, while the nominees for NAHCON include Malam Jalal Arabi as chairman, Aliu AbdulRazak as Commissioner…
The planned visit of President Bola Tinubu to Abia State for the commissioning of the Aba Integrated Power Project has been postponed. The project, a Geometric Power Plant located in Osisioma Local Government Area, was scheduled for commissioning on Saturday, February 24. The project, aimed at providing electricity to the Aba Ringed Fenced Area comprising nine out of the 17 local government areas in the state, including Aba North and South, Isiala Ngwa North and South, Osisioma, Ugwunagbo, Obingwa, Ukwa East, and West, will now be commissioned on Monday, February 26. In a statement issued by the management of Geometric,…
Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has pledged his administration’s commitment to easing the suffering of the state’s residents. Speaking at the inauguration of the State Food Security Committee in Osogbo, Governor Adeleke stated that his government is implementing various pro-people programs to address the current economic crisis. “We are working hard to alleviate the hardships faced by our people. Our administration has introduced several policy options to ease the burden on the populace,” Governor Adeleke said. The governor highlighted the need to tackle the deepening economic conflict, stating that his government is already taking action in many areas. He emphasized…