DG C'River Due Process, Ogar Eba Apologises For Delay In Completing Okuku-Okpoma-Yahe Road

The Director-General, Cross River State Due Process and Price Intelligence Bureau, Barrister Alphonsus Ogar Eba, has said the governor, Prof Ben Ayade has given a marching order to the contractors of the ongoing 145km Okuku-Okpoma-Yahe Road to ensure people don't drive through the mud latest by next year 2020.

Ogar Eba, who stated this while reacting to a post on social media on the progress of the road project, apologised for the delay in completing it.

He assured that the state government is determined and focused on completion of all projects before the expiration of it's four year tenure.

He said, "The 2nd team have also mobilised to okuku junction. We will do our best to deliver within the schedule four years completion period.

"The Governor has also given a bullet order to the contractor to ensure that our people do not drive through mud next year.

"Once again, we apologise for the delay in completing this very important project.

"Continue to pray for our Governor and give him all the support you can. We are here to serve you."

Cross River North youths under Northern Cross River Youth Coalition (NCRYC), Wednesday hailed the Governor of Cross River State, Prof Ben Ayade, over the appointment of Chris Agara as chairman, High Chief Higgins Oko Peters as vice chairman respectively to head the new constituted Taskforce on Review of Existing State Loans and Mobilise Support for Deep Seaport and Super Highway projects.

The commendation was made by the spokesman of the group, Ebriku John Friday, quoted one of the leaders Mr Francis Peters in a statement, appreciating the Governor for making such important appointments to move the state forward and congratulated the chairman and other members of the 9-man Taskforce.

He said: “We in Northern Cross River Youth Coalition (NCRYC) hails our digital Governor, Prof Ben Ayade, for appointing Chris Agara as chairman, Chief Higgins Oko Peter as vice chairman respectively to head the new constituted Taskforce on Review of Existing State Loans and Mobilise Support for Deep Seaport and Super Highway projects.

“These are eminent personalities with distinction and are high level technocrats who have all it takes to galvanise the state into a highly industrialised state that would attract the expected investment inflow and massive creation of jobs for the teeming youths. We believe that this is putting round peg in the round hole.

“We heartily thank our digital governor for finding our Patron, High Chief Higgins Peters worthy to be party of this great assignment and have no doubt our patron  would actualise the industrialisation mantra currently embarked upon to full attainment. 

"We congratulate the Chairman of the Taskforce, Mr Chris Agara and the vice chairman, High Chief Higgins Peters and others who made the 9-man Taskforce list.

Meanwhile, NCRYC pledge its support for the commission to succeed as a formidable youth group that would do everything to ensure the objectives of the commission are achieved.

“We are seriously in support of the Taskforce on Review of State Existing Loans and Mobilise Support for Signature Projects of the state government and the full industrialisation of the state.

“We will do everything possible to ensure that the objectives of the Taskforce succeed. We also want to state that nobody can stop the development agenda of the government.

“We also appeal to all fellow Crossiverians to cooperate and support the government and his aspirations to transform the state into an industrialised state and leading other states in every sector of the economy”, the group added.

Barr Chris Agara, Arch. Bassey Ndem, Dr Betta Edu, all inaugurated into C’River State Task Force on Loans Review, Mobilize Support for The Deep Seaport and The Super Highway by Gov. Ben Ayade.

The Cross River state Governor, Professor Ben Ayade has today the 31st day of July, 2019 inaugurated the Task Force Committee on Loans Review, with a mandate to review all loans taken by the State and those indebted to the State. The Taskforce is also saddled with a huge responsibility of mobilizing Support for the two signature projects of his administration; the Bakassi Deep Seaport and the 274km Superhighway projects. As well as all other projects in the state.

It has Barr. Chris Agam Agara as Chairman and Arch. Bassey Ndem as Secretary. Other Members of the Task Force Committee are; High Chief Higgins Peters (Vice Chairman), Dr. Francis Ntamu (Member), Dr Betta Edu (Member) Rev. Victor Edet (Member), Arc. Eric Akpo (Member), Engr. Godwin Akeke (Member), Mr. E. J Williams (Member) and Abiola Imani (Member).

His Excellency has tasked the committee with huge responsibilities of;
A). Partnering with the State's Debt Management Office to compile all accumulated loans interest, project based loans, gratuity, outstanding debt etc. over last 20 years
B). Ascertain the actual monies the State is indebted to people/individuals or Institutions & Federal Governments as well as investigating some State debtors like Aero Contractors etc.
C). Advice the State Government on the best possible ways to maximize its brown field investments and how to as well get the State's industries like Garment Factory, Coco processing Plant, Rice Mill, Calapharm, etc yield maximum dividends to the state. While attracting more investment and partnerships.

His Excellency ended by charging the Committee Members to give in their best for the State. His words;
“If these team can accomplish this task; you will have written your names in Gold in the History Books of Cross River state. This is posterity, this is prosperity; this is intellectual money to move our State on the road to accomplish so much"

He congratulated them after they all took an oath of office. The Chairman who spoke on their behalf promised to give in their very best to help the State maximize its investment and recover its debt. Committee is to get to work immediately.

Certified Anatomist, Stephanie Jane claims that Leah Sharibu who was allegedly killed by terrorist Islamic sect, Boko Haram caused her own death.

In a series of tweet, the social media user explains how Leah Sharibu caused her own death.



Leah Sharibu caused her own death - Stephanie Jane explains


She wrote;

Leah Sharibu caused her own death. Had it been she denounced this her “Jesus” like the other girls did, she would have been freed since. If Peter could deny jesus three good times, then who am i not to do so? Peter denied jesus out of fear but later asked for forgiveness.
Peter’s scenario is even worse than Leah’s own. Peter was a man who saw the marvellous miracles jesus performed. Jesus told peter ahead of time that he would deny him. Peter was informed b4 it happened.Peter had time to get prepared yet he denied jesus thrice when he saw death.
Christians always hate the truth. Peter consciously and intentionally denied your Jesus three good times. He later begged for forgiveness. Peter used his brain. Is peter in heaven or hell?
All what i see in the comments are insults and threats. That shows you how gullible and insecure Christians are. They cant even come up with a rational or biblical explanation as to why peter denied jesus.. They cant argue with me constructively.
Please im not in anyway mocking Leah Sharibu. She was just an innocent girl brainwashed by the double-standard christians doctrines. May her soul rest in peace.
I also blame the government for failing to protect her citizen. The government has the greater blame in Leah’s death but leah should have put herself in a better situation to freedom by denying her jesus like the other girls did and they were freed.
Peter's scenario is even worse than Leah's own. Peter was a man who saw the marvellous miracles jesus performed. Jesus told peter ahead of time that he would deny him. Peter was informed b4 it happened.Peter had time to get prepared yet he denied jesus thrice when he saw death.
— Stephanie Jane (@CaliforniaReiko) July 25, 2019
All what i see in the comments are insults and threats. That shows you how gullible and insecure Christians are. They cant even come up with a rational or biblical explanation as to why peter denied jesus.. They cant argue with me constructively.
— Stephanie Jane (@CaliforniaReiko) July 25, 2019

Arsenal manager Unai Emery has included Nacho Monreal in his group of players who will act as captain in the upcoming season.



Emery implemented five players who he decided were going to lead the squad at the beginning of last season: Laurent Koscielny, Petr Cech, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka.

While Cech has retired and Ramsey has moved to Juventus , Koscielny is unlikely to play for the club again after he refused to travel on the club's pre-season tour of the USA, with the 33-year-old pushing for a move back to his native France.


Xhaka and Ozil will remain as captains and Emery has also clearly seen enough for him to believe his fellow Spaniard Monreal can make the step up.

Nacho Monreal will become one of Arsenal's leaders next season. He also announced he will also choose two more players to complete the group.

Emery said: "We are working now with the captains. They are Xhaka, Ozil and Nacho Monreal. I want to add two more and then I am going to decide the number one, two, three, four and five in the next weeks."

Emery was speaking following Arsenal's disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Lyon in the Emirates Cup, and he also hinted a £72m deal for Lille winger Nicolas Pepe is nearing completion.

He said: "Pepe is a very good player and also we are thinking only of players who can really, really improve this squad and also give us some different conditions to improve.

"The same, we are working for the last few weeks and before starting the season in the first match in Newcastle , our aim is to get the best team with the best players in our squad."

Arsenal will play French side Angers on Wednesday and Barcelona on Sunday ahead of their first game of the Premier League season against Newcastle on August 11.

Is Wilfried Zaha on his way to Chelsea?

By Dan Gibbs
06.07, 31 Jul 2019 UPDATED 08.07, 31 Jul 2019

That’s the view of football comedian and pundit Kevin Hunter Day.
Crystal Palace have been battling to keep hold of talisman Zaha all summer by setting his price tag at £80m.
Arsenal were put off by the fee and tabled a bid of £40m earlier this month which was swiftly rejected.

Last week, reports suggested Chelsea had entered the race to sign the Ivorian attacker despite being under a transfer ban - the Blues can still sign players to play for the 2020/21 season.

That deal could make sense for Palace if it means they can keep hold of the 26-year-old for another season.
And Day, who is an avid Palace fan, feels Michy Batshuayi could also be involved in a swap deal after the Belgian spent the latter half of last season on loan with the Eagles.
“I think they’ll be some kind of deal backstage with Chelsea that he’ll go there and he’ll be their next season,” Day said on talkSPORT.
“Possibly Batshuayi will be involved at some stage either this season or next.”

Michy Batshuayi spent last season on loan at Crystal Palace (Pic: GETTY)
Arsenal were left frustrated in their attempts to lure Zaha away and instead turned their attention to Lille’s Nicolas Pepe.

The 24-year-old, a team-mate of Zaha’s at this month’s Africa Cup of Nations, is set to join the Gunners for £72m, albeit Arsenal will only pay £20m upfront.
And Day feels Palace were let angered by Arsenal’s derisory early offers for their star man that eventually prompted the north London side to look elsewhere.
“It’s been really interesting to find out the relationships clubs have with other clubs,” he added.

Arsenal have now turned their attention to Lille star Nicolas Pepe (Pic: GETTY)
“It’s like Arsenal, apparently going back to the Ian Wright transfer, we don’t have much of a relationship with Arsenal.
“I’m not surprised if they spend a whole summer saying ‘we really want Zaha, he really wants to come’ to the extent as one tabloid said he’ll go on strike if he doesn’t go to Arsenal but as you know we’ve only got £45m.
“You can have £40m of that, we’ll keep £5m in case a left back from Celtic comes up and thats it.
“And then low and behold this morning they’ve got £75m to spend on a similar player.”
Arsenal could announce the signing of Pepe today after he underwent his medical in London yesterday

By Tayo Olu

One of President Muhammadu Buhari’s 43 ministerial nominees, Festus Keyamo (SAN), has visited the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday to swear an affidavit in respect of his asset declaration.

Keyamo was said have taken the oath at Justice Nkeonye Maha’s office located at the 3rd Floor of the Federal High Court building.

The ministerial nominee, who spoke briefly to reporters at the premises of the court, disclosed that he was rushing to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to submit his assets declaration forms today.

“Please, I am sorry, I won’t be able to say much, because I am in a hurry to submit my asset declaration form at the CCB before they close for the day,” he told the newsmen.

Keyamo’s assets declaration is in compliance with Section 149 of the Nigerian Constitution which mandates Nigerian ministers to declare their assets and liabilities before assuming office.
The ministerial nominee had been screened on Friday by the Senate following his nomination among 43 others by the President Buhari.

By Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu & David Odama

One of the suspects that allegedly kidnapped the village head of Hunki, in Awe Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, Alhaji Umaru Jibrin, has been arrested by the Police.


The suspect was reportedly arrested in an eatery in the town, where the victim had also gone to eat.



Speaking with journalists during the parade of the suspect alongside others by the Nasarawa State Police command, Jibrin said: “I identified one of those who kidnapped me at an eatery. When he noticed me at the eatery, he immediately tried to escape while the food was being served.

“It was then I recollected that he was one of those that kidnapped me and I quickly alerted those within the vicinity and he was caught. They released me from their den after my relations managed to raise N600,000 ransom.”

Confessing, the suspect, Musa Adamu, admitted that he was among those that kidnapped the village head.

Parading the suspected criminals at the state police headquarters in Lafia, the state Commissioner of Police, Bola Longe, gave the names of the suspects, who allegedly kidnapped the Hunki traditional ruler to include Musa Adamu, 26; Umaru Muhammed, 28; Nuhu Muhammed, 38, and Hassan Zakaria, 20.

The police commissioner added that the suspected kidnappers of the monarch were arrested in Awe town, with 11 SIM cards of different network recovered from them.

Meanwhile, kidnappers of the former Chairman of Akoko-Edo Local Government chapter of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Alhaji Jimoh Olumoye, are said to be asking for N10 million.

A family member disclosed, yesterday, that the suspected kidnappers called the family for the ransom despite appeals that he is a civil servant and be left off the hook.

She said: “They called and allowed him to talk to us and they are demanding for N10 million.”

Vanguard

The Senate on Tuesday announced the composition of its standing committees as it adjourned plenary to Sept 24 th.
Some of the Committee chairmen are, Senators Barau Jibrin ( Appropriations) , Ali Ndume ( Army ) , Dino Melaye ( Aviation) , Ibikunle Amosun ( Capital Market ) , Ike Ekweremadu ( Environment ) , Abubakar Kyari ( FCT ) , Adeola Olamilekan ( Finance ) , Ibrahim Oloriegbe ( Health ) , Sikiru Oshinowo ( Industry ) , Kashim Shettima ( Interior ) ,Teslim Folarin ( Local content ) , Adedayo Adeyeye ( Media and Public Affairs ) , Bassey Akpan ( Petroleum Resources upstream ) and Mathew Urhoghide ( Public Accounts )

See full List of Chairmen of Senate Standing Committees and their deputies 1. Agriculture – Abdullahi Adamu, Bima Enagi. 2. Airforce – Bala Ibn Na’Allah, Michael Nnachi. 3. Anti-corruption and Financial Crimes – Suleiman Kwari, Aliyu Wamakko. 4. Appropriation – Barau Jibrin, Stella Oduah. 5. Army – Ali Ndume, Abba Moro. 6. Aviation – Dino Melaye, Bala Na’Allah. 7. Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions – Uba Sani, Orji Uzor Kalu. 8. Capital Market – Ibikunle Amosun, Binos Yero 9. Communications – Oluremi Tinubu, Ibrahim Bomai. 10. Corporation and Integration in Africa and NEPAD – Chimaroke Nnamani, Yusuf Yusuf. 11. Culture and Tourism – Rochas Okorocha, Ignatius Longjohn. 12. Customs, Excise and Tarrifs – Francis Alimekhena, Francis Fardausi. 13. Defence – Aliyu Wamakko, Istifanus Gyang. 14. Diaspora and NGOs – Bashiru Ajibola, Ibrahim Oloriegbe. 15. Downstream Petroleum Sector – Sabo Mohammed, Philip Aduda. 16.Drugs and Narcotics – Hezekaiah Dimka, Chimaroke Nnamani. 17. Ecology Climate Change – Mohammad Gusau, Olubunmi Adetunmbi. 18. Education (Basic and Secondary) – Ibrahim Geidam, Akon Eyakenyi 19. Employment, Labour and Productivity – Ben Umajumogwu, Kabiru Barkiya. 20. Environment – Ike Ekweremadu, Ibrahim Hadejia. 21. Establishment and Public Service – Ibrahim Shekarau, Barinadas Mpigi. 22. Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions – Patrick Akinyelure, Ahmed Babba-Kaita. 23. FCT – Abubakar Kyari, Tolu Odebiyi. 24.Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs – Danjuma Laah, Yahaya Gumau. 25. FERMA – Gershom Bassey, Kabir Barkiya. 26. Finance – Adeola Olamilekan, Isa Jibrin. 27. Foreign Affairs – Mohammed Bulkachuwa, Ignatius Longjohn. 28. Gas Resources – James Manager, Biobaraku Wangagra. 29. Health (Secondary and Tertiary) – Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Betty Apiafi. 30. Housing – Sam Egwu, Lola Ashiru. 31. ICT and Cybercrime – Yakubu Useni, Abdulfatai Buhari. 32. INEC – Kabiru Gaya, Sahabi Ya’u. 33. Industries – Adebayo Osinowo. 34. Information and National Communication – Danladi Sankara, Aishatu Ahmed. 35. Interior -Kashim Shettima, Diri Douye. 36. Interparliamentary Affairs – Godiya Akwashiki, Abba Moro. 37. Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters – Michael Bamidele, Emmanuel Oker-Jev. 38. Land Transport – Abdulfatai Buhari, Nicholas Tofowomo. 39. Legislative Compliance – Oriolowo Adeyemi, Sabi Abdullahi. 40. Local Content – Teslim Folarin, Sabi Abdullahi. 41. Local and Foreign Debts – Clifford Ordia, Bima Enagi. 42. Marine Transport – Danjuma Goje, Adebayo Osinowo. 43. Media and Public Affairs – Adedayo Adeyeye, Akwashiki Godiya. 44. National Identity and National Population – Sa’idu Alkali, Suleiman Kwari. 45. National Planning – Olubunmi Adetunmbi, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo. 46. National Security and Intelligence – Abdullahi Gobir, Chukwuka Utazi. 47. Navy – George Sekibo, Elisha Abbo. 48. Niger Delta – Peter Nwabaoshi, Bulus Amos. 49. Petroleum Upstream – Albert Akpan, Ifeanyi Ubah. 50. Police affairs – Dauda Jika, Abubakar Tambuwal. 51. Poverty Alleviation and Social Investment Program – Lawal Gumau, Michael Nnachi. 52. Power -Gabriel Suswam, Enyinnaya Abaribe. 53. Primary Health Care and Communicable Diseases – Chuwkuka Utazi, Sadiq Umar. 54. Privatisation – Theodore Orji, Oriolowo Adeyemi. 55. Public Accounts – Mathew Urghohide, Ibrahim Hassan. 56. Public Procurement – Shuaibu Lau, Lola Ashiru. 57. Rules and business – Sadiq Umar, Yahaya Abdullahi. 58. Science and Technology – Uche Ekwunife, Robert Boroffice. 59. Senate Services – Sani Musa, Lawal Hassan. 60. Solid Minerals, Mine, Steel Development and Metallurgy – Tanko Almakura, Oriolowo Adeyeye. 61. Sports and Social Development – Joseph Garba 62. State and Local Government – Lekan Mustapha, Francis Onyewuchi. 63. Special duties – Yusuf Yusuf, Biobaraku Wangagra. 64. SDGs – Aisha Dahiru, Lekan Mustapha 65. Tertiary Institution and TETFUND – Ahmed Baba Kaita, Sandy Onor. 66. Trade and Investment – Rose Oko, Francis Fadahunsi. 67. Water Resources – Bello Mandiya, Christopher Ekpeyong. 68. Women Affairs and Youth Development – Betty Apiafi, Aishatu Dahiru. 69. Works – Adamu Aliero, Emmanuel Bwacha.

In a bid to stem the tide of deforestation, Cross River governor, Prof Ben Ayade, on Tuesday joined by his Abia counterpart, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, led thousands of CrossRiverians to plant one million trees in the state.

The event tagged: "Cross River State wet season green carnival,' with the theme: "Calabar Green Canopy Scheme" has the objective of planting one million trees across the state.

Flagging off the event at the Botanical Garden along Mary Slessor Avenue in Calabar,  Ayade said it was driven by the People’s generational core process for the future.

He explained that planting of young trees “is very critical for Carbon dioxide assimilation, so Cross River will be the carbon dioxide reservoir, the headquarters of the absorption of carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere."

Ayade noted that "Cross River has 58 percent of the entire forest cover of Nigeria and by our designation and plan, our strategy is to grow that to 68 percent," adding that, “the reclamation of our rain forest remains pertinent to avert climate change.”

He said the construction of the 274km Superhighway where 28,000 trees, would be fell, has made it more imperative for the planting of trees.

“We are planting one million trees as a justification to support the afforestation process, not only for the superhighway but for the industrial farms that are yet to come because we cannot create industrial farms without deforestation,” he said.

The governor who enjoined young Cross Riverians to take advantage of the business opportunity created by the Green Carnival to start growing nurseries for the next year event, remarked: "There is an intellectual, physical, financial and economic component to the action."

On his part, the Abia State governor, Dr. Ikpeazu, applauded Ayade for the feats recorded in Cross River, even as he described Ayade as "a generational politician," and the event as "another futuristic event like no other in this country called Nigeria.

"Many politicians in Nigeria are regarded as elections politicians but Ayade is a generational politician who is not looking to the next election but thinking about not only Cross River of tomorrow but indeed Nigeria and the world."

The Abia governor intimated that "Cross River is giving us a superhighway that will take out only 28,000 trees, but in return, this digital governor is planting not 280, not 560 but 35 times the number of trees he is going to fell. One million trees to replace 28,000, this has put Cross River once again on the global map."

He used the occasion to announce the intention of his state to procure rice seedlings from the Cross River Rice and seedlings factory in a few weeks, in order to compete  the major rice producers.

"From the rice basins of Bende in Abia, we are coming to Cross River in the next weeks to purchase the seedlings that we will use to begin to compete amongst the major rice producers of this country," Ikpeazu disclosed, adding that "the beautiful thing about Abia Rice will be that we know its source and origin, we are not going to accept seedlings that we don't know their parents. We know the parents of Abia Rice, they come from Cross River."

The event featured planting of trees throughout the 18 LGAs of the state as well as street procession and parade by Ministries, Departments and Agencies round the designated carnival routes and terminating at the U. J. Esuene Stadium, Calabar.

Discussion about this post by Agency Reporter — July 29, 2019
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday told the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal that inviting witnesses to defend its conduct of the Feb.23 general election would amount to becoming a partial umpire.
Mr Yunus Usman, SAN, said this in his oral application urging the five-man panel headed by Justice Mohammed Garba to close commission’s defence.
“My Lords, will not be calling any witnesses to defend the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, against conduct of Feb. 23 election that re-elected Muhammadu Buhari as President.
“Our client will instead rely on the evidence it obtained from the petitioners’ witnesses under cross examination.
“There is no need calling witnesses to help the petitioners’ case as doing so would have negated INEC’s stance as impartial umpire,’’ Usman said.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the electoral body was given six days to produce defence for the allegations made by the petitioners on the conduct of the presidential election.
Following this development, the tribunal adjourned until July 30 for the second respondent (Buhari) to open his defence.
NAN reports that INEC, Buhari and the All Progressive Congress had early tried to deflate all the issues canvassed by the petitioners at separate cross examinations of the 65 witnesses that testified on their behalf.
Specifically, the respondents on July 15 described the 48 Compact Discs evidence tendered by the petitioners as lacking in probative value and therefore challenged their admissibility.
NAN also recalls that four of the video clips played in the court hall included “Count down of Osun Decides’’, a production of Channels Television with Seun Akinboloye as host.
In the above production dated Feb.8, Mr Mike Igini, Resident Electoral Commissioner for Akwa Ibom had talked about the readiness of the electoral body to transmit the Feb.23 general election electronically.
The second video was a clip of the postponement of the general election by INEC Chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmud.
NAN further reports that the third video was a clip of AFEX Nigeria training of INEC Ad-hoc staff on electronic result transmission.
Similarly, the briefing by the Nigerian Army authority on the status of Buhari’s alleged certificate saga completed the four materials shown in court.
INEC’ counsel had said that all the video clips tendered by the petitioners related to the commission’s activity before the election.

wUsman had alleged such videos had no nexus with the activities that happened during the conduct of the election.
He also made the witnesses at various points to confirm that the chairman of the electoral body only expressed the hope of the commission to transmit results of the general election electronically, but that it was not actually done.

He also said that no officials of the commission except the chairman’s express permission had the statutory right to speak on behalf of the body.

On his part, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, counsel for the president at various times of his cross examination of the petitioners’ witnesses clearly established from them that Buhari had his WAEC result.
The respondents had on July 16 further attempted to dislocate the petitioner’s video clip evidence on the allegation that INEC had concluded decision to transmit the election’s result electronically.

To this end, Dr Alex Izinyon, SAN, Counsel for the president, tendered a Channels Television video of INEC’s chairman where he specifically said that the result from the Feb.23 general election would not be transmitted to the commission’s central server.

Chief Chris Uche, SAN, Counsel for the petitioners had on July 15 led a star witness, Mr Segun Showunmi to tender the 48 Compact Discs evidence to substantial their claims.

Counsel for the respondents had also claimed that the petitioners’ 33, 234 documentary evidence placed before the tribunal were “mere papers’’ bearing no convincing contents.
(NAN)

*Court alters schedule of proceedings
Discussion about this post by Eric Ikhilae, Abuja


The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained why it chose not call any witness in defence of the petition filed against it by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the February 23 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar.
INEC’s lead lawyer Yunus Usman (SAN) told the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) yesterday that his client elected not to call any witness in defence of the petition.

By the court’s schedule, the electoral body is expected to open its defence today, but when the case was called on Monday, Usman told the court that, having painstakingly reviewed the evidence and statement by the 62 witnesses called by the petitioners, INEC found no reason to call witnesses.

Usman said: “We have painstakingly reviewed the evidence of the petitioners’ witnesses. We have also painstakingly studied petitioners’ witnesses statements under cross-examination, which support our defence and denial, and are in consonance with our pleadings.
“We do not see the need to waste the court’s precious time in repeating what we have been saying.

“In short, we will not call any witness to help them prosecute their case. We rely on the evidence of their witnesses under cross examination.
“One of the witnesses even read the provision of the Electoral Act, where it was provided that electronic transmission of election results is not allowed. There is no need for us to call any witness.”
After Usman spoke, Justice Mohammed Garba sought the views of lawyers to the other parties – President Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the petitioners.
Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Buhari’s lead lawyer, said he was okay with INEC’s decision not to call witnesses.
Olanipekun said his client planned to call witnesses and sought an adjournment till 2pm today to enable the second respondent bring its witnesses.

APC’s lead lawyer Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) was also not averse to INEC’s decision, but said he would wait for the second respondent to conclude his defence before deciding whether or not to call witnesses.
The petitioners’ lead lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), who was delighted about INEC’s decision, sought to be allowed to utilise the six days within which INEC was expected to conduct its case, to tender additional documents.

The court rejected Uzoukwu’s request and said it amounted to an attempt by the petitioners to re-open their case, which they closed at the expiration of the 10 days allocated to them to conduct it.
Justice Garba had earlier announced an amendment to the schedule of proceedings in the hearing of the petition, reducing from six to three, the days earlier allocated to parties to file their final written addresses.

He said in view of time constraint, the court has decided to alter its earlier announced schedule, allowing the respondents to file their final written addresses three days after the close of evidence. The petitioners will have three days from the day of service.

The respondents are to have two days to reply on point of law, if necessary after being served with the petitioners’ reply.
The petitioners had claimed to have won the election based on the result they allegedly obtained from a supposed central server into which INEC allegedly transmitted and stored the election results.
They (PDP and Atiku) contended that “from the data in the 1st respondent’s server, as between the 1st petitioner (Atiku) and the 2nd respondent (Buhari), the true, actual and correct results upon a state to state computation” reflects that the PDP/Atiku scored 18,356,732 while APC/Buhari scored 16,741,430.

Many of the witnesses called by the petitioners spoke about the existence of an INEC server, but none provided any information about the identity of the said server, its location and address.

Read Also; We will not help PDP, Atiku with witnesses – INEC

The petitioners’ testimonies
On July 8, three of the petitioners’ witnesses – Peter Obi, Adejuyitan Olalekan and Adedokun Adeoye – claimed that they transmitted results to INEC server at the conclusion of the last presidential election, but did not provide details of the purported server.

Another set of key witnesses called by the petitioners on July 19 – Osita Chidoka and David Ayu Nyango Njoga – failed to substantiate their claim of the existence of a server.

The duo said they got information that INEC transmitted results of the last presidential election electronically to a server.
Njoga was introduced as the petitioners’ expert witness and described as an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) expert from Kenya.
The witness said he was engaged by the petitioners to analyse results of the election as obtained from INEC server and stored in a website, www.factsdontlieng.com.
When asked if the INEC owns the website, the witness said “no”, but that the data it contains are from INEC’s server.
Njoga, who said he has never worked in INEC, claimed that:“www.factsdontlieng.com” is owned by an INEC official, who provided the election result figures.
When asked to name the said INEC official, the witness said: “My lord, the INEC official is anonymous and I do not know him.”
Under cross-examination by Olanipekun, Njoka said the website was created on March 12, 2019. When reminded that the presidential election held on February 23 and the results released before March 12, the witness went mute.

Chidoka, an Aviation Minister under Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, who was introduced as the petitioners’ star witness, said he served as the PDP National Collation Officer during the last presidential election.

He said he was in the PDP national situation room between Friday, February 22 and 24, 2019 during which he interacted with senior INEC officials, including its Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, and his party’s agents nationwide.
Chidoka, who confirmed that election results were collated nationwide manually, said he learnt the result of the election was “transmitted by INEC electronically to the INEC server”.

While being cross-examined by Usman, Chidoka could not substantiate his claim, as contained in his written statement, to the effect that election results were transmitted to “the 1st respondent’s (INEC’s) server by the1st respondent’s officials”.
When asked if he witnessed the transmission, Chidoka said he was not present when the alleged electronic transmission was done.

On whether he has ever seen the said server or knows its location, the witness said: “I have not seen the server, but before the election and during collation, the INEC Chairman talked about the existence of server”.
Chidoka added that Yakubu spoke greatly about INEC’s readiness in relation to the deployment of technology for the conduct of the election, but said such deployment was subject to existing challenge or lack of legal backing for such deployment.
When asked to provide the address of the said server, Chidoka said the one he referred to was the same address provided by the anonymous whistle-blower.

The late filing of an application by lawyers to Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalled the planned hearing on Tuesday of an appeal they filed against the decision of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).

The appeal is against a ruling of the PEPC, in which it held that the Atiku and the PDP do not have a reply to an application filed on May 14, 2019 by the All Progressives Congress (APC) seeking among others, the dismissal of their (Atiku and the PDP) challenging President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory at the last presidential election.

Read Also; Atiku: Why INEC didn’t call witnesses

When the appeal, marked: SC/738/2019 was mentioned on Tuesday, lead lawyer to the appellants, Paul Erokoro (SAN) said he regretted that he filed a fresh “application this morning” for leave to bring supplementary records from the lower court.

Lawyers to the respondents – the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Buhari and the APC said they were just served with the application and needed time to examine it and react appropriately.

A five-man panel of the court, led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili, adjourned until August 20, 2019 for hearing.

By: Kenneth Ere



It is common knowledge that Governor Ayade's first term in office was largely characterized by an unprecedented expansion of government with the sole aim to douse social tension and unrest.



 this deliberate and well fashioned out policy direction was also intended to ensure that  a peaceful and enabling environment was/is created for foreign investors to further stimulate the state's economy. It is Ayade's assertion that crime and social unrest is usually a result of unemployment, poverty and suffering; believing that with "food on the table" one's propensity for crime is reduced to its barest minimum.



With the Governor's first term "Food on the table" mantra, Prof Ayade was able to reconcile Keynes and Adam Smith theories, with the mathematical theorem that places the constant "K" representing the people; A theory known today as the Ayadesian theory. It is a form of social capitalism that places the people at the apex of the food chain, where everything is channeled towards improving their welfare and catering for the vulnerable in society including tax waivers for low income earners, regular and prompt payment of salaries, appointments for large number of people not necessarily with capacity, but potentials.



Alongside Government mediated private sector intervention in the form of SPVs, to create a market/corresponding balance. A case where one man's spending improves another's business or his earnings. A notable example is the increased patronage by salary earners and appointees for local businesses and government private sector mediation projects like the garment factory, cocoa processing plant and the ultra modern rice seed and seedlings factory SPVs



The large number of appointees and state government assisted SPVs was able to reconcile Keynes and Adam Smith's theory by keeping the money in circulation, sustaining a high level of economic activities and ultimately fostering prosperity.



It is this well thought out and implemented policy of governor  Ayade that led to the recent Global multi-dimensional poverty index (MPI) that saw the state's poverty index reduced drastically from its previous 30.1% in 2014 to 10% in 2018.



In his  second term in office, Ayade has expanded on the mantra to "food on the table, hands on the plough". A progression of his first time mantra of just "food on the table" where people without the necessary capacity and required skills  were given jobs just to keep the peace.



His second term goal is largely geared toward full utilization of the SPVs created by government, and projects undertaken by investors who's inducement to invest was encouraged by the peace, cleanliness and ambience that Cross River State is now known for. A direct benefit of the lack of social tension and unrest.



Primary and secondary school students have directly benefitted from the garment factory, with half a million uniforms donated to schools across the state. An ultra modern rice mill has been set up in ogoja, rice farmers have been retrained, and given high yielding rice seedlings with improved resistance to diseases from the ultra modern rice seed and seedlings factory.



Cocoa farmers have been boosted with the ultra modern and sophisticated cocoa processing plant in Ikom. The Governor, due to his sheer diligence and keen eye for details  has been able to identify most of his previous appointees areas of strength/expertise and plans to utilize them where they ultimately thrive the most.



The calabar noodles factory is 100% ready, with an estimated production rate of 50,000 metric tons annually. An initiative set to tap into the federal government's school feeding program is also expected to get patronage locally and internationally, especially from neighboring countries like Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, and has already sent out circulars for employment for qualified candidates of Cross River State descent.



Also ready to commence full operation is the cocoa processing plant, maize farm, banana plantation, the ultra modern rice seed and seedlings factory, calachika, toothpick factory, piles,pylons and poles factory, calabar pharmaceutical company (CALAPHARM) to mention but a few. The progression is so rapid and extensive, it doesn't matter what category of work and skill set you possess; white, blue, pink or gold collar. There is ultimately something for everyone who is willing to be an active member of the Ayade's Cross River State industrialization drive.



It is indeed truly remarkable, yet not surprising, that Cross River State, with one of the lowest federal allocation, even after paying down in excess of N85billion to service pre-existing loans was able to reduce its poverty index by over 20% in four years, even without the Spvs and industries operating at full capacity.



It can only take a genius like Sen.Prof Ben Ayade at the helm of affairs, a leadership that radiates honesty, integrity, accountability, creativity, innovation, tenacity, empathy, decision-making capabilities, as well as commitment and passion.



 It is also an exciting prospect to imagine what we can achieve in another four years, with the industries and numerous SPVs operating at full capacity and our "hands on the plough".



It is indeed clear that Cross River State, via its rapid industrialization drive is headed for ultimate self-sufficiency as it equally turns into an industrial hub of Nigeria and Africa.

…condemns petition against nominee

The Cross River North Good Governance Group, CRINOG, has urged the Senate to clear Cross River ministerial nominee, Prince Goddy Jeddy-Agba, as minister.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Convener, CRINOG, Hon Gabriel Bravo, while condemning the petition alleging unfounded corrupt practices linking Jeddy-Agba with the former Minister of Petroleum, Dr Diezani Alison-Maduke.

According to Bravo, who is also the Supervisory Councillor for Environment, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), CRINOG is solidly behind Jeddy-Agba as a noble organization well known for its stand against all forms of discrimination, corruption and oppression, which has seen qualities and patriotism in Jeddy-Agba over the years and his positive impact in the civil service before his retirement.

Related story: Ministerial Nomination: C'River Youths Describes Corruption Allegation Against Jeddy Agba As Baseless And Callous

The statement reads in part, “We in Cross River North Good Governance Group, CRINOG, have deemed it necessary to make our position known concerning the Cross River State ministerial nominee, Prince Jeddy-Agba.

“As a noble and notable organization with all sense of integrity has keenly watched the process ministerial nominees emerged and made the list President Muhammadu Buhari presented to the Senate for screening and appointment.

“We saw the wisdom of President Buhari in nominating Jeddy-Agba and it was expected and well deserved. From our unbiased assessment he is a personality that is of an impeccable character, a technocrat and expert in his career who has meritoriously rendered sterling service to the nation.

“We implore the Senate to consider him and screen him and even allow him to take a bow and go. We are making this appealing because he has all it takes to positively impact and add value to the ‘next level’ administration of President Buhari.”

 The group also strongly condemned the unholy petition written to discredit Jeddy-Agba as ministerial nominee from Cross River State, which they described as malicious and untrue.

“We strongly condemn the recent petition written by some unscrupulous elements discrediting the ministerial nomination of Prince Goddy Jeddy-Agba. We call on the Senate to discard those unfounded claims that are mere fiction of their imagination.

“Nothing like that happened from our independent investigations on their claims, but mere scandals that should not be taken seriously, but to be discarded.

 “We want to also state that the security agencies have the details of Jeddy-Agba before he was cleared after intense security checks and scrutiny. They would have been the organizations that would have stopped him from making the list of ministerial nominees sent to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari. Therefore we urge the Senate to go on with his screening and clearance”, the statement added.

The chairman/CEO, Delta Mega Trend Nigeria Ltd, Mr Sam Ogrih, at the weekend bagged the prestigious CEO Real Estate Company of the Year 2019 award.

The award, which is in recognition of his laudable contributions towards solving Nigeria's housing and infrastructural challenges, was presented to him at the Nigeria Housing Awards 2019 by organizers of the this year's Abuja International Housing Show.

The award nite was chaired by the former Minister of Health, Arc Gabriel Adogun and was attended by notable personalities in the Housing and real estate industry including, the former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Chief Obadiah Melafiya, Managing Director of Family Homes Funds, Mr Femi Adewale, representative of the President of Nigerian institute of Estate surveyors and valuers NIESV, Chief  Emma Ukas Wike amongst others.

Speaking to journalists shortly after receiving the award, Mr Ogrih said, "It's just a sign of telling you to go and work more", adding that "If you are recognized for the little you have done, it means you need to work harder and produce more results."

On what inspired him into the real estate sub-sector, he simply noted, "It's to make life meaningful to people and have a better living."

It would be recalled that the leading real estate czar, Mr Ogrih was recently honoured in the State of Georgia United States of America with an Outstanding Citizenship of the State and House of Representatives respectively by the Secretary of the state.

Sam Ogrih, founded Delta Mega Trend -  a Real Estate Development and Civil Engineering works company, in 2009, to help bridge the housing and infrastructure deficit in the country. With offices in Delta, Lagos, Abuja and Houston-Texas, the Company has gained a reputation for blending excellence and profitability for discerning real estate investors.

The company's ongoing real estate development in Warri, Delta State, has in the last three years recorded significant upsurge in price and profitability for investors. It has also been rated the largest and safest real estate development in the South-South part of Nigerian.   

Earlier in his opening remark the brain behind the annual housing show, Barr Festus Adebayo stated that, "The Nigerian Housing Awards does not only mark the end of the Abuja International Housing Show 2019 but it is the most elevated platform for recognizing and honouring the outstanding performances by Housing and construction CEOs, public officials, mortgage executives as well as significant contributions by individuals and corporations in the year under review.

"I congratulate the winners tonight and encourage everyone to see the inspiration behind their achievements. After the hard work it time to sit down, relax and party. I wish you all a wonderful dinner tonight."

This is to remind Cross Riverians and all those who reside or do business in the state, that tomorrow, Tuesday July 30th, 2019 has been declared a public holiday by His Excellency, Senator (Professor) Ben Ayade.
The holiday is to encourage every Cross Riverian and residents of the state to take part in the Green Carnival during which about one million trees will be planted.
Consequently, individuals, schools, homes, churches, mosques, ministries, government agencies and departments, banks, hospitals and all business premises must plant trees tomorrow.

Signed
Christian Ita
Chief Press Secretary

Construction work on the ongoing dualisation of the 145km Mfom-Bekwara-Obanliku highway in Cross River State attained an important milestone weekend with the commencement of asphalting of the Okuku-Okpoma-Mfom section of the road.
Already over 25km of the Obanliku-Obudu axis of the road has been completely asphalted and fitted with street lights and media.
With this development, the asphalting of the highway is now ongoing from the two sections of the road simultaneously.
Adjudged the most ambitious road project ever undertaken by any state governor in the history of Nigeria, the road project cuts across the five local government areas of northern Cross River.
The Project Manager, Mr. John Najar projects that by October or November, at least 80km of the road would have been completed.
An indigene of the area, Mr. Joseph Odey commended Governor Ben Ayade for the initiative and the speed of work.
“To be honest with you, I was one of the doubting Thomases. I never believed this project will even reach the stage it is now. We were calling this place before, Ayade dust or power because of the dust. We don't know the magic Ayade is doing because I know Cross River is no longer rich like it used to be because of the loss of the littoral status. He has managed to do this with other projects like the Canadian School, Reference Hospital and the Airport which he just started in Obudu,” he stated.
A motorist, Moses Awhen said the progress of work has been breathtaking.
“First of all, I want to apologize to the Governor on behalf of all of us who said one bad thing or the other against him at the commencement of this project. Our Governor is a Professor and we are local drivers that don't even understand development.
"What you see here today is a miracle because if you had come here a few months back, you would have seen how we used our own mouth to condemn our brother because of this wonderful project.”

Cross River youths under the Northern Cross River Youth Coalition, NCRYC, yesterday, described a fraudulent petition corruption allegation linking ministerial nominee, Goddy Jeddy-Agba and former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison- Madueke as callous and baseless.

This was the reaction of the National Publicity Secretary  of NCRYC, Ebriku John Friday, over a petition published by an online medium, which stated that Jeddy-Agba, was doing the ‘dirty’ deals for Alison-Madueke when he was former Group General Manager (GGM), Crude Oil Marketing Division (OMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

According to Friday the petitioner wrote intentionally to tarnish the hard earned reputation, image and inpeccable character of the ministerial nominee as cheap blackmail, which the claims were concocted to mislead President Muhammadu Buhari, the Senate and Nigerians.

He further stated that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that have prosecuted Alison-Madueke has never in its investigation mentioned the name of Jeddy-Agba as an accomplice with Alison-Madueke in all the corruption charges leveled against her as minister under former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

He said, “We the Northern Cross River Youth Coalition (NCRYC) want to unequivocally condemn the petitioners who alleged corruption links between the Cross River ministerial nominee, Goddy Jeddy-Agba and former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, as reported by Sahara Reporters.

“It is very unfortunate and terrible for such callous and baseless corruption allegations against Jeddy-Agba at this time.

“We also appeal to the Senate to discard the petition because it is a mere distraction and we want the Senate to go ahead with Jeddy-Agba’s screening and confirmation as minister.

“Jeddy-Agba is a man of discipline and integrity based on the security checks and scrutiny relevant security agencies have done on him before his name was sent as ministerial nominee to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been a man in the vanguard against corruption.”

The group also pledged support for the nomination of Jeddy-Agba, and described it well deserved that was wisely made by President Muhammadu Buhari, and therefore should be seen as good omen for the development of the country and the next level mantra.

By News Express

After 54 days of suspense, President Muhammadu Buhari last Tuesday released the names of 43 ministerial nominees that were forwarded to the National Assembly for clearance; as he tries to cobble his cabinet for his second and final term.
The list, which has elicited divergent reactions, has 14 ministers that were retained; while 19 were replaced. The list is also the highest since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999.
Those dropped included: Ex-minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau; Solomon Dalung (Sports); Adebayo Shittu (Communications); Suleiman Adamu (Water Resources); Ibe Kachikwu (Petroleum); Audu Ogbeh (Agriculture); Udo Udoma (Budget and National Planning); Ibrahim Usman Jibril (Environment); Khadija Bukar Ibrahim (ex-state minister, Foreign Affairs); Cladius Omoleye Daramola (ex-minister of state for Niger Delta); Prof Anthony Anwukah (ex-minister of state for Education); Aisha Alhassan (Women Affairs); Dan Ali (Defence); Okechukwu Enelamah (Trade, Investment and Industry); Aisha Abubakar (ex-minister of state, Trade and Investment); Heineken Lokpobiri (ex-minister of State for Agriculture); Isaac Adewole (Health); Abubakar Bawa Bwari (ex-minister of state for Solid Minerals); Usani Uguru; ex-minister of Niger Delta.
Kachikwu: Of all the 19 ministers that were dropped, the erstwhile Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu was the most anticipated because he had periodic squabbles with then Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, a matter that snowballed into a protracted crisis of confidence.
On October 3, 2017, a lengthy letter dated August 30, 2017 and written by Kachikwu to President Buhari leaked to the public.
In the four-page letter, the former Petroleum Minister accused the former NNPC GMD of awarding $25 billion contracts without consulting either his office or the NNPC board.
He further accused Baru of alleged insubordination, lack of adherence to due process and running a “bravado management style” that was capable of dwarfing the growth of the sector.
The matter, according to industry watchers, angered Baru’s backers believed to be influential politicians within the Presidency.
They considered Kachikwu’s letter an affront and swore not to see him return, despite the array of legendary projects he was supervising.
According to a top civil servant who craved anonymity, “since Kachikwu accused Baru of sidelining him, the power brokers ensured he remained sidelined till the end of the first tenure of President Buhari. They also ensured he never saw Buhari or succeeded in lobbying his way back a second time”.
Another ‘sin’ of Kachikwu was what was seen as his initial reluctance to aggressively resume oil exploration in the North as directed by Buhari in 2016.
He is also believed to be the sacrificial lamb in a power play between his backer, Theophilus Danjuma and the presidency over the blame game on rising insurgency.
Kachikwu was replaced with Festus Keyamo (Delta State), who was the Spokesman of the President Buhari Campaign Council for the 2019 election.
Usani: For the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru Usani, his hopes of returning to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) were dashed because he was defeated in the intrigues of power play by Goddy Jeddy Agba who clinched the Cross Rivers State ministerial slot.
Sources at the presidency revealed that Usani’s first outing as a Minister was so tumultuous that three Permanent Secretaries served under him.
Sources confided in Sunday Sun that in his home state, Usani horribly divided and weakened the All Progressive Congress (APC) such that it was impossible to have a cohesive and formidable front. The development was linked to the loss of the party at the gubernatorial election.
He was also accused of causing some upsets at the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. But a source in the ministry who spoke anonymously said that there was nothing unusual about having three Permanent Secretaries working under Usani.
“It was just a normal routine thing. Even the one that retired yesterday (Tuesday) attained the age of 60. So, there was nothing weird about it,” the source said.
Anwukah: In the case of the former Minister of State, Education, Prof. Anthony Anwukah, his non-return did not come as a surprise to the staff of the Federal Ministry of Education.
They attributed it to his poor performance and abrasive human relations; even with his personal staff.
In addition, many said he did not have a cordial working relationship with his superior, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who, unlike Anwukah enjoyed presidential patronage.
Anwukah, it was further gathered found it uncomfortable working with Adamu Adamu, who he feels possesses lower academic qualifications than himself.
Many believe that mindset gave rise to the power tussle that occurred in 2015 when they assumed office.
Adamu, apparently enjoying robust support from the presidential villa, frustrated Anwukah to the point that he threatened to resign. There were claims that Adamu took over the supervision of agencies and parastatals hitherto supervised by the minister of state.
According to analysts, the action made Anwukah redundant with little or no influence on the activities of the ministry. It was also gathered that Adamu appointed heads of agencies without Anwukah’s knowledge nor contributions.
Adewole: With regards to Prof. Isaac Adewole, the former Minister of Health, many expressed shock that he was not reappointed by President Buhari because the permutation was that he championed great reforms that should have guaranteed him a reappointment.
With his name not on the list, industry pundits are of the opinion that his running battle with Joint Health Workers Union (JOHESU) over welfare, remuneration and condition of service may have blighted his chances.
Nonetheless, it is on record that he championed the implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) policy with has great impact on basic health care services.

Some officials of the ministry who pleaded anonymity said his inability to work closely with his then Minister of State, Dr. Osagie Ehinire, was also partly responsible for the poor records he had in some other areas of the healthcare system.

Some close observers claim the decision of the President was to compensate the ex-governor for his support and loyalty to the party, and to also keep him politically relevant in the state and beyond.
Udoma: Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, the former Minister of Budget and National Planning, exhibited a rare trait of a Nigerian public servant by asking President Buhari not to reappoint him a second time.
Ministry workers hailed him for his patriotism and said he would have ordinarily made it for a second term as a minister as he was in the good books of Buhari.

Ogbeh and Lokpobiri: In the case of Mr Audu Ogbeh, the erstwhile Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and his Minister of State, Heineken Lokpobiri, many believe Buhari dumped them because of their woeful performance, especially Ogbeh’s.

Both Ogbeh and Lokpobiri were replaced with Senator George Akume and Timipre Silva from Benue and Bayelsa states, respectively.

Many insist that the shoes of Akinwumi Adesina, who was Ogbeh’s predecessor, were too big for him.
This was worsened by his inability to deliver his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), in his polling unit at the last presidential polls.

The president’s henchmen thus felt it was better to retire aged Ogbeh since he has shown sufficient frailty both in politics and civil service.

Meanwhile, Lokpobiri, it was gathered, claimed to have told President Buhari not to reappoint him as he is running for the Bayelsa gubernatorial election slated for November 16.

The aforesaid notwithstanding, political pundits maintain that with or without Heineken’s gubernatorial ambition, his chances of returning as a minister were too slim because the APC was more disposed to compensating Silva who has failed on two occasions to become the governor of Bayelsa State.

Bwari: For Abubakar Bawa Bwari who served as Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development during President Muhammadu Buhari’s first term in office, his exclusion from the 2019 ministerial list was a surprise.

After the former Minister of Mines and Steel Development and current Executive Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, resigned and Abubakar Bwari took over the reins of leadership, making civil servants to have high hopes of his return.

He was preferred to a fresh appointee because as an insider, he is sufficiently experienced to man the ministry, rather than having a rookie that will spend months learning the ropes again.

Some members of staff of the ministry said: “Mining as a technical area, needs familiar faces rather than the traditional practice of reshuffling ministerial appointees and bringing in greenhorns. Stability is essential for the growth of the sector”.
Subsequent events and press conferences revealed Bwari’s interest to be among the ministerial nominees, but unfortunately he was excluded.

During an interaction with some civil servants in the ministry who did not want to be named, they said: “Whoever will come in, it will take him or her not less than six months depending on how smart the person learns to understand the workings of the ministry and the sector at large. This is what stunts the growth of the sector”.
Dambazau: As regards Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, the immediate past Minister of Interior, his exclusion from the second term ministerial list was greeted with mixed feelings.

For those assessing him from a narrow ethnic prism, they insist he deserves kudos considering his efforts in ensuring that the heads of all the parastatals under his ministry came from one geographical zone of the country. But for the majority of Nigerians, dumping him was a more reasonable thing to do as ministers should reflect the heterogeneity and diversity of the country in all their dealings.

Under Dambazau, the headship of Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Prison Services, Federal Fire Service and the Nigeria Police Force were all Muslims and from the northern part of the country.
If that did not vandalise his second term chances, then the January 16, 2016 video of Dambazau’s shoes being cleaned by his security detail, an official of the Department of State Security (DSS), did.
The 30-second viral video trended with the headline “Dambazau turns DSS officer into a shoe cleaner”.

The video showed the minister, dressed in white, sitting on a couch while the officer with a white handkerchief tried his best to ensure Dambazau’s shoes were shining.
Aside the aforesaid, many feel that the straw that broke the camel’s back and eventually consumed his second term ministerial ambition was the alleged rift between him and the governor of Kano State, Umar Ganduje.

Although his son was lucky to win House of Representatives ticket, his ‘sin’ according to sources, was not only declaring interest to contest the governorship ticket against Ganduje, but also allegedly joining forces with the faction that worked against the re-election of Ganduje as the Kano governor.
Obviously, yanking off his name from the ministerial list was a payback from the governor who personally endorsed the ministerial nominees from Kano State.
Dalung: In the case of Mr Solomon Dalung, the former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, his exclusion from the ministerial list did not certainly come as a shock to many sports-loving Nigerians. He is reputed to have plunged the ministry into a circus of crises such that many wished they could fast-track his exit.

Under Dalung’s watch, all the Sports Federations crumbled like a pack of cards due to one challenge or the other.
Since his assumption of office as the minister, the sports family never experienced any relative peace. From the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) to the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), it has been tales of woe. The fund scam at International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) has still not been unrivaled.

Under Dalung, the NFF and other sports federations were allegedly starved of the statutory monthly budgetary subvention for several months.

Apart from his multiple flaws in the sports circle, which earned him the derogatory description as the worst Sports Minister ever, his endless cold war with the governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, actually nailed his coffin.

Despite all the alleged atrocious acts as a minister, Dalung was quoted in the media to have bragged that nothing could rob him the chance of returning as Buhari’s minister a second time.

Again, based on his dressings, the alleged horrifying grammatical blunder of the funds ‘spended was properly spended’ among others, Darling was certainly the most maligned minister and as such only a handful of Nigerians expected his return.
Enelamah: At the Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment, many kicked against the reappointment of Dr Okechukwu Enelemah as minister.

According to industry watchers, Enelamah as an ex-Trade minister and the acting Managing Director of the Nigeria Export Processing of Nigeria Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA), Mr Terhemba Nongo were directed by the Senate to return N14.3 billion to the Federal Government from alleged opaque deals.

The directive was contained in a letter written by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, Mr Mohammed Sabo. According to the Senate, the money was allegedly diverted from the 2017 budget of NEPZA.

In the letter, Mr Sabo asked the minister and the NEPZA boss to either return the N14.3 billion of face dire consequences.
The lawmaker had told journalists that the money was transferred from NEPZA account into the account of a private company, the Nigeria Special Economic Zone Company. He said the money was hurriedly transferred between April 8 and 10, ignoring an earlier warning not to do so.
He also said the money was first lodged in NEPZA’s account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria, from 2017 budget allocations and thereafter moved into the private firm’s account.

Aisha Abubakar: Also, the Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar who was in charge of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in all the parastatals under the ministry did not make it back.

She was heavily criticised by industry operators for not making much impact in the ministry.

Though she was later drafted to oversee the Women Affairs Ministry, many were elated not to find her name on the ministerial list.
Alhassan: Aisha Alhassan popularly called Mama Taraba was the erstwhile Minister of Women Affairs.

While serving in Buhari’s administration, she openly showed loyalty to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who was also the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 elections.

While many thought Buhari will fire her for the obvious insubordination, the Presidency rather ignored her until she finally resigned on September 29, 2019 ahead of the 2019 elections to pursue a gubernatorial ambition, which she lost.
She tweeted: “Today, the 29th of September 2018, I wish to transmit to the President my decision to resign as the Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and withdraw my membership of the All Progressive Congress (APC),”

Not done, Alhassan stormed the APC office in Jalingo and retrieved all property she hitherto bought for the office. She was replaced by Aisha Abubakar, Minister of State, Trade and Investment.

Daramola: Cladius Omoleye Daramola, the ex-minister of state, Niger Delta was largely under the radar with many not knowing who he was. Ministry staff described him as a silent boss, just as industry stakeholders lamented that his impact was not felt and they believe it was what denied him a second chance at FEC.
Dan-Ali: For Mansur Dan-Ali, the former Minister of Defence, his return would have been a miracle judging from his glaring abysmal four-year performance.
Security experts and the public expressed endless shock over his inability to tackle banditry and terrorism in his state, Zamfara.
The development got so bad that traditional rulers in his state indicted him for being complicit.

Rather than tackle the issues, he was reported to was giving one excuse after the other as insecurity ravaged the North.
As a liability in the Buhari administration, he had to be dropped.
Shittu: Adebayo Shittu, the ex-communications minister was enmeshed in complex web of controversies.

Aside battling the controversies surrounding his evasion of the mandatory National Youth Service Corps, he was constantly at loggerheads with the APC and his governor, Abiola Ajumobi, who, in collaboration with the party, totally nailed his chances of governing the state.

What also worked against Shittu apart from the disagreement with his party, was his poor grasp of ICT, being the bedrock of his ministry. Though he conceded that he did not understand the complexities, stakeholders said he was also frighteningly slow at learning.

Bukar Ibrahim: Khadija Bukar Ibrahim, ex-state minister, Foreign Affairs did not incur the wrath of the power brokers, neither was she in the news for the wrong reasons.
Having served as a minister, she left to contest for House of Representatives ticket on the APC platform and won. She was hitherto at the lower chamber before becoming a minister.

She is currently the Chairman Ad-hoc Committee on Media at the House of Representatives.

Jubril: For Ibrahim Usman Jubril, the ex-minister of Environment, he tendered his resignation to become the 12th Emir of Nasarawa, Nasarawa State.

•Credit: Sunday Sun

Source News Express

Posted 28/07/2019 10:32:34 AM

Chelsea midfielders, Danny Drinkwater and Tiemoue Bakayoko, are set to leave the club, following Frank Lampard’s assessment of their pre-season tour to Japan.
Lampard, who can’t sign players because of a transfer ban, wanted to take a proper look at his squad in the Far East, before deciding on their futures.

Having done so, the former England international, now deems the £75 million pair as surplus to requirements.

Drinkwater, who won the Premier League with Leicester City, has played only 23 times for Chelsea following his £35 million move in 2017.

His last appearance came against Manchester City in the Community Shield last August.
Bakayoko, 24, joined from Monaco the same summer as Drinkwater. But he was loaned out to AC Milan last season, after struggling in the Premier League.

With Lampard restricted to 17 overseas players in Chelsea’s Premier League squad, he has decided that Bakayoko can be sacrificed with Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Ross Barkley and N’Golo Kante better options in midfield.

It has been revealed that a state governor and a bureau de change operator in Kaduna State are the owners of the N400 million carted away by five soldiers who were escorting the money to Jaji airstrip.

Informed military source disclosed to Sunday Tribune that this was the revelation by a former General Officer Commanding (GOC) 8 division, Major General Hakeem Otiki, currently being interrogated by operatives of the Special Investigation Bureau (SIB), a branch of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI).


The source revealed that the actual amount involved was N70 million and $90,000, but speculations have put the stolen money at N400 million which the investigators are claiming might not be true.

Sunday Tribune gathered that the GOC is cooperating with the investigators as he has totally denied that the money belonged to him.


He was quoted to have said “he does not handle payment of troops allowances,” which is directly done by the Finance Department of Army Headquarters.

However, some of the investigators are asking questions on how the former GOC got involved in the movement of such amount when he is not a bank or a licensed bureau de change operator.

It was learnt that the investigators are determined to unravel what Otiki’s interest in the money was and the purpose for which it was meant.

The source revealed that as a GOC, his monthly running cost is N10 million which has not been released for two months.

The running cost, it was gathered, will now to be paid to the new GOC, Major General J.J. Ogunlade, who has since assumed command of the division.

Sunday Tribune gathered that the investigators have dismissed the insinuations that the money might have been returns from illegal miners in Zamfara State, as the operation is directly coordinated from Army Headquarters.

The top military source told Sunday Tribune that invitations have been extended to the said governor and the bureau the change operator, but the source could not confirm if the invitation has been honoured.

Meanwhile, the Army Headquarters has sent signals to all army formations to extend their dragnet in search of the absconded five soldiers.

The former GOC, who just handed over to his successor, was on his way to the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) when the scam was blown open.

By Adoga Michael Oyi

A quintessential gentleman Mr Ogar Wodah And his Son Ndihigbolowo Wodah turns a year older today.

There are 3 phenomena days in one's life; i. a day of birth, ii. a day of marriage and iii. a day of death. The most important of them all is the day of birth.

In light of the above, may i in a special way congratulate a quintessential and influential personality Mr Wodah and his dear son Ndihigbolowo whom not by coincidence but by divine arrangement, shares today as their birthday.

Mr Wodah has been a dogged and cerebral personality that words can not quantify in a day.

It's not about being known but being known for good is all that count. Without prejudice, I vehemently say here that Mr Wodah has been of great blessings to this generation.

His intellectual sagacity and deliberate efforts towards getting things done the right way has long earned him a position with the immediate past President of the Nigerian Senate Dr Bukola Saraki, as legislative aide.

His doggedness and informative disposition towards nation building via the media is applaudable.

Mr Wodah was instrumental to the victory of all PDP candidates across Cross River State. His rigorous but constructive campaign and criticism yielded and still yielding results.

The person of Wodah can only be say progressively. On this note may i in a special way usher him and his dearest vibrant and amazing son, master Ndihigbolowo Wodah to their precious new year.

On behalf of other well wishers, i wish Mr Wodah and Son Master Ndihi  greater years ahead. The Egyptians they see today they shall see them no more. When there's a casting down they shall be celebrating God's promotion because the top will remain their dwelling place. Grow in wisdom of the Lord dear Ndihi. Remain at the top dear son.

#MyBirthdayandMySon #DadandSon #WodahandNdihi

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on Thursday closed the Kaduna office of South African Telecommunication giant, MTN, over xenophobic attacks and killings of 118 Nigerians in the last two years.
NANS’ Director, Travels and Exchange, Mr Dominic Philip, explained in Kaduna that the step was necessary to curb further attacks, looting, destruction and mindless killings of African nationalities, particularly Nigerians in South Africa.

Philip recalled that Nigeria had contributed morally, financially, diplomatically and logistically to the agitations that eventually led to the emancipation of South Africans from white’s domination.
The NANS official also said that African countries led by Nigeria, helped in the institutionalisation of black majority rule in South Africa in 1994.

He equally said that Nigeria played a big brotherly role by opening economic opportunities for South African citizens to invest in the Nigerian market, the biggest market in Africa.

Philip, however, noted with dismay, that instead of reciprocating the gesture, South Africa had allowed Nigerians to suffer all forms of discrimination, including murders and looting of their businesses.
According to him, NANS will no longer align with Nigerian Government diplomatic approach, which is cosmopolitan and reconciliatory on the issue.

“Available record has shown that the levels of attacks on Nigerians is on astronomical rise, with the recent killing of Nigerian by South Africans, on July 20 increasing the number to 118 in the last two years.
“Out of this number, 13 were reportedly killed by South African Police in an extra-Judicial manner.

“It appears that the South African government is incapable of bringing their citizens to order and stop the killings, leaving us with no option than to picket South African businesses in Nigeria until the killing is stopped.

“We, therefore, want the South African government to investigate and provide accurate number of Nigerians so far killed and prosecute perpetrators of xenophobic attacks to ensure justice for the victims.
“We equally want the government to generate data of all Nigerians, whose properties were bunt or looted for immediate compensation.”

Philip said that NANs equally demanded that all South African businesses in Nigeria be closed pending sufficient proof that Nigerians living anywhere in South Africa were safe and allowed to do their businesses freely.