2027: PDP GOVERNORS TURN AGAINST ATIKU
Dons Eze
- October 21, 2024
TENSION AS GUNSHOTS, VIOLENCE BREAK OUT IN RIVERS
TENSION AS GUNSHOTS, VIOLENCE BREAK OUT IN RIVERS STATE Tensions are running high in Rivers State after the recent local government elections. Reports have surfaced of gunshots, arson, and clashes from multiple local government area secretariats across the state. Specifically, incidents have been reported in Ikwerre, Oyigbo, and Ahoada East LGAs. In certain areas, some persons have protested chanting “No Wike, no Rivers State, no Wike, no Secretariat” according to a viral video. It can be recalled that Governor Siminalayi Fubara, while swearing in the council chairmen on Sunday, exposed plots by alleged enemies of the state to unleash violence on the newly sworn-in local government chairmen. Fubara revealed that some groups were mobilizing 20 people per political unit to attack the chairmen when they report to their various council secretariats to resume duties. He advised the chairmen not to confront the situation or engage in any physical altercations should violence erupt. In the election held on Saturday, opposition parties including the Action Peoples Party, Action Alliance and Labour Party won seats. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), backed out of the election.
GREEDY WIKE WANTS TO CONTROL PDP, APC STRUCTURES IN RIVERS – EX-DEPUTY SPEAKER
GREEDY WIKE WANTS TO CONTROL PDP, APC STRUCTURES IN RIVERS – EX-DEPUTY SPEAKER Former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Austin Okpara has knocked the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike for trying to control the structures of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. He stated this while fielding questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Sunday. Okpara, also a chieftain of the PDP in the State, applauded Governor Siminalayi Fubara for defying all odds to hold the local government election in the state despite the withdrawal of the PDP and the APC. “A man wants to control APC structure, he wants to be in control of PDP structure, in a state? How do you explain that?” he queried. “The difference now is that we have a governor who wants to serve and not be served; not a governor who Adolf Hitler is his mentor or (Donald) Trump,” Okpara added. The ex-Deputy Speaker further described the success of the conduct of Saturday’s Local Government election in Rivers state as a sign that the people of the state were tired of oppression.
AKPABIO FUMES AS PDP CLEARS AKWA IBOM LG POLLS
AKPABIO FUMES AS PDP CLEARS AKWA IBOM LG POLLS Amid opposition protests especially from Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has overwhelmingly won the local government elections across 30 of the 31 councils in Akwa Ibom State. The Chairman of the Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC), Elder Aniedi Ikoiwak, who declared the outcome of the Saturday:s contest on Sunday, said the ruling PDP won in all the councils except Essien Udim LGA, hometown of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, where the All Progressives Congress (APC) won. However, Akpabio, who lamented the PDP’s sweeping victory, recalled that during his era as Governor (2007-2015), he never demonstrated high disregard and disdain for the opposition, as Governor Umo Eno expressed at the weekend’s LGA elections in the State. “When I was the Governor of Akwa Ibom State (2007-2015), I conducted about two elections. I remember one occasion when I flew back into the state, and I was told that there was a crisis in the local government election and that the opposition had rejected the results. “The then Chairman of AKISIEC, Gloria Ukpong, had told me stakeholders would accept the results. I said she should declare for the opposition, and the ANPP won the Championship position in Ini LGA and other councilorship positions,” he recalled. Also, the House of Representatives member representing Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency on the Young Peoples Party (YPP) platform, Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo described the exercise and its outcome as “shambolic”, noting that it was deliberately designed to have a predetermined outcome for the PDP. Therefore, he called on his YPP supporters to remain calm, warning against taking the laws into their hands in the face of what he described as polling corruption that characterised the contest. Responding, his colleague in the Green Chamber, Rt. Hon. Uduak Odudoh, representing Ikot Abasi/Mkpat Enin/Eastern Obolo, Federal Constituency, dismissed the claims of rigging for the PDP in the just-concluded poll, explaining that while the PDP had sufficiently prepared and campaigned to woo voters, the opposition, especially the ruling APC at the centre, were asleep
IGP WITHDRAWS POLICEMEN FROM RIVERS LG SECRETARIAT AFTER THREE-MONTH SIEGE
IGP WITHDRAWS POLICEMEN FROM RIVERS LG SECRETARIAT AFTER THREE-MONTH SIEGE The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has directed immediate withdrawal of Policemen from the 23 local government areas of Rivers State. The secretariat were sealed in June following the disagreement between the Caretaker Committee Chairmen loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the immediate past local government chairmen, who were loyalists of Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). However, on Monday, the Public Relations Officer of Rivers State Police Command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, said the newly deployed Commissioner of Police in the State , CP Bala Mustapha, conveyer the directives of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, for the immediate withdrawal of all police personnel previously deployed to seal and safeguard the secretariat. Koko said the decision was in line with the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to ensure neutrality and the smooth functioning of democratic institutions. “Consequently, the IGP has ordered the unsealing of the Local Government Secretariat, which were earlier secured by police personnel. The police will only be redeployed to these locations in the event of any crisis or breakdown of law and order, in which case emergency measures will be swiftly implemented to restore normalcy. “The Rivers State Police Command assures the public of its readiness to maintain peace and order across the state and will continue to act professionally in discharging its duties. We urge all residents and stakeholders to remain calm and law-abiding as the situation continues to evolve,” she stated. The development comes few hours after Fubara swore in the newly elected chairmen. The governor had accused the IGP of taking sides with his opponents, an allegation the police denied while cautioning politicians to be mindful of their utterances.
HOW MULTI-BILLION NAIRA ILLICIT ARMS ENTERED NIGERIA 23 TIMES IN SEVEN YEARS
HOW MULTI-MILLION NAIRA ILLICIT ARMS ENTERED NIGERIA 23 TIMES IN SEVEN YEARSThere are growing concerns among Nigerians and other critical stakeholders within the security sector over the rise in importation of illicit arms and ammunition, as well as drugs worth billions of naira through the borders – land and waters, Daily Trust reports.The illegal arms, according to top security officers and experts, are partly responsible for the seeming insurmountable security challenges across the country, particularly in the North-West and North-East geopolitical zones. Some of the experts however commended the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the successes it recorded in the last few years by intercepting arms and ammunition that would have been used to destabilise the country.But beyond that, the experts called on the Customs Service and other security agencies to go a step further by unraveling the identities of those behind the illicit importation of the arms, and also take them to court.The Customs Service on Monday, July 1, 2024, in Rivers State, revealed that its operatives intercepted a weapon-laden container with a significant cache of arms, ammunition and drugs, with a total duty-paid value of N13.9 billion.The Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, while briefing journalists at the Onne Port, Rivers State, gave the details of the seizures as a 40-foot container carrying 844 rifles and 12,500 live ammunition rounds, which were concealed using doors, furniture, plumbing fittings, and leather bags.He said the six 40-foot containers containing one million bottles of CSC cough syrup with Codeine, 3.5 million Trodol Benzhexol tablets with N9.6 billion duty-paid value and two 40-foot containers with 720 bales of used clothes and N144 million duty-paid value were intercepted.According to him, the weapon-laden container, which originated from Turkey, based on the number of risk factors associated with the importation, became a subject of interest to the service.“We followed its sail across continents and we benefitted immensely from credible information through our collaboration with intelligence communities both at local, national and international levels,” he said.Multi-billion naira illicit weapons enter Nigeria 23 times in 7 yearsFindings revealed that illicit weapons worth billions of naira found their way into the country 23 times within seven years, with whereabouts of many of them unknown.Data compiled and analysed by Daily Trust showed that those arms and ammunition entered the country through Tin Can Island and Apapa ports, both in Lagos State; Enugu and Cross River land borders; Bukoro axis of Baruten Local Government Area, Kwara State, Igboora axis of Oyo State; Idiroko in Ogun State, among others.In February, May and September 2017, 66 pump action rifles were seized at the Apapa Port in Lagos; 440 at the Tin Can Island, Lagos; 355 packages of bomb materials at Lagos-Sahco and Nahco Sheds, as well as 1,100 pump action rifles seized at Tin Can Island, Lagos.On July 9 and 12, 2018, at least 150 rounds of live ammunition, 28 pieces of various jack knives; 149 rounds of 38mm calibre live ammunition, 92 rounds of 9mm calibre live ammunition, two rounds of 7.62mm calibre live ammunition, 11 cartridges of live ammunition, 12 expanded empty shells of various calibres and one empty magazine were also intercepted at the Tin Can Island port. Similarly, in November 2018, 4,375 rounds of ammunition, two magnum pump action and 200 military camouflage were intercepted in Enugu State.In Cross River State, 5,200 live ammunition were seized on December 13, 2020, while a pistol and a fully-loaded magazine inside an imported vehicle were intercepted at five star logistics terminal of Tin Can Island on August 29, 2021.In the same 2021, on September 26, precisely, 751 pieces of 70mm live lion cartridges were intercepted at Igboora axis of Oyo State.One week after that, 200 rounds of 7.2mm live ammunition being conveyed to Cameroon, were…
RIVERS CRISIS: AS FUBARA SWEARS IN NEWLY ELECTED LG CHAIRMEN, PRO-WIKE GROUP, APC REJECT OUTCOME OF ELECTION
RIVERS LG CRISIS; AS GOV FUBARA SWEARS IN NEWLY ELECTED LG CHAIRMEN, PRO-WIKE GROUP, APC REJECT ELECTION OUTCOME The Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress factions on Sunday rejected the conduct and outcome of the local government election, stating that no election was held in the state on Saturday.The Rivers PDP loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, described the poll as an exercise in futility, vowing to challenge it in court.The Wike camp said this as the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, swore in the newly elected council chairmen of the 23 local government areas of the state.The exercise was held on Sunday at the Executive Council Chamber of the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital, hours after the chairmen were issued certificates of return by the Chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, Adolphus Enebeli.The Saturday council election, which was marred by explosions and gunfire, was won by the Action Peoples Party which secured 22 out of 23 chairmanship positions, while the Action Alliance candidate won one seat.The APP also won 314 out of the 319 councillorship seats in the 23 LGAs in the state.The exercise was complicated by the ongoing power struggle between the Fubara and his predecessor, Wike.After losing control of the PDP to Wike, Fubara’s supporters switched to the APP, securing chairmanship positions in their local government areas.PDP challenges pollSpeaking to The PUNCH hours after the election winners were sworn in, the state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kenneth Yowika, said the party would challenge the conduct of the poll in court.‘’We are pressing further through the courts to ensure that justice is done and seen to have been done. So, we do not agree nor do we recognize if any swearing-in is taking place today (Sunday) or tomorrow (Monday),” he asserted.Yowika said from the beginning, the ruling party in the state had insisted on the Federal High Court judgment barring the conduct of the council poll, pointing out that what the state government did was illegal.Yowika said, “First of all everything concerning that issue is illegal. We have said it clearly that elections should not be held, you know, relying on the Federal High Court judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu. “And I had said before this time that any action taken regarding the issue of the local government will be futile because if we say we are a country that stands by the rule of law, then we should not be doing things that are contrary to the law.“The law had said do things that will be in line with the judgment of the Federal High Court and the Government of the day has not obeyed that.“So, we are a law-abiding party. We are not going to come out physically to begin to fight. We had a protest yesterday (Saturday) clearly showing that there was no election.“And we stand by that decision that we have taken that there was no election, and we wait for the judiciary and other arms of government that should put things in proper perspective to act. We continue to hold on that there was no election.”Continuing, he said, “We visited the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission yesterday and clearly, the world saw that there was no election there. So, we stand by the ruling of the Federal High Court which said that that election should not go on.“Well, they went ahead to do whatever charade people saw and that is not acceptable by the Peoples Democratic Party. Like we said we are a law-abiding party, and we stand to remain that.”Similarly, Chibuike Ikenga, Publicity Secretary of the Chief Tony Okocha-led APC insisted on the Federal High Court judgment which restrained…
ENUGU GOVT APPROVES RECRUITMENT OF 2,220 HEALTH WORKERS
ENUGU GOVT APPROVES RECRUITMENT OF 2,220 HEALTH WORKERS Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah said his administration had approved the recruitment of 2,220 health workers, including the 450 that were recently approved, to address the deficits in the healthcare space in the state. He stated this at the weekend when the Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Muyi Aina, visited him at the Government House, Enugu. He said: “We did the analysis and the data we saw on pregnant women that have no access to healthcare personnel at delivery was scary. We knew we needed to ramp up very quickly. “We identified primary healthcare as one of those critical sub-sectors that we need to address. When we went out there to campaign in our various communities, there was hardly anyone that did not raise the issue of access to healthcare facility.” Earlier, Aina said the federal government was happy with Governor Mbah’s administration for repositioning primary healthcare in the state. He said given the strides, the federal government would support the state with N254 million to help revitialise existing facilities to complement those being constructed by the state government.
ENUGU TO RECRUIT 2,220 HEALTH WORKERS
ENUGU TO RECRUIT 2,220 HEALTH WORKERS Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah said his administration had approved the recruitment of 2,220 health workers, including the 450 that were recently approved, to address the deficits in the healthcare space in the state. He stated this at the weekend when the Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Muyi Aina, visited him at the Government House, Enugu. He said: “We did the analysis and the data we saw on pregnant women that have no access to healthcare personnel at delivery was scary. We knew we needed to ramp up very quickly. “We identified primary healthcare as one of those critical sub-sectors that we need to address. When we went out there to campaign in our various communities, there was hardly anyone that did not raise the issue of access to healthcare facility.” Earlier, Aina said the federal government was happy with Governor Mbah’s administration for repositioning primary healthcare in the state. He said given the strides, the federal government would support the state with N254 million to help revitialise existing facilities to complement those being constructed by the state government.
AS NNPC IMPLEMENTS NEW PRICE REGIME, PETROL CAN’T SELL BELOW N1,350 PER LITRE – OFFICIAL
AS NNPC IMPLEMENTS NEW PRICE, PETROL CAN’T SELL BELOW N1,350 PER LITRE – OFFICIAL The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) is set to introduce a new pricing regime for petrol following its recent lift of approximately 103 million litres from Dangote Refinery between September 15 and 30, 2024. During this period, the refinery managed to load 2,207 out of the 3,621 trucks dispatched, transporting a total of 102,973,025 litres of the planned 400 million litres of petrol, which was earmarked for lifting at a rate of 25 million litres per day. This performance translated to only 26 percent of the expected output, according to records reviewed by Premium Times. The NNPC began its petrol lifting operations from Dangote Refinery on September 15 as the sole off-taker of the product. On the same day, the company announced it was purchasing petrol from the refinery at ₦898.78 per litre and selling it to marketers at ₦765.99 per litre, effectively subsidizing the product by nearly ₦133 per litre. As consignments from Dangote Refinery are discharged at fueling stations nationwide, the NNPC indicated that the price of petrol would rise to account for depot sale prices, statutory charges, transportation costs, and regional distribution challenges. Despite this announcement, petrol pump prices at NNPC stations across Nigeria have fluctuated between ₦855 and ₦897 over the past month, depending on location. However, with NNPC gradually exhausting its imported petrol stock and increasingly relying on cargoes from Dangote Refinery, insiders have warned that an upward adjustment in pump prices is inevitable. Previously, the company had indicated in a pricing template released on September 16 that once all costs were calculated, petrol prices at its Lagos stations would rise to ₦950.22 per litre, ₦980.22 in Rivers State, and ₦992.22 in Abuja. The pricing template further estimated that the cost would reach ₦999.22 per litre in Nigeria’s North-West geopolitical zone, with prices in Borno and other North-Eastern states expected to hit ₦1,019 per litre. In Nigeria’s South-east, the company said petrol would cost ₦980.22 while consumers in South-west states (Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Osun, Ondo) would pay ₦960.22 per litre for the product. However, company insiders said the September 16 estimate is outdated, given the fluctuations in foreign exchange in the country and the rise in crude prices due to the escalating tension in the Middle East. “With crude now trading for more than $78 per barrel as of Sunday and the naira exchanging for ₦1,660 to a dollar, there is no way a litre of petrol can sell for below ₦1350 per litre in Nigeria,” the official said. The NNPC had on September 3 increased the price of petrol at its pumps from ₦617 per litre to between ₦855 and ₦897, depending on location.
I GO WITH POLICE, GOVT OFFICIALS TO NEGOTIATE WITH BANDITS – SHEIKH GUMI
I GO WITH POLICE, GOVT OFFICIALS TO NEGOTIATE WITH BANDITS – SHEIKH GUMI Popular Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has confirmed that he collaborates with police and government officials to negotiate with bandits in their territories. In an interview with Punch, Gumi stated that his involvement in negotiations stems from his commitment as a Nigerian to fostering peace and tranquillity in the region, emphasizing that he cannot afford to wait for the official narrative on the situation. Sheikh Gumi disclosed that his interactions with bandits aim to broker peace, highlighting the open doors he receives when meeting them. He noted that these discussions are vital for addressing the underlying issues contributing to the rise in banditry and violence in the country. The cleric’s approach has drawn both support and criticism, as he seeks to bridge the gap between the government and the bandit groups. Gumi said, “I am in the eye of the storm, and I am a full-fledged Nigerian. I also have an interest in peace and tranquillity. I cannot wait for the official narrative because I have been in the army and I know how things go. “Today, 90 per cent of our intelligence is garbage. What we have left is just about 10 per cent. That is why we have coups because intelligence does not have a way to identify these people. “They also killed their leaders because no intelligence picked them up. Can we wait until we get a government that understands, then, we can make plans to intervene and see if it can calm nerves to achieve peace. No, as individuals, we have to do our best. Then I can advise the government on what we have seen. “One thing Nigerians should understand is that I have never been to any den of these people without officials of the government. I go with the police because one cannot go alone; you must go with them. “Only that they will tell you there is a perimeter—don’t come with some of them. Sometimes, I also go with traditional institutions and state government officials. My plan is only to broker peace with them. They open their doors for us to sit and discuss issues.”