Ondo Deputy Gov. Says Faceless Group Behind Protest Against Gov Akeredolu, Commits To Peace Efforts

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October 24, 2023

By Ayodele Oni

A Group, Ondo Youth and Masses Conscience has again fingered the State Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa in the series of protests and media war against the continued absence of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu from the State.

However, the Deputy Governor has condemned his link to the protests, and described those behind it as “faceless groups.” He, also, insisted that he remains committed to the peace moves by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The group’s allegation was contained in a statement in Akure on Tuesday, signed by Adetunji Benjamin, its State Coordinator,

The statement reads “We have been made aware of an ill-conceived and sinister plan orchestrated by associates of Ondo State’s Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.They intend to stage a press conference and protest tomorrow, 24th of October, 2023, concerning the health of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, CON.

“This plan involves the mobilisation of youths, primarily from Ilaje in Ilaje Local Government Area, who are expected to present a distorted account of Mr. Governor’s health status. This plan, spearheaded by an individual named Biyi Poroye, the organisers aim to portray the Governor as incapacitated, hidden away from public view by his family and associates.

“Even worse, they intend to employ the slogan “Jara e gba” to mislead the people of the State and garner support for actions that may incite discord against the Governor. We strongly condemn these actions and call on the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to take notice of this treacherous endeavour, even after their previous interventions.

“While we are well aware of the character of those involved, it is essential to put on notice that despite the reconciliation efforts by the National Leadership of the APC, the Deputy Governor and his supporters seem unwilling to embrace peace in the State.

“We are in possession of evidence of the planned press conference and protest, during which mocking statements were made about the people of Ondo State. This action undermines the efforts of the National Working Committee of the APC.

“While we respect the right of any group or organisation to hold a press conference or protest, it is disheartening and hypocritical that such an event would be organized to present falsehood about the health status of a Governor who is committed to the state’s progress.”

Aiyedatiwa in his reaction clarified that: “My attention has been drawn to some false publications in which it was alleged that a group loyal to me is planning to hold a protest against the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, CON, today in Akure.

“This is to inform the good and peace loving people of Ondo State that I am not aware of any such protest and no group or association has my endorsement to carry out public demonstration of any kind.

“I affirm my commitment to the ongoing reconciliation efforts of the National leadership of our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the political situation in our State which are already yielding the much needed tranquillity in the State.

“Therefore, I enjoin the security operatives in the State to continue to maintain peace and ensure that the good people of Ondo State go about their daily activities without any disturbance.”

Imo Guber : APGA Gov Candidate Promises To Rebuild State

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James Orji

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October 24, 2023

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Tony Ejiogu, the Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, has sued for peace among Imolites, political parties and stakeholders in the State.

Ejiogu made the call after signing a peace accord alongside other candidates at the Assumpta Cathedral in Owerri on Sunday, October 22.

Speaking to newsmen after signing the accord, the APGA candidate said it was important that all political actors and other stakeholders in the state commit to peaceful electoral conduct as the democratic process cannot be deemed credible if it is held in an atmosphere that is devoid of peace.

Ejiogu also used the opportunity to reiterate his commitment to delivering a purposeful, people-centred, servant leadership aimed at delivering social justice, good governance, security, and job employment for the overall development of the state.

“I am truly committed to rebuilding Imo state with your support. In recent times our state has underperformed, and my core mandate is to bring about social-economic change that will touch all the facets of our dear state”.

Ejiogu further maintained that his 5-point agenda for the state has been painstakingly designed to address all the challenges currently experienced while noting that security, local government autonomy, education, employment and welfare of civil servants and pensioners stand tall in his agenda.

According to him, “Our government shall be a reflection of our lifestyle of modesty and accessibility, voting for me under APGA will deliver the Imo state we desire and deserve.”

P& ID : EFCC Applauds London Court’s Dismissal Of $11.5billion Judgment Against Nigeria

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James Orji

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October 24, 2023

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has applauded the dismissal of the $6.6billion judgment against Nigeria, won by the Process & Industry Development, P&ID Ltd,.

The legal tussle over a failed 2010 deal to develop a gas processing plant in the country which lasted for years was finally put to rest yesterday after the London court dismissed the case.

A United Kingdom, UK Judge, Robin Knowles of the Business and Property Court in London, on Monday, October 23, 2023, ruled that the award was obtained by fraud and what has happened in the case is contrary to public policy.

The EFCC had been embroiled in a legal tussle with Process & Industrial Developments over a $9bn judgment awarded against Nigeria, which has now risen to $10bn. P&ID claimed Nigeria violated terms of its agreement by failing to provide gas for the power plant it wants to build for the country. According to the global firm, the alleged violation frustrated the construction of the Gas Project agreed to during the government of former President Umaru Yar’Adua and deprived P&ID the potential benefits expected from 20 years’ worth of gas supplies with “anticipated profits of $5 to $6 billion.”

The arbitral tribunal unanimously decided that the Nigerian government had repudiated the Gas Supply and Processing GSPA, by failure to perform its obligations under the agreement and awarded P&ID $6.6 billion in 2017. That fine along with interest has now risen to $11.5billion.

An initial out-of-tribunal agreement for the payment of $850 million was reached by a previous administration and the disbursement was passed on to the administration of President Muhammad Buhari, balked at the idea of paying the negotiated sum, set aside the settlement agreement and challenged the enforcement of the award before the English Commercial Court. But the London court added $2.4 billion in interest making it $9bn. The judge granted Nigeria’s request for a stay on any asset seizures while its legal challenge is pending but ordered it to pay $200 million to the court within 60 days to ensure the stay. It also must pay some court costs to P&ID within 14 days. The decision of the court converted an arbitration award held by P&ID to a legal judgment, which would allow the British Virgin Islands-based firm to try to seize international assets.

Irked by the shadiness and hollowness of the claims of P&ID, Nigeria began investigating the company through the EFCC and found evidence of two bank transfers totalling $20,000 made by Dublin-based Industrial Consultants (International) Ltd. — part of the P&ID group of companies — to Grace Taiga, a Nigerian government lawyer who oversaw the award of the gas plant contract.

The EFCC, challenging the payments through its counsel, Bala Sanga, said, the payments, in 2017 and 2018, were made from an Industrial Consultants account at Allied Irish Banks and were purportedly for “medical costs”. Based on this new evidence, which the EFCC considered to be ‘seismic’, Nigeria filed fraud challenges against P&ID but the company has failed to respond to the charges. Trials of key suspects allegedly involved in the fraud are ongoing at various levels of court in Abuja.

Sanga, in some of his appearances in court for the EFCC, had pointed out that, “It is increasingly clear that this was a highly orchestrated scam”. The Commission had also pointed out that, P&ID’s lawyers have not been able to prove that it legitimately, and lawfully, secured a 20-year contract worth hundreds of millions of Naira.

“The company has yet to even demonstrate that they had the credentials in the first place to carry out such a complex arrangement, nor provide any evidence of tangible investment or landholding. The award in question, which amounts to over eight times Nigeria’s national health budget, could be used for far more important, and genuine, public issues at the current time….”, it said.

Meanwhile, not a few Nigerians have hailed the role played by the anti-graft agency in the legal tussle by exposing some Nigerian government officials who connived with P&ID officials with the intention for Nigeria to lose the case.

The payment of $11 billion as judgment Debt to P&ID, if the judgment had gone the other way would have totally crippled the nation’s economy which is currently struggling, according to analysts.

Defection: CSO Backs CNPP On Demand For Declaration Of Ifeanyi Ubah’s Seat Vacant

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The Source

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October 24, 2023

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A frontline Coalition of Civil Society organisations (CSOs) under the aegis of the Coalition of National Civil Society Organisations (CNCSOs) has joined the Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) in it’s call on the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to immediately declare vacant the seat of the Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District in the 10th National Assembly, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah.

The CSOs also underscored the need for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to reopen the 2013 N43 billion subsidy scam against Senator Ubah and Capital Oil and Gas Limited following the judgment of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal that cleared the EFCC to continue its investigation and prosecute them.

Vowing to join and mobilise all civil society organisations under its umbrella and patriotic citizens at the end of the CNPP’s 21-day ultimatum in statement signed by its National Secretary, Alhaji Ali Abacha, the CSOs added that they firmly stand with the umbrella body of Nigerian political parties, saying that the provisions of section 68 of the Constitution is unequivocal.

The CSOs said that “Section 68 (1) (g) of the constitution is unambiguous on party defection grounds for removal for members of the national assembly.

“The section states that a member of the National Assembly shall vacate his seat “being a person whose election to the house was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected; provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored”.

“By the provisions of section 68 of the constitution, the President of the Senate has no choice but to immediately declare the seat of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah vacant following his defection from the Young Progressives Party (YPP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“Nigeria is not a banner republic; the laws of the land are for enforcement, unless the APC is saying that Nigeria is a failed state.

“We shall not only join in the struggle to pressure the Senate to do the needful in this matter, we shall also rally other civil society organisations and all patriotic Nigerians to compel Senator Akpabio to enforce the provisions of the constitution he swore to uphold”, the CSO vowed.

On pending corruption cases against Capital Oil and Gas Limited and its then Managing Director, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, the CSOs insisted their alleged complicity in the N43.29bn fraud perpetrated through the petroleum subsidy scheme must not be covered.

The Coalition added that it agrees that “the withdrawal of the Federal Government’s 8-count charge against Senator Ifeanyi Ubah over his alleged indebtedness to Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) sometimes in 2019 was politically motivated as the timing speaks volumes.”

Among others, government had accused Uba of making false claims in relation to the actual values of certain assets he transferred to AMCON under a consent judgment obtained in 2012, contrary to Section 54(1) of the AMCON Act.

OPINION: Nigerians Are Getting Poorer Under Tinubu

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James Orji

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October 24, 2023

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By Ray Morphy

What the continuing and relentless drop in Naira value means is that all citizens are getting poorer by the day. Whether you are rich or poor, you are getting poorer.

Nigeria, often referred to as the “Giant of Africa,” is facing a daunting challenge that threatens its citizens and the nation’s overall stability.

The Naira is daily losing value relative to foreign currencies, particularly the American dollar. As I write this morning, one dollar commands more than N1000.

This loss of value has led to a sharp increase in cost of all goods and services. In other words, there is a steep decline in the purchasing power of the Naira, as economists would say.

Coupled with the high cost of fuel for vehicles and a general collapse of manufacturing, a storm of economic hardship has thus been created for the citizenry with a consequent increase in crime rates, and criminality across the board.

With little or no manufacturing, any increase in the cost of the dollar will lead to an increase in cost of goods in the marketplace because most goods are either imported or have a high import component in their local manufacturing processes.

Since May 2023 till date, the naira has lost half of its value. By simple logic, all prices have increased by 100%. Just yesterday, I bought a packet of shaving sticks for N1,800. Before Tinubu (BT) I bought same brand of shaving sticks for under N1,000 for the same pack of 5.

Dettol soap that I used to buy at N900 for a pack of 6 is now 900 for one. This steep price adjustment is the norm across all sectors in Nigeria today. Incidentally, salaries and wages have not been adjusted to match the price surges. In Nigeria, salary is not inflation adjusted. The simple effect is that the average Nigerian is now much poorer than he was before May 29, 2023.

Coupled with this disastrous cost of living, is the renewed effort by governments to collect more taxes from the hapless economically traumatised citizens. Even as citizens incomes buy less and less goods, many citizens are waylaid by multiple taxation. From LGA through state governments and up to the federal government, the mantra is increase in IGR, internally generated revenue.

These government agencies seem to forget that inflation generally leads to a down turn in economic activities. If governments continue to harass the few manufacturers left for more taxes, the net effect is that some of these factories will go under, thus throwing a lot more citizens into unemployment and penury. Clearly, this is a time for tax rebates and tax holidays, not tax increases.

Has Palliatives Helped?

From the experience in the Buhari era, one can safely say that palliatives have not helped the poor that it was meant to serve. Instead, it has lined the pockets of those in power. Nobody should forget that the youth protest termed #EndSARS was actually about antigovernment policies, anti-poverty and anti-palliatives hoarding.

The so-called palliatives were simply hoarded by government officials in government warehouses. There were many reports of politicians using the palliative items for their birthday parties or as gifts for their cronies and supporters. The point being made here is that the palliatives never got to those it was meant for.

In this Tinubu era, so far, palliatives have simply gone the same way. There is a viral video where a chairman of a housing estate was decrying the fact that their estate of about 150 households received a 25k bag of rice as palliative for the entire estate. This is simply the norm across the nation. In many states, citizens hear of palliatives but they see it not. They now term it “audio palliatives”!

What Of Cash Transfers?

For many Nigerians, these cash transfers are little short of official fraud. First of all, vulnerable Nigerians live mostly in rural areas where there is very little access to formal banking. Yet, government wants us to believe that it will transfer cash to these individuals, majority of whom cannot read and write, how then can they operate accounts? The Buhari cash transfer failed woefully and this columnist does not see how this one will fare better.

Despite these clearly token government efforts, citizens are getting clearly poorer. Many states have topped civil servant wages by a token sum, some by N10,000. While I commend these states for this gesture, many questions need to be answered. What percentage of a state population are civil servants. In most states, civil servants constitute less than 0.1%, yet poverty rate in Nigeria is put at 70%. How can a programme targeted at 0.1% of the population help 70% who are desperately poor?

Subsidising Farmers

The most efficient means of addressing the sharp rises in prices is to subsidise farmers. By this, I mean meaningful subsidy. Not the ones we saw in the past where a state with 3m population was given 5 tractors. Or the one that CBN under Emefiele funded politicians and governors in the name of funding farmers.

If government truly wants its welfare efforts to reach the average citizen, it should stop all these cosmetics and face the issues squarely.

They should target small scale enterprises, SMEs; they should provide loans to manufacturers and food processors whose components are largely locally sourced and not imported.

So long as our economy is gasoline based and for as long as gasoline is priced on the dollar (because it is imported) so long will poverty continue to grow in the country.

Therefore, every effort should be geared towards discoupling this nation from gasoline import. Isn’t it scandalous that a country that exports crude, turns around to import gasoline and diesel. How can an enterprise survive when it is powering its processes with diesel that is selling today above N1000 per litre?

We deserve a change in outcomes to reduce poverty in the country. Sadly, nothing will change if we continue to tolerate corruption. Tackling corruption within the government and public institutions is also essential to rebuilding public trust and ensure that resources are allocated efficiently.

Nigeria’s economic crisis, characterised by the rapid depreciation of the Nigerian Naira, high fuel and diesel costs, and a general collapse of the standard of living, is pushing the country to the brink of a major social and economic catastrophe. It is imperative that those in government take immediate and decisive action to address these issues.

A multifaceted approach that includes diversifying the economy, attracting foreign investment, and providing social safety nets is necessary to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians and restore stability. The future of Nigeria hinges on its ability to navigate this crisis and create a more prosperous, equitable, and secure environment for its people. Time is of the essence, and the government must act swiftly to prevent further deterioration of living standards and social order.

MAY NIGERIA REBOUND

Gov Obaseki To LG Chairmen: “LG Autonomy Not Licence For Recklessness”

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Ayodele Oni

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October 23, 2023

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By Ayodele Oni

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has reminded the newly inaugurated Local Government Chairmen, Vice Chairmen and Secretaries, that they are accountable to the people despite the autonomy being enjoyed by councils.

He has, therefore, charged them to ensure inclusivity, accountability and transparency in the discharge of their duties.

The Governor gave the charge during a two-day onboarding programme for new local government council chairmen, in Benin City.

The governor, who declared open the programme at the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA), Benin City, advised the council officials to prioritize developmental projects to positively impact and improve the lives of the people at the grassroots.

The governor said, “We are here to onboard our newly elected local government chairmen, vice-chairmen and secretaries to ensure they key into our policies and programme to deliver good governance to our people.

“We believe in the autonomy of local government because the constitution provides that local government should be autonomous.

“We should also insist on accountability and transparency to our people. You are autonomous but accountable because the resources at your disposal to undertake developmental works in your various local government areas belong to Edo people and should be accounted for.

“Our focus is to ensure that the resources we receive in Edo, either from federal allocation, taxes raised from our people or money borrowed are judiciously and properly utilized and accounted for.

“It’s a pitiable situation we experience in Nigeria where individuals elected or appointed suddenly begin to feel that the institution belongs to them and that they can do what they like as they are there to serve their families, themselves, friends and not the people.

“They sometimes feel they should not be accountable and anytime accountability is demanded or required of them, they see it as witch-hunting.

“In Edo, over the last seven years, we have made sure we run a government where the people feel they are included and heard and the government in place is there to serve them and it is expected that the same trickles down to the local government areas.

“Our government, whether State or local government, should be seen as inclusive, accommodating all shades of opinions. Whether you voted for us or not, all should be included in the decisions that we make.

“We have not focused on individuals but on policies that will touch the lives of the people as this has made them feel included in our government.

“The social well-being of our people is critical to us as they expect the government to do some things for them and we are focusing on the people rather than individuals. We have the responsibility as a government to take fundamental policies that will help in organizing society and development.”

I Won’t Disappoint Your Expectations, Uzodimma Tells Owerri Leaders

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The Source

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October 23, 2023

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Governor Hope Uzodinma has expressed delight over the cordial relationship existing between the leaders of the autonomous communities in Owerri, saying their desire to come together in the interest of their area will make his work easy for him.

He also assured them that he will not disappoint their expectations as far as implementation of the Charter of Equity is concerned. “I will enforce it. I won’t disappoint your expectations,” the Governor said.

He spoke on Sunday when he met with leaders from Owerri Municipal, Owerri North, Ikeduru and Mbaitoli local government areas of the State at the Sam Mbakwe Executive Council Chamber and at Agbala respectively.

The leaders from Owerri North, Owerri North, Ikeduru and Mbaitoli were led to the meeting, among others by APC chieftains – Chief Charles Amadi, Chief Henry Amadi and Dr. Macdonald Ebere – who brought some of their leaders, hitherto core opponents of the APC, to plead loyalty to Governor Hope Uzodimma.

They confessed that the leaders they brought to meet with the Governor were the greatest opponents the APC used to have in their areas, and as new converts, the coast is now clear for the Party and Governor Uzodimma to sweep the votes in their place.

Part of the reasons they said the leaders have resolved to join the APC and work for the Governor’s reelection on November 11 is because of the Charter of Equity whose implementation will favour Owerri zone after the Governor’s second term.

At the Central School Agbala field where Nzuko Owerre General Assembly made up of 47 autonomous communities in the Owerri Federal Constituency of Owerri North, Owerri West and Owerri Municipal came together to support and endorse the Governor for a second term in office.

They also unanimously upheld the Imo Charter of Equity as the best way for Owerri zone to produce the next Governor of Imo State by 2027.

In an address read by the National President of Nzuko Owerri, Hon. Dan Ikpeazu, they commended the elders of Imo State for drafting the Charter of Equity, saying “it is a solution to the rancour and bickering that have attended to the leadership and power transition in the State over time.”

Ikpeazu said the meeting is non political and that all the communities are united in making the Charter of Equity a success and “to leverage on the opportunity offered by the Charter of Equity to position Owerri Federal Constituency for legitimate claim to power any time soon.”

They noted that Governor Uzodimma has good intentions for Owerri Federal Constituency considering the number of infrastructure the area has benefitted from since his assumption of office.

They used the opportunity to call on their sons and daughters to come out en mass on November 11, 2023 and ensure that Governor Uzodimma is voted maximally in their respective polling unit.

They noted that they cannot achieve their developmental goals if they continue to appear hostile to any administration.

Governor Uzodimma commended them for uniting “to see the light” and “joining in the positive move to peaceful transition of power in the State from one zone to the other.”

He said that “politics is about reciprocity” and that “the activities of Owerri Federal Constituency in the recent days are in tandem with the foremost document of Imo Charter of Equity which is the only way of getting power peacefully anywhere in the world.”

The Governor said power is got via diplomatic engagement and not by confrontation because

“Power is a lion, you negotiate to get power.”

Governor Uzodimma assured them that having made the diplomatic outing, he is convinced that they are ready to take power and enjoined other Federal Constituencies in the State to toe the line of Owerri Federal Constituency to achieve same objective.

“Leadership is not easy. Though everybody wants to be a Governor, Imo State is looking for leaders who must be a men of vision with strategy to translate vision into practical reality. Again, a leader globally speaking must be innovative, have vision and mission with entrepreneurship that will create wealth and prosperity for his people.

“To lead, one must lead the people and be ready for the people, conceive, design, implement and ensure you realize the idea.”

He thanked the Owerri Federal Constituency leaders for their initiative, noting that in “the past years, the State has lost a lot of lives to unknown gunmen, violence that is avoidable and with this initiative the time has come for political stability in Imo State so that after this dispensation every political Party must go to Owerri Federal Constituency to look for a candidate.”

“The same applies to Okigwe zone and the next turn of Orlu zone so that brothers will know their brothers, and sisters will know their sisters, politics of kill and bury will stop and the entire State will be happy as political stability is assured and guaranteed in Imo State.”

He thanked the leaders for organizing the programme and that he is with them always and urged them to continue with the message of cordial relationship and come out on November 11, 2023 and vote their consciences now that they know that “the Charter of Equity is about the people and the way to go.”

Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, Prince Lemmy Akakem welcomed the Governor and his entourage and expressed gratitude to the Governor for his benevolence to Owerri Federal Constituency, saying that he is not only their Governor but a friend of the Constituency.

He told the audience that the Governor has done so much for them in the areas of infrastructure and political appointments and that he has a heart of humility and passion for Owerri people and promised that they will reciprocate his kind gesture through the polls on November, 11 2023.

Unanimously, the leaders of the Federal Constituency who spoke – Hon. Ernest Ibejiakor, Hon. Noble Atulegwu, Dr. MacDonald Ebere and Sir Jude Ejiogu – all agreed that come November 1, the Governor will be re-elected and that Owerri will show that they are ready to take over by the number of votes that will be counted and credited to the zone in support of the Governor.

At the meeting with the leaders from Owerri North, Owerri Municipal, Ikeduru and Mbaitoli in Government House, those in attendance spoke with one voice – to get their different communities to cast their ballot for the Governor in such a way that he would be glad.

Governor Uzodimma reiterated that he was happy with the development in the Councils under review and thanked the leaders for keying into the Charter of Equity.

The Deputy Governor, Prof Placid Njoku, the Chief of Staff, Barr Nnamdi Anyaehie, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Chief COC Akaolisa, among other political appointees attended the meeting with the Governor.

Cross River: Anger As Pregnant Woman Dies in Labour With Her Baby In-between Her Legs

By

The Source

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October 23, 2023

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By Stanley Ekpenyong, South-South Bureau Chief

Residents of Sankwala, headquarters of Obanliku local government area of Cross River state, could not contain their anger when a pregnant woman died this morning with her unborn child in between her legs in a government hospital due to lack of doctors.

An investigative journalist and human rights activist, Agba Jalingo who shared the video of the heart-breaking occurrence captioned it: “Woman In Labor Dies With Unborn Child In-between Her Legs In Obanliku Hospital Due To Neglect

“This is the General Hospital in Sankwala, Obanliku LGA in Northern Cross River.

A narrator in the video, amidst the wailing and bowed faces of the residents, especially women who thronged the hospital, could be heard crying repeatedly, “Obanliku is abandoned”, “Obanliku is abandoned”, “no doctor is resident in Obanliku, no chairs, nothing; here is a woman who had no help, she is late today with her baby, Obanliku is abandoned”

Nigeria’s Victory Over P&ID Is Triumph For Africa – President Tinubu

By

Ayodele Oni

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October 23, 2023

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By Ayodele Oni

President Bola Tinubu has welcomed Monday’s judgment by Judge Robin Knowles of the Business and Property Court in London, which gave victory to the Federal Government of Nigeria over a firm known as Process & Industrial Development (P&ID) Limited.

In a judgment delivered by Robin Knowles, a Justice of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales, upheld Nigeria’s prayer to dismiss the fine.

The Court held that the ground on which the ill-fated gas processing contract was secured was illegitimate.

Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement pointed out that the victory has shown that nation states will no longer be held hostage by economic conspiracies between private firms and solitarily corrupt officials.

“Following Judge Knowles’ dismissal of the $11.5 billion (USD) value of the award plus accumulated interest, previously won by P&ID over a failed 2010 deal to allegedly build a gas processing plant, on the grounds that the award was obtained by fraud, President Tinubu commends the UK Court for prioritizing the merits of the case above all other considerations.

“This landmark judgment proves conclusively that nation states will no longer be held hostage by economic conspiracies between private firms and solitarily corrupt officials who conspire to extort and indebt the very nations they swear to defend and protect.

“Today’s victory is not for Nigeria alone. It is a victory for our long exploited continent and for the developing world at large, which has for too long been on the receiving end of unjust economic malpractice and overt exploitation.

“Nigeria is appreciative of the tremendous efforts of the defense team and acknowledges the role of the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Attorney-General in the process of defending Nigeria’s interest in this case.”

Osun: Governor Adeleke Bans Government Officials From Embarking On Foreign Trips

By

Akinwale Kasali

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October 23, 2023

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Ademola Adeleke sworn in as Governor of Osun State

By Akinwale Kasali

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has suspended Government Officials from embarking on foreign trips till the end of the year.

The Governor said it was necessary to save funds as the State is experiencing paucity of funds.

He said that only an emergency would warrant a foreign trip will only be condoned, as top Government Officials must adhere strictly to this order.

The Governor directed the Head of Service, Mr. Leye Aina, to prepare a memo that would state the relationship between the Commissioners and the Special Advisers to ensure efficiency in the governance process.

Speaking during a meeting held with members of the State Executive Council which deliberated on 2024 budget proposals from the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies as a prelude to the submission of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework to the State House of Assembly, Governor Adeleke declared that excessive spending on recurrent and overhead expenses must be avoided.

While urging cabinet members to make personal sacrifices, the Governor explained that all members of the administration must demonstrate readiness to sacrifice in the face of the state’s harsh financial situation.

He called for due diligence in the budget preparation process, reading out key policy directives on the governance of the state.

A statement by the spokesperson to the Governor, Olawale Rasheed, on Monday, quoted Governor Adeleke further as saying: “Foreign trips for top officials for the rest of the year are hereby suspended unless there is a direct emergency to be authorised by the Governor.

“We must sustain the momentum of our service delivery by avoiding excessive spending on recurrent and overheads.

“Our needs from office to accommodation are much, but our resources are limited. So we have to devise a coping mechanism pending the time our funding situation will improve.

“While memos by Special Advisers must pass through the Permanent Secretary to the Commissioners, the Commissioners must ensure fair play and an accommodating spirit.”