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TUC Reminds Ekiti Government Of Unpaid Workers Entitlements, Gives 21 Days Ultimatum

By
Ayodele Oni
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By Ayodele Oni

The end has finally come to cordial relationship between Governor Kayode Fayemi government and trade unions in Ekiti state as one of the industrial unions is now up in arms against the state government.

The TUC, one of the affiliates of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC has demanded from the government to live up to its promise to pay workers entitlements, barely four months to the end of the administration.

The TUC on Tuesday issued a 21-day ultimatum to Ekiti State Government to pay outstanding allowances, arrears, deductions, and leave bonuses to its members.

The Chairman, TUC, Shola Adigun said in Ado Ekiti, the state’s capital that the union has been patient with the State government for the most part of the three and half years that the promises were made.

The Salary arrears, according to him, include two months at the State level, and five at the Local Governments, Tertiary institutions have three arrears of subvention yet to be paid, and Cooperative Deductions is put at seven months.

Also four months arrears of Pension, Gratuity from 2013 till date among others are still outstanding, the Union leader said.

Rising from its meeting, the State Executive Council also called for the implementation of promotion for levels 11 to 14 officers, which has been pending.

The TUC chairman pointed out that the harmonious relationship between the Union and the Government may not be guaranteed after 21 days if their prayers are not answered.

He said the appeal is necessary at this time because the government has just four months to hand over to the incoming administration and wants to avoid a spillover.

There were moves by the state government to offset some of the workers entitlements before the Governorship election, but nothing was done.

Payment of outstanding benefits of workers in the state was part of the campaign promises of parties that participated in the election.

At the inauguration of a transition committee to midwife the incoming administration on Monday, Governor Fayemi had said that the Governor elect, being part of the outgoing government, is aware of some of the problems of the state.

The tenure of incumbent administration ends in October.

Maritime Security: FG To Buy High-Speed Boats From Japan

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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By Tosin Olatokunbo

The Federal Government has signed an Exchange of Note(E/N) with the Japanese Government for an Economic and Social Development Programme involving the acquisition of High-Speed Boat to reinforce services for coastal security in Nigeria, with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, as the implementing partner.

The Minister of State Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba signed on behalf of Nigeria, while the Ambassador Extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Japan to Nigeria, His Excellency Kazuyoshi Matsunaga signed on behalf of the Japanese Government, with the Director General of NIMASA Dr Bashir Jamoh in attendance.

Prince Agba noted that the procurement of the high-Speed Boat worth $2.78 million dollars, will greatly enhance the operations of the Deep Blue project. He commended the Japanese government for their interest and interventions in Nigeria for Economic development.

“This project to strengthen the operations of NIMASA will definitely strengthen the partnership between the Government of Japan and Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

“Nigeria also appreciates the recent exchange of notes we signed for Emergency Improvement of Electricity Supply Facilities in Abuja, and the role Japan played in the development of the National Power Development Master-plan designed to guide the Government on the optimal energy mix and efficiency for Nigeria,” the Minister said.

On his part, the Director General of NIMASA Dr Bashir Jamoh, assured the Japanese Government that the Agency working with relevant stakeholders will ensure the sustainability of the recent success in the war against piracy in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea.

Jamoh said, “This High-Speed Boat is a welcome addition in our growing arsenal of platforms and assets to reinforce service for coastal security, not only in Nigeria but also in the Gulf of Guinea, as over 60% of shipping activities in the region pass through Nigerian waters.

“This vessel will be incorporated into the Deep Blue project which already has 2 special Mission Vessels; 2 Special Mission Aircrafts; 3 Special Mission Helicopters; 10 Unmanned Air Systems and vehicles; 17 fast moving interceptor boats; 16 armoured vehicles and the C4i centre.”

Ambassador Matsunaga Kazuyoshi noted that the project is to support the measures adopted by the Nigerian Government to deal with the threat of the blue economy, to prevent and suppress piracy, armed robbery, and any other unlawful act against ships in Nigerian waters.

“In the Gulf of Guinea, as you know, the piracy problem is hindering the economic development of the coastal areas. A slowdown in economic development impoverishes the coastal population, forcing some of them into piracy for their livelihood. We need to break this vicious cycle.

“The people and Government of Japan hope this project will enable NIMASA reinforce their operations and services for coastal security in Nigeria, strengthen Nigeria’s counter piracy efforts and prove useful for the security of the Gulf of Guinea,” ,” Kazuyoshi said.

Ekiti PDP Stakeholders Desert Fayose, Rally Support For Atiku

By
Ayodele Oni
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Ayodele Fayose and Nyesom Wike

By Ayodele Oni

The People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) in Ekiti state has declared that former Governor Ayodele Fayose, is on a lone voyage with his current romance with Rivers state Governor, Nyesome Wike.

Members of the party, still sweating over the poor outing during June 18 Governorship election, said it is unfortunate that the former Governor has commenced another political sojourn that will lead him to nowhere.

A statement in Ado Ekiti, signed by Ben Akomolafe, on behalf of party members, under Stakeholders’ Alliance, dissociate themselves from “the recent incongruous journey, by the former Governor to Rivers State, describing it as purely peripatetic, laced with idleness and a roam to further political perdition.”

The PDP leaders said further that “It’s very unfortunate that Fayose is again planning to lead them astray, in less than a week after the electoral loss, when we are still mourning and nursing the avoidable injury suffered by the party in the just concluded June 18th 2022 Gubernatorial election.

“Our loss is due to Mr Fayose’s toxicity, high headedness, hilarious impunity, greed, selfishness and multifaceted egregious behaviors.

“He has again embarked as usual on his nomadic trip to Rivers State, in his desperate attempt to re-ignite his usual game of ‘cashing out’ from Governor Wike.

“It’s appalling that the same Mr Fayose, who refused to step out on the day of the election and thus did not vote for the PDP Governorship candidate, forming a fake illness, suddenly became fit, agile and had capacity to fly through a journey of about 1000km, under the guise of thanking Governor Wike in Port Harcourt.

“We are very disappointed and frown at such injurious activities of Mr. Ayodele Fayose based on his penchant of turning very serious political matters that require sober reflections, into personal business for monetary gains.

“We hereby dissociate ourselves from this indolent and irreverent movements lacking any sincerity and whose only target is making money at the detriment of the overall group interest.

“We are not surprised that former Governor Fayose who couldn’t deliver his polling unit to PDP would go to Governor Wike on thank you tour when  he has not even deem it necessary, to address us here in Ekiti State and evaluate the causes of such monumental embarrassment. Charity they say begins at home.

“It’s disgusting that former Governor Ayodele Fayose who came third in his local govt behind a three month old party, SDP, in the last Governorship election, is now preoccupied only with using the platform of the party to make more money at the expense of disenchanted and disillusioned party members.

“We appreciate  Governor Wike for his support and commitment to the party, but it’s our believe that all hands must be on deck to ensure Alhaji Atiku Abubakar wins the Presidential election, rather than anyone dancing on the grave of the party, as being done by Mr Fayose.

“We are categorically committed to the Presidency of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the division cards being played for monetary rewards by Mr Ayo Fayose is dead on arrival.

“Ekiti PDP will have nothing to do with any anti-Atiku Abubakar campaigns being presently embarked upon in words and actions by Mr Ayo Fayose.

“Lastly, we advised the  candidates with the party tickets to please drop it, especially when there is still INEC window for replacements, should in case they are going with Wike and Fayose to anywhere other than PDP.”

Ekiti: Workers Protest Delay In Appointing VC For Adeyemi College

By
Ayodele Oni
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Adeyemi College of Education Workers

By Ayodele Oni

Non implementation of an upgrade of Adeyemi College of Education, (ACE), Ondo to a university status has set the workers against the federal government.

The institution, an affiliate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU) was upgraded to a university status early this year.

Even before its upgrade, ACE has been admitting students for degree programmes and issuing certificates bearing OAU logo and stamp.

Despite this, the institution is being headed by a Provost as a college of education saddled with issuance of National Certificate of Education, (NCE) certificates.

Workers of the institution, suspecting that there is a fraud in the upgrade on Tuesday took to the highway to protest delay in the implementation of some aspects of guidelines of the new status.

The workers under the eagis of non-technical Staff of Adeyemi College of Education, stalled vehicular movement along the Ore-Ondo highway to protest the continued delay.

The staff who are stationed in front of the institution’s gate, explained that they are protesting the delay of the Buhari-led federal government to appoint a Vice-Chancellor for the College turned University.

The protesters said since  January, when the college was upgraded to a university status, the federal government has not appointed a Vice Chancellor for the institution, which is still being headed by a Provost, hence, casting a doubt on the new status.

Investigation revealed that also affected by undue administrative procedure is the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, (FUOYE) that had its name change about four years ago to Adeyinka Adebayo University.

The name change was meant to immortalize a former military Governor of old western state, and father of the minister of industries, late Adeyinka Adebayo.

A university administrator, said  it is easy to upgrade or even change the name of a higher institution, but administrative procedure to effect the new status rests on the National Universities Commission, (NUC) and federal ministry of education.

Again, Kanu Denied Bail

By
Uche Mbah
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By Uche Mbah

A fresh application for bail has been denied the leader of the indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Kanu, who has been standing trial for terrorism related offences, has applied for bail pending the determination of the substantive suit.

This is not the first time he will be denied bail. The court had on March 18, declined to release the embattled Kanu who is currently facing a seven count charge.

The IPOB leader had filed an application through his team of lawyers led by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, asking the court to set aside the March 28 2019 order that gave a fillip for his trial in absentia.

Dismissing the bail request, Justice Binta Nyako, said she’s  not satisfied with the reason Kanu gave for absenting himself from court when he was in self exile.

Citing court records Justice Nyako said Kanu had legal representation on the day his bail was revoked.

“In fact, his sureties told the court that they did not know the whereabout of the Defendant and even applied to be discharged from the matter.

“Therefore, the Defendant was not denied fair hearing,” the judge said.

Nyako held that whereas a court had the onus to vacate a previous order if confronted with a cogent and verifiable reason, “in the instant case, I have not been given any, neither have I been given any reason to set-aside the order.

“The present application amounts to an abuse of court process for attempting to relitigate an issue already decided by the court.

“If the Defendant is dissatisfaction, he has the Appeal Court to go to.

“This application is accordingly dismissed”, Nyako held.

She said Kanu must provide genuine reasons why the previous bail condition was breached.

“Until the issue of the absence of the defendant for his trial, with all the bail conditions breached, is determined, the instant application of the defendant for bail will at best be premature and it is refused.

“However, the defendant is at liberty to re-file the application”, Justice Nyako said.

LAHA Felicitates Gbajabiamila At 60

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Obasa and Femi Gbajabimila

By Akinwale Kasali

The Lagos state House of Assembly, LAHA has described the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila as a worthy Son,  pride of the State and the face of effective legislature in the country.

The Lagos State House of Assembly showered encomiums on Gbajabiamila for discharging his duties effectively without rancour.

LAHA Speaker, Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa and members of the House on Monday celebrated Gbajabiamila for his outstanding performance as the head of Nigeria’s lower legislative chamber. .

The Lagos lawmakers, at a plenary, described Gbajabiamila as one who has made the state proud.

Obasa described Gbajabiamila as “a legislator who carries out his duty with passion and dedication. He has sacrificed his own personal interest in the interest of the people.

“You will recall during the reign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); he was awarded a national honour, but because he had reservations about the way and manner the country was being managed then, he rejected the offer. This shows that he has always been with the people and serves in the interest of the people. He has also contributed a lot to the development of legislative institutions in this country.”

The Speaker thereafter directed the Clerk Barr. Olalekan Onafeko to transmit a congratulatory letter to the celebrant on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

On his part, LAHA Deputy Speaker,Wasiu Eshilokun-Sanni, in his congratulatory message described  Gbajabiamila as an example of what a legislator should be .

“He has shown that the older the wine, the better the legislature,” he said.

Majority Leader of the House, Hon Sanai Agunbiade, described Gbajabiamila as a man that is charismatic of the office he occupies.

“He is calm, composed and each time you watch him preside, you would know an experienced legislator is presiding,” he said.

The Deputy Whip of the House,  Mosunmola Sangodara, described Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila is a great leader who has brought developmental projects to Surulere constituency.

“He is a very outstanding man. His success cannot be far-fetched as this trait can be seen in his mother who was once a Local Government chairperson and performed very well during her time,” she said.

In his contribution, Temitope Adewale from Ifako-Ijaye said Speaker Gbajabiamila had shown to the world that there is credence in the legislature .

“We are celebrating a man from Lagos who has risen from the ranks to become the ‘number four citizen’ in the country,” while Sa’ad Olumo said “Gbajabiamila had done everything in terms of quality representation. He has a great impact on us in his capacity and representation.”

Petrol Remains N165 Per Litre FG Warns Marketers

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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Pump Price in Nigeria

By Tosin Olatokunbo

Some petroleum marketers have jerked up their pumps price to at least N200 per litre of petrol in the last two weeks amidst scarcity of the products in Nigeria’s major cities. The marketers insist that they need to adjust  the price upward to remain in business.

In spite of this, the federal government has warned that it will sanction any petrol station that sells above the N165 per litre regulated price.

The development came amidst assurance by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC Ltd that the agency has enough stock of PMS, and that fuel queues will clear off in a matter of days.

There is “1.9 billion liters of PMS; Lagos is cleared in a couple of days; we will clear the queues in Abuja,” Adeyemi Adetunji, Group Executive Director, Downstream, NNPC Ltd. said.

According to Farouk Ahmed, Authority Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, the federal government has not increased the price of the product, warning that filling stations selling above regulated price will be shut down and sanctioned.

“We are actually trying to monitor the dispensing to ensure that all the stations with petrol are dispensing all their trucks to reduce the long queues and ensure efficiency in service” he said.

“We are monitoring the depot sales also, checking the number of trucks that loaded; this is a serious fact which we look at.

“There has been a lot of improvement in the distribution of PMS; we have gone round the Airport road and saw a lot of stations selling and discharging fuel.

“The queues are not long like before and the average trucks we have received in Abuja in the last three days are about 140 trucks against 70 trucks to 80 trucks received before; so there is a lot of improvement.

He added that credit also goes to transporters because now they are reacting to the President’s offer of additional N10 as an incentive on their transportation charges, citing improvement in operations.

PDP Is Doomed If Wike Leaves Party- Jibrin

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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Nyesom Wike

By Tosin Olagtokunbo

The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Board of Trustee, BOT Walid Jibrin, has warned that the party will be the loser if Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state defects from the party.

The River’s governor has remained silent since Atiku Abubakar, the flagbearer of the party in next year’s presidential election picked Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate.

Since Okowa emerged the running mate to Atiku, the Rivers helmsman has not spoken publicly on the issue, fueling rumour that his silent is pregnant. Not a few insist that Wike is angry, and may be plotting to dump the party.

The visit by top opposition leaders such as Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Musa Kwakwanso of the NNPP, amongst others in the past two weeks has further raised apprehension among PDP leaders about the future of Wike in the party.

Jibrin said PDP leaders will not allow this to happen, because the party needs Wike and will do all it takes to ensure that he does not leave the party.

The BOT chair said: “We know that governor Nyesom Wike may not be happy. It is the intention of this party to constitute a reconciliation committee that will meet Wike to talk to him, appeal to him, and pray that he will not leave our party.

Governor Wike is “a great man who has been fighting for the party, and the party will not want to see him move to another party

“We will all visit Wike together and if it means kneeling to Wike, we will kneel for him. We respect him. We respect his integrity and honesty in supporting the PDP. It is our belief that in any contest, there must be a winner and a loser.”

Unity Bank: Delta, Rivers Corps Members To Get N10m Business Grant

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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Unity Bank’s flagship Entrepreneurial Development Initiative, Corpreneurship Challenge, is set to return for the 8th edition across 10 locations in Nigeria, including a debut in Delta and Rivers states.

The Retail lender kick-started the Corpreneurship Challenge scheme in 2019, with a launch in Lagos and in three other states, which included Edo, Ogun, and Abuja, but with the increasing traction of the initiative among corps entrepreneurs, the Bank has now expanded the programme to 10 states across the federation.

The first expanded edition covered Lagos, Ogun, Abuja, Edo, Katsina, Enugu, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Sokoto, Kano and Kaduna. This edition will hold for the first time in Rivers and Delta as well as making a return to Sokoto, Edo, Abuja, Akwa-Ibom, Osun, Kano, Bayelsa and Enugu.

The Corpreneurship Challenge, which has earned the Bank a national recognition for its impact on youth empowerment and job creation, has continued to elicit growing interest among the corps members, attracting over 2000 applicants and participation in every edition.

In partnership with the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development, SAED, the initiative prominently features a business pitch presentation that provides the participants with the opportunity to present their business plans and stand a chance to win up to N500, 000 cash in the business grant.

Previous editions saw participants pitching business plans from several sectors including software solutions, fashion, fish production, poultry farming, bee farming, retail chains, and piggery to beverages which were assessed based on originality, marketability, and future employability potential of the product and knowledge of the business.

So far, Unity Bank has invested over N100 million in the initiative which has now produced 58 winners since it was launched.

Breaking: AIU Extends Okagbare’s  Ban To 11 Years

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0
Blessing Okagbare
Blessing Okagbare

By Akinwale Kasali

Sensational Nigeria Sprinter, Blessing Okagbare ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit, AIU has been extended to 11 years. The Nigerian sprint sensation had earlier been banned for 10 years by the athletic governing body.

The Commonwealth Gold Medalist was punished for evading sample collection, and tampering with the doping control process, the AIU said in a statement late Monday night of June 27, 2022.

It would be recalled that in February 2022, a 10-year-ban was handed down to Okagbare by the body after she was found guilty of doping. The ban, has however, been extended by one year.

Okagbare was suspended on July 31, 2021 from the semi-finals of the women’s 100m of the last Olympic Games in Tokyo.

AIU announced that the double Commonwealth Games sprint winner had tested positive for human growth hormones.

Further investigation of the case by FBI revealed that Okagbare was involved in an orchestrated doping plot involving a US-based “naturopathic” therapist Eric Lira.

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