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Yahaya Bello’s Inciting Video, an Act of Terrorism -PDP

September 7, 2022

 

Press Statement

 

 

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is alarmed by the disturbing video of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State inciting his supporters, threatening to burn and unleash maximum violence on Nigerians during the 2023 general elections.

 

In the video, Governor Bello was heard issuing terrorism threats in which he said, “I will personally light a fierce fire in my hand whoever want it we shall use it to burn them, whoever survive it will thank God… Whoever is against us we will make him or her join my mother and lie with her (my mother) in grave.”

 

By FBI definition, terrorism is the “unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives”.

 

This brazen threat by Governor Yahaya Bello raises apprehensions in the public space of the existence of a killer squad established to inflict violence on Nigerians ahead of the 2023 general elections just because they have rejected the corrupt, divisive and rudderless All Progressives Congress (APC), which failure is most manifest by Yahaya Bello’s abysmal performance in Kogi State.

 

From his outburst, Nigerians now know the individuals who engineered the gruesome killing of many of our citizens including the PDP Woman Leader in Kogi State, Mrs. Salome Abu, who was burnt alive in her house in 2019,

 

Also, Nigerians now have more insight into the disappearance of Hon. Adelabu Musa, the PDP Chairman in Okene Local Government Area for over three years now.

 

Furthermore, the PDP recalls how the Bello-led Kogi State Government was accused of breeding and arming thugs as well as fake security operatives to harass and attack Nigerians in Kogi State during the 2019 general elections.

 

This threat to violence and actual violence to Nigerians especially at this time have the capacity to cause a breach of public peace, truncate the 2023 electoral process and derail our democracy.

 

The PDP therefore calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately call Governor Yahaya Bello to order and place him and his supporters on security watch list as threat to democracy ahead of the 2023 general elections.

 

Our Party also charges the Inspector General of Police to immediately commence a comprehensive investigation into the activities of Governor Yahaya Bello with a view to nipping this ugly trend in the bud as well as prosecuting him at the end of his tenure as Governor of Kogi State.

 

We urge Nigerians, especially those in Kogi State not to be deterred by Yahaya Bello whose days in office are numbered but remain vigilant and continue to rally with the PDP in the determination to liberate our nation from the stranglehold of the APC and the likes of Yahaya Bello, come 2023.

 

Signed:

 

Hon. Debo Ologunagba

National Publicity Secretary

…………………………………………………….

Communique Issued at the End of the 97th National Executive Committee (NEC) Meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Held Today, Thursday, September 8, 2022 at the PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of our great Party at its 97th meeting extensively deliberated on issues of urgent national importance as well as the preparation of our Party for the 2023 general elections and resolved as follows:

  1. NEC unanimously passed a vote of confidence on the National Working Committee (NWC) led by Sen. Dr. Iyorchia Ayu for effectively managing the affairs of the Party and restated its confidence in the NWC to lead the PDP to victory in the 2023 general elections.
  2. NEC received and accepted the resignation of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Sen. Walid Jibrin and accepted the nomination of Sen. Adolphus Wabara, the Secretary of the BoT, as Acting Chairman of the BoT.
  3. NEC thanked Sen. Jibrin for his loyalty and commitment towards the unity, stability and success of the Party at all times and urged him not to relent in his service to the Party and the Nation at large.
  4. NEC congratulated the Party as well as the Osun State Governor-Elect, Sen. Ademola Adeleke for our victory in the July 16, 2022 Osun Governorship election
  5. NEC commended the NWC, the Board of Trustees, PDP Governors’ Forum, National Assembly Caucus, Zonal and State Caucuses, other leaders, critical stakeholders and all organs of the Party for the successful conduct of the 2022 National Convention as well as all primaries for the election of our candidates for the 2023 General Elections.
  6. NEC unanimously ratified the list of candidates of the PDP as submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the NWC.
  7. NEC congratulated H.E Atiku Abubakar and H.E Ifeanyi Okowa on their emergence as Presidential and the Vice Presidential Candidates of the PDP for the 2023 Presidential election, respectively.
  8. NEC also congratulated all the Governorship, Senatorial, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly Candidates of the PDP for their emergence as flagbearers of our Party at various levels.
  9. NEC commended all leaders, members, critical stakeholders and supporters of our Party across the country for their continued steadfastness in the PDP’s mission to Rescue, Rebuild and Redirect our nation from the nightmarish misrule of the failed APC.

State of The Nation:

  1. NEC strongly decried the worsening state of the nation’s economy with attendant excruciating hardship occasioned by the corruption, insensitivity, incompetence and harsh economic policies of the inhumane and vicious APC.
  2. NEC is also appalled by the worsening insecurity in the country occasioned by the obvious complicity of the APC administration which continues to condone and enable acts of terrorism in various parts of the country.
  3. NEC lamented the failure of the APC government to address the industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). NEC lamented that the APC is relishing the agony, pain and suffering of parents and students in Nigerian public universities due to the prolonged strike action.
  4. NEC condemned the constant display of arrogance by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu in handling the issue of ASUU strike and called for a more constructive engagement by stakeholders to resolve the matter.
  5. NEC also condemned in the strongest terms the appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari of card-carrying members of the APC as INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).

This unpatriotic act is a brazen plot by the APC to manipulate and rig the 2023 general elections against the Will of Nigerians. The PDP demands that President Buhari immediately withdraws the APC members nominated as RECs, failure of which has the capacity to trigger serious political crisis that can threaten the 2023 general elections and derail our democratic process

Campaign Structure

  1. NEC approved a unified campaign Structures across the country for the PDP for the 2023 general elections which will focus more on the grass root.
  2. NEC approved the proposed Structure and Organogram of the National Campaign Council as well as the National Campaign Management Council for the 2023 general elections.
  3. NEC also approved the Structures for Campaign Councils at the States, Local Government, Ward and Unit levels.
  4. NEC unanimously empowered the NWC to modify and adjust the structures of the Campaign Councils as and when the need arises.
  5. NEC received and approved the proposed structure for Zonal Reconciliation Committees to be set up to ensure that our Party presents a common front ahead of the 2023 general elections.
  6. NEC also received and approved the composition of the Manifesto Review Committee to review the Manifesto of the PDP ahead of the 2023 general elections.
  7. NEC charged Nigerians to remain united in rallying towards the success of the PDP at the 2023 general elections and start the onerous task of rescuing and rebuilding our nation.

Thank you.

Hon. Debo Ologunagba

National Publicity Secretary

 

 

 

Court extends order stopping Buhari, NBC from shutting down 53 broadcast stations

 

The Federal High Court in Lagos has extended the order stopping President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from revoking the licenses of 53 broadcast stations in the country, and shutting down the stations for allegedly failing to renew their licenses.

 

Honourable Justice Akintayo Aluko (Court 8) had on 29 August 2022 granted an order of interim injunction following the hearing of an argument on motion exparte by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).

 

The order was granted pending the hearing of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction.

 

When the case came up before the Court for hearing today, Honourable Justice Daniel Emeka Osiagor extended the order of interim injunction pending the hearing of the Motion on Notice, and adjourned the case to 26th October 2022 for the hearing of the originating summons.

 

The Court extended the order of interim injunction following the hearing of an argument by SERAP and NGE counsel, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN.

 

SERAP and NGE had in August filed a lawsuit against Buhari and NBC, asking the court for “a declaration that section 10(a) of the Third Schedule to the NBC Act used by NBC to threaten to revoke the licenses of 53 broadcast stations and to shut down the stations is unconstitutional and unlawful, as it violates freedom of expression.”

 

In the suit, SERAP and NGE had asked the court for “an order of interim injunction restraining Buhari and NBC, their agents from revoking the licenses of 53 broadcast stations in the country and shutting their down operations, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed contemporaneously in this suit.”

 

The suit followed the decision by the NBC to revoke the licenses of the 53 broadcast stations and shut down their operations within 24 hours over alleged N2.6 billion debt.

 

In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1582/2022, SERAP and NGE are asking the court to determine “whether section 10(a) of the Third Schedule to the NBC Act used by NBC to threaten revoke the licenses of 53 broadcast stations and shut them down is not in inconsistent with freedom of expression and access to information.”

 

SERAP and NGE are also seeking “a declaration that section 10(a) of the National Broadcasting Act used by NBC to unilaterally revoke the licenses of the broadcast stations and shutdown the stations is a violation of the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed right to fair hearing.”

 

The suit, read in part: “The provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties on freedom of expression indicate that this right can be exercised through any medium.”

 

“Effectively, these provisions recognize that every individual has the right to an equal opportunity to receive, seek and impart information through any communication medium without discrimination.”

 

“The use of NBC Act and Code in this case would inadmissibly open the door to arbitrariness and would fundamentally restrict the freedom of expression that is an integral part of the public order protected the Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party.”

 

“The media plays an essential role as a vehicle or instrument for the exercise of freedom of expression and information – in its individual and collective aspects – in a democratic society.”

 

“Indeed, the media has the task of distributing all varieties of information and opinion on matters of general interest.”

 

“The public has a right to receive and assess this information and opinion independently. Therefore, the existence of a free, independent, vigorous, pluralistic, and diverse media is essential for the proper functioning of a democratic society.”

 

“According to the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ‘licensing processes shall seek to promote diversity in broadcasting. Any registration system for the media shall not impose substantive restrictions on the right to freedom of expression.’”

 

“Revoking the licenses of 53 broadcast stations and shutting down their operations because they have not renewed their licenses would both seriously undermine the rights of millions of Nigerians to express their thoughts, and their right to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, in any medium they choose.”

 

“Freedom of expression includes the public’s right to receive, and the right of those who express themselves through a medium of communication, to impart the greatest possible diversity of information and ideas.”

 

“The media including the affected 53 broadcast stations play an essential role, as they allow millions of Nigerians to access both the relevant information and a variety of perspectives that are necessary for reaching reasonable and informed conclusions on matters of public interest.”

 

“The Plaintiffs recognize the mandates of NBC to regulate broadcasting. However, the exercise of such mandates including renewals or revocation of licenses must follow the thresholds and guidelines set by the right to freedom of expression.”

 

“The free circulation of ideas and news is not possible except in the context of a plurality of sources of information and media outlets. The lack of plurality in sources of information is a serious obstacle for the functioning of democracy.”

 

“The NBC Act and Broadcasting Code cannot and should not be used in a manner that is inconsistent and incompatible with plurality of voices, diversity of voices, non-discrimination, and just demands of a democratic society, as well as the public interest.”

 

“Broadcasting is a means of exercising freedom of expression. Any restrictions on freedom of expression must meet the requirements of legality, necessity, and proportionality.”

 

“The regulation of broadcasting must aspire to promote and expand the scope of the right to freedom of expression, not restrict it.”

 

 

Kolawole Oluwadare

SERAP Deputy Director                                                     

Lagos, Nigeria

Emails: info@serap-nigeria.orgnews@serap-nigeria.org

Twitter: @SERAPNigeria

Website: www.serap-nigeria.org

For more information or to request an interview, please contact us on: +2348160537202

 

Iyobosa Uwugiaren

General Secretary

Nigerian Guild of Editors

+2348033143902

 

8/9/2022

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Julius Berger: Orphans hail Construction Leader’s CSR donation of food, cash, and other items on World Humanitarian Day

 

 

Julius Berger Nigeria Plc marked this year’s World Humanitarian Day Monday with visitation to All Saints Orphanage, Palm Grove Estate, Lagos where sundry items including foodstuffs and cash were donated to the management and children of the Home.

 

World Humanitarian Day is an international day dedicated to recognize humanitarian personnel, caregivers and victims of humanitarian crisis. According to the United Nations, the theme for World Humanitarian Day 2022 is  #ItTakesAVillage. The theme is built upon the metaphor, ‘It takes a village to raise a child”, which contributes greatly to socio-economic progress.

 

In her remarks, Founder of the Orphanage, Rev (Mrs.) Dele George expressed her excitement at the donations to the Home by Julius Berger Nigeria saying that it represents the best the Orphanage has received in recent times. “This is one of the best donations we have received. Everybody knows how food has become very expensive, but God has been faithful using people and organisations like Julius Berger to bless us. We are happy that on this day of World charity we are receiving these generous and reassuring donations from Julius Berger.” She assured Julius Berger that the donations would be used for the welfare of the children of the Home, adding that, “…we recognize and commend Julius Berger for all the good works they do. We are happy today that we have also become one of the recipients of Julius Berger’s compassionate corporate social responsibility initiatives.”

 

Rev (Mrs.) Dele George said that the Home was founded in 1994, and currently has 150 children in four Homes across Lagos and three other locations in Warri, Itele and Agbara, saying that, “…it is a Christian community organisation and the first private orphanage to be registered in Lagos State.” She added that, so far, in the over 25 years of the orphanage’s existence, over 1000 children and 350 adopted children (Nigeria and from abroad) have passed through the Orphanage. She also revealed that out of the Orphanage has successfully emerged over 100 university graduates who are doing well out there in the society.

 

On his part, the head of Corporate Communications of  Julius Berger Plc, James Agama said that showing care and being humanitarian to people, communities and organizations such as Little Saints Orphanage is part of the corporate culture of the engineering construction company. He admonished the Founder and management of the Orphanage to continue to take good care of the children because as caregivers, God will always have a way to reward them richly. Julius Berger’s Team lead, Engr. (Mrs) Rasheedat Anifowoshe later presented a cheque donation of N500,000 to the Founder of the Home for the beneficial use of the Orphanage.

 

The United Nations World Humanitarian Day is a campaign by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which ensures that whenever and wherever people are in crisis around the globe, there are others who are available to help them.

 

In line with extant rules and regulations guiding the operations of Orphanages, the excited children were not made part of the photo sessions at the event even as they sang praises of Julius Berger Nigeria all through.

 

HOW NIGERIA, POLAND CAN HAVE A WIN-WIN RELATIONSHIP, BY PRESIDENT BUHARI

Nigeria and Poland on Tuesday in Abuja signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Agriculture, while pledging their willingness to enlarge the fields of economic cooperation in the energy and manufacturing sectors.

The signing took place during the State Visit of President Andrezej Duda of Poland, the first by a Polish leader to Nigeria since the establishment of diplomatic relations between both countries in 1961.

Addressing a joint press conference with the visiting Head of State, President Buhari said Nigeria is gratified by the existing fruitful cooperation with Poland in the fields of maritime, education and defence.

On agriculture, which is one of the priority areas of the Nigerian government, the President said cooperation in this area will be a win-win for the two countries, especially in the context of global food insecurity occasioned by the conflict in Ukraine.

He noted that in view of the numerous global challenges, Nigeria would like to develop new mechanisms for cooperation including regular strategic dialogues and political consultations to cover not only bilateral relations but also to address regional and international issues.

‘‘Our cooperation in education has a long history and we wish to encourage the extension of that cooperation to the sharing of knowledge and experience between our educational institutions in areas such as science and technology as well as Information and Communication Technology, in order to help drive innovation in our countries in this competitive global knowledge economy,’’ the Nigerian leader said.

Describing the two-day visit of the Polish President as significant, underscoring the cordial relations that exist between both countries, President Buhari commended the efforts of the Government of Poland in providing assistance to the large number of refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, including a significant number of Nigerians.

‘‘I also wish to express our sincere gratitude for the kind and generous support extended during our government’s evacuation of our fleeing nationals.

‘‘We also appreciate greatly the opportunity given to some of our nationals to remain in Poland to continue with their studies.

‘‘As regards trade relations, we would like to see an increase in the level of trade, as it remains relatively low in spite of the long period of relations between our two countries,’’ he said.

The Nigerian leader welcomed the hosting of a Dialogue that will bring together various members of the business sectors of Nigeria and Poland, during the State Visit, adding that it is an excellent initiative to increase the level of trade between both countries.

Duda said Nigeria was the only African country Poland has signed an agreement of strategic dialogue with, which includes the MoU on agriculture cooperation.

‘‘What was pivotal in our conversation today both in our tete-a-tete as well as the plenary session was how to provide food and energy security.

‘‘It is important to us to strengthen the relations between Poland and Nigeria and the MOU we have signed is very important for the future of both nations on food security,’’ the Polish president said through an interpreter.

On energy security, he lauded the delivery of liquefied natural gas to Poland from Nigeria, as well as shipments of crude oil.

‘‘We want to further this cooperation and we want to increase the supplies from Nigeria to Poland and by this way we want to contribute to the development of economic cooperation between the two countries,’’ he said.

President Duda noted that Nigeria and Poland have enjoyed excellent bilateral relations in the last 60 years, buoyed at the people-to-people level with the presence of many Nigerians at Polish higher institutions of learning as well as the input of Polish engineers and scientists in the building of infrastructure in Nigeria.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

September 6, 2022

 

PRESS STATEMENT

PDP remains pathetic with unedifying mirror image

Jolted by its unedifying mirror image as lucidly presented to Nigerians by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate over the weekend, the Peoples Democratic Party yesterday descended in its response, into the pit of hatred and abuses .

Tinubu’s offence was that he reminded the PDP of its 16 years of cash and carry government which left the mess that the APC government has been clearing.

Asiwaju Tinubu had queried the moral basis for PDP’s plot to return to power eight years after leaving thousands of uncompleted projects and commitments in trillions of Naira.

The APC presidential candidate said a party still battling with leadership crisis and without a legacy of visionary planning has no place in Nigeria’a future.

Uncompleted projects abandoned by the PDP administration include the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Abuja-Kaduna railway and the Second Niger Bridge. PDP left undone railroads, roads, power and ports that signalled a prostrate economy and a socially disoriented country.

The APC presidential candidate contrasted the PDP era with seven years of the APC government and its plans for the future.

“They spent 16 years and forgot that there is a railway infrastructure that can do haulage, human carriage, animal and food carriage across the length and breadth of the country”, Tinubu said.

“They (PDP) got there and turned it to an incubator. I wonder why they still exist as a party. These are people still fighting for leadership of their party, looking for the direction of the compass. We are not equal at all; we are smarter. We know the road; let them follow.

“We are not just the ones to hurl abuses and insults at our rivals’ party. We don’t need it. We are smarter; we are brilliant; we are courageous; we are not like them,” Tinubu said.

Instead of the intensely incapacitated PDP to respond to the clear issues raised by Tinubu, the party abandoned all decorum and hurled personal abuses at him. This is usually the trademark of a party that has nothing to offer the people. No decent person expects PDP to do better though. The party and its leaders were clueless as ruling party and still rudderless in opposition.

We have had cause in the past to state our objective in the 5-month campaign leading to the 25 February, 2023 presidential election not to trade personal insults. Our party and our presidential candidate will focus on issues that are important to improving the quality of life of Nigerians.

The PDP has again demonstrated that it has nothing to offer to better the lives of our people just like it’s sordid past in government. PDP only wants to keep its floundering campaign alive by engaging in groundless muckraking.

PDP and its ever clueless leaders did more shameful things, by declaring falsely that the governing party was dead, when they know it is the party that they needed to beat to realise the inordinate ambition of their perennial candidate and perennially failed Atiku Abubakar.

PDP as a party was not satisfied with this lie as it launched a chapter from its propaganda playbook that the APC government has achieved nothing when our administration’s stellar achievements are there for even the blind to see.

Let us make it clear to the PDP: the current APC government has many achievements to be proud of unlike the PDP that squandered and plundered Nigeria’s resources and could not even deliver a simple Second Niger bridge to the people of South East, that have always delivered votes for it since 1999. To the shame of PDP and eternal credit to APC, President Muhammadu Buhari will commission the bridge this year.

Also this year, President Buhari will complete the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, abandoned for 16 years by the PDP.

Among its many laudable achievements, the current APC-led government has to its credit Lagos-Ibadan, Warri-Itakpe rail network and over 13, 000 kilometres of roads, including bridges at different stages of completion across the country. This contrasted with the PDP years when in its first 10 years spent N633 billion on roads no one can see.

The Buhari administration has completed no fewer than five airports and will take the credit for ensuring that the $17 billion Dangote refinery and petrochemical complex and the $3billion Lekki Deep Sea Port are accomplished.

President Buhari can point to unprecedented investments in agriculture through the Anchor Borrowers scheme for rice, maize, cotton and others. Under the APC-led administration, Nigeria became the biggest producer of rice in Africa and cut down Nigeria’s rice and food import bill significantly.

Nigeria remains net producer of maize, sesame, yam, millet, cashew and sorghum on the back of the life changing investments in agriculture by the Buhari administration. The APC government completed over 200 dams and Irrigation projects to help farmers plant throughout the year. In 2021, Nigeria produced 23 million tonnes of maize according to Maize Farmers Association.

The Buhari government will be eternally remembered for its unprecedented social investment programme that has reduced poverty in the land and given hope to millions of vulnerable homes.

Do we need to remind the PDP of the shame it wore as badge of honour every Christmas during its 16 years of mis-governance when Nigerians were made to queue to buy petrol. This ugly spectacle at the pumps disappeared in the last seven years.

Doubtless, our party and candidates acknowledge the new challenges of insecurity and the economy. These are being confronted squarely by the Buhari administration.

The incoming APC government as Tinubu revealed is already strategising on how to deal with the problems, as governing is a continuum.

Bayo Onanuga

Director, Media & Publicity

APC Presidential Campaign Council

 

 

PRESS RELEASE

OUR DOORS ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS, SANWO-OLU TELLS AMERICAN INVESTORS

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has described Africa as the next destination for global business, with Lagos being the convergence point.

He said the economic position of the State, the innovative youth population and the conducive environment provided by the government are what makes Lagos the destination of choice for many investors who have set up businesses in Nigeria.

Sanwo-Olu spoke during a dinner organized by Del-York International in his honour at the Intercontinental Hotel in Washington DC, United States of America on Monday evening, with the theme: investment opportunities in Lagos, Africa’s largest economy.

The governor listed technology, infrastructure, renewable energy and entertainment as areas that remain fertile for serious investors to look at, saying that there is a guaranteed return on investments in these for those coming to invest in the State.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, while responding to the questions on security in Nigeria, said Lagos is the most secure State in the country, noting that it is one of the major reasons why investors are looking towards the State, promising the audience that his government will continue to make the State inhabitable for criminal minds.

In his opening remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Del-York International Mr. Linus Idahosa said there is no other place for investment at this time than Lagos State, given the many infrastructural projects embarked upon by the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration to create a good and conducive business environment for investors.

He said: “Without any equivocation, Lagos is the best and safest place for investment at this period. I’m saying this not because we have the Governor of the State here but because it is the fact. Lagos is the biggest economic hub of Africa and the government is working to ensure a safe environment for investments.”

Speaking on the change being experienced in Africa, Mr. Steve Hayes, President of Corporate Council on Africa, U.S.A said unlike a few decades ago, Nigeria has started attracting a number of investments from Nigerians living in the United States. He pointed out that this will encourage investors in the real sectors in America to look at the direction of the country.

Other speakers touched on the issues of security and negative perceptions of Nigeria as being portrayed by foreign media, as one of the major factors militating against investment attraction in Nigeria.

On his part, Governor Sanwo-Olu allayed the fears of the investors, urging them to look at the brighter side of the country.

The business dinner, which was moderated by Africa-American broadcaster Williams Armstrong had over forty American investors in attendance.

 

SIGNED

GBOYEGA AKOSILE

CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY

06 SEPTEMBER 2022

 

PRESS RELEASE

LASWARCO To Represent Nigeria At 7th International Water Regulators Forum

 

 

The Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LASWARCO) has been invited to represent Nigeria at the 7th International Water Regulators Forum (IWRF) slated to hold in Copenhagen, Denmark from September 14 to 15, 2022.

 

 

According to the schedule of proceedings at the forum, the Executive Secretary of LASWARCO, Mrs. Funke Adepoju is to set the scene as Chair of the first session with the theme: “Except in cases of force majeure: The impact of environmental and social disruptions on economic regulation. Who should bear the costs of incremental risk?”

 

 

Discussants at the session are Vera Eiro, President of the Board of Water and Waste Water Services Regulation Authority, Portugal who is to speak on: “Drought as a force majeure event in concession agreements: The role of the regulator”; and Gabor Kisvardai, Head of Secretariat at Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Authority, who is listed to speak on: “How to be certain in an uncertain environment? – The Hungarian regulatory experience.”

 

 

The IWRF is the international meeting of the global network of regulators under the auspices of the International Water Association (IWA) which has the vision to ensure that water is wisely, sustainably, and equitably managed.

 

 

In a statement, Adepoju said LASWARCO was delighted to represent Nigeria at the forum which is a gathering of high-level representatives of regulatory authorities and officials of agencies with regulatory and supervisory functions over the provision of water, sanitation, and water management services.

 

 

“For us at LASWARCO, we welcome this invitation and it is clearly a testament to the fact that the world is noticing the regulatory reforms being championed in Lagos State under the leadership of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in line with the THEMES Agenda to transform the water regulatory landscape.

 

 

“The fact remains that regulation is sacrosanct towards ensuring equitable access to water, safeguarding the health of residents, and protecting the environment. This point came to the fore at the recently concluded 3rd Lagos International Water Conference (LIWAC 2022) approved by Mr. Governor through which extensive deliberations were made on the centrality of regulation in unlocking investments and sustainable access to clean water and sanitation services.

 

“Without doubt, the lessons at the IWRF will further help to accentuate regulatory initiatives that will result in better outcomes in favour of the people,” Adepoju said.

 

 

The 7th IWRF is a key feature of the IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition 2022, and the theme this year is: “Regulating Water Services in Times of Increasing Natural, Social and Economic Uncertainty.”

 

 

PRESIDENT BUHARI CONGRATULATES BRITISH PRIME MINISTER, LIZ TRUSS

On behalf of the citizens and Government of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari congratulates the new Prime Minister of Britain, Liz Truss, on her assumption of this trusted position of leadership.

The President rejoices with the former Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom, whose antecedents in government, politics and diplomacy will further shape and strengthen relations with Nigeria and other nations.

He affirms that the shared ties between Nigeria and Britain remains strong, positive and mutually beneficial, while working with Prime Minister Liz Truss to deepen that relationship in the interest of both countries.

President Buhari appreciates the warmth and friendliness of the immediate past Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, wishing him the best in his future endeavours.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

September 6, 2022

 

 

WE’LL COLLABORATE WITH MORE INDUSTRY PLAYERS TO GROW CREATIVE SECTOR IN LAGOS, SAYS SANWO-OLU

 

  • Gov visits Trilith studios ahead of Lagos film city project 

 

 

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has pledged the continuation of his administration’s support for the creative industry in the State.

 

Sanwo-Olu applauds the tenacity and doggedness of the Nigerian creative artists and entertainers, for creating a growth path for the sector with less institutional support.

 

He said Lagos State Government was already changing the narrative by deliberately working in partnership with industry players to bring more development and professionalism into the creative sector.

 

Governor Sanwo-Olu stated this last weekend at Atlanta in the United States of America (USA) during an interactive session with Nigerian musicians, producers and promoters at an event tagged ‘Stars are made in Lagos’, a side event at the just concluded 15th Headies Global Awards.

 

The Governor also visited the Trilith studios in Atlanta ahead of the planned Lagos film city project, where he met with the founder, Mr. Daniel Truett Carthy.

 

Governor Sanwo-Olu and his entourage were taken round the 700 acre site studio, with a 400 acres backlog and 24 sound stages.

 

The Governor said entertainment is well structured in his administration’s six pillars THEMES developmental agenda for Greater Lagos, which are Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy, Entertainment and Tourism, and Security and Governance.

 

“Before we were sworn in, we said to ourselves that we would be driven by a clear vision and in that vision, we had entertainment well structured. It is not just a coincidence that we are here today and doing what we are doing. It is something that was well thought out.

 

“It is something that has been in our economic agenda and it is something that we truly believe that our city requires and our people need. I think we cannot measure the energy of Lagosians and the energy of the entertainment industry by the audience in this room but you need to have your feet on the ground to truly really feel it.

 

“The entertainment industry in Lagos and in Nigeria is not only the biggest in Africa but also contributes to the GDP of the State and can be compared with any part of the world and we have seen it. We know what it means and we as a government are supporting that industry to be able to flourish,” he said.

 

During his meeting with Dan Carthy, Governor Sanwo-Olu also disclosed that his administration has given people in the creative industry the opportunity to fly through direct interventions and support from the Lagos State Government. He said the State Government is ready to embark on the big dream project to further empower the budding talents that abound in Nigeria.

 

“Because we realised and know that our creative industry has very innovative men and women, one of the things we said to ourselves is that, we should give them the opportunity to fly. Let us just give the ambience and space for them to do what they know how to do best.

 

“We realise that some of them could also have financial challenges, so we give out grants. We are not just giving people loans; we are also giving out grants for movie producers, songwriters, short documentaries, etc. We have seen growth. Some of the short stories that we have sponsored will be aired at the Toronto Festival,” the governor said.

 

Governor Sanwo-Olu said there are thousands of people in the arts and entertainment industry in Nigeria and Lagos in particular that need to be heard globally and tell the Lagos story like Davido, Wizkid and a number of our filmmakers.

 

Sanwo-Olu said Lagos State Government will continue to create the space for those in the arts and entertainment industry to be able to shine and be global players.

 

He said: “For us coming here is really about telling the Lagos story in America and we know that Atlanta is also a big entertainment space in the United States and so there is no better place to start a conversation than from here. What we are about is really to just test the water, be able to communicate and let the Diaspora audience know that they have a government and their people can also be there.

 

“We are opening up our doors to other players and believing that after this it would give other creative minds and producers; music and entertainment producers a platform where they also can indeed deepen that industry. So, we believe this first outing will germinate into a bigger outing for us.

 

“As a government, we believe these are the things we should be doing. We should hold our citizens. We should create that space for them to be able to shine and be global players and that is the beginning of the reality of so many things.”

 

PRESIDENT BUHARI HAILS SGF BOSS MUSTAPHA AT 66

On behalf of Federal Executive Council (FEC) and his family, President Muhammadu Buhari sends warm greetings to Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Gidahyelda Mustapha on his 66th birthday, September 4, 2022.

The President extols the political leader and diligent public servant for his dedication to nation building since his youthful days in the 80’s, staying active in legal practice, politics and governance, with distinctions in every assignment.

President Buhari notes commitment of the SGF in ensuring fluidity of ideas, team work and harmony, and efficient transitions of policies into gains for Nigerians, affirming that his historic leadership roles, like chairing the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, will continue to stand him for recognitions.

As the former Managing Director of Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority turns 66, the President joins family, friends and political associates, particularly members of All Progressives Congress (APC), in celebrating with the legal luminary.

President Buhari prays for the wellbeing of Mustapha and his family.

Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President

(Media & Publicity)

September 3, 2022

 

PRESIDENT BUHARI CONGRATULATES RENOWNED LITERARY SCHOLAR, PROF. G.G DARAH ON HONORARY DOCTOR OF LETTERS

President Muhammadu Buhari rejoices with Prof. Godini Gabriel Darah on conferment of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) on him by Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, Delta State, September 6, 2022, in recognition of his exceptional contribution to advancement of knowledge, at home and abroad.

The President felicitates with the respected scholar, who was also given the honour to share his intellectual depth, analytical prowess, literary experience and erudition by delivering the Keynote Address at the 4th Convocation Ceremony of the university, and 6th Michael Ibru Memorial Lecture.

President Buhari joins family, friends and professional associates, particularly in the academia, to celebrate with the folklorist, journalist and administrator whose lectures, writings and publications, over many years, continue to enlighten and motivate, a man who has worked variously at University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Northeastern University, Boston, U S, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, University of Africa, Toru-Orua and Delta State University, Abraka. He was also Chairman, Editorial Board of The Guardian Newspapers.

President Buhari notes Prof. Darah’s revolutionary approach to folklore and oral literature, and ingenious treatment of national and international issues by simplifying complex cultural, socio-economic and political issues, and putting them into relatable contexts.

The President believes the recognitions and awards for the highly sought-after scholar are well-deserved, while wishing him the best in future endeavors.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

September 5, 2022

PRESIDENT BUHARI REJOICES WITH FORMER DG OF NBC, DANLADI BAKO AT 65

President Muhammadu Buhari celebrates with veteran broadcaster and former Director General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Malam Danladi Bako, PhD, on his 65th birthday, felicitating with the journalist who contributed to the dynamism of media in Nigeria, especially on development.

President Buhari rejoices with Bako for a rewarding and memorable time as broadcaster, scholar, administrator and public servant, deploying his talent to create programmes that inspire and integrate, like the Morning Ride on NTA, which gave opportunity for many to advocate, counsel and ventilate.

The President notes the discipline, diligence and focus of the broadcaster, and his penchant for research and rigorous study, guiding many to see journalism as a career for continuous mind renewal, an adventure into unravelling the unknown, and telling the truth that encourages peace and harmony.

As the veteran journalist, who is also an expert in development communication, turns 65, the President commends his large- heartedness and ability to discover many talents as a scriptwriter, director and producer, with many of his prodigies playing leading roles in the movie industry, Nollywood.

President Buhari prays for good health, strength and more wisdom for Bako and his family to keep serving the country.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

September 4, 2022

 

 

 

JULIUS BERGER PLANT AND EQUIPMENT ACADEMY GRADUATES PIONEER SET OF TRAINEES IN ABUJA

Nigeria’s pace-setting leader in the engineering construction sector, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, in its practical pioneering effort to bridge latent skills gap in the industry, during the week graduated its first set of trainees from the company’s Plant and Equipment Academy, Abuja.

The company, historically reputed for robustly enabling remarkable and lasting technical solutions to the most daring engineering challenges in Nigeria, has commissioned and launched a Plant and Equipment Academy at its facility in Abuja, the nation’s capital earlier in the year on 25th of February.

The company’s Managing Director Engr. Dr Lars Richter, due to competing corporate engagements, was represented by the company’s executive director of administration, Alhaji Zubairu Ibrahim Bayi at the graduation ceremony of the pioneer set of trainees from the institution.

Alhaji Zubairu Bayi who read the Managing Director’s address at the ceremony, delivered the warm felicitations of the MD and the executive management to participants at the ceremony, and described the event as an epoch-making milestone in the anals of the company. He proudly celebrated “the successful graduation of the first set of artisanal trainees to pass through the strategic Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy” to a good round of applause from participants and guests.

Bayi particularly welcomed Julius Berger’s strategic partners for the work of the Academy, the Armed Forces Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Mechatronic School (AFEME), managed by the Nigerian military in collaboration with the German Technical Advisory Group. Speaking further, Bayi stated, Our operational cooperation has seen AFEME deliver on all theoretical aspects of the Academy’s curriculum while Julius Berger took charge of the practical aspects of the training programme…that functional synergy of purpose has successfully led us to this celebratory moment, where we are now graduating trainees from the JBN Academy.

In giving substantive context to the event, Julius Berger said the gathering was “to proudly mark yet another key mileage in our company’s engineering solutions offer to our company and to Nigeria in general.”

Bayi stated that the idea, its conceptualization, launch and the focused implementation of the Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy derived from the company’s partnership approach to Nigeria’s well-rounded development, and is “a proud anchor of Julius Berger’s lasting patriotic faith in the unstoppable success of the Nigerian industrial self-reliance project.” 

According to Bayi, from its inauguration on 25th February this year to the pioneer graduation ceremony of its trainees, it was and remains the executive management’s hopeful vision, that the Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy will bea leader institution in technical training, the company’s funnel for dynamic, highly trained and resourceful technicians to fill the needs of the company and the industry in general.”

Notably, with a start-up number of eight trainees in the pioneers’ class for technical handling and maintenance of internal combustion engines, six trainees successfully passed both the rigorous theoretical and practical training modules and graduated on Thursday. That itself, according to Alhaji Bayi “…speaks to the strict technical and methodical training and assessment processes of the Academy, which guarantees that only well-trained, meritoriously viable and reliable artisans emerge from the Academy for the use of industry,” adding that, “that remains the dream, productive and lasting vision of the Academy.”

While thanking the managers and facilitators of the academy for their commitment to the excellent idea and ideals of the unique institution, Bayi also used the occasion to congratulate the graduating trainees for their disciplined commitment to their studies and success. He wished the successful graduands the best in their career endeavours going forward and charged them as worthy alumni of the Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy to remain good ambassadors of the potentially great Academy both in practice and in character.

Industry watchers consider the emergence of the Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy as a brilliant and strategic initiative with due regard to the country’s much needed technical industrial self-reliance and development.

Besides Julius Berger technical and administrative personnel who accompanied the Executive director of Administration Alhaji Bayi to the ceremony, other guests present at the first graduation ceremony of the Julius Berger Nigeria Plant and Equipment Academy included officers from the Armed Forces Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Mechatronic School (AFEME) and senior officials of the Industrial Training Fund led by its acting head of training, Mrs Chukwa.

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Withdraw nomination of alleged APC members as INEC RECs, SERAP tells Buhari

 

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to use his “leadership position to urgently withdraw the names of nominees recently submitted to the Senate for confirmation as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who are allegedly members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

 

According to reports, the president had on 26 July sent to the Senate the names of 19 resident electoral commissioners for confirmation. At least four of the 19 nominees allegedly either belong to a political party or have been previously indicted for corruption.

 

In a letter dated 3 September, 2022 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said, “the combined effect of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the Electoral Act and international standards is the requirement that elections must be organized by a truly independent and impartial electoral body.”

 

SERAP said, “Withdrawing the names of those nominees who are allegedly members of the APC, and replacing them with people of unquestionable integrity and competence, and who are not members of any political party would improve the independence of INEC and promote public confidence in the appointment process.”

 

According to SERAP, “Your government has a legal responsibility to promote and guarantee the integrity, credibility, and independence of INEC, and to ensure that the electoral body is free from political and other interferences.”

 

The letter, read in part: “As its name suggests, INEC is expected to maintain independence or absolute neutrality. INEC must not only be independent and impartial, but must also be seen to be independent and impartial.”

 

“Promoting the independence of INEC, including by appointing people of unquestionable integrity and competence, and who are not members of any political party as RECs would be entirely consistent with your constitutional oath of office, and your oft-stated promise to ensure free and fair elections in 2023.”

 

“INEC ought to be independent and impartial in the exercise of its constitutional and statutory responsibilities.”

 

“This means that anyone nominated for appointment as RECs should be persons of integrity and high standing, and should be independent and impartial, so that INEC can enjoy the public trust and confidence necessary for it to effectively and satisfactorily carry out its constitutional and statutory responsibilities.”

 

“The mere fact that INEC has ‘independent’ in its name does not in itself make it independent. What makes an institution truly independent are its attributes and characteristics, and the credibility and transparency of the appointment process.”

 

“Public perception of the independence of INEC is also essential for building public confidence in the electoral process. Where Nigerians have doubts about the independence of INEC, they are more likely to have less confidence in the electoral process, thereby undermining democracy.”

 

“The will of the people is expressed through democratic elections. This requires that elections must be free, fair, legitimate and credible. However, the credibility and legitimacy of elections depend in part on the integrity and competence of the body conducting the process, and the transparency of the appointment process for RECs.”

 

“We hope that the aspects highlighted will help guide your actions in acting to withdraw the names of those nominated for confirmation as RECs, and who are allegedly members of the APC.”

 

“We would be grateful if the requested action is taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.”

 

“Section 156(1) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (amended) provides that any member of INEC ‘shall not be a member of a political party.’”

 

“According to Item F, paragraph 14(3)(b) of the Third Schedule, Part 1 of the Nigerian Constitution, ‘a Resident Electoral Commissioner shall be a person of unquestionable integrity and shall not be a member of any political party.’”

 

“Section 6(4) of the Electoral Act 2022 provides that the appointment of anyone as member of INEC shall be consistent with the provisions of the Constitution, including this provision.”

 

“Similarly, article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights both of which Nigeria is a state party provide that the will of the people should be the basis of the authority of government.”

 

“Furthermore, the African Union African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, which Nigeria has also ratified requires States Parties to establish and strengthen independent and impartial national electoral bodies including INEC responsible for the management of elections.”

 

“The United Nation Human Rights Committee, established to oversee the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has ruled that states should establish independent electoral authorities to supervise the electoral process and to ensure that elections are conducted fairly, impartially and in accordance with established laws that are compatible with the covenant.”

 

“According to our information, the Senate recently confirmed the receipt of your nomination for Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”

 

“Those nominated as RECs are: Ibrahim Abdullahi (Adamawa – Renewal); Obo Effanga (Cross River – Renewal); Umar Ibrahim (Taraba – Renewal); Agboke Olaleke (Ogun – Renewal); and Samuel Egwu, a professor, (Kogi – Renewal).”

 

“Others are Onyeka Ugochi (Imo); Muhammad Bashir (Sokoto); Ayobami Salami, a professor, (Oyo); Zango Abdu (Katsina); Queen Agwu (Ebonyi); and Agundu Tersoo (Benue).”

 

“Also to be confirmed are: Yomere Oritsemlebi (Delta); Yahaya Ibrahim, a professor, (Kaduna); Nura Ali (Kano); Agu Uchenna (Enugu); Ahmed Garki (FCT); Hudu Yunusa (Bauchi); Uzochukwu Chijioke, a professor, (Anambra); and Mohammed Nura (Yobe).”

 

The letter was copied to Dr Ahmad Lawan, Senate President, and Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of House of Representatives.

 

 

 

Kolawole Oluwadare

SERAP Deputy Director

4/9/2022

Lagos, Nigeria

Emails: info@serap-nigeria.orgnews@serap-nigeria.org

Twitter: @SERAPNigeria

Website: www.serap-nigeria.org

For more information or to request an interview, please contact us on: +2348160537202

 

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You are a Paper Candidate, APC is Dead, PDP Replies Tinubu

September 4, 2022

Press Statement

…Says Asiwaju is Intimidated by Atiku, PDP Achievements

Nigerians are appalled by yet another attempt by the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to divert attention from the main issues of the failures of the APC government by making derogatory remarks on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Such fixation on the PDP only exposes Asiwaju Tinubu as a paper candidate who is confused, nervy and intimidated by the PDP’s Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and the achievements of the PDP, which stare him in the face in mortal fear of failure ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Unlike the APC that is dead, the PDP is not only alive and existing as acknowledged by Asiwaju Tinubu in his statement, but also strong, united and focused on its mission to Rescue, Rebuild and Redirect our nation from the misrule of the APC.

It is distressing that Asiwaju Tinubu speaks like someone under the influence with incoherent discourse and absence of mind that further expose a lack of capacity for leadership especially at the Presidential level.

It is rather shameful that the APC Presidential Candidate alluded to the nation’s railway system which was revitalized by the PDP administration but painfully surrendered to terrorists and bandits by the APC government.

From his incoherent discourse, the APC Presidential Candidate appears to be battling with issues of ethical challenges and ineligibility to contest election on account of inconsistencies in his educational qualifications, name, ancestry, age, corruption allegations among myriads of issues.

Moreover, Nigerians have realized the futility of Asiwaju’s non-existent and heavily concocted achievements, influence, leadership prowess and skills.

Nigerians gave Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu the benefit of the doubt but he failed them by engineering a deceitful government leading to the ugly indices of insecurity and bloodletting, economic hardship, unemployment, disunity and low life expectancy imposed on our nation in the last seven years.

He should know that Nigerians are aware that he is in the Presidential race not to serve but to gain control of the nation’s treasury so as to expand his exploitative enterprise and economic empire beyond Lagos State.

The APC Presidential Candidate has not responded to allegations that he is the promoter of the increase in VAT, electricity tariff, import duties, Stamp Duty, fuel price hike as well as other exploitative tolls by the APC Federal Government, from which he allegedly benefits through many stooges in the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other revenue generating agencies of government.

Asiwaju is a huge baggage to the APC. He should know that because of him there is a daily exodus of millions of APC members across the country into the PDP. In the last one month, over 5 million APC members have defected to the PDP. In the Lagos State axis, his supposed stronghold, close to one million APC members have decamped to the PDP since his emergence as APC Presidential Candidate.

This is because Nigerians have recognized the PDP and its Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar as the solution our nation needs at this moment while Asiwaju has been identified as “Another Problem Coming” (APC).

Signed:

Hon. Debo Ologunagba

National Publicity Secretary

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JULIUS BERGER PLANT AND EQUIPMENT ACADEMY GRADUATES PIONEER SET OF TRAINEES IN ABUJA

Nigeria’s pace-setting leader in the engineering construction sector, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, in its practical pioneering effort to bridge latent skills gap in the industry, during the week graduated its first set of trainees from the company’s Plant and Equipment Academy, Abuja.

The company, historically reputed for robustly enabling remarkable and lasting technical solutions to the most daring engineering challenges in Nigeria, has commissioned and launched a Plant and Equipment Academy at its facility in Abuja, the nation’s capital earlier in the year on 25th of February.

The company’s Managing Director Engr. Dr Lars Richter, due to competing corporate engagements, was represented by the company’s executive director of administration, Alhaji Zubairu Ibrahim Bayi at the graduation ceremony of the pioneer set of trainees from the institution.

Alhaji Zubairu Bayi who read the Managing Director’s address at the ceremony, delivered the warm felicitations of the MD and the executive management to participants at the ceremony, and described the event as an epoch-making milestone in the anals of the company. He proudly celebrated “the successful graduation of the first set of artisanal trainees to pass through the strategic Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy” to a good round of applause from participants and guests.

Bayi particularly welcomed Julius Berger’s strategic partners for the work of the Academy, the Armed Forces Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Mechatronic School (AFEME), managed by the Nigerian military in collaboration with the German Technical Advisory Group. Speaking further, Bayi stated, Our operational cooperation has seen AFEME deliver on all theoretical aspects of the Academy’s curriculum while Julius Berger took charge of the practical aspects of the training programme…that functional synergy of purpose has successfully led us to this celebratory moment, where we are now graduating trainees from the JBN Academy.

In giving substantive context to the event, Julius Berger said the gathering was “to proudly mark yet another key mileage in our company’s engineering solutions offer to our company and to Nigeria in general.”

Bayi stated that the idea, its conceptualization, launch and the focused implementation of the Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy derived from the company’s partnership approach to Nigeria’s well-rounded development, and is “a proud anchor of Julius Berger’s lasting patriotic faith in the unstoppable success of the Nigerian industrial self-reliance project.” 

According to Bayi, from its inauguration on 25th February this year to the pioneer graduation ceremony of its trainees, it was and remains the executive management’s hopeful vision, that the Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy will bea leader institution in technical training, the company’s funnel for dynamic, highly trained and resourceful technicians to fill the needs of the company and the industry in general.”

Notably, with a start-up number of eight trainees in the pioneers’ class for technical handling and maintenance of internal combustion engines, six trainees successfully passed both the rigorous theoretical and practical training modules and graduated on Thursday. That itself, according to Alhaji Bayi “…speaks to the strict technical and methodical training and assessment processes of the Academy, which guarantees that only well-trained, meritoriously viable and reliable artisans emerge from the Academy for the use of industry,” adding that, “that remains the dream, productive and lasting vision of the Academy.”

While thanking the managers and facilitators of the academy for their commitment to the excellent idea and ideals of the unique institution, Bayi also used the occasion to congratulate the graduating trainees for their disciplined commitment to their studies and success. He wished the successful graduands the best in their career endeavours going forward and charged them as worthy alumni of the Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy to remain good ambassadors of the potentially great Academy both in practice and in character.

Industry watchers consider the emergence of the Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy as a brilliant and strategic initiative with due regard to the country’s much needed technical industrial self-reliance and development.

Besides Julius Berger technical and administrative personnel who accompanied the Executive director of Administration Alhaji Bayi to the ceremony, other guests present at the first graduation ceremony of the Julius Berger Nigeria Plant and Equipment Academy included officers from the Armed Forces Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Mechatronic School (AFEME) and senior officials of the Industrial Training Fund led by its acting head of training, Mrs Chukwa.

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Photo Ops with PDP’s Jonathan Can’t Help You, PDP Tells Tinubu, Shettima

 

Email your stories, press statement and photographs to henryebi@yahoo.com

 

September 1, 2022

Press Statement

…Charges Nigerians to Be Wary of APC’s Antics

Nigerians are scandalized over the disgraceful and hypocritical attempt by the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other APC leaders to distance themselves from President Muhammadu Buhari over the abysmal failure of the Buhari-led administration in which they are principal actors.

In a desperate design to whitewash their battered public image, identifying with the obvious successes of the PDP and in an attempt to posture as statesmen, the APC Presidential Candidate, his running mate, Sen. Kashim Shettima and other APC leaders shamelessly orchestrated a photo opportunity with the distinguished and successful former President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

This is a patriotic Nigerian leader whose PDP-led purposeful and successful government the APC leaders viciously harassed, constantly insulted, labelled, sabotaged and discredited for their selfish power-grabbing enterprise.

Nigerians have not forgotten how Asiwaju Tinubu callously vilified and pilloried Dr. Jonathan, spewed hate against his administration and reportedly funded a near riotous protest which was inflamed by concocted economic lies, propaganda and false statistics to discredit the Jonathan-led PDP administration.

Nigerians can equally recall how Sen. Shettima as governor of Borno State sabotaged and frustrated the Jonathan’s administration in its effort to curb insecurity in Borno State.

Records still have it on how the APC Vice Presidential candidate as governor of Borno State failed to act on a security report and directive to close schools in remote parts of Borno State and relocate students to the more secure capital of Maiduguri to write their GCE examinations; thus creating the opening for the cruel abduction of school girls in Chibok, Borno State.

Nigerian will also note how the then Governor Shettima abdicated his duty as chief security officer and reportedly withheld vital security information in preference to non-state actors including terrorist elements, thereby frustrating the timely rescue of the abducted Chibok girls.

It can also be recalled that after the infamous abduction, the principal of the school was subsequently appointed as a commissioner in Borno State by the then Governor Shettima; a development many considered as a compensation for her alleged role in the abduction.

It is therefore ironic that these same APC leaders who also spent the last seven years insulting and harassing Dr. Jonathan now shamelessly arranged a visit and photo opportunity in an attempt to launder their image and hoodwink Nigerians from the atrocities and monumental evil they brought to our country.

It is indeed provocative that after turning our nation into a vast killing field by emboldening terrorist elements to massacre our citizens; wrecking our once robust economy, elevating corruption to an official state policy and turning our nation into the poverty capital of the world, APC leader are seeking to beguile Nigerians again.

We are aware that these APC leaders have lined up several illusory antics to mislead Nigerians ahead of the 2023 general elections, but they must know that Nigerians have moved on and cannot be swayed by propaganda, lies, false promises and photo ops with successful individuals.

What is expected of APC leaders at this moment is to apologize unreservedly to Dr. Jonathan, the PDP and Nigerians for the life-discounting situation they have foisted on our nation in the last seven years. After that they should quietly quit the stage, take valedictory pictures with terrorists, political thugs and election riggers since they cannot have any space among well-meaning Nigerians.

Signed:��

Hon. Debo Ologunagba

National Publicity Secretary

PRESIDENT BUHARI EXTOLS CHIEF EMMANUEL IWUANYANWU AT 80

President Muhammadu Buhari warmly felicitates with businessman, publisher and sports enthusiast, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu on his 80th birthday, September 4, 2022.

The President notes the contributions of the political leader to the social, economic and political development of the country, starting with a successful career in engineering that blossomed into conglomerates and daily cater for needs of Nigerians.

President Buhari applauds Chief Iwuanyanwu for his role in creating opportunities for the younger generation in entrepreneurship, sports and media, enabling many to discover their talents and pursue careers that have translated into recognitions and awards.

As the renowned businessman turns an octogenarian, the President affirms that his wisdom, particularly in advocating for a private sector driven economy, continues to pay off, while appreciating his philanthropy in education and health.

President Buhari prays that the Almighty God will grant Chief Iwuanyanwu longer life and good health.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

September 3, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

SANWO-OLU FLOATS AUTONOMOUS FINANCING CHANNEL FOR LAGOS’ TERTIARY SCHOOLS, SETS UP DEDICATED TRUST FUND

 

  • Governor receives 322-page LASU Visitation Panel report

 

 

An autonomous funding mechanism that will keep all the three Lagos State’s tertiary institutions on the path of sustainability has just been initiated by the State Government.

 

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, announced that the Government will be setting up Lagos State Tertiary Education Trust Fund, in a move that will creatively revolutionise the model for the funding of tertiary education in the country.

 

Sanwo-Olu made the announcement when he received members of the Visitation Panel to the Lagos State University (LASU) led by the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Abdulrahman Bello, at the State House, Marina.

 

The panel, set up in November 2021, turned in a 322-page recommendations for the Governor’s implementation towards meeting the university’s contemporary needs in academic growth and physical development.

 

Sanwo-Olu said the need to create an independent funding channels for the State’s tertiary institutions became pertinent, given the nature of disputes characterising the national university system which had led to the perennial staff strikes and closure of campuses across the country.

 

Although none of the three tertiary institutions in Lagos is taking part in the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, the Governor said the Fund would be a pragmatic strategy to meet the schools’ requirements.

 

The Governor directed the Attorney General, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, and the Special Adviser on Education, Hon. Tokunbo Wahab, to fashion out the statutory framework that will give legal approval to the Fund.

 

He said: “Now that we have three universities in Lagos, I believe there is a need for us to set up Lagos State Tertiary Education Trust Fund, which, in our view, will create a sustainable model and the funding that is required, both internally and externally, to strengthen academic research, learning and all that is necessary to keep these universities on track of their mission.

 

“This is an idea whose time has come at the appropriate period many schools are under closure due to industrial disputes. I am issuing the responsibility to Attorney General and Special Adviser on Education to create the legal framework for the birth of the Trust Fund. This will be another legacy initiative our Government is bringing to sustain education in our State. This will create a financial model that will ensure sustainability of these schools.”

 

Sanwo-Olu said the Trust Fund would create an additional funding source to the three universities, aside the monthly subventions and intervention funds from federal education agencies, including Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

 

The Governor said the LASU Visitation Panel was set up to birth a new order of growth for the university ranked as the Second Best University in Nigeria by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, 2020.

 

After receiving the panel report, Sanwo-Olu said the State Government, in the next seven days, would constitute a committee that will dissect the recommendations. The committee, he said, is expected to come up with a White Paper that would ensure seamless implementation of the panel’s recommendations.

 

“It is delightful for me to know that the panel took on the responsibility graciously with all the commitment required. I thank the chairman and members for your dedication and efforts invested in this tough assignment. Today, you are turning in the report. I assure you that we will review and take all suggestions offered. Lagos will continue to be beacon of hope for the country in education,” the Governor said.

 

Prof. Bello said the panel, in the course of its sittings, interacted with all stakeholders of the university on the 11 terms of reference given to the panel.

 

The chairman said the panel received and considered 40 memoranda from ASUU and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), which contained 58 separate issues, adding that members also visited the three campuses of the university.

 

Prof. Bello said: “LASU has to be assisted and supported to maintain this status. The fine details of what would need to be done have been catalogued under each term of reference. These include issues with academic and infrastructural needs, as well as other consideration for the Government, from funding needs to amendments to the University Law to ensure good governance and peace.”

 

The panel, in its report, recommended the need to upgrade infrastructure in the Epe campus of LASU to meet the standards of the university.

 

SIGNED

GBOYEGA AKOSILE

CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY

01 SEPTEMBER 2022

 

THE BAR MUST REMAIN UNITED AND FOCUSED

Let me start by congratulating our Association for the largely successful annual conference held in Lagos. I must congratulate the immediate past leadership for the reawakening in the Bar. An especial mention must be made of the former President, Olumide Akpata, Esq, for providing courageous leadership at crucial moments. Posterity will remember the members of the Executive Committee, under his exemplary leadership, for good. The administration left an indelible mark which will be difficult to erase. The tenure was hugely successful.

I must thank the leadership of the Bar under Olumide Akpatas Esq. for the honour bestowed the foremost First female Senior Advocate in the country, Chief Folake Solanke, SAN, and my goodself, both prominent members of Egbe Amofin Odua, for naming a building each respectively after us for our modest contributions to the development of the Bar spanning several decades. We thank Olumide Akpata profusely, for this great honour and wish to also congratulate him for being able to take bold decisions for the benefit of members devoid of skewed partisanship and carrying members of the NEC with him. I enjoin the new leadership to tow this path of progress in the overall interest of the Bar.

I must also not fail, however, to condemn, in very strong terms, the growing tendencies which predispose members of our great association to act in manner considered very strange to the established tradition anchored on diffidence, respect and dignity. It is not for ordinariness that we are called learned. Our rigorous training, at various levels, culminating in the Call to join the club of eminence, the age-long reverence with which our professional forbears were treated, the enormous responsibilities imposed on us by the very circumstances of our emergence as learned gentlemen and the expectations of the generality of the people, leave us no option other than to uphold the practice of excellence.

I must appeal to all members of the Bar to embrace peace and continue to work for the progress of the association. We must avoid utterances which readily inflame passion and cause division among us. We must extend due courtesies to our members even when they are our children. Once a person is admitted to the fraternity of the learned, he becomes a colleague regardless of the age and circumstances of birth. Seniority is earned as well as respect. The tidal wave of reverence flows ceaselessly from the Bar to the Bench and the reverse course is assured once it hits the shore. No tempest should be strong enough to break this current of amity.

I have read several comments arising from the statement credited to my friend, brother and colleague, Chief Niyi Akintola, SAN. I am acutely aware of the passion with which he pursues his conviction on any matter. I am sure that he will, at a reflective moment, agree with all colleagues and reasonable people that our immediate past president, though junior in age and length of membership of our great association, cannot be referred to as a boy biologically or otherwise.

As the President of our Association, he was the number one lawyer in the country without regard to the camp to which he belonged during the Bar elections, his religion, ethnicity and political affiliation. There are set rules for the executive leadership of the association. No elected member of the committee can act outside the scope permitted and envisioned. There are also established guidelines for redress in case of perceived infractions or infringement on the rights of persons or groups. The President of the Bar is primus inter pares.

May I also hasten to make some clarifications concerning our profession, not only for the benefit of our younger colleagues but, more importantly, members of the public who may be misled to imagine that the only aspect of the legal profession is litigation. This area of practice affords practitioners certain visibility especially when they are involved in election petitions and other political matters. This does not make those, who may not have enjoyed the privilege of retaining rich and politically exposed clientele, less intelligent or relevant in our profession.

There are many of our colleagues in the academia who attained prominence by the dint of seminal interventions in the areas of research. The opinions of these jurists have always had persuasive authority on the courts at various levels. Lawyers rely on these reasoned views. There are lawyers who are in the academia. Others are into the business of law publishing. Discounting their invaluable contributions while delimiting the scope of practice to litigation is, evidently, not a fair representation of what we do and who we are. We are deemed learned because we should know “something about everything, and everything about something”.

I beseech all our colleagues to shun all temptations to deepen this current misunderstanding in the interest of the association and, particularly, the people who look up to us for direction at crucial moments. My current engagement as the Governor of Ondo State has limited my participation, severely. I appeal to all senior members of the Bar to refrain from exacerbating the current situation. The Bar belongs not only to the professionals. The people of the country also lay claims to ownership deservedly. They cannot afford to have a divided and weakened Bar along ethnic or other divide.

While congratulating the immediate leadership of the Bar who to the best of their ability prosecuted our conviction with courage, I enjoin the present Executive to work, seriously, on the discontents which threaten to tear us apart. The judgement of history will be harsh on all those who engage in activities which lower rating in the estimation of reasonable and good people of our noble profession.

ARAKUNRIN OLUWAROTIMI O. AKEREDOLU, SAN

GOVERNOR, ONDO STATE

PRESIDENT, NBA, 2008-2010

LIFE BENCHER

 

 

 

PRESS STATEMENT

 

3rd September, 2022

 

IMA NIBORO’S ALARMING IGNORANCE OF PVC AND BVAS

 

Our attention was recently drawn to an article titled: “2023: DELTA APC CAMPAIGN ORG ACCUSES STATE GOVT OF COLLECTING PVC TO RIG ELECTION”, signed by Ima Niboro, Director, Communications and Media Strategy, Delta APC Gubernatorial Campaign Organisation, in which the Delta APC alleged the State Government is planning to compromise the 2023 elections in the State by illegally obtaining Permanent Voters Cards (PVC), from youths for a rural skills acquisition programme.

 

Again, we are constrained to deploy some very strong words to respond to this post and apologize to Deltans that in this day and age when technology has become the mainstay of our election, gothic and primordial creatures like Ima Niboro, who have completely lost touch with modern realities, will still display the idiocy and ignorance of raking up old fashioned excuses to justify the pecuniary subsidy of his verbose office.

 

Let us, for the benefit of educating and informing him and his hapless co-travelers in the APC, that since the last time they interacted with the civilized Community, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, in the quest to improve the integrity of elections in Nigeria, has introduced what it called the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS).

 

Ima Niboro says in his childish write-up that: “There is no correlation between an applicant seeking skill acquisition and his PVC, as this only suggests that the PDP government is hellbent on rigging the forthcoming elections in the State”, and though he fails typically to explain how this will eventually translate into rigging the 2023 election, it is important however to school him properly on the new technology for the conduct of elections, which even his boss, the Deputy Senate President, was at the forefront of its adoption.

 

Upton Beal Sinclair, the American writer, and political activist notes succinctly, that “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it” and the great Albert Einstein, would further add that: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”. This is exactly the case with Ima Niboro.

 

Let us educate Ima Niboro further, with particular emphasis on his bone of contention which is the Permanent Voters Card, PVC, and how it is configured.

 

Discerning Nigerians who have followed the conduct of elections, especially since 2015, will confirm that in line with improvements in election conduct in the country, innovations in the Anti-Electoral Fraud Procedures (AEFP), compelled the need to embrace modern voting procedures and some of the technologies the INEC introduced in the past included Permanent Voter Card (PVC), which contains voters’ biometric information in an embedded microchip. It replaced the Temporary Voter Card that was used in the 2011 general election. It is also on record that the Commission deployed the electronic card readers with fingerprint scanners for the first time in the 2015 elections.

 

The card reader displayed the picture of the voter so that poll workers can visually establish the identity of the voter against the card, and allows for scanning of fingerprints to check voters’ fingerprints against the biometric information contained in the PVC.

 

Then came the Z-Pad, which the INEC used to conduct a few offseason elections and as at today, INEC has raised the bar higher by introducing what is referred to as Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS).

 

So, what is BVAS? How does it work? How is BVAS remarkably different from the Smart Card readers?

 

Quoting INEC, the BVAS captures three stages of the voting process: it acts as the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) during voter registration, it performs the voter accreditation on an election day, and also serves as INEC Results Viewing Device (IReV Device) to be used for election results upload on an election day. Incorporated into the INEC Voter Enrollment Device, the BVAS is said to combine fingerprint and facial authentication to ensure the true identity of a prospective voter.

 

Therefore, BVAS performs the functions of both the Smart Card Reader and Z-Pad, as it is designed to ensure fingerprint authentication during the accreditation of voters and eliminate any need for the filing of incident forms.

 

In other words, the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) will ensure efficient human recognition through a biometric verification mechanism, using fingerprint and facial recognition of voters, which are all embedded in the microchip built into the PVC.

 

We have gone to great lengths to break down the way and manner the new technology that will be deployed for the 2023 election will operate. Against this backdrop therefore, how possible will it be for anybody including the APC, to even contemplate, not to talk of rigging the election, as Ima Niboro has wildly alleged?

 

Infact, it rankles the sensibilities of intelligent, logical Deltans that Ima Niboro, with all his exposure and experience, as former Presidential spokesperson and dismissed Director General of the News Agency of Nigeria, will descend so low as to allege such a crude, illiterate and loquacious accusation and we challenge him to please do us Deltans and Nigerians alike, a big favour, by educating us on exactly how the collection of PVC will aid and facilitate the rigging of the 2023 election. We wait to hear and we are quite sure that even he will be ashamed, of his foolish explanations, if he attempts it.

 

As for his allusion that: “Justification that the move is meant to collect the details of applicants falls flat on its face as there are other documents like National Identity card, Drivers Licence, International Passport that could equally serve the same purpose,” we are at a loss to fathom how a man who addresses himself as Director, Communications and Media Strategy,

Delta APC Gubernatorial Campaign Organisation, is totally and completely ignorant of the collective national importance, which has been given to the PVC, especially among the youth population, in recent times.

 

It is really not surprising that the likes of Ima Niboro, who are completely out of touch with the realities of the day, have not actually considered the fact that quite a sizable number of youths, particularly in the rural areas, may not have the need for a driver’s licence or an international passport, for obvious reasons.

 

He is also quite ignorant of the reality that the tedious and cumbersome nature involved in procuring the National Identity card or the International passport have even discouraged majority of urban inhabitants from those establishments, so one can only imagine how rural dwellers will feel, like fish out of water surely, in the quest to seek these documents of identification.

 

But the most worrisome and embarrassing oversight which Ima Niboro has exhibited, is his ignorance that INEC actually took the registration of voters exercise to the rural areas and set up offices and structures in every electoral Ward in the country, where rural youths and those of voting age actually went to register and filled in all their personal details, in the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise.

 

And so, what other form of proper Identification would be better for a youth skills acquisition programme than the one in which every youth had the access and opportunity to be captured?

 

Beyond the very important fact that the PVC as a means of identification, will ensure that more rural youths will have the advantage and opportunity to participate in the skills acquisition programme, it also added further impetus, relevance, and urgency to the effort to ensure that those youths, who were hitherto reluctant or lukewarm towards the registration exercise, will now be greatly encouraged by the prospects of benefiting from what ownership of a PVC can bring and indeed by extension, be strongly motivated, to fully participate in the electoral process by voting for the party that will continue to deliver more dividends of democracy to them.

 

It is a crying shame that at this time when our leaders across all political divides in the country are consciously and passionately exploring avenues and initiatives to provide more operational platforms for youth engagement and empowerment and are also mobilizing youths for greater involvement and participation in the electoral process, the Media Director of a so called major political party, is raising puerile and kindergarten accusations over a programme that will be of immense benefit to our rural youths.

 

We are however very much aware that the APC has nothing to offer to the youths of Delta State and having been witnesses to the hugely successful results of the youth entrepreneurial and empowerment schemes like the STEP, YAGEP, and the PPSP amongst others, of the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa administration, as well as the avalanche of published testimonies of those who have graduated from the programmes, they know that the only way to be relevant is to dredge up an obsolete media consultant, who also has nothing new to add to the old and tired allegations and negative propaganda, of a failed political party.

 

The incontrovertible truth remains that PDP is the only party that understands and is frontally and conscientiously addressing and proferring modern and tested solutions, to the present challenge of youth unemployment.

 

Of course we must add, for Ima Niboro’s information and chagrin, that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is taking this excellent model of youth engagement and empowerment, all the way to the Presidency as the next Vice President of Nigeria, where these initiatives will be replicated at the national level for the huge benefit of even more Delta and indeed Nigerian youths.

 

PDP is Delta and Delta is PDP.

 

PDP! Power to the people!!

 

 

Dr. Ifeanyi M. Osuoza

State Publicity Secretary,

PDP, Delta State.

 

 

2023: It’ll take a miracle for Omo-Agege to win Delta guber – Aniagwu

 

Delta Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, has said that contrary to claims in some quarters, Deputy President of the Senate and APC Governorship Candidate in the state had no hold on the state, saying it would take a miracle for him to win in the 2023 general election.

 

He said Omo-Agege’s woes were compounded by the massive failure of the APC at the centre to deliver on economy, security and management of the nation’s diversity.

 

Aniagwu stated this during an interview with Arise TV on Thursday, noting that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was very strong and popular in the state despite the current court tussle over the party’s guber candidacy.

 

He said that over the years the party had done quite well in the state having progressively won elections in all senatorial districts in the state.

 

According to him, the greatest disadvantage the APC has in Delta is not only the fact that Omo-Agege is not truly on ground but largely because of the very very ineffective performance of the APC at the National level.

 

“Senator Ovie Omo-Agege is someone i have immense respect for and he knows it because I can actually call him a senior friend because once in a while we interact.

 

“He has all the rights to contest but he knows that when it comes to Delta, that it will take a miracle for him running in the platform of the APC to be able to win because apart from the fact that Delta is almost synonymous with the PDP, the performance of Governor Okowa in the last seven and half years has dealt a very big blow to the APC.

 

“And the chances of APC in Delta has been further worsened by the abysmal performance of the APC at the National level especially in the area of the economy, education, security and their inability to manage our diversity.

 

“In 2019, they had federal might yet we taught them a lesson, a bitter one at that.

 

“In 2015, Okowa won 21 local government areas out of 25 and in 2019, inspite of their strength with Omo-Agege, Ogboru, Emerhor and all of them put together, Okowa won in 23 local government areas.

 

“He didn’t just win them in Delta North and Delta South, he went to their stronghold in Delta Central and won in 6 local government areas out of 8, and what that tells you is that the PDP has continued to expand and deepen its roots across the state,” Aniagwu added.

 

Aniagwu further remarked that the chances of the APC had been  further worsened by the very abysmal performance of the party at the national level especially in the area of the economy, education, security and their inability to manage our diversity which today is the greatest challenge in this country.

 

“People may talk about economy, security, education and devolution of powers, these things are very important but for me the most important thing is the management of our diversity because these other things are symptoms of the lack of management of our diversity.

 

“This has to a large extent weakened the trust which we had in our common heritage and that is what makes the Atiku-Okowa ticket very paramount because they will definitely unify the nation and bring it to the path of progressive growth,” he said.

 

On Atiku-Okowa’s inroads to Northern Nigeria, Aniagwu said that the return of Ibrahim Shekarau to the party was a good omen recalling that the former Kano State Governor had lots of influence in the state.

 

On David Edevbie challenging emergence of Oborevwori in court, the Delta Information Commissioner said the party does not begrudge him because it was his right to seek redress.

 

“When somebody feel aggrieved and decides to go to court to seek redress that is not a sharp disagreement, it is within their fundamental human rights to so do.

 

“One good thing about Edevbie’s case in court is that he’s not challenging the sanctity of the primary election that produced Sheriff Oborevwori as governorship candidate.

 

“He clearly admitted that the election was well conducted and that Oborevwori carried the day and what that tells you is that to a very large extent, the PDP in Delta was able to reason in one direction.

 

“He decided to raise other issues which is within his own rights as a contestant and those of us in PDP are not begrudging him for doing that.

 

“We believe that in the course of time he may either see reasons and decide not to proceed to the Supreme Court but even in the event that he proceeds to the Supreme Court, we will also not begrudge him because it is his right to so do.

 

“But at the end of the day the party will not just take part in the 2023 governorship election in Delta, but the party will work as one party to produce a Governor that will preside over the affairs of Delta under platform of the PDP.” Aniagwu stated.

 

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

1st September, 2022

 

FANI KAYODE’S TONGUE-IN-CHEEK RESPONSE TO OKOWA’S COMMENTS ON SHETTIMA AND NATIONAL SECURITY

 

Our attention has been drawn to a write-up by Chief Femi Fani Kayode, FFK, responding to His Excellency Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Vice-Presidential Candidate’s comments on the unambiguous and unequivocal declaration by the All Progressives Congress APC, Vice-Presidential Candidate, that he will take over Security while Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would be in charge of the Economy if they and the APC win the 2023 presidential election.

 

We would have restrained ourselves from joining issues with the learned FFK, especially after reading his kind but honest and very correct words about Governor Okowa viz: “…Governor Okowa, who is ordinarily a level-headed, cerebral, decent, restrained and well-exposed man and who I have always had immense respect for”… but we are constrained by his “amazement that Governor Okowa would consider Senator Shettima’s declaration to be “unconstitutional” or “absurd”.

 

To set the records straight, Senator Kashim Shettima, who was a panelist at the just concluded Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos, said he would personally lead the Nigerian military against criminals while his principal, Bola Tinubu, will oversee the economy.

 

His words: “I have been in the theatre of conflicts for 18 years, I will lead the troops, my principal is an economy wizard who has transformed Lagos into the third largest economy in Africa. He will concentrate on the economy.”

 

“By God’s grace, I will handle the security, and not only handle the security, but I will also lead the troops to battle across the length and breadth of this country,” he said.

 

There is nowhere in the above quote where Senator Shettima said or claimed that he hopes that the matter of Security will be DELEGATED to him or that he would be “assigned” the responsibility, as Junior Minister of Labour and APC Presidential spokesman Festus Keyamo posited in his own rejoinder to Governor Okowa’s comments. Infact Shettima uses the phrase “By God’s Grace”, which is definitively suggestive of the fact that the decision is already a foregone conclusion; a ‘fait accompli’ if they win the election.

 

What is even more worrisome is that Shettima’s declaration also deliberately and cynically implies that the discharge of this critical national responsibility will not be at the instance of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, but by Divine appointment and delegation and this is quite frightening, and a clear indication of the magnitude of impunity with which the APC Vice-Presidential Candidate will treat his principal, if they win the election. God for forbid!

 

For the avoidance of doubt, this is what Governor Okowa said: ”I don’t want to talk about their policies. If the Vice-President will take charge of security, is he now going to preside over security council meetings at the Federal level as the Commander-In-Chief? I don’t understand.. Because there is a Commander-In-Chief. Is there a reversal in position? I do not know. He (Shettima) can offer advise but I find it absurd how he speaks about, ‘I will take charge of this’. Perhaps they have agreed that he will be the Commander-In-Chief but I’m not in their party so I do not know…”

 

Section 130 (2) reads: “The President shall be the Head of State, the Chief Executive of the Federation, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation”.

 

Constitutionally the Vice-President has no role in national security. He has no power at all security-wise as long as the President lives and remains in office and like Governor Okowa pointed ‘the Vice- President can at best offer advise on security-related issues’ not take over fully.

 

The role the Constitution designates to the Vice-President is to serve as Acting President in the event of Presidential disability or succeed to the Presidency if the office is vacated. The Vice-President has no role designated with the military, except as Acting President, and presumably in an emergency requiring an immediate decision from the Commander-In-Chief.

 

There is only one Commander-In-Chief. The Vice-President cannot give orders to Service Chiefs, the Vice-President has no role in the Chain of Command, unless and until he (or she) becomes President in the event of the President’s incapacity to function.

 

And like the Spokesman of the presidential campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Barr. Daniel Bwala rightly submits, Vice-Presidential Candidate Shettima’s comment is “a perfect picture of delusion of grandeur. Why would a civilian say he will lead the troops? If he is as passionate as he claimed, why didn’t he lead his troops as a Governor when the Chibok girls were kidnapped?

 

“As a sitting Governor, he ignored all security reports and the counsel against holding the 2014 May/June West African Examination Council (WAEC) at Chibok.

 

“And now, without crediting the statement to his principal, his statement means he is the de-facto President while Tinubu is just a placeholder. He gives an impression of insubordination and the kind of deceptive government APC intends to run if elected in 2023,” Bwala declared while speaking to a national Newspaper.

 

What FFK and others like Festus Keyamo who belong to his school of thought by flippantly dismissing with such pedestrian explanation and logical sophistry, Shettima’s premature arrogation of Presidential powers and authority to himself if he becomes Vice- President, is to surreptitiously set the tone and agenda for a well known Boko Haram sympathizer, if not one of it’s major sponsors, to be put in charge of our national security and by so doing take over the security apparatus and architecture of the country.

 

One shudders to even imagine what would happen to Nigeria with a nationally perceived Boko Haram sympathizer or even anyone closely linked or associated with insurgent and separatist tendencies and inclinations, wielding Executive and absolute power and authority over the security of the country.

 

And to address FFK’s precedent of Atiku Abubakar as Vice-President, taking control over the running and restoration of the economy which was assigned to him by OBJ whilst the President himself focused on foreign affairs and international relations, even the cerebral Fani Kayode, should know that the Vice- President is also the Chairman of National Economic Council and assigning him to take control of the economy is very well within his constitutional responsibilities, whether delegated to him or not.

 

In fact, the executive functions of the Nigerian Vice-President also includes participation in all cabinet meetings and, by statute, membership in the National Security Council, the National Defence Council, Federal Executive Council, and although the Vice-President may take an active role in establishing policy in the Executive Branch by serving on such committees and councils, the relative power of the Nigerian Vice-President’s office depends upon the duties delegated by the President.

 

Senator Kashim Shettima committed an unpardonable “faux pas” by stating categorically that he will take charge of security while Tinubu takes charge of the Economy, if they win the Presidency and no amount of sweet-sounding rhetoric will wipe away the image (just like that of the man who wore sneakers with a complete suit and a bizarrely long red tie) of the kind of Government the APC is going to impose on Nigerians, if they by mistake, occupy Aso Rock.

 

Nigerians are wiser now and what Governor Ifeanyi Okowa did was to simply vocalize the fears and curiosity which Senator Kashim Shettima’s comments have provoked in the national polity. The fact remains that only PDP has the right attitude, the proper organizational structures, and the experience, dynamism, and wisdom to rescue Nigeria and manage the various suffocating and devastating challenges, including the security issue, which the present APC regime has imposed on Nigerians.

 

 

Dr. Ifeanyi M. Osuoza

State Publicity Secretary,

PDP, Delta State.

 

PRESS STATEMENT

 

31st August, 2022

 

2023: DELTA APC PANICS OVER OBOREVWORI’S POPULARITY, IMMINENT DEFEAT

 

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State has said that emerging indications have confirmed and exposed the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State as panic-stricken.

 

The party in a statement signed by its State Publicity Secretary, Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza alluded to the rising profile and growing popularity of the 2023 governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori as being responsible for the palpable overwhelming fear that has gripped the opposition APC in the State.

 

The statement reads: “It is the anxiety of the impending defeat that has made the APC’s gubernatorial campaign organization to become hysterical, and as usual enter into its fit of misleading publicity.

 

“Not surprising, however, the good people of Delta State have since come to terms with the delusion of the opposition APC, and have since resolved never to be hoodwinked by the antics it packages in capsules of deception. This is the light in which the latest prank in the cant signed by the current propaganda-in-chief, one Ima Niboro, who signs off as Director, Communications and Media Strategy, Delta APC Gubernatorial Campaign Organisation is seen by the people.

 

“In the hackneyed material, with the title: “DELTA APC WELCOMES OBOREVWORI TO GUBER RACE….. SAYS HE’S THE WEAKEST LINK IN THE CONTEST AHEAD” the APC Gubernatorial Campaign Organisation exposed its sudden intense feeling of being full of worry and fear by the rising profile of the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, and so it is scared by the inevitable defeat that awaits it in 2023. First, the landmark decision of the Court of Appeal in favour of Oborevwori has since thrown their campaign organization into overpowering fear and anxiety, so much so that the APC is now nervous and agitated.

 

The APC propagandist stated: “The Delta APC Gubernatorial Campaign Organisation has said the embattled Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Sheriff Oborevwori, is the weakest link in the 2023 governorship election in the State, and welcomed his Monday afternoon “victory” at the Court of Appeal.” Of course, this is a shameless deception packaged to try to put fog and confuse people from seeing clearly its anxiety about the profound Appeal Court victory secured by Oborevwori.

 

“It is, therefore, important to state plainly that the Appeal Court held that “the decision of the Lower Court was perverse” when it failed to take into cognizance that the first respondent throughout the entirety of his lawsuit, failed to demonstrate how the PDP had violated the electoral Act or the 1999 Constitution as amended, in the governorship primary election held on May 25. The implication of this is that the Appeal Court in its wisdom understood and underscored the fact that the Electoral Law standard of correctness was observed in the conduct of the governorship primary, which Oborevwori won by a landslide. This further points to the overwhelming popularity of Sheriff Oborevwori as demonstrated by the delegates who cast their votes for him.

 

“It also utterly exposes APC’s sudden fear. They are jolted by the popularity of Oborevwori’s candidacy. In simple logic, a popular candidate cannot be “the weakest link” as weakness in this context can only be located in the figment of the deceptive imagination of the frightened APC.

 

“Again, it is the height of indecency and moral degeneration for a discredited former Presidential spokesman who left a legacy of a lackluster and demeaning outing at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), from where he was kicked out as General Manager with ignominy over allegations of malfeasance to want to cast aspersion on the laudable integrity of Oborevwori, whose tenure as Speaker has been without blemish for two consecutive tenures. Listen to the sly propagandist again: ‘“What more can you ask for when you have a Sheriff whose only claim to fame is a specious ‘street credibility’ ”.

 

“Here, the APC propaganda machine misfired and exposed his being a half-baked intellectual with a base understanding of the English language. The Encarta English Dictionary defines Street credibility as “Fashionable appeal: popularity and acceptance among fashionable urban people, especially the young” It is this street credibility which Oborevwori possesses that has gotten APC frightened, knowing that the youth will go for him, a credibility that the man of the Senate mace fame lacks, and has sent jitters into the party’s fold. It points to the imminence of APC’s defeat and they are in a panic.

 

“Incidentally, the propagandist in a fit, spoke of anomie, a word popularized by the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka. Is it not an open secret that in present-day Nigeria that it is the clueless, incompetent APC-led Federal Government that is associated with that word? Writing recently about APC’s atrocious misrule of Nigeria, someone out of exasperation stated: “Merely looking at the havoc these savages brought in by the APC to help it win election in 2015 have wreaked on this country, and continue to wreak, one is surprised that a lot of people still even associate with such a political party – an assemblage of vultures that has soaked this country in unprecedented carnage.” What can be more damaging about a profound sentiment expressed against the APC-led Federal Government and its adherents?

 

“Hear the shameless APC propagandist again: “Deltans do not want the continuation of a government that has pauperized and inflicted untold hardship on them; neither do they want a Sheriff coming to town just to ride roughshod over them: a Sheriff who foreshadows a coming lawlessness, dictatorship and lack of accountability.” This is the sentiment expressed by Nigerians across the board against the APC faithful and its Federal Government.

 

“Shaka Momodu put the issue so succinctly in his write-up on the Back Page of ThisDay newspaper of August 26, 2022 titled: “Buhari’s legacy and Tinubu’s albatross. He stated: “… I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone in their right senses is promoting APC to retain power? Is this what our country has become?

 

“On what basis is the party even presenting candidates for various positions in the forthcoming general election? Shouldn’t it rather be apologizing everyday for the escalating insecurity in the land? “

 

“Every right thinking Nigeria is asking the question, why are Nigerians not holding APC to account for the mess it has brought the country into with its clueless and incompetent administration? Momodu stated: “Thousands of Nigerians – poor and innocent people are in the hands of criminals in bushes with huge ransoms placed on their heads. How can anyone with a conscience associate with a party that deserves a root and branch removal from our psyche? This party needs to be denounced …Fellow Nigerians, the APC-led Federal Government is in bed with terrorists. We must shine our eyes – all the more so because the chief propagandist himself is the APC Presidential standard bearer and the majority of us have no ‘Plan B’ “

 

“The foregoing is the sentiment of people about the clueless, wicked, and very unprogressive APC government across the country today. Is it therefore, the party that will win the votes of Nigerians who are daily pauperized, debased, brutalized, and made to suffer untold hardship and frustration?

 

In Delta State, the people already know the shameful pedigree of those who unabashedly smeared the name of the State with mud when out of desperation to be in the good books of the incompetent Federal Government lowered their self-esteem and in a movie-like and commando style stalled legislative proceedings and bundled the mace, the symbol of authority during legislative proceedings out of the hallowed chamber. By their fruits, Deltans know them and have resolved not to entrust such persons with their votes when the time comes.

 

PDP in Delta State is holding its head high with the deep-seated and popular victory of its gubernatorial flag bearer, Sheriff Oborevwori who won the heart of delegates across the 25 local governments of the State. His popularity cuts across the three senatorial districts, whose street credibility is an uncommon major advantage.

 

That is what the APC candidate lacks; it has become a major source of worry for them, leading to vile propaganda and irascible use of words. It is Delta State APC’s weakest link and the Governorship campaign Organisation is jittery having visualized and seen in concrete terms its impending but sure defeat in 2023 at the polls.

 

Since the good people of Delta State are used to the lazy work of lies dished out by the APC propaganda outfit, we urged them to remain resolute in their continued support of PDP and its candidates for the emergence of a SMART and Stronger Delta.

 

PDP is Delta and Delta is PDP!

 

 

Dr. Ifeanyi M. Osuoza,

State Publicity Secretary,

PDP, Delta State.

 

 

 

 

AHEAD 2023 ELECTIONS: GOV. OKOWA URGES SUPPORT GROUP AGAINST HATE SPEECH

 

Delta State Governor and Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PD), Sen. (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, has urged youths and support groups of the party to shun hate speech and ensure their utterances were unifying and not divisive ahead of the campaigns for the 2023 general elections.

 

Okowa made the call at the inauguration of the state chapter of the PDP New Generation, held in Asaba.

 

The inauguration with the theme, “Politics beyond today, securing our future”,  featured the swearing -in of State Executives and Local Government Area Executives of the group.

 

The governor charged the youths to ensure that every voter in the state was mobilised for the Atiku-Okowa ticket as the only party fully prepared to reset the country and bring it back to glory.

 

Represented by the Senior Political Adviser, Chief Funkekeme Solomon, the governor said youth development was one of the cardinal points of his administration.

 

He said that “as a support group, your first duty is to strengthen the party and the campaigns of the party because it is the party that is contesting elections and it is the party that must win.

 

“So, you must develop your content. You need a good content to go far. I like to say that PDP in Delta State will harvest all votes available.

 

“Every Deltan is duty bound to harvest every vote for this ticket. We should be happy that for the first time, our leader is being elevated to the Vice President position; this is more important.

 

“There are several platforms in this state to create jobs for the youths, such as the Ministry of Youth Development, Ministry of Girl Child Empowerment, the Bureau for Job creations and the Ministry of Women Affairs.

 

“All these ministries put together have created over 7,000 jobs in this state. The Widows are having monthly monitary alerts in every part of the state.

 

“These programmes in Delta State can be replicated at the Federal level with Sen. (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa as the Vice President of our dear country,”

 

He remarked that his administration had ensured ethnic harmony and peaceful co-existence in the state, adding that he would bring his wealth of experience in the state to bear on the country.

 

“We have developed platform for peace building in this state and the result is the peace we enjoy in Delta. There is ethnic unity and all these can be replicated at the national level if we work hard enough to harvest votes for the Atiku/Okowa ticket.

 

“If this is achieved, our country will be unified and peaceful and only the Atiku/Okowa’s candidacy has the experience that is proper for today’s Nigeria, given mismanagement of the APC Government.

 

“So I urge your group to campaign with these issues and be rest assured that Delta is fully PDP. Work together with other support groups for the single goal of making PDP victorious at the centre come 2023,” Okowa stated.

 

Keynote Speaker and  Commissioner for Information in the state, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, lauded the group for its efforts in creating a platform for youths and women to network and change the narrative of the country.

 

He regretted that for decades, the youths and women had largely been onlookers and bystanders in the political affairs of the country.

 

According to him, the result was that they actively ceded the playing turf to the same old guards, octogenarians and septuagenarians, who had literally lost both legs and limbs, the energy and vision to operate in the millennial age.

 

“As the count-down to the formal commencement of campaigns ahead of the 2023 general elections continues, the formation of the PDP New Generation, is apt and timely.

 

“No one should tell you that you are leaders of tomorrow because your future, your tomorrow is today; your future is now.

 

“You have to seize the moment now by getting actively engaged in the political processes that will ultimately shape and determine your destinies,” he said.

 

He added that the youths were  critical resources, especially in political conscientisation and mobilsation and urged them to organise themselves as the PDP re-positions to regain power, come 2023.

 

“As a group, the PDP New Generation has enormous powers in its hands. You also have great tools (social media) to deploy and mobilise Nigerian youths from all political leanings and biases towards our cause.

 

“Fortunately, unlike other political parties, the PDP has a platform that is all-inclusive and accommodates all shades of opinion,” he noted.

 

He said the Atiku-Okowa policy document, “My Covenant with Nigerians”, had a robust message and agenda that resonated with Nigerians and that “it is a policy document that speaks to the issues that are most concerning to the average Nigerian.”

 

“Your task is to get the message in this document, using the various tools at your disposal to every potential voter out there.

 

“It is this continued engagement and keen interrogation of the governance process that will ensure that those we helped to positions of authority will be responsible to us and guarantee the much-desired dividends of democracy.

 

“If you fail or refuse to stay engaged, politicians would be inclined to continue to kick the can down the road and leave you empty and hollow until the next election circle where their promises would be regurgitated all over again,” Aniagwu stated.

 

Director General of the PDP New Generation, Abdullahi Mahmood expressed delight with the Delta Chapter for the successful inauguration of the group in the state.

 

He tasked the executives to promote and defend the party, adding that the group was committed to delivering over 5million votes to the party nationwide and tasked the state chapter to deliver not fewer than 136,000 votes to the party.

 

Welcoming guests earlier,  Coordinator of the group in the state, Efe Ani, said Nigeria was considered a failed nation because of the untold hardship brought upon the citizenry by the APC led Federal Government.

 

He said with rising insecurity and failing economy of the nation, it had become imperative for Nigerians to rise and rescue the nation.

***********

 

DSCTDA URGES TRADERS, RESIDENTS TO KEEP THEIR SURROUNDINGS CLEAN IN DELTA

 

 

As part of measures to enhance the well being of traders and residents in the Delta state capital territory, the Director General Of the Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency (DSCTDA), Hon. Joan Onyemaechi, has urged residents and traders to ensure that their surroundings were cleaned up regularly.

 

Onyemaechi made this known during an inspection exercise along the Infant Jesus Road to ascertain the extent of compliance to regular clean up in the area.

 

She frowned at the unwholesome attitudes of some of the residents who blocked water channels with refuse and wondered why some residents and traders had disregarded the call for proper waste disposal in area.

 

She said indiscriminately  dumping of refuse in water channels could result in flooding pose health challenges for the residents.

 

She urged the residents to cooperate with the agency in its efforts to ride the capital territory of filth and to promote healthy environment.

**********

 

 

GROUP HAILS TATABUZOGWU’S DEVELOPMENTAL STRIDES IN IKA

 

 

The Chairman of the Joint National Association of Person’s Living with Disabilities (JONAOPLD), Ika South Chapter, Comr. Friday Ogor, has congratulated the Chairman of Ika South Local Government Council, Hon. Sunny Tatabuzogwu, on his emergence as the overall Best Council Chairman in the South -South geographical zone of Nigeria.

 

Comrade Ogor stated this on behalf of the group in an interview with newsmen at Abavo in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State.

 

According to him, “the Ika South council chairman deserves the award, following his achievements in the locality. Tatabuzogwu has been a silent achiever.”

 

While describing him as the man of the people, he said ” he is a peace loving individual and a progressive.”

 

Comr. Ogor noted that Ika South had recorded tremendous development since Hon. Tatabuzogwu took over the mantle of leadership in the locality.

 

He promised that members of JONAPWD would continue to support and work with him to move Ika South forward.

 

The honour was bestowed on Hon. Sunny Tatabuzogwu by the Nigerian Local Government Excellence Award (LOGEXA 2022) at the National Merit Award Auditorium in Abuja recently.

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COUNCILLOR GIVES CASH PALLIATIVES TO CONSTITUENTS IN DELTA

 

The councillor representing Koko Ward 5 in the Warri North Legislative Arm, Honourable Rachel Ede, has  given out cash to some members of her constituency in Delta State.

 

In an interview with newsmen, the councillor said the gesture  was geared towards improving their standard of living by boosting petty trading among widows, the aged and petty traders in the area.

 

“My desire is to help mitigate the adverse effects of the current  challenges faced by my people due to the economic situation in the country,” she said.

 

She  urged the beneficiaries to make good use of the cash to justify her genuine intension.

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EMEMOH 11 TASKS SUBJECTS ON DEVELOPMENT OF AGBARHA WARRI KINGDOM

 

 

HRM London Aforkerhi Itu (JP), Ememoh 11, the Ovie of Agbarha Warri Kingdom, has tasked his subjects on the need to develop  the kingdom.

 

He stated this during the visit of the foremost Agbarha Warri socio cultural group, Agbarha Warri League to his palace.

 

The traditional ruler commended the founding members of the association for their vision

 

Ememoh 11, Grand Patron of the association,  charged members of the  association and other indigenes on the need to develop the kingdom for posterity sake and called for the holding of Agbarha Warri National Conference in every two years,  commencing from the year 2024.

 

The President of Agbarha Warri League, Hon Fuludu Edema ( MON ), had earlier explained that the visit was aimed at introducing the new  executive members of the association to the Warri monarch and to also hint him of the production of a calendar as their grand patron.

 

Apart from Fuludu Edema,  other executive members that were introduced were  Chief ( Mrs ) Tessy Amogbokpa ( Vice President), Ambrose Ologide ( Secretary General), Joseph Ugbejevun ( Assistant Secretary ) and Elder Williams Ope Jnr  ( Financial Secretary ).

 

Others were  Efe Oghnegweke ( PRO), Franca Onoriode ( Organising Secretary ), Augustine Efeisi ( Social / Cultural Secretary ), and Efe Ovuakporaye, among others.

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Thousands push for Omo-Agege, Osanebi, Delta APC

 

Thousands of Deltans are expected on Friday to step up efforts to ensure victory for Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and Friday Osanebi in the 2023 governorship election in Delta State.

“The ticket that can genuinely change Delta State is the Omo-Agege/Osanebi ticket. The other tickets represent narrow, sectional and divisive tendencies, which can only polarize Delta State and endanger unity, peace and progress’’ Convener of Delta State Core Comrades for OVIENEBI (DSCC), Kotor Esiri said Wednesday morning.

The inaugural ceremony of the Delta State Core Comrades for OVIENEBI (DSCC) will take place on Friday, August 26, 2022 at Senator Omo-Agege Campaign Office, Asaba

The swearing-in of the national officials, coordinators and ambassadors will begin at 11:00am

‘In a democracy, it is dangerous to give power to self-righteous zealots, who do not subscribe to the rule of law and the will of the people. There is more to leadership than exuberant passion. The task of salvaging Delta State is too heavy, and requires the maturity, quiet dignity and broad vision of the Omo-Agege/Osanebe ticket” Esiri said.

The DSCC convener told newsmen the objective of the group.

“It is for this reason that we got together – comrades from different parts of the country – to mobilize for Omo-Agege/Osanebi and to alert Deltans on the crucial need to ensure that no vote is left behind on Election Day. We want Omo-Agege/Osanebi to win massively’’

He noted that only the Omo-Agege/Osanebi ticket can deliver the dividend of democracy to the people.

‘’We are calling on Deltans who are dissatisfied with the situation of things in our state and who want the state to change, to stand up and give Omo-Agege/Osanebi the authority to change Delta State. As Deltans who are united for change, we have identified Omo-Agege as a genuine change agent. We therefore have the honour to endorse him and urge all Deltans to say it loudly and clearly, Omo-Agege is the best candidate to truly change Delta State”.

The inauguration will be attended by more than 25 socio- cultural and political groups in Delta State.

Rt. Hon Friday Osanebi, Hon. Innocent Anidi, Dr John Oyibokwofi., Hon Enetimi Government, Prince Rister Izedunor, Hon Collins Egbetamah, Hon. Anthony Ndanenu, Hon Chief. Oyemike Valentine, Price Uhrorho koyoyo, Napoleon Kenerekedi Comrade Holy Water, Hon Famous Oyibo and Hon Matthew Omonede are patriots expected.

 

Others are Hon Francis Ejiroghene Waive, Hon Henry M.Baro, Chief Hero Omwirhiren, Matthias Osanebi, Comrade Ifeanyi Chukwu and Progress Omo-Agege

 

“What Deltans need in 2023 is focused, purposeful, proactive, energetic and above all God fearing leadership. Delta State needs a strong leader that is committed to harnessing the vast resources of this state and committing such resources to meaningful growth and development. A leadership that through the fear of God will govern within the spirit of fairness, equity and justice in order to truly unite our people, so that our potentials will be maximally galvanized towards state building, thereby leaving a legacy of love, unity amongst our youths and children, who remain the pillar, foundation and guarantee of our progress and prosperity as a state”

Esiri described Delta as a potentially rich and powerful state.

“Omo-Agege is the only candidate that has the intellect, the philosophical depth of vision and the temperamental disposition to lead the search for a wider state consensus on the challenge of change.”

‘’Looking at the political history of Senator Omo-Agege, coupled with the humility that he has displayed in the discharge of his responsibilities and the divine wisdom in the handling of the affairs of the Senate and Delta Central, Esiri said “Omo-Agege represents in totality the positive change that Deltans have been asking for.

Esiri said the governorship of Omo-Agege holds the promise of change.

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SERAP, NGE want court to stop Buhari, others from shutting down 53 broadcast stations  

 

 

 

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) over “the arbitrary use of the NBC Act and broadcasting code to threaten, revoke and shut down 53 broadcast stations in the country for allegedly failing to renew their licenses.”

 

Joined in the suit as Defendant is Mr Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture.

 

The NBC had last week revoked the licenses of the 53 broadcast stations and threatened to shut down their operations within 24 hours over alleged N2.6 billion debt. The NBC has now asked the stations “to pay all outstanding license fees on or before August 23, 2022 or shut down by 12am on August 24.”

 

In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1582/2022 filed today at the Federal High Court, Lagos, SERAP and NGE are asking the court to determine “whether section 10(a) of the Third Schedule to the National Broadcasting Act used by NBC to threaten revoke the licenses of 53 broadcast stations and shut them down is not in inconsistent and incompatible with freedom of expression and access to information.”

 

SERAP and NGE are asking the court for “a declaration that section 10(a) of the Third Schedule to the National Broadcasting Act used by NBC to threaten to revoke the licenses of 53 broadcast stations and to shut down the broadcast stations is unconstitutional and unlawful, as it violates freedom of expression.”

 

SERAP and NGE are seeking “an order of interim injunction restraining them, their agents or privies from revoking the licenses of 53 broadcast stations in the country and shutting their down operations, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed contemporaneously in this suit.”

 

In the suit, SERAP and NGE are arguing that: “The provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties on freedom of expression indicate that this right can be exercised through any medium.”

 

SERAP and NGE are also arguing that, “Effectively, these provisions recognize that every individual has the right to an equal opportunity to receive, seek and impart information through any communication medium without discrimination.”

 

According to SERAP and NGE, “the use of NBC Act and Code in this case would inadmissibly open the door to arbitrariness and would fundamentally restrict the freedom of expression that is an integral part of the public order protected the Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party.

 

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP and NGE by their lawyer Kolawole Oluwadare, read in part: “The media plays an essential role as a vehicle or instrument for the exercise of freedom of expression and information – in its individual and collective aspects – in a democratic society.”

 

“Indeed, the media has the task of distributing all varieties of information and opinion on matters of general interest.”

 

“The public has a right to receive and assess this information and opinion independently. Therefore, the existence of a free, independent, vigorous, pluralistic, and diverse media is essential for the proper functioning of a democratic society.”

 

“According to the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ‘licensing processes shall seek to promote diversity in broadcasting. Any registration system for the media shall not impose substantive restrictions on the right to freedom of expression.’”

 

“Revoking the licenses of 53 broadcast stations and shutting down their operations because they have not renewed their licenses would both seriously undermine the rights of millions of Nigerians to express their thoughts, and their right to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, in any medium they choose.”

 

“Freedom of expression includes the public’s right to receive, and the right of those who express themselves through a medium of communication, to impart the greatest possible diversity of information and ideas.”

 

“The right to freedom of expression is based on the right to establish or use a media outlet to exercise freedom of expression and on society’s right to have access to a free, independent, and pluralistic media that allows for the most and most diverse information.”

 

“The media, including the affected 53 broadcast stations, serve to distribute Nigerians’ thoughts and information while at the same time allowing them access to the ideas, information, opinions, and cultural expressions of other individuals.”

 

“The exercise of the right to freedom of expression through the media is a guarantee that is fundamental for advancing the collective deliberative process on public and democratic issues.”

 

“Therefore, the strengthening of the guarantee of freedom of expression is a precondition for the exercise of other human rights, as well as a precondition to the right to participation to be informed and reasoned.”

 

“The media including the affected 53 broadcast stations play an essential role, as they allow millions of Nigerians to access both the relevant information and a variety of perspectives that are necessary for reaching reasonable and informed conclusions on matters of public interest.”

 

“Under the Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party, freedom and diversity must be guiding principles in the regulation and licensing of broadcasting. The threat to shut down 53 broadcast stations is entirely inconsistent and incompatible with these principles.”

 

“It is the mass media such as the 53 broadcast stations that make the exercise of freedom of expression a reality. This means that the conditions of its use must conform to the requirements of this freedom.”

 

“Therefore, any regulation of the media, including licensing, must be evaluated according to the guidelines and directives imposed by the right to freedom of expression.”

 

“The Plaintiffs recognize the mandates of NBC to regulate broadcasting. However, the exercise of such mandates including renewals or revocation of licenses must follow the thresholds and guidelines set by the right to freedom of expression.”

 

“The free circulation of ideas and news is not possible except in the context of a plurality of sources of information and media outlets. The lack of plurality in sources of information is a serious obstacle for the functioning of democracy.”

 

“The NBC Act and Broadcasting Code cannot and should not be used in a manner that is inconsistent and incompatible with plurality of voices, diversity of voices, non-discrimination, and just demands of a democratic society, as well as the public interest.”

 

“Broadcasting is a means of exercising freedom of expression. Any restrictions on freedom of expression must meet the requirements of legality, necessity, and proportionality.”

 

“The regulation of broadcasting must aspire to promote and expand the scope of the right to freedom of expression, not restrict it.”

 

“SERAP and NGE are also asking the court to determine whether by relying on the provisions of section 10(a) of the Third Schedule to the National Broadcasting Act to unilaterally threaten and revoke the licenses of 53 broadcast stations and shutdown the operations of the broadcast stations, over alleged failure to pay their license fees the act of NBC is not an unnecessary and disproportionate sanction.”

 

SERAP and NGE are therefore asking the court for the following reliefs

 

  1. A DECLARATION that the arbitrary and unilateral action by NBC to threaten and or revoke the licenses of the 53 broadcast stations and to shut down their operations because of the alleged failure to pay their license fees is unnecessary and disproportionate sanction, and therefore contrary to the public interest and the guiding principles of freedom of expression.
  2. A DECLARATION that section 10(a) of the National Broadcasting Act used by NBC to unilaterally revoke the licenses of the broadcast stations and shutdown the stations is a violation of the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed right to fair hearing.
  3. A DECLARATION that section 10(a) of the National Broadcasting Act or any such other laws enabling NBC to unilaterally revoke the licenses of 53 broadcast stations and to shut down the stations is inconsistent and incompatible with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended), and therefore null and void to the extent of its inconsistency and incompatibility.
  4. A DECLARATION that the arbitrary action by NBC to revoke the licenses and shut down the operations of the broadcast stations is directly in conflict with sections 6 and 39(1) of the Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party, and therefore null and void and ultra vires.
  5. AN ORDER nullifying and setting aside the directive by NBC to revoke the licenses of the 53 broadcast stations for being inconsistent and incompatible with freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom.”
  6. AN ORDER compelling President Buhari to direct NBC and Mr Mohammed to withdraw the revocation orders in compliance with the provisions of section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.
  7. AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining President Buhari, NBC, and Mr Muhammed whether jointly or severally or any other authority, person or group of persons from unilaterally revoking the licenses of the 53 broadcast stations and shutting down the stations.”

 

 

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

 

 

 

Kolawole Oluwadare

SERAP Deputy Director                                                     

23/8/2022

Lagos, Nigeria

Emails: info@serap-nigeria.orgnews@serap-nigeria.org

Twitter: @SERAPNigeria

Website: www.serap-nigeria.org

For more information or to request an interview, please contact us on: +2348160537202

 

Iyobosa Uwugiaren

General Secretary

Nigerian Guild of Editors

+2348033143902

 

 

 

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE OKPE NATION: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE OKPE UNION AND THE OKPE NATION.*

 

BY

*Prof. O. Igho Natufe,*

*President General,*

*Okpe Union.*

August 16, 2022.

 

*ALL PROTOCOLS OBSERVED*

 

Since Sunday, October 3, 2020 when HRM Orhue l, Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, purportedly dissolved the democratically elected National Executive Council (NEC) of the Okpe Union, our beloved Okpe Nation has been in a state of disarray.  The Orodje’s dissolution decree violates the Constitution of the Okpe Union as well as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), an act which questions the constitutionality of his imposed interim 9-member executive committee led by Prof. Emurobome Idolor.  It is instructive to note that only 2 of the 9 are members of the Okpe Union, a situation which underlines a gross violation of the Constitution of the Okpe Union and a hostile attempt to convert the Okpe Union into an administrative arm of the Palace.

 

The purpose of this OPEN LETTER is to provide Okpe nationals with a brief but detailed account of the efforts the Okpe Union has made to resolve the impasse with HRM Orhue l. This is to reinforce our previous statements on this subject as well as to stress the commitment of the Okpe Union to the growth and peaceful development of Okpe Nation.

Before the election of the current NEC on May 15, 2021, which I am privileged to lead, and since then, NEC has engaged in the search for peace on several occasions

 

1.Hon. Okakuro James Augoye, then the Delta State Commissioner of Works, initiated a reconciliation committee to resolve the crisis. In its submission to the Orodje, his committee recommended the recognition of the democratically elected NEC and the dissolution of the Interim Executive Committee led by Prof. Idolor.

 

2.The Udogun Okpe Committee headed by Okakuro Barr. Isaac Itebu replicated the recommendation of the Augoye reconciliation committee.

 

3.The Okpe Peace Reconciliation Committee led by Rev. Dr. Charles Osume also arrived at the same recommendation as the above two committees. Members of the Okpe Peace Reconciliation Committee included the late Prof. Ovaborhene Idamoyibo (Secretary), Okakuro Moses Asini, Mr. Moses Akpobasah, Ms. Dora Omuvwie, Prof. Hope Eghagha, and Mr. Phillip Mebradu.

 

4.Okakuro Barr. Charles Obule also initiated a peace move in June-July 2022.  Okakuro Prof. S. Ejite Oyovbaire and Okakuro Paulinus Akpeki represented the Palace. Other participants were Messrs. Iroro Clark and Igho Akeregha, Dr. Lucky Akpere and Barr.  Ehensiri Akpederin.

 

5.It is pertinent to note that, immediately after the election of the current NEC on May 15, 2021, we wrote to the Orodje informing him about the successful Annual General Assembly (AGA) attended by delegates from all the Branches of the Okpe Union, and the election of the new NEC.  In the letter we sought his permission to grant us an audience at his earliest convenience for us to pay him a courtesy visit, introduce the new NEC, and apologize for any infractions we might have caused him. We also expressed our readiness and willingness to pay any possible fines he might levy against us. Our request was rejected.

Prior to the intervention of the Rev. Dr. Osume-led Okpe Peace Reconciliation Committee in the search for peace, NEC had gone to court in Sapele praying the Court to restrain members of the Orodje-imposed Interim Executive Committee and its agents from parading themselves as leaders of the Okpe Union. When Rev. Dr. Osume intimated us about his committee’s peace mission, he requested that we withdrew the case from court so as to give peace a chance. We obliged. However, few weeks after we withdrew the case from court, Orodje wrote to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) requesting them to recognize the Interim Executive Committee. This was a plot to oust the democratically elected NEC from CAC. Thus, it was obvious that the intention of the Orodje imposed Interim Executive Committee was not to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict but to gain time in its treacherous move to get CAC to de-register the democratically elected NEC and the legitimate Okpe Union. Faced with this treachery, we elected to lodge a suit at a Federal High Court in Lagos.  HRM Orhue l, the Prof. Idolor-led Interim Executive Committee and the CAC were served as joint defendants to appear in court on May 30, 2022 and July 7, 2022, respectively.  The case has been adjourned to mid October 2022.

 

To demonstrate the insincerity of the Orodje-imposed Interim Executive Committee in respecting the court process, they obtained a court order in Abuja for the Okpe Union to appoint Trustees. They did not disclose to the Abuja Federal High Court that they were already defendants in a Lagos Federal High on the same subject. Furthermore, the elected National Executive Council of the Okpe Union had already lodged an application at the Lagos Federal High Court with similar prayers much earlier, and known to both the CAC and the Prof. Idolor Interim Executive Committee. The certificate of incorporation they got from the CAC was surreptitiously acquired.  This issue is being handled via an appropriate channel.

 

*OKPE UNION POSITION*

1.The position of the Okpe Union has been very clear and unambiguous since the purported dissolution of the NEC by the Orodje on October 3, 2020. The dissolution decree is undemocratic and lacks any constitutionality. It is a dictatorial act which has no place in a democratic polity.

2.The Interim Executive Committee has to be dissolved.

3.There is a modern Okpe Monarchy because there was an Okpe Union that fought for the restoration of the Okpe Monarchy in 1945, after almost 200 years of interregnum.

4.The Okpe Monarchy was not restored to enthrone dictatorship and/or an absolute monarchy.

5.The Okpe monarchy is not an absolute monarchy, but a constitutional monarchy.

6.When the then Major General Felix Mujakperuo campaigned for the Orodjeship, he did so by presenting his democratic credentials in his election by the Orhue Ruling House and his subsequent ratification by Udogun Okpe.

7.Okpe Union, and indeed the entire Okpe Nation, cannot allow a democratically elected Orodje of Okpe Kingdom to crawl into dictatorship reminiscent of the deceased concept of the “divine rights of kings” taking us back to the inglorious reign of Esezi l.

 

*CALL FOR UNITY*

We call on all members of the Okpe Union to remain calm and steadfast in their dedication to the ideals of the Okpe Union bequeathed to us by our founding fathers.

 

We also call on all Okpe nationals at home and in Diaspora to associate themselves with the ideals of the Okpe Union by contributing to the strengthening of democratic institutions in Okpe Nation.

 

Furthermore, we call on all Ekakuro, Ehọvwọre and members of Udogun Okpe to prevail on HRM Orhue l, by advising him to dissolve the Interim Executive Committee as recommended by various peace committees.

 

*CONCLUDING REMARKS*

Our declaration of Okpe as the most populous mono-ethnic nationality in Delta State is meaningless as long as we remain educationally bankrupt and retarded in growth and development, in comparison to other ethnic nationalities in Delta State. Okpe Union is poised to reverse this disturbing phenomenon by engaging with internal and external stakeholders to achieve this historic objective.

 

*God bless the Okpe Union.*

*God bless the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom.*

*God bless the Okpe Kingdom.*

 

 

 

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE OKPE NATION:*

*RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE OKPE UNION AND THE OKPE NATION.*

 

BY

*Prof. O. Igho Natufe,*

*President General,*

*Okpe Union.*

August 16, 2022.

 

*ALL PROTOCOLS OBSERVED*

 

Since Sunday, October 3, 2020 when HRM Orhue l, Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, purportedly dissolved the democratically elected National Executive Council (NEC) of the Okpe Union, our beloved Okpe Nation has been in a state of disarray.  The Orodje’s dissolution decree violates the Constitution of the Okpe Union as well as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), an act which questions the constitutionality of his imposed interim 9-member executive committee led by Prof. Emurobome Idolor.  It is instructive to note that only 2 of the 9 are members of the Okpe Union, a situation which underlines a gross violation of the Constitution of the Okpe Union and a hostile attempt to convert the Okpe Union into an administrative arm of the Palace.

 

The purpose of this OPEN LETTER is to provide Okpe nationals with a brief but detailed account of the efforts the Okpe Union has made to resolve the impasse with HRM Orhue l. This is to reinforce our previous statements on this subject as well as to stress the commitment of the Okpe Union to the growth and peaceful development of Okpe Nation.

Before the election of the current NEC on May 15, 2021, which I am privileged to lead, and since then, NEC has engaged in the search for peace on several occasions

 

1.Hon. Okakuro James Augoye, then the Delta State Commissioner of Works, initiated a reconciliation committee to resolve the crisis. In its submission to the Orodje, his committee recommended the recognition of the democratically elected NEC and the dissolution of the Interim Executive Committee led by Prof. Idolor.

 

2.The Udogun Okpe Committee headed by Okakuro Barr. Isaac Itebu replicated the recommendation of the Augoye reconciliation committee.

 

3.The Okpe Peace Reconciliation Committee led by Rev. Dr. Charles Osume also arrived at the same recommendation as the above two committees. Members of the Okpe Peace Reconciliation Committee included the late Prof. Ovaborhene Idamoyibo (Secretary), Okakuro Moses Asini, Mr. Moses Akpobasah, Ms. Dora Omuvwie, Prof. Hope Eghagha, and Mr. Phillip Mebradu.

 

4.Okakuro Barr. Charles Obule also initiated a peace move in June-July 2022.  Okakuro Prof. S. Ejite Oyovbaire and Okakuro Paulinus Akpeki represented the Palace. Other participants were Messrs. Iroro Clark and Igho Akeregha, Dr. Lucky Akpere and Barr.  Ehensiri Akpederin.

 

5.It is pertinent to note that, immediately after the election of the current NEC on May 15, 2021, we wrote to the Orodje informing him about the successful Annual General Assembly (AGA) attended by delegates from all the Branches of the Okpe Union, and the election of the new NEC.  In the letter we sought his permission to grant us an audience at his earliest convenience for us to pay him a courtesy visit, introduce the new NEC, and apologize for any infractions we might have caused him. We also expressed our readiness and willingness to pay any possible fines he might levy against us. Our request was rejected.

Prior to the intervention of the Rev. Dr. Osume-led Okpe Peace Reconciliation Committee in the search for peace, NEC had gone to court in Sapele praying the Court to restrain members of the Orodje-imposed Interim Executive Committee and its agents from parading themselves as leaders of the Okpe Union. When Rev. Dr. Osume intimated us about his committee’s peace mission, he requested that we withdrew the case from court so as to give peace a chance. We obliged. However, few weeks after we withdrew the case from court, Orodje wrote to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) requesting them to recognize the Interim Executive Committee. This was a plot to oust the democratically elected NEC from CAC. Thus, it was obvious that the intention of the Orodje imposed Interim Executive Committee was not to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict but to gain time in its treacherous move to get CAC to de-register the democratically elected NEC and the legitimate Okpe Union. Faced with this treachery, we elected to lodge a suit at a Federal High Court in Lagos.  HRM Orhue l, the Prof. Idolor-led Interim Executive Committee and the CAC were served as joint defendants to appear in court on May 30, 2022 and July 7, 2022, respectively.  The case has been adjourned to mid October 2022.

 

To demonstrate the insincerity of the Orodje-imposed Interim Executive Committee in respecting the court process, they obtained a court order in Abuja for the Okpe Union to appoint Trustees. They did not disclose to the Abuja Federal High Court that they were already defendants in a Lagos Federal High on the same subject. Furthermore, the elected National Executive Council of the Okpe Union had already lodged an application at the Lagos Federal High Court with similar prayers much earlier, and known to both the CAC and the Prof. Idolor Interim Executive Committee. The certificate of incorporation they got from the CAC was surreptitiously acquired.  This issue is being handled via an appropriate channel.

 

*OKPE UNION POSITION*

1.The position of the Okpe Union has been very clear and unambiguous since the purported dissolution of the NEC by the Orodje on October 3, 2020. The dissolution decree is undemocratic and lacks any constitutionality. It is a dictatorial act which has no place in a democratic polity.

2.The Interim Executive Committee has to be dissolved.

3.There is a modern Okpe Monarchy because there was an Okpe Union that fought for the restoration of the Okpe Monarchy in 1945, after almost 200 years of interregnum.

4.The Okpe Monarchy was not restored to enthrone dictatorship and/or an absolute monarchy.

5.The Okpe monarchy is not an absolute monarchy, but a constitutional monarchy.

6.When the then Major General Felix Mujakperuo campaigned for the Orodjeship, he did so by presenting his democratic credentials in his election by the Orhue Ruling House and his subsequent ratification by Udogun Okpe.

7.Okpe Union, and indeed the entire Okpe Nation, cannot allow a democratically elected Orodje of Okpe Kingdom to crawl into dictatorship reminiscent of the deceased concept of the “divine rights of kings” taking us back to the inglorious reign of Esezi l.

 

*CALL FOR UNITY*

We call on all members of the Okpe Union to remain calm and steadfast in their dedication to the ideals of the Okpe Union bequeathed to us by our founding fathers.

 

We also call on all Okpe nationals at home and in Diaspora to associate themselves with the ideals of the Okpe Union by contributing to the strengthening of democratic institutions in Okpe Nation.

 

Furthermore, we call on all Ekakuro, Ehọvwọre and members of Udogun Okpe to prevail on HRM Orhue l, by advising him to dissolve the Interim Executive Committee as recommended by various peace committees.

 

*CONCLUDING REMARKS*

Our declaration of Okpe as the most populous mono-ethnic nationality in Delta State is meaningless as long as we remain educationally bankrupt and retarded in growth and development, in comparison to other ethnic nationalities in Delta State. Okpe Union is poised to reverse this disturbing phenomenon by engaging with internal and external stakeholders to achieve this historic objective.

 

*God bless the Okpe Union.*

*God bless the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom.*

*God bless the Okpe Kingdom.*

 

 

*OKAKURO ISAACS O. ITEBU’S RESPONSE TO MY LETTER ENTITLED “AN OPEN LETTER TO THE OKPE NATION: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE OKPE UNION AND THE OKPE NATION”*

 

By

*Prof. O. Igho Natufe,*

*President General*

*Okpe Union.*

August 23, 2022.

 

I am not going to reciprocate by addressing our revered Okakuro Isaacs O. Itebu as “one” Okakuro Isaacs O. Itebu, as he addressed me. It would be denigrating to do so, to borrow a word that featured prominently in his Rejoinder to my “Open Letter to the Okpe Nation” that he referenced. It would also be injurious to the ethics of scholarly discourse anchored on mutual respect. Okakuro Isaacs O. Itebu is our Efeyota of Okpe Kingdom.

 

Okakuro Isaacs O. Itebu is a brilliant Lawyer, one of the most senior Lawyers in Okpe Kingdom. So, I am sure that he is fully aware of the potential pitfalls in his Rejoinder. I shall draw his attention, and that of the Okpe Nation, to some of these pitfalls in this “A REJOINDER TO A REJOINDER”.

 

  1. It is interesting to note that Okakuro Itebu did not contest the position of Okpe Union that, unfortunately, our revered Okpe Monarchy, under the reign of HRM Orhue l, Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, is creeping into an absolute monarchy.
  2. Furthermore, it should be stressed that the Okpe Union, founded in 1930, and registered on the 13th of December, 1934 under the Land (Perpetual Succession) Ordinance of 1924, long before the restoration of the Throne of Orodje of Okpe Kingdom in 1945, is constitutionally and historically independent of the Udogun Okpe. Okakuro Itebu never contradicted the position that the Okpe Union is a membership organisation and that only its members through their branch delegates elect its leadership.
  3. To ”declare” patriotic Okpe nationals as ”enemies of the Orodje of Okpe and the Okpe Kingdom”, for speaking truth to power, is not a hallmark of a democratic polity but an argument for a dictatorship. This is a profiling tactic employed by regimes hostile to democratic ethos.
  4. Okakuro Itebu did not provide any convincing constitutional argument to dispute the position of Okpe Union that the decree of October 3, 2020, signed and issued by the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, purportedly dissolving the democratically elected National Executive Council (NEC) of the Okpe Union, was an illegal act that violated the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and the Constitution of the Okpe Union.
  5. The Orodje of Okpe Kingdom does not possess the right and/or authority to interfere in the administration of the Okpe Union or to dissolve the democratically elected NEC of the Okpe Union.
  6. Okakuro Itebu’s defence that the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom ”didn’t at any time unilaterally dissolve the NEC of the Okpe Union” but that it ”was dissolved by the Orodje-in-Council (Okpe Supreme Council of Chiefs presided over by the Orodje of Okpe)” is a weak postulation that pathetically attempts to separate the Orodje from the Udogun Okpe.
  7. As a Lawyer, Okakuro Itebu may wish to recall the failed attempt of General Sani Abacha, the (then) Head of State, to dissolve the national executive of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). A Branch of the NBA challenged the constitutional rights of General Abacha to dissolve the national executive of the NBA and appoint its President. Okakuro Itebu is aware of the outcome of that suit against General Abacha diktat. The Orodje’s decree of October 3, 2020 is analogous to General Abacha’s action against the NBA.
  8. Okakuro Itebu severally repeated the falsehood that the NEC of Okpe Union ”denigrates” the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom in our publications, but he failed to cite any evidence to buttress this malicious allegation. In fact, we, members of the Okpe Union, are defending the virtues of the modern Okpe Monarchy by speaking truth to power, by appealing to the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom to abide by due diligence and the Rule of Law.
  9. If truth must be told, it is the position of the Okpe Union that certain members of the Okpe traditional class – Ekakuro, are the ones denigrating the Throne of the Okpe Monarchy by their pronouncements and quality of advice they render to the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom.
  10. On April 5, 2021, the (then) Chairman of the Sapele Okpe Community, Mr. Patrick Akamovba,  Okakuro Onoriode Temiagin (the current Chairman of the Sapele Okpe Community), Mr. Godwin Atose and Okakuro Godfrey Dafinone addressed a press conference to attack the democratically elected NEC of the Okpe Union. Okakuro Godfrey Dafinone declared: “The Orodje can even invoke a curse against them. They should be advised.” (For details of the press conference, please click at this link. SAPELE OKPE COMMUNITY DEBUNKS REPORT, ISSUES WARNING TO IMPOSTOR OKPE UNION GROUP —
  11. I reacted to this press conference on April 7, 2021, via “AN OPEN LETTER TO THE OKPE NATION”, where I criticized Okakuro Dafinone for his careless statement. Allow me to quote myself. I opined that the speech by Okakuro Dafinone ”raises a fundamental question about the safety of Okpe nationals that dare disagree, justifiably, with the Orodje’s decision, today or tomorrow. As a prominent Okakuro in Okpe Kingdom, his statement suggests two things: either it is the Orodje’s position which he had discussed with HRM; or it is his own advisory position to the Orodje. I do not claim to know the Orodje better than Chief Dafinone, however, I am confident that HRM Orhue I, the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom that I know, will NEVER invoke a curse against Okpe nationals, irrespective of their differences. Thus, Chief Dafinone’s advisory is a dangerous postulate in the annals of Okpe History. It recalls the curse placed on the Okpe Nation by Ezezi I. It is my prayer that we are not reverting to that dark age of Okpe History. While I hold HRM, Orhue I in a very high esteem, it is extremely troubling to view the threats of “I will arrest them” and “The Orodje can even invoke a curse against them,” as the quality of advice this group of Okpe leaders and Ekakuro can render to the Orodje. This portends a retrograde path for the Okpe Nation.” Note that I was not the President General of the Okpe Union when I wrote the above referenced piece entitled: “AN OPEN LETTER TO THE OKPE NATION.”
  12. Information reaching us from reliable sources in the Palace points to dangerous opinions being articulated by certain Ekakuro vis-à-vis the democratically elected NEC of the Okpe Union.  Recently, very recently, we were informed that some Ekakuro requested the Orodje to allow them to invoke spiritual powers to deal with members of the democratically elected NEC, but that the Orodje rejected this diabolic request.
  13. We were also recently informed by a senior Okakuro that a cabal in the Palace has captured HRM, Orhue l, Orodje of Okpe Kingdom. It is our prayer that this cabal will be rendered powerless in their machinations against democracy, peace and sustainable development in Okpe Nation.
  14. We are aware of the actions of certain Ekakuro who constantly write to members of the Okpe Union threatening them that the Orodje will cause their arrest if they remain members of the Okpe Union. This is a pitiful act by a bunch of sycophants attired in Okakuro garments, who believe that is the best way for them to demonstrate their loyalty to the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom. We are sure the Orodje will not condone such sycophancy. These Ekakuro are the ones denigrating the revered Throne of the Okpe Kingdom and the Orodje.
  15. Okpe Union stands for good governance in Okpe Kingdom, Delta State and in Nigeria. Several senior Ekakuro have informed us of the dictatorial method of conducting meetings of Ekakuro at the Palace. We call for a stop to this practice.
  16. We are aware of the unscrupulous behaviour of some senior Ekakuro that demand up to 45% of the basic monthly salary of Okpe nationals they help to secure jobs in Okpe Kingdom. This may not be an armed banditry, but it is a nauseatingly shameful monthly extortion of funds from fellow Okpe nationals. These Ekakuro are the ones denigrating the revered Throne of the Okpe Kingdom and the Orodje.
  17. We are also aware of the decisions of certain Ekakuro in frustrating the employment opportunities of members of the Okpe Union on the excuse that they were acting on the advice of the Orodje. We doubt that the Orodje would authorise such a policy that denies any Okpe national access to employment in Okpe Kingdom. These are the ones denigrating the revered Throne of the Okpe Kingdom and the Orodje.
  18. Instead of ”warning” the democratically elected NEC of the Okpe Union from speaking truth to power, we invite Okakuro Itebu to warn his fellow Ekakuro from bringing disrepute to the revered Throne of the Okpe Monarchy. They are the ones denigrating the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom.

 

In conclusion, our actions and pronouncements are to maintain the autonomy of the Okpe Union and contribute to the strengthening of good governance and democratic practice in Okpe Nation and not, in any way, to denigrate our revered Orodje of Okpe Kingdom.

 

*God bless the Okpe Union!*

*God bless the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom!*

*God bless the Okpe Kingdom!*

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JULIUS BERGER FACILITY WORKS DELIVERS EXCELLENT COMPLETION OF IKOYI GOLF CLUB 1938 FACILITY UPGRADE CONTRACT

 

Our Golf Course now has a functional irrigation system for which we thank Julius Berger

– Club Chairman

 

Chairman of the prestigious Ikoyi Golf Club 1938 of Lagos, Mr. Ademola Mumuni has lauded the facility upgrade executed by Julius Berger Nigeria Plc saying that “for a Golf club to exist, you have to have a functional water irrigation system, the type Julius Berger has masterfully delivered for this Club. We thank you, Julius Berger for the excellent job.” He spoke yesterday at the official commissioning and handover of the upgraded facility to the Club.

 

According to him, “Julius Berger Nigeria has the professionals to do the job, and characteristically, they have delivered on the contract and also in record time.” He further said that since the ground-breaking event to tee off the works for the project last year, Club members have been much impressed with the progress of the works because they were expectant of the Julius Berger standard and its great quality to be delivered as it has indeed been done. “In the world today, every golf course must have a good irrigation system; now we have our own,” he said even as he thanked all organisations and groups that assisted in making the project such a good success.

 

The Club Captain Dr. Anthony Oboh added his voice saying, “with the upgraded facility so excellently delivered by Julius Berger, the Club can start to again plan for championships here.”

 

Present at the handing over event were officials of the Club including Chairman, Ikoyi Golf Community of Nigeria Association, IGCNA, Chief Felix Majekodunmi, Vice-Captain, Mr. Wahab Sarunmi, Trustee IGCNA, Mr. Ayinde Sani and the General Manager, Ikoyi Club, Mr. Babatunde Orungbeja. Representing the contractor was Engr. Amina Dottie.

 

Julius Berger Nigeria Plc is Nigeria’s leading engineering construction brand, which offers holistic integrated construction solutions and related services including Facility Management.

 

The Julius Berger Lagos Facility Works is the Lagos-based operational arm of the larger Julius Berger Facility Management Works, which also have an operational arm located at the company’s Region Central North with its hub in Abuja.  The Julius Berger Facility Works operate on the impeccable corporate core values of best quality, safety, integrity, compliance, partnership and innovation all of which have become definitive of the company’s matchless technical expertise and excellence in the implementation of state-of-the-art methods and technologies.

 

Julius Berger Facility Works says, “…we are committed to providing a conducive environment to enable our clients achieve their overall goals through the provision of excellent and sustainable facility management from one single source, using world-class innovations, technology, skilled personnel and global best practices to ensure the functionality, comfort, safety, durability, sustainability and efficiency of a property”.

 

With affirmative International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification and with a proven record of project accomplishment and delivery, Julius Berger Facility Works’ Quality Management Systems are well equipped to satisfy the customers’ needs. Julius Berger Facility Works focuses majorly on the provision of hard and soft services for buildings and building systems, energy management models, refurbishment and upgrade of buildings and ancillary services, facility management consultancy services to corporate organizations and private clients with net worth real estate assets.

 

The qualitative and reliably professional Julius Berger badge of competence, technical edge and robustly integrated logistical systems assures high quality service delivery to all clients while ensuring minimum total life cycle cost and value retention of an asset to the owner.