Cloned Nigerian Anchor

Author: Doris Israel Ijeoma

  • Fubara Reshuffles Rivers State Cabinet

    Fubara Reshuffles Rivers State Cabinet

    The Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, has reshuffled his cabinet.

    The move was made public in a statement released on Tuesday evening by the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Tammy Danagogo.

    The reshuffling of the cabinet is in response to the ongoing political turmoil in the State.

    Fubara, in the statement, ordered the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of the state, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, to move to the Ministry of Special Duties within the Governor’s Office.

    Isaac Kamalu, who previously served as the Commissioner for Finance, has been reassigned to the Ministry of Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment.

  • Hadi Sirika: EFCC To Invite Sacked Heads Of FAAN, NAMA, Others

    Hadi Sirika: EFCC To Invite Sacked Heads Of FAAN, NAMA, Others

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is planning to invite all the sacked Heads of agencies of the Ministry of Aviation over the failed Nigeria Air project.

    The sacked officials are being invited in connection with an ongoing investigation of a former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, relating to money laundering amounting to N8.069 billion.

    According to Daily Trust, the anti-graft agency is planning to formally invite all the sacked heads of agencies who worked directly under Senator Sirika in the aviation ministry.

    An EFCC official told the newspaper that letters of invitation to the sacked and suspended officials were already prepared to come over to explain their roles in the alleged different fraudulent activities that took place in the ministry under Sirika.

    Recall that President Bola Tinubu sacked the heads of Nigeria’s aviation agencies in December 2023, including the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET), and Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).

    Those sacked included Kabir Mohammed of FAAN; Tayib Odunowo of NAMA; Akinola Olateru of NSIB; Prof. Mansur Matazu of NiMet; and Alkali Modibbo, the Rector of NCAT while also suspending the Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Captain Musa Nuhu.

  • FG begins unbundling of DISCOS

    FG begins unbundling of DISCOS

    The Federal Government has announced the unbundling of power distribution companies in Nigeria along state lines.

    This is due to their large sizes which often result in inefficiency and ineffectiveness.

    The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu stated this on Monday when he received the Senate Committee on Power, led by their Chairman, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe.

    Adelabu said the Tinubu-led administration had commenced the restructuring of Nigeria’s 11 power distribution companies.

    According to him, the privatisation of the firms would not be reversed but stressed that the Discos would be broken into more efficient structures

    The Nigerian government has also ordered the sale of Discos that have been taken over by banks and the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria from its original investors/owners.

    The likes of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC; Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC; Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, KEDC; and Kano Electricity Distribution Company are all being managed by banks and AMCON.

    AEDC is under the management of UBA, and Fidelity Bank manages BEDC, KEDC and Kano Electricity Distribution Company.

    AMCON is in charge of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company.

    This is due to their inability to repay their loans to the financial institutions.

    The Senate Committee on Power said the distribution companies have failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians since they took over the privatised assets over 10 years ago.

    The Minister further revealed that over 100 projects of the Transmission Company of Nigeria have not been completed since 2001, a period of about 23 years.

    “We are unbundling the Discos along state lines. Some of the Discos are too big for efficiency. They are too big for effectiveness. Ibadan Disco covers seven states. It is practically impossible for them to be efficient,” he said.

    “So we are rearranging and restructuring the Discos along state lines so that each state government will know the responsible Disco for their states.

    “Also, the federal and state governments should start exercising their rights in the operation and management of the Discos because we still own 40 per cent in the firms.

    “But we have left it for the private sector operators for too long and they have messed it up. So the government must come back to take over its own right in the Discos. We are also planning to franchise the unserved communities under the Discos.”

    The minister went ahead to state that “we will start seeing regulations about franchising. The fact you are Eko Disco doesn’t mean that you cannot have smaller Discos that are ready to invest in your unserved communities. So we are looking at franchising.”

  • Peter Obi and I never believed in Labour Party ideologies — Doyin Okupe

    Peter Obi and I never believed in Labour Party ideologies — Doyin Okupe

    Former director-general of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, DDr. Doyin Okupe has said that he and the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, never believed in the ideologies of the party.

    Okupe made the claim during an interview on Arise Television.

    He said the Labour Party was just a special purpose vehicle for the presidential election.

    In January, Okupe resigned his membership of the Labour Party, citing ideological differences.

    He said his membership of the party ended the moment Obi lost the election.

    “The LP for us — for Peter Obi and I — and those in the leadership of the movement, the party was a special purpose vehicle.

    “I have never been a Labour person, I have never operated on the left before but we needed a platform and this was the only platform readily available to us.

    “We thought that if we won the election, there are no fast and hard rules about ideologies. You can always find a shade between the left and the right. You can always move to the centre.

    “We were hoping and praying that if we won we would find a way to come to some consensus with the Labour.

    “Peter Obi is not a Labour person. He is not a leftist person, he is a trader, he is a businessman just like me. I am a liberal democrat, I believe in liberal democracy, I believe in free enterprise,” he added.

  • CBN sells $10,000 to BDCs at N1,021 per dollar

    CBN sells $10,000 to BDCs at N1,021 per dollar

    The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has approved the sale of an additional 10,000 dollars to 1,583 eligible Bureaux De Change, BDC, operators in the country to meet the demands of the market.

    The CBN’s Director, Trade and Exchange Department, Dr Hassan Mahmud, made this known in a letter addressed to the President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, ABCON, on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Mahmud said that the CBN would sell to the BDCs at the rate of N1,021 to a dollar.

    “The BDCs are, in turn, to sell to eligible end users at a spread of not more than 1.5 per cent above the purchase price,” he said.

    He directed all eligible BDCs to commence payment of Naira deposit to some designated CBN Naira deposit account numbers.

    “All BDCs are advised to continue to abide by the rules and conditions as stipulated in our earlier operational guidelines,” he added.

    Recall that on April 8, the apex bank approved the sale of 10,000 dollars to 1,588 eligible BDC operators at the rate of N1,101 to the dollar amid efforts to stabilize the Naira at the FX market.

    The development comes amid the recent drop in the value of the Naira against the dollar. From last month to date, the Naira has depreciated four times.

  • Alleged N84bn Fraud: Why Yahaya Bello refuses to appear in court, Lawyer

    Alleged N84bn Fraud: Why Yahaya Bello refuses to appear in court, Lawyer

    A governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has said he is ready to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja to answer to the 19-count charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

    Bello, however, claims he is afraid of getting arrested.

    Although the former governor was not present for his arraignment on Tuesday, he briefed his team of lawyers who addressed the court.

    One of the lawyers in his legal team, Mr Adeola Adedipe, SAN, told the court that Bello would have made himself available for the proceedings, but was afraid that he would be arrested.

    “The defendant wants to come to court but he is afraid that there is an order of arrest hanging on his head,” Adedipe said.

    Consequently, he prayed the court to set aside the ex parte order of arrest it earlier issued against Bello.

    Adedipe noted that it was only at the resumed proceedings on Tuesday that the court okayed substituted service of the charge on the defendant, through his lawyer.

    “As at the time the warrant was issued, the order for substituted service had not been made. That order was just made this morning.

    “A warrant of arrest should not be hanging on his neck when we leave this court,” he added.

  • Tinubu declares Counter-Terrorism meeting open

    Tinubu declares Counter-Terrorism meeting open

    President Bola Tinubu has declared the high level African Counter-Terrorism meeting open.

    The meeting, which is holding at the Offoce of the National Security Adviser on Monday, April 22, has in attendance special guests including the Under-Secretary General, United Nations office of Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, Deputy Secretary-General , United Nations, Amina Mohammed, President Republic of Benin, Patrice Talon, President Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, President Republic of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, amongst others.

    The Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun wrote: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) declares open, the High Level African Counter-Terrorism meeting at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

    “Special guests at this high level security summit include: 

    “Mr Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary General, United Nations office of Counter-Terrorism 

    “Ms Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General , United Nations

    “H.E Patrice Talon , President Republic of Benin 

    “H.E Nana Akufo-Addo, President 
    Republic of Ghana 

    “H.E Faure Gnassingbe, President 
    Republic of Togo 

    “HM #YusufTuggar, Foreign Affairs Minister of Nigeria 

    “General Hanana Hanana , Minister of National Defence, Mauritius 

    “Mr Moussa Faki Mahmat, Chairperson, African Union Commission.”

  • Nigeria not ripe for state police, says IGP Egbetokun

    Nigeria not ripe for state police, says IGP Egbetokun

    The Nigeria Police Force has opposed the establishment of state police, saying the country was not ripe for such. 

    Speaking at a one day dialogue on state policing, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun said the establishment of state police will execerbate ethnic tension, leading to divided loyalty in the states. 

    Represented by AIG Ben Okolo, the Inspector General of Police said the establishment of state police will also lead to multiple command structures in the states. 

    He also said that state governors are likely to abuse the privilege of state police by using it for political gains, leading to possible abuse of power and abuse of huma rights. 

    He argued that the state government lack thereof required funding that will give birth to the type of policing that the nation requires. 

    Rather than estabalisibg state police, he recommend the merging of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Federal Road Safety Commission to form a department in the Nigeria Police Force. 

    He also said there is the need for a yearly recruitment of about 30,000 police personnel into the force annually to meet the UN requirements for morden policing, while also increasing annual budgetary allocation to the force. 

  • FG Resumes Prosecution Of Boko Haram Detainees In Kainji — Ribadu

    FG Resumes Prosecution Of Boko Haram Detainees In Kainji — Ribadu

    Nigeria has resumed the prosecution of all Boko Haram detainees in Kainji

    The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, disclosed this at the 2-day High-level African Counter-terrorism Summit in Abuja

    According to him, Nigeria is also gathering intelligence on the activities of Boko Haram and the Islamic State–West Africa Province (ISWAP), to tackle the groups headlong.

    The Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, United Nations Office on Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, said the success of the United Nations lies in the collaboration of African countries towards providing African-based solutions.

  • Rainstorm Plunges 40 Ogun Communities Into Darkness

    Rainstorm Plunges 40 Ogun Communities Into Darkness

    Forty communities in Ogun State have been plunged into darkness following a rainstorm on Sunday. 

    The downpour which began around midday, destroyed electricity facilities in some parts of the state, leading to a blackout.

    “Due to broken poles occasioned by the heavy downpour at Ota and Mowe, customers in the following communities: lyana lyesi, Osuke Town, Egan Road, lyana Ilogbo, Ijaba, Ijagba, Itele, Lafenwa, Singer, Joju, Alishiba, Oju Ore, Tollgate, Eledi, Akeja, Abebi, Osi Round About, Ota Town, Ota Industrial Estate, Igberen, lju, Atan, Onipanu, Obasanjo, Lusada, Arigba, Odugbe, Ado-Odo, Igbesa, Owode,” the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) said in a statement late Sunday.

    “Olokuta, Hanushi, Bamtish Camp Lufiwape, Eltees Farm, August Engineering, Spark Cear Soap Ayetoro, Amazing Grace Oil, Christopher University, Royal Garden Estate, Pentagon Estate, and environs are experiencing power outages”.

    It called on residents of the areas to avoid “contact with the broken poles, saggy wires or any other electrical installation affected by the rain”.

    “Our technical team is working to clear and replace the broken poles and installations to ensure power supply is restored as soon as possible,” IBEDC said.