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Killer bomb Kerosene kill seller, Daughter at Eku

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Killer bomb Kerosene kill seller, Daughter at Eku

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]wo persons, a woman and her daughter, have been confirmed dead, while another of her child and another woman were badly burned in a gory fire incident caused by kerosene on Saturday morning.

Our reporter gathered that the fire that claimed the life of the woman known as Carol and the daughter, Favour, was said to have occurred at about 6 am in Eku, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State.

According to Nyerhovwo Akusu, an eyewitness who spoke with OM, the fire started after the kerosene Carol was selling to the yet to be identified woman was torched by an exposed flame and, it escalated after other kegs of kerosene kept in her store exploded, affecting a stretch of three stores and a caravan in the vicinity.

Another eyewitness, Efe Ikoyo, revealed that while Carol died in the fire, Favour died while being taken to the hospital for treatment. He said that by the time men of the Delta State University fire service arrived at the scene, the damage had already been done.

There was no information about the woman Carol was selling the kerosene to and no information about the surviving child as at the time of filing this report. However, the eyewitnesses confirmed the woman and the child who survived the fire were badly burnt and that they were rushed to the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara, for treatment.

By: Emeji Noble

NCAA probes how helicopter picked man stuck in traffic

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NCAA probes how helicopter picked man stuck in traffic

[dropcap]N[/dropcap]igeria’s Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, is probing the circumstances that led to a man being airlifted from a busy street in Benin City, capital of southwestern Edo State.The NCAA said its attention had been drawn to the incident which gained a lot of traction on social media network Twitter leading to the rolling out of stories by most news portals.

A helicopter was shown having landed on a busy road stretch, the Benin – Ore expressway, and picking up a yet to be identified man. The incident happened over the weekend. It is said to have further slowed the already jammed trafic situation on the said road.

A statement from the NCAA said they had identified the operator of the said aircraft which they said had engaged in an unscheduled diversion.

Spokesman Sam Adurogboye is quoted as confirming that the helicopter with registration number 5N – BVQ and aircraft type AW139, was owned by Tropical Arctic Logistics Ltd.“The pilot was compelled to land between Benin and Ore in an unscheduled diversion to pick up someone,” Adurogboye said. He said the findings from the probe will be made public as soon as it is concluded.

 

By : Emeji Noble

Flood sweeps away pastor’s two children in Agbor community in Delta

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Flood sweeps away pastor’s two children in Agbor community in Delta

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]ragedy struck Thursday in Alibioba Community beside Agbor Technical College, Agbor in Ika South Local Government area of Delta State as two brothers, Testimony Okwuokenye (15) and Godwin Okwuokenye (11) were swept away by a ravaging flood in the area. The flood, occasioned by a torrential rainfall that began at about 3:45 pm on that fateful day, an eye witness said, swept away Testimony, a JSS 1 Student of Agbor Technical College and his brother, Godwin, a Primary Five Pupil of Alibioba Primary School in the area.

The eye witness account reports that the brothers were returning home from an outing when the rain commenced, adding that they stepped in a gutter few meters away from their home.

When our correspondent visited their home yesterday, a cream of sympathisers were seen mourning the deceased teenagers whose lifeless bodies at the time of Filing this report, were still lying in one of the rooms.

Speaking in an interview, father of the deceased teenagers and a Pastor in one of the Pentecostal Churches in the area, Revd. Chosen Godday Okwuokenye said at about 4:30 pm on that fateful day, he received a distress call by a teenager in the area who informed him that flood had swept away his two sons.

His words, “That day, Thursday, I went to our garden with my Children, Testimony and Godwin. When we discovered that the weather was changing, threatening to rain, we rushed home. When we got home, it was already drizzling and, both of them carried some basins to gather water.

“Then, I went into my room and decided to lie down on the bed. That was how I slept off. Few minute later, I heard some knock on the door and when I opened, the boy who was knocking said to me, “Sir, are you the father of Testimony, I said yes. Then, he said to me that flood carried both of them.

“He said that Godwin, my younger son, fell into the gutter and Testimony, the elder one, in a bid to rescue him, we’re both swept away.

“When I heard this, I quickly rushed out to the scene. But at Uromi Junction axis, I found a crowd of rescue team who had rescued one of them, whom I quickly rushed to the hospital where Doctors at the Central Hospital, Agbor confirmed that he was already dead.

“The second boy, was discovered this morning (Yesterday morning) and he was also, already dead. The father said while sobbing.

Reacting to the development, residents in the area who included the Chairman, Landlords/Landladies Association, Mr. Chukwuyem Odia, a retired Civil Servant, Mr. Daniel Osunde, a 56 year old housewife, Mrs Patience Edwin as well as a 60 year old housewife, Mrs Juliana Ehiosu called on the state government to come to their aid in addressing the gully erosion challenge in the area.

According to the respondents, the gully erosion has continued to pose dangerous threat to life and property in the area, particularly the life of pupils of Alibioba Primary School in the area as well as students of Agbor Technical College.

They explained that due to the nature of the road and the gully, several pupils and students of the school had in the past been rescued from the gully, adding that a lot of them have had broken limbs just as several building are at the verge of collapse.

At the time of filing this report, the matter was yet to be reported at the Police station .

Bayoko denies slot sharing to government officials in the ongoing teachers’ recruitment

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Bayoko denies slot sharing to government officials in the ongoing teachers’ recruitment
Reginald Bayoko
Delta state
Head of service

[dropcap] R[/dropcap]eginald Bayoko, the Delta state head of service, has said that the governor of Delta state, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has no slot in the ongoing teachers’ recruitment by the Delta state government. Rather, he said anybody who successfully scaled through the process at the end of the exercise got the employment strictly on merit. He made this clarification during an interview with journalists in his office.

According to him , there have been rumours milling around that the employment of 1000 teachers to boost the state teaching service has been shared to politicians, senior government officials and members of the state house of assembly, this has been the rumour among the low class people in the state.

Unconfirmed report has it that some persons who are not in government were given slots for the teachers recruitment making the computer based interview, as it were, a mere formality or a show to the public that the recruitment process passed through the necessary procedure.

But in the interview, the state head of service painstakingly dispelled the assumption, arguing that even the governor of the state was helpless as he could not inject himself into the process, declaring that whoever emerged out of the over 50,000 applicants that applied merited the employment. He said the online application and the computer based test assisted in reducing physical interaction with the applicants.

He said: “That is what we are saying, people have different mindset. They are seeing the reality on ground but they are saying the other side. This is because of the level of skepticism they hold. As I’m even telling you now, the governor does not even have a slot.

“I was in a meeting where the issue was raised and the consensus was that the employment should be merit driven. You find that the recruitment was computerized, application was online, there was no interaction with anybody. There was a computer based test as well.

“This was to reduce the level of interaction. The score was almost instantaneous. So, you knew whether you scaled through or not. There was no form of influence or whatever. A number of persons came to me but I was helpless.

“I told them that is the process and there is nothing I could do about it. Even the governor himself could not inject himself into the process. So, it’s not true that any slot was shared.”
This online newspaper also reports that the 3000 persons who were recruited into the state civil service by former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan before his tenure elapsed in 2015 were sacked by the incumbent governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa on assumption of office in 2015.

But prior to the 2019 general elections, Governor Okowa called for the absorption of the sacked workers, thereby setting up a committee to review the process and report to him.

In the interview, Bayoko said the process was almost completed. He noted that the committee has submitted the report and he was in the final stage of submitting the report to the governor for final assent and announcement of absorption of the suspended workers.

“I just finished reviewing the report of the committee set up to review that exercise. I’m finalizing the report for delivery to the governor. From there, with the speed the governor treats matters, we don’t expect that anything regarding that exercise will exceed more than a week or two,” Bayoko said.

When asked whether there were plans to recruit more civil servants in the new administration, Bayoko said the absorption of those suspended workers is employment but added that before any recruitment is done, there is need to consider the impact considering the new minimum wage that has been put in place by the federal government.

The head of service said as at the last count, the state public service which includes the mainstream civil servants, the teaching service, hospital service and all the parastatals is in the region of 51,000 personnel, adding that with the biometric exercise embarked upon by the state, the issue of ghost workers has been phased out of the service.

He said the verification exercise was a big success for the state as it has shaken up the state data base thereby digitizing the workforce through Herkabella, noting that there will not be a second process but that as people are employed, their data are fed into the system.

According to him, the process has removed many from the state payroll who, prior to the exercise, were fraudulently receiving salaries but not staff of the Delta state government.

He said: “I might not be able to give you figures but there is been a number of persons who have had to exit the service because of the regularization of their records of service. You will discover that there were a number of persons who did not actually declare their actual age, so the exercise threw up their real ages.

“There were also some too, when they assumed duty, you will have heard of instances where people go to change their records in order to prolong their stay in service. That exercise has, to a large extent, rebalanced the system.

“For those who, perhaps, would have stayed longer, many of them have exited the service. There were some pockets of cases of staff who, apparently, were in the payroll but do not come to work because some of them were in overseas while others have some other engagements. Because they needed to come in to prove that they are around, we also threw them out. So, the issue of ghost workers has been arrested.”

 

By : Emeji Noble

BUHARI’S POOR ECONOMIC POLICIES LEADING NIGERIA TO BANKRUPTCY-EMIR SANUSI

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BUHARI’S POOR ECONOMIC POLICIES LEADING NIGERIA TO BANKRUPTCY-EMIR SANUSI
[dropcap]E[/dropcap]mir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi, has predicted that Nigeria is on the verge of bankruptcy following poor and “unfavourable economic policies”.

Speaking at a workshop the office of the accountant-general of the federation organised at government house, Kano, the emir opposed subsidizing petroleum products and electricity tariff. He advised President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to take a different stance, saying for 30 years, successive governments “have had this project called petroleum subsidy”.

He said the time had come to stop subsidy so as to save the nation’s economy. “We are heading to bankruptcy… what happened is that the federal government pays petroleum subsidy, pays electricity tariff subsidy, and if there is rise in interest rates, federal government pays,” he said.

“What is more life threatening than subsidy that we have to sacrifice education, health sector and infrastructure for us to have cheap petroleum.

“If truly President Buhari is fighting poverty, he should remove the risk on the national financial sector and stop the subsidy regime which is fraudulent.”

Sanusi asked Buhari to tell Nigerians the fact about the economic situation and also act quickly on this. “Since I have decided to come here, you have to accept what I have said here. And please, if you do not want to hear the truth, never invite me,” he said.

“So, let us talk about the state of public finance in Nigeria. We have a number of very difficult decisions that we must make, and we should face the reality. His Excellency, the president, said in his inaugural speech that his government would like to lift 100 million people out of poverty, it was a speech that was well received not only in this country, but worldwide.

“The number of people living with poverty in Nigeria is frightening. By 2050, 85 percent of those living in extreme poverty in the world will be from the African continent. And Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of
Congo will take the lead.

“Two days ago, I read that the percentage of government revenue going to debt services has risen to 70 percent. These numbers are not lying. They are public numbers. I read them in the newspapers. When you are spending
70 percent of your revenue on debt servicing, then you are managing 30 percent.

“And then, you continue subsidising petroleum products; and spending N1.5 trillion per annum on petroleum subsidy! And then we are subsidizsng electricity tariff. And maybe, you have to borrow from the capital market or the Central Bank of Nigeria to service the shortfall in the electricity tariff, where is the money to pay salaries, where is
the money for education, where other government projects?”

Sanusi is known for speaking his mind, even when highly-placed government officials are involved.

In 2014, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan suspended him months after he raised the alarm that $20 billion was unaccounted for under the overnment of Jonathan.

Presently, the monarch is having a running battle with Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, who broke the emirate led by Sanusi into five, appointing four new emirs while the state anti-graft agency also probed the monarch and recommended his suspension.

CBN Governor unveils 5-year plan for CBN

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CBN Governor unveils 5-year plan for CBN
Godwin Emefiele
CBN, Governor

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, says he will bring inflation to single digit within the next five years.
Emefiele made the promise in Abuja today, Monday, June 24, 2019 during a press briefing on his policy road map in his second term. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the inflation rate dropped to 11.4 per cent as at May. He said that CBN, under his leadership, would ensure that monetary policy measures would be geared towards containing inflationary pressures. Emefiele said that he would also support improved productivity in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
He stressed that he would strive to continue to sustain a positive interest rate regime to the delight of the bank’s important stakeholders. According to Emefiele, the decisions of the Monetary Policy Committee on inflation and interest rates will depend on data on key economic variables.“We will work with other stakeholders and we shall bring down the cost of food items which has considerable weight in the Consumer Price Index basket.
“Our ultimate objective is to anchor the public’s inflation expectation at single digits in the medium to long-term.
“We believe that a low and stable inflationary environment is essential to the growth of our economy because it will help support long-term planning by individuals and businesses.
“Such will also help to lower interest rates charged by banks to businesses thereby facilitating improved access to credit and corresponding growth in output and employment,” he said.
Emefiele said that macro-economic stability was key to supporting improved Growth Domestic Product (GDP) growth and greater private sector investment.
“The bank will leverage monetary policy tools in supporting a low inflation environment while seeking to maintain the stability of the exchange rate,’’ he said. (NAN)

9 years old girl raped by 55 years old man in Lagos

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9 years old girl raped by 55 years old man in Lagos

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t was a horrible revelation on Monday at the Lagos State Special Offences Court when a 55-year old father, Eze Chukwuma, was arraigned for allegedly molesting his two daughters, aged 16 and 17, between the years 2008 and 2017 in his home at 2 Agbeke Close, Iyana-Era, Coker bus stop, Ijanikin, Lagos.He was arraigned on two counts of defilement contrary to Section 137 of the Criminal Law CH. C17. Vol 3, Law of Lagos of State, 2015.Chukwuma, according to PUNCH METRO allegedly started molesting his daughters after the death of his wife in February 2008.

According to the 16-year-old daughter, the suspect, who allegedly deflowered her in 2008, took turns with the sisters
every night.She added that one of her elder sisters absconded from home after she could no longer endure the incessant sexual harassment.

The medium quoted the girl’s statement made to police as saying, “The whole thing started when my mother died in
February 2008. My father brought us back from the village in Ebonyi State to Lagos and started harassing my elder sister sexually; two of my elder sisters were already staying with him then. When we got to the house, we couldn’t find one of my sisters.“So, I asked my eldest sister and she said that she ran away from the house when she could no longer bear daddy’s sexual harassment.

“My eldest sister stayed and endured everything, because she would soon finish secondary school. My eldest sister later gained admission to the university and since then has not come home, neither has she spoken with my father.

“At a point, I was left at home with my two other sisters and at night, my father would ask us to separate ourselves so
that he could sleep with one person first before going for the other. Sometimes, he would threaten to stab us if we
refused to allow him to have his way.”

The presiding judge, Justice Abiola Sholadoye, ordered that the defendant be remanded in the Kirikiri Medium Prison and adjourned the case till October 28 for trial.

PDP Moves To Fish Out Members Who Voted Lawan, Gbajabiamila, Others

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PDP Moves To Fish Out Members Who Voted Lawan, Gbajabiamila, Others
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Monday, revealed plans to fish out its members who voted candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as principal officers of the 9th National Assembly. The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, revealed in a statement that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP has set up a fact-finding committee to determine the  roles played by some of its members in the emergence of the 9th NASS leadership.

The Chairman of the Committee, according to Ologbondiyan, is a former President of the Senate, Senator Adolphus Wabara, and former National Secretary of the party, Prof. Wale Oladipo, as the committee’s Secretary.

Other members of the committee include: Senator Ibrahim Mantu, Senator Stella Omu, Mr. Austin Opara, Senator Abdul Ningi, and Mrs. Margaret Icheen.

The terms of reference of the committee, according to Ologbondiyan is to find out why some of the PDP lawmakers failed to abide by the decision of the party during the National Assembly leadership election.

It is also to find out whether there was any involvement of the ruling party in the decision taken by the members involved. “To find out where there are established reasons for taking the action by members, the committee should identify such so that the party can create mutual and political atmosphere for reasonable interaction with senators and Honourable members.

“To find out and recommend ways to checkmate such tendencies in the future and ensure that, moving forward, all members work together to defend the interest of the party at all times and circumstances.”

Ologbondiyan said that the committee was given three weeks from the date of its inauguration to report to the party’s NWC. The PDP at early hour of the June 11 inauguration of the 9th national assembly announced its endorsement of Senator Ali Ndume for Senate President and Umar Bago as Speaker of House of Representatives.

The party, in a statement issued by its National Secretary, Senator Umar Tsauri, said the decision was reached at the end of a decisive meeting of members of the party’s NWC, leaders, state governors as well as the then senators and members-elect on the platform of the PDP.

Tsauri said the decision was in the best interest of the nation, in line with the party’s determination to deepen democracy, ensure a strong and independent legislature, while advising the then PDP lawmakers-elect to be guided accordingly. But Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, who were the preferred candidates of the APC, emerged respectively as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, against the wish of PDP.

Reformed Niger Delta Avengers Accuse Govs Of Corruption, Mismanagement Of 13 Percent Derivation Fund

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Reformed Niger Delta Avengers Accuse Govs Of Corruption, Mismanagement Of 13 Percent Derivation Fund

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]eformed Niger Delta Avengers, (RNDA), a splinter group of dreaded militants group, Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, has accused Governors in the nine states of the Niger Delta region of mismanaging the 13 percent derivation fund meant to develop host communities in the region.The group stated this in a statement while calling on President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government to stop paying 13 percent fund to the Governors but rather pay it directly to the Niger Delta communities.

They also made a fresh demands for the quick release of the Gas Flare Penalty Funds to the affected oil producing communities in the creek of Niger Delta through the leadership of Host Communities of Nigeria, HOSTCOM, led by Dr Mike Emuh.

According to report, leader of the group, self-styled, “Major General Johnmark Ezon-ebi” aka Obama, who spoke on after a crucial meeting of the commanders at Bini River, Delta state, said: “The Reformed Niger Delta Avengers with the coalition of the nine militant groups in the creeks urge Mr President to do the needful in order to quickly remove the 13 per cent derivation funds from the hands of the Niger Delta state governors.”

Accusing the governors of corruption and not managing the funds well, the militant asserted, “We want the money removed from them because they failed woefully to utilize the money, which amounted to trillions of naira to develop the oil communities in the creeks of Niger-Delta.

“By the relevant Section and Act of the Constitution that established 13 per cent derivation, RNDA is advocating payment of the funds to the oil producing communities in the various states that produce crude oil to be managed by the Host Communities of Nigeria, HOSTCOM,” he said.

Former Governors Who May Face EFCC Probe Over Alleged Misappropriation Of Billions

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Former Governors Who May Face EFCC Probe Over Alleged Misappropriation Of Billions

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he 2019 elections have come and gone. With the battles over, all seem not be settling well with immediate former governors of some states following allegations of financial misappropriation riddled against them during their stay in power. These allegations are coming mostly from their successors, after they allege that the ex-State Chief Executives from documents and reports at their disposal shows a high level of financial embezzlement carried out by them.

Below are three immediate formers governors who may face the anti-graft probe over allegations of misappropriation of their state funds.

Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi)
Mohammed Abubakar was elected Governor of the North East State of Bauchi in 2015 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, but unfortunately lost his re-election bid in this year’s general elections.He lost to Bala Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who a couple of days ago alleged that the ex-governor misappropriated the sum of N2.3bn to buy materials for burial in the state.

The governor, who spoke through his spokesperson, Dr. Ladan Salihu, in an interview with journalists in Bauchi, said the funds were spent between January and May, 2019. He explained that over N900m was spent on the purchase of white cloth used for wrapping corpses while over N1.4bn was used to buy the wood for lacing the graves after burial.

According to him, the government discovered issues of corruption, venality, daylight robbery of the commonwealth of the people of the state, adding that there were documentary evidence to prove that.The governor’s spokesman vowed that the state government would use every instrument of the law, including petitioning the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC and other anti- corruption agencies on the matter, “until every kobo stolen is returned.”

Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara)
Abdulaziz Yari is the immediate past governor of Zamfara State. He was elected as the state Chief Executive in 2011 and reelected in 2015 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Ex-Governors Buhari Must Not Appoint Into Cabinet Only yesterday the former governor was indicted by the Transition Committee set up by the State Governor Bello Matawalle over allegation that he misappropriated N251, 951,849,482.50 during his tenure.This was revealed to journalists on Monday by the Chairman of the Transition Committee and immediate past Deputy Governor of the state, Mallam Ibrahim Wakkala.

Wakkala said: “My committee while trying to ascertain the liabilities left behind by the immediate past administration of Hon. Abdulaziz Yari collected and went through the report submitted by a Transition Committee earlier set up by former Governor Yari.

“We discovered from Yari’s committee that the sum of over N250 billion cannot be accounted for.“This included
liabilities from a total of 462 ongoing projects, which stands at N151,190,477,572.02, and unremitted National Housing Fund and unpaid workers’ gratuity of N1,431,645,305.99.

“Similarly, the state government is indebted to various examination bodies, including NECO and WAEC and some higher institutions, amounting to over N2.8 billion.”

Wakkala said the outgone administration, which released N2 billion for the payment of gratuity to retired workers, only paid N400 million to retired Permanent Secretaries, while the remaining balance of N1.6 billion had remained unaccounted for.With these allegations, it is not uncertain the EFCC or ICPC whether or not will go after the former governor to account for these allegations.

Rochas Okorocha (Imo) Though no financial allegations have been officially made by the current Governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha or any public official in the state against the immediate ex-governor, now senator representing Imo West Senatorial District, Rochas Okorocha, it can’t be ruled out that he will be totally free from any probe.

This is in view of the constitution of a financial advisory committee saddled with the task of carrying out a forensic
audit and reviewing “all financial transactions” under Okorocha’s administration. The committee was inaugurated on Monday, June 10, 2019.
Ihedioha had approved the constitution of the committee which is expected to review loans and financial disbursements approved by Okorocha who presided over the state from 29 May 2011 – 29 May 2019.

The committee has the former Director-General of Debt Management Office (DMO), Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, as its chairman, and Mr. Nick Opara Ndudu as its secretary.

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