Federal Government has set up a panel to probe the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, made this known in a statement on Thursday.
We had earlier reported how Hadiza Bala Usman was suspended as Managing Director of the authority.
An aide of Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, had disclosed this to our correspondents, saying it had not been made official at the time.
Another source in the Transport ministry which supervises NPA, hinted that there has been no love lost between the Minister, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and Usman in recent times.
The source, who is also an aide to the Minister, said Amaechi has been worried over the overbearing nature of Usman.
“Yes, the MD was suspended earlier on Thursday but the minister will give full details on Friday.
“The minister and some members of staff of the ministry are presently in Jos for a programme and he is scheduled to brief the press on the issue.
But in his statement, Shehu said Buhari had approved a panel of inquiry on NPA and directed Usman to step aside.
The statement read, “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the recommendation of the Ministry of Transportation under Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi for the setting up of an Administrative Panel of Inquiry to investigate the Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority.
“The President has also approved that the Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman, step aside while the investigation is carried out. Mr Mohammed Koko will act in that position.
“The panel is to be headed by the Director, Maritime Services of the Ministry while the Deputy Director, Legal of the same ministry will serve as Secretary. Other members of the panel will be appointed by the minister.”
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has revealed that when 29 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State, were abducted, the plan was to attack and kill the bandits even if it meant some students would die in the process.
He added that Kaduna is currently at war and such would only be considered as collateral damage, a price he would be willing to pay instead of paying ransom
The governor said before this could be done, the bandits hurriedly changed location which led to the students spending over a month in captivity.
He said this on Thursday during a webinar organised by the Africa Leadership Group.
The event which was tagged: ‘Developing a Viable Nation 2’ was hosted by Pastor of Trinity House Church, Ituah Ighodalo.
While responding to a question on his refusal to negotiate with bandits, the governor said, “Two days after the abduction of the Afaka young people, I was assured by the air force and the army that they knew where the kidnappers were with the students and they had encircled (them).
He stated that; “We were going to attack them. We would lose a few students but we would kill all the bandits and we would recover some of the students. That was our plan. That was the plan of the air force and the army… But they slipped through the cordon of the army. That is why they were not attacked.
“We know it is risky, we know in the process we may lose some of the abductees but it is a price we have to pay. This is war, there will always be collateral damage in war and we will rather do that than pay money because paying money has not solved the problem anywhere in the world.”
El-Rufai admitted that he had “lost weight” over the insecurity in Kaduna State which was giving him sleepless nights.
The governor, however, claimed that insecurity in Kaduna was not as bad as Niger, Katsina and Zamfara but the media only focused attention on his state because it fitted into their narrative of ethnic clashes.
El-Rufai said in Katsina and Niger states, entire villages were sacked by bandits but nothing of such happened in Kaduna.
On why he asked former President Goodluck Jonathan to negotiate with Boko Haram to rescue Chibok girls, the governor stated that he only gave that advice because that was the first time such abduction would take place.
He said Boko Haram is driven by an ideology and not by money in the case of today’s bandits.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) through its Education Secretariat on Thursday has said that schools in the nation’s capital are not shut as claimed by a report in one of the dailies.
Speaking on behalf of the administration, the Acting Secretary, Education Secretariat ,Malam Leramoh Abdulrazaq gave this assurance at a press conference in Abuja to allayed the fears of parents, guardians and stakeholders of the safety of their wards in FCT schools.
He said that the security challenges being experienced across the country has been utmost concern to the FCT Administration and has continue to put all efforts and strategies together to safeguard it’s Territory.
He further stated that, FCT Schools which resumed the third term academic session last month had been running smoothly with daily and intensive monitoring and inspection mechanism in place by it’s various departments mandated with such responsibilities.
His said; “No security breach has been recorded in FCT debunking the media reports that FCT Schools have been closed”.
Leramoh , however, stressed that in the face of emerging security challenges, the Education Secretariat has continued to strengthen it’s security personnel and surveillance with strict adherence to security tips and ensure conducive learning environment with full compliance to the COVID-19 protocols.
He therefore called on Parents Guardians and Stakeholders not to relent in complementing the Government efforts and Sustaining the various safety measures the FCT Administration has already put in place reminding them that security is everybody’s business.
He assured them of their ward’s safety under the Education Secretariat custody stressing that, FCT Schools remain safe with effective and efficient learning and teaching taking place unhindered.
Also speaking, the FCTA, Director of Security Services, Malam Adamu Gwary said the FCT Commissioner of Police met last week with other Heads of Security agencies to ensure that all those flashpoints of kidnappers are adequately deployed.
He added that, the FCT Minister , Malam Muhammad Musa Bello also assured the security agencies of support to adequately cover the flash points.
Fielding questions from newsmen on the issue of security in tertiary institutions, he said the Department has created a forum by which all Heads of Tertiary institutions meet regularly, we will now make it monthly to ensure adequate strategies particularly with reference to security in our tertiary institutions.
The Nigeria Centre For Disease Control (NCDC) has reiterated its commitment towards the safety of all health workers in the country from infectious diseases.
The NCDC Director General, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu stated this in Abuja at a campaign to commemorate the 2021 Hand Hygiene Day.
Ihekweazu who was represented by the Director, Prevention and Management Department of the agency, Dr. Chinwe Ochu said, NCDC has the primary mandate to keep Nigeria safe from infectious diseases.
He said that as an organization, its major focus is on disease prevention, and the best strategy in doing that is by creating awareness on proper hand wash which is using soap and water to wash hands.
According to him, proper hand wash is one of the most effective ways of preventing infections. ” Covid-19 has taught us a great lesson globally, we have learnt that it is not always the big case but even the small thing we neglect and ignore could be the key for our survival as individual, family even as a nation”, he said.
In the same vain, the Team Leader, Anti Microbial Resistance And Infection Prevention And Control programmes, NCDC, Tochi Okwor, said that for World Health Organisation (WHO) the aim of this day is to bring people together in support of hand hygiene improvement across the globe. She,however, expressed that in the present times, this day holds a lot of significance in our lives as we are battling against the COVID-19 pandemic. “This day is observed to make people aware of the importance of hand hygiene, saying that the aim of this day is to ‘bring people together’ in support of hand hygiene improvement across the world”. Also, Chairperson of the Infection Prevention Control Committee, (IPCC), Dr Nkolika Uwaezuoke said the save lives: clean your hands annual global campaign was launched in 2009 by the world health organization as part of a major global effort to improve hand hygiene. She said that the campaign is celebrated annually on the 5th of May and has come to be known globally as the “world hand washing day” “The main aim of this campaign is to maintain global promotion, visibility and sustainability of hand hygiene within the healthcare settings and to bring people together in support of hand hygiene improvement around the world, adding that the hand care hygiene day therefore focuses on the importance of improving hand hygiene within the health setting”. Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
The National Examinations Council (NECO) has released the results of the 2020 Senior School Certificate Examination for External Candidates.
Just as the council announced that it has recorded 6,465 exam malpractice cases against 17,004 cases rocorded in 2019.
The Registrar/Chief Executive, Prof. Godswill Obioma while announcing the results at the Council Headquarters in Minna, on Thursday Niger State capital, disclosed that a total of 41,459 candidates registered for the examination, out of which 39,503 actually sat.
The NECO boss explained further that a total of 26,277 candidates obtained five credits and above including, English Language and Mathematics, while 34,014 candidates also obtained five credits and above irrespective of English Language and Mathematics.
The Registrar who reiterated the Council’s zero tolerance for examination malpractice, noted that appropriate standards and excellence were maintained right from the planning stage to the release of results.
The Catholic Diocese of Enugu has suspended Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka from church activities for one month.
Fr Mbaka was asked to proceed on suspension with effect from May 3 after being summoned by Callistus Valentine Onaga, the Diocesan Bishop.
They said his priest’s political escapades continue to overshadow his theological obligations on a scale that nurtures unending concerns amongst his senior clerics.
The suspension could have far-reaching consequences for the conventional but unofficial church and state relationship.
Church sources said Mr Mbaka’s latest suspension was being viewed as significant for its undertone.
Church officials admitted Father Mbaka’s Adoration Ministry has been a cash cow for the Enugu Diocese. But they said it is not the first time the fiery priest would face administrative action.
The crisis rocking the Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has deepened as a faction led by the Ebierien Fala Itubor-led opened a parallel secretariat in Yenagoa on Wednesday.
According to the Deputy Chairman of the faction, Ogeibiri Orubebe, the Amos Jothan-led executive of the party was first suspended from office before they were sacked by the directive of the president last year.
The faction also accused the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, who is also the leader of the party in the state of allegedly failing in his leadership role.
The parallel secretariat, which is located at Dimrose junction, occupies a building used by former Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, during the 2019 governorship election.
Chief Timipre Sylva and Senator Heineken Lokpobiri who were political allies fell apart in the build-up to the last governorship election in the state, when Sylva supported Chief David Lyon instead of Lokpobiri.
The State Publicity Secretary of APC, Mr Doifie Buokoribo, said those claiming to be new executives of the party in Bayelsa were impostors and desperate politicians who wanted to score cheap political points.
The clamour by judicial and legislative workers for the implementation of financial autonomy for the two arms of government has yielded fruits as Governors have shifted ground in their quest for an earnest resolution of the industrial crisis.
Newsfocusng gathered on Wednesday that the governors had proposed to pay lawmakers a certain percentage of their statutory monthly entitlements towards funding the legislature.
An anonymous source said the governors’ offer followed the refusal of speakers of Houses of Assembly of the 36 states of the federation to accept the N100 million monthly offer made by the governors for each state legislature.
In rejecting the irreducible minimum payment of N100 million monthly to each of the legislatures in the states to fund their operations, the speakers had insisted on N250 million monthly.
It was also gathered that the governors had also rejected the demand of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) that the gross allocations should be remitted to the two arms of government directly.
The governors’ hard-line position was said to be responsible for the delay in the resolution of the strike embarked upon by judicial and parliamentary workers in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to press for the implementation of financial autonomy for state judiciaries and legislatures.
However, the governors agreed that the National Judicial Council (NJC) will handle funds for states’ judicial councils to take care of the high courts while the state governments will be responsible for funding the magistrates and customary courts.
In a bid to resolve the issues and end the ongoing industrial dispute, the federal government has invited the leadership of JUSUN and PASAN to a negotiation today.
This was contained in a statement by the Deputy Director Press and Public Relations in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr. Charles Akpan, said the Minister, Senator Chris Ngige, would host the negotiations with the workers.
An earlier plan to hold talks with the striking workers was stalled by a lack of harmony in the positions of the team representing the federal government and that of governors.
The Solicitor-General of the Federation, Mr. Dayo Apata, who had represented the federal government, and the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Mr. Asishana Okauru, had presented different position papers, which stalled negotiations.
But a source revealed yesterday that the two parties had reached a consensus, while all the grey areas have been resolved.
He confirmed that Ngige would schedule a meeting with the leadership of JUSUN and PASAN to sort out any other outstanding issues.
According to him ; “Right now; there’s a consensus. There’s some agreement, grey areas have been cleared and I think the minister is committed to putting a meeting together with the workers and in the next couple of days. I think all the grey areas will be sorted out.
“Some of the grey areas for the judiciary, for instance, is that it is clear to all the parties now that the National Judicial Council (NJC) will be handling that because that’s the position of the constitution. They have been doing that for recurrent at the state level, but have not been doing it for capital spending.
That will continue, especially for courts of record. The governors will be in charge of customary courts and magistrates courts.
“For the legislature, the major issue was whether the deduction should be based on gross or net. What they have agreed is that it is going to be an agreed percentage of appropriated amount.”
Following the different positions adopted by the federal government and the governors, Ngige had urged the governors to rework the agreement for negotiations to resume.
The governors had accepted in principle the funding of both the state legislatures and judiciaries from their allocations from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), to be deducted from the States Accounts Allocation Committee (SAAC).
As part of its implementation, the state governments were expected from May 1, to set up the States Accounts Allocations Committee (SAAC) with members from the states Assembly committee chairmen on Finance and the States Commissioners of Finance to discuss on monthly basis the disbursement of funds
However, the governors and speakers could not reach a consensus on how much to be given to each state legislature monthly.
Lawmakers have been notified of a possible imminent attack by Boko Haram insurgents on the National Assembly complex and other public buildings in Abuja.
Our correspondent gathered on Wednesday, from several members of the House of Representatives, confirmed that they had been notified of the imminent attack by the terrorist group.
One of them, who is from a state in the South-West, said his presence would henceforth be limited on the premises.
“That is the security alert I saw today. I’m already moving out of here. I’ll only be around when there is a major reason to do so. Nowhere is safe in the country anymore,” he said.
Already the notice on the impending attack has been made available to the lawmakers.
The notice, a copy of which our correspondent saw, was sent to the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, other principal officers and all members of the House.
The ‘security alert’, dated May 4, 2021, was issued by Chairman of the House Committee on Internal Security, National Assembly, Mr Usman Shiddi.
It was titled ‘Re: planned insurgent attacks on VIP locations, government facilities and assets in Abuja.’
The alert read, “I refer to the above subject of which a copy of the intelligence report from the Force Intelligence Bureau of the Nigeria Police Force in the National Assembly Complex has been made available to my office.
“The report indicates planned insurgent attacks by some elements of Boko Haram on some VIP locations, government facilities and assets in Abuja, including the National Assembly complex.
“In view of the above intelligence, I have considered it paramount to advise that all members should, henceforth, use the presidential gate for ingress and egress.
“This is to avoid the unforeseen congestions that are sometimes encountered at the main gates, since such congestions could easily be the targets for these insurgent elements.
“Security agencies are, however, actively on top of the issue to unravel and to contain the intended menace. Accept the assurances of my highest regards, please
Security has been beefed up in and around the complex since Thursday last week.
For the first time, security operatives on that day checked vehicles entering the premises, causing traffic congestion especially at the third (and last) gate, a process that has continued till date.
Before now, the security operatives were only after the identities of drivers and passengers to confirm that they were staff members, legislative aides, journalists or persons working in private businesses in the complex.
Abubakar Fulata, confirmed the development in plenary.
The Speaker called on Chairman of the House Committee on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements, Nicholas Ossia, to lay the report on the ‘Bill for an Act to Repeal Treaties (Making Procedure, Etc.) Act, Cap. T20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and Enact Treaties (Making Procedure) Bill.’
Fulata, however, notified the Speaker that Ossai was not in the chamber, saying several lawmakers were still stuck in the traffic because of the security checks.
It would be recalled that the Governor of Niger State, Sani Bello, had e on April 26, 2021, raised the alarm over Boko Haram terrorists taking over a part of the state, hoisting their flag in Kaure village from where they had made incursions into more than 50 villages.
Bello said Abuja was not safe, with Boko Haram’s presence in Kaure – a two- hour journey from the Federal Capital Territory.
He said, “I am confirming that there are Boko Haram elements here in Niger State. Here in Kaure, I am confirming that they have hoisted their flags here.”
Same day, Gbajabiamila, had met with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Presidential Villa, in company with the Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa
The House the next day held a long executive (closed-door) session to discuss the rising spate of insecurity across Nigeria, calling on Buhari to declare a state of emergency on security.
At the secret session that lasted over three hours, the lawmakers unanimously adopted a series of resolutions, one of which was that “the Federal Government should ensure the protection of national infrastructure and assets, particularly the Shiroro and Kainji Dams in Niger State
Resident of Ungwar Yamadawa, Dorayi Baba in Kano metropolis on Wednesday night arrested two unknown gunmen after a failed kidnap attempt in the neighbourhood.
An eyewitness told our correspondent that, the unknown gunmen who infiltrated the densly populated slum made a bold attempt to kidnap a resident who was accessing his garage late evening.
The witness narrated that in the ensuing melee, the targeted victim outsmart the gunmen and escaped into the midst of curious onlookers.
The account further explained that the miraculous escape of the victim comprised the dastardly operation as gunmen embarked on sporadic gunshots to meander their escape from the neighbourhood.
He said , “residents dammed the consequences and swooped on the suspected criminals as the were arrested them like a lame duck on a hijacked Tricycle during the fracas.”
The eyewitness said that the “crowd of volunteers on a hot chase overwhelmed the gunmen who were caught pant down, seized and handed over to police who arrived the trouble spot on the nick of time.”
He stated the police further evacuated the two suspects to unnamed health facility in the city for medical attention that arose from assault from volunteers.
DSP Haruna Abdullahi Kiyawa, the police public Relations Officer, Kano police Command confirmed the incident to local Radio station, but said details are sketchy at the time of going press.
