Category: News

The governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has urged Nigerians to work together for the country’s peace and development, saying national interest must always take precedence over every other interest and consideration.

Mbah, who also stressed the import of quality education to nation building, equally commended Nigerians for their resilience in the face of socio-economic challenges, expressing strong conviction that the country would emerge from the present difficulties stronger and more prosperous.

He stated these on Saturday in a statement he personally signed in commemoration of the nation’s 63rd independence anniversary.

The governor saluted the nation’s founding fathers for their doggedness, patriotic zeal, and lofty visions for Nigeria, urging all tiers of government to work together to reorient the country towards the path of recovery in all sectors of national life.

He said for the country to reach its full potential as a prosperous nation and the true giant of Africa envisaged by the founding fathers, it must prioritise education as the cornerstone of nation-building, adding that it was for this reason that his administration was overhauling basic education in the state, including the ongoing construction of smart schools in each of the 260 wards in the state.

“On behalf of the government and good people of Enugu State, I salute all Nigerians on the occasion of our 63rd independence anniversary.

“On this historic occasion, I would especially want to congratulate the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR as well as the 36 state governors and indeed all Nigerians.

“The struggle for independence was not an easy one, but our founding fathers prevailed. Likewise, I have no doubt that we will ultimately emerge from the present socio-economic difficulties stronger and more prosperous if we all work together irrespective of political affiliations as well as ethnicity and religious backgrounds”, he stated.

Mbah wishes Nigerians a happy and hitch free independence celebration.

The Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees, (NULGE) has kicked against the undue meddlesomeness of the Abia state governor, Alex Otti, in the leadership of the union in the state.

National President, Ambali Akeem Olatunji, said in Akure, the Ondo state capital, that ”there is no leadership crisis in the state chapter of the union before Otti was elected.

Olatunji, expressed the union’s displeasure over Otti’s recent imposition of his stooges as the executives of the union in the state.

Speaking during the inauguration of a new NULGE President in the Ondo state, Comrade Fredrick Akinrinlola, Olatunji, described Otti’s action as executive recklessness.

He said that the Abia governor imposed his cronies on the union to take over the leadership of NULGE the Abia state.

The NULGE National President noted that the governor decided to impose his stooges at the NULGE helms of affairs in order to control the union and “to illegally divert the local government allocation, but said the union will resist this moves.

He said some Chief Executive at the state level always want to impose candidate that are very weak, that would be controllable by them, and will not represent the interest of the union and would not be able to engage Government.

“We have one recently in Abia state, we have conducted election before the new government came in, the new government came in and was trying to distabalize the union, this is a contradiction to the labour movement, the administration has come out to be a disappoinment to the labour.

“NULGE is cautioning the governor of Abia state, Alex Otti, for his undue meddlesome into the affairs of NULGE and attempt to hijack the leadership of the union and we reject this that he has no right to annul our election and impose his brothers and cronies to take over the leadership of the union

“We were disappointed that after the conduct of our election before the inauguration of the present administration in Abia state of Governor Otti of Labour Party.

“He assumed office and the first thing he does was to go after the industrial union and made an attempt to seize the leadership of the NURTW which was rebuffed by the NLC.

“He moved to NULGE and decided he had to take over the union, hijacked the leadership in a Gestapo manner and we were surprised that someone that was elected and had a democratic mandate could turn to dictatorship by hijacking the leadership of our union.

“He attempted to set up an illegal caretaker committee which he has no right because labour is on the exclusive legislative and not on the concurrent list, he has no power under the constitution to meddle in union affairs.

Olatunji said “His attempt to administer our union for us is condemnable, and unacceptable. We therefore call on the leadership of the Labour Party to call Governor Otti to order.

“He is making this attempt to make him pilfer and divert local government allocation. This is the reason he wants to put his cronies in office to ensure he continues to divert funds.

“This is a governor that finds it difficult to pay salaries of workers and has diverted check-up dues if unions and had sacked illegally most Directors of state service.

“We expect him to concentrate on how to fix dilapidated infrastructure in Abia state,.provide social amenities to Abia people but unfortunately we have tales of woes since he assumed office.

“NULGE will resist this illegality and executive recklessness, we will not take it. We will challenge him until justice is achieved”

Vanguard

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) on Friday shared a total sum of N1.1 trillion as Federation Account revenue for the month of August to the federal, state and local governments, indicating a N133.991 billion rise over the N966.110 billion shared in the preceding month of July.

This was contained in a statement from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), citing a communique issued by the FAAC at the end of its September meeting.

…Commends Mbah’s move to dualise Enugu-Abakaliki Road

…Mbah commends FG’s prompt response

The Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi, has assured of immediate reconstruction of the bridge between the New Artisan flyover and the Naira Triangle, at the Enugu end of the Enugu – Port Harcourt expressway, starting with the collapsed one.

Umahi, who blamed the bridge’s collapse on eroded abutment and age, having been constructed in 1978, also commended Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State for undertaking to dualise the Enugu State part of the Enugu-Abakaliki road, saying the governor had shown leadership in ameliorating the plights of his people.

Umahi spoke when he inspected the collapsed bridge in company with Governor Mbah Thursday evening.

“This bridge that collapsed has gone viral. A lot of people have been sending the pictures to me and have been calling. Also, you never allowed me to rest since you said I must come and see it. When you have a leader, who is committed to what leadership of a people should be, he must get support. That is why I decided I must come so that I will brief the president.

“I am also very sure that when they see the two of us together, they will find out that the president is a man that listens.

“Yesterday, I sent the man in charge of bridge design and construction and also the Director of Federal Ministry of Works in charge of the South East. They came and carried out their review.

“What has happened here is very unfortunate. I have read the report of my men, and I have also read the report you sent to us, and the pictures, and the two reports are the same. The piles were exposed because besides the abutment, this bridge was built in 1978.

“We are going to look at the second bridge and see how far remedial work could be done on it and see if we can use it while we do everything to demolish this one and start the reconstruction. And we are going to scale up the reconstruction of the two bridges alongside the road that is going on.

“I want to assure you that we will do that and I have directed the contractors to do everything to provide alternative road in addition to the several routes that you have also provided”, the minister said.

On the governor’s plan to reconstruct and dualise the Enugu – Abakaliki road, Umahi assured that the federal government would expedite the necessary approvals.

“Let me also use this opportunity to thank you for your initiative in constructing a dualised road between Enugu and the Ebonyi boundary. It is a very wonderful initiative.

“We have gotten your letter and I have also sent my men to come and evaluate it. I can assure you that within the next seven days, you must hear from us. We are reviewing the drawing. We will also give you our standard and bill of quantities”, he said.

He also commended Mbah’s suggestion on getting states involved in federal road maintenance, saying it showed the private sector mentality the governor had brought to bear on governance.

“I am happy that when you visited here, you proposed that the federal government should involve state governments in Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI).

“I am happy that you came from the private sector. There is a very serious high hope by the steps you have rolled out. They are in tandem with Mr President’s steps and I pledge to support him very seriously and I pledge to support you. There must be a change. We must reset the country”, he concluded.

Speaking, Governor Mbah thanked the federal government for the prompt response, saying it was a mark of inclusive leadership on the part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“As you already know, I promptly visited the scene immediately this happened. This is a major gateway. So, we cried out to the federal government to say that we need to do something expeditiously. And here we are today; within 48 hours, the minister is right here with us to carry out an inspection, proffering solution on how we can at least get one section of the bridge moving.

“He also has the contractors here with him. They want to immediately swing into action.

“So, we are truly pleased with the action taken so far by the minister and indeed the president. This, for us, underscores the president’s commitment to his oath of office. He committed to lead with compassion. He also committed to run an inclusive government”, Mbah stated.

Governor Alex Otti has formally flagged off the 3.5-kilometre six-lane Okpara Square-Ossah Express Tower Road with a promise to extend the project to the Onuimo axis in Imo State.

Speaking while performing the exercise on Wednesday, Governor Otti promised that the road project would be executed with a standard drainage system, street lights, and others.

The Governor noted that the decision to expand the road to six lanes was to unlock the economic potential of Umuahia, the state capital as well as open up the city to greater economic opportunities.

He said that the administration has commenced payment of compensation to owners of the 130 structures marked for demolition as all the money required to pay compensation has been provided According to him, those yet to receive theirs should exercise patience as the delay could be from their financial institutions.

The Governor who said the government feels the pains of the people, added that he decided to delay the flag off until now to allow for compensation to be released to owners of affected structures.

Governor Otti while assuring that a quality 6-lane road project would be delivered, expressed the hope that the construction company Craneburg being a reputable construction firm will deliver a quality road network with a standard drainage system and solar-powered street lights.

He announced that the same project would be done on the Imo River -Umuikaa-Obikabia-Umuene-Ukaegbu road to Aba down to Ikot Ekpene road as an alternative into Akwa Ibom State to decongest Aba the commercial nerve centre.

The Commissioner for Works Engr. Dom Otumchere Oti revealed that the six-lane road will come with drainage, a sidewalk, and a stone base and will stand the taste of time.

He further said that the road would unlock the economic potential of Umuahia and thanked the residents of the area for their cooperation.

Channels TV

The National Economic Council, NEC, presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Thursday, appealed to the organized Labour to put on hold the proposed indefinite nationwide strike from Tuesday, October 3, 2023.

Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the NEC meeting at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, said Council asked Labour leaders to resume negotiations at the states’ level.

Recall that the two labour centers, the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, had on Tuesday, directed their affiliate unions to commence the nationwide industrial action from October 3, saying it would be a total shut down of the system, until government takes steps to attend to their demands.

The Organised labour accused the federal government of refusing to meaningfully engage and reach agreements with organised Labour on critical issues of the consequences of the unfortunate hike in price of petrol occasioned by subsidy removal which has unleashed massive suffering on Nigeria workers and masses.

The directive to embark on indefinite strike was arrived by the various NEC of the two labour centers after the expiration of a two-day warming strike on September 5 and 6 and that of the 21 day ultimatum that ended last weekend without government attending to the workers demands on provision of palliatives to cushion the effect of hardship.

However, briefing journalists on resolution of NEC on the impending indefinite strike, Mutfwang said Council was of the opinion that continuing on the path of dialogue would be the best option for the economy, especially at the states’ level.

“Council noted the notice by the national leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress to proceed on an indefinite strike from October 3, 2023. The Council noted further the implication of this strike for the economy and the nation and thus urged members to continue to engage with the leadership of their respective states and to appeal to them to shelve the action and continue on the path of dialogue with the federal government. This is the appeal of Council”, the governor said.

Explaining the grounds for NEC’s appeal further, Mutfwang described the situation of most of the states when the various governors took off on May 29, noting that many of they were just coming out of prolonged industrial strikes, adding that enforcing a new strike at this time would further damage the economy.

He, however, appealed for more time for government to work on addressing the concerns of Labour, even as he noted that there are feelers indicating that leadership at every level genuinely wants the issues raised by the Labour addressed once and for all.

“NEC actually expressed genuine concern on the situation in the country and appreciates the concern by Labour to have those issues addressed. That is why NEC is appealing for patience, appealing for time to be able to address the concerns of Labour. We also believe that Mr. President will be addressing the nation first of October and some of the concerns of Labour will be appropriately addressed in the President’s speech.

“It is therefore important that… it’s a federation, so whatever happens Labour is represented in all the 36 states and the FCT and NEC is appealing that discussions should continue at the state levels because there will be peculiarities as to the issues to be addressed concerning the demands of Labour, therefore dialogue is the way to go.

“The nation is at a very critical moment at this time, some of the states, when they took over on May 29, the workers were on strike, some of those issues have just been resolved for the workers to return to work. To ask them to go back immediately, it’s going to further damage the economy.

“Therefore NEC, while expressing genuine concern about the situation in the country, appeals for calm and patience and I want to believe that the leadership across the nation at this point in time wants to truly address the issues that concern Labour and the general populace and move the country forward”, he said.

Vanguard

Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has challenged the South East to maximise their economy of scale and also pool resources to build critical regional infrastructure like railway and roads to create a common market and boost socio-economic prosperity in the region.

Mbah canvassed a multi-dimensional approach to tackling insecurity, including a common security command and control centre, inter-agency cooperation, and non-kinetic approaches such as economic transformation, employment generation, moral suasion, among others.

The governor, who gave the charge at the South East Economic and Security Summit held in Owerri on Thursday, identified transportation and logistics as some of the key enablers needed to transform the South East economy and thereby reduce poverty, unemployment and consequent crimes.

“How do we ensure that we have a road network that moves across the various cities in Anambra, Abia, Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi?

“How do we build a ring road that connects all the major cities in the South East so that we can seamlessly encourage those who are producing and those who are providing services to distribute their products and services across the different cities of the South East seamlessly?

“These are things we must be intentional about if we are going to deal with unemployment and insecurity in the South East.

“Since we now have railways in the Concurrent List, there is nothing stopping us. So, if we pick one or two projects from this summit that we can say as a people of the South East, we want to make sure that we execute them, I believe we can achieve them and they are going to have a huge spillover effect on our economy and security” the governor stated.

Among other models, Mbah stressed the need to mobilise Igbo wealth outside the region towards actualising enabling projects.

“How do we fund such projects? That brings me to this philosophy of ‘Aku Ruo Ulo’, which, in my view, is for us to encourage our kith and kin to bring back their wealth to the South East. Putting a benchmark of about 30 per cent and 40 per cent of our wealth will go a long way. We have people that are wealthy Igbos. So, if we begin to think about how we invest some of those funds in the South East, it is a way of making sure that we have a huge capital inflow to be able to execute some of these critical projects”, he added.

He, therefore, tasked the organisers of the summit to employ the best of Igbo brains to curate and prepare the ideas from the summit in an implementable format, assuring that the South East governors were ready to work together to ensure the full realisation of those ideas.

…commends Gov Mbah on infrastructure, policy reforms

The lawmaker representing Nkanu East/West Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Pharm. Nnolim Nnaji, has urged the Federal Government to take urgent steps in salvaging the decaying state of roads in the South East zone by declaring a state of emergency on infrastructure in the region.

Hon. Nnolim, who made this appeal on Wednesday, when he led other federal lawmakers from the state to inspect the collapsed bridge at the New Artisan Enugu section of the Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressway, stated that most of the infrastructure in the zone had started collapsing and would need the intervention of the federal government to salvage the situation.

He expressed concerns over the hardships that the people and travellers in the state have been facing since the collapse of the bridge on Monday, saying it’s only the urgent intervention by the federal government in collaboration with the state government that could remedy the ugly situation.

“We are here as members of the Enugu State Caucus of the House of Representatives. We are here to inspect the collapsed bridge that links Enugu to Port Harcourt. The Enugu section of the Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressway is what has broken down.

“We have looked at the development and have seen the extent of the damage. I spoke to the Chairman, House Committee on Works, and I also spoke to the Chairman of Senate Committee on Works about the development, and I am also aware that the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, spoke to the Minister of Works and also escalated this situation to the presidency,” Nnaji stressed.

While commending the state governor for the giant strides his administration had been making on infrastructure, Hon. Nnaji expressed regret over the badly damaged bridge, saying it would affect the aggressiveness with which the administration had been taking reforms on infrastructures and the state’s economy.

“We are concerned about this development, especially considering the aggressive infrastructural development being carried out by the governor of Enugu State. So, we are going to escalate this issue beyond what you think at the floor of the House and to the Federal Government to come to our aid and reconstruct this bridge because it is affecting the businesses, development and many other projects in Enugu especially this time that the state government is coming up with a lot of programmes that will enhance the development of Enugu State and its business environment.

Appealing to the people of the state, especially road users, for patience, the lawmaker assured them that they would do everything within their powers to ensure that the bridge was fixed in record time, adding that the government should see the collapsed bridge as an opportunity to carry out structural and integrity tests on bridges and roads in the region and the country at large to avoid a repeat of the incident.

“So, we are appealing to the people of Enugu State, the neighbours of the state and everybody who is using this road to exercise patience. I can assure you that the government of Enugu State and indeed the federal government will come up with a lasting solution to this problem,” he added.

Amongst the federal lawmakers that accompanied him to the site were Hon Chimaobi Atu, representing Enugu North/South Federal Constituency, Hon Stainless Nwodo, representing Igbo-Etiti/Uzo Uwani Federal Constituency, and Hon. Obi Aguocha, representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North/South.

The Climate Action Platform for Africa (CAP-A), a public benefit organisation working to unlock Africa’s potential as a global hub for climate action, has announced the immediate past Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, as the new Chair of the Board of Directors.

The organisation made the announcement in a statement yesterday.

CAP-A’s work is informed by the realisation that Africa’s demographics, growth trajectory and natural resource endowments, coupled with its extremely low levels of current carbon emissions, enable the continent to aspire to not just net-zero but a substantial net-negative carbon footprint sooner than any other part of the world.

While accepting the appointment, Mr Osinbajo said, “Since the recent founding of CAP-A, I have witnessed their work in shifting the global and continental narrative from Africa being a victim of the climate crisis to holding the key to accelerating global climate action.

“I’m honoured to join the Board of Directors as Chair in support of CAP-A’s teams and programs across the continent, and in realizing Africa’s economic development through Climate Positive Growth.”

In his remarks, CAP-A’s founder, James Mwangi, stated that they were “deeply honoured to have Mr Osinbajo join the CAP-A Board of Directors as Chair to assist with the next phase of our growth and our mission of unlocking Africa’s potential as a global hub for climate action.

“His vast experience and passion for transforming African countries’ economies in harmony with climatic needs, will be invaluable to CAP-A’s mission, especially coming out of the inaugural Africa Climate Summit that made a strong push for accelerated climate action.”

Mohammed Brimah

Media Office of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo

Vice President (2015-2023)

Premium Times

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that various road traffic accidents have killed 204 passengers from January to September this year in Bauchi.