The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Category: Trends

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  • DSS accredits only 10 media organizations to cover Nnamdi Kanu’s trial, bars PUNCH, The Guardian, Vanguard, Daily Times and some other media organizations.

     

    The Department of State Services has barred The PUNCH and some media organisations from covering the trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, as his trial continues today.

     

    Also barred along with The PUNCH are The Guardian, Vanguard, Daily Trust, Tribune, Daily Sun, The Cable, and Daily Times, among others.

    The media organisations the DSS accredited are Daily Post, ThisDay, Premium Times, The Nation, Daily Independent, The Herald, National Television Authority, Television Continental, African Independent Television and Channels Television.

     

    The DSS did not give reasons for picking 10 media houses while barring others from covering the trial.

     

    A call to the DSS spokesman, Dr Peter Afunnaya, rang out, while a text message sent to him on the action of the secret police had yet to be responded to as of the time of writing this report.

     

    However, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, who condemned the decision to prevent The PUNCH and other media organisations from covering the trial, said the position of the law was that every trial should be carried out in public and everyone was entitled to watch the proceedings.

     

    He said, “Our legal system does not admit of secret trials. We are not a country of witches and wizards operating in a coven. For a trial to be free and fair, Section 36 of the constitution says it must be carried out openly and publicly. Banning some media houses from covering Nnamdi Kanu’s trial is not only a sin against Section 36 of the constitution, it also violently offends the provision of Section 22 of the same constitution which gives the media the right and responsibility to ensure that the provisions of Chapter Two of the constitution dealing with the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy are upheld and that the government is held accountable to the people of Nigeria.”

     

    Speaking in a similar vein, Remi Olatubora (SAN) said preventing media organisations from performing their constitutional duty ran contrary to the right to freedom of expression as guaranteed under Chapter Four of the Nigerian Constitution.

     

    Olatubora said, “It is a signal that we are now under a full dictatorship. One serious angle to the barring of a section of the media is whether the trial can still in those circumstances be regarded as trial in the public or a free and fair trial as required by the constitution.”

     

    Also, Boma Alabi (SAN) said, “Generally speaking, the courtroom is a public space, everyone can come in.

     

    “If it is a contentious trial that people can come in and disrupt proceedings, then the court will make arrangements to ensure that the proceedings are not disrupted. It is within the court’s right to do so.”

     

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ifedayo Adedipe, also questioned the Federal Government’s motives in excluding The PUNCH, and some other national papers from Nnamdi Kanu’s trial.

     

    He said, “It is obvious that The PUNCH has taken a stand against the oppressive nature of this regime and the government now sees the media house as an unfriendly organisation that they do not want to have anything to do with.

     

    “The facts will speak for themselves, whether some newspapers are excluded or not. Nnamdi Kanu is expected to have a fair and open trial and preventing some media houses from being there will not do credit to the image of the government.

     

    “I will advise The PUNCH and other newspapers to keep their heads up and not be discouraged by this government. Some of the issues usually raised by these newspapers are critical national issues. I believe that it is only people who are beneficiaries of nepotism that will say that this government is  not oppressive or discriminatory.”

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Cholera death toll hits 60 in Abuja, outbreak wrecks serious havoc in the state

     

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration, has intensified community sensitisation on cholera and other severe acute diarrhea diseases outbreaks in the nation’s capital, as death toll leaps from 54 to 60.

     

    FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, who spoke at the continuation of community sensitisation on cholera and other severe acute diarrhoea diseases outbreaks in Pyakasa and Gwagwa respectively, also revealed that suspected cases have risen from 604 to 698 within 72 hours.

     

     

    The minister who was represented by the Ag. Executive Secretary of FCT Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Iwot Ndaeyo, noted that Abaji area council records 3 suspected cases, no death, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) records 281 suspected cases with 22 deaths, while Bwari Area Council records 134 suspected cases with 22 deaths.

     

    Also, Gwagwalada area council records 220 suspected cases with 9 deaths, Kuje area council records 23 suspected cases with 4 deaths and Kwali area council records 37 suspected cases with 3 deaths.

    Aliyu, however, vowed that this ugly trend was unacceptable in the Federal Capital Territory, adding that the administration would not fold its hands and watch residents die helplessly over preventable diseases.

     

     

     

    According to her, “We must take every necessary steps to curb further spread”, just as she urged FCT residents and critical stakeholders to publicize the message of cholera disease prevention, proper sanitation with practice of hand hygiene in their respective communities.

     

    In his remarks, chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Hon. Abdullahi Adamu Candido, affirmed the commitment of his council to forestall continuous spread of the disease to adjoining and other communities.

     

    He added that the Primary Health Care Department of the council had embarked on sensitization tour to all the four chiefdoms in AMAC so as to enlighten the traditional rulers and their councils about the cholera outbreak and preventive measures.

     

    His words: “On our part as an area council, we swung into action immediately we received the news of the outbreak and its confirmation in June. We quickly mobilized our health personnel in all our primary healthcare facilities for prompt responses. Following the recommendations from the outbreak report, we provided funds for quick purchase of drugs, infusions and other treatment materials/consumables in addition to the ones we received from the FCT Public Health Department.

     

    “The Disease Control Unit of our Primary Health Care Department through Disease Surveillance Notification Officers have been working tirelessly in different communities of the council including hard-to-reach fields in order to trace and report cases at the primary healthcare facilities for free treatment.”

     

    Candido, therefore, commended the professional competence, commitment and zeal of the council’s health workers and the Health and Human Services Secretariat of the FCTA in combating this life threatening disease.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

  • Tokyo Olympics: Australia loses to Japan in Softball

     

    The Tokyo Olympics started in earnest on Wednesday, even if unofficially or unceremoniously, after a one-year postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    The Games started with Japan’s 8-1 win over Australia in the opening round of the women’s softball tournament.

     

    The match kicked off at 9 a.m (0000 GMT) in Fukushima, the city hit hard by the tsunami-caused meltdown at the nuclear power station in 2011.

     

    Three softball and six women’s football matches are scheduled in total for Wednesday, two days before Friday’s opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games.

     

    Also in action is the U.S women’s football team, with the world champions seeking revenge against Sweden after they lost to the Swedes in the 2016 quarter-finals.

     

    Japan won the last Olympic softball tournament in 2008.

     

    The sport was dropped at the 2012 and 2016 Games and will also not  feature in 2024.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • 50 Shades of Kate: Kate Henshaw @ 50

    Nigerian stars have taken to their social media pages to celebrate popular Nigerian actress, filmmaker and fitness enthusiast, Kate Henshaw, as she clocks 50 years old today.

    Hailing the screen diva, her colleague, Rita Dominic, took to her verified Instagram account to post several pictures of Henshaw, describing her as an ‘all-around amazing woman’.

     

    Dominic wrote, “Wishing my hot beautiful friend a very happy birthday! You are such a bubbly bunny and an all-around amazing woman and I pray that the rest of your years be filled with every good thing on this earth. May the happiness you find today stay with you forever and a day! Love you lots @k8henshaw. P:S – This is what 50 look.”

     

    Also eulogising the delectable actress, ace actress and filmmaker, Uche Jombo, took to her verified Instagram page to post a video of Kate Henshaw.

     

    She wrote, “I can write a book on the institution called KATE! I have loved her since my first day on a Nollywood set! That’s over two decades of knowing, learning, working and believing in her brand! Timekeeper of sets. A talented queen. Fit4life at 50. WHAT!!!!!

     

    “Happy golden jubilee superstar! I celebrate you like always but most importantly I pray God continues to bless, keep, provide and lead you!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY K8 @k8henshaw.” (sic).

     

    Furthermore, actress, Dakore Egbuson-Akande, who fondly describes Henshaw as ‘Kate The Great’, wrote, “Happiest of birthdays to my beautiful, talented and real big sis @k8henshaw on her 50th birthday. #k8dgr8 (as I fondly call her) fitness queen, advocate, leader of the vampire geng!!! Love you loads and wish I was there to celebrate with you but this birthday na all year celebration.”

     

     

     

    Praising the actress, Empress Njamah wrote, “To know you is to love you, Katie you are an amazing soul, wonderful personality, never a dull moment with you. You carry people matter for head, my backbone, teacher, sister, and friend of twenty-something years.

     

    “You have been a sweet soul, @k8henshaw. You already know I love u loads, happy birthday my sweet 16 (like I always call her) 5th floor yet your looks have refused to leave 2nd-floor vampire…Ufanmi of life.” (sic)

    In 1993, Kate Henshaw auditioned for the lead role in the movie ‘When the Sun Sets’ and was chosen for the role. This was her first appearance in a major Nollywood movie. The multiple award-winning actress has starred in over 45 Nollywood movies.

     

    More so, in July 2014, Henshaw officially unveiled her campaign website as she was aspiring to represent the Calabar Municipal/Odukpani Federal constituency under the platform of the People Democratic Party PDP.

     

    Although she lost the primary election to Rt. Hon Essien Ayi, Henshaw was later appointed as a special adviser by the Governor of Cross River State,  Ben Ayade, in December 2015.

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Electoral Act: Most members from the ruling APC in the Senate votes against E-transmission of results

    The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and a plethora of national and international standards recognise the right to vote and to be voted for as one of the greatest pillars of democracy. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is a right which makes the will of the people the basis of the authority of government, and this is to be expressed in genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and to be held by secret vote or equivalent free voting procedure. But Nigeria purports to run a democracy where the votes do not count, and governmental authority is not expressly based on the will of the people.

     

    It is against the backdrop of the above that one reviews the recent controversies and somersault in the National Assembly in the amendment of the Electoral Act which provides the main legal framework for the conduct of elections. The major issue or controversy is about the electronic transmission of results. In every proposal for a new law or the amendment of an existing law, there is always a mischief in the old law, policy or practice which needs to be fixed. In so many election petitions arising from previous elections, there had been controversies when the results declared at polling stations did not tally with the numbers declared at collation centres. This implies that between the polling booths and the collation centres, something went wrong. Most of the collation is done in the dead of the night when decent men and women without security escort are in their homes sleeping and resting from a hard day’s work. It is between the polling stations and the collation centres that the “election principalities and powers” cause grievous harm and cut the link between the voters and the declared winners. Therefore, in many cases, the will of the people is no longer the basis of the authority of government.

    It is based on this mischief that the proposal to electronically transmit results from the polling centre to the collation centres arose. It is simply a means of deploying the benefits of scientific progress to solve an electoral challenge. The expectation was that the legislature would have embraced this solution with open arms. But not in Nigeria. The subterfuge and argument against electronic transmission of results were that telephone and internet service were not available across the whole of Nigeria. Wait a minute, it is the same country where smartcard readers and SIM cards have functioned in remote villages. It is the same Nigeria where our poverty reduction managers told us they were using SMS to send information and receive acknowledgement for the money they were distributing to the poor. It is from the extreme fringes of forests and deserts that bandits and kidnappers have been making phone calls demanding and negotiating for ransom. But when it comes to election, the SMS and electronic transmission system will collapse! This attempt to sabotage free and fair elections came to Nigerians as a rumour which the National Assembly denied. Not for long because the enemies of democracy showed their true colours within a couple of days.

     

    Happily, INEC has come out clearly to state that it has the capacity and the will and has even done preliminary testing of transmitting election results real time from all corners of Nigeria. But NASS did not ask or consult INEC on this. Shamelessly, most of the members from the ruling All Progressives Congress in the Senate voted to sabotage the march of civilisation and lined up on the wrong side of history. Even Senator Kabiru Gaya, the Chairman of the Senate Independent National Electoral Commission panel, voted against his committee’s recommendation on electronic transmission of results. This is the height of the lack of principles and commitment to democratic norms. Apart from the party basis of the voting, the vote to a great extent also fell into Nigeria’s North-South divide which shows that the faultline is still very active. The nay voters took a solemn decision to hold Nigerians under the bondage of oppression and to continually subvert our preferences and choices on who should lead us. They voted for Nigeria to continue an 18th century barbaric practice of election rigging and manipulation of votes in the 21st century. They voted against electronic transmission of results because they knew that most of them would not return to the Senate in a free and fair election. They seek in advance to rig the 2023 elections. The implication is that the nay voters are happy with the status quo. They want a repeat and a deeper dive into the experience of the last six years – the continuation of massacres, aggravated kidnapping, the dominance of the Fulani agenda, two recessions, the skyrocketing price of food and galloping inflation, the continued depreciation of the naira, all time high unemployment, etc.

    What

    The Senate seeks to subject INEC to the whims and caprices of the National Communications Commission. How can an independent electoral commission in the discharge of its duties be under obligation to seek clearance and authority from an NCC that has nothing in its mandate to do with elections? The constitution states in Section 78 that “the registration of voters and the conduct of elections shall be subject to the direction and supervision of Independent National Electoral Commission”. Again, by the Third Schedule Part of the Constitution, Section 15, INEC “shall have power to – (a) organise, undertake, and supervise all elections to the offices of the President and Vice-President, the Governor and Deputy Governor of a State, and to the membership of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly of each State of the Federation”. The exact words used in the constitution to describe INEC’s powers in relation elections are “direction” and “supervision” which means management, control, determination of course, etc. Any attempt to subject INEC to the NCC will be unconstitutional and ultra vires the powers of NASS when this is done without amending the relevant sections conferring power on INEC.

     

    There is a claim in certain quarters on the nature of the vote in the NASS as an exercise of the freedom and democratic right of the legislators to vote according to their conscience and the wish of their constituents. What happened is very far from this. First, there is no right to oppress others and deny others of their fundamental right to have their votes count. Secondly, there is no democratic exercise that denies the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the Nigerian family which is exactly what these wayward legislators have done. Thirdly, there is no right under the guise of democracy for a tiny intellectually backward minority to impose themselves on the suffering majority. The suffering majority is not in the Senate or in the House but on the streets and they can take no more from a self-serving elite.

     

    In the final analysis, this a clarion call on Nigerians to rescue their democracy, to refuse to be intimidated and cowed by any oppressor, to stand firm on our demands; to refuse to allow anyone who claims he is distinguished or honourable to pull a wool over our eyes. On electronic transmission of results, we stand.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • FG tries to assure Nigerians that the Nation’s sovereignty hasn’t been signed away to china in loan commitment

     

    The Federal Government has lashed out at some Nigerians critical of the Muhammadu Buhari administration’s penchant for foreign loans, assuring the government has not signed away the nation’s sovereignty in loan commitment to China.

    Speaking to Daily Sun in Abuja, Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said that the government has always budgeted for its counterpart funding for most of the contracts it has with China.

     

     

     

    Talking specifically on the Abuja-Keffi Road where the government was expected to contribute 15 per cent equity fund for the expansion of the road, Fashola said that not only that has the government provided for its counterpart funding of Phase 1, it has also made provision for Phase 2 of the project.

     

    According to him, other projects are being funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and SUKUK funds.

     

    “We have budgeted for our counterpart funding. We did that last year. But, if you go into the budget, you will see about fifty something billion. It is to pay our counterpart funding of Phase 1 and to provide for Phase 2. If the road is approved today, we will start work and our obligation to pay our 58 per cent tax today. So, we have not only provided for Phase 1, we have provided in anticipation for Phase 2. We have also provided for so many other things. Nigerians will say that we have signed away our sovereignty and all of that; it is not true but that is a matter for another day’s discussion. To the best of my knowledge, these two projects are the only projects being funded by this ministry. So, contrary to the impression being created out there, that we have taken so much loan, it is not true! The other project being funded by multilateral loan is funded by the African Development Bank. That is Enugu to Bermenga Road and the bridge project that links Nigeria to Cameroon. It was a joint venture between Nigeria and Cameroon; to create a faster border crossing between Nigeria and Cameroon, after the Bakassi section. In fact, that bridge is essentially finished. We will hand it over later this year. So, Cameroon took a loan, we also took a loan. Just to be specific, those are the two projects being funded by China funding; contrary to what is being pushed out there” he insisted .

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

  • A financially sinking nation: Senate approves Buharis $8.3bn loan Amidst other foreign debts

    Senate, yesterday, approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for ongoing external loans to the tune of $8,325,526,537 and €490,000,000 under the 2018-2020 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan.

    The approval followed the consideration of a report on the 2018 to 2020 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan by the Committee on Local and Foreign Debt.

     

     

     

    Chairman of the Committee, Clifford Ordia, in his presentation, said the panel noted with utmost importance, the genuine and very serious concerns of Nigerians about the level and sustainability/serviceability of the country’s borrowings in the last decade.

     

    According to the lawmaker, “our (Nigeria’s) debt service figures constitute a huge drain on our revenue to the extent that it account for over 30 percent of our expenditure in the annual budget.”

     

    He said due to the shortfall in the country’s annual revenues in relation to the need for rapid infrastructure and human capital development, “we have had to pass deficit budget every year, requiring us to borrow to finance the deficit in our budget.”

     

     

     

    Ordia said out of the total borrowing request of $36,837,281,256 contained in the re-forwarded request of Mr. President, $26,154,536,533 is for funds proposed to be borrowed from various financial institutions from the Peoples Republic of China.

     

    He said the proposed projects in the ministries of Transportation, FCT, Aviation, Works and Housing, Agriculture and Water Resources and some commissions, such as National Universities Commission, North East Development Commission and the National Identity Management Commission, are mostly ongoing projects and programmes in respect of which external borrowed funds have been spent in the past, including loans.

     

    “These projects have a great multiplier effect on stimulating economic growth through infrastructure development, job creation and poverty alleviation, stimulation of commercial and engineering activities and the consequent tax revenues payable to government as a result of these productive activi ties,” Ordia said.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

  • British Law Firm seeks Nnamdi Kanu’s consent to take up his case

     

    The British High Commission and a law firm in London, Bindmans, have sought the consent of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, to take up his case.

     

    The PUNCH gathered on Thursday that Kanu’s Nigerian lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, delivered two forms to the IPOB leader on Wednesday during a visit to the office of the Department of State Services, where he is being detained.

    Ejimakor told our correspondent that the development would open up a new chapter in the trial of Kanu, adding that the Nigerian government would be served with summons to bring him to the United Kingdom, where another case would be heard over the manner of his rendition to Nigeria.

     

    He said, “I went to visit him on Wednesday and went with two forms. One was the consular consent form that the British High Commission required that he signs to consent to consular assistance. There was also a form from his counsel in the UK. The firm is known as Bindmans, one of the largest law firms in the UK.

     

    “The forms will open a whole new chapter of legality, including the filing of a Writ of Mandamus, against the Nigerian government in a UK court to compel it to produce Kanu, because his detention is illegal under the British law. It was an extraordinary rendition, which is an international crime by which a state kidnaps a suspect or a fugitive without the due process of law.

     

    “They will be filing all these processes in the UK and there is a prospect of a UK court assuming universal jurisdiction or extra-territorial jurisdiction and reaching into Kenya so that they can arrest every Kenyan official, either authorised or not, and every Nigerian official involved in this case.”

     

    The lawyer noted that the DSS collected the forms, saying they must first go through the vetting of its legal unit.

     

     

     

    He said despite being told that he would collect them on Thursday, he had yet to be contacted by the government agency.

     

    Ejimakor said during his three-hour meeting, the IPOB leader gave a vivid account of how the Nigerian government hired agents, who abducted and flew him into the country.

     

    While quoting Kanu, he said the IPOB leader was blindfolded and flown on a private jet without any extradition hearing or immigration process.

     

    He stated, “Kanu said he was flown to Abuja in a private jet on Sunday, June 27, 2021, from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, and that he was the lone passenger.

     

    “He was blindfolded and driven to the tarmac very close to the plane without passing through the airport immigration.

     

    “The plane departed Nairobi around 12pm and arrived in Abuja in the evening.

     

    “Kanu was tortured and subjected to untold cruel and inhuman treatment in Kenya. He said his abductors disclosed to him that they abducted him at the behest of the Nigerian government.

     

     

    “The people that abducted him said they were told by their sponsors that Kanu was a Nigerian terrorist linked to Islamic terrorists in Kenya, presumably Al-Shabab. But after several days when they discovered his true identity, they tended to treat him less badly.

     

    “Despite that, they told him they felt committed to hand him over to those that hired them.

     

    “According to Kanu, no warrant of arrest was shown to him or even mentioned to him. And for the eight days, he was held incommunicado, nothing of presenting him before a court or transferring him to an official detention facility was ever mentioned. He was held in a nondescript private facility and chained to a bare floor.

     

    “Kanu was interviewed for the first time in my presence by three DSS officers. The interview was revealing as it contained certain new allegations that were never heard of before. But all the questions relate directly or indirectly to his status as the leader of IPOB.”

     

    The counsel said despite  his client’s ordeal, he was in high spirit.

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • The FG should stop mortgaging the future of Nigerians with foreign loans – TUC

     

    The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has asked the Federal Government to stop mortgaging the future of Nigerians by taking many foreign loans.

    The congress urged the government to look inwards by harnessing the country’s natural endowments for its financial needs.

     

    TUC’s National Treasurer, who doubles as President-General of the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Mohammad Yunusa, spoke in Abuja while addressing reporters at the end of the union’s Central Working Committee (CWC).

     

    The Senate, last week, approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s N2.3 trillion foreign loan request.

     

     

    The TUC also lambasted the government for the rising cost of living in the country, saying such development erodes the importance of National Minimum Wage, which some states are yet to implement.

     

    In a joint communiqué by the General Secretary of SSASCGOC, Ayo Olorunfemi, the labour leader urged the Federal Government to improve the welfare of the citizens and the workers.

     

    The communiqué reads: “CWC-in-Session is alarmed at the rising cost of living in the country that has made minced meat of the National Minimum Wage, which some states are yet to implement.

     

    “CWC-in-Session vehemently detests the heavy government external borrowings to avoid mortgaging the future of Nigeria. We call on the government to look inwards to harness the country’s national/natural endowments.”

     

     

    The union also condemned “…the spate of kidnappings and the unbridled abductions of school children, students in tertiary institutions and travel ers on Nigerian roads”.

     

     

     

    Source: www.thenationonlineng.net

  • AUTOEASE: Our Legacy Lives On

    AUTOEASE: Our Legacy Lives On

    Days after the assassination of her MD, Ifeanyi Okeke, his Auto Body Repair Shop, AUTOEASE has released what may be viewed as its statement.

    The image which read “Our Legacy Lives On” has been described as touching by those who have seen it. While it goes a long way to show that the establishment will likely not shut down, it could be rightly described as a message showing the emotional state of the staff of Autoease.

  • Open grazing ban: Southern governors meet

     

    Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has started receiving 16 of his colleagues from Southern Nigeria, The PUNCH has learnt.

    The governor arrived at Alausa, Ikeja, the venue of their meeting on the state of the nation.

     

    The meeting is holding eight weeks after the governors met in Asaba, the Delta State capital, on May 11, 2021. At the meeting, the governors would further assess decisions taken in Asaba on the open grazing ban, restructuring, fiscal federalism and the call for state police.

     

    Some of the early birds at the meeting include Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Adegboyega Oyetola (Osun), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), and Godwin Obaseki (Edo) represented by his deputy, Philip Shaibu.

     

    Others are Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Emmanuel Udom (Akwa Ibom), Diri Duoye (Bayelsa), Willie Obiano (Anambra), Ben Ayade (Cross Rivers), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), David Umahi (Ebonyi), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Oluwaseyi Makinde (Oyo).

     

    Recall that the governors in a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting in Asaba, banned open grazing as part of moves to address killings and kidnapping by herdsmen.

     

    But a few days after the meeting, the Presidency faulted the ban on open grazing. The Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, had, in a statement, said, “It is equally true that their (governors’) announcement is of questionable legality, given the constitutional right of all Nigerians to enjoy the same rights and freedoms within every one of our 36 states (and FCT), regardless of the state of their birth or residence.”

     

    Also, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, slammed the southern governors for banning open grazing.

     

    According to the AGF, open grazing ban is the same thing as Northern governors banning spare parts trading in their own region, considering the fact that southerners comprise a majority of spare parts traders in the North.

     

    The President, during a recorded television interview in June, also backed Malami’s position, adding that he had directed that gr azing routes be recovered.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • The need to Invest in non-oil exportation

    Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Segun Awolowo, has expressed confidence that through a deliberate synergy between the public and private sector, Nigeria can and will build an army of non-oil exporters.

    Awolowo disclosed this recently when he hosted the Managing Director of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Uche Orji, who was accompanied by Titi Olubiyi at the Export House.

    The NEPC boss, alongside his management team, briefed the delegation on the strategic importance of collaboration and activities under the Export Expansion Facility Programme.

    According to a statement, yesterday, the NSIA delegation was impressed with the critical partnerships and initiatives that NEPC continues to innovate and promote, particularly the Zero Oil Plan.

    “I was glad to host Orji accompanied by Olubiyi at the Export House. Along with my management team, I briefed the delegation on the strategic importance of our collaboration and activities under the Export Expansion Facility Programme @eefpgov.

    “The NSIA delegation was thoroughly impressed with the critical partnerships and initiatives that NEPC continues to innovate and promote, particularly the Zero Oil Plan.

    “Together we brainstormed numerous ways to bring about a Nigerian non-oil export centric collaboration between the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council. Discussions centered on: The establishment of Domestic Export Warehouses (DEW), the establishment of Export Trading Company (ETC).

    “This collaboration will, no doubt, have a potential ripple effect on not just Nigerian non-oil export quality development but significant improvements in local production quality, export scale growth and drive ultimately earning Nigeria the much needed foreign exchange reven ue,” Awolowo said.

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com