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Post Date : March 24, 2021

Reps set to consider bill on removal of Local Government from 1999 Constitution

The House of Representatives is set to commence debate on the general principle of a bill which seeks to remove Local Government from the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The bill was sponsored by Hon Solomon Bob, is awaiting second reading. According to the proposed bill which scaled through the first reading, seen exclusively by Nigerian Tribune, the sponsor seeks to empower State House of Assembly of each of the 36 States of the federation to create Local Government as deemed fit. The proponent of the bill, seeks to amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, 2004 for the removal of Local Government as a tier of Government constitutionally recognized and funded by the Federal Government. The bill further seeks to amend section 3 of the Principal Act by adding to the existing subsection (2) thereof the following provisions “or as may be subsequently created by a relevant law of a State Assembly. He further seeks the deletion of subsection 6, Section 7, Section 8 sub-paragraph (iii) of ‘a’ subsection 1 thereof and deleting sub-paragraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of subsection 2 thereof, as well as subsection 3 and 4. In the same vein, he proposed the alteration of section 162(3) of the Principal Act by deleting the words “and the Local Government Councils in each State” appearing between the words ‘Governments’ and ‘in line three of subsection 3 thereof. Also, he proposed the deletion of subsections 5, 6, 7 and 8 of Section 162(3) of the Principal Act.

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Post Date : March 24, 2021

Imo govt renames Eastern Palm University after Mbadiwe

Ibe Pascal Arogorn, Owerri The Imo state government on Wednesday announced with immediate effect the renaming of Eastern Palm Ogboko University after Kingsley Ozuomba Mbadiwe University, Ogboko. Crimefacts.news had reported in February how Imo govt recovered the varsity from Rochas Okorocha who claimed it as his private university. According to Imo state commissioner for information, Declan Emelumba said the change of name is to take effect immediately and all parties that have one dealing or the other with the institution should without delay effect the necessary changes.

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Post Date : March 24, 2021

Imo Health commissioner replaced as Uzodimma appoints four new ones

….Inaugurates IBC board chairman, members Ibe Pascal Arogorn, Owerri Imo governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma on Wednesday appointed four new commissioners. The appointment was held at Sam Mbakwe chambers in Owerri. Those appointed as new Commissioners were: Dr. (Mrs.) Doris Nkeiruka Uzoka Anite (Ministry of Finance and Coordinating Economy), Prof. Boniface Ginikanwa Nwogu (Ministry of Science and Technology), Mazi Uche John Ohia (Ministry of Tourism) and Dr. Bartholomew Chukwunonye Okorochukwu (Ministry of Health). In his remark, the governor said, “this job is not a tea party. Am sure that your colleagues would have told you that you need to constantly be on your toes to justify your appointment. Because of the sorry state of affairs we met on assumption of office, we cannot be complacent in the execution of our duties. “I am sure that you are already conversant with our covenant with Imo people which is to serve transparently with accountability and responsibility as our motto. In the attainment of our prosperity agenda as encapsulated in our 3Rs mantra of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Recovery, we have the mandate to serve Imo people with everything at our disposal. Speaking further “that being the case, you must consider your appointment as a call to service. You must prove your mettle by adding value to the system. If I were you, I will give my very best to the system to justify the confidence reposed on me. Putting in your utmost best presupposes that indolence and laxity must be an alien culture tof you. Let me however sound this note of warning that nobody has got a permanent seat in the Executive Council and the portfolio he or she occupies as well. Your performance will determine the tenure of each member of the council. “While I welcome the new ones, may I also use this opportunity to appreciate the old ones for your service to the state. We all must work in synergy for trhe progress and development of the state. ” Let me congratulate the four new commissioners who have just been sworn in. As you celebrate your new appointment with your people, who I have seen gathered in their hundreds, never you lose sight of the fact that the oath of office you have just taken is a solemn call to service. “I think that it will be in your interest not to be carried away by the wild jubilation of your admirers over yourf appointment. Often these loud jubilations are veiled expectations of corrupt favours from you, which if not well managed may be the beginning of your problems as a public office holder. “Let me emphasise that my administration has neither room nor window for corruption. For me corruption is a mortal sin which even the bible frowns at. Therefore to all the members of the cabinet I say be wise, do your job well. Never be carried away by what you will get by serving but by what you will leave behind after service. “May I also use this medium to emphasize that this government is committed to the welfare of our civil servants including teachers. We have paid our workforce up to. Let me therefore use this auspicious occasion to update you on the accurate statistics on the payroll, “Uzodimma stated. ALSO The governor on Wednesday Inaugurated the Board chairman and members of the Imo Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) Owerri. Those inaugurated are: Hon. Emma Dike (Chairman) and Sir James Egbuchulam, Director-General, IBC as Secretary. Other members include Engr. Onwuelingo Okechukwu, Ms. Ify Onyegbule, Sir John Uchechukwu Nnabuihe, and Sir Kennedy Amanze who represents the Ministry of Information and Strategy. He urged them not to disappoint and let the government and people of Imo down. They were enjoined to uphold the trust reposed in them.

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Post Date : March 24, 2021

Reps To Investigate $1.5bn Port Harcourt Refinery Rehabilitation Cost

The House of Representatives has mandated its committee on Petroleum Resources Downstream to organise an investigative hearing to ascertain the true state of the Port Harcourt refinery which the Federal Government has approved the sum of $1.5billion for the rehabilitation. The House also mandated the committee to carry out a comprehensive audit of funds previously spent on the Port Harcourt refinery and other refineries across the country. This decision follows a motion moved as a matter of public importance by Representative Onofiok Luke. The lawmakers expressed worry that so much had been spent on maintaining and rehabilitating the refineries but the outputs have barely improved. They also asked the Federal Government to grant licenses and provide incentives for the construction of modular refineries. The Federal Executive Council last week approved $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery which is said to commence immediately. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, who made the announcement after the FEC meeting said the rehabilitation will be carried out in three phases. Sylva said the first phase will be completed in 18 months which will take the refinery to a production of 90 percent of its capacity, the second phase will be completed in 24 months, while the final phase will be completed in 44 months. Controversial Renovation Fund The announcement by the Federal Government that $1.5billion will be used for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery was met with various criticism from including the Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar who described the proposal as a waste of resources, especially coming at a time that the nation’s economy is in dire straits. Atiku suggests that the best course of action will be to privatize the refineries for more effective and efficient management. Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi in his reaction said more information is needed to justify the rehabilitation. He faulted the planned project, noting that a private refinery built by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote is underway.

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Post Date : March 24, 2021

We’ve written protest letter to Buhari over Ibori loot, says Okowa

Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta, says his government has written a protest letter to President Muhammadu Buhari over the James Ibori loot recovered by Nigeria. Okowa said this on Wednesday when he appeared on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme. A few weeks ago, the UK made a commitment to return the £4.2 million loot recovered from Ibori, a former Delta governor, and his associates. However, Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, had said the money should go to the federal government and not Delta state. Commenting on the matter, Okowa said: “On our part, I have spoken with the attorney-general of the federation. My attorney-general went to have a meeting with him. We are working, and we are likely to come on the same page. We have written a formal letter of protest to Mr President. “Ours is to convince the federal government to know that the money ought to return to Delta.” He said if the money cannot be sent to Delta, it should be spent on projects in the state. “If it’s not going to be returned directly to Delta, it must be spent on projects. We have made two critical suggestions: return the money for us to apply to projects that we feel will be right,” the governor said. “But in that same letter — because we have seen the MoU signed with the British government, and we feel that we needed to approach it in this smart manner for us to be able to get the results — we have also put projects as an alternate that they can directly release the money to.” Okowa also noted that his government does not believe in getting the money back through legal action.

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Post Date : March 24, 2021

Jailed Navalny’s Health Worsening, Lawyers Denied Access

Lawyers for jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny sounded the alarm Wednesday over the politician’s deteriorating health in prison and demanded immediate access, saying he complained of back pain and leg numbness. Last August President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic survived a near-fatal poisoning with Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent, and was flown to Germany for treatment. The 44-year-old was arrested upon his return to Russia in January and was sentenced to two-and-a-half-years in jail the following month. He is serving his sentence outside Moscow, in a penal colony notorious for harsh discipline. Navalny’s lawyer Olga Mikhailova said on Wednesday he had recently been complaining of strong back pain, adding that his leg has gone numb this week. The opposition politician had seen a neurologist but the doctor had not said what was wrong with him, Mikhailova said, adding that Navalny had simply been given ibuprofen. “That’s all his treatment,” she told AFP, adding that the painkiller did not help, while his leg went numb on Tuesday. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He should be seen by a proper doctor,” she said. Mikhailova said she was not allowed to see Navalny on Wednesday. Navalny’s team expressed strong concern. The opposition politician’s right-hand man Leonid Volkov suggested the prison administration might be hiding the fact that he had been transferred to a prison infirmary. “We don’t know where Alexei Navalny is and why they are hiding him from his lawyers,” Volkov said on Facebook. – ‘Life in danger’ – Maria Pevchikh, head of investigations at Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, said: “The rapid deterioration of his health condition raises our extreme concerns.” “We believe that Navalny’s life is in danger and demand immediate access to him for his lawyers,” she tweeted. Volkov said that on Thursday Navalny’s lawyers would make a new attempt to see him in his prison in the town of Pokrov, located more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) east of Moscow. Navalny himself has described the Pokrov prison as a “concentration camp”, saying he was woken up every hour at night because he was considered a flight risk and guards recorded him on camera during his sleep. Last month Navalny was sentenced to two and a half years in a penal colony for breaching parole terms while in Germany recovering from the poisoning attack. On Tuesday, his team launched a campaign seeking Navalny’s release and announced plans to stage what they said would be “modern Russia’s biggest protest.” Navalny’s allies urged supporters to register with the website free.navalny.com and mark their location on an online map. The team said they would set a date for the protest once 500,000 supporters have been registered. As of Wednesday, 200,000 people have signed up, including more than 40,000 people in Moscow and over 22,000 in the second city Saint Petersburg. Tens of thousands of Navalny supporters took to the streets across Russia in January and February but those rallies were broken up and more than 10,000 were detained. Washington and Brussels have demanded Navalny’s immediate release and imposed sanctions on Russian officials over his poisoning. On Wednesday, Canada followed suit, slapping sanctions against nine Russian officials in response to “gross” rights violations and Navalny’s silencing.

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Post Date : March 24, 2021

Nigeria More Insecure Under Buhari Than Abacha – Mailafia

A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Obadiah Mailafia, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the nation’s Finance Bill (2019) into law. Dr Obadiah Mailafia says Nigeria under the current leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari is more insecure than it was when General Sani Abacha was in power. The former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday argued that the nation during the era of the late military head of state, Sani Abacha, was better than the insecurity confronting Nigerians in the present administration. “This is totally unprecedented. This is the worst time ever in the history of Nigeria. You can’t even compare with Abacha’s time; Abacha’s time was a golden era compare with what is happening. “Do you think Abacha would have tolerated all these? You can’t travel on these roads, killings everywhere, destructions everywhere,” Dr Mailafia asked. While appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Dr. Mailafia reacted to the recent assassination attempt on Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, expressed grief over the fact that certain forces empower some people from a part of the country with weapons to terrorize citizens. Mailafia noted that the people of the Middle Belt are not afraid of those who carried out the assault on their governor. “This attempt on the life of an executive governor and incumbent of a state is an attempted attack on the entire people of the state. Those who are trying to do this wicked thing need to understand the implication of what they are trying to do. “If the governor of a state cannot feel safe to go to his farm, how will the ordinary Benue people feel going to their farms? This is a very bad precedence. “The circumstances in Borno are very different. Borno is a war zone, we’ve been living with these evil people for a while but what happened in Benue is totally different and diabolical. We don’t know what they are trying to do but this could affect the whole country. “Benue people and the people of the Middle Belt will never ever accept this attempt on one of their sons. Nobody is afraid of these people but it is just that these people are given arms and allowed to move freely while the machetes that ordinary people have are being dispossessed from them, they are not even allowed to defend their homes and their families but we are glad that God saved the life of his Excellency, Governor Ortom,” the former Deputy Governor of the CBN stated. Speaking further on the security situation around the country, the Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress in the last election said some world powers are bent on destroying Nigeria by pitting various tribes and regions against each other. “World powers want to destroy Nigeria and what they have done is to come and meet some people and tell them, ‘You are born to rule’. There is an agenda (ex-President Olusegun) Obasanjo called Fulanisation and enforcement of one particular religion against the rest. “The world powers encourage them and tell them, ‘We are behind you, go ahead. They provide the weapons and some local people buy into that idea and they begin a campaign of genocide because if you carry a heavy weapon and go into the forests, go into the ancient Savannah, you kill people, you rape women, what are you? You are committing genocide against the unarmed and defenseless,” Mailafia stated.

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Post Date : March 24, 2021

Nigeria is falling apart under your watch, Northern Elders Forum tells Buhari

The Director of Publicity Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has said it had the opportunity of sitting with President Muhammadu Buhari he would tell him to wake as this country is falling apart. He made this known on Arise Television on Wednesday, when speaking on the state of the nation. He lamented that why it is taking so long for the Buhari administration to tackle insecurity challenges bedevilling the country, saying, banditry and kidnapping were not major issues a few years ago. “If I have an opportunity to speak with the president, I will say: ‘Sir, please wake up and smell the coffee, this country is falling apart.’” “It is in very serious danger, it is going down under your watch. You swore in 2015 and again in 2019 that you will protect the citizens, the territorial integrity of Nigeria. ‘Sorry, sir, you are not doing that, doing it well or you are not doing it at all. And one of the things you should do is to call about 200 to 500 Nigerians, without any preconditions, and say: ‘ladies and gentlemen, I believe that this government will benefit from some quality advice in terms of the way forward. “Two, take your governors more into confidence, speak to them. They are very important people. They have responsibilities under the constitution and they are able to carry out those responsibilities particularly on matters of security. What do you want? What can we do together? What can I do for you and what can we consider a legitimate idea or a crazy idea? “Thirdly, please ask real questions about what is going on with the security in this country. Something is wrong. You keep changing things but we see the same result. “We are becoming insecure by the day. Either it is your attitude as commander-in-chief of the armed forces or the people you trust to defend and protect us. There must be something about the security that you and the people who are fighting this country don’t understand. “Why are we being so insecure? Why is it not possible for Nigerians to deal with banditry, kidnappings? These things two, three years ago do not exist. Is anybody asking these questions? Is it that you have this harmony in your security agencies? “Do you have a way of finding out because we don’t have the time for you to fix this country at your own leisure and the rate you are going, you are too slow and people are smelling a vacuum around your government and this is why you see people saying we don’t want to be part of Nigeria,” Baba-Ahmed said.

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Post Date : March 24, 2021

Boat Mishap: Customs Officer Dies While Chasing Smugglers In Lagos

A customs officer attached to Western Marine Command, Lagos lost his life while chasing smugglers along Badagry water channel on Monday. As at the time of the incident, the deceased, Assistant Inspector of Customs, Aliyu AA, was on surveillance duty with his team along Vawhe-Usalu creeks. In a statement, Public Relations Officer, Western Marine Command, Isah Sulaiman, confirmed the incident, saying the office was attached to Akere Surveillance/Monitoring team under Idiroko Outstation. Sulaiman said the deceased officer along with his team were acting on credible information along Vawhe-Isalu creeks when their boat was involved in an accident while trying to intercept a boat suspected to be carrying smuggled items. “The accident resulted to the death of Assistant Inspector of Customs (AIC) Aliyu AA by drowning. The body of the deceased was found underneath the river with the assistance of villagers around the axis. “The body was taken to General Hospital, Badagry, and later deposited at the mortuary, after being certified dead by the doctor on call. “The corpse was transported by air on-board MAX air airline to Kano on Tuesday, March 23, 2021 on the request of the family of the deceased. “AIC Aliyu AA hailed from Funtua Local Government Area of Katsina State. He was born on the 10 July 1987. He joined the Nigeria Customs Service on the October 17, 2013 as Customs Assistant II (CAII) and got promoted to the rank of AIC on January 1, 2019. “AIC Aliyu AA died on the 22 March 2021 while on active service and he will be buried today March 24, 2021 in his hometown Funtua Area of Katsina state by 1000hrs according to Islamic rites. “At this trying times, the Customs Area Controller on behalf of the Officers/Men of the WMC commiserate with the family of the deceased and pray for the repose of his soul and also for God to grant the deceased eternal rest” he said.

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Post Date : March 24, 2021

You Can Now Buy A Tesla With Bitcoin – Elon Musk

In this file photo Tesla CEO Elon Musk talks to media as he arrives to visit the construction site of the future US electric car giant Tesla in Gruenheide near Berlin on September 3, 2020. Odd ANDERSEN / AFP In this file photo, Tesla CEO Elon Musk talks to the media as he arrives to visit the construction site of the US electric car giant Tesla in Gruenheide near Berlin on September 3, 2020. PHOTO: Odd ANDERSEN / AFP Elon Musk, the owner of the electric car maker, Tesla, on Thursday announced that a Tesla vehicle can now be bought with the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Mr Musk disclosed this in a series of tweets posted on his official Twitter handle on Wednesday. “You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin,” he tweeted. You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2021 The business magnate said further that, “Tesla is using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly. “Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency. “Pay by Bitcoin capability available outside the US later this year,” he said. This tweet by the business magnet has sent the price of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency soaring. Last month, the electric carmaker Tesla invested $1.5 billion in the virtual unit, while Twitter chief Jack Dorsey and rap mogul Jay-Z said they are creating a fund aimed at making Bitcoin “the internet’s currency”. Others jumping on the bandwagon include Wall Street player BNY Mellon, investment fund giant BlackRock, and credit card titan Mastercard. Bitcoin, which was launched back in 2009, hit the headlines in 2017 after soaring from less than $1,000 in January to almost $20,000 in December of the same year. Musk The ‘Tecknoking’ Elon Musk according to Forbes is working to revolutionise transportation both on Earth, through Tesla – and in space, via rocket producer SpaceX. On Tuesday, last week, Tesla crowned him with a new title: Technoking. The company’s chief financial officer, Zach Kirkhorn was also given the title “Master of Coin,” Tesla said Monday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Norm-shattering entrepreneur Musk, who has more than 41 million followers on Twitter and a fortune now estimated at more than $180 billion, has had frequent conflicts with regulators at the SEC and is not shy about tweaking them on social media. The entrepreneur also recently waded to the new online fascination with digital art forms known as “NFTs,” virtual objects that can be sold with a certificate of authenticity proving that they are, in theory, non-piratable thanks to the blockchain technology that was popularized by cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Musk also announced on his Twitter account that he would be selling a video clip of techno music about NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, as an NFT. The cryptocurrency website Cointelegraph said bidding on the NFT had risen to $100,000 in the first hour after Musk made the announcement, even though Musk has not actually put the song on the market yet.

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