Operatives of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) on Friday burst a fake bottled water syndicate specialised in producing Eva water at Pipe Line Road, Eneka, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The Public Relations Officer, NAFDAC, south-south Zone, Cyril Monye, who confirmed the development said the criminal activities of the group were uncovered through a tipoff. Monye said the suspects were using a decrepit shop camouflaged as a pool house for the production. He said: “They pick used Eva plastic bottles which they fill with contaminated water fetched from a paint bucket while using dirty rubber funnel covered with clothing material as a filter. The already printed Eva labels were then affixed into the plastic bottles and corked with already fake fitted Eva cocks. The already printed Eva labels were then affixed into the plastic bottles and corked with already fake fitted Eva cocks. One of the distributors of the adulterated water who identified himself as Chibunna James was arrested as he was loading the product for sale while the kingpin and producer is at large. Efforts are on to track him down. He said the NAFDAC Coordinator, Rivers State enjoined the general public to always avail the agency of useful information that would lead to the arrest of criminals and agents of death, who specialised in adulteration and faking of regulated products. Monye said the fake products of 30 packs were eventually evacuated to the NAFDAC office while the uncorked ones were emptied and the bottles evacuated.

  The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), has cancelled the 25% penalty on Improperly Imported vehicles. The Customs spokesman, Abdullahi Maiwada, said yesterday that the cancelled followed directives of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun. The Customs had earlier on March 3, announced a 90-day window, effective from 4th March 2024 to 5th July 2024, for the regularisation of import duties on specific categories of vehicles. Mr. Abdullahi explained that the cancellation of the penalty was part of government’s action to ease economic hardship and encourage importer to go forward and clear their vehicles. “Stakeholders, including vehicle owners, importers, and agents, are encouraged to seize this opportunity to regularise import duty payments within the designated 90-day timeframe,” he said.

  Catherine, Princess of Wales, on Friday announced that she has cancer and is in the early stages of chemotherapy, asking for “time, space and privacy” as she completes her treatment. Kate, as she is widely known, said the discovery of cancer, after successful abdominal surgery in January, was “a huge shock” but she was “well and getting stronger every day”. The 42-year-old princess did not disclose the exact nature of the cancer but described the last few months since she went into hospital as “incredibly tough” for her and her family. “In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous,” she added in a video statement, filmed on Wednesday at Windsor. “The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. ADVERTISEMENT “My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak praised Kate for her bravery in making the statement, and said she had “the love and support of the whole country as she continues her recovery”. The White House also sent a message of support. Absence Kate — one of the most photographed women in the world — is a central figure in the royal family and married Prince William, 41, who is heir to the throne, in 2011. ADVERTISEMENT The couple have three children — Prince George, aged 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and five-year-old Prince Louis. Kate said it had taken them time to explain the situation to their children, “and to reassure them that I am going to be OK”. “As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits,” she added. William and Kate and their young family are seen as the modern face of the ancient institution, and key to its future. She was last seen at a public engagement on December 25, when she joined her father-in-law King Charles III and other senior royals at a Christmas Day church service. Her Kensington Palace office announced on January 17 that she was facing up to two weeks in hospital and several months’ recuperation after undergoing successful abdominal surgery. She was not expected to be ready to return to public duties until after Easter on March 31, a statement at the time said. Royal officials did not disclose the exact nature of her condition but said it was not cancer-related. That announcement came shortly before a separate statement from Buckingham Palace that 75-year-old Charles was to have surgery for a benign enlarged prostate. He later spent three days at the same private hospital in central London. Officials then said in early February that tests had identified “a form of cancer”, without giving further details. The king has cancelled all public engagements except audiences with the prime minister and ambassadors, and worked on official papers while undergoing treatment. He has been photographed several times since then, and seen attending church. But there has been rampant speculation online about Kate’s health and whereabouts, particularly online. She was not seen arriving or leaving the hospital, and William was only spotted visiting once. Rumours and gossip grew further on March 11, after she released a Mother’s Day photograph that was later found to have been digitally altered. Kate, who has taken several official photographs that have been distributed to the media, apologised in a statement after leading news agencies, including AFP, pulled the image. A week later, British media published new images of the princess walking with William at a farmers’ market near their home in Windsor, west of London. This week, there were claims that an attempt may have been made to access Kate’s confidential medical records, prompting a referral to the UK’s data protection watchdog. AFP

  The amendment of Sections of the Law No. 5 of 2018 extending the tenure of elected Local Government chairmen in Rivers State by the Martin Amaehwule-led House of Assembly has been condemned by the spokesperson of Coalition of Opposition Lawmakers, Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere. Ugochinyere, who represents Ideato North/South Federal Constituency of Imo State in the House of Representatives, in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, described the purported override of Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s veto by the State House of Assembly just a few days after it purportedly amended the law, as a recipe for chaos and breakdown of law and order and stands condemned, alleging that the law was never sent to the Governor for his assent in the first place. He further said, “Assuming without conceding that the Rivers House of Assembly sent the law to the Governor, the Governor has 30 days within which to assent to the law or withhold his assent and it can only be at the expiration of the 30 days that the House of Assembly can adjudge that the Governor has withheld assent and not earlier.” He described the move as legislative rascality and a coup against democracy, adding that it was dead on arrival. “Illegally extending the tenure of Local Government Chairmen just few weeks to the expiration of their tenure is an abuse of legislative process that cannot be enforced. It is the height of legislative rascality and a coup against democracy that is dead on arrival,” the federal lawmaker stated. The opposition’s Spokesperson further stated that the plot was a deliberate invitation to anarchy and an inglorious attempt by the Rivers lawmakers to sabotage the Presidential Peace Accord. “These Rivers Assembly men are truly acting like people who do not hold the sacred mandate of the people. Otherwise, they should have known that this plot is a deliberate invitation to anarchy and an inglorious attempt to sabotage the Presidential Peace Accord. We hereby call on the President to call them to order to avert total breakdown of law and order in the State.” Ugochinyere added, “How could the agenda of people who call themselves lawmakers in a state be to strip the Executive Governor of their state of all executive powers and they are comfortable with it? If they attach any value to the live of the people of Rivers State, they would support the Governor of Rivers State to succeed, for the benefit of the people rather than support anything that will undermine him and set him up for failure including instigating anarchy. “Every reasonable and right thinking citizen of Rivers state should rally round the Governor to ensure he succeeds and bring the dividends of democracy to the people. The rate the Martin Amaehwule-led House of Assembly is moving and trying to ignite violence in Rivers State should tell the Police that they are most likely the persons who set the House of Assembly Complex ablaze and because they got out of it, are now willing to set the entire nation on fire.”

  Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on state governors that pay pension to former governors to emulate their Abia State counterpart, Alex Otti, and stop paying. He described payment of pension to former state governors and their deputies as outrageous. Obasanjo also described the pension as “a daylight robbery.: The former president stated this on Friday when he paid Otti a visit at his country home in Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of the state.. I Pay My Fees, Send Money Home From Tricycle Driving – Female University Student | Punch0.00 / 0.00 He said, “I watched the television and I saw the repealing of Abia pensions and I asked you what exactly is this, and you said to me that the pensions scheme for former governors here was too outrageous. “It’s like trouble because it allowed them to have a house in Abuja and elsewhere, and it allowed them to cart away with whatever they can, yet the pensions of ordinary people from 2014 are unpaid. “What sort of leadership? You came and said there would be an end to that rascality. I congratulate you, and I say to you, I hope that your colleagues will follow in your footsteps.” Commending Otti for his courage in repealing the law, Obasanjo said he hoped that other governors would follow in his footsteps. He added, “Congratulations for your tenacity, congratulations for your not giving up, congratulations for your weathering the storm and congratulations for what you did yesterday (signing the repealing of pension law for former Governors and Deputy Governors) and congratulations for what I found you doing this morning (exercise). “This morning, I came in, and I met you exercising, a sound mind and a sound body, and I say to you, now I know your secret. I was glad when you said you do that every other day. It’s just like me playing squash on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I think a leader must keep himself or herself in a healthy condition. “There is still a lot of work to be done, I said to you, and here you have started, but you should never be tired. Don’t be discouraged; you will be abused, you will be called names, but if we have one-third of our states doing what should be done, this country will be a different country.” Obasanjo urged Otti to pay attention to the infrastructural development of the state, explaining that with infrastructure and good leadership, the state will attain greater heights. Abia and the South East people, he said, are industrious and enterprising, adding that the people of the zone require good leadership that will give them encouragement and support to achieve greatness. “I will urge you to pay adequate attention to infrastructure because if you give infrastructure and you give the type of leadership you are giving, the people of the state will have nothing to worry about. On their own, they are enterprising. All they need is the leadership that will give them all the encouragement. “I have always maintained that if there is any zone in this country that could really give what I call regional development, it’s the South East geo-political zone because you are almost monolithic in everything,” the former President added. Receiving the former president, Otti assured him that his administration was focused and single-minded on infrastructural development, especially in Aba, as that is at the core of all that is required. He highlighted his infrastructural development in the state and thanked the former president for supporting his government’s decision to repeal the law that empowered former governors and deputy governors to receive pensions. He, however, stressed that the cost of governance is a major problem for every state and the Federal Government. “I agree with you completely on your comment about infrastructure, that is why we are very focused and single-minded in developing infrastructure, particularly for Aba, which is the commercial and industrial hub of the state, and actually the South East. “I want to also thank you for supporting our decision to repeal the pension law for former governors and former deputy governors. I had said yesterday as I signed the bill into law that I strongly believe that leadership is stewardship and if you’ve come to serve the people, you can’t at the same time be fleecing the people,” the governor declared. The PUNCH reports that the Abia State House of Assembly repealed the Abia State Governor’s and Deputy Governor’s Pensions Law number 4 of 2021. The repealed law provided for security, medicals, cooks and stewards, among others for the former governors. The bill titled “H.A.B 11, The Abia State Governor’s and Deputy Governor’s Pensions Law Repeal Bill 2024,” was sponsored by the Majority Leader and member for Arochukwu State Constituency, Mr Okoro Uchenna Kalu