Jonathan appoints Bamanga Tukur as Nigeria Railway Corporation Chairman
President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed the immediate past National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bamanga Tukur, as Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Railway Corporation.
Mr. Tukur last week resigned his position as National Chairman of the PDP. He has since been replaced with ex- Bauchi governor, Adamu Muazu.
Mr. Tukur’s appointment as Railway Corporation, NRC, chairman was announced in a statement by the Special Assistant (Media) to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sam Nwaobasi.
The position of NRC chairman was formerly held by Kawu Baraje, the former factional chairman of the PDP who has since led his faction to fuse into the All Progressives Congress. Mr. Baraje resigned in the height of the PDP crisis in late 2013.
Mr. Jonathan, according to the statement, has also approved the appointment of Ghaji Ismaila Bello as Director-General of the National Population Commission with effect from January 8, 2014.
According to its enabling law, the Nigeria Railway Corporation is charged with facilitating effective “carriage of passengers and goods in a manner that will offer full value for money; meet cost of operation; improve market share and quality of services; ensure safety of operations and maximum efficiency; meet social responsibility in a manner that will meet the requirements of rail users, trade, commerce, industry and general public”.
President Jonathan had after announcing Mr. Tukur’s resignation as PDP chairman at the National Executive Committee meeting of the party, on January 16, hinted that he would reward the former party chief with another appointment.
“He (Mr. Tukur) is not guilty of any offence and I am going to give him an assignment that is tougher than PDP chairman,” the president said at that event.
President Jonathan is currently away in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Customs and Border Protection officers foiled a smuggling attempt at the U.S.-Mexico border when they discovered a woman contorted and hidden inside a suitcase.
Officials released a photo this week showing the woman tucked into a ball and laying inside the luggage in the back of a vehicle.
The woman, a Thai national named Pornkamol Mongkolsermsak, was charged with re-entry after deportation, CBP spokesman Victor Brabble said.
She was discovered on December 30, when inspectors at the border referred the driver of a Honda SUV for a secondary inspection, CBP said in a statement.
When officers inspected the vehicle, they opened up the suitcase and found the 48-year-old woman hidden underneath some clothing.
Authorities did not release the name of the 56-year-old Phoenix man who was driving the SUV.
The case has been turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, CBP said.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Progressives Congress (APC), to be known as New APC (nAPC), will soon be launched across the country, the Kwara State chapter of the party has said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The party, in a statement on Tuesday, declared that like minds in APC in different states of the federation had concluded plan to launch the New APC, to safeguard the ship of the party from sinking.
A statement by the interim state chairman of the party in Kwara State, Reverend Bunmi Olusona, indicated that leaders of the party, including General Mohammed Buba Marwa, Attahiru Bafarawa, Ibrahim Shekarau and Mohammed Dele Belgore, were working to prevent imminent implosion in the party.
Proponents of the faction, however, pleaded with their members in Kwara not to be in a hurry to leave the party.
It stated its plan to launch the New APC would surely bring succour to the members.
“We also warn our members not to participate in any membership registration exercise organised and supervised by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed-led government or agent like Alhaji Lai Mohammed,” the statement read.
It rejected plans by party leaders to cede structures of the party in the states to new entrants, adding that a number of party members were asking the question about the bastardisation of the progressive ideology of the party.
Meanwhile, as the interim National Executive Committee (NEC) of APC meets in Abuja tomorrow over the crisis rocking the party, ranking members contesting party structures in their respective states with sitting governors that defected from PDP may be considered for outright expulsion.
Shekarau, Bafarawa, Marwa and Belgore were the likely heavyweight casualties.
The national leadership of APC said it recognised the defected governors as leaders of the party in their states, a development that the old members of the party had been contesting.
Several peace and reconciliation meetings called by the party leaderships at different levels had failed to resolve the crisis-of-confidence.
It was learnt that the move by the aggrieved leaders to polarise the party by launching a faction to be known as New APC had prompted the national leaders to tackle the growing dissent once and for all, by expelling the disgruntled leaders at its NEC meeting tomorrow.
A senior member of the party told the Nigerian Tribune that the national leadership of the party had hints of the planned polarisation of the party by the disgruntled leaders, long before the plan came into public knowledge and had been preparing for the day they would come into the open with their plan.
Accusing those behind the nAPC as being driven by inordinate ambition, the source disclosed that their plan was to balkanise the party before moving out with their supporters to PDP. When contacted, APC spokesperson, Lai Mohammed, said the party would rather wait for the move before commenting.
Shekarau, however, said the G5 governors that defected from PDP to APC could not be automatic leaders of the party in their respective states.
This was as he challenged anyone to come forward with any written agreement that conferred leadership on the governors.
On a Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) Kaduna Hausa programme, Hanu da yawa, monitored on Tuesday, he insisted that there was nothing like “agreement” with the governors to make them chairmen/leaders of the party in their states.
According to him, there was no meeting where such discussion was reached, while he challenged Honourable Bello Masari to tell the time, date and at what meeting the agreement was reached.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
