President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday appointed Professor Rufa’i Alkali as his new Special Adviser on Political Affairs.
The president had recently sacked Ahmed Gulak as his Special Adviser on Political Affairs.
Gulak had incurred the wrath of Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, when he single handedly inaugurated a support group for Jonathan's re-election in 2015 in the state without the input of the governor.
The governor protested to the president, and Gulak who was said to be offering low quality advice to the president, was relieved of his position.
Alkali, the Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, tweeted, is a political scientist, and once served as National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Alkali was appointed Pro-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Minna last year. He hails from Gombe State.
Jonathan also appointed Hajia Baraka Sani as his Senior Special Assistant for Schools Agriculture Programme.
Hajia Sani was until recently, the Kano State Commissioner for Agriculture.
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.
The traumatised mothers of the school girls abducted students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, yesterday wept profusely before United States Congressman Louie Gohmert, in Lagos, urging him to prevail on his government and indeed the world to urgently rescue their children.
They also pleaded with Gohmert to prevail on his government to seek an end to the reign of terror in the country.
The US Congressman, who condemned the evil being perpetrated by the insurgents as unacceptable, encouraged the agonised women not to give up hope on their children, expressing the hope that the US would prove to Nigeria to be a friend indeed in the circumstances.
Gohmert was in the country on the invitation of the founder of Omoluabi Network, a non-governmental organisation, Pastor Ladi Thompson, in conjunction with Chibok-based Gabassawa Women led by Kusheli Balami, and the Erica Grieve-led Unlikely Heroes, based in Los Angeles, California.
Thompson emphasised that his organisation decided to invite Gohmert, into the country to feel the plight of the mothers and appeal to the US government to help Nigeria in this dark hour.
“Unless the federal government and indeed, the world quickly separate religion from the work of the devil that is casting darkness over the country, Nigeria may cease to be in the next 18 months,” he said.
Gloom descended on the gathering when Balami fought tears while begging the US Congressman to pressurise his country “and the entire world to come to the aid of the abducted girls, their mother and our terrorised country.”
The mothers, who wore mostly black attires, were moved into spontaneous tears.
The gathering was overwhelmed with bitter emotions when one of them, Esther Yakubu, recounted her nightmares since April 14, when the insurgents seized her only child.
“They broke into the school’s premises with a rocket launcher. I passed through there into the premises. They set everything on fire. I got to the hostel; it was empty. It was at that point that it dawned on me that they had kidnapped my first baby. Then, I asked God repeatedly: “Why me … why me?” She could not continue with reeling off her agony as she broke down in tears, begging government and all concerned people of the world to rise to the situation and recover their children.
Another traumatised mother, Ruth Bitris, who spoke through a pastor resident in Chibok, Philip Madu, said she had occasions to weep until she could no longer walk before Thompson and his co-caregivers came to bring them to Lagos for therapy.
“I cannot explain what has kept me alive this far since the devil’s agent invaded our children’s school, carting them away. Before then, we had lived together as our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Our religious beliefs never meant anything to us. No one knows what these people (the insurgents) want. They just came and seized our joy. We are begging government to see to this situation. We are helpless; we are as good as dead for now,” she said.
Mrs Monica Sitover who spoke after Bitris caused a stir when, after about two minutes, she suddenly landed on the floor, rolling as she urged God and her fellow human beings to ensure that her child is rescued and brought back to her in sound health.
Rising to her feet, she said: “When I was told that our girls had been packed away by the gunmen, I lost control of myself. That I am still breathing today is by the grace of God; It is a miracle. For two days, I was roaming the bush to see if I could set my eyes on my child.
“I am in pains; we are in real trouble. I am pleading with the world to help us find our children and bring peace back into our community and our country … (she broke down in tears, leaving virtually everyone with the task of consoling her).
Congressman Gohmert took time off to hug and shake hands with some of the mothers, urging them to take heart and assured them that their children would be found and brought back to them. He also encouraged the three veiled schoolgirls who were said to have escaped from their abductors in the Sambisa forest.
“The hate, the callousness of the terrorists, their willingness to kill fellow human being and the abduction of the innocent girls are condemnable in the least. It is an evil that must stop. The evil being inflicted by Boko Haram is unacceptable. I have come here with a message of hope. I hope the US will prove to be the friend they are to Nigeria and be part of efforts to find solution to this problem.
“The federal government in Nigeria must realise the fact that Christians and Muslims have, over the years, been living together without any problem. It must realise the gravity of the pains that the Boko Haram has inflicted on Nigerians and stop them forthwith,” Gohmert added.
Likening the ordeal of the abducted girls to that of the Biblical Joseph, the congressman expressed the hope that the girls would be brought back safely to re-unite with their parents.
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.
The crisis between the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, and the National Judicial Council (NJC) deteriorated yesterday as the governor made good his threat to deal with any staff of the state judiciary who obeyed the directive of the NJC that Justice Daisy Okocha act as the Administrative Judge of the state pending the appointment of a chief judge.
In a letter dated June 5 and jointly signed by the Accountant General of the state, Ngozi Y. Abu, and the Director, Treasury, Office of the Accountant General, Dagogo R. Abere, the state government ordered the General Manager, Zenith Bank Plc, at Plot 1/2, Presidential Estate, Aba Road Port Harcourt to stop the payment of salaries of judiciary workers until further notice.
The letter obtained by THISDAY, read: "Sequel to the directive of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Rivers State, we write to request your bank to stop the May 2014 salaries of all staff of the state judiciary till further notice.
The letter further warned that "strict compliance in this respect is solicited … "
By this development, all the judiciary workers who had vowed to comply with the directive of the NJC would remain without their salaries and allowances until Amaechi decides otherwise.
In giving the directive after a meeting of May 27, the NJC's Director of Information Mr. Soji Oye, said the council considered the pains and frustrations which the state judiciary and litigants in the state are facing following the vacuum created by the absence of a substantive or acting chief judge in the state.
In response to the NJC's directive, the state government through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Worgu Boms, and the Commissioner for Information, Mrs. Ibim Seminatari, had lampooned the council and threatened to deal with any judiciary worker who complied with the directive.
By this development, the state judiciary has also suffered a major blow in the hands of the executive arm of government in the state. The state House of Assembly is under lock and Amaechi's loyalists in the House of Assembly now sit in the Government House, Port Harcourt to approve monetary requests by the governor.
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.
Special Forces of the Nigerian Army Unit in Gwoza, Borno State, have arrested a 13-year-old girl for spying on the military formation for the members of Boko Haram, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has reported.
A security source said the soldiers who picked up the girl were said to be stunned when they found an AK 47 assault rifle in her residence.
It was further gathered that the girl led the soldiers to three other girls who were also said to have been recruited by Boko Haram to spy on military formations.
However, the source did not say whether the soldiers found any lead in the residents of the other girls said to be undergoing interrogation.
It was further stated that there were fears in security circles that the insurgents might have embarked on the recruitment of innocent children to get information on military formations for possible attacks.
The source added that the military was also concerned that some of the abducted girls of Government Secondary School, Chibok, who have been in the custody of the insurgents since April could be indoctrinated for such dangerous assignments.
The source said: “Do you know what is happening now in Gwoza? There are signs now that the insurgents may be using young girls to spy on military formations in the area.
“This week, soldiers arrested a 13-year-old girl for spying on a military formation in Gwoza. When the girl was arrested and questioned, she took the soldiers to three other girls who are also spying for the insurgents.
“The girls are being interrogated. In fact, there are concerns that those people might use some of those Chibok girls for such a dangerous mission when they are eventually released.”
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.
In line with the decisions reached at the Paris summit on security last month, the foreign ministers of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroun, Chad and the Benin Republic will be meeting in London on June 12 on the Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged North-eastern Nigeria and has spilt over to the country’s neighbours in the north.
The African ministers will also meet with their counterparts from the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), France, Canada and the European Union (EU) on the sidelines of the World Summit on Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict.
According to a statement made available by the British High Commission in Abuja yesterday, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague would host the London Ministerial Meeting on Security in Northern Nigeria, which would consider what more could be done both to improve regional coordination, and on economic and social development to counter the threat of Boko Haram.
“Since the appalling abductions of over 200 school girls in Chibok by Boko Haram, the international community has worked together closely to support Nigeria in the fight against terrorism,” Hague said.
He added that all countries involved in the plan to rescue the girls had already reached agreements on intelligence sharing; coordinated border patrols; developing a regional counter-terrorism strategy; and wider action, including supporting the victims of sexual violence and the empowerment of women and girls.
This coordinated action has sent a powerful message of intent, Hague said, adding that the meeting would build on the agreements and consider further options to combat terrorism in northern Nigeria.
“This shows the determination of those in the region, with the support of the international community, to defeat Boko Haram. We continue to work through our close international coordination on the ground in Nigeria to help secure the release of the abducted school girls,” he added.
The UK foreign minister described as appropriate the meeting that would be taking place within the Summit on Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict, as the abduction of the Chibok girls underlines the dreadful risk posed to women and girls in conflict and why the UK is mobilising the world to tackle sexual violence during conflicts.
The statement also quoted Prime Minister David Cameron as expressing readiness to provide more assistance to Nigeria.
Speaking at the G7 meeting in Brussels, Cameron said: “In the longer term, we stand ready to provide more practical assistance to help Nigeria and the region to strengthen their defence and security institutions and to develop the expertise needed to counter these barbaric extremists.”
More People Killed in Borno, Adamawa
But as the foreign ministers prepare to strategise on how to stop Boko Haram, its members continued their killing spree in the North-east, slaughtering 47 people in attacks in Borno and Adamawa States.
In Bargari village in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State, 45 persons were reportedly killed, while several others sustained gunshot injuries during an attack by suspected members of the sect on the community on Wednesday night.
Bargari is on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, and about 30 kilometres south east of Giwa Barracks, which came under attack on March 14, this year.
It was learnt that the attack on Bargari left many people displaced as the insurgents were said to have set many houses ablaze. Shops, vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles were also set on fire.
The marauders were also alleged to have carted away many food items and livestock.
The sound of the attack re-echoed in parts of Maiduguri, leaving many residents of the ciy trembling in fear.
A resident of the village, Mallam Abubakar Maikudi, who was lucky to escape the onslaught, having taken cover in the surrounding bush, said when he sneaked into the community after the insurgents had left to pick up some toiletries, “I counted 45 dead bodies including one of my neighbours.”
Maikudi said: “The gunmen who came into the village at about 9 pm gathered residents in one place convincing them that they had come to Bargari to propagate the teaching/preaching of Islam, and when almost all residents were gathered, a larger number of terrorists came from nowhere and opened fire on the congregation.
“We started running for our dear lives, I was able to escape without being shot, but the gunmen were able to kill over 40 and injured many others before they started looting properties and set structures ablaze, razing the whole village completely.”
Another resident, who was lucky to escape, but did not want his name in print, recounted that the gunmen numbering about 20 ambushed the village, “they drove in in four Toyota Hilux vehicles, and had AK47 rifles, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and petrol bombs. They wreaked havoc before they fled towards the Sambisa forest”.
The incident was also captured on the BBC Hausa Service monitored in Maiduguri, which said about 45 persons were killed by the Boko Haram sect in Bargari village.
All attempts to get official confirmation were unsuccessful as the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gideon Jubrin, could not be reached.
However, a top police officer, who was not authorised to speak, confirmed the attack to journalists, revealing that, “45 people were killed when the suspected terrorist group invaded Bargari village, leaving several others seriously injured". Also, gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram yesterday killed a soldier in Madagali Local Government of Adamawa Statem after which they razed the old Catholic Church in the area and the Madagali Development Area Secretariat.
An eyewitness confirmed the attack and reported that the gunmen struck the area at about 4am yesterday and immediately overran the military checkpoint where they killed the soldier.
He said the insurgents also snatched two military patrol vans at the checkpoint in the crossfire with the soldiers which lasted for three hours.
Mr. Anthony, one of the residents of the area, said the leader of the insurgents openly told them that they should not panic as they were not after them but had come with the sole aim of killing soldiers on patrol in the area.
“When we heard gunshots, we started running for our dear lives but the leader of the insurgents was pleading with us not to be afraid because they were not after us,” he said.
Another resident further said the gunmen, who overran the area with about 10 Hilux vans and an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), operated for nearly three hours unchallenged as the soldiers manning the military checkpoint all took to their heels on sighting the insurgents.
However, officials at the Madagali Local Government headquarters said the town was thrown into a state of confusion when fighter jets with Nigerian colours bombarded parts of the area leading to the death of a girl.
“Shortly after the insurgents left, an aircraft deployed to repel them dropped three bombs on a church, a mosque and near a police post. A girl identified as Laraba Michael was instantly killed in the affected church while another girl was injured,” a resident, Mallam Sani Dandaura, said.
Dandaura told THISDAY on the phone that the military fighter jets arrived the scene of the attack late, as the insurgents had fled before the jets' arrival.
“Despite their late arrival, they released bombs on the town which led to the killing of a girl while destroying many properties,” he said.
The Public Relations Officer of the Adamawa State Police Command, DSP Abubakar Othman, confirmed the incident but said details of the incident were not handy at the time he was contacted by THISDAY.
Every attempt made to reach the Army Public Relations Officer, Captain Nuhu Jefaru, in Yola proved abortive.
FG Asks Media to Blackout Sect
Meanwhile, as the terrorists continue with their murder spree, President Goodluck Jonathan has urged the media to desist from promoting the activities of the sect.
He also said some media reports on terrorist activities instigate different faith-based groups against each other.
The president said this yesterday in Abuja during the presentation of a book titled “What They Don’t Teach You in Broadcasting”, which was authored by Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, a seasoned broadcaster.
“Terrorists need publicity to be recognised and they depend on the media but they do not deserve the type of publicity the media is giving them,” he said.
Represented by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, Jonathan said the terrorists and their acts were being promoted through the media.
The president acknowledged that the media has a responsibility to report the sect’s activities, but said terrorists should not be given the platform to sell their evil ideas.
“I am not saying you should not report them, but we should instigate the generality of the society against them, not promoting them. Evil people are using the outlet of free media to sell their evil ideas.
“The media should help us to sensitise the public, so that for us to win this battle, we must join hands together. We need to leave politics, ethnic or religious sentiment aside,” he said.
The president, who emphasised the need for professionalism in the media and reportage on security issues in the country, urged journalists to imbibe the culture of objectivity and consider national interest first.
Author of the book, Orji, a former member of staff of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), said the necessity for a free and strong media built on the rule of law was the major philosophy behind the publication.
He added that the existence of free and fair journalism would be a major driver of national development.
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.
Two soldiers were feared dead yesterday when an armoured tank stationed at the private residence of Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo of Gombe State exploded. Two others were seriously injured as a result of the explosion.
THISDAY gathered from Gombe Government House sources that the explosion happened at 6:20 pm, prompting soldiers and other armed security personnel to cordon off the area.
The governor’s media aide, Mansur Lawan, sent a text message stating that there was an accidental discharge from the armoured tank stationed in front of Dankwambo’s private residence.
The discharge, it was gathered, might have set off grenades in the tank, triggering multiple explosions outside the residence.
At the time of filing this report, the police, fire service and military personnel were at the scene evacuating the victims of the incident.
Another source, Suleiman Mohammed Al-Amin, the Radio Deutche Welle correspondent, who was at the scene of the explosion, said he saw the amoured tank on fire and a man’s hand that was chopped off by the explosion.
He said he was at the Pantami stadium watching a football match when he heard of the explosion and immediately ran to the scene to verify the incident.
He also revealed that he was manhandled by the military personnel on duty at the scene of the explosion.
Al-Amin said he was seriously beaten by the soldiers, even after he had identified himself and had shown them his identification card. Instead, the soldiers collected his ID card and beat him mercilessly.
All efforts to confirm the explosion from the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Fwaje Atajiri, proved abortive as his phone lines were switched off.
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.
A widow of one of the slain policemen during a recent attack by Boko Haram insurgents on Nigeria's border town with Cameroun, Gamboru, Mrs. Kuve Matthew Vincent, yesterday said her husband and several other cops killed by insurgents in the troubled North-east region would have been alive today if sophisticated weapons had been handed over to them to confront the terrorists.
Kuve, who was asked to give a vote of thanks on behalf of other families after a cash gift of a N1 million was given to each of the 16 families of policemen killed in the attack by the insurgents on Gamboru about a month ago, told the Borno Police Commissioner, Lawan Tanko, to communicate her appeal to the Inspector General of Police (IG).
Kuve, who was quite emotional, said: “Our husbands were killed because they were made to confront the insurgents without having sophisticated weapons and it will be disastrous to allow this to continue.”
She added that the federal government could only limit the casualties in the fight against insurgents if policemen were well equipped, lamenting that she lost her husband who was two weeks away from being promoted a sergeant.
She said the pain of seeing one’s husband in the morning going to work but having his corpse returned in the evening was unbearable, appealing that “something should be done to stop this ugly trend”.
Kuve also appealed that the police authorities should not stop the salaries of deceased policemen killed in active service, pointing out that most of the wives of these officers were not employed and "it would only amount to double tragedy to stop the money that should have been given to a mourning widow”.
The Borno State Government had presented a financial palliative of N16.8 million to the police authorities to be shared to 16 dead policemen and four wounded ones.
The police commissioner, who gave out the cash, explained that N1 million was given to each of the 16 families of the dead cops and N200,000 each to the four injured policemen.
Lawan, who explained that the police authorities were working on the entitlements of the deceased policemen, said: “Today as we gathered here, it is a sad moment because we are here to witness the issuance of relief provided by the Borno State Government to the families of some of our colleagues we lost in the Gamboru Ngala attack.”
He explained to the families that the money was to assist them and not the payment of death benefits, adding that arrangements were already in place for the payment of the fallen men’s benefits to the families as one of the cardinal objectives of the police IG.
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.
Following the alarm raised by the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, over the ongoing boundary adjustment from Borno to Cross River States, Senate President, David Mark, yesterday warned against any further attempt by Cameroun to deprive Nigeria of the ownership of any part of its territory.
He said the adjustment, if carried through, would result in the loss of more Nigerian communities to Cameroun.
This came as the Senate yesterday suspended its plan to vote on the fresh amendment proposals to Section 9 of the constitution which would allow the draft of a new constitution to be subjected to referendum by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
While announcing the suspension of planned voting on the referendum, Mark said the matter had to be deferred to another legislative day because the parliament did not have the required four-fifth majority required to vote on the matter.
Ndoma-Egba, who raised the alarm through Order 42 of the Senate Standing Rules, was granted leave by Mark to formally move a motion on the matter on another legislative day, as the parliament proceeded on the end of its third session break yesterday. It will resume on June 24.
Order 42 allows a senator to raise a matter he considers to be of urgent importance on the floor of the Senate before the commencement of the day’s proceedings and if supported by one-fifth of senators present, the senator shall formally move a motion on the matter on another legislative day.
According to Ndoma-Egba, who represents Cross River Central senatorial district, the ongoing boundary adjustment has created considerable anxiety among his constituents whom he said were concerned that they might lose their communities to Cameroun in the same manner Bakassi was lost to the neighbouring country through Green Trade Agreement (GTA) in 2008.
He said: “The exercise going on in my constituency is causing a lot of anxiety among my constituents. They fear that at the end of the exercise, we will be losing not just communities but a number of many communities to Cameroon. So with your kind permission, I will like to bring a formal motion on this on our next legislative day (which is June 24)."
After agreeing to allow him move the motion on another legislative day, Mark warned anyone dreaming of further invasion into Nigeria's territory to perish the thought, saying Nigeria would never give away the smallest portion of its land again, irrespective of the status of organisations behind it.
“This country must never, never under any circumstance surrender one millimeter of our land to any country irrespective of who is supervising it, whether it is the United Nations (UN), or African Union (AU). This is serious enough. The matter will be discussed in our next legislative day,” Mark said.
Answering questions from journalists after the sitting, Ndoma-Egba said he had been told that the adjustment was currently going on in Danari community in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State in further pursuit of the GTA.
He added that residents of this community now lived in perpetual fear of possibly losing their land.
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.
A former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Chris Ekpeyong, has faulted the uproar generated by the state Governors and Deputy Governors’ Pension Law recently passed by the state House of Assembly and assented to the state Governor, Godswill Akpabio, saying the content of the law was grossly exaggerated and blown out of proportion by a cross-section of Nigerians.
Ekpeyong, who spoke with THISDAY in Lagos yesterday, wondered why the law drew so much attention when Akwa Ibom was not the only state in the country that had enacted such a law.
“I don’t know why people blew it out of proportion as if Akwa Ibom is the only state in the country that has enacted such law. May be it is because of the governor’s extrovert nature. There is nothing new or strange in the law. Other states have similar laws that are worse. Go and study them,” he said.
He attributed the uproar to the political intrigues in the state ahead of the 2015 elections, adding that there was nothing in the law that was strange.
The former deputy, who said the law had been in existence since 2000, added that there was nothing new added to it, other than pegging the amount to be collected by the state's former governors and their deputies.
He argued that what Akpabio was trying to do with the new amendment was to save money for the state by pegging the amount to be collected by a former governors and deputies, instead of leaving it open-ended like the previous government.
The former deputy governor said: "the new amendment was in the wisdom of the governor who felt it was better to define the limit of the amount to be drawn by the former governors and their deputies instead of still leaving it open-ended."
Describing Akpabio as a governor who has done better than the previous governors of the state, Ekpeyong wondered why Nigerians would show so much interest in the affairs of the state.
He explained that before then, they (former governors and deputy governors) had held series meetings where they agreed that there was the need to amend the law for it to be explicit, in terms of determining the limit of the amount due to a particular former officer.
“In the wisdom of the governor, it was better to define the limit of the amount to be drawn by the former governors and their deputies instead of leaving it undefined.
“I really do not know why Nigerians reacted like that to the law. This law in question exists in other states and I did not hear of any uproar it generated, in Katsina, Kano, Bauchi, Lagos, Rivers, Imo and other states. I don’t know why that of Akwa Ibom will be an exception. I think what I see is that they want Akwa Ibom people to go cap in hand, begging for food,” he said.
The former deputy governor, who disclosed that he was the one who mooted the idea for the law in 2000, argued that rather than castigate the governor for his initiative to save the state’s resource, he should have been commended.
Saying that he was speaking on behalf of other former deputy governors of the state, Ekpeyong said the law was in order.
“Because they just heard N100 million for medical treatment, everybody just went berserk. They simply cashed in on the fact that Akpabio is an extrovert to a fault. The whole uproar is because of the political intrigues in the state ahead of the 2015 elections.
“This is my house, he did not build it for me. But he has done better than the previous governors. I don’t know why Nigerians are interested in Akwa Ibom State,” he said.
Contending that the law was in accordance with 1999 Constitution, the former deputy governor challenged those berating the law to go ahead and examine similar laws enacted in other states, noting that they were a lot more generous than the one in force in Akwa Ibom.
He said a lot of people reacted to the law the way they did because of Akpobio’s extrovert disposition.
Comparing the Lagos State law with that of Akwa Ibom State for instance, Ekpeyong said while the new law in his state offered two cars to governors every four years, Lagos gives six cars every three years to former governors and their deputies.
He added that while Lagos equally offers free medical treatment to governors and their deputies as well as members of their immediate families, it also offers them accommodation in any area of their choice in the state, while governors who served two consecutive term are also given two houses – one in Lagos and the other in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In the case of Akwa Ibom State, the former deputy governor said only the governors and deputy governors as well as their spouses that are entitled to medical treatment, while their choice of accommodation is limited to a five-bedroom maisonette in the state.
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.
Presidential Fact-finding Committee on the Abduction of Chibok Schoolgirls, yesterday debunked reports insinuating that the presidency was planning to either frustrate or manipulate its report.
The reports came on the heels of reactions to comments credited to some officials of the federal government.
A statement by the spokesman of the committee, Kingsley Osadolor, noted that those who expressed their opinion on aspects of the committee's terms of reference, were not members of the committee.
The statement added that "They have never attended any meeting of the committee, nor have they been participant-observers at the various interactive sessions the committee has held in Abuja, Maiduguri and Chibok.
"Indeed, no presidency official has been privy to the minutes of the proceedings of the committee.
"Since the committee commenced work following its inauguration on May 6, the committee has issued media statements and granted interviews as the need arose. In other words, the Fact-finding committee has communicated through its designated member/spokesperson."
The committee, according to the statement, assured all Nigerians and other stakeholders that the statements credited to certain officials are their personal views, which did not emanate either directly or indirectly from it.
Since the committee's inauguration on May 6, the statement stressed, there had been no meeting between the committee or any one or more of its members and the presidency.
The committee said it had never been invited to give any secret or open briefing on its work or findings so far, reiterating that it was not being teleguided.
“The committee is now in the home stretch of its assignment. No staff of the presidency has been obliged with a snippet of what the committee is working on. Furthermore, the committee has not issued any interim report" the statement concluded.
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.
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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.
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