ANAMBRA TRADERS PROTEST AGAINST GOVERNOR OBIANO’S IGR POLICIES

The traders in Awka, Anambra state have kicked against the policies of the state government geared towards improving the internally generated revenue of the state in a peaceful protest.

The protesters under the auspices of Ziks Avenue Business Owners Association (ZABOA) commenced the peaceful protest from their Amaenyi general office in Awka, through the ever busy Ziks avenue road to the
government lodge in Amawbia .

Speaking with our correspondent the coordinator of the associations task force unit Mr Ikechukwu Okafor said that the protest was essential because the people of the state where suffering from the ill treatment by those he referred to as ‘Governor Obiano police’.

He explained that the government’s enforcement officers where causing more harm and damage to the state as they operate in a violent and illegal manner, hence their resolve to engage on a peaceful protest.

Governor Obiano Bans Motorcycle Operation in Major Cities of Anambra

Public Service Announcement!!! :

The Anambra State Government has directed the restriction of all private and commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators from the major expressways in the State from Monday the first day of June, 2015.
Accordingly, all motorcycle and tricycle operators in the State will from next week Monday be barred from plying the Enugu- Onitsha and Onitsha - Owerri expressways. Similarly, it will be illegal for all motorcycles either private or commercial to ply the following designated roads in Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi:
In Awka, the roads are: Enugu-Onitsha expressway, Arthur Eze Avenue and Ziks Avenue. For Onitsha, the roads are: Onitsha-Owerri expressway, Awka Road, Borromew-Upper Iweka-Bridge Head road, Old and New Market Roads and Oguta Road. In Nnewi, they are: Nnewi- Nnobi road and Nnewi - Oba road.

I CAN’T BE A PARTY TO NIGERIA’S DISINTEGRATION – JONATHAN

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said he would never be a part of any action that can lead to Nigeria’s disintegration.
He said the predictions that the country would cease to exist in 2015 could have come true if he had not taken the decision to concede defeat in the March 28 Presidential election.
Looking back, he said he was happy he took that decision because Nigerians still have a country to call their own.
Jonathan spoke while receiving members of the Universal Peace Foundation who were in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to confer on him an award of Peace-Loving Global Citizen.
He said it was his commitment to the unity of the country that made his administration to put together the National Conference in order to address the issues that tend to divide Nigerians.
The President said, “Everybody knew about the predictions (that Nigeria will cease to exist by 2015). Anything could have made those predictions become true. After all, we fought a civil war for about three years before as a nation.

TAMBUWAL BOWS OUT, HANDS OVER TO IHEDIOHA

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, bowed out on Tuesday, handing over the leadership of the legislature to his Deputy, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, who will round off the tenure of the House on June 5.

Tambuwal, who is the Governor-elect for Sokoto State, will be inaugurated on May 29 (Friday) as governor.

His decision to transfer power to Ihedioha ahead of May 29 was to avoid a possible constitutional crisis of taking oath of office for two separate offices.

While he will be inaugurated as governor on May 29, his current tenure as a member of the House will terminate on June 6.

Tambuwal, who spoke with journalists soon after Tuesday’s sitting of the House, disclosed that the members agreed at an executive session that Ihedioha should preside over the affairs of the House till June 6.

“My stay here in the House would have effectively come to a end on May 29 after I would have been inaugurated as governor.

Where Jonathan and I disagreed —Amaechi

Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State explained yesterday that the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to repay over N105 billion spent by the state government on the repairs of federal roads in the state was the major cause of their disagreement.
Ameachi spoke in Abuja after the presentation of a documentary titled:  Dynamic of Change, which chronicled the achievements of his administration in the last eight years.
He said that even with three days to the expiration of the life of the present regime, the money was yet to be refunded.
He also hinted that his quarrel with President Jonathan escalated following the unnecessary interference of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, in the affairs of Rivers State.
According to him, his resistance to the unsolicited actions of Mrs. Jonathan whom he accused of unleashing Police, military and other security agencies on the state to achieve her aim, fueled their disagreement.

I’VE WIKE’S RECORDS, AMAECHI DARES GOV-ELECT ON PROBE

River State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has asked the state Governor-elect, Chief Nyesom Wike, to go ahead with his threat to probe his administration, saying he has Wike’s records as his (Amaechi) Chief of Staff between 2007 and 2011.
Amaechi said this during one of the programmes organised by Committee of Friends to mark the Rivers State governor’s 50th birthday in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
“I heard that Wike says he will probe me. I have not asked him not to probe me. He should remember that he was my Chief of Staff for four years; I have my records on him. He should go ahead,” he said.
Amaechi added that he did not use his tenure to probe the past administration in the state, noting that such exercise might be a waste of time and resources.
He explained that the people of the state would not applaud him on the basis of how many people he had probed but for his accomplishments in office.
“Go and check, the road leading to Wike’s father’s house, I constructed it. But in front of that same house, a relation of mine was killed on election day,” he added.

Constitution amendment: S-Court urges Jonathan, NASS to settle out of court

The Supreme Court, yesterday, urged President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Assembly to seek an amicable settlement of the controversy surrounding the proposed amendments to  the 1999 constitution.
A seven-man panel of justices of the apex court, led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, gave the two parties 24 hours to explore an out-of-court resolution of the matter.
In a short ruling, yesterday, the CJN adjourned the matter till tomorrow to entertain arguments on whether or not the apex court should vacate the order that directed the NASS to maintain status-quo on the issue.
At the resumed sitting on the matter, yesterday, Mr Bayo Ojo, SAN, who represented the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, applied to amend the originating process to reflect President Jonathan as the plaintiff in the case.

COURT ORDERS NDLEA TO VACATE KASHAMU’S RESIDENCE

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the more than 50 operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to immediately vacate the Lagos residence of the senator-elect for Ogun East Senatorial District, Mr. Buruji Kashamu.
The NDLEA, whose operatives had laid siege on Kashamu’s residence in Lagos since Saturday, said it had received a formal extradition request on Kashamu from the government of the United States of America and was coming to court to secure an extradition order.

DPR/Diezani Madueke: Deceiving Buhari On Renewed Modular Refineries’ Licensing By Ifeanyi Izeze

THere are so many things the Mohhamadu Buhari-led government would need to do immediately it comes on board to in the first instance, correct the impression that Nigeria is a country of unserious-minded people.

How do you reconcile that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) few days to a new government taking over the administration of this country has suddenly remember that all we need to solve the lingering crisis in local production of petroleum products is the modular refinery concept?

APC DENIES BUKOLA SARAKI'S TWEET, SAYS THEY NEVER ZONED SENATE PRESIDENCY TO NORTH CENTRAL

It appears APC is having a silent battle over who becomes the next senate President. Two hours ago, Senator Bukola Saraki who is gunning for the seat of the Senate president, tweeted that the party had reaffirmed its position to zone the seat of the Senate Presidency to the North Central.

A few minutes ago, his claim was refuted by a statement released by the party's National Secretary Mai Mala Buni, which was shared on the Facebook wall of Kaduna governor-elect, Nasir El Rufai.