Igala People Send Warning to Anambra East on Oil Well

The incessant  violent attacks at the Eziagulu-Otu oil fields, in Anambra East local government area,
Anambra State, by the Igala people from Kogi State, have assumed worrisome dimension and now pose serious threat to the existing peace between the two neighbouring states.
  Reacting to the latest invasion of the Orient Petroleum installed facilities at Eziagulu-Otu, resulting in torching of several vehicles and destruction of some structures by the armed invaders, the traditional ruler of Igbariamm, Dr Kelly N. Nkeli, beckoned on the federal government to urgently  intervene in the matter.
  Igwe (Dr) Nkeli urged the federal government to call the Kogi State government to order immediately to avert any such provocative cross-border incursions into the oil fields located inside thee Omambala territory of the state by the Igala people from Asonwa community.
  The royal father noted that over the past centuries, since the creation of mankind, there was never land dispute between the two states, until the exploration of petroleum

SENATE: SARAKI, LAWAN GROUPS’ RIFT DEEPENS

The crisis within the ruling All Progressives Congress took a new turn on Sunday with the Senator Ahmad Lawan group in the Senate accusing the Bukola Saraki group of plotting to make President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration fail.
“The election of a Peoples Democratic Party senator as deputy senate president is evidently a grand conspiracy to sabotage the Buhari government,” spokesperson for the pro – Lawan group, Senator Kabiru Marafa, said in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja.
Marafa argued that the inauguration of the 8th Senate and subsequent election of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, with 57 senators in attendance was an indication that the perpetrators of the act actively involved the management of the federal parliament.
While the APC had endorsed Lawan as its candidate for the senate presidency, Saraki defied the party and manoeuvred his way to clinch the post.
The senate president had teamed up with senators of his former party, the PDP, to assume power in an alliance that saw Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP becoming the deputy senate president.
Ekweremadu had defeated Ali Ndume of the APC by 54 votes to 22 votes.
Lawan loyalists in the Senate, under the Senate Unity Forum, said on Sunday that the election of Ekweremadu was a grand conspiracy to sabotage Buhari’s administration through the legislature. The Saraki supporters style themselves Like Minds Senators.
Both Lawan and Saraki groups had on Friday disagreed on how the principal officers of the Senate should be chosen.
While the Lawan group aligned with the position of the APC leaders that the party should choose the officers, the Saraki group insisted that the Senate officers should be picked at zonal levels.
The spokesman for the Lawan group also demanded the prosecution of the National Assembly Management for allegedly contributing to the plot.
Marafa said, “We are convinced that there is a general conspiracy in this country to sabotage the APC government, particularly the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. For God sake, why should Senator Bukola Saraki be declared as senate president with 57 votes while 51 other senators were disenfranchised.

JEGA: I WAS NEVER THREATENED, ASKED TO GO ON LEAVE BEFORE THE ELECTIONS

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, at the weekend, revealed that contrary to the rumours that made the rounds before and after the 2015 elections, he was never threatened or asked to proceed on leave or retire by anybody or authority, adding that it was just the work of rumour mongers who did not want anything good for the country.

Jega, who also tasked the new administration to try its best to ensure that the hopes and aspirations of Nigerians are realised, disclosed that during the elections, his security aides were never withdrawn for a second, contrary to what many were made to believe.

According to the INEC chairman, who was hosted in Lagos by EbonyLife TV in a programme tagged, 'Afternoon Tea with Professor Attahiru Mohammed Jega', “In our country, anything is possible. Frankly, the rumour mill in our country is incredible; a lot is manufactured, circulated and assumes a life of its own.

“Sincerely, I did not feel that I was under any threat, nobody threatened me and at no time was my security detail withdrawn.

“Even as I was sitting down at the collation centre, I even got text messages that my security men had been withdrawn, and they were there around me. So there were a lot of things that were said that weren’t true.

Occult on Rampage In Onitsha

AN Onitsha based businessman, Chief Mike Asonnaedu yesterday asked an Idemili customary court, sitting
at Oba,  Idemili South LGA, to evict his tenant, Prophet James from his house.
  Giving evidence as witness before the court, Chief Asonnaedu narrated how the tenant burns candles of several colours within the premises, usually at nights.
  He also told the court that prophet also buries animals like rams, pigeons and idiots at the compound.

JONATHAN’S LAST-MINUTE APPOINTMENTS TEAR CIVIL SERVICE APART

THE crisis in the federal civil service appeared to have worsened with career civil servants protesting against the absorption of 530 aides and cronies of former President Goodluck Jonathan into the civil service in the last days of the past administration.
The new recruits into the service were also said to have been installed in high positions, from assistant directors upward.
Already, six deputy directors in the federal civil service are in court to protest against the manner the last promotion examination to directors’ level was handled by the Federal Civil Service Commission.
The FCSC released the list of newly-promoted directors in October 2014.
The six aggrieved deputy directors – Dr. John Magbadelo, Mrs. Ada Ihechukwu Madubuike, Mrs. Ganiat Ayodele, Mr. Olusegun Oginni, Mrs. Janet Ayorinde and Mr. Otajele Musa – filed an action at the National Industrial Court on March 26, 2015 to question the exercise.
Most senior civil servants are said to be unhappy with the FCSC, a situation which is said to have been made worse by the Jonathan recruits into the service.
Sources told The PUNCH in Abuja on Sunday that between the time Jonathan lost the presidential election of April 11 and the May 29 handover date, 530 persons from different backgrounds had their appointments into the civil service regularised.
A director in one of the sensitive ministries told our correspondent that the FCSC, through ‘‘crafty schemes’’, brought into the civil service “numerous aides of the former President Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo and ministers.

STILL WAITING FOR BUHARI

Almost one month after Muhammadu Buhari was inaugurated as the fifth elected President of Nigeria, activities in almost all sectors in the country are at their lowest ebb, following the failure of the government to make key appointments and articulate its policy direction. Unlike previous administrations where some important positions like the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Principal and Private Secretaries to the President and the Chief of Staff were appointed as soon as the President was sworn-in, all these positions are still vacant till date. This delay in making key appointments and elucidating the policy direction of the administration has grounded activities in virtually all sectors, including award and payment of important contracts, construction works and other key decisions. For instance, most of the contractors handling federal government road contracts have vacated their sites as it remains uncertain if the new administration will continue with the contracts or revoke them. This development has resulted in the affected companies laying off their casual workers pending when the administration will hit the ground running. The private sector is also affected as prudent investors have kept their funds in the bank waiting to see the direction of the new administration’s economic policies. These wait-and-see posture is already affecting millions of

MIMIKO, CHAIRMAN, SPLITS PDP GOVS FORUM

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is set for another round of crisis as the emergence of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State as Chairman of the its governors forum (PDPGF) is being contested by some members of the forum.
Mimiko emerged as Chairman of the Forum at a meeting held last Tuesday night and attended by only six of the party’s 12 governors, while only two deputies represented their principals.
A dependable source within the party told Daily Independent that a particular governor from the South (name withheld) is leading the revolt against the emergence of Mimiko as Chairman of the PDPGF. The aggrieved governor has petitioned the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) over the issue.
The same governor, our source noted, has not attended any of the two meetings of the PDPGF held this year just as he was also absent at the meeting where Mimiko emerged as Chairman of the forum. He was also not represented by at the parley.
The meeting of the PDPGF has been slated for today to address some pressing issues, and it was gathered that the NWC might use the opportunity of the meeting to hold a reconciliatory meeting with the governors, if only to quell the budding crisis.
However, some of the governors in attendance at last week’s meeting insist that the emergence of Mimiko as chairman of the group followed a proper process as the notice of the meeting at which he emerged, was properly circulated.

Buhari Orders Removal Of Military Checkpoints Nationwide

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the removal of all military check points nationwide and has  directed that police should take control of internal security.
Addressing State House correspondents after‎ a meeting between the president and service chiefs, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry of defence, Alhaji Ismail Aliyu said the president directed the security chiefs to liaise with the Police on taking over internal security.
According to the Permanent Secretary, the meeting with the security chiefs was to give them the opportunity to brief the president on the implementations of recent decisions reached on the fight against insurgency.
He also said that the military high command briefed the president on the relocation of the command centre to ‎Maiduguri as directed by the president on the day of his inauguration.

TAMBUWAL PAYS LATE NIGHT VISIT TO HOSPITAL, LAMENTS PATIENTS’ CONDITIONS

The Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, early Sunday morning, paid an unscheduled visit to the Murtala Muhammed state Specialist hospital, Sokoto, where he lamented the condition of patients and warned that government will not tolerate laxity from any of its workers.
The visit, which occurred at 2.00 a.m. On Sunday, caught the few workers on duty unaware.
A statement by Mr. Tambuwal’s spokesperson, Imam Imam, said upon entering the hospital, the governor observed that there was no electricity supply while many patients, who could not withstand the heat in their wards, lied down outside the designated wards.
“After going round the dark complex for 30 minutes to assess things for himself, Tambuwal was then recognized by a few of the staff on duty. Upon noticing his presence, the generator set was quickly powered on while the staff made attempts to hurry the patients into the rooms,” the statement added.
After speaking to the patients and wishing them quick recovery, Governor Tambuwal assured them that their health needs would not be toyed with by the government.

AMBODE DECLARES SECOND LEKKI-EPE EXPRESSWAY TOLL-FREE

The Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, has assured residents that tolls will not be collected at the second toll point on the Lekki- Epe Expressway.
Ambode made the remark at an interactive session with journalists at the Banquet Hall of the Lagos House, Ikeja, a statement said on Sunday.
The governor, in the statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Habib Aruna, said his concern was ensuring the completion of the road.
He said, “We must start thinking of the future concerning that road. We said we will have an International Airport in Epe, and an Export Processing Zone in Lekki and a Deep Seaport also in Lekki.
“Should we not start thinking about how we will improve and create a 10-lane road between Ikorodu, Itoikin, Epe and Ijebu Ode so that people can go out from there? There is no point constructing the road, paying tolls and in five years’ time, the road is gone.”
The governor said once the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, which was being expanded into 10-lane, was completed, the community would be opened up for business activities.
He added that his administration would make careful efforts to grow the tourism potential of the state.
He said, “As more means of transportation come on board, the more than 600,000 private car owners and 120,000 motorcycles that are being put on the road in the state on a daily basis will reduce in number.”