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Technology

Onitsha South Council Dismisses Calls For Removal Of Council Chairman

By Okey Maduforo Awka. The Onitsha South Local Government Council has dismissed the recent publication by one Chief Sabest Uzoeto, in which he called on the Executive Governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, to remove the Mayor of Onitsha South Local Government Area, Rt. Hon. Emeka Joseph Orji. In a statement issued on Tuesday by the Secretary of Council, Mr. Paul Onuachala, the Council described Uzoeto’s publication as “a desperate outburst by a sinking man”, noting that his allegations against the Mayor and the Local Government were “baseless, misleading, and malicious.” “The allegations made by Chief Sabest Uzoeto against the Onitsha South Local Government and its Mayor are entirely false and are hereby vehemently denied,” “Chief Uzoeto is respectfully invited to strict proof of his allegations before a court of competent jurisdiction,” Mr. Onuachala added. According to the Council, Chief Uzoeto’s claim of ownership over the disputed land had previously been lodged before the High Court of Onitsha, but was voluntarily withdrawn by Uzoeto himself. Subsequently, he filed a petition before the Anambra State House of Assembly Committee on Public Petitions, which was “robustly challenged” by the Onitsha South Local Government and its Mayor through an Originating Summons. The matter, the Council confirmed, is currently pending before the High Court awaiting judicial determination. Mr. Onuachala further stated that the Council views Chief Uzoeto’s actions,shifting from one forum to another as evidence of desperation rather than lawful pursuit of justice. “Onitsha South Local Government genuinely believes that Chief Uzoeto’s maneuvers, from the High Court to the State House of Assembly Committee, portray a pattern of manipulation and abuse of legal process,” Onuachala said. “His current campaign of calumny, launched with little or no regard for the sub judice nature of the pending matter, clearly reveals a desperate attempt to mislead and deceive unsuspecting members of the public,” he added.

3 days ago

Technology

HCN Operatives Arrest 30 Illegal Revenue Agents Along Federal Highways

By Okey Maduforo Awka. So far 30 Illegal Revenue Agents have been arrested by the Harmony Corps of Nigeria HCN since the commencement of the it’s operations in the last two weeks. The paramilitary outfit was recently engaged by the Agricultural Product Dealers to clear the illegal check points on the federal highways where fake revenue agents rip off transporters of food items from the North to the Southern parts of the country. With the official order of the Inspector General of Police, the body deployed officers and men to the federal highways which has so far resulted in the arrest of thirty suspects. According to the Deputy Commandant General of the Harmony Corps of Nigeria HCN in charge of operations Mr Elvis Okoli “Presently what we are doing on the highways is to clear the highways of all these illegal check points and illegal revenue check points and agents ” “They have been in the highways collecting revenue from vehicles that transport goods and these money that they extort from these truck drivers transporting farm produce are transfered to the cost of the goods and the end victims are the consumers” “When that is done prices of goods are skyrocketed and it has always affected the ordinary masses ” Okoli recalled that the body got a report from the Agricultural Product Dealers about the illegal activities of those people and requested it’s services on the mandate of the Inspector General of Police. $We got information from the Agricultural Product Dealers that when food items are purchased from the North they spend over N,500,000.00 to transport these goods to the Southern parts of Nigeria and it has become so worrisome that they had to employ our services and our collaboration with the joint task force embarked on this journey with the corporation of the Inspector General of Police” “We have sent signals to all the police formations to assist us in executing this great assignment” “So far we have arrested in Cross River state more than twenty five persons and we have arrested also in Enugu about five of them who are principal actors and they have been moved to Abuja and some of our men who are in Abuja, Nasarawa and other states doing the same job ” “We have been to Enugu, Imo and Abia states and we shall touch all the states in Nigeria to make sure that these people who mount illegal check points extorting money from innocent people are apprehended” Okoli sited the 2004 tax law which prohibits the collection of revenues or mounting of check points on the federal highways. “There is a tax law 2004 that says nobody or revenue officials is authorized to be on the federal highway for the purposes of collecting revenue and they know it but they deliberately decided to be on the highways and be collecting revenue from innocent people” “With this development the cost of food items would come down and the end consumers would not by food items at cut throat prices” “The high cost of food items in our markets here in the Southern parts of Nigeria is as a result of the cost of transportation from the North to the South” “Some spend up to N700,000.00 to pass through about seven to eight states of the country to get to the South and this totally unacceptable to us ” he stated.

3 days ago

Technology

Governor Bala Mohd Chairs SEC Meeting, Reshuffles Cabinet

Swears-in Hadiza Kango as New Commissioner of Higher Education Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed has sworn in five newly appointed government officials into various positions in the state and local government service. The swearing-in ceremony took place today at the Government House Council Chamber, Bauchi. The newly sworn in officials are Hajiya Hadiza Abdulkadir Kango as Commissioner and member of the Bauchi State Executive Council, Hajiya Jummai Salamatu Abubakar from Dass Local Government as Chairperson of the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission, Iliya Isa from Dambam as Executive Chairman, Dambam Local Government Area, Babaji Idris Shehu as Auditor General for Local Governments, while Abubakar Usman Misau as Permanent Commissioner in the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission. Speaking, Governor Mohammed said the appointments would fill the vacancies created by the exit of previous officeholders through resignation, retirement, and death. While emphasizing that the selection of the new officials was based on merit, experience, and the policy of equity and inclusiveness, Mohammed congratulated the appointees, even as he charged them to discharge their responsibilities with diligence, integrity, and commitment to the ideals of transparency, accountability, as well as service to the people of Bauchi State. He, however, warned against abuse of office or pursuit of personal interests above public good. Mohammed urged the new commissioner, Hajiya Hadiza Abdulkadir Kango, who swapped portfolios with the former Commissioner for Higher Education and Regional Integration, Dr. Lydia Haruna Tsammani to align herself with the government’s policy direction and work harmoniously with her permanent secretary in achieving the ministry’s objectives. Speaking on behalf of the appointees, Abubakar Usman Misau commended Governor Mohammed for the confidence reposed in them, assuring that they would justify the trust through hard work, dedication, and loyalty to the administration.

3 days ago

Technology

Anambra 2025: That Vote-Buying Ruse Of The Opposition

By Angela Chimelu The opposition parties in the November 8 Anambra State gubernatorial elections have accused Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of vote-buying because he announced a cash reward for every ward won by his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). Nothing can be more absurd than seeing the motivation of party members as buying their votes! Governor Soludo has defended himself by revealing that he is more interested in curbing voter apathy in Anambra State than buying anyone’s vote. It’s quite remarkable that only 200,000 people voted in the 2021 election when the total number of registered voters stands at a staggering 2.8 million. The nagging issue is that the opposition parties are not making the forthcoming election competitive because they are not campaigning at all. They are more interested in raising spurious charges like the vote-buying ruse, instead of going out in the field to woo the voters. The backlash from the opposition parties and some civil society organizations has been countered by the astute ombudsman and deputy managing director of Thisday Newspapers in Lagos, Comrade Kayode Komolafe who stressed on Arise TV Network Press Review that the mobilization of voters does not in any way amount to vote-buying. For Komolafe, all advanced democracies in the world practice voters’ motivation and mobilization which in no way violates the Electoral Act. The 16 political parties and their candidates contesting for the the Anambra governorship seat do not need to hide behind the finger of vote-buying when the election is yet to happen. It is incumbent on the newly appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, to put in place all measures to ensure that the Anambra election which is his first outing is free, fair and credible. The facts on the ground is that it is even the members of the opposition parties who are not campaigning seriously anywhere in the state that have been boasting that they had already written the results of the election! Governor Soludo had countered them with the statement that a rat cannot steal from a man who is awake. Interestingly, those plotting to subvert the electoral process appear not to take into consideration the pivotal role of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), aka “Ogbuefi BVAS”, which was introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2021 to enhance the security and integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process. BVAS has proven to be successful at verifying Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and authenticating voters using biometric data such as fingerprints and facial recognition thus rightly earned it the moniker: “Ogbuefi BVAS”! As things stand, INEC plans to deploy over 22,000 ad hoc staff of various categories to man the polling units across Anambra State for this highly significant election. There should be no room for any group to sabotage the process. All eyes ought to be on the ball, especially the 540 accredited journalists accredited to participate in the exercise. Anambra State has a total of 5,720 polling units, and each unit, in line with INEC’s standard procedure, will be manned by four officials – one Presiding Officer and three Assistant Presiding Officers (APO I, II, and III), thus bringing the total number of ad hoc personnel to approximately 22,800. Supervisory Presiding Officers will be assigned to oversee activities at the various ward centres across the state. This way, electoral integrity ought to be assured in Anambra State. With all these in place, any political party that does not sufficiently motivate its supporters cannot hope to win. Governor Soludo’s party, APGA, is an ever present in all parts of Anambra State. The opposition parties only exist in news releases and on the internet. Elections are not won by crying wolf about vote-buying through the activities of data boys leading the charge as internet tigers and social media warriors. The truth of the matter is that the opposition parties in Anambra State are unserious and are actually non-existent. It is only Soludo that the people know, and the communities are competing with each other over the one that will give him the highest number of votes. Soludo’s promised vote reward to each high-delivering ward will serve to stop voter apathy. Anambra people are very knowledgeable and sophisticated. They have been adequately sensitized on how and when to vote. Soludo is the only visible candidate. The others are neither here nor there. Soludo remains assured of victory, as he is the only one being followed by the people. He is unapologetic in defending the monetary incentives as the booster to encourage more people to come out to vote. It is a sure strategy to boost voter turnout rather than an act of vote-buying. Governor Soludo has sparked competition among his own supporters through these innovative rewards. Anambra that has witnessed massive voter apathy over the years will witness a new lease of life . This is a worthwhile solution coming from Mr Solution. *Dr Chimelu is a public policy analyst based in Awka, Anambra State

3 days ago

Technology

Govt Intervene, Rescues Widow From Drinking Water Used To Bathe Husband’s Corpse To Prove Innocence

From Joshua Chibuzo Andrew Mrs Chika Ndubuisi, has been rescued from drinking water used to bathe her husband’s corpse in Awo-Omamma, Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State. She was rescued from the hands of her husband’s kinsmen, who attempted to force her to drink the water used in bathing the corpse of her husband to prove her innocence over his death. It was alleged that her husband’s kinsmen allegedly tried to compel her to drink from the water, but the swift intervention of the Commissioner, the Local Council Authority of the area, and security agencies halted the attempt following alerts raised by a women’s group. This followed an alarm raised by a women’s advocacy group, which drew the attention of the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, exposing the actions of the said kinsmen. Reacting to the development, Commissioner for Women Affairs, Lady Nkechinyere Ugwu, condemned the act, describing it as an inhuman widowhood practice that has become outdated. The Commissioner expressed shock that such a practice still exists in the present-day society, where a widow, already traumatised by the loss of her husband, would be coerced by her late husband’s kinsmen to partake in a ritual involving drinking from the water used in bathing his corpse. She said, “Normalcy has been restored, and a detailed investigation is underway. The widow, Mrs Ndubuisi, and her children are under government protection.” She frowned at the act, describing it as barbaric, cruel, and completely unacceptable in a civilised society. Lady Ugwu stated that the Ministry’s action, in collaboration with the Chairman of the Local Council and some Non-Governmental Organisations, facilitated the rescue of the widow and her children. She confirmed that some arrests have been made in connection with the incident. Meanwhile, the wife of the state governor, Chioma Uzodinma, has directed an immediate and comprehensive investigation to ensure that those responsible face the full weight of the law.

3 days ago