Grassroots
PDP wins all seats in Rivers council election
File Photo In line with expectation and trends in other parts of the country, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers has been declared the winner of all the chairpersons and councillorship seats contested for in the State local government election held on Saturday. The announcement that the PDP won all the seats contested for in the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers was made by the State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, in Port Harcourt on Sunday. However, one of the parties that participated in the election, the Social Democratic Party, SDP has described the poll as a ‘sham’ while calling for the resignation of Chairman of RSIEC, Justice George Omereji [rtd]. The party also called for cancellation of all the results of the election. The SDP councillorship candidate ...
Rivers governor: I haven’t touched one kobo of council funds
Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has boasted his administration has not touched one kobo belonging to the local government areas. Wike insisted since the council chairmen had their allocations and other revenue in full, they had no reason not to perform. The Governor said his administration had vigorously addressed security challenges in the state to enable all council chairmen deliver dividends of democracy to people at the grassroots. He spoke at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Local Government election grand finale rally in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area at Oginigba Primary School Field on Tuesday. He said: “The state government has provided the enabling environment for every local chairman in the State to perform. Since the inception of this administration, the State government has not...
House speaker: Local council autonomy not for National Assembly to address
Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said that the issue of local government autonomy is not for the National Assembly to address. Gbajabiamila said this during a two-day leadership capacity training, organised by the Minority Leader of the House, Mr Ndudi Elumelu, for ward councillors from Delta, on Monday in Abuja. He said that since the process of constitutional amendment was ongoing and the areas of possible amendments thrown open, it was for Nigerians to decide whether to have local government autonomy or not. “We did it the last time but when we went back to the states, we could not get the required two-thirds. So it is a process and we have followed the process. “While we were working on constitutional amendment, two-thirds of the states did not agree with us....
Gunmen abduct APC caretaker committee chairman in Rivers
The Rivers Chapter of the APC has announced the abduction of Hiasine Wiye, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of APC in Khana Local Government area of the State. He was kidnapped in his residence on on Sunday evening, according to the party in a statement issued in Port Harcourt by its Spokesman, Ogbonna Nwuke. He expressed dismay at the abduction of a grassroots member of the party. The party said the abduction of Wiye without any trace confirmed the claim that even ordinary citizens resident in Rivers State are not safe. “The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the APC in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State was snatched on Sunday from his home by unknown persons. “We have been briefed that he was taken into captivity at a time when well meaning people were celebrating the resurrection ...
Niger governor decries level of corruption in Nigeria
The Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has decried the level of corruption in the country’s political and economic environment, insisting that corruption is endemic in all the facets of the nation’s life. Speaking at a two-day ‘Get involved leadership’ training in Minna Wednesday, Governor Bello said: “The problem with Nigeria today is enormous, every sector is corrupted. There is no country that can develop with the level of corruption we have. According to the governor, “When you have a system where only limited or few people are transparent, the system can never work.” He submitted that as a result of the high level of corruption in the polity, political positions either elective or those appointed have always gone to the highest bidder, a development he described as unac...
Minister: Nigerian government to establish micro enterprises in 774 local council areas
Dr George Akume, the Minister of Special Duties and Inter Governmental Affairs, on Wednesday said that micro enterprises will be established in the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the country. The Minister disclosed this in Abuja at the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) General Assembly with the Theme: Strategic Positioning for the Future: A New Era. “As a ministry, we have proposed the establishment of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises in the 774 local governments in Nigeria based on economic corridors. “We believe that this will create jobs and ensure improvement in the well-being of the local populace,’’Akume said. The minister, who was represented by Mr Simon Tyungu, Deputy Director, Office of the Minister, said that the establishment of the micro enterprise wa...
CDS hailed over free medical treatment in Kano
The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Leo Irabor, has received commendation for the recently concluded two-day free medical treatment in Bichi Local Government Area of Kano State. About 1000 persons benefitted from the programme which had as theme: “The Role of Diet in the Management of Hypertension and Diabetes.” Commending the CDS for the Initiative, the Nigeria Youth Alliance (NYA), said the programme was designed to sensitise communities on preventive and curative measures of the diseases. The CDS who was represented by Col. Vincent Abu, the Commandant, Armed Forces Specialist Hospital, Kano, at the inauguration of the programme, said that the exercise was aimed at improving the health status of people at the grassroots. NYA in a press release signed by the President, Atanda Mojeed and Secr...
#EndSARS: Lagos assembly committee commends council chairmen’s resilience
Member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr AdbulSobur Olawale, has commended the Executive Chairman of Ajeromi Local Government, LG, Mr. Fatai Ayoola, management and staff members for the resilience to rebuild the Secretariat that was destroyed during the aftermath of the ENDSARS protest. Olawale, who is also the Chairman of, House Committee on Local Government and Community Relations, disclosed that the Secretariat was among those government facilities that were destroyed by hoodlums during the aftermath of the ENDSARS protest. In the same view, the lawmaker applauded Council Chairman of Ifelodun Local Council Development Area, LCDA, Mr Shaibu Ajidagba for building the legislative chamber during his tenure in office. Speaking with journalists, after the oversight function to both Aje...
Southwest APC governors call for the re-evaluation of party’s constitution
Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has stressed the need for the continuous re-evaluation of the Constitution of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to reflect its democratic tendencies, where members practice and ensure internal democracy. Governor Abiodun, who stated this at the APC Constitution Review (South West Stakeholders Meeting) held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, noted that it was time to tinker with the Constitution to make the party more potent and acceptable to the people. He said, “It is important that we come together to appraise ourselves as members of this great party, and, even look critically at the structure of our party. This will give us the opportunity to evaluate the journey so far. It is a period of self-examination”. “In doing this, the Constitut...
Ogun council polls: Governor Abiodun urges OGSIEC to conduct credible election
Ogun State governor Prince Dapo Abiodun has urged members of the newly inaugurated Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) to be transparent in their dealings with all political parties. The governor said this Friday while swearing-in the newly constituted 6-man electoral commission at the Executive Council Chambers of Governor’s Office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the state capital. Abiodun specifically charged new OGSIEC members to make fairness, firmness, dedication and objectivity their watchword as the state prepares for the local government poll to be conducted later this year. The governor said the inauguration was a demonstration of his administration’s commitment towards ensuring that democratic dividends get to the grassroots through electoral processes at the local gover...
Kwara government inaugurates transition committees for 16 councils
The Kwara Government has inaugurated Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) chairmen of the 16 Local Government Areas of the state, charging them to be prudent, transparent, accountable and fair to all. The Deputy Governor of the state, Mr Kayode Alabi, inaugurated the committee chairmen on Thursday in Ilorin. Alabi explained that the TICs have been appointed by Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to hold forth pending election into the local councils within shortest possible time. He enjoined the appointees to justify the confidence reposed in them by working assiduously to engender sustainable development at the grassroots. “These appointment thrust upon you the responsibility to galvanise our Local Government Areas for sustainable development in the grassroots. ” This administration is conce...
Nigerian monarchs demand roles in constitutional review
The National Traditional Council of Nigeria has called on the National Assembly Joint Committee on the review of the 1999 constitution to ensure a constitutional provision is made with a view to creating roles for traditional rulers in matters involving religion, culture, security, justice and other ancillary matters. The council also accused the regimes of Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo of relegating the traditional institution to the background with no constitutional role. The Chairman of the council and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, said late Gen. Ironsi’s 1966 Unitary Government Decree, Gen. Gowon’s and Gen. Obasanjo’s 1967 and 1976 Local Government Reforms Decrees respectively, stripped traditional rulers of their powers an...
