Local Governments
Plateau government denies taking $359 million loan from AfDB
Plateau State government has denied the allegation of taking $350m African Development Bank, AfDB loan saying such allegation is frivolous as the government only took $11.2 million of which, 70% of the amount is being committed to infrastructure, 20% to capacity building and 10% for project management. A former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, last Thursday at a webinar discussing why Plateau State lost its relevance at the national stage, accused the Governor, Simon Lalong of non-performance despite taking loans that have no impact on the lives of citizens. Dalung said, “$350 million (N140 billion) was approved for the Plateau State governemnt by the Federal Executive Council for the purpose of the potato value chain. I was a serving Minister at the time, so I was part of tha...
PDP calls for articulate strategies to mitigate flood
File Photo The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has urged the governments at all levels to articulate strategies to mitigate the menace of flood and forestall such devastation in the future. The party made the call in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja on Wednesday. Ologbondiyan urged the Federal Government and other public-spirited groups and individuals to immediately come to the aid of the communities and victims of flood-ravaged parts of the country to alleviate their sufferings. He consoled the victims of the devastating flood, which ravaged communities, homes, businesses and farmlands in Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Anambra and other states in the country. “The PDP commiserates with the government and people of Kebbi state where no fewer t...
Kebbi floods: Nigeria-Niger Highway to be shut as government relocates citizens
Troubled by rampaging floods which have washed off many portions of the Nigeria-Niger Highway, the Kebbi State Government is considering closing parts of the road. Already, the state has revamped the Internally Displaced Peoples camp at Kalgo with a view to moving natives of 11 worst-affected communities to the camp to prevent imminent threats to their lives. The Birnin Kebbi-Makera-Kangiwa Highway, which runs from the state capital Birnin Kebbi, is at risk of caving in at Duku, 40 kilometres to the border with Nigeria’s northern neighbour. Some of the minor bridges and culverts along the highway are being eroded. Already, five bridges in different parts of the state have been washed away by the flood, according to the Kebbi State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) chairman, Alhaji Sani Do...
Benue governor canvasses return to parliamentary system
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has called for a parliamentary system of government as a more cost-effective democratic alternative for Nigeria. While inaugurating the State Constitution Review Committee in Markudi, Ortom said, the parliamentary system provides opportunities for power-sharing such that smaller parties also participate in governance, stressing that it is more accountable and considerably less complex. According to the Governor, the current system of federalism where the Federal Government has constitutional powers in nearly 100 per cent performance while states and local governments only function 30 per cent or less is a distortion of the spirit and practice of federalism. He said that Nigeria needed a constitution that sets out a system in which the various tiers could s...
Kaduna Muslim lawyers to boycott NBA conference
Pool Photo The leadership of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) in Kaduna has directed its members to Annual General Conference (AGC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) following the withdrawal of Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s invitation by the NBA. Governor El-Rufai was one of the speakers billed to speak at the 60th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association. But the National Executive Council of the NBA withdrew the governor’s invitation after a group of lawyers protested against the governor’s presence at the conference. The lawyers had argued that inviting El-Rufai to speak at the event is a ‘reward for misrule,’ adding that the governor does not represent what the NBA stands for. However, the decision to remove the governor from the list of speakers that ...
NYCN decries lack of constituency projects in Nasarawa
The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), an umbrella body of all youth organisations in Nigeria, has decried lack of constituency project in Nasarawa West Senatorial District since 2011. The NYCN Chairman, Keffi Chapter, Alhaji Mohammad Idris, made the assertion in a statement made available to newsmen, on Sunday in Keffi. Idris alleged that in spite of the billions of Naira released for some constituency projects in the senatorial district since 2011, there was nothing on ground to justify it. He emphasised the need for social infrastructures such as potable water supply, electricity, health care facilities, good road networks in almost all the five Local Governments that made up the senatorial district. He lamented that the Federal road that passed through Keffi central roundabouts ...
Federal, states, local governments share N651 billion revenue
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) at the weekend shared a total of N651.184 billion as June 2020 allocation among the federal, states, local governments, and relevant agencies in the country. This is N103.877 million higher than the N547.309 billion shared for the month of May. A communiqué released by the FAAC after its monthly meeting at the weekend for the month of Julne 2020 which was held via virtual conferencing, put gross statutory revenue available at N524.526 billion. According to the communique, the meeting chaired by the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, put gross revenue from the Value Added Tax (VAT) at N128.826 billion while revenue from the Exchange Gain was N42.832 billion. This brought the total revenue for the month to N696.184 billion. F...
NEMA warns of flood in 102 council areas
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has warned of imminent flood in 102 Local Government Areas across 28 states during this year’s rainy season. AVM Muhammadu A Muhammed, Director-General of the agency, said that the yearly Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP), and Annual Flood Outlook (AFO), that were released by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), predicted this in June. He listed Kaura, Zaria, Kaduna North and Chikun local governments of Kaduna state as being within probable risk areas as some of the 102 local governments area with highly probable risk. He advised governments to organise State Humanitarian Coordination Forum meetings in order to prepare stakeholders for mitigation and response to floods when they occur. Mohammed called on State Emergency Managem...
US Sunbelt mayors push back against Trump’s virus optimism
US Sunbelt mayors warned Sunday that their cities are at risk of being overwhelmed by a surge of coronavirus cases as they pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s attempt to minimize the gravity of the spreading virus. COVID-19 has been raging for weeks across southern and western states. Florida has registered 10,000 new cases on some days. Arizona has seen record hospitalizations. And intensive care units in Houston, Texas are operating near maximum capacity. With President Trump continuing to play down the disease eschewing a mask, continuing to address large gatherings, saying a vaccine is only months away and asserting that “99 percent” of cases are not serious the exasperation of local officials has begun to boil over, with some floating the idea of new stay-at-home orders. “...
NGO laments dilapidated infrastructure in Enugu
Enugu-based Non Governmental Organisation, Daniel Ukwu Leadership Foundation, has urged the state and local governments to pay adequate attention to public schools and hospitals in the state. Mr Daniel Ukwu, Executive Director of the foundation, made the call during a courtesy visit to newsmen in Enugu on Monday. Ukwu decried the deplorable state of government schools and health centres in the state. He said that he discovered the deplorable situation when the foundation went on inspection tour of over 12 local government areas in the state. The councils areas visited were Ezeagu, Nkanu West, Udi, Awgu, Oji River, Igboeze North, Isi-Uzo, Nkanu East, Enugu North, Enugu South, Igbo Etiti and Nsukka local government. The executive director attributed the infrastructure problems to lack of pol...
Ekiti to inaugurate human rights action plan committee July 1
The Ekiti government will, on July 1, inaugurated a committee saddled with the responsibility of developing a human rights action plan. Newsmen report that the inauguration of the committee is sequel to the directive by Gov. Kayode Fayemi to the state Ministry of Justice to that effect. The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Olawale Fapounda, in a statement issued on Monday in Ado-Ekiti, said that the governor had stressed the need to put measures in place to protect and promote human rights in the state. He announced the composition of the advisory and technical committees for the development of the State Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Right (SAPHR). According to him, the action plan is aimed at auditing the human rights situation in the state. Fapo...
Gombe Assembly passes local government joint project bill
The Gombe State House of Assembly has passed into law a bill for a law to provide for the establishment of a joint project development agency and other matters related thereto. However, the bill did not have a smooth sail following the ‘dust’ raised against the bill by Mr Rambi Ibrahim Ayala, representing Billiri East State Constituency. Mr Rambi is also the Chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary. The State Governor, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya had sent the bill which in other words, subjects initiation and execution of Local Government projects to the proposed agency. During its sitting on 4th February, 2020, the House, in receipt of the bill, after deliberations, referred the bill to the joint committee for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and that of Judiciary for further scruti...
