Rotimi Amaechi
NAF chief: Armed forces committed to end insecurity
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, yesterday declared that the Armed Forces remained committed to ending the crisis of insecurity ravaging the nation. He said the expected delivery of six A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets by the United States in July and two drones from China, would be a “game changer” in the war against insurgency. The position of the air force chief is coming on a day the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, sought the assistance of the Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Farouk Yahaya, to provide security for train stations and railway construction sites across the country. Speaking at the graduation ceremony of 1,031 recruits of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Basic Military Training Course 41/2020, Amao affirmed that “the NAF in consonance w...
President Buhari sets up panel to probe NPA
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the recommendation of the Ministry of Transportation under Rotimi Amaechi for the setting up of an Administrative Panel of Inquiry to investigate the Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). According to a statement by the President’s spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, late Thursday night in Abuja, the president also approved the suspension of the Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Usman. The presidential aide said Mohammed Koko would act as acting Managing Director of the NPA, pending the completion of investigation by the panel which would be headed by a Director. ”The President has also approved that the Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman step aside while the investigation is carried out. Mr Mohammed Koko will act in that position. ”The panel ...
Minister: Rail transportation awakening giant to help run government
Nairaland Mr Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, on Tuesday described the rail mode of transportation as the awakening giant that would run government. He made the disclosure at the virtual National African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) Implementation Engagement Series for the Rail sub-sector of Transportation. Amaechi, who was represented by Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, a Deputy Director at the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMOT), noted that the Federal Government had invested heavily on the rail sub-sector of transportation to help facilitate trade. “The rail sub-sector needs consistent opening for the country to further tap into the agreement that AfCFTA creates. “This is why government has embarked on many projects, developing the narrow gauges and establishing standa...
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 Delta agitators urges South South governors to work with Senator Akpabio to develop region
A coalition of Niger Delta agitators, weekend, called on governors of South South to work with Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to develop Niger Delta region and its people. The group meanwhile, called out governors of Niger Delta states, saying recent revelation by Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, that they (governors) collected N100 million each as Covid-19 palliative has exposed their hypocrisy. Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Patrick Ayo Akinyelure, last week, told reporters in Abuja that NDDC officials told the committee that each of the nine governors of the Niger Delta states got N100 million as Covid-19 palliatives. Coordinator of the 21st Century Youths of Niger Delta and Agitators with Conscience, 2...
Ex-APC chairman speaks on ‘crisis’ in Ebonyi chapter
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State, Eze Nwachukwu, has refuted media report about leadership crisis in the state chapter of the party. Mr Nwachukwu, who is the commissioner for Inter-Governmental Affairs in the state, is the immediate past chairman of APC in the state. “It has become expedient that I react to the publication alleging leadership crisis in our great party over the appointment of Okoro-Emegha as chairman, Caretaker Committee of APC in Ebonyi. “I am the immediate past chairman of APC and the emergence of Okoro-Emegha as the current chairman, caretaker committee is a welcome development and it followed laid down legal and constitutional provisions of our party,” Mr Nwachukwu said on Saturday at a press briefing in Abakaliki. Continuing, the forme...
Minister: Over 60 workers contracted coronavirus during Lagos-Ibadan rail project
Over 60 workers, who were working on the Lagos-Ibadan rail, tested positive for coronavirus while trying to complete the project, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said. Mr Ameachi disclosed this, on Monday, on a Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme, Good Morning Nigeria. The rail project, which was delivered recently, and had since been in use, is the second rail project completed in 2020. The Itakpe-Warri was the first and was commissioned on September 29, 2020. The minister had disclosed at the inauguration of elected members of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIoTA) that the Lagos-Ibadan rail will be commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari, in January 2021. He, however, said the commissioning will be put on hold, due to the u...
China loans: Nothing bad in borrowing – minister
Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has declared that there is nothing wrong in borrowing. He said what matters is that funds are invested in infrastructure rather than services or consumption. The minister insisted that Nigeria is effectively utilizing the funds it borrowed from China and elsewhere for infrastructural development and job creation. Mohammed spoke at the construction site of the Ibadan Train Station on Saturday. He inspected the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail Project with his Transportation counterpart, Rotimi Amaechi. “We didn’t borrow money for services or overhead expenditure. We borrowed money for capital projects: rail; roads; bridges; power – infrastructure generally,” he said. Mohammed expressed delight at the level of work on the train stations and the modern c...
Aviation, education ministries, others make presentations at FEC meeting
President Muhammadu Buhari is currently presiding over the seventh virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Newsmen report that the Federal Ministries of Aviation; Niger Delta; Education as well as Works and Housing are expected to make presentations at the meeting. Those at the meeting include Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari and the National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno. Newsmen observed that 11 cabinet ministers joined the president at the Council Chamber for the virtual meeting while other ministers are participating directly from their respective off...
Governor Wike: Why I want all Southsouth states under PDP
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has expressed his desire for all Southsouth states to be under the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He spoke ahead of the September governorship election in Edo State where Governor Godwin Obaseki of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) got the PDP ticket. The Rivers State governor, who spoke on Arise TV, explained that as a loyal party man, he would want his party to win in Edo State. He said the PDP was happy to have resolved the disagreement that ensued in Edo State before last week’s governorship primary. “Sometimes there can be disagreements, but the ability to reconcile everybody is important. Particularly, as an opposition party, it is healthy to have division. There is no need to make people think that you don’t want them. I to...
Governor Wike: Why I want all Southsouth states under PDP
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has expressed his desire for all Southsouth states to be under the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He spoke ahead of the September governorship election in Edo State where Governor Godwin Obaseki of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) got the PDP ticket. The Rivers State governor, who spoke on Arise TV, explained that as a loyal party man, he would want his party to win in Edo State. He said the PDP was happy to have resolved the disagreement that ensued in Edo State before last week’s governorship primary. “Sometimes there can be disagreements, but the ability to reconcile everybody is important. Particularly, as an opposition party, it is healthy to have division. There is no need to make people think that you don’t want them. I to...
PDP chides federal government for ‘denying’ Rivers, other states help
File Photo Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday chided Federal Government (FG) for denying Rivers and other states of the federal significant support in the fight against Coronavirus. National Chairman, PDP, Prince Uche Sencondus, expressed disappointment over the development at a stakeholder gathering in Port Harcourt to inaugurate the new Rivers PDP Executive Committee (EXCO) chaired by Ambassador Desmond Akawor. Secondus said, “Governors are working without help from the Federal Government. But for God, the situation would have been worse. Governors are running from pillar to post. “We must be grateful to Governor Wike for the initiative he took. What the Governor has done has helped to drastically reduce the number of cases. Rivers is lucky to have Governor Wike at this time of ...
