Sole Administrator
Ijaw youths block East-West road over NDDC
Pool Photo The ripples over the appointment of a sole administrator for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) reached a boiling point on Monday as hundreds of Ijaw youths blocked the popular East-West road, causing many travellers to be stranded. The youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) said the protest was for the immediate removal of the Sole Administrator, Mr Effiong Okon Awa, and the inauguration of the substantive board. The protest held travellers stranded for hours and attempts by some armed soldiers backed by an Armoured Personnel Carrier and led by a Major to persuade the protesters to leave the East-West road proved abortive. A plea by a former Secretary to Bayelsa State Government and ex-Nigerian Ambassador to the Scandinavian countries, Dr Godknows Iga...
Zamfara government moves against illegal miners
Zamfara state government has warned illegal miners operating in the state despite Federal Government’s ban on mining activities, to desist or face prosecution. Dr Nuruddwen Isah, the state’s Commissioner of Environment, issued the warning on Saturday when he visited one of the suspected illegal mining sites at Sauna village in Talata Mafara local government area of the state. Newsmen report that the government’s warning followed an allegation and complaint by the Director of one of the licensed mining companies, Shamsudeen Sani. Sani alleged that the sole administrator of Talata Mafara local government area had mobilised machinery and was allegedly escavating precious stone on his (Sani) site. The commissioner warned all miners to as a matter of public importance, desist from engaging in m...
Cross River Basin Authority managing director suspended
The Managing Director of Cross River Basin Development Authority has been suspended from office by the board of the agency. Bassey Nkposong was suspended on Thursday after an ad-hoc committee which looked into how the agency was being run accused him of irregularities in the award of N250 million worth of contracts and other “breaches.” The committee was set up by the board in September 2019. “The committee observed from the various breaches that the Managing Director has advertently arrogated to himself the status of a sole administrator regardless of the extant provisions of the Establishment Act of the Authority,” the committee noted in its report which was submitted in February 2020, five months after it was set up. “The above scenario has led to many breaches where contracts which cle...
Rumble in Edo as governor runs government without cabinet
Precisely 129 days into his second tenure as governor of Edo State after his election on September 20, 2020 and inauguration on November 12, 2020, Godwin Obaseki, has not formed his cabinet. This has generated some flaks from different quarters, including the opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), constitutional lawyers, political analysts, public commentators, residents among others. While others feel that Obaseki has not committed any crime or breached any law, others believe that he is running a one-man administration and must go ahead to form his cabinet. They argued that going by Section 192 of the 1999 Constitution, the governor is obliged to form a cabinet, saying this is a circumvention, which the state House of Assembly should take action on. Obaseki had said that his ...