Three people were killed in a flooding disaster that occurred on Sunday evening in Hayin Gwarmai Village in Bebeji Local Government Area of Kano State, while foodstuff and cash crop running into several millions of naira were swept away.
Mudansiru Bebeji, chairman of the local government told journalists on Monday that several farmlands in the area were also washed away by the flood and houses were destroyed.
He called on the federal government to come to the aid of the affected persons in order to alleviate their plight.
The Director of operations in the Kano State Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation Agency, SERERA, Abdullahi Dambatta, however said the agency had not been officially informed of the incident by the local government authorities.
He said the agency would forward the list of affected persons to the state government for assistance as soon as it gets it.
President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged that his administration will abide by the decision of the International Court of Justice on the Nigeria – Cameroun border dispute.
Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu in a press release said the president made the pledge on Mondaywhen he received a United Nations Mission led by a Special Representative of the Secretary General, Mohammed Ibn Chambers, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
President Buhari said that Nigeria will not do anything to hamper the work of the various UN committees on the border.
“We will abide by the law. Having accepted the judgment of the ICJ, we are ready to support the security and logistics requirements of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, CNMC, to carry out the border demarcation,” he said.
The President expressed his total support for the exercise, recalling that as Military Head of State between 1984 and 1985, his administration instituted the demarcation of the Nigeria land borders from Benin to Bakassi and urged that all committees be allowed to carry out their functions in line with the ICJ decision.
Earlier, Mohammed Ibn Chambers, Chairman of CNMC, had informed President Buhari that 2,001 kilometers out of 2,100 kilometers separating Nigeria and Cameroon had been marked, leaving a balance of 99 kilometers to conclude the demarcation.
He expressed hope that the remaining area will be completed latest by the first quarter of next year following the relative calm that has returned to border areas which were captured and held by Boko Haram terrorists.
Three former Niger-Delta militants, who were sent to the UK on scholarship under the amnesty programme, have graduated with First class Honours in their respective disciplines and another eighteen of them graduated with Second Class Upper.
Lucky Azibanagein graduated from the University of Liverpool with a first class in mechanical engineering and Robotic system, while Terubein Fawei and Nicholas Goodness made first class in telecommunication and networking engineering and public relations, respectively, from the University of Bedfordshire.
Coordinator of Presidential Amnesty Programme, Paul Boroh, in a ceremony organised for the students by the Nigerian High Commission in the UK, congratulated the graduates for making Nigeria proud, while restating President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment towards sustaining the amnesty programme.
“President Buhari is ever ready to implement the blueprint upon which the amnesty programme was established. The era of impunity and phoney contracts are gone for good,” Boroh said.
Boroh also called on other militants to lay down their weapons, embrace dialogue and support the president in his agenda to develop the Niger Delta region.
Thirteen communities in Jigawa State have petitioned the kano state government on the preponderance of illegal ramps on federal highways from kano leading to their various communities.
The petition, signed by Ibrahim Gumel, coordinator for the communities, said over 1000 ramps have been illegally constructed on several federal highways in kano, which have made traveling on the roads by trailers and trucks a dangerous and unsafe venture.
The petition said fuel supply to these communities in Jigawa has been affected because of the difficulties tanker drivers experience while traveling on the roads.
The affected communities are: Gudunwawa, Dan Zaki, Jogana, Dausayi, Tsamiyar kara and Gezawa. Others are Guruma, Yarkanya, kwazari, kawo, Dadin Duniya, Gabasawa and Gidan Lagge.
The petition also stated that one of the communities- Gidan Lagge- has not less than 81 illegal ramps.
Part of the petition reads: “The hazard been experienced is threatening the vehicles plying these roads, especially tanker drivers and heavy trucks. This is affecting the supply of petroleum products to these sections of Jigawa state, and this will invariably affect the life of our people. Haulage of farm produce and other materials are becoming difficult, and all these are caused by ramps built on roads that link Jigawa to kano.”
The communities called on the state government to immediately order the removal all illegal ramps on federal highways in the state.
The petition also asked government to initiate a law banning people from constructing ramps illegally on federal roads in the state. As an immediate measure, the communities urged the state government to issue a directive to all communities along federal roads to seek government permission before constructing ramps.
The state commissioner for information, Mohammed Garba, said he was yet to see the petition but stated that the government would be willing to alleviate the suffering of the people.
Dino Melaye talking to the media shortly after submitting the report
Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, Dino Melaye, wants the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to probe Manitoba Hydro International Nigeria Limited for alleged abuse of Public Procurement Act and diversion of funds amounting to N13.8 billion.
The Kogi State lawmaker submitted a petition to this effect to the EFCC in which he alleged that the company was awarded a 3-year management contract to oversee the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, assets and liabilities after the privatisation and unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria to Generating Companies and Distribution Companies by the Bureau of Public Enterprises in March 2012.
Melaye recalled that the cost of the contract was initially $30 million and was subsequently renewed for one more year at the cost of $5.2 million, adding that TCN had over 8000km of 330kv line and 12000km of 12kv connecting many substations within Nigeria.
According to him, investigations conducted uncovered several economic and financial crimes committed by Manitoba and also outright disregard of best practices in TCN.
“In 2015, the company fraudulently diverted funds transferred to the tensions for the 2015 trace maintenance,” Melaye said.
“The company was involved in splitting of contract to avoid TCN Tenders Board and Ministerial Tenders Board as observed in the case of contract of repairs of telecommunications equipment and power stations: 340kv substations (S1 and S2) which amounts to N247,061,796 and N248,859,350 respectively.
“The award of contract verbatim at the cost of N893,000,000 for repair of telecommunications equipment and remote terminal units associated with PHCN (legacy) power stations and TCN 330kv. Though the contract sum was fully paid but there is no evidence that the contract was executed.”
The controversial Senator said that Manitoba contravened the terms of contract it signed with the BPE by failing to ensure probity, accountability and transparency in the management of the TCN, as well as its failure to audit TCN’s account since assumption.
Melaye, who noted that this has led to irregularities in the Market Operations Sector, further stressed that the management contract requires the company to expand the TCN’s wheeling capacity to 6000 megawatts, which was never realised.
He said TCN’s performance under the management of the company has fallen so low that the company inherited 4000 megawatts and has now dropped to 1500 megawatts presently.
Melaye, therefore, called on the anti-graft agency to launch an investigation into the activities of the company, while also calling on the federal government to debar the company due to several contraventions of the BPE Act 2007.
The ousted former chairman of the House of Representatives committee on appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has added another name to the list of corrupt lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
The Kano state lawmaker has been making series of startling revelations of alleged corruption against the speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun and Whip, Alhassan Doguwa and minority leader, Leo Ogor.
The new name added to the list as stated by Jibrin via his social media handle is Abonta Abonta.
“I added one new name to my petition, Hon Abonta Abonta. The member who spoke after me on Channels and denied corruption exists in the House,
“Let me use Hon Abonta as a case. I have asked the anti-graft agencies to investigate his office running cost. Wait for the shocking outcome,” Jibrin wrote on his tweeter handle.
Jibrin granted what he described as a “no-holds-barred” interview to a television station where he repeated his allegation against Dogara and the other three principal officers of the House.
He said he was certain that the law will catch up with the speaker.
Jubrin, shortly after his removal as chairman of the appropriation committee, started accusing Dogara of gross corruption and abuse of office, alleging that the speaker padded the 2016 budget, inserting a lot of unnecessary projects in it to serve his selfish interest.
Dogara had replied with a threat to sue Jibrin if he did not withdraw the allegations within seven days and tender an unreserved apology to him.
But Jibrin vowed he would neither apologise nor stop in his quest to “expose the corrupt nature of the speaker.”
Earlier on Monday, Jibrin was at the offices of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Department of State Services, DSS and the Police headquarters, “to personally provide insight on my petition.”
A Nigerian suspected of being in charge of a network of internet scammers, stealing around $60 million, has been arrested in the oil city of Port-Harcourt.
The International Police Organization, INTERPOL, said the 40-year-old known as ‘Mike’, and a 38-year-old who was arrested with him on similar charges have, however been granted administrative bail as investigations continue.
INTERPOL alleged that the suspects conned one of their victims into paying them $15.4 million.
The organization added that one of the main scams the 40-year-old was suspected of perpetrating was payment diversion fraud – where a supplier’s email would be hacked into and fake messages would then be sent to the buyer with instructions for payment to a bank account under the criminal’s control.
The alleged Nigerian ringleader of an online fraud network will face charges of hacking, conspiracy and obtaining money under false pretences.
The Interpol said: “The network compromised email accounts of small to medium businesses around the world, including in Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Romania, South Africa, Thailand and the US, with the financial victims mainly other companies dealing with these compromised accounts.”
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, has described the report of the Judicial Commission of Enquiry into the clash between the movement and the Nigerian Army in December 2015 as biased and full of distortions.
The report had indicted the group’s leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, saying that the Islamic cleric should be held responsible for the attack for not calling his followers to order. The report also blamed the Nigerian army for the use of excessive and unnecessary force.
Ibrahim Musa, spokesman for the IMN, questioned the reason behind the commission’s indictment of the group as being responsible for the bloody clash in Zaria, whereas their leader, El-Zakzaky was never given the opportunity to appear before the commission and defend himself.
Musa argued that the failure of the commission to invite El-Zakzaky to state his own side of the story during the sittings, or visit him in Abuja where he is being detained for the past seven months, clearly showed that the panel was not fair to the movement from the beginning.
He also criticised part of the report that recommended the trial of their members involved in the killing of a soldier, as well as the recommendation that their lands in some part of Zaria which were allegedly acquired illegally be revoked by the Kaduna State government.
The Shiites’ spokesman further demanded for the immediate and unconditional release of their leader from detention, adding that the report would not stop the movement from pursuing its litigation against the Army and the federal government.
Former Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Abubakar Mahmoud has been elected as the new president of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.
The new NBA President was elected at the 2016 National Elections held in Abuja, in an election conducted through e-voting, polling 3,055 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Joe-Kyari Gadzama who polled 2,384 votes.
Mahmoud is an alumnus of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he got his first and masters degree in law and had chaired the Kano branch of the NBA.
The Officer of the Order of the Niger, OON, national honours holder is also currently the pro-chancellor of the Kano State University of Technology and is set to become the 33rd chairman of the NBA.
Dajan Gal emerged as the first Vice President with 4057 votes and Monday Ubani, second Vice President with 4375 votes.
The position of General Secretary was won by Olagunju Isiaka who got 2,721 votes against Yamah Desmond who scored 2,510 votes.
Balogun Oyeyemi emerged Legal Adviser with 3068 votes as against Onwuzuike Christopher who polled 2,043 votes.
The election was monitored by the Deputy Director, Legal of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mariam Musa.
This is the first election conducted through electronic voting by the Nigerian Bar Association.
Outgoing President of the Association, Augustine Alegeh urged the contestants who lost the election to shun acrimony and join hands with the new leadership to move the association forward.
The new NBA President, Mahmoud pledged that the new executive will hit the ground running once they are sworn in.
The new executives of the NBA are expected to be sworn on August 26, 2016 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The World Bank and the Sokoto State Government will execute various projects amounting to N8.8 billion in 10 local government areas of the state.
The projects would be executed under the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, NEWMAP. The collaboration is aimed at addressing the menace of gully erosion and land degradation in selected communities across the state.
This was contained in a statement issued Sunday by Imam Imam, spokesman to Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal in Sokoto.
“Under the arrangement, Sokoto state government will pay 12.9 percent of the amount which stand at over N1.33 billion as counterpart funding. The entire project will be executed in 10 local government areas of the state and will tackle environmental issues, water management and land reclamation across the LGAs.
“The projects are: rehabilitation of Lugu dam and Wurno irrigation scheme in Wurno LGA, control of river erosion along bridge linking Sabon Birni and Niger Republic, construction of medium earth dam at Rafin Duma and Kadassaka area in Gada LGA, and construction of main collector drainage and gutter from Tudun Wada area to River Sokoto in Sokoto South LGA,” the statement added.
Others include construction of drainage gutter from Goronyo Dam for tree planting and protection activity on desertification, construction of earth dam and afforestation activities to help in reducing erosion in Ungushi district of Kebbe LGA and finally, construction of drainages, earth dams and land reclamation across multiple locations in Tambuwal LGA.
The rest, according to the statement, include construction of drainages, earth dam, afforestation activities to control erosion of Durbawa in Kware LGA and construction of earth dam, drainage and afforestation activities to check flood and erosion in Sifawa in Bodinga LGA as well as construction of drainage gutters to alleviate flood in Wamakko LGA.
