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  • Kaduna Police vs Journalist Idibia Court adjourns for definite hearing

    Kaduna Police vs Journalist Idibia Court adjourns for definite hearing

    By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna

    The Court case between Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State Command and Journalist Idibia Achadu Gabriel holding at Magistrate court 2 Daura Road in Kaduna has again been adjourned to 25th January 2024 for definite hearing.

    Mr. Idibia, Head Bureau, Northern Operations, Daybreak Nigeria newspapers is standing trial on alleged intimidation, defamation of character, insulting and attempt to instigate religious crises.

    The Journalist had, in September 24th 2023, did a news report and published in Daybreak newspapers, on poor 2023 Hajj. exercise organized by Kaduna State Pilgrims Welfare Agency, which led to his arrests, arraignment and subsequently remand in prison custody.

    The case which was adjourned twice since the hearing commenced on 12th and 14th December 2023, respectively, was due to inability of the prosecuting party to provide court with all necessary offensive materials.

    The Defense Counsel, Barrister J.S Kure had earlier, in an application asked the prosecuting party to furnished the court with all the offensive materials required for the prosecution of the case.

    When the case came up on 41th December 2023, for hearing, the prosecuting officer Bitrus Kwaji said they’re not ready, adding that the Investigation Police Officer (IPO), Danladi Hassan, was bereaved, and unavailable to provide the said materials to be tendered in Court, and therefore pleaded for a new date.

    Responding, the defendant Counsel Barr. Kure said ordinarily, he would have asked for cost, but pleaded with the court to adjourned the matter for definite commencement of hearing which was expressly granted by the magistrate, for 25th January 2024.

    “The prosecutor said they are not ready, ordinarily, I would have ask for cost, but i did not. I then pleaded with the court to adjourned the matter for definite commencement of hearing”, Kure stated.

    The prosecutor had earlier, told the court that Mr. Idibia took a shot of pictures of Muslim women and men and posted same content to the social media mischievously, alleging they were sleeping together, with an intention to instigate religious crises and allegation which is not backed by the story published by Daybreak newspapers

  • 2024 National Budget: Wike appeals for NASS approval of N17.1bn allocation for FCT in 2024

    2024 National Budget: Wike appeals for NASS approval of N17.1bn allocation for FCT in 2024

    By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

    The Minister of The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr. Nyesom Wike, has appealed to the National Assembly to approve the N17 billion appropriated for FCT Administration out of the N27.5 trillion 2024 proposed National Budget.

    Wike made this request when he appeared before the Joint Session of the Senate and House Committees on FCT, in Abuja on Friday.

    The FCT Minister in his defense explained that if the N17.1 billion was allocated to the FCT Administration, the amount would be allocated to complete abandoned projects and to sustain the implementation of critical projects.

    According to Wike, N5 billion was allocated as a counterpart fund for the Greater Abuja Water Supply projects and N4.5 billion for the design and construction of Nigeria Cultural Centre and Millennium Tower.

    “N3 billion was also allocated for the rehabilitation of the Federal Secretariat, while N4 billion was allocated for the completion of the Vice President’s Residence.”

    “N609.7 million for settlement of residential and office accommodation for international organizations in FCT.”

    The money is just N17.1 billion, so what can I say other than to say, please help us pass it,” the minister said.

    Further speaking on the performance of the 2023 budget, Wike said that a total of N15.5 billion was appropriated for infrastructural development, adding however, that only N8 billion was released representing 52 percent.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT, Mr. Ibrahim Bomai, who responded acknowledged that all the projects were ongoing ones, adding that the funds would not be enough to complete the projects.

    Bomai emphasized that the FCT operates a dual budget – the national budget and the statutory budget, and expressed hope that the statutory budget might be in hundreds of billions.

    He also appealed to the members of the joint session to give no objection, considering the meager amount.

    “If you have no objection, we will ask the minister to take a bow and go,” Bomai said.

  • Breaking News: Supreme Court Clears the Way for Nnamdi Kanu’s Terrorism Trial

    Breaking News: Supreme Court Clears the Way for Nnamdi Kanu’s Terrorism Trial

    In a significant development, the Supreme Court has overturned a lower court’s judgment that dismissed terrorism charges against Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    The apex court ruled against the court of appeal’s decision, stating that the trial court had the authority to proceed with the case despite arguments that Kanu’s rights were violated during the prosecution.

  • Vice President, Kashim Shetima has been commended for donating 250KVA solar system to Benue State University Teaching Hospital, BSUTH, Makurdi.

    Vice President, Kashim Shetima has been commended for donating 250KVA solar system to Benue State University Teaching Hospital, BSUTH, Makurdi.

    The Governor of Benue State, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, gave the commendation at the commissioning of the 250KVA solar system donated by the Vice President, and the renovated Mental Health Psychological Rehabilitation Center at the hospital.

    “I remain most grateful to the Federal Government and to the office of the Vice President whose undying love for Benue State couldn’t allow him to take this project elsewhere but to Benue State. And this is what the Federal Government has pledged to continue to do for the good people of the state.

    With all the Federal Government’s support, we know that better days and greater days are just ahead. This is just the beginning of better things to come to the state.”

    In his remarks, the Chief Medical Director, Benue State University Teaching Hospital, BSUTH Makurdi, Dr Stephen Hwande, lauded the Governor of Benue State Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia for keeping to his campaign promises for according healthcare top priority.

    The CMD, noted that “health took the center stage during the governor’s electioneering campaigns”, stressing that in the 2024 proposed budget, healthcare got 15 percent of the total budget.

    ” I like to thank you Sir, for giving health a pride of place. We spend twelve million monthly on energy, but with this project, you are saving for us six million naira every month.”

  • Benue State Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, has demanded a retraction, an apology and five billion naira as compensation from the publishers of New Telegraph Newspaper over defamatory publication.

    Benue State Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, has demanded a retraction, an apology and five billion naira as compensation from the publishers of New Telegraph Newspaper over defamatory publication.

    The Governor through his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, alleged that the online edition of the New Telegraph Newspaper on Monday, December 11th, 2023, published a story with the caption ” 2027: Alia Joins Forces With Rotiml Amaechi… Donates Lexus Lx 600 SUV To Former Transport Minister”.

    According to Mr Kula, the Hon Attorney General and Commissioner, Ministry of Justice and Public Order, Benue State, Mr FB Mnyim, in a correspondence to the Publishers of the newspaper, described the said publication as false and fabricated, stating that it was done to demean the character of the governor.

    He added that the defamatory story has made the governor to appear as someone who is insensitive to the plight of the Benue people and party men who supported and voted him into office as the Governor of Benue State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

    “The publication made available online portrayed our client as unprofessional, unprincipled, unethical and dishonorable, unreasonable and prejudicial public Officer who is insensitive, indifferent and apathetic to the plight of the Benue people and party men who supported and voted him into office as the Governor of Benue State.

    The said publication was with a clear intent and motive to vilify, malign, denigrate, disgrace and defame our client and portray him in bad light in the eyes of reasonable member of the public, especially to incite the Benue people, members of the APC, and the general public against our client”.

    Continuing, the Chief Press Secretary, noted that the publication was made in an invidious, unpleasant, insidious, sinister and treacherous manner and that it has inflicted and caused grievous pains, shock, embarrassment and dehumanization of their client.

    Mr Kula, who quoted Mr Anyim, as positing that the publication was done in total disregard to the Code of Ethics of Nigerian Journalism practice, called for the withdrawal of the publication, accompanied by a clear and unqualified apology published in the newspaper within the next 24 hours as well as N5 billion as compensation.

  • 21 Council Chairmen, 239 Councillors Quits As Tenure expires In Kogi

    21 Council Chairmen, 239 Councillors Quits As Tenure expires In Kogi

    By Noah Ocheni, Lokoja

    All the 21 local government chairmen and 239 councillors in Kogi State have vacated their offices following the expiration of their three -year tenure on Thursday, December 14, 2023.

    The state Commissioner for Local Government And Chieftaincy Affairs, Barr. S.M Ozigi Deedat confirmed the exit of the council chairmen and councillors in a statement.

    The chairmen at and councillors were sworn in on December 15, 2020.

    Deedat congratulated the Executive Chairmen across the twenty-one (21) Local Government Areas of Kogi State, for their successful end of tenure in Office and wish them well in their future endeavours.

  • IGR: FCT Waterboard rakes in N300m in 2023

    IGR: FCT Waterboard rakes in N300m in 2023

    By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

    The FCT Waterboard said it has raked in over N300 million in 2023, over N200 million in 2022 and is projecting to do over N300 billion in 2024.

    The FCT Waterboard Acting General Manager, Daniel Audu Salka disclosed this on Thursday at the End of Year media parley on activities of the Board from January to December 2023.

    Salka explained that the activities of the Board said, “As at today the monthly IGR is N300+million, which is a total departure from the N200 + million for year 2022.
    1M3 is sold to Domestic customers at N110.00 only, while the same M3 is sold at N300.00 only to commercial customers.”

    He said that the success recorded during the year under review includes Improved IGR. In the year 2022, the Board’s IGR was
    N2,477,885,34 1.77k only. But as at November 2023, the Board has
    made N3,055.685,882.42k only.

    Salka noted that the FCT Water Board is one of the key Revenue Generating Agencies of the FCT Administration.
    He enumerated, the main sources of Revenue to the Agency, as the sales of water which constitutes about 95% of our Revenue, lifting points, water connections, water analysis, Tender Fee and prepaid.

    He explained that the capacity of the Water Treatment Plants 1 & 2 produces 5,000M3 (cubic meter) per hour each while WTPs 3 and 4 have the capacity of producing 10,000M3 each per hour.

    “The 4 WTPs have the capacity of producing 30,000M3 per hour for distribution to customers across the areas covered by the water distribution lines in phases I, II and III.”

    Furthermore, , the Acting General Manager disclosed that the FCT Waterboard which has been operating in the past three decades and has achieved significant milestones in improving the quality of water, sustained distribution and a sharp rise in our Internally Generated Revenue, IGR.

    The quality of Water the Board produces meets World Health Organization and International standards, he added.

  • Avoid religious colouration, both Christian, Muslims killed in Kaduna Bombing – Bishop of Zaria

    *Commiserates with Both religion
    *Urges support, prayers for armed forces, condemns

    By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna

    The Anglican Bishop of Wusasa Diocese, Zaria in Kaduna State, Most Rev. Buba Ali-Lamido has expressed deep grief over the accidental bombing at Tudun Biri village in Igabi Local Government Area of the state which claimed several lives.

    The cleric, however bemoaned an attempt by some religious groups to “mischievously” paint incident as an agenda targeted at Muslims.

    According to him, both Muslims and Christians were also killed during the unfortunate incident in which the Nigerian Army had since apologized for the accidental bombing of the village.

    Lamidi, in a statement released in Kaduna, warned that any attempt to give the incident a religious colouration, would demoralized the nation’s armed forces in the renewed war against terrorists in the North.

    He recalled that a similar incident occurred in 2017 where the Nigerian Air Force accidentally bombed Rann IDP camp in Borno, which claimed 250 lives but “did not witness this same hysteria that we are witnessing today.”

    He said that every live was precious while noting that the death of Christians, Muslims and even of none adherents of both faith was without doubt, painful.

    His words: “The Anglican Bishop of Wusasa Diocese, His Grace Most Reverend Dr. Buba Ali Lamido has expressed deep grief over the accidental bombing at Tudun Biri village in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State that claimed over 85 lives and scores of injured people and worry at attempts by some religious groups to mischievously paint what was an accident as an agenda targeted at Muslims.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, Muslims and Christians were killed in the attack,which the Nigerian Army has claimed responsibility and duly apologized for.

    “We Northerners must be careful not demoralize the armed forces in the renewed war against the terrorists, because the war is far from over. We know for a fact that “war is a very human endeavor,and mistakes inevitably will occur

    “We are aware of the 2017 multiple bombing of the Rann IDP camp in Borno State, by the Nigerian Airforce which killed over 250 people and we didn’t witness this same hysteria that we are witnessing today.

    “I don’t want to conclude that the deafening silence then had to do with the fact that the president and service chiefs were all Muslims?

    “Every life is precious. The death of Christians, Muslims and even of none adherents of both faith, is without doubt painful.

    “But when the outrage is targeted at the president, because he is from the South or service chiefs, because of their tribe and faith, we have a duty to condemn these narratives which clearly have nothing to do with the sad loss.

    “The lives of the poor must not only be important,when we can use them to further our political agenda.”

    The clergyman also appealed Northerners, especially politicians eyeing the 2027 general elections to stop politicizing the incident he described as “clearly an innocent mistake.”

    He also said “Nigerian Armed Forces, is a truly national institution that will never target a particular area for attack,because of their religious or ethnic background. The day that happens,will be the end of our dear country”.

    Our reporter reported that the Kaduna State Government said the Nigerian Army claimed responsibility for dropping of the bomb on Tudun Biri which left no fewer than 100 villagers dead penultimate Sunday. End

  • LABOUR MINISTER RECIEVES NSITF FACT-FINDING REPORT;

    LABOUR MINISTER RECIEVES NSITF FACT-FINDING REPORT;

    Minister of Labour and Employment Simon Bako Lalong has received the Fact-Finding report on the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), two months after he inaugurated the Committee to look into the issues bedevilling the organisation including numerous pettitons and allegations of mismanagement.

    While presenting the report to the Minister, Chairman of the Committee and Director Finance and Accounts Mr. Isaac Okehe said the report contained detailed investigation carried out on the NSITF based on the terms of reference given to it.

    He assured the Minister that the findings contained in the report will help in reorganising the NSITF for better performance.

    The Chairman thanked the Minister for giving them additional time to do a thorough job and not interfering or trying to influence them in any way.

    He said all parties involved were given an opportunity to present their positions and make clarifications where necessary.

    Receiving the report, the Minister of Labour and Employment Simon Bako Lalong thanked the Committee for doing a good job with passion and diligence.

    He also assured that the report will be studied and its recommendations implemented so as to remove the obstacles militating against the effective performance of the NSITF.

    Lalong said President Bola Tinubu is very much interested in having a vibrant NSITF which has capacity to take care of worker’s social insurance matters as a way of boosting the performance of the workforce.

    The Minister also recieved a congratulatory goodwill message from the Joint Labour union of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

    Similarly, he also received the Ministry of Labour sports team who won 17 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze medals at the just concluded FEPSGA Games.

    The Minister congratulated them and assured them that the Ministry will take more interest in their activities to ensure they perform better in subsequent games.

    He announced a personal donation of 1million naira and directed the Ministry to prepare adequate reward for the victorious team.

    Yunusa Abdukarim, Sports Manager of the team thanked the Minister for his support and encouragement, saying this is the first time they are recording such feat.

  • Our Telecom Regulation is Technology-neutral, says Maida

    Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission has upheld the principle of technology neutrality in the regulation of the telecom industry.

    Technology neutrality is a principle in which service providers licensed to provide services are at liberty to adopt any technology for cost-effective deployment of services at no lets or hindrances.

    Maida re-echoed the technology-neutrality principle of the Commission when a delegation from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Nigeria Power Sector programme (NPSP) visited him at NCC’s Head Office in Abuja recently.

    He said that the Commission is a technology-neutral regulatory agency, established to regulate competition and not to determine what technology solution its licensees must deploy to power their operations.

    “The primary responsibility of NCC is to ensure effective competition among licensees in a way that guarantees the delivery of qualitative service that produces high quality of experience and value for money for the consumers,” Maida said.

    “The operators are at liberty to adopt any type of power technology they think that is good, and cost-effective to keep their operations at optimal performance in meeting the quality of service Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set by the Commission,” the EVC said.

    Maida said, however, that the Commission is open to innovative ideas that support reduction in cost of operations for the licensees and guarantees delivery of improved services for their business sustainability.

    The NPSP is an initiative of USAID aimed at powering African countries with alternate source of electricity, such as greener, solar, renewable energy, to support the growth of their economies.

    The USAID NPSP team was led by its Chief of Party, Tunde Gbajumo, who told the EVC that the purpose of their visit was to advance discussion on telecom electrification through renewable energy, which, he said, falls under the purview of the Commission as the sector’s regulator.

    Gbajumo said the team had been working with Rural Electrification Agencies (REAs), investors and user organisations for the purpose of improving the power sector in Nigeria through provision of technical support to key actors in the Nigerian economy to nudge the adoption of renewable energy.

    According to him, realising how demanding power supply is to the telecommunications sector, “USAID NPSP is proposing to work more with the NCC on sustainability models of renewable energy to support the digital economy sector in Nigeria.”

    Gbajumo also said his team had carried out pilot studies in some locations, the outcome of which had provided the team with some understanding and insights into the challenges confronting tower companies (TowerCos) and Telecom Companies (Telcos) especially with respect to high cost of diesel in powering their facilities and to address the impediments being faced in the deployment of renewable energy to run their operations.

    “Electricity tariff is rising and the cost of diesel is going up, while the cost of solar energy – a major source of renewable energy – is gradually reducing. So, our objective is to work with the NCC to build a green energy policy that can support TowerCos and Telcos in Nigeria,” he said.