Peter Obi, presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), has urged the electorate to give him a chance to create a new Nigeria where people will have equal opportunities.
Loading ...
Speaking at a rally in Maiduguri on Saturday, Obi said that other parties had failed, making it necessary for Nigerians to try labour party for the needed change.
“We want you to hold us responsible for a new Nigeria. For a long time people have wasted the future of Nigerians and we cannot continue like that.
“We will secure and restore Nigeria to what it should be,” he said.
Obi who lamented on the security challenges in Borno and other parts of Nigeria, said his administration would restore the people’s hope and ensure that no Nigerian stayed in displaced persons camp.
He said that Borno had vast agricultural land and resources that if properly harnessed could generate billions of naira annually.
“My administration has big plan for the north, particularly in areas of agriculture and education that will help pull it out of poverty, ” Obi said.
Also speaking, Datti Baba-Ahmad, LP Vice-Presidential candidates spoke on Obi’s legacies as a former governor that didn’t borrow money to work for his state.
He said the two major political parties had failed Nigerians and that LP remained the only alternative to salvage the country.
In her address, Aisha Yusuf an activist and member of the party, urged Nigerians to take the 2023 election with all seriousness by voting for LP candidates because of the people oriented programmes of the party.
Ibrahim Mshelia, Borno LP governorship candidate, urged the people not to sell their votes but to vote for LP to actualised its dream of restoring lost glory of the state and the nation in general.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obi also visited southern part of the state, Shehu of Borno’s Palace and held meetings with youth and women groups, before leaving.
The Prof. Pat Utomi-led Big Tent Coalition of political parties and civil society groups for Obi-Datti has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the Jan. 29 deadline for collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
Loading ...
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the group is rooting for the Presidential ambition of the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr Peter Obi and his running mate, Dr Yusuf Datti.
Utomi made this clarion call on Saturday at the Big Tent’s grassroots engagement for the ObiDatti movement with another round of the ‘Clean-Up Nigeria Project’ in Lagos to promote a culture of cleanliness of mind, body and environment.
In a statement by Mr Charles Odibo, Director of Media and Communications for the Big Tent, Utomi said that there was no “justification for ending the PVC collection exercise when a lot of people have not collected theirs, despite making good efforts.”
The renowned professor of political economy said: “INEC must rise up to the full meaning of its name by ensuring that its staff do not collude with political bandits to disenfranchise millions of Nigerians indirectly.
“We have information that millions of Nigerians are being disenfranchised through deliberate non-release of their PVCs. INEC must ensure that every registered voter is given the opportunity to collect his/her PVC.
“For three days now the INEC staff operating from Falomo Primary School, Ikoyi, Lagos, did not show up on their duty post and this is the recurring story everywhere.”
He, therefore, recommended that private sector led organisations like chambers of commerce, the economic summit group and civil society organisations could help INEC with the work of distribution of the PVCs.
According to him, this has become necessary “since it appears that INEC staff are stretched”.
Utomi also enjoined the international community to ensure that INEC did not compromise its independence through the pressures coming from political elites “who now know that their time is up.”
The chairman, who noted that Nigeria could not survive another day of bad leadership, said that most Nigerians had “decided to back the more credible, competent, young, energetic and trusted candidate of the Labour Party, Obi.”
Utomi, at the Clean Up Nigeria event which also held simultaneously across the country, said that it was time to invite everyone to look at where the country was and, to look at how much it needed cleaning.
Utomi said: “That cleaning begins from the physical, we need to clean up our environment because climate change is real.
“We need to clean up our consciences, because to serve the people is a central demand of our citizenship, we need to clean up our ways so that our country can prosper.”
He encouraged Nigerians to sustain clean up of the environment.
Utomi said that in cleaning the environment, “we set our minds to clean up corruption, to clean up nepotism, to clean up state capture, to clean up the desire to dominate others because truly it is fascism and it is creeping into our politics.”
Utomi also observed that Africa remained host to significant forest belts that played critical roles in absorbing carbon emissions and thereby putting the country in better steads as part of the planet.
“If our young people commit to this saving of the planet, it can be an outlet for a variety of things, an outlet for truly saving the advance of the dessert into our country which has direct bearing on poverty.
” Our concern is to stop the desert, to build a green army from which we can receive enormous credit for our country,” Utomi said.
The professor, therefore, said that he expected young people to learn what late President Kennedy said to the youth of America.
“Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country,” Utomi quoted Kennedy as saying.
He said: “With the youth of Nigeria going around, cleaning up our rural areas as we are cleaning the urban areas, we will be able to generate an economic machine that will move our economy forward.
“But more importantly, we will be able to get young people to bond, to engage the problems of now, and learn how to change their country, take their country over, cleaning up the environment, they will clean up consciousness and give us a new country that we can all be proud of.”
NAN recalls that INEC had fixed Dec.12, 2022 to Jan. 22 for the collection of PVCs before the commission extended the deadline to Jan. 29.
The Gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Bauchi State, Sen Haliru Dauda Jika has pledged to introduce technology in the art of governance as part of his effort to address the problems in critical sectors like Healthcare and education.
Loading ...
Jika stated this today at the presentation of his manifesto in Bauchi , He lamented the deterioration of the health sector of the state, saying that if elected as the next Governor of the state, his administration will declare a State of Emergency in the sector, and promised that education would receive massive attention in order to ensure quality teaching and learning environment across the state.
“There are a lot of issues raised in the manifesto ranging from agriculture, education, health, human and capital development. We want to turn around the art of governance in the state.The first thing I will do is to declare State of Emergency in the health sector. My administration will focus on healthcare service delivery to make it available for our people.
“Education will also receive a massive attention in order to ensure quality teaching and learning environment across the state.As a lawmaker, I will ensure that laws that will make life more meaningful for the people of the state will be taken before the State Assembly and enacted for good governance,” he said.
“As an Engineer, I will introduce technology into the art of governance to ensure that things are done the best possible ways they can be done. I want the people of the state to have the best” Jika said.
Bauchi State Governor, His Excellency, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed has pledged to improve the quality of lives of the citizens of Bauchi state by providing them with access to quality education, roads, agriculture, clean water among others.
Loading ...
He was speaking during an inspection visit amidst his reelection campaign in Warji where he called on the citizens of Bauchi state to vote for qualified leaders saying the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will continue to unite Nigerians and bring curative measures to situations if given the mandate once more.
According to Mohammed said his laudable achievements in Warji include the General Hospital, renovation and construction of health facilities, classroom blocks and district palaces to ensure residents of rural areas are brought close to the affairs of leadership.
Other projects are the prominent Warji-Gwaram road which comprises bridges and drainages linking Dagu community with Jigawa.
He said more developmental projects aimed at upgrading the living standard of citizens of Warji local government and Bauchi state will be embarked on.
Earlier speaking, the stakeholders and traditional rulers commended Mohammed for his outstanding performance, saying they will reciprocate the gesture by supporting him in the forthcoming election.
Two people have been killed, seven injured in an accident involving a Trailer conveying Minerals and a passenger vehicle called Sharon with seven Passengers in it.
The accident claimed two lives while seven people were seriously injured.
The Bauchi Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safe Yusuf Abdullahi confirmed the accident involving the two vehicles at Zalanga village along Bauchi Darazo Road.
He said two lives were lost while seven Passengers were injured and were taken care of at the Zalanga Dispensary and seriously injured were transported to Bauchi Hospital for treatment, he cited excessive speed and overload as the reason for the accident.
In his account of the incident an eye witness Hamisu Faruk who is a resident of Darazo Said The accident occurred at around 7 pm along Bauchi Darazo Road as a result of overload on the part of the Trailer
He said the trailer driver lost control and possibly fell asleep because we saw the trailer moving from one end of the road to another while the passenger vehicle called Sharon was on high speed and tried all he could to avoid the oncoming trailer but could not avoid it.
The deliberate efforts towards up scaling and enhancing the skills of its Training Staff by the Petroleum Training Institute’s (PTI) Management recently recorded a boost with the recent training on Subsea Overview.
Loading ...
The training which was anchored by TechnipFMC was aimed at exploring all the major aspects of processes, technologies and systems overview involved in subsea oil and gas production.
Subsea engineering is a multidisciplinary field that is broadly responsible for the design, construction, installation and operation of offshore oil and gas fields and offshore wind farms which the Institute is greatly involved.
Declaring the training open, the Institute’s Principal and Chief, Dr. Henry A. Adimula said the training was aimed at improving and upscalling the staff skills to enable them participate in offshore business activities of the oil and gas industry.
“As you are aware, most activities in the upstream section of the oil sector are now moving offshore and as service provider, you need to understand the technicalities and identify opportunities for the sector.
Represented by the Director of Science, Dr. Bamidele S. Oyetunde, Dr. Adimula reiterated that the Institute will broker new fronts by continuously retraining its workforce on the latest technologies needed for the sector. He added that though PTI is new in Subsea activities but assured that soon, the Institute will be a hub for training in Subsea and its related activities.
He commended TechnipFMC for offering the training stating that PTI Management is highly delighted in working with the company. Dr. Adimula also praised the efforts of the Institute’s Head of Linkages, Exchange & Partnerships Unit, Dr. (Mrs.) Sarah Nwinee for ensuring the success of the training.
On his part, the General Manager, Capacity Building Division of Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Dr. Ama Ikuru, charged the PTI staff to take the training seriously and make the best use of the programme to improve their skills and that of the Institute.
In his words, “PTI is embarking on a very important journey. I am happy that this training is coming at this time. The world is going into subsea activities, hence the importance of this training. I want to appeal to the Training staff of PTI to pay rapt attention on this programme as we hope to send trainees to be trained by the Institute”.
Also speaking, Mr. Tayo Akinkunmi, Country Manager TechnipFMC disclosed that the TechnipFMC’s global training program is developed specially for everyone who is new to the subsea industry, or wants to have a deeper basic knowledge about the offshore operations and equipment used in the global subsea industry.
While commending PTI Management for embarking on the training for its Training Staff, Mr. Akinkunmi stated that TechnipFMC being a global leader in energy, projects, technologies; systems and services, also provides clients with deep expertise across subsea and surface projects.
He assured the Institute’s Management that the trained staff will emerge with innovative ideas, smarter designs and seamless ways of working”.
The E-networks Technologies Limited in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), has presented the Point Of Sale, (POS), terminals to agents in Benue state to enhance massive adoption of e-Naira in the state.
Loading ...
National Chairman of E-networks Technologies, Mr. Victor Olusiji, who made the presentation in Makurdi, the state capital, said the aim was to make millions of Nigerians understand what the e-Naira is all about, its importance to individual, the economy and the nation.
Represented by his State Coordinator, Emmanuel Ugela, Olusiji said the idea would get people onboard the e-Naira platform by creating individual and merchant wallet for them so that they will begin to use it regularly for transactions.
“In order to carry out the CBN cashless policy to enhance massive adoption of e-Naira in Nigeria, the E-networks Technologies Limited has adopted five key players to deliver the CBN cashless policy.
“The key players include, aggregators, aggregators plus, POS agents, freelance marketers and paid marketers. The e-Naira will complement cash at a less costly, more efficient, generally accepted and trusted means of payment,” he stated.
Speaking on the benefit of the e-Naira, he said the serve enable massive employment opportunities for the youths in the country while also reducing, to the barest minimum, incidences of armed robbery, kidnapping and other crimes.
The opposition political party in Nasarawa State, the People’s Democratic Party [PDP] has revealed that the ruling All Progressives Congress [APC] has compromised an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] into burning permanent voters card.
Loading ...
The Public Relations Officer of the PDP, Hon Ibrahim Hamza had disclosed this during a press conference held at the party secretariat along Jos road at the State capital.
Hamza revealed that the Electoral Officer of Awe Local Government, Danlami Umar Dandina and an officer from the national electoral umpire are presently cooling off in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department in the State capital.
According to him, “we discovered that a gullible staff of INEC was induced by the ruling party who sorted and burnt PVC’s of nonmembers of the APC”.
He confirmed that the agent had been arrested and handed over to security agents for further investigation.
“We, sometime ago, visited the Operation Officer of INEC and informed him of the unfolding incidents in places like Ekye Development Area in Soma Local Government, also in Azara in Awe”.
He sort for the immediate prosecution of the agent, and that all PVC’s collected through proxy be returned to the owners or be retrieved.
The PRO urged members of the party to remain calm, law abiding to constituted authorities at all times, quoting section 16.
“No voter shall hold multiple valid voters card, what do ever”.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has appealed to the Federal Government to extend the Jan. 31 deadline for expiration of old naira notes by at least two weeks.
Loading ...
MURIC said this in a statement by Malam Muhammad Aliyu of its Sokoto Chapter on Saturday in Abuja.
“This week businesses in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara are almost grounded as a result of the Jan. 31 deadline for expiration of old naira notes as a result of refusal to accept the old naira notes in commercial transactions out of fear of possible inability to deposit the old naira notes in commercial banks.
“This is because every bank a customer goes he would meet a very long queue of depositors, trying to deposit their old naira notes in their attempt to beat the deadline. Businessmen have to be at bank as early as 6:00 am in order to join queue at commercial banks to have their old naira notes changed.
“Moreover, because of lack of enough new naira notes in circulation, fear of receiving old naira notes and unsure of whether one could be able to deposit the money he collected from customers at banks before the deadline due to very long queues many businessmen stopped collecting old notes.
“Many filling stations and other essential services providers also closed, because of most of their customers come with old naira notes and they are not sure whether they could be able to deposit same to the bank,” he said.
Aliyu added: “This has currently made life more difficult to ordinary citizens. Many Nigerians have lamented the nonavailability and scarcity of the new notes, this is because banks up till today, still give out the old naira notes to customers with the deadline only a few days away.
“We also call on the security agencies particularly the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to closely monitor how commercial bank managers handle the new naira notes, they receive from Central Bank of Nigeria, which apex bank has been consistently insisting that the new notes are readily available at the vaults nationwide ready for collection.
“We call on Nigerians to remain peaceful and stop panicking about the money swap.”
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has sent a message of condolence to his Nasarawa State counterpart, Engr. Abdullahi Sule over the sudden death of his son, Hassan.
Loading ...
The deceased was aged 36 years.
The Governor in a condolence message to Governor Sule noted that the death of a dear one is painful and devastating.
Ortom, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, said the young Hassan was a bridge builder who ensured peaceful and harmonious coexistence between his father’s administration and the youths in Nasarawa state.
He acknowledged that late Hassan created the enabling environment for people of his age group from different ethnic and religious backgrounds to appreciate the dynamics of governance which his father was enthroning in the State.
He added: “Your Excellency, it is hard to believe that your son, Hassan has been snatched by death in his prime but be consoled that he will be remembered for the good deeds he promoted among various groups in the state. He will be sorely missed.”
The Governor lamented that the young Hassan died at a time when his services were mostly needed especially, to salvage the youths from the intractable insecurity challenges where scores of them have been wrongly drafted into.
Ortom urged the bereaved family to be comforted and to take solace in the fact that their son lived an exemplary life worthy of emulation.
He prayed that God grant the Nasarawa State’s first family the fortitude to bear the loss and the deceased eternal rest.
Loading ...
