Former Aviation Minister, Chief Osita Chidoka has described Anambra Politicians leaving the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) as saboteurs and political jobbers.
Their departure will provide the true members of the PDP with the opportunity to restore the moral compass of the party and return it to the glorious vision of its founding fathers.
Speaking at his country home in Obosi, Thursday, at a meeting of Obosi ward Executives and selected stakeholders of PDP in Idemili North Local Government in Anambra state, the former Minister reiterated that he and other leaders of the PDP (who are the true representatives of Ndi Anambra) will remain in PDP, knowing that the umbrella represents equity and hope for the Nigeria of our dream.
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In a statement by his media aide, Ikechukwu Okafor, Chidoka stated that Anambra is a PDP state and has always been a PDP state. He recalled how Chief Alex Ekwueme brought the message of PDP back to Anambra state and it was welcomed and widely accepted and its acceptance saw the PDP winning all gubernatorial seats in the South East.
He said PDP is rooted and strong in Anambra state and his message to Anambra people is that come 2018 PDP will take back the government house of Anambra state.
The former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission, also described the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, as a franchise of the PDP. It is the PDP that has been making it possible for APGA to win gubernatorial elections in Anambra state over the years, and now the franchise arrangement has been terminated because the former governor of Anambra state, Mr Peter Obi, who is the franchisee, has returned to the PDP. The franchise arrangement is canceled and we are taking back our state.
Chidoka reassured PDP stakeholders in the state that the true devotees are still very much in the party and have no plans of leaving. He added that those leaving PDP to join APC are political jobbers, people with no character, people with no principles, and most importantly they are people who have never won any free and fair election in Anambra state. Though the PDP is happy to release these political jobbers to the APC, Ike Obosi cautioned the original APC members to be wary of these characters who are distinguished by their political gimmicks.
Chidoka said we are happy to hand such persons over to APC, because anybody that is a PDP member would know that PDP represents what the Igbo man wants. PDP represents free market, PDP represents equal opportunities for everybody, PDP represents equitable distribution of our amenities across all ethnic groups in Nigeria.
The Nigeria project has room to accommodate everyone, and all ethnic groups in the country must be equal stakeholders in the Nigerian government. PDP is the only umbrella that can bring everyone together and give all Nigerians a sense of belonging.
For those of us who feel the pulse of the good people of Anambra state, for those of us who know the real mood and feelings of Ndi Anambra, we know that PDP represents our hope, PDP represents our aspiration, PDP represents our desire to have a Nigeria where no man is oppressed. PDP is alive and strong in Anambra. Come 2018 and 2019 we will all come out and speak with one voice to return our dear state and country to its true glory.
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Responding, the Idemili North PDP chairman Mr Alex Iremeka expressed gratitude that Chidoka who is one of the foundation members of the PDP in Anambra state reaffirmed his commitment to the party. Mr Iremeka reiterated the message that the PDP is the true umbrella to bring equity in Nigeria irrespective of ethnicity, gender, and economic class. He promised that the PDP government will return Nigeria to the 7% growth recorded under the Obasanjo/Yar’Adua/Jonathan era instead of this recession under the APC government.
The construction of the second Niger Bridge to connect the south south and south east has started
- Job seekers have also trooped to the area in search of work
There is excitement in the south east region following the start of work on the second Niger Bridge which is meant to link the south south and south east geopolitical zone.
The construction of the bridge has been an issue since the administration of former president, Goodluck Jonathan who performed the ground-breaking ceremony.
Vanguard reports that there were serious sign that work will begin in earnest while job seekers were seen in the area looking for opportunities to join the work force.
Senator Chris Ngige who is the minister of labour said on Saturday, January 31 that the federal executive council had approved N14 billion to enable Julius Berger to commence work,
He also said another N16 billion was accommodated in the 2017 budget for additional payment for the construction of the bridge.
Ngige said the bridge has been redesigned and would have a railway line that would connect Asaba in Delta State with Onitsha in Anambra State.
This is expected to ease the pressure of heavy duty vehicles using the bridge to transport goods.
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He called on Nigerians not to stand in the way of success by making unnecessary demand.
“This is a project that previous administrations played politics with and the present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari has decided to ensure its realization. Our people should not allow the issue of compensation to hinder the construction work because of its enormous benefits to the people,”
GOD BLESS NIGERIA.
Nigeria has resumed payments of cash stipends to former militants agreed under a 2009 amnesty in the country's Niger Delta oil hub, a government
official said on Thursday.
The government has been holding talks with militants to end attacks on crude pipelines which reduced Nigeria's output by 700,000 barrels a day for several months last year.
Authorities had originally cut the budget for cash payments to militants to end corruption but later resumed payments to stop pipeline attacks crippling vital oil revenues.
"Two months of the ex-militants' stipends were paid yesterday ... The rest of their stipends will be paid later in batches by [central bank] CBN," said Piriye Kiyaramo, an officer in the government's Amnesty Office.
He said the paid stipends covered August and September. Each former militant is entitled under the amnesty to 65,000 naira ($206.68) monthly plus job training.
Eric Omare, spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), which represents the Delta's biggest ethnic group, said former militants had complained to the region's top negotiator handling talks with the government about payment delays.
President Muhammadu Buhari met Niger Delta leaders and representatives for the militants in November to discuss their demands but little progress has e
merged publicly since then. The militants and residents who sympathize with them say they want a greater share of Nigeria's oil wealth to go to the
impoverished region.
Crude sales make up about 70 percent of government revenue and the attacks have deepened an economic crisis brought on by low global oil prices.
Nigeria currently produces "close to" 1.8 million barrels a day of crude, its oil minister said last month, the latest official figure. Output had been 2.2 million bpd at the start of 2016 when a wave of pipeline attacks began.
($1 = 314.5000 naira)
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) stated on Monday in Abuja that Maj-Gen Tahir Umar was not involved in the Dana Air plane crash on Sunday at the Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos as reported.
Col Mohammed Yerima, the Director Defence Information, stated this in a statement he issued to deny media reports that the Army General had died in the crash.
The statement said that Umar purchased the ticket for the ill-fated flight but could not make the trip.
It said the DHQ joined Umar and his family in thanking God for saving his life.
The crash took place in Lagos on June 3 killing all the 153 passengers on board, including the pilots and the cabin crew.
Also killed were an unspecified number of people on the ground when the plane crashed into a group of houses on approach to landing. (NAN)
A 29-year-old Mathematics and Social Studies graduate of a college of
education, Mr. Seun Oyeleke, has been caught pants down with a
seven-year-old female pupil in a school toilet.
Oyeleke teaches at a private nursery and primary school on Church Street, Osogbo, Osun State.
One of the pupils’ mother, Mrs. A Ajiboye, had been informed by her son,
who attends Oyeleke’s tutorials with her five-year-old sister, that the
teacher was fond of taking the girl out of the classroom to an unknown
destination.
“I told my brother, who is a policeman, and he urged me to be patient.
My brother then devised a plan with which we caught the teacher,” she
said.
Ajiboye told her son that whenever the teacher took her sister out, he should run home and inform her immediately.
But on Saturday, Oyeleke took another girl to the toilet on the school
premises and the boy quickly dashed home to inform her mother.
The mother rushed to the school, where he found the teacher on a seven-year-old inside the toilet.
Narrating the incident to PUNCH Metro on Tuesday, Ajiboye said, “When my
children were leaving for the tutorials on Saturday morning, I told my
son to rush back home whenever the teacher takes any girl to the toilet.
“At about 11:30am, my son rushed in to inform me that he had taken
another girl out, I quickly rushed to the school, went to the toilet and
forced the door open, I met him on top of the little child.
“I was very furious and I began to shout and wail. I called on
neighbours to come and see what was happening. He was subsequently taken
to Dugbe Police Station in Osogbo.”
“He took me to the bathroom in the building and removed my pant and lay
on me and later asked me to wear my pant back and return to the class,”
the little girl said.
At the police station, the teacher pleaded, “Please, spare me; I didn’t
know what came over me. The effect of what I did just dawned on me. I
did not rape them. I only had sex with them. It’s the devil’s work.”
But the proprietress of the school, Mrs. Amoke Alao, denied insinuations
by neighbours that the teacher was notorious for sleeping with minors.
Alao said Oyeleke was perceived as a religious and diligent person and nobody suspected that he could commit such a crime.
Explaining that her children also attend the school, Alao said she would
not have tolerated such a crime if she knew Oyeleke was doing it.
The State Security Service (SSS) has arrested a man who allegedly
supplies explosives to Boko Haram, which has stepped up its attacks in
the last one week.
Ayuba Usman was arrested on Tuesday at his shop in a market in Kano
following information from suspected Boko Haram members arrested in
raids, the SSS Director in the state, Mr. Nelson Eteng, told reporters
Wednesday.
“Based on statements by high profile suspects... Ayuba Usman has been
providing combustible chemicals used in the manufacture of IEDs
(improvised explosive devices) for attacks on innocent people in the
city,” Eteng said. “The suspect is found to be linked with extremist
elements.”
The SSS displayed 35 drums of chemicals of 240 litres each and a dozen
bags of combustible items said to have been recovered during the raid on
the suspect's shop.
According to Eteng, the suspect was apprehended at one of the markets in Dala Local Government Area of the state.
“The chemicals are controlled. But when we find individuals selling
such materials to individuals who turn to harm innocent people, the
security will be concerned and that is why we are concerned,” he said.
