Barely three days to the celebration of the International Workers’ Day on May 1st, authority of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has withdrawn permission given to the organised labour to use Eagle Square in Abuja for their Mayday celebration.
The development was disclosed to journalists in Abuja on Friday during a pre-Mayday lecture held at Pascal Bafyau Labour House.
The secretary-general of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC ), Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja, said the withdrawal was contained in a letter sent to the labour centre on Thursday by the FCT minister through his administration’s agency.
According to him, the minister explained in the letter that the reasons for the withdrawal borders on preparations at Eagle Square ahead of the May 29 inauguration of the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
But comrade Ugboaja described the reason as utra-lame and noted that the development was a pointer towards a no rosy future for the struggle of Nigerian working class.
He said, even though the withdrawal has no implication on workers, they should brace up for war cry on Mayday and prepare for the worst.
He said, “They have withdrawn the permission and they don’t want to talk to us, the Minister of FCT has withdrawn our permission to use Eagle Square for the Mayday and clearly he is speaking for his government, it means the government doesn’t want to address the workers, so they don’t appreciate the work the workers have put over the years and we will not fair to appreciate ourselves.
The withdrawal has no implication on workers, the Mayday will hold but not in Eagle Square but the workers will mark their day from the NLC to every nook and cranny of nigeria”.
“The reason they gave was that they were renovating the Eagle Square for usage on May 29 and we’ll find it to be ultra lame this is not the first time there will be an inauguration we have had more than five to seven inaugurations in the past two decades and we have always held Mayday in the Eagle Square.
The minister of FCT through his agency sent us a letter yesterday, It’s a workers day, we have sought the permission to use a venue and it was granted to us and later withdrawn, so it has nothing to do with the minister of labour If the withdrawal of our permission to use the Eagle Square is a snippet of what they (workers) should expect, we are ready the way we have adjusted to it will prove to them that we are ready for whatever they are going to throw at us”, he added.
On Mayday, he said, “Workers should be prepare for the worst, the vindicators don’t point towards any rosy future if we don’t struggle. So it’s going to be a war cry on May 1st, just for us to brace up to take the challenges we see coming forward”.
Godswill Akpabio, the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, has been summoned for questioning by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with an investigation into corruption allegations leveled against him.
This comes on the heels of reports that President-elect Bola Tinubu has endorsed him for the position of 10th Senate President.
According to Punch, allegations of an N40 billion fraud were leveled against Akpabio’s leadership of the Niger Delta Development Commission.
In 2022, the National Assembly resolved to investigate the NDDC Interim Management Committee’s alleged N40 billion financial irresponsibility.
In addition, the EFCC was investigating allegations of over N86 billion contract scams involving the senator-elect and a former Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei.
According to the platform, Akpabio was previously arrested by the anti-graft agency for allegedly stealing N108.1 billion in Akwa Ibom funds.
The EFCC had previously summoned Akpabio for questioning on March 29, but his lawyer, Umeh Kalu (SAN), claimed that his client was suffering from pneumonia and cardiac arrhythmia in a letter to the anti-graft agency.
While pleading with the EFCC to reschedule the questioning, Kalu stated that Akpabio would be unable to attend the March 29 interview due to alleged health issues.
He also stated that the Senator-elect had already scheduled medical appointments in other countries.
Kalu said;
As mentioned in our last letter to you dated February 10, 2023, our client is undergoing treatment for pneumonia and cardiac arrhythmia, and, has recently been advised to seek further attention abroad.
It is in the light of the above that we respectfully request that our client’s appointment with you be rescheduled to a date convenient to your officers, preferably after the forthcoming Easter and Ramadan holidays.
EFCC in a new letter dated April 13, 2023, which was received by Akpabio’s lawyers, Seasons Law Firm asked Akpabio to come to its headquarters in Abuja on May 9, 2023.
The letter titled, ‘Investigation Activities Re: Senator Godswill Akpabio’s Appointment Letter Of Invitation’ was signed by ACE II SM Ala, Head, CMU-1.
It reads;
I refer to your letter number dated March 27, 2023, on the above subject. In view of the above, you are kindly requested to inform your client Senator Godswill Akpabio to personally report for an interview with the undersigned through the Head, CMU-1 team on May 9, 2023, at the 5th Floor, EFCC Headquarters Plot 301/302 Institutions and Research District. Jabi, Abuja at 10:00 am.
Factional leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Simon Ekpa, has petitioned the European Union, the United Nations, the United States of America, and the International Criminal Court on the expiration of 1914 Nigeria’s amalgamation.
Recall in 1914, Southern Nigeria was joined with Northern Nigeria Protectorate to form the single colony of Nigeria.
However, in a 7-paged petition made available to newsmen on Friday, the self-styled Prime Minister of Biafra Republic Government in Exile, BRGIE, detailed reasons Nigeria has to be renegotiated.
He, therefore, called on the international communities to allow the Southeast region to exit Nigeria peacefully since “the union had expired”.
“We wish to inform you that the Fedrick Lugard amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorates into one Nigeria, which took place in 1914 to last 100 years, has expired.
“The Amalgamation agreement having expired, we, the indigenous people of Biafra (Biafra Republic Government In-Exile), wish to peacefully and bloodlessly exit from Nigeria to restore our independent sovereign state of Biafra because of the gross injustice, human rights abuses, tribal supremacy, fanaticism, ethnocentrism and class bigotry, that have bedevilled Nigeria.
“The indigenous people of Biafra are determined to exit Nigeria”, the petition partly reads.
The Cross River Police Command has reportedly taken custody of a former House of Assembly member, Honourable Patrick Uguge for allegedly raping his wife’s nice, a 19-year old.
Human Rights lawyer James Ibor of Basic Right Council Initiative (BRCI), hinted our correspondent in Calabar, that the suspect committed the crime at a hotel in Ogoja on April 21, 2023, was reported and has been taken to Police Custody for investigation on Thursday night.
Ibor decried the alarming rate of rape, and called for the protection of vulnerable demographies.
“A young girl, 19-years old, walked into our office, and alleged that her daddy, (because she calls the man her daddy, having lived with him for about three years now). She (the victim) is a Nice to the man’s wife known as Right Honourable Patrick Uguge. Uguge was a two-term House of Assembly member who represented Ogoja state constituency between 2007 to 2015.
“The suspect alleged that on the 21st day of April, 2023, the man rapped her in a hotel at Ogoja. When the girl came to us , we had to verify and confirm her story, we put up a petition to the Police, and they have commenced investigation and taken custody of the man.
“Rape is a felony and the rate if sexual abuse is alarming,so we need to protect the female gender from predators. We are in touch with the girls parents, who have confirmed that the suspect was still a virgin before she was rapped,” Barrister Ibor said.
However, when contacted, the Cross River State Police Commissioner, CP Balarabe Sule, said he is yet to look into the matter, or confirm the arrest of the suspect, but assured that we will do so.
Tony Elumelu and Femi Otedola have reached an agreement that will see Otedola exit Transcorp, a company he recently owned over six per cent of the shares.
The shock exit is coming after Elumelu increased his shares by 9,697,189,984 units to 25.5 per cent through his Special Purpose Vehicle, HH Captial Limited.
“HH Capital Limited now holds a total of 9,991,173,177 units, representing 25.58 per cent of the Company’s total shares,” Transcorp said in a regulatory filing.
Transcorp had welcomed Otedola’s investment when he acquired 2,245,639,251 shares (5.5 per cent) made official on April 20, 2023.
“As noted in our previous communication, the Company welcomes this expression of confidence in its leadership and management as we continue our unwavering commitment to superior stakeholders’ returns,” Transcorp said.
Otedola further purchased a further 228,384,959 shares of the company adding to the 5.05 per cent.
Announcing Otedola’s exit on Friday, Transcorp notified the “Purchase of Transnational Corporation Plc shares by Mr. Tony Elumelu, CFR through HH Capital Limited.
“506,306,387 at various prices; 1,492,750,816 at N3.12; 720,000 at N3.10 and 6,970 at N3.11. The aggregate volume is 1,999,784,173 at various prices.”
The details of the transaction shows that 506,306,387 was purchased on April 27, 2023 while 1,493,477,786 shares was purchased on April 28, 2023.
[TheWhistler]
The battle for the number three citizen, the Senate Presidency of the 10th Senate now appears to be between the Southeast and the Southsouth geopolitical zones.
Over the past couple of days, the call for the Senate President to be a Christian from either the Southeast or Southsouth has gained significant momentum.
This latest development has increased the chances of Sen Orji Uzor Kalu and Sen Godswill Akpabio, who are from the Southeast and Southsouth zones, respectively.
DAILY POST looks at the chances of the two aspirants and the intrigue within the ruling party.
The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the president-elect, Bola Tinubu are expected to decide on the zoning of the offices. There have been countless meetings at the residence of the president-elect on the zoning of the offices.
DAILY POST learnt that the deliberations have been divided between those calling for the inclusion of the Southeast and those calling for reward based on the outcome of the presidential election.
Those opposed to Kalu argued that his inability to deliver votes for Tinubu during the presidential election should count against him.
Kalu polled 30,805 votes to win the Abia North-senatorial district election; however, Tinubu only managed to poll 8,914 votes in the entire Abia State.
Akpabio on the other hand delivered 132,683 votes, a tally that is more than the 115,401 votes he garnered in his senatorial district election.
Some loyalists also pointed to the primary election where Kalu backed Senate President Ahmad Lawan for the APC ticket, while Akpabio was the first presidential aspirant to step down and endorsed Tinubu during the primary election in June 2022.
These are the two main talking points that have shaped the conversation on the choice of the Senate President.
It would be recalled that the APC Governors recently sent a memo to the president-elect on the appropriate zoning of the offices. The governors stated that contribution to the presidential election must be a major factor in zoning.
In the memo, governors faulted the voting pattern of the southeast, noting that the region exhibited “exclusionary electoral conduct”.
“The South-east contributed the least to Asiwaju’s victory, consistently exhibited the most exclusionary electoral conduct since the advent of the Fourth Republic, and yet also feels entitled to the Senate Presidency,” it reads.
The APC governors went further to state there is a need to signal to the South-east in order to ensure “adequate deterrence for exclusionary electoral conduct.”
Many believe that the language of the Governors shows that they are leaning toward the South-south zone.
If the South-east loses out in the race for the Senate President, there is a possibility that the region will equally lose out on the Speaker and the Deputy Senate President due to zoning.
However, DAILY POST learnt that other voices are pushing for the Senate President to be zoned to the South without micro-zoning and that the Speaker should be zoned to the North without micro-zoning to any region.
Head to head
Both Akpabio and Kalu have corruption allegations they are carrying. The former is facing an investigation concerning over N108 billion alleged misappropriation during his time in office.
Also, as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, he has been linked to the alleged corruption that happened in the Niger Delta Development Commission. It would be recalled that Akpabio was accused of corruption by the former Managing Director of NDDC, Joi Nunieh.
Akpabio subsequently appeared before the House during the N81 billion probe of the NDDC by the House Committee on Niger Delta. The probe produced the infamous “Off your mic” moment.
Meanwhile, Kalu was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on 5 December 2019. The judgement was subsequently voided by the Supreme Court in May 2020 and ordered a retrial.
After the pronouncement, Kalu was subsequently released from prison and he returned to the Senate.
If the race is thrown open, both aspirants will have to rely on their connections in their previous party, the PDP for support.
In the last 72 hours, the two have recently met with the president-elect separately. But they must show the capacity to reach out to senators outside their party. The minority parties in the Senate have a combined strength of 50 lawmakers.
The recent visit of Atiku Abubakar to the House of Kalu has already set tongues wagging within the APC. Although Atiku was there to visit the former Abia Governor on the death of his wife, the timing of the visit is raising eyebrows.
The PDP is divided between Atiku and G5 camps; however, going by the outcome of the 2023 election, the G5 lost several seats in the Senate race. PDP lost ground in Abia, Enugu, Oyo and Benue.
On the other hand, PDP has significantly increased its strength in the North— Kaduna, Kebbi, Gombe, Bauchi and Plateau States now have a significant number of senators. Support from Atiku could change the dynamic of the race in favour of Kalu.
With Aminu Tambuwal in the Senate, the PDP senators-elect will play a significant role in deciding where the pendulum swings with their 36 seats in the House.
Akpabio’s supremacy battle with PDP in Akwa-Ibom State could count against him, as the outgoing governor may be wary of empowering his rival.
However, the opportunity to have the Senate Presidency may override the local squabble.
The race is no doubt expected to be tough between the two Senators.
[DailyPost]
Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, (NIDCOM), has called on those concerned with passages and movement of persons and services along contiguous borders of Sudan to create a humane condition for about 7000 Nationals, including Nigerians to have unfettered access to their various destinations.
A statement signed by Gabriel Odu of the Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, NIDCOM, disclosed that Dabiri-Erewa said over 7000 Nationals, including Nigerians are not being allowed to cross the border into Egypt since their arrival late yesterday evening .
She added that the Nigerian mission in Egypt has been working tirelessly on this as the Egyptian authorities are insisting on visas by fellow Africans to transit back to their countries.
While thanking the Egyptian authorities for their support so far, she appealed to them to kindly allow the already traumatized travelers to speedily transit to their final destinations in various countries in Africa.
[NewsDairy]
Prof Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, a former nurse recently appointed to the Order of Merit is the first British of Nigerian descent to be handed a key role in British coronation ceremony as she has been selected to carry the Orb during the coronation Ceremony of King Charles on May 6.
The Sovereign’s Orb, representing the monarch’s power and God’s granting of that power to the monarch, is a round hollow sphere of gold adorned with a cross.
The Orb was designed by the royal goldsmith, Sir Robert Viner, for the Coronation of King Charles II. In 1671, Colonel Thomas Blood attempted to steal the Sovereign’s Orb along with the other Crown Jewels.
During the Coronation, the Archbishop of Canterbury places the Orb in the monarch’s right hand, then the Orb is placed on the altar before the monarch is crowned.
Prof Dame Elizabeth Anionwu is UK’s first sickle cell and thalassemia nurse specialist and Campaigner for a statue of Mary Seacole.
Mary Seacole was the first named memorial of a Black Woman in the UK.
Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu OM DBE FRCN (born Elizabeth Mary Furlong; 2 July 1947) is a British nurse, healthcare administrator, lecturer, and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London.
In 1979, Anionwu became the United Kingdom’s first sickle-cell and thalassemia nurse specialist, helping establish the Brent Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Counselling centre with consultant haematologist Milica Brozovic. In 1998, by then a Professor of Nursing, Anionwu created the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice at the University of West London. She holds the Order of Merit, was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). She retired in 2007, and in 2016 she published her memoirs, Mixed Blessings from a Cambridge Union.
Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu was born Elizabeth Mary Furlong in Birmingham, England, to an Irish mother and a Nigerian father. Her mother, Mary Maureen Furlong, was in her second year studying classics at Newnham College, Cambridge University.
Her father, Lawrence Odiatu Victor Anionwu, was studying law at Cambridge University.
Her upbringing had been heavily affected by moving between institutions and family. She spent just over two years living with her mother, a relationship that ended when her stepfather, who did not accept her and drank heavily, started to physically abuse her. She was placed in a catholic children’s home where she was cared for by nuns, including several years in the Nazareth House convent in Birmingham.
Following an unsettled childhood she qualified as a nurse, then health visitor. Shortly before her 25th birthday she suddenly found her father: barrister and former Nigerian Ambassador to Italy and the Vatican, Lawrence Anionwu. She was to visit Nigeria frequently and later changed her surname to Anionwu.
Anionwu began her nursing career inspired by a nun who cared for her eczema. At the age of 16, she left school with seven O-levels and started to work as a school nurse assistant in Wolverhampton.
She continued with education to become a nurse, health visitor, and tutor. She travelled to the United States to study counselling for sickle-cell and thalassemia centres as courses were not then available in the UK.
In 1979 she worked with Dr Milica Brozovic to create the first UK sickle-cell and thalassemia counselling centre in London Borough of Brent. This was the first of over 30 centres in the UK using the Brent Centre as a model.
In 1990 she was a lecturer at the Institute of Child Health, University College London, later promoted to senior lecturer. With the help of Professor Marcus Pembrey, Anionwu taught a course at University College London for National Health Service (NHS) staff members who worked with communities affected or at risk of sickle-cell disease, cystic fibrosis, Tay–Sachs disease and thalassaemia.
Anionwu was appointed dean of the School of Adult Nursing Studies and Professor of Nursing at University of West London. Here she created the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice at the University of West London, retiring in 2007. In 2001, Anionwu, along with Professor Atkin, wrote The Politics of Sickle Cell and Thalassemia.
In 2005, she wrote, A Short History of Mary Seacole. In 2003 she became a Trustee and subsequently vice-chairperson of the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal. Following the unveiling of the statue at St Thomas’ Hospital in June 2016 she was appointed a Life Patron of the Mary Seacole Trust.
[NationalDaily]
Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, says Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, has what it takes to transform Nigeria.
Wike spoke on Friday when he and Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, met with Tinubu at the Defence House in Abuja.
The Rivers governor said Nigerians should support Tinubu to succeed as president after his inauguration on May 29.
“Elections have come and gone, the winner has emerged and, therefore, it is necessary for all Nigerians to rally around to give him (Tinubu) the necessary support for the interest of Nigeria,” Wike said.
“People can’t wait till May 29 to see that the president is inaugurated and from there kicks the ground rolling to make sure that Nigerians get what they expect.
“I am confident he (Tinubu) has what it takes to turn Nigeria around. I have that confidence.”
Also speaking, Makinde said TInubu would be given the needed support to govern the country.
“I came here to pay homage to the president-elect and let him know that elections are over. This is governance and we will do our best to give him support for the good governance of Nigeria,” Makinde said.
VIDEO: Wike, @seyiamakinde visit Tinubu in Abuja pic.twitter.com/NHTBUErGT9
— TheCable (@thecableng) April 28, 2023
Although they are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wike and Makinde have been associating with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The duo is said to have worked to secure victory for Tinubu in their state against Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the PDP.
[TheCable]
Communique At The End Of The Regular Monthly General Meeting Of The Afenifere Held At The Residence Of Our Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, At Isanya Ogbo, Ogun State
Admin1. 000 PREAMBLE.
Afenifere held its Regular monthly General Meeting today, the 25th day of April 2023, at the residence of our Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo at Isanya Ogbo, Ogun State, which Meeting had in attendance delegates from the member states and presided over by our Leader aforesaid; and after exhaustive deliberations on the state of the Nigerian Federation, Observed and Resolved as follow:
1.0 ON TTHE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Afenifere reiterates our position that the emergence of a President of Southern and specifically South Eastern origin will guarantee equity, fairness and peaceful corporate existence of the Nigerian federation and for which we continue to support the victory of Peter Obi of the Labour Party in the 25th February Presidential election and all his endeavours in its realisation.
2.0 THE JUDICIARY AND THE 2023 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
Afenifere strongly calls on the judiciary to ensure that all petitions in respect of the Presidential election be timeously and justly resolved before the end of the tenure of the Buhari administration as the only way the confidence of Nigerians in its intervention may be earned. Precedents in this regard have been laid even by less endowed countries in Africa.
3.0 BUHARI’S MESSAGE OF FORGIVENESS TO NIGERIANS.
3.1 Afenifere considers the request of President Buhari for pardon “by those he might have hurt along the line of his services to the country” as rather short in statesmanship which demands that such apologies be extended to all Nigerians who have been traumatised especially by the pervasive insecurity and marooned in economic quagmire which in the last 8 years have rendered life most uninspiring, nasty, brutish and short.
3.2 That it is rather shameful and painful that the President would celebrate, as achievement, the purported containment of insecurity in Abuja where the sovereignty of the nation has been wantonly challenged by terrorists routinely routing the Presidential convoy, Correctional Centres attacked and emptied and some Local Governments in neighbouring Niger State in effective occupation by Boko Haram.
3.2 Afenifere further notes the President’s lamentations of his serial loss of elections until “God sent technology to my rescue through the introduction of the PVC” . It is rather more lamentable that the manifest desires of Buhari to improve on the efficacy of the technological processes, inherited from Jonathan, by assenting the 2022 Electoral Act with the BVAS and IREV components, were thwarted by the INEC and security agencies under his watch, while high level officers of his government were befuddled by partisan considerations to justify relapse to primitivity.
4.0 THE 2023 NATIONAL CENSUS.
4.1 Afenifere bemoans the unthinkable insistence of the Buhari administration in conducting the 2023 National Census in spite of the objective realities which make such an important national exercise most inauspicious in timing and impossible in credible implementation.
4.2 Afenifere recalls that in a paper it presented at the National Consultative Forum on the 2023 Census held at the Banquet Hall, State House Abuja on the 11th August 2022, it reiterated the imperative of census in national development noting that the application and misuse of Census data had been our bane as a country where we lie to ourselves and the world about our number indulging in laughable projections sometimes based on assumed and fixed percentage of population growth across different parts notwithstanding glaring variables.
4.3 It is in the light of the importance of credible exercise that, in the August 2022 Conference, we strongly advised against the conduct of the Census which, among other reasons, we said could not possibly hold in the same year of a General election. 4.4 Other well meaning personalities and institutions including the UNFPA Resident Representative in Nigeria who at another Conference in PortHarcourt on the 26th-29th March 2023 and most recently the Methodist Church Nigeria, Diocese of Calabar which all have raised concerns on the possibility of reasonable and genuine participation in an acceptable headcount in the current mood of the nation.
4.5 That Afenifere is particularly bemused that Government expects participation in headcount by citizens still incensed and distraught by the trauma of violence and brigandage of the elections or by those in IDP camps within their country in whose ancestral homes terrorists in occupation will now be counted as new indigenes.
4.6 That all factors considered, including its inability to supervise a transparent electoral process, a lesser headcount exercise, the integrity deficiency of this administration is abysmally compounded in conducting census which partisan disputes in Nigeria is often at the level of communities, states and ethnic nationalities having been politicised overtime.
4.7 Afenifere decries the most insensitive deployment of over 800 billion Naira on this wasteful exercise as scandalous and an economic offence.
4.8. Afenifere conclusively says there is no compelling reason why the census must be held by the expiring Buhari administration and calls for all steps and preparations in that regards to be stopped FORTHWITH.
Issued and signed at Isanya Ogbo, Ogun State this 25th day of April 2023.
Chief Ayo Adebanjo
Leader
Chief Sola Ebiseni
Secretary General.
More...
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has called on the international community to impose visa ban and other travel restrictions on President Muhammadu Buhari over his comments on the 2023 elections, saying he was gloating over Nigeria’s worst election in recent memory.
Also, PDP accused the President of attempting to bully the judiciary, which is currently handling electoral petitions, into giving legitimacy to a clearly flawed election, asking that the sanctions be extended to all those involved in manipulating the outcome of the 2023 elections.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Debo Ologunagba, made the call said at a briefing in Abuja, on Friday.
Buhari…
PDP is responding to claims by President Buhari that the opposition lost the 2023 elections to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, because of overconfidence and lack of strategy.
The President said it in the State House when he received the Progressive Governors Forum led by its Chairman, Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State.
Buhari had said: “They were already telling their foreign backers that they would defeat the APC.
“Our party blended confidence with caution, we worked hard and won. Now, their overconfidence is creating more problems for the opposition than anyone else.”
PDP’s reaction
Reacting today in Abuja, PDP said it did not lose the presidential election as claimed by Buhari.
According to Ologunagba, “We are not willing to surrender the mandate freely given to our party by the people irrespective of the threats, bullying and manipulation by the APC-led administration.
“Having clearly undermined democracy in Nigeria, the PDP calls on the International Community to accordingly impose sanctions, including visa ban and travel restrictions, on President Buhari and his family immediately he vacates office on May 29.
“This demand for sanction is in line with President Buhari’s request on February 17, 2022 in Brussels, Belgium, wherein he called on the European Union (EU) to impose ‘weighty sanctions’ on those engaged in ‘unconstitutional change of governments’ as well as those influencing the ‘process and outcomes of elections’.
“The PDP also demands an open investigation into the roles played by President Buhari in the undermining of democracy in Nigeria in the 2019 and 2023 Presidential elections.”
THE usual beauracratic bottlenecks and lack of continuity that characterise Nigerian governments at all levels have caused alarming inflation on the construction cost of a road project in Abuja, the federal capital city.
The project, Apo-Karshi road construction which was awarded in 2011 has lingered till 2023, yet there is no hope it will be completed any time soon.
The alarming dimension to this scary story is that the contractors are demanding a whopping N97 billion to complete a project that was awarded at just N6.3 billion.
Although the federal government has bargained for N33 billion, there can only be progress when the parties agree. At the moment, that has not happened.
When in 2011 the contract was awarded by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, and Karshi, Apa and Ara residents in the outskirts of Abuja, celebrated endlessly. The reason for this was not far to seek: The road is a vital link between the Karshi-Ara and Karshi-Apo Road which when completed will bring to an end the traffic nightmare that has continued to haunt motorists and other road users in the area over the years.
Unfortunately, the joy of the people was short-lived. Twelve years after, the hope that the construction of the road would soon be completed has continued to hang in the balance. The only reminder of that rapidly fading hope is a sign board at the construction site bearing this forlorn information: “Contract for the construction of the Karshi-Ara and extension of Karshi-Apo Road Project”.
As at the time it was awarded in 2011, the contract sum was put at N6,355,609,124.53, and signed as a flagship project to open up an alternative route for residents of the FCT. As at the time the road project was awarded, Senator Bala Mohammed, then FCT minister, who is now the Bauchi State Governor, had promised to complete and commission the important road as one of his priority projects.
Mohammed said the road was a priority project due to the multiplier effects its construction would have on the economy of Abuja and its environs.
However, neither he nor his successor was able to complete the road. As at the time of filing this report, the road still under construction.
But The Vanguard Investigator, has since revealed many factors militating against its completion.
A deep probe into why the road construction continues to drag shows that poor budgetary provision and inadequate funding are the major problems.
Beyond poor funding, there was also the inability of the FCT administration to come up with appropriate design for the Karshi-Apo section, which spans about five of the over 13 kilometres of the entire stretch. This has also constituted a major stumbling block to the completion of the road.
Again, lack of continuity which has bedevilled governance in Nigeria also played an unenviable role in why such a major road project that requires urgent attention is still under construction 12 years after.
With the Jonathan administration failing to complete the road, successive FCT administrations have not also been able to budget and release more than N200 million yearly for the work, a development that has dragged the work and consequently led to it being caught in a web of high cost of materials and services.
Meanwhile, the construction firm, Kakartar Nigeria Limited, has lamented the effects of huge rocks and several valleys on the Karshi-Apo section of the road, saying they constitued a problem which was not envisaged and, therefore, not provided for in the final sum approved for the job.
The 60 metres high rocks now require substantial amount of money to ‘blast’, while the valleys also needed to be filled before bridges will be built in designated places to keep the road work in progress.
While the contractor is demanding for more money, it appears the then FCT minister, Mohammed, it has emerged, prevailed on them to carry on with the N6.3 billion that was approved, with plan to compensate them through some other projects to be awarded the same firm by the administration to make up for the loss on the Karshi-Apo section.
It is on record that the FCTA awarded the contracts for the provision of engineering infrastructure for Maitama Extension and Keyami Extension to the same company worth hundreds of billions of Naira.
However, our correspondent gathered that as soon as the Jonathan administration left office, the accounts of the construction company was frozen and its equipment site in Maitama seized by the Nigerian Army, which claimed that the site was wrongly given to Kakatar by the FCTA, thereby stalling any operations by the firm.
Findings by The Vanguard Investigator, has however established that despite the setback, the new FCT administration headed by Bello Mohammed, has stepped up the funding of the road project with a view to completing it so as to give relief to residents of the FCT and reduce the suffering of people living around the communities to be served by the road.
Documents obtained from the FCT indicate that the administration has so far paid the sum of N4,542,975,288.14 out of the N6.3 billion contract sum to the contracting firm, leaving a balance of the N1.8 billion of the original contract sum.
The documents also show that out of the total road length of 13.125 kilometres, the construction firm has so far asphalted eight kilometres, laid stone base on three kilometres and laid sub-base on one kilometre, while work is progressing on another one and a quarter kilometres on the road.
The company is, however, said to be mobilising resources to break, blast and drill the huge rocks hindering the progress of work around Kilometre 9 of the Karshi-Apo section. It is also filling the base with laterite up to formation level of about 20 metres high in order to pave the way for stabilising the section for hardcore laying and asphalting.
However, more than two kilometres of the stretch of road along the Karshi-Apo remains to be laid with stone base and priming,in addition to the entire five kilometres, that are yet to be asphalted by the construction firm handling the job.
There has also been a sharp disagreement between the contracting firm and the FCTA over the amount that should be paid as variation in view of the rising cost of materials and services following the delay in funding the project.
Documents obtained by The Vanguard Investigator from the FCT indicate that the contracting firm has submitted a request for the sum of N97 billion to the FCT as variation based on the current rates of materials in the market to be able to complete the road.
However, the FCT in its valuation of the project and the prevailing cost of building materials, has proposed to raise the project cost to N33 billion as it revised estimated total cost, RETC.
In a letter sent to the company with ref No. FCTA/STDD/R1/3280/121 and dated October 14, 2022, the FCT gave the company one week to indicate its acceptance of the proposed variation from N6.3 billion to N33 billion as its final offer for the completion of the road.
The letter, which was signed by the FCT’s Director of Procurement, Mr. Idris Musa, however, asked the company to note that the amount offered was not an indication of an award of contract by the authority.
It was not clear as at the time of filing this report if the contractor had accepted the revised fee of N33 billion by the FCTA and if the latter had also forwarded the same to the Presidency for consideration and approval.
However, the Senate Committee on FCT, led by Senator Smart Adeyemi, has waded into the standoff between the two parties and summoned them for a hearing session with a view to ensuring an early completion of the road project by summoning the contractor and officials of the FCT to appear before it to explain how the job can be expeditiously done.
During the session at the National Assembly, Senator Adeyemi confronted the Managing Director of Kakatar, Azibaola Robert, on why the road project had remained uncompleted over a decade since it was awarded to his firm.
In responding to the Senate Committee Chairman on the FCT, Azibaola explained that he had done his best to get the job done but that poor funding by the Federal Government was the main reason for the delay.
Robert, a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, said: “Distinguished members of the committee, let it be made known today that the Karshi-Apo Road project is not a failed project and that we have the capacity to execute it expeditiously. The road, however, has teething problems. If the teething problems are not solved, the project will not be completed.
“All the data that you have about the project from 2011 are correct. The funding issue was not addressed until this new FCT minister came into office. Funding of the road has been very poor in the past. For the first time, N2 billion has been appropriated for the road. It used to be between N300 and 200 million a year. And it is not for lack of ability to do the work and collect the money, it is for lack of money in the budget to execute the road project. If you give me N200 million for a year, how can I do the work in a year?
“We are not the first company that has been awarded any contract that has been left undone due to teething problems. Even if we are given N5 billion, we will not be able to complete the road. FCDA is indirectly asking us to subsidise the Federal Government. We have done the road to formation level but we cannot tar it so as not to lose asphalt; as at 2011, the rate we were given was N2450 per cubic metre, but today one cubic metre is N15,000.
“For laterite, it is based on first three kilometres at N750 till date, but the rate by all multinational companies today is N4000. If I haul one tipper of laterite, it is N750 times 30. If a foreign company hauls a tipper of laterite it is N3500 times 30.
“We have been fighting for a review of the cost of the project so that we can bring the rate to the current price regimes. We have been on this for more than two years and they have now proposed new rates based on their own terms.
But that proposal has still not been presented to the FEC for approval till date. We cannot borrow money at exorbitant rate to subsidise the work for the government. We are patriotic people who have been pushing to get this work done and not the other way round,” Robert said at the public hearing at the National Assembly.
Responding, members of the committee headed by Senator Smart Adeyemi, promised to look into how the difference in variation could be sorted out between the contractor and the FCT so as to get the road project done once and for all, so that Nigerians could derive the expected benefit from the infrastructure.
Another member of the committee, Senator Abiodun Olujimi, asked the contractor to return to the site and continue with the work while efforts were being made the resolve the dispute over the new rate of payment, querying the firm however why it quoted the job so low in the first place given the magnitude of challenges associated with it.
Residents reactions to non-completion of Road
Meantime many Nigerians affected by the delay in the completion of the Apo-Karshi Road have expressed disappointment over the non-challant attitude of the Federal Government towards the vital route in the FCT.
Dr. Austin Maho, a journalism teacher and publisher of Daybreak Nigeria Newspaper, who lives in Karshi axis, described the near abandonment of the road by the authorities as pathetic and a display of insensitivity on the path of the FCT Administration.
Maho, who is also a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and a media analyst, said it was inhuman to leave a vital road that is less than 14 kilometres under construction for 12 years with the authorities concerned not bothered by the plight of the road users.
“What the authorities have done is borne out of a lack of concern and respect for the people who are living around the affected route and are suffering daily as a result of the non-completion of the Apo-Karshi Road,” Dr. Maho lamented.
Chief Samuel Chori, who is the secretary to one of the chiefs in the Karshi communities, told The Vanguard Investigator that although they were initially excited about the decision of the Federal Government to construct the road, the delay in completing the road 12 years after, is posing serious threats to their homes and farmlands.
“Our excitement has been turned into a deferred hope, but we are still expectant that something will be done by the government to complete the road and give succour to our suffering communities that have been cut off from the rest of the FCT and Nigeria as a result of the non-completion of the road,” Chief Chori prayed.
In his reaction, Mr. Bayo Oyelemi, who runs a mechanical workshop in Apo, lamented that the delay in finishing the road has posed serious setback to many of his clients in Karshi who now have to use a longer route to come to fix their vehicles rather than use the shorter route which has been under construction since 2011.
“It is unfortunate for the FCT to continue to subject people to avoidable stress just because of lack of the political will to fix a short road between Apo and Karshi for over 12 years despite huge budgets reeled out yearly by the government,” Oyelemi said.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo presided over his final meeting of the National Economic Council with governors and other NEC members on Thursday, marking the last of such meetings under his tenure as the second-in-command.
At the meeting, Osinbajo thanked the Nigerian Governors Forum for their partnership and collaboration in advancing economic growth and welfare of citizens across the country.
He emphasised the importance of working together to address the economic challenges facing the nation and ensuring that all Nigerians have access to the opportunities they need to succeed.
“I must thank the Governors and other members of the National Economic Council for your commitment and patriotism. With your dedication, the Council has been a stabilizing voice and has had to advise the Federal Government on many matters concerning the economy of the country.
“I must commend everyone for ensuring that in all our decisions, the unity of the country has played the most important role. Thank you for working with us in the past 8 years & I pray that all of you will be rewarded by God Almighty for your contributions to your states and nation.
“I pray for those continuing; the Governors continuing and those coming in, that you will experience the best years yet of our nation and that our nation under you, and your states under you, will prosper and the decisions you make will be celebrated for years to come,” the VP said in his Valedictory speech.
Osinbajo also used the opportunity to present a ‘Legacy Document of NEC’ containing activities and contributions of the Council under his chairmanship in the last eight years.
Speaking on behalf of the NEC members, the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, whose tenure as chairman of the NGF also comes to an end, thanked Osinbajo for “raising the bar” and making the nation proud through diligent service to the country.
“We thank you for your leadership, you provided a level playing field for every one of us to make his contributions irrespective of our various & varying backgrounds devoid of partisanship but maintaining focus & fairly managed a platform of NEC.
“Thank you very much and we pray that God Almighty shall continue to guide you and members of your family as you continue with the journey, stepping aside. You remain indeed an asset, a reference, a rallying point for our country, as you continue to improve on issues of good governance and entrenchment of democratic action.
“On behalf of all of us, we thank you for your interventions, we thank Mr. President through you for his interventions especially at those very difficult times when states were battling a lot of challenges especially during the 2016 period when a number of states could not even pay salaries, bail outs and such other interventions really helped all of us, various states to really discharge our constitutional roles per state.”
Senate President Ahmad Lawan has urged opposition political parties to team up with the incoming government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu to develop the country, saying elections are over.
He said this in Abuja on Friday while receiving a delegation of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) led by its Secretary General, Georges Robelo Pinto Chikoti.
He said after elections, there was the need for all Nigerians, including opposition parties to support the incoming government to deliver its promises to the people.
He said, “By the 29th of May this year, our president, current president, and current administration would have finished his tenure but we will have another administration coming and that is not going to be an issue because it is a government that is being replaced by another government from the same political party.
“And of course here in Nigeria, so far, the opposition has been very supportive. The minority leader is here. We have enjoyed very excellent relationship in the parliament.
“We work for our country regardless of our political platforms and I will take this opportunity to call on all opposition in Nigeria to team up with our new administration for the development of our country.
“Elections are over and what is left is governance and governance is for everybody. What is necessary, what is very critical and important today is how we are able to come together as a people regardless of our political platforms to ensure that our country is taking to the next level of development.”
Lawan commended the OACPS Secretary General for working so hard at the secretariat to ensure that the organisation remain very effective and efficient.
“The partnership that we try to form with the European Union is essentially to help us to be self reliant and self dependent, rather than taking some kind of little assistance from them. Partnership in trade and other areas that are vital and that are decent for Africa and Pacific Countries,” Lawan said.
The OACPS Secretary General, Georges Robelo Chikoti, had earlier told the Senate President that his team was in Nigeria to attend a global African symposium which was organised by the OACPS and the Department of Technical Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM).