The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has unveiled plans to demolish approximately 500 illegal houses and structures in Dutsen-Garki, Apo District, Abuja.


Mr. Mukhtar Galadima, the Director of the Department of Development Control at FCTA, revealed this decision following a meeting with community leaders in Abuja.


Represented by Mr. Hassan Ogbole, the Deputy Director of Monitoring and Enforcement, Galadima stated that all illegally acquired or constructed houses and structures would be subject to demolition.


He expressed concern over the unauthorized acquisition and development of properties and lands by individuals without obtaining approval from FCTA, deeming this practice unacceptable.

The purpose of the meeting with the locals aligns with FCTA’s reform agenda, focusing on consulting natives prior to any demolition exercise in order to avoid surprising the community.

Galadima emphasized that the meeting aimed to inform community leaders and the public about the forthcoming demolition operation.

In collaboration with the community leaders, FCTA has agreed to mark houses and structures illegally erected by non-indigenous residents within two weeks, followed by the actual demolition.

The Director cautioned residents against seeking land acquisition from locals, urging them to approach the appropriate authorities to prevent property losses.

He further advised against selling lands or expanding properties without obtaining FCTA’s approval.

Mr. Kak Bello, Deputy Director of Monitoring and Enforcement at Abuja Environmental Protection Board, emphasized that not only are illegal structures erected, but buildings are also constructed in waterways.

Building on flood plains and disposing of refuse in waterways contribute to environmental problems experienced in parts of FCT, Bello noted.

He encouraged people to adhere to the law, refrain from illegal construction, and avoid building on flood plains.

Mr. Danjuma Fanus, a community representative, assured full cooperation from the community leaders for the successful execution of the exercise.

However, Fanus appealed to FCTA to approach the exercise considerately to ensure that no natives become victims.


“We are committed to working with the authorities, but we also seek your cooperation,” he emphasized.

Last modified on Thursday, 17 August 2023 09:11

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu assured investors that his reforms will remove impediments to conducive business operations in Nigeria. 

Tinubu disclosed this in a meeting on Wednesday when he received Mr Ade Adeola, Managing Director of Energy and Natural Resources in Europe, Africa and the Middle East for Standard Chartered Bank. 

He added his reforms would improve efficiency in business start-up and administration including tax reviews and improved security. 

Attracting investments 

President Tinubu noted his administration is  working towards attracting investments, he said: 

  • “We are committed to strengthening partnerships, encouraging efficiency and creating a suitable environment for investors. 
  • “We are already working hard on security. We will improve efficiency across the board for good input and output and we will build a very friendly environment for growth and investments,’’ he said. 

He also added that tax reforms were being undertaken with close adherence to global best practices that would favour businesses for the collective prosperity of the nation, citing that Nigeria is open for business.  

  • “We believe in partnership, and we will work with all those interested in the progress of Nigeria,’’ the president said. 

Adeola said Standard Chartered Bank is committed to enabling investments in Nigeria with a special focus on energy and natural resources and a huge portfolio in funding for the oil and gas industry, he also noted that the bank supports investments of about two to three billion US dollars annually, adding: 

  • “We are very excited about your leadership and we want to restate our commitment to the growth of Nigeria,’’. 

New economic Ministers 

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday appointed the former Commissioner of Finance in Lagos State, Wale Edun, as the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy. 

Edun, who was a Presidential Adviser on Monetary Policies, was part of the first batch of the 28-man ministerial list that was sent to the Senate by President Bola Tinubu. 

Wale Edun’s background 

Wale Edun has career experience that spans merchant banking, corporate finance, economics and international finance at national and international levels. He is an economist, with both first and Master’s Degrees in Economics, from the University of London and the University of Sussex, England. 

Edun worked at Chase Merchant Bank as the Head of Treasury and then as Deputy Head of Corporate Finance. These positions put him in charge of the bank’s Treasury and Money Market activities.

He was responsible for the Capital Market and Financial Advisory operations and had to represent several local subsidiaries and affiliates of major multinational companies. 

Social media users have taken to the micro-blogging platform Twitter to react to President Bola Tinubu’s ministerial portfolios.

It was learned that President Tinubu appointed former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike as the FCT Minister.

Festus Keyamo was appointed as the Minister of Aviation, while Adebayo Adelabu was appointed as the Minister Of Power.

The list also names former Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola as the Minister of Transportation.

The swearing-in ceremony by the President will hold on Monday, 21st August 2023, at the State House Conference Centre, Aso Villa, Abuja.

However, while social media users have reacted generally to the portfolios, the appointment of Wike as FCT minister caught several attention.

See some reactions below.

A Twitter user, @adeniyisegun114 “I won’t be surprised if @GovWike ended up demolishing the @OfficialPDPNig unfinished national secretariat.”

In a post via Twitter, Joe Abah, a former director-general of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, said, “If it’s true that Wike is the new FCT Minister, it would mean that he’ll be the first southerner to be FCT Minister. It will also mean that his band is back with a bang. Abuja gardens will no longer need to close by 7 pm because Wike will come with his 40-year-old whiskey.”

@lukziz: “This is like the most disappointing ministerial list i have seen in the 24 years of democracy in this country… I don’t think the president really mean “renewed hope” for a common man maybe the renewal of hope is for the political cronies, because they are the one sharing things.”

@medley_poetic: “You’d never see him appoints a petroleum minister. Reserved because it’s where the money is. You can only have someone like Peter Obi appoint a technocrat as petroleum minister because he is not the usual Nigerian politician that sees leadership position as pocket enriching.”

@amakvitaa: “Mr. Tinubu is really preparing for a rerun election, Nysom wike to generate 25% in FCT as Minister of FCT with the usual Rivers State Abracadabra, Nice move.”

@MichaelOkwegba: “With Umahi as Minister of Works and Wike as FCT MINISTER, Nigeria will now feel the Ebonyi and Rivers magic. I expect the FCT and federal roads all around the country to look very different in the next 36 months. May the good Lord strengthen them to deliver quality services.”

@Musa$Adam: “Allocating Portfolios to Ministers is not the end of Nigerian’s problems, Let us continue to pray the Almighty Allah to bring ease to our sufferings and make their assignments successful and implementable to put the Nation in their mind, not what they will get as reward of their.”

@oJ_osas: “Two ministers for agriculture, water resources, housing and urban development, steel development, and one minister of sport. We have been having these ministers for years. What have they been doing? And what are these ones going to do differently to bring about positive impact?”

@fatiabdullah: “One very big joke here is that Heineken is back as a minister of state. Let’s see how he plays his cards for the next gubernatorial elections in Bayelsa.”

@matajson: “If they don’t end up being sacked by the court, I am looking forward to these folks: Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Pate, and Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy – Bosun Tijani.”

@Saleem_dra: “So Tinubu sacrificed Elrufai because of some selfish self-serving interest of some cabals. Kaduna gets a useless Ministry of Environment instead. Time is a judge.”

@Primus_unbound: “Bello Matawalle as Minister of State Defense? Someone who couldn’t handle bandits in his own state? I could laugh if it wouldn’t hurt so much.”

The Department of State Services, DSS, has allowed the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu to have access to his second medical doctor.

Kanu was examined by an ENT surgeon in Abuja on Wednesday.

A statement by Kanu’s lead Counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said the DSS allowed the IPOB leader access to a second medical examination in line with a Federal High Court ruling.


Ejiofor disclosed that the ENT surgeon was recommended by Kanu’s wife.

According to Ejiofor: “In line with our avowed assurances to Ezigbo UmuChineke that we shall always keep you abreast of every pertinent development in relation to Onyendu’s legal matters and healthcare, we are pleased to inform Ezigbo UmuChineke that pursuant to the Judgment of the Federal High Court Abuja, delivered by Hon. Justice B.F.M. Nyako on the 20th day of July 2023, and consequential orders made therein, directing the State Security Services (SSS) to allow Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu access to medical doctors of his choice, and to be examined outside the facility of the SSS, Onyendu was yesterday, allowed access to his second medical doctor of his choice.

“Yesterday, being the 16th day of August, 2023, Onyendu completed his second medical examination with his ENT surgeon recommended by his amiable wife, and as the protocol demands, I was present to witness the entire process, which was spectacularly seamless.

“The process which lasted for about an hour was excitedly medically impactful, especially that the exercise was undertaken by a highly rated and award winning ENT surgeon in one of the best medical facilities in Abuja.”

The Department of the State Services, DSS, has in a leaked memo to the Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC, warned against bandits attack along Abuja-Kaduna Train.

The secret service in memo titled: Security Alert: ‘Impending Threat By A Coalition Of Banditry Syndicate To Attack Abuja-Kaduna Train Service Along AKTS Corridor’, advised other security agents to deploy troops in the stated area, to stop this from happening.


Vanguard had reported how gunmen on the 28 March 2022, attacked an Abuja–Kaduna train in Katari, Kaduna State, and kidnaped many passengers.


However, in a leaked letter signed by DSS Director FCT Command, R.N. Adepemu, the secret service cautioned train passengers to be careful and security alert.

Below is the leaked memo:

The new Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo has vowed not to disappoint President Bola Tinubu.

Keyamo made the remark while thanking the President for assigning him to a ministry.

Tweeting, Keyamo wrote: “Thank you, Mr. President. On my honour, I promise not to disappoint.”


Keyamo was the Minister of Labour and Employment during the immediate past administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

During his screening, there was uproar in the Senate, a situation that led to an executive session.

Senator Darlinghton Nwokocha (Labour Party) representing Abia Central Senatorial District had raised a point of Order.

Nwokocha told the senate how Keyamo blocked the House of Representatives Committee from carrying out its oversight function on the sum of N52 billion released to his Ministry.

Having explained this, he moved that the screening of Keyamo be stepped down in line with parliamentary rules.

However, Keyamo later apologized to the Senate.

Last modified on Thursday, 17 August 2023 06:41

First Lady Oluremi Tinubu says Nigerians cannot wait for government to do everything.

She said this yesterday while hosting the National Executive of the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS) in her office at the State House, Abuja.

“We cannot wait for government to do everything. We must lend a helping hand to everyone around us,” she said.

She urged all women to ensure youths are guided to follow the path of good values and morals.

She underscored the need for all women to pursue a way to take the youth out of the clutches of the negative aspects of the social media.

In her remarks, Lau said the NCWS would partner with the first lady on her Renewed Hope Initiative pet project.

Meanwhile, former First Lady Patience Jonathan yesterday visited Mrs Tinubu and promised her support to achieve the goals of assisting the needy in the society.

She said it was imperative for her as a former first lady to also support and encourage Mrs Tinubu on things that would move the nation forward.

“You’re one of the women that I looked forward to, because you can make Nigerian women proud, I’m here to encourage and support you because we’re one country and our country must move forward.


“Twenty four hours, I’m with you, call me anytime, any day, I’ll work with you for the country to move forward and to be better because it’s our country, we have no other place to go.”

Last modified on Thursday, 17 August 2023 06:38

Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council (NTRC), has stated that Nigeria is devoid of solutions to the country’s problems but deficient in putting them into action.

The eminent monarch stated that Nigeria’s problem is not a lack of ideas or solutions to its problems, but rather the implementation of the identified solutions.

He made the remarks yesterday in Kaduna at a strategic meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council and the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) on how to get vaccines to inaccessible communities in the North West region.

According to the Sultan, a healthy nation is a progressive nation, and no nation can develop if its citizens are not healthy. He did, however, promise that the traditional institution would continue to support childhood immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said at the event that the inaccessibility of communities troubled by security challenges in the North West region has continued to cause setbacks for Nigeria in achieving Universal Health Coverage, claiming that 92% of new cases of Circulating Variant Polio Virus type 2 (cVPV2) recorded between January and August 2023 were from the areas.

This was stated by WHO in Kaduna yesterday during a strategic meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council and the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) on how to get vaccines to inaccessible communities in the North West.

The WHO country representative to Nigeria, Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, who made the disclosure, stated that the isolation of the circulating variant poliovirus type 2 (cVPV2) has decreased by 63% in Nigeria when 2023 and 2022 were compared.

Mulombo said;

The ongoing inaccessibility to the delivery of PHC services to communities in the North East Nigeria and more recently, North West has continued to bring setbacks to Nigeria in achieving Universal Health Coverage: Especially in the instances where vaccination teams cannot access communities because of the fear of being kidnapped or killed.

Fifty-one cases of cVPV2 have so far been detected between January and 13 August 2023 from 15 LGAs. However, 47 of the 51 cases (92%) are from this axis of North West Nigeria. Majority of the cases are from states with security challenges in the region.

According to the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Job Racketeering, there are allegations that officials of the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) were collecting 10% from agencies for recruitment.

There were also allegations that IPPIS officials go to agencies to ask for money before capturing people recruited by agencies, according to the Committee’s chairman, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi.


Gagdi made these remarks during the Committee’s resumed hearing on Wednesday, when the Director-General, Directorate for Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA), Rabiu Dagari, who appeared before the lawmakers, stated that staff hired since 2019 have not been captured in the system.

 

He said;

IPPIS, we have allegations against you that you are collecting 10 per cent from agencies for recruitment. Have you taken note of the fact that they wrote to you concerning the recruitment they did?

They have a balance of resources as a result of retirement and other reasons. These monies are always ‘absconded’ and not returned to the treasury. They wrote two letters to IPPIS to capture the people that they followed due process in recruiting and you refused.

There are allegations that you go to agencies to ask for money before you capture the people you want to capture. Yet, the ones that are legitimately employed will not be captured. If an agency wrote to IPPIS to capture people that were recruited, it means that the employment is legitimate.

Dagari informed the Committee that he had written two separate letters to the Accountant General of the Federation requesting that affected personnel be recorded in the IPPIS.


The DTCA Director General also stated that agencies use waivers to avoid due process, which he believes is contrary to merit and competence.

I never heard of waivers during our time.” Perhaps people were not as desperate in our time as they are now. I know that if there had been something like a waiver during our time, some of us would not be in the position we are in today.

I am from a remote area of Yobe State. I took my exams without anyone’s help because I didn’t know anyone.

If we had this type of situation then, some of us will not be holding the position we are holding today and maybe I will not be sitting here talking to you. I do not support waiver because so much cutting corners are done when it comes to waiver.

We are having so many problems in this country because we refuse to do the right thing and waiver is an opportunity for people to cut corners. Something has to be done about it.

For the umpteenth time, the committee’s chairman warned agencies against hiding behind waivers for recruitment without following the proper process of advertising vacancies, as this was in violation of existing laws.

He stated that most qualified Nigerian graduates, particularly those with no one, have been denied jobs due to waivers because MDAs typically carry out indoor employment without advertising to allow such Nigerians to apply for the job.

This came as the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation, NAIC, which also testified before the panel, stated that it had obtained waivers from the Federal Character Commission to employ a few staff whom it could pay at the end of the month as a self-funded agency.

The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) informed the Committee that its last recruitment was in 2010, and that it has since been understaffed due to the inability to conduct another recruitment due to insufficient funding.

The commission’s chairman, Victor Murako, requested assistance from the legislature, stating that the agency is currently in a bind due to its inability to carry out its mandate.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) have revealed that the oil rig that capsized on Tuesday at Ovhor in Warri, Delta State, had been illegally operating in Nigerian waters since 2016.

In a press statement issued on Wednesday by the agency’s Head of Public Relations, Osagie Edward, he stated that the Majestic Rig, owned by Depthwize Nigeria Limited, had been operating without the necessary regulatory approvals since 2016.


According to him, NIMASA has sent a team to the scene of the incident comprised of Search and Rescue and marine accident investigation officers.

In line with the mandate of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, which includes safe shipping and cleaner oceans, a team comprising of Search and Rescue and marine accident investigation officers have been dispatched to the scene of the incident involving the Majestic Rig belonging to Depthwize Nigeria Limited, which capsized at Ovhor in Warri, Delta State.

Initial findings has confirmed that the ill-fated Rig is Panama Flagged and has been operating on Nigerian waters since 2016 without requisite approvals from the Agency.

The ABS Classed inland Water Drilling 232 feet-long Barge, with a rated drilling depth of 30,000 feet collapsed where it was been towed from N04, 30:34 / E00543:57 enroute Ovhor 21 that belongs to SEPLAT Oil field in Delta State.

NIMASA has initiated contact with the Clean Nigerian Associate, a conglomerate of all International Oil Companies (IOCs) responsible for the cleaning of Tier 2 oil spill, to establish the level of spillage at the scene of the incident.

In addition, the Agency is in communication with officials of SEPLAT Energy Limited chatterers of the ill-fated Rig who are expected to officially report the incidence within 24 hours in line with the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 2007, he stated.