Flowerbud News

Month: November 2023

  • ECOWAS Solidarity Mission in Sierra Leone as 3-Member States Form New Alliance

    ECOWAS Solidarity Mission in Sierra Leone as 3-Member States Form New Alliance

    By Paul Ejime

    An ECOWAS solidarity and fact-finding Mission has met in Freetown with President Julius Maada Bio over the apparent attempted military coup in Sierra Leone on Sunday while three of the four suspended member-States under military rule Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have announced the formation of a separate organisation.

    The team comprising the ECOWAS Commission’s President Omar Alieu Toure, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Christopher Musa and the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Gen. Emmanuel Udiandeye, had discussions at the State House on Monday with President Bio, accompanied by some officials of his government.

    Diplomatic sources said the delegation delivered a goodwill message from the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to President Bio and the government and people of Sierra Leone, over the attack by assailants on the Wilberforce Barracks near the Presidential Lodge.

    President Bio and Sierra Leone’s Information and Civic Education Minister Hernor Bah said some the attackers had been arrested, while joint security forces were after the escapees.

    No official casualty figures were given, but independent sources said there were “several deaths” from the exchange of gun fires, which lasted for several hours, while some prisoners were released from the country’s Central Pademba Prison in the state capital Freetown.

    Sierra Leone’s immediate past President Ernest Bai Koroma also said in a statement that one of his official security guards was shot and killed, and another abducted by unknown gunmen.

    The Bio government has now lifted the nationwide curfew imposed following the shootout, the second in the country within three months following the June controversial presidential elections.

    In its initial statement on Sunday, ECOWAS had expressed deep concern and condemned the latest armed attacks

     

    President Bio was said to have expressed appreciation to ECOWAS and Nigeria for the solidarity visit, reiterating his commitment to democracy in Sierra Leone, which is still recovering from a devastating 11-year civil war that ended in 2002.

    The Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) declared President Bio of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) re-elected with 56.17% vote in the June polls.

    But the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC), whose candidate Samura Kamara was declared runner-up, rejected the ECSL results claiming that the vote was marred by irregularities.

    Some civil society organisations as well as local and international election observation Missions also said the electoral process, especially the result management, lacked transparency.

    The post-election disaffection has combined with socio-economic hardship to raise political tensions amid fears that Sierra Leone could relapse into conflict unless urgent remedial steps were taken.

    Meanwhile, three suspended ECOWAS member States, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, have announced the formation of a mutual defence pact against “possible threats of armed rebellion or external aggression.”

    The military rulers of the three countries initialled the accord for the Alliance of Sahel States, which binds the signatories to assist one another in the event of an attack on any one of them.

    The troika in the joint statement fell short of announcing their dissociation from ECOWAS, which has imposed biting sanctions on them.

    The regional economic bloc is struggling to restore constitutional order in the three countries and Guinea, where the military have seized power.

    The ECOWAS Parliament has called for the sanctions on Niger to be lifted because of their severe impact on the country, especially the cut of electricity supply by Nigeria.

    The Niger junta has meanwhile, announced the termination of a cooperation agreement between Niamey and the European Union aimed at curbing illegal migration from the country to Europe.

    Analysts say these developments must be troubling to ECOWAS, which has so far, failed to carry through its threat of military intervention to restore constitutional order in Niger following the 26 July army coup in that country.##/ Flowerbudnews

  • SAN, Judge, others urge young lawyers to imbibe integrity, handwork

    SAN, Judge, others urge young lawyers to imbibe integrity, handwork

     

    Abuja:  Some eminent Nigerians have urged young lawyers to imbibe the virtue of integrity and hardwork in order to be successful in their career.

    Some of the respondents, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Monday night at an event to celebrate Mr Adeola Adedipe on his elevation to the rank of senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), urged them to be diligent and focused.

    Mr Mahmud Magaji, SAN, said young lawyers should emulate Adedipe’s attitude to the profession.

    “My advice is that they (young lawyers) should learn from Adedipe. They should try to imbibe the virtues of legal practice as done by Adedipe and they will get their too,” he said.

    Magaji described Adedipe as a “very sound lawyer, extremely reliable and very mobile in law.”

    “I can suggest him to any person who needs a service of a lawyer. He is a fantastic lawyer,” he added.

    On the honour of SAN conferred on him, the senior lawyer said: “If I have my way, I will still recommend him.

    “I think he is a person every lawyer will be proud to recommend for the rank of a senior advocate and I am glad he is a senior advocate now.”

    A Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, described Adedipe as “a thorough-bred professional, hardworking, cool headed and a gentleman.”

    Kolawole, who said the rank was deserving, said: “I am sure that being in the inner bar, Adedipe will hard more quality to the quality of advocacy.”

    Prof. Abiodun Adeniyi of Department of Communications, Baze University, Abuja, said Adedipe had been a very focused person, disciplined, dedicated and professional.

    According to him, I am not really surprised that he has become a senior advocate of Nigeria.
    “I have interacted with him, shared opinions with him and sought his legal opinions on so many things happening in the country,especially when it comes to political litigations.

    “And of course from his depth; his penetrating insight, something told me that he was going to get to the peak of the profession. So I am not surprised,” he said.

    On her part, Sen. Grace Bent, who represented Adamawa South Senatorial District in the 6th National Assembly, said Adedipe was a very phenomenal lawyer and unassuming.
    “He is very prolific and dynamic, very bold and courageous
    “Few years ago, I told him that I see you having this title to your name. It has happened today.
    “It is a very glorious day for us and a day the lord has made and we shall rejoice and be glad indeed.
    “This is just the beginning. You have not seen anything yet.
    “There is nothing a man gets unless God has given him from above.
    “You will be celebrated beyond the shores of Nigeria,” she said.
    Brent also commended Adedipe’s wife for the unflinching support.
    Responding, Adedipe thanked everyone who honoured his invitation, saying the honour was a spur to do more work.
    NAN reports that 58 lawyers were conferred with the prestigious rank of SAN at the Supreme Court on Monday.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

  • Niger Assembly: Appeal Court sacks Suleiman Wanchiko, declares Bako Kasim wimmer

    Niger Assembly: Appeal Court sacks Suleiman Wanchiko, declares Bako Kasim wimmer

     

    Abuja:   The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has sacked Suleiman Wanchiko of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of Bida I (North) State Constituency election in Niger and declared Bako Kasim of All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the poll.

    The three-member panel, while delivering the judgment through Justice Bature Isa-Gafai, held Wanchiko’s appeal was unmeritorious.

    The appellate court agreed with Kasim’s counsel, Johnson Usman, SAN, that Wanchiko, having presented a forged testimonial to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), ought to be disqualified from contesting the election.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC had declared Wanchiko the winner of the Bida I (North) Constituency poll for the Niger State House of Assembly election conducted on March 18.

    The electoral umpire had declared Wanchiko as the winner with 12, 062 votes as against 11, 820 votes scored by Kasim.

    Dissatisfied with the INEC’s declaration, Kasim and APC, through their Counsel, Mr Usman, approached the state’s election petition tribunal via petition number: EPT/NG/SHA/11/2023 between Bako Kasim and another Vs. Suleiman Muhammad Wanchiko and another.

    Kasim filed the petition on the grounds that Wanchiko was not qualified to contest in the election in that he submitted forged testimonial to INEC and that the election was invalid by reason of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022.

    At the end of trial, the tribunal found merit in the petitioners’ arguments and disqualified Wanchiko and ordered a re-run without him.

    Not satisfied with the judgment of the tribunal, Wanchiko, through his counsel, Aliyu Lemu, SAN, approached the Court of Appeal, praying the court to set aside the decision of the tribunal.

    But Kasim’s lawyer urged the court to dismiss the appeal and return his client as the winner of the election.

    The appellate court upheld Usman’s argument that Wanchiko, having been disqualified, the proper order was to return Kasim as the winner of the poll and directed INEC to issue him a Certificate of Return.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)/ Flowerbudnews

  • Anniversary : Adeleke reiterates commitment to good governance, democratic dividends

    Anniversary : Adeleke reiterates commitment to good governance, democratic dividends

     

    By Joshua Oladipo

    Osogbo:  Gov. Ademola Adeleke, of Osun has reiterated his commitment to good governance and more democratic dividends for economic growth and development in the state.

    Adeleke, represented by his Commissioner for Information, Mr Kolapo Alimi, made the promised in Osogbo at an event organised at the state’s secretariat to mark his one year in office .

    He said that his administration had been actively creating conducive environment for thriving creativity and also revitalisation of key sectors .

    ” We reconstructed a total of 90 kilometres of roads with another 45 kilometres ongoing.

    “We completed key intercity roads like the Ikirun-Osogbo road while Iwo-Osogbo is ongoing among others.

    ” Also, the welfare of doctors had already been addressed and we have slated 345 health centres in the state for rehabilitation while in science and technology, we introduced a digital economy agenda with new ICT and technical innovation policies , ” Adeleke said.

    According to him, the state has developed a bill to domesticate the Nigeria Startup Act and also launch programmes to deepen internet penetration through broadband fiber optic projects.

    ” We reformed the public service by ensuring professionalism and also launched a phased payment of inherited pension and half salary debt. I just enrolled all pensioners in the health insurance scheme.

    ” We are working on the establishment of agric processing zones and support for mechanization of farming in the state.”

    The governor added that works were ongoing in some sectors as major revenue sources for the growth and development of the state.

    ” We reposition the tourism sector into a tourism and cultural industry and in the mining sector, we are recording an increase in revenue generation.

    The governor further said accumulated service charges on mining licences have been cleared and at the tail end of upgrading its exploration leases to mining leases.

    ” This will bring more investors,” he said.

    Adeleke, however, thanked the citizens of the state for believing in his mandate while assuring them to expect more good governance and democratic dividends. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng/ Flowerbudnews

  • Betta Edu emerges Chairman, ECOWAS Inter-ministerial committee on Social Protection

    Betta Edu emerges Chairman, ECOWAS Inter-ministerial committee on Social Protection

     

    Flowerbudnews: Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, has emerged as the Chairman, ECOWAS Inter-ministerial Committee on Social Protection in west Africa Sub-region

    Edu automatically becomes the chairman following the approval of the chairman of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government and Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, “a statement on Monday by her Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Rasheed Zubair, explained.

    Speaking following the development, the minister called for private sectors and development partners’ Involvement in the regional social protection framework, saying “time for action is now.”

    Speaking in Banjul, the Capital of the Republic of Gambia, during the closing session of the hybrid inter-ministerial meeting to adopt the ECOWAS regional social protection framework and operational plan,

    Dr. Edu told the session that the adoption of the social protection framework by member countries and full implementation was key to overcoming humanitarian and poverty challenges in West Africa.

    She harped on the imperativeness of member countries of the Economic Community of West Africa States, (ECOWAS) to work towards achieving maximum social protection in the sub-region.

    Describing the meeting as crucial and remarkable as it is expected to grow the great initiatives and long-term efforts of the ECOWAS Commission with the support of partners in birthing the social protection instruments in the sub-sub-region, Minister who chaired the event virtually argued that;

     

    “Social Protection is a fundamental human right and should not be regarded as a privilege. It is a social and economic necessity that has proven to be a stabilizer in times of crises and shock, and it is meant to be provided throughout life circle”

     

    Dr. Edu pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the yawning gaps in the social protection of the world, particularly in the West African sub-region, which has one of the lowest social protections in the continent.

     

    Records, she disclosed, have shown that the coverage of Social Protection in the ECOWAS region is the lowest in the continent with an average of about 17% of the population receiving at least one form of social protection benefits and spending is equally low as studies show that as little as 1% of the GDP of member States is spent on social protection benefits apart from health considered a far cry in comparison to international standards which should not be acceptable in West Africa.

    Citing Nigeria as an example, the Minister, however, acknowledged that member states were making giant strides towards addressing issues of social protection at the national level by developing policies and structures/programs to change the narratives.

    She said Nigeria is presently implementing one of the highest social protection interventions that covers 15 million households and, by extension, 61 million individuals through conditional cash transfers. This she said was the first of its magnitude and coverage in Africa by President Bola Tinubu, who is also the Chairman of ECOWAS, showing leadership in social protection within the region.

     

    “Nigeria has a National Policy on Social Protection developed and other ancillary policies that will facilitate its operationalization, like the Cash and Voucher Assistance policy in Humanitarian context have equally been developed to guide actors in providing cash transfer assistance to the persons of concern in humanitarian setting.

     

    “Also in terms of structures, we have Several Agencies and parastatals dedicated to providing various social protection assistance to different categories of the population of Nigeria to lift millions out of poverty through different Social Investment and intervention programs under the watch of the ministry of humanitarian Affairs and poverty alleviation.

     

    “All interventions including humanitarian interventions are now redesigned through the lenses of the Humanitarian- Development-Peace nexus to ensure sustainable response.

    importantly, a Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund has equally been approved by the Federal Executive Council to ensure the mobilization of resources for social protection interventions,” she said.

     

    Dr. Edu who told the audience that the time for action is now, stressed that the Social Protection Framework for West Africa was intended to provide a broad set of guidelines and principles to ECOWAS and the Member States in the design and delivery of social protection interventions.

     

    She was of the view that the effort was driven by the principle that the provision of comprehensive and adequate social protection would contribute to the improvement in the quality of life of the citizenry.

     

    “In the light of the region’s exposure to a wide range of covariate shocks and common cross-border socio-economic challenges, the Framework aims at fostering higher levels of regional collaboration to broaden existing social protection systems and programs through a more coherent and effective approach to poverty reduction (SDG 1) and food and nutrition insecurity eradication (SDG 2) END HUNGER”, Dr. Edu emphasized.

     

    The Framework, according to the Nigerian Minister, contributes to the achievement of several social protection-related SDG targets, especially SDG target 1.3, which seeks to implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all.

    Also, speaking at the Closing Ceremony of the ECOWAS Regional Session, the Vice President of the Gambia, Muhammad Jallow, commended the commitment of the member states on social protection in the region.

     

    “The framework seeks to address endemic issues such as financing, coverage, climate risk, and informality in our economies amongst others.

     

    “One of the fundamental challenges in our region is that project-based social protection is ad hoc and unpredictable. As a region, we must move to mainstream social protection into our annual budgets.

     

    “The Gambia hosted an international Social Protection conference earlier this month on the theme “Accelerating Financing for social protection to increase coverage and reach. “

     

    “I am particularly pleased to note that the experts have dedicated a similar objective “ Improve fiscal space for comprehensive and inclusive social protection, ” he added.

    The the event’s closing ceremony was attended by ministers in charge of social protection in eleven countries and the Nigeria Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, who is the Chairman as well as regional heads of UNICEF, IFAO, WFP among others. (Flowerbudnews)

  • Abia govt stops unverified workers’ salaries

    Abia govt stops unverified workers’ salaries

    Abia State government has said that civil servants who did not undergo verification exercise would not receive their salaries, starting from November, 2023.

    The commissioner for information and culture, Okey Kanu stated this on Monday in Umuahia while briefing journalists on the outcome of this week’s executive council meeting, presided over by Governor Alex Otti.

     

    He said that all concerned civil servants should have used the two weeks extended period given to them by the State government to complete the verification.

    Kanu said that those that could not undergo the verification could still approach the heads of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies to know why they had not been verified.

     

    The commissioner also disclosed that the 197 private schools that were recently closed in the State may be reopened if they were able to meet up with the State government’s guidelines and standard.

     

    He noted that the closed private schools were met in very poor conditions with low quality teaching staff.

    He added that the State government would soon launch a Whistle Blower policy.

     

    Adding her voice, the Senior Special Adviser on Special Duties to the Abia State Governor, Betty Emeka-Obasi, said the names of the unverified workers have been put up and advised the workers to approach the heads of their MDAs.

  • Worker dies, two injured at Lagos building site

    Worker dies, two injured at Lagos building site

    A 40-year-old man simply identified as Chinedu has been confirmed dead while two sustained varying degrees of injury as bags of cement collapsed on the three construction workers in a site at Usman Mogaji Street, Ajangbadi in Lagos State.

     

    PUNCH Metro learnt that the incident happened at about 1:00 am on Monday.

     

    It was also learnt that the three construction workers were sleeping inside the site when the bags of cement collapsed on them.

     

    An eyewitness who pleaded anonymity said he found cement bags on the three workers after hearing a frightening noise, adding that they were hurt.

    I only heard a noise and it sounded like somebody crying for help. Immediately my friends and I heard the noise, we ran to check what was going on and we found bags of cement on three people.

    We immediately rushed them to the hospital because the amount of cement that fell on them was a lot. I am sure they would have had injuries because carrying cement is very heavy let alone plenty cement bags falling on a human being.”

     

    Another eyewitness, Abimbola, said the victims were immediately rushed to the hospital but one person died and two others sustained injuries.

     

    She added that effort was put in place to evacuate the corpse to the mortuary while the family members would be contacted.

     

    She said, “They were taken to the hospital for medical treatment, unfortunately, on getting to the hospital, one of them whom they called Chinedu died while the other two sustained injuries. Although I think they wanted to take his body to the mortuary and we tried to reach the family members about the situation.” she concluded.

     

    When contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident to our correspondent.

  • Electricity: FG reveals new approach for steady power supply

    Electricity: FG reveals new approach for steady power supply

    Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu has revealed how he intends to tackle the electricity issues bedeviling the country.

    The minister suggested that the approach adopted by his predecessors have not worked, saying he plans to adopt a bottom-up approach.

     

    According to him, his new approach would ensure that the country has an adequate supply of power in the not-so-distant future, as opposed to the top-to-bottom strategy adopted by former Ministers.

    Adelabu said this in Abuja at a roundtable for the legislature, judiciary and other stakeholders in the power industry on emerging issues, especially on the re-enactment of the Electricity Act, 2023.

     

    Adelabu argued that what the nation has always lacked is not competent engineers to get the work done, but the political will and the right leadership to drive improvement in power supply.

     

    “My strategy is a bottom-up approach in the electricity sector. Many ministers have been on the job but focusing on generation.

    What is power generation if it’s not delivered to the users. It’s useless. It’s like winking in the dark because the customer does not know what we are doing

     

    “We are not joking with the power sector this time around. It must work. We don’t have any choice,” he said.

  • Police arrest “fleeing” MD of Awka-based private security outfit

    Police arrest “fleeing” MD of Awka-based private security outfit

     

    Commissioner of Police,  Anambra, Aderemi Adeoye

    By Chimezie Anaso
    Awka: The Anambra Police Command has confirmed the arrest of Chief Jeff Nweke, the Managing Director of Blue Shield Securities, a private security company in Awka.

    The Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye, confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Monday.

    NAN reports that the police had accused Nweke of sponsoring nude protest in Awka against the police with a view to evading criminal charges against him.

    The command also accused him of illegal possession of forearms, land grabbing, shooting of police personnel and terrorism.

    It claimed that the matter was charged to three courts but that the suspect refused to appear in any.

    The police boss said that the suspect had “been on the run” but was arrested in Abuja on Friday.

    “Yes, Jeff Nweke has been arrested, he was arrested in Abuja last Friday.

    “His arrest is with respect to the various charges against him and his arraignment, which he has evaded,” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng) / Flowerbudnews

    A