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President Muhammadu Buhari has formally dissolved the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP) as currently constituted with Mr. Okoi Obono-Obla as Chairman.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been directed to immediately take over all outstanding investigations and other activities of the SPIP.

The President also said he is awaiting the final Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) report on Obono-Obla.

The panel was established in August 2017 by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, while acting as president, to investigate specifically mandated cases of corruption, abuse of office and similar offences by public officers.

President Buhari thanked all members of the dissolved panel for their services, said the President’s media adviser, Femi Adesina.

Buhari in August suspended Okoi Obono-Obla, from office.

The suspension letter, signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who also directed him to answer questions from the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission.

According to Mustapha, Obono-Obla was to hand over to Dayo Apata, the Solicitor-General of the Federation, who was holding forte in the Justice Ministry at the time.

Among other things, he is being investigated over allegations of certificate forgery and other corruption-related charges. He was also accused of acting outside the mandate setting up the panel

(FLOWERBUDNEWS) Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said that half of the crude oil production that was disrupted due to the weekend attack on Aramco’s oil facilities had been restored.

Salman made this known at a news conference on Tuesday.

“Over the past two days, we were able to contain the damage and restore more than half of the production that was disrupted due to the terrorist attack,” he said.

He added that Aramco will fulfill all its commitments towards its clients this month through withdrawing from its stocks of crude oil.

He expected that the production capacity will return to 11 million barrels per day by the end of September and to 12 million barrels by the end of November.

“Not a single shipment to an international customer has been or will be missed or canceled as a result of these attacks,” Aramco’s CEO Amin Nasser told journalists in Jeddah.

Drone attacks at the weekend targeted two facilities operated by Saudi state oil giant Aramco in the eastern province of Buqyaq, forcing the kingdom to halt about half its oil supplies afterwards.

Earlier in the day, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdelaziz said that the kingdom is able to deal with the consequences of the “cowardly attacks” that targeted the Saudi oil facilities.

In a cabinet meeting, the king said the attacks not only target the kingdom’s vital facilities, but also the global oil supply and the stability of the world economy.

The “kingdom will defend its lands and vital facilities, and is able to respond to such acts whatever their source is,” said the cabinet.

Oil prices were sent soaring following the attacks, which were claimed by Houthi rebel fighters in Yemen who are backed by Iran. (dpa/NAN)

Dr Abubakar Kaoje, Executive Secretary, Kebbi State Primary Health Care Development Agency says immunization coverage in the state has improved from 18 per cent in May/June 2018 to 84 per cent in 2019.

Kaoje said in Birnin Kebbi on Wednesday that the achievement was recorded under UNICEF and European Union–Maternal, Newborn, Child Health and Nutrition (EU-MNCHN) project.

He explained that the EU-MNCHN was a four-year project that began in 2016 with the main goal of improving access to quality primary healthcare services by women and children in the state.

He described Kebbi as one of the states with disturbing primary healthcare indices in the country, stressing that routine immunisation coverage was barely 18 per cent in 2018.

The executive secretary added that skilled-birth attendants were 17 per cent in 2017, along with very disturbing nutrition indices among children under five years.

According to him, thanks to UNICEF and EU-MNCHN project, the state is beginning to record some very impressive improvement in maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition.

“Just last year we were the last in immunisation coverage in the country but today, with 84 per cent coverage, we are among the best five states.

“Also, through the project, we have been able to reach out to 1,050 out of the over 2,000 hard-to-reach communities, who are five kilometres away from the nearest health centre.

“We are reaching them through an outreach programme that delivers integrated healthcare services, including child protection, nutrition and immunisation to their doorstep.

“Similarly, we have introduced Emergency Healthcare Scheme in collaboration with the National Union of Road Transport Workers to transport pregnant women and children in need of emergency health services to the hospitals.

“There is equally the Integrated Community Case Management initiative where community-based volunteers provide treatment for malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea and other child killer disease to children under five years.”

Kaoje also said that capacity building training, including clinical mentorship are being carried out under the project to build the capacity of healthcare workers to deliver quality primary healthcare services.

He further said that the project equally supported the recruitment of 106 nurses and Community Health Extension Workers to bridge manpower gap.

He added that the health workers were deployed to the four most populous local government areas of the state with highest burden of negative health indices, namely Argungu, Fakai, Jega and Birnin Kebbi.

“These among other initiatives have improved antenatal care attendance, access to quality nutrition and other healthcare services.

“This remarkable improvement will in no distant time reverse the negative health indices in the state,” he added.

He appealed to UNICEF and EU to extend the project for another four years, saying, “I do not know what we will do if this project wind you.

“Our health problems are enormous, and as a state, we cannot do it alone. We need all the support we can get.”

The Federal Government has cautioned producers and marketers of chemical weapons against allowing it into the hands of non-state actors.

Mr Gabriel Aduda, the Permanent Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, gave the warning at a sensitisation workshop in Kano on Tuesday.

The workshop was organised by the federal government to educate major stakeholders in the North west on sound management of chemicals as part of measures to prevent its getting into wrong hands.

Aduda said the workshop was also aimed at promoting awareness and safety, by strengthening the understanding of stakeholders on proper handling of chemical and biological weapons.

Aduda said chemical producers, marketers, transporters and users, as well  as regulatory authorities involved in implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) participated in the workshop.?

?”The objective among others, is to raise awareness among relevant national stakeholders and representatives of the chemical industries in the North -West zone on the CWC and its national implementation in relation to the chemical industry.

“Ensure that chemical weapons imported into the country are used for the purposes for which they are meant and government also makes sure that these chemicals do not get into the hands of non-state actors; it ?will? have great repercussions,” he explained.?

The permanent secretary said similar workshops were held in Lagos and Port harcourt.   ?

Some of the participants commended the federal government for organising the event, which they said had enhance their knowledge on how best to handle chemical weapons.?
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They urged the government to evolve a National Action Plan to guide and regulate the use and threat of chemical weapons in Nigeria.

(FLOWERBUDNEWS) A bigwig of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State, Senator Nimi Amange, has dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Amange, who represented Bayelsa East in the Senate, said he joined APC because Governor Seriake Dickson arrogated PDP to himself.

Amange said in a letter he sent to the Chairman of Ward II in Nembe Local Government that his support for APC started before the 2019 election when he helped the party win his senatorial district and the House of Representatives seat.

He said: “When I was in PDP, we were enslaved by only one man who regarded himself as emperor. There were no political activities, even if you want to be a councillor. The 105 councillors were nominated by him. The eight chairmen were nominated by him. I cannot be part of that.

“I was one of the founding fathers of PDP in Bayelsa State. I did not join the PDP; I was part of the formation in August 1998, and I have been there since. But I have never seen this kind of authoritarian rule.

“So, I have decided to pitch my tent with a party that can uproot the party from the ground so that Bayelsans will be freed. I promise you Bayelsans will be freed come November 16.

“Today, I can tell you that the APC candidate, David Lyon, comes from Southern Ijaw council; that is the council with the highest voting strength. Definitely, that council is for APC. I come from Nembe and by joining APC, Nembe has fallen into the hands of APC.

“Brass is where Timipre Sylva comes from and Brass normally is for APC. Those three councils are gone and we can give Kolokuma/Opokuma, the smallest council, to PDP because their candidate is from there.

“Sagbama, where the present governor comes from, will be donated to him because his running mate is from there.

“Where the governor comes from is where he picked his party’s deputy governorship candidate from. The question is what will other councils do? We can still donate that to him. We are taking three, they are taking two. The remaining councils are 50/50.”

(FLOWERBUDNEWS) President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in Abuja approved the appointment of Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan as the Acting Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) with immediate effect.

In a statement signed by Mr Willie Bassey, Director Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Yemi-Esan, who was the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources takes over from Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita.

According to Bassey, Oyo-Ita has been directed to proceed on an indefinite leave to allow conclusion of the investigation being carried out by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He said the President had also approved the extension of the tenure of seven retiring Permanent Secretaries for a period of one calendar year with effect from Oct. 1.

“This is to ensure stability in the Federal Civil Service and effective delivery on the nine priority areas of the administration as well as the mandates given to the new Ministers.

The affected Permanent Secretaries are: Mrs Georgina Ehuriah – Ministry of Interior, Mrs Ifeoma Anagbogu – Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs Grace Gekpe – Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.

Others are Dr Umar Bello – Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Suleiman Lawal – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mrs Comfort Ekaro – Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

Mr Olusegun Adekunle would serve as Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Similarly, the President has directed the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to commence the process for the selection of new Permanent Secretaries to replace all retiring Permanent Secretaries.

“The decision of government to extend the tenure of these permanent secretaries is premised on the need to ensure that the new Ministers are properly guided.

“And also to be briefed about their sectors and to ensure that a solid foundation is laid for the delivery on the Presidential Mandate which they jointly signed.”

Bassey said that the permanent secretaries would also help the ministers to manage the process for the preparation of the 2020 Budget in line with the commitment of Government to return to the January-December budget circle.

He added that this would help develop various policies and programmes aimed at lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years.

“The action of Mr President is in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 171 (2) d of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).”