Author: Eileen Peters

The Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara has directed the immediate promotion of teachers under the employment of the government in all the senior secondary schools in the state. Governor Fubara gave the directive while inaugurating the Chairmen and four members each, for the Senior Secondary Schools and Universal Basic Education Boards at the government house in Port Harcourt on Friday. He said the promotion exercise in the senior cadre in public schools was suspended because the section was previously headed by an Acting Director whom he felt should not be given the responsibility to handle such a delicate task. The…

REINSTATED Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shuaibu, alongside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legacy coalition members in his company, have defected to the All Progressive Congress (APC). He defected during the APC Edo State’s inauguration of the National Working Committee of the Edo governorship election meeting held on Saturday. The meeting had in attendance the former governor of Kano State and National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, including the governors of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa and Cross River Bassey Otu. The Edo state APC state chairman, Jarett Tenebe, and the Governorship Candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and Adams Oshiomole…

A POLICE officer identified as Okon, attached to the All Progressives Congress candidate in the September 21 governorship election, Monday Okpebholo, was killed after mobs attacked the convoy of his principal and that of reinstated deputy governor of the state, Philip Shaibu, in Benin on Thursday after leaving the Benin Airport. Shaibu, who was impeached by the State House of Assembly on April 8, but was reinstated on Wednesday after Justice J.K. Omotosho of the Abuja High Court ruled that he was unjustly impeached. Shaibu and Okpebholo arrived at the Benin Airport around 2 pm to the rousing welcome of…

THE Court of Appeal Abuja has dismissed the appeal brought before it by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva to challenge the judgment of the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal. The Tribunal had in its judgment delivered May 17, 2024, in Abuja, upheld the election and the return of Senator Douye Diri and his deputy, Senator Lawrence Eruwjadkpo as lawfully elected governor and deputy respectively. Justice James Abundaga who read the lead judgment of the Court of Appeal affirmed the declaration of Diri and the People’s Democratic Party PDP as the joint winners of…

JUSTICE James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has reinstated Philip Shaibu as the Deputy Governor of Edo State, months after he was impeached by the state assembly. In the Wednesday judgment, Justice Omotoso said the impeachment by the Edo State House of Assembly was illegal and unconstitutional. The judge held that the impeachment was in gross violation of the Constitution. Aside from restoring Shaibu, the court also ordered that his salaries and allowances should be paid to him from April when he was impeached as the deputy governor of the state. Meanwhile, the Edo State House of…

THE Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Martin Amaewhule, on Monday, wrote to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, stopping him from spending funds from the state Consolidated Revenue Fund. The development followed the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum given to the governor by the lawmakers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, for him to submit the 2024 budget afresh. The fresh presentation of the budget was among the conditions for peace, signed during a parley held at the instance of President Bola Tinubu to reconcile the factions of Wike and Fubara, in Abuja. Fubara, in 2023,…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has approved the reinstatement of Professor Nenibarini Zabbey, as the Project Coordinator of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP). A statement by the Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), Chief Ajuri Ngelale, on Monday, said the president reached the decision following a performance review of the HYPREP Project Coordinator, and concluded that he is fit to discharge his functions following the regulations guiding the execution of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP). It said, “By the directive of the president, the reinstatement of the HYPREP Project Coordinator takes immediate effect.” The development comes after the Movement…

TENSION is currently mounting in Rivers State as the two factions of the State House of Assembly are locked up in parallel sittings this morning. Lawmakers were already arriving at the House of Assembly Quarters amidst heavy security presence as this report was filed. While Speaker, Martin Amaewhule was seen walking into the chamber, the Victor Oko-Jumbo section will also sit to screen a commissioner nominee. Oko-Jumbo will be presiding over the other House sitting. On Sunday night, the Oko-Jumbo-led House loyal to the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara had in a letter by the Clerk, Dr G. M Gillis-West, invited…

THE Caretaker Committee Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Mr Tony Okocha has described Governor Siminalayi Fubara as the political investment of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike. Okocha described Wike as Fubara’s mentor, saying the latter would not have been governor without the strong backing of the former. “The feud between the governor and his mentor, Governor Fubara is Wike’s political investment,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by News Point Nigeria. “From civil servant to the candidate of a party and delivering him in 23 local governments out of 23, the first in…

SIEMENS, A leading global technology company and PANA Infrastructure Have announced their collaboration to tackle Nigeria’s electricity infrastructure sector. The  partnership, according to the , is aimed at modernizing and upgrading Nigeria’s electric power infrastructure through the provision of grid automation, creating job opportunities in the country , and smart infrastructure solutions across Nigeria. The agreement signed between Siemens and PANA infrastructure, focuses on enhancing grid reliability and stability, deepening electrification rates to meet the rapidly growing demand for electricity in Nigeria. They stressed that the collaboration, solidified through a formal agreement, signifies a pivotal step towards addressing Nigeria’s pressing…

GOVERNOR of Abia State, Alex Otti on Wednesday inaugurated a 100-bed Sustainable Development Multipurpose Hospital in Obeaja, Ugwunagbo Local Government Area. The hospital, constructed and equipped by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs), aims to enhance access to quality healthcare in the region. Speaking during the ceremony, Otti emphasized that health occupies a significant position in Abia Government’s rebuilding agenda. He noted that the state-of-the-art hospital would bolster efforts to improve healthcare access. The hospital is part of the Federal Government’s health intervention program aimed at achieving Goal 3 of the…

THE authorities of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) on Thursday shut down academic activities in the institution indefinitely. The university, in a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Dr Benedicta Ehanire, attributed the decision to the refusal of the students to shift grounds on their demands. This newspaper recalls that the students on Wednesday took to the streets, blocking the ever-busy Benin-Ore Highway, to protest weeks of power outages on campus. The students, who had two weeks until their first semester examination, said the situation was severely affecting their preparation. The students also called for a downward review of transport…

THE Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, said on Wednesday that he is not interested in being a running mate to ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar for the 2027 presidential election. A statement by Diri’s Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, on Wednesday, said, “A faceless group, which sarcastically named itself Diri Angels, in a statement, had made the suggestion to Alhaji Abubakar.” Atiku was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 presidential election, which he lost to President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress. According to Alabrah’s statement, the Diri Angels met with Atiku and expressed…

THE Rivers state police command has arrested a man in the Omoku council headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the state. The man identified as Felix Nwaobokata is the immediate past commander of the local vigilante group, popularly known as ONELGA Security and Peace Advisory Committee (OSPAC). According to a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Rivers State Police Command, SP Grace Koko, said Nwaobokata had two human skulls and bones in his possession at the time of arrest. Nwaobokata was arrested alongside three others following accusations of abducting a member of the Hausa community in Omoku. Koko…

RIVERS State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, says the intention of the man who detonated an explosive in Port Harcourt Tuesday, was to blow up the Presidential Hotel, a highly-rated hospitality facility in the state. Governor Fubara said this during a visit by the Senate Committee on Privatization led by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu to the government house in Port Harcourt on Wednesday. He said the failed attacker targeted the facility that was accommodating high profile individuals including the members of the Senate committee to justify the call for imposition of a state of emergency in the state. He said, “The idea…

FORMER Council Chairmen of 21 out of the 23 Local Governments Area (LGA) in Rivers State on Monday staged a protest at their various council areas. In Buguma, council headquarters of the Asari-Toru LGA, former Chairman Onengiyeofori George, alongside his supporters marched through the streets of the town as they gyrate to songs in solidarity with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike. They waved placards with inscriptions asking the police to continue occupying the council headquarters. Some of the inscriptions read, “Sim Fubara Can’t Continue to Act As He likes” and “There’s No Vacancy in Asari-Toru…

RIVERS State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has appointed the King of Apara Kingdom in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Eze Chike Worlu Wodo, to chair the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers. Eze Wodo, who recently visited Governor Fubara to pledge his support for his administration, is to replace King Sergeant Awuse, an ally of the former governor. Obio/Akpor Local Government Area is where former Governor Nyesom Wike comes from. Awuse, a prominent politician, became a traditional ruler in his Emohua Kingdom in Emohhua Local Government Area two years ago. Despite being new to the revered Council of Traditional Rulers, the former…

THE leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, has called on the Federal Government to declare state of emergency in the state. Caretaker Committee Chairman of the party in Rivers, Chief Tony Okocha, made the call during a media briefing in Port Harcourt on Wednesday. He said, “Rivers State is at war. And the dramatis personae who are responsible for the mayhem that has claimed lives are known. “The Governor is helpless, the police is helpless. Therefore the APC in Rivers State is calling for a state of emergency in Rivers State as a way of taming…

RIVERS State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has sworn in 23 new caretaker chairmen for the 23 local government areas of the state. The swearing-in was done on Wednesday at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital amid tight security. Channels Television reports that the exercise was carried out at the Council Chambers with the first batch of 11 CTC chairmen taking their oath of office. It comes a day after he forwarded the list to the state House of Assembly led by factional Speaker, Victor Jumbo. The lawmakers had invited the nominees for screening as early as 8 am…

RIVERS State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has nominated caretaker chairmen for the 23 local government areas of the state. Fubara sent the list to the state House of Assembly led by factional Speaker, Victor Jumbo, on Tuesday. The nomination came amid a renewed political crisis in the state, as former council chairmen have refused to vacate their offices after their tenure expired. Fubara’s communication to the assembly was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday night by the Clerk of the House, G.M. Gillis-West. According to the statement, the assembly invited the nominees for screening on Wednesday by 8 am. The…