Author: Eileen Peters

THE International Association Of World Peace Advocates IAWPA has announced that it has notified the Office of the First Lady of its desire to see her grace this year’s International Women’s Day billed to hold in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on March 8th, 2024. The global peace advocacy group with Special Consultative Status under the Economic and Social Council ECOSOC of the United Nations since 2019 made this disclosure via its International Director of African Affairs Amb. John Metchie. The statement said the African Directorate has decided to make this year’s event a top notch event that will…

AHEAD of the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 16 political parties will participate in the exercise. INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday. “Sixteen political parties have notified the Commission of their intention to participate in the election as well as their preferred modes and dates of primaries,” he said. “As the Commission is set to deploy its monitoring teams, political parties are hereby reminded that Edo State is the Constituency for the election. Therefore, primaries must take place…

DELTA State and the Nigeria Police Force have emerged winner and runners up at the just-concluded  11th Chief of Naval Staff National Swimming Championship in Port Harcourt. Delta State garnered a total of twelve gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals to emerge top in the largely military tournament while Nigeria Police emerged second with eight gold, one silver and three bronze medals. The third place was clinched by the Nigeria Army with a total of twenty medals (five gold give silver ten bronze), while Rivers State (host) emerged seventh with two gold, two silver and one bronze medal. Speaking…

JUSTICE Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court Abuja has issued a warrant for the arrest of Edison Ehie, the Chief of Staff to Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, over his alleged involvement in the burning of the State House of Assembly. Ehie, who is the immediate past Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, was ordered to be arrested along with five other persons based in Port Harcourt for allegedly participating in some criminal activities. Those ordered to be arrested along with the former Speaker are Jinjiri Bala, Happy Benedict, Progress Joseph, Adokiye Oyagiri and Chibuike Peter also known…

DELTA State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, has suspended the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Hon Omoun Perez, with immediate effect. Oborevwori also asked the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Bennett Agamah; Assistant Director, Agricultural Engineering, Engr Oki Yintareke; and Chief Accountant, Gabriel Idiatacheko, to embark on compulsory leave. This was disclosed in a statement on Wednesday by the Press Unit, Government House. Perez’s suspension is ”to investigate the claims and perceived infractions related to the management of the scheme by the Ministry,” the statement said. The governor also set up a seven-man committee headed by the Secretary to the State…

RIVERS State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara has appointed Edison Ehie, the leader of his loyalists in the State House of Assembly, as his Chief of Staff. Ehie, was the contender to Martin Amaewhule for the position of Speaker, before recently resigning from the Assembly as part of the process to restore peace in the state. He was rumoured a few weeks ago to have been appointed to replace Mr. Chidi Amadi, a loyalist of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who resigned alongside some commissioners late last year. But in a statement late Sunday night by Secretary to…

THE Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of Tonye Cole and the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the election of Siminalayi Fubara as Rivers State governor for lacking in merit. Affirming Fubara as the duly elected governor of Rivers State, the court held that the appellant did not prove the allegations of non compliance with the Electoral Act among others. The court held that the appeal was incompetent and dismissed it. Cole, who was the APC candidate in the March 18, 2023 election, was challenging the victory of Governor Fubara on the ground that he did not resign as the…

JUSTICE James of the Federal High Court Abuja has nullified the N800 billion budget passed by the Edison Ehie-led group of the Rivers State House of Assembly and signed into law by the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara. The court also upheld the suit filed by the Assembly and Speaker Martin Amaewhule, against Fubara, which sought an order of injunction restraining the governor from frustrating the Assembly under his leadership as speaker, among others. On December 13, 2023, in the heat of the protracted political crisis rocking the oil-rich state and the demolition of the Assembly Complex, Fubara presented the…

THE Nigerian Army has confiscated over three million litres of stolen crude oil at an illegal refinery operating in Rivers State. The stolen oil was confiscated on Thursday during a raid led by the General Officer Commanding 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Jamal Abdusallam. The men of the Nigerian Army busted the illegal refinery site in Akwa-Odiogwa, in the Etche Local Government Area of the state. Combing the area, the Army discovered various kinds of equipment used for illegal refining as well as arrested some artisans who aided the transportation of illegally refined products. “This place is…

A HIGH Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has convicted and sentenced three men on charges of kidnapping. Although four suspects were arraigned in court for the kidnap of late Chief Abbot Ogbobula in June 2017, only three were convicted while the fourth suspect was discharged and acquitted. The three men identified as Boma Thompson, Emelike Mathias, and Daniel Thankgod, were convicted on four charges of conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, conspiracy to murder, and murder of late Chief Abbot Ogbobula. Speaking to newsmen, counsel to Goodnews Nwoka (fourth suspect), Augustine Ojekudo, said of his client, “he is very very…

SHELL said it has reached an agreement to sell its Nigerian onshore subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), to Renaissance For $2.4bn. Renaissance is a consortium of five firms made up of four exploration and production companies based in Nigeria and also an international energy group. “Completion of the transaction is subject to approvals by the Federal Government of Nigeria and other conditions,” Shell said in a Tuesday statement on its website. “Transaction will preserve SPDC’s operating capabilities for the benefit of a joint venture. The transaction has been designed to preserve the full range of…

THE Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Umo Eno of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the validly elected governor of Akwa Ibom State after dismissing the appeals of the three parties challenging the outcome of the election held on March 18 2023. This comes after the apex court panel led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji dismissed the appeals of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Young Progressives Party (YPP) and the Action Alliance (AC) based on the non-qualification of the governor over allegations of certificate forgery, which the governor denied. The Court of Appeal had upheld the judgment dismissing the…

THE Bro Felix Obuah Organisation (BFO) has passed a vote of confidence on the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Barr Nyesom Ezenwo Wike. In a signed statement by the Director, Media and Publicity, the BFO group, Nwokoma Messiah described the former Governor of Rivers State as a detribalised leader and a pride to the people of the state and the South South as a whole. The group which is a frontline political group that promotes the works of its leader Bro Felix Amaechi Obuah described Wike as a political giant who has made the state proud and placed it in…

THE Rivers State Representative on the Board of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Chief Tony Okocha, said the commission has about 953 abandoned projects in Rivers State alone. Okocha who disclosed this at an interactive meeting with the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers in Port Harcourt yesterday said many of the abandoned projects were awarded by the previous management of the commission. The board member noted that some of the abandoned projects were fully mobilised but were still abandoned. He blamed inconsistency in the board and management of NDDC as one of the major reasons for the abandoned projects.…

THE International Association Of World Peace Advocates IAWPA has announced Lord Mayor Osuji Kenneth Alphons as a recipient of the International Mayor of Peace Award. Ambassador Emmanuel Nkweke, the International Spokesman of IAWPA made this known in a press statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen in Abuja, Tuesday. Nkweke said, Lord Mayor Osuji will be the 5th person in the world  to be bestowed with this prestigious award due to his contributions to humanity. Other notable personalities who have been bestowed with this award include the outgoing President of Liberia George Opong Weah among others. Nkweke stressed…

FORMER Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, says the G5 group within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027. Ortom made this known on Sunday at a luncheon hosted by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. Wike, an ex-governor of Rivers donned a black shirt and a butter-coloured jacket and was flanked by Ortom and another G5 member, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu). The G5, a group of five then-governors within the PDP, rejected Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate before the 2023 poll…

THE protracted feud between Rivers State Governor, Siminalaye Fubara; and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, may have been publicly resolved with the “intervention” of President Bola Tinubu last December but the camaraderie hitherto shared by the two gladiators cannot be said to have returned as the governor was absent from a luncheon hosted by his predecessor in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Sunday. While Wike, now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was present at the luncheon with many of his allies, Fubara and his men both in the House of Assembly and the two other organs of…

FOREMOST elder statesman from Nigeria’s South-South, Pa Edwin Clark, has accused the South-South governors of corruption and embezzlement of 13% oil derivation funds allocated to their states. The 96-year-old former federal commissioner of communication under a military regime in the old Midwestern Region claimed that the governors have been misappropriating the oil derivation funds meant for the development of their respective states, describing the action as a deeply-rooted problem plaguing the region. The prominent Ijaw leader and politician spoke on Friday, January 5, 2024, during an interview on the third episode of “Inside Sources,” a highly acclaimed political TV programme…

NYESOM Wike has again spoken about the Rivers State crisis and maintains he still has a stronghold in the state he finished serving as its governor just in May last year. The Minister of the FCT has been at loggerheads with his successor Governor Sim Fubara. While President Bola Tinubu had waded into the political tangle, Wike believes with time, residents of the state will know the real political giants. “Forget about these hungry noisemakers on the road. When the time comes, we will know who is in charge and who is not in charge. I don’t know whether you…

THE Wold Peace President of the International Association Of World Peace Advocates IAWPA Amb Per Stafsen has declared the year 2024 as a year to celebrate women globally for their achievements and contributions to the promotion of global peace and stability. Amb. Stafsen from the Kingdom of Denmark also stressed the need for women to be given more roles and responsibilities to play in their various countries and the United Nations. In his new year message to all peace lovers and Eminent Peace Ambassadors, he stressed the need for all regional  and country Directors to harness programmes that will promote…