THE Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, has expressed his gratitude to the Senate for passing the NDDC budget for 2023 on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. The Senate had earlier stood down consideration of the budget and requested further information and clarification on the financial activities of the NDDC for 2021 and 2022 budget estimates. In a statement released today, Dr. Ogbuku said that the budget passage was a significant milestone in developing the Niger Delta region. He said the budget, which amounted to N876 billion, would enable the NDDC to continue providing critical…
Author: Eileen Peters
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THE military, in partnership with a security outfit, Tantita Security Services, has impounded a barge in Warri, Delta State loaded with over 600 barrels of crude oil from illegal bunkering. The firm is a security consultant engaged by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to secure crude oil assets in the Niger Delta. The barge, allegedly used to convey the crude oil to the jetty, was carried 20 miles off the coast of Warri where the military on Saturday insisted on destroying the vessel. Amid concerns raised by journalists with regard to the environmental impact of blowing up the…
THE Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the sum of N129.8 billion for various projects in the Niger Delta Ministry, especially for the Ogoni clean-up project. This was disclosed to journalists by the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Garba Shehu, after the FEC meeting chaired by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo which lasted for over seven hours on Wednesday. According to him, the money would be used for the second phase of the Ogoni water project and the central remediation of newly-identified hydrocarbon-impacted sites. Shehu said the money would be used for the water project while N107 billion was…
BRITAIN’s highest court ruled Wednesday it was too late for people in the Niger Delta region to lodge pollution claims against energy giant Shell after a huge oil spill more than one decade ago. News Point Nigeria reports that the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom said in a statement that its five judges “unanimously” rejected an appeal over the 2011 spill, upholding prior rulings that claims were not made before a legal deadline. The claimants say their shoreline faced a “devastating impact” from a leak at the Bonga oilfield which unleashed 40,000 barrels of crude into the Gulf of…
THE Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike has named a block in the newly-inaugurated Justice Iche Ndu Magistrates Court Complex in the state after his wife, Justice Eberechi Nyesom Wike. The governor, who disclosed this during the inauguration of the complex on Thursday, also named other blocks after some top judicial officers in the state. Wike said he decided to name one block after his wife so as not to leave office empty-handed, having named other structures after distinguished justices. “The first building by my immediate left has to be named Justice Chibuzor Amadi Block. And then we remembered one…
THE President-Elect, Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, appreciated Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State for his contribution to his victory at the keenly contested February 25, 2023 presidential election. Tinubu stated this when he inaugurated the Rumuokwuta/Rumuola Road Flyover in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. Tinubu was in the state at the instance of the governor who had supported power shift to the southern region of the country during the presidential election even though they belonged to different parties. “Your Excellency, Governor Nyesom Wike, you are very dependable,” Tinubu, an All Progressives Congress (APC) powerbroker told Wike of the Peoples…
TWO weeks after his abduction, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Okey Wali (SAN), has been released. Okey Wali, the 26th President of the NBA, was abducted in the early hours of April 17, 2023, after his convoy was attacked along East–West Road, in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. The President of the Nigerian Bar, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), confirmed his release in a press statement on Monday. Maikyau who said he had spoken with Okey Wali noted that the former NBA President has been reunited with his family and “is in good spirits”. The NBA President…
THE Zonal Executive Committee of the All Progressive Congress South-South has removed Chief Victor Giadom and Ita Udosen as chairman and secretary of the zone’s executive committee respectively. The decision was part of a special resolution of an extraordinary meeting of the zonal executive committee of the party in Port Harcourt on Saturday. In the resolution which was made available to this newspaper, the committee passed a vote of no confidence of Giadom and Udosen. The resolution was signed by Blessing Agbomhere, acting zonal Chairman/Zonal Organizing Secretary, Chief Edet Ita Asia, acting Zonal Secretary/ Zonal Special Leader and Ogbuobodo, zonal…
A WOMAN and her 8-year-old daughter (names withheld) have reportedly tested positive to HIV after the woman’s boyfriend, one Jude Chinedu aka, Ijiegbe, allegedly raped the minor in their house in Delta State. Our source gathered that the incident occurred at Alegbor Community, Uvwie LGA of the state Copies of the medical tests showed that the woman and her daughter are infected with the dreaded disease. A source in the know of the incident said, “The suspect who is a married man has fled the area. “The suspect is a boyfriend to the woman and had been squatting with her…
THE Federal Commissioner of National Population Commission, NPC, in Bayelsa State, Mrs. Gloria Izonfuo who was abducted by unknown gunmen on Sunday has regained her freedom. Izonfuo, a former Head of Service in Bayelsa State was kidnapping alongside her driver and maid at Ogbakiri junction along the Rivers State axis of the East-West Road around 6 pm on Sunday evening while traveling to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, from a trip to Brass in Bayelsa State. It was gathered from sources within the NPC office in Yenagoa that she was released Friday morning, however, it could not be confirmed if any…
THE Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States Consulate and a United States-based firm, Atlanta Global Resources Inc., AGRI, to build a railway network that will connect the nine states of the Niger Delta region. The ceremony, which was a part of the one-day Public Private Partnerships Summit organized by the Commission in Lagos on Tuesday, will provide locomotives, construct railway lines and operate same in the oil producing states of Rivers, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Imo and Abia. The MOU was signed by the managing director/CEO of…
UNKNOWN gunmen have kidnapped the Federal Commissioner representing Bayelsa State at the National Population Commission, Mrs Gloria Izonfuo. News Point Nigeria reports that, she was said to have been abducted on Sunday evening around the Ogbakiri junction along the East-West Road in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State. Izonfuo was travelling to Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, from a trip to Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State when the hoodlums struck at about 6:30pm. It was learnt that kidnappers intercepted the NPC federal commissioner’s vehicle and whisked her away with her driver and maid at gunpoint. It was…
MORE than four persons aee feared dead in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, over a squabble that allegedly began when a passenger paid a tricycle operator N100 while the tricyclist demanded N150 fee. News Point Nigeria reports that, the squabble ensued led to a physical combat and the tricyclist alledgedly stabbed the passenger which led to his death. A mob at the Yenizue-Epie area of Yenagoa where the squabble ensued subsequently stoned the tricyclist to death. The incident triggered an outburst of violence between the Hausa community in Yenagoa and the inhabitants of Yenizue-Epie which resulted in two more lives…
OKEY Wali, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), has been taken hostage by gunmen in Rivers State. News Point Nigeria reports that Wali was abducted on Monday following an attack on his convoy along the east-west road in the Obio/Akpor LGA of the state. This is the second time Wali would be abducted. The former NBA chairman was reportedly kidnapped in 2014. Reacting to the news of Wali’s Abduction, the current President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr Chonoko Maikyau, SAN begged the kidnappers to release Wali. In a statement on…
A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja has barred the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from suspending or expelling Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and State Executive Members of the PDP in Rivers State over alleged anti-party activities. News Point Nigeria report that, in his judgment, Justice Inyang Ekwo held that the fears of Wike and other members of the PDP were well founded, and that suspending or expelling them will amount to the breach of their rights to freedom of association. The judge, therefore, stated it is in the power of the court to grant redress to persons who have…
VOTING has been disrupted at Ward 4, Polling Unit 5 of Sogho in the Khana Local Government Area of Rivers state. Initially, voting was going on smoothly but there was a disagreement between the party agents of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). While the cause of the commotion is unclear, the ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) left the scene abruptly and took with them the result sheets, BVAS machines, ballot boxes, and ballot papers. In their haste, they, however left the voting cubicle behind. One of the voters, who…
OPERATIVES of the Rivers State Police Command have busted a child trafficking ring operating in the state and other neighbouring states. This spokesperson of the Command Grace Iringe-Koko disclosed this on Friday in Port Harcourt. The suspects, who are four in number, made up of three females and one male, are involved in the kidnap, sale, and purchase of children within Rivers, Imo, and Delta states where the syndicate is believed to operate. Some of the suspects admitted to buying or selling the kids, with one of them saying she paid N1.5m for three children. So far, two children have…
THE Niger Delta Development Commission Public-Private Partnership Committee Chairman, Engr. Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, has urged all stakeholders to hurry up and register for the NDDC PPP Summit 2023, as time is running out. Making this disclosure amidst the countdown to Audu-Ohwavborua advised those interested in participating to register for the summit by visiting . Audu-Ohwavborua said, “Registration is now open, and time is running out for interested participants who want to join the NDDC and its partners in exploring opportunities for collaboration and investment at the game-changing event that will launch a new era of sustainable development in the Niger Delta…
THE Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has set a 90-day completion target for its 132/33kv sub-station in Okitipupa, Ondo State. Speaking during an inspection visit to the project site at Okitipupa, the NDDC Executive Director, Projects, Mr. Charles Ogunmola, stressed that the contractor must work towards meeting the completion target since the project has hit 95 percent execution.” Mr. Ogunmola stated that the NDDC is committed to providing electricity to oil-producing communities in Ondo South Senatorial District that have been without electricity for the past 15 years, adding that the speedy completion of the sub-station in Okitipupa will help achieve…
THE Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has launched a poll on LinkedIn and Twitter, asking stakeholders and potential beneficiaries in the Niger Delta region for their insights and suggestions on which areas or sectors the NDDC should focus on for more attention and investment. According to a statement on its official Facebook and LinkedIn pages, the NDDC is committed to listening to the voices of the people in the region and using their feedback to guide its future plans and priorities. The statement indicated that since the poll started, the NDDC has received some wonderful suggestions and insights from participants…