Author: Eileen Peters

RIVERS State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has retained four commissioners that served under the immediate past administration of former governor Nyesom Wike. They are Professor Zacheaus Adangor (SAN), who served as the Attorney General in the last administration; George Kelly-Alabo who was the immediate past Commissioner for Works. Others include Professor Chinedu Mmon, the immediate past Commissioner for Education and Isaac Kamalu, the former Commissioner for Finance. The appointees who were the first appointments to be made by the new governor were screened and confirmed by the Rivers State House of Assembly. Mr. Kamalu was asked to take a bow and…

A TOP-RANKING member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Rotimi Amaechi was conspicuously absent at the inauguration of former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu as Nigeria’s 16th President on Monday at the Eagle Square in Abuja. However, Amaechi, a former Minister of Transportation and ex-governor of Rivers, was spotted at the inauguration of Labour Party’s Alex Otti as the Governor of Abia State at the Umuahia Township Stadium. While Tinubu was sworn in in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja, 28 governors spread across four different political parties were sworn in simultaneously in their respective states. Tinubu’s inauguration was well-attended…

JUSTICE Fatun Riman of a Federal High Court sitting in Awka has told the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Usman Baba Alkali, that he is an illegal occupant of the office he is presently holding. The court declared that his appointment and continued stay in office were unlawful and unconstitutional. The court in its judgment in suit number FHC/AKW/CS/58/2023, filed by Okechukwu Nwafor, the Plaintiff, who described himself as a taxpayer said Alkali’s continuous stay in office is against the clear provisions of the Police Act, 2020. Justice Riman further held that only an officer within the listed rank, with four…

GOVERNOR Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on Saturday conferred the highest state honours, the Grand Service Star of Rivers State (GSSRS), on eight individuals, including Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State. News Point Nigeria reports that, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and the incoming Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara also received the honours at the State Awards and Pre-Inauguration Dinner held at the Banquet hall, Government House, Port Harcourt on Saturday. The recognition was the highest of four categories of awards conferred by the governor. One hundred and…

A FORMER Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has filed a libel suit against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Attorney-General of the Federation. In the suit marked CV/6273/2023, the former petroleum boss is accusing the first and second defendants – the EFCC and the AGF – of writing and publishing “false and defamatory reports about her of being a corrupt, dishonest…degenerate, decadent public officer.” In a writ of summons filed at the Federal High court, Abuja on May 26, 2023, through her team of lawyers led by Mike Ozekhome, SAN, Madueke said her integrity and character which…

THE Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has commended the House of Representatives for passing the N876 billion budget of the Commission for the 2023 financial year. Speaking in an interview at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, the Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, noted that the approval of House of Representatives on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, followed that of the Senate on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. He applauded the House of Representatives for the expeditious consideration and adoption of the report of the House Committee on NDDC, chaired by Hon. Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, noting that the exercise was very expedient…

THE Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal has struck out the petition filed by the All Progressive Congress (APC) following the withdrawal by the party’s counsel. With this withdrawal, the governorship candidate of the APC, Tonye Cole remains the only petitioner against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Fubara Siminalayi. Cole is challenging the victory of Siminalayi in the March governorship poll in the state. Drama ensued at the Tribunal as the APC filed an application for change of counsel in their petition against the PDP and its candidate. When the matter commenced,…

THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has notified affected Rivers State residents of a blackout between 9am and 4pm on Saturday as maintenance activity is conducted at its transmission substation in Port Harcourt. The firm made the disclosure in a statement on Saturday. “The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) hereby states that maintenance work is being carried out on its 60MVA 132/33kV transformer at Elelenwo Transmission Substation, Port Harcourt, today, Saturday, 20th May, 2023, from 9 am to 4 pm for seven (7) hours only,” it said. According to TCN, the activity would result in an interruption of bulk power…

RIVERS State Governor, Nyesom Wike, says the demolition of two properties belonging to the Bayelsa State Government in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital is not for political reasons. Following the demolition, the Bayelsa State Government through the Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Andrew Esua, had expressed reservations about the action of the Rivers State Government. He said the demolition of the properties should not have occurred as both Rivers and Bayelsa are sister states and have a long history of cordiality, even as he believed that the issue could have been amicably resolved. But speaking at the International wing…

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…

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…