Dennis

  Bayelsa State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr  Moses Teibowei,  has expressed satisfaction with the quality of job done on the  internal roads within Yenagao, the state capital.  Mr Teibowei alongside with his Information, Orientation and Strategy counterpart Ayiba Duba, came out with this shortly after inspecting some ongoing and completed internal  roads within Yenagao metropolis. The works and Infrastructure commissioner, who lauded contractors for using quality materials that would stand the test of time, hinted that the ongoing projects will be completed within the next two months.  While explaining that contrary to the believe that all internal roads are concrete, Mr Teibowei, noted that the roads are categorized into rigid and flexible pavements with the rigid pavements having the concrete coating while the flexible pavements such as Imiringi Road and Law school road have  alsphat coatings.    He  said government has constructed more than the initial twenty roads

A former local government chairman in Bayelsa state, Pastor Donald Daunemigha, has obtained the expression of interest and nomination forms to contest the Bayelsa West Senatorial seat against former governor, Seriake Dickson, in the 2023 election. This is even as the PDP chieftain accused Dickson of going against the zoning formula in Ekeremor and Sagbama local government councils which make up the senatorial district.  Daunemigha said, “because of the fact that we have an existing zoning arrangement that ought to bring the senatorial seat to my local government, I was asked by a wide spectrum of the people of the local governments to run in this election, and that is why I have obliged and after seeking the face of God, decided to take this giant leap.” According to him, seeking the ticket against a sitting Senator may be difficult, but God, he insisted is the sole determinant of who gets power at any given time. “While I want to admit that yes, he is a two-time governor and also a se

  Chairman,  Bayelsa Queens, Pastor Robin Apreala, says his side will go all out to win this year’s Nigeria Women Football League NWFL super six after the last year disappointing outing in Ijebu-ode that saw Rivers Angels emerged champions of the showpiece. Bayelsa Queens pummeled visitors Abia Angels 5-0 at the Samson Siasia Stadium in a match day thirteen of the Nigeria Women Football League NWFL, to cement their super six qualification for the second time in a row. Reacting to the his side’s victory shortly after the game, Pastor Apreala said the focus of the team was qualify for the continental game for the first time rather than playing the super six, describing the feat by the girls as glorious. While thanking God for the victory, the chairman noted that playing the CAF Women Champions league would mean a lot to the girls having conquered Nigeria in the Aiteo Cup last season and winning the trophy would be a clear demonstration that the Aiteo Cup victory was not fluke. With the P

  The World Bank has sanctioned SoftTech IT Solutions and Services Ltd., a Nigerian information technology solutions company, and its Managing Director, Mr Isah Kantigi, for alleged corrupt practices.   The firm, which was involved in the National Social Safety Nets Project, was sanctioned for 50 months while the managing director was sanctioned for 60 months.   This was contained in a statement titled ‘World Bank Group debars SoftTech IT Solutions and Services Ltd. and its managing director’, which was published on the bank’s website on Wednesday.   The statement read in part, “The World Bank Group today announced the 50-month debarment of SoftTech IT Solutions and Services Ltd., an information technology solutions company based in Nigeria, and the 60-month debarment of its managing director, in connection with corrupt practices as part of the National Social Safety Nets Project in Nigeria.   “The debarments make SoftTech and Mr Isah Kantigi, a Nigerian national, ineligible to partici

The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Wednesday, said he was frustrated and helpless, adding that the military knew the location of the bandits wreaking havoc in the state, but was refusing to bomb their hideouts.   This is just as five months after a Federal High Court designated bandits as terrorists, the Nigerian military had yet to deploy the Super Tucano aircraft in the North-West.   Recall that the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), had on November 25, 2021 obtained a judgment designating all gunmen in the North-West as terrorists. This was said to be a condition by the United States government for the deployment of the aircraft outside of the North-East.   However, top sources confirmed to journalists that the Super Tucano had not yet been deployed in the North-West.   Addressing journalists on Wednesday when the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, visited the state to assess the situation following a terrorist attack on a Abuja-Kaduna tra

  Slovakia, a member of the European Union, said on Wednesday that it had decided to expel 35 Russian diplomats based on information provided by intelligence services.    The move came a day after fellow EU countries Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the Czech Republic all announced the expulsion of dozens of Russian diplomats suspected of spying, in coordinated action taken in the shadow of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.   Other countries, including the United States and Poland, had earlier also expelled Russian diplomats.    Slovakia would “reduce the staff of the Russian embassy in Bratislava by 35,” foreign ministry spokesman, Juraj Tomaga, told newsmen.   “We regret that following the previous expulsions of Russian diplomats in the last couple of years, the Russian diplomatic mission has not shown any interest in operating correctly in Slovakia,” he added.   Slovakia had already expelled three Russian diplomats for espionage earlier this month.   Prime Minister Eduard Heger showed

    The House of Representatives has condemned the indiscriminate disposal of waste from healthcare facilities, charging the government at all levels to design and enforce a standard healthcare waste management system.   The House consequently mandated its Committees on Healthcare Services, Health Institutions and Environment to interface with the Chief Medical Directors of University Teaching Hospitals, Medical Directors of Federal Medical Centres and other Health Facilities in Nigeria which produce healthcare waste and other relevant stakeholders.   The stakeholders’ meeting is to “determine possible government and institutional interventions that will promote proper healthcare waste management in Nigeria; and develop and propose a permanent and sustainable solution to the current challenges of healthcare waste management.”   The committee, which was empowered to “issue further directives as deemed expedient in the circumstance to ensure compliance with the resolutions,” is to report

Executive Director, Prison Fellowship Nigeria, Mr Benson Iwuagwu, has said there is no ground for the anger that greeted the recent beauty pageant held in Kirikiri Maximum Custodial Centre from the legal perspective.   Iwuagwu, in a telephone interview with Newsmen described the reaction of many Nigerians to the pageant as a moral stance, which is akin to jungle justice.   He said, “I do not see any objective ground for the hullabaloo. But when you look at the morality and the sensibilities, that is how we make noise and later the thing dies down; it is akin to jungle justice of ‘catch him, kill him’ before we now come to find out and ask, ‘was it necessary for us to act that way?’ Of course, there are better ways they could have protested that would be beneficial to society and the people.”   On whether the event was against the law, he said, “If you are talking about law, there is the presumption of innocence that is attached to every person, who is a suspect; it is a constitutional

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Wednesday said it has launched a string of operations against drug cartels across Nigeria which led to the arrest of a fleeing drug kingpin heading a syndicate operating at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, and six other members of his gang.   The agency noted that a professional methamphetamine (Mkpuru Mmiri) cook and a lawyer were also arrested in Owerri, Imo State, and Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, respectively.   The drug enforcement agency, in a statement by its Head of Media and Publicity, Femi Babafemi, said the operations led to the seizure of drugs and cash from the culprits.   The statement read in part, “The Lagos airport drug syndicate was behind the smuggling of 1,584,000 tablets of tramadol seized on Tuesday, March 15, by NDLEA operatives in collaboration with aviation security and customs service personnel at the airport. The seizure includes 17 cartons of 250mg tramadol branded as ‘Tamra’ weighing 669.70kg, a

The embattled former Commander, Intelligence Response Team, Abba Kyari, has rejected food offered him by the Nigerian Correctional Service after being remanded in prison custody on Monday.   The suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, it was learnt, opted for the food prepared by his wife or other family members.   Kyari, who is under prosecution for drug trafficking alongside four other policemen, was denied bail by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.   The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency had in the charge before the court, accused Kyari and the other four officers of conspiracy, obstruction and dealing in cocaine worth 17.55kg.   The trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwike, ordered the drug agency to transfer the defendants to prison custody, shortly after he denied them bail.   The court held that the NDLEA placed sufficient materials before it to warrant the refusal of bail to Kyari and his co-defendants -Sunday Ubia, Simon Agirgba, and John Nuhu, who are former IRT members.  

  The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), will on Thursday (today)in Abuja, host his Nigerien counterpart, Mohammed Bazoum, for a State Visit. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement he signed late Wednesday, titled ‘President Buhari hosts Bazoum, his Nigerien counterpart in Abuja Thursday.’ According to Shehu, the two leaders are expected to discuss joining hands in tackling challenges of security and strategic stability affecting the sub-region and the globe. “While President Bazoum’s visit is expected to last for a few hours, the neighboring leader will be received with full military honours, including a 21-Gun Salute.” Kaduna-Abuja train attack: Buhari, National Assembly, governors demand tough actions, survivors recount ordeal