newsman

A former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Ndutimi Alaibe, and nine other aspirants have joined the Bayelsa State governorship race. This was disclosed by Friends of Timi Alaibe under the leadership of Senator John Brambaifa, who stormed the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja yesterday to obtain the expression of interest and nomination forms on Alaibe’s behalf. Brambaifa told journalists that Alaibe’s achievements over the years prompted them to pick the   governorship forms for him, adding that his group has taken pains to search for a particular candidate who has what it takes to rescue the state and had found the qualities they needed in Alaibe. “So we have decided to buy the form for him and present him to our people as the most favourable candidate because he will be the best to take the mantle of leadership in Bayelsa.” Earlier, while presenting the forms to the group, APC natio...

The race for Bayelsa Government House has begun in earnest and the state has become so charged politically especially since the Peoples Democratic Party PDP was dealt a blow with the highly publicized decampment of Timi Alaibe and his followers to the All Progressives Congress APC. The decision of Chief Alaibe and other stakeholders like Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri and the former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Mr. Sam Inokoba to abandon the PDP was born out of a patriotic zeal to salvage the state from the shackles of misrule which the Seriake Dickson led administration represents. The people of the state who thronged the venue of the rally that ushered in Timi Alaibe and others to the APC vented their angst against the underperforming governor and the PDP which is bent on foisting him on the people of the state for another term. Expectedly, the decision of the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC and a one-time Special Adviser to late Pr...

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, and the Nigerian Universities Commission, NUC, have initiated ‘Adopt-A-Faculty’ (AAFac) programme aimed at facilitating the link between the country’s oil and gas industry and the university system. NCDMB and NUC, which agreed to the initiative at a recent meeting in Abuja to ensure that both functioned to the benefit of the Nigerian economy, said a joint committee has been set up to develop a detailed action plan within four weeks. Both agencies have named members of the joint committee and they have started work. The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Denzil Kentebe, described the AAFac Programme as a capacity development initiative of the Board aimed at using academic institutions as a catalyst for local content development. “The programme aims at facilitating partnerships between the academia and the oil and gas industry so as to align the university curriculum to industry technology as well as skills requirements ...

  The Federal Inland Revenue Service would soon go after multinational companies, corporate organisations and individuals who are evading payment of taxes in the country. The move, according to SUNDAY PUNCH’s investigations, is part of a renewed effort by the agency to boost tax revenue to fund the programmes of the Federal Government. Statistics obtained from the service revealed that out of the 450,000 companies in Nigeria, only 125,000, representing 27.7 per cent, pay any form of taxes. Going by this figure, it implies that about 325,000 companies are evading tax, thus denying the government huge revenue annually. In the 2015 fiscal year, the FIRS was given a revenue generation target of N4.5tn by the Federal Government and it has so far generated N2.667tn. But between January and July, findings by SUNDAY PUNCH showed that the service had collected a total sum of N2.374tn against the target of N2.667trn, thus having a revenue shorfall of N290bn within th...

  Gunmen on Sunday kidnapped Vanguard columnist, Dornu Kogbara, at her residence in Nkpogu area of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. Kogbara was said to have been whisked away by the bandits, who forced her out of her CRV jeep and took her to an unknown destination. The incident, which happened in the morning, caused confusion within the area as neighbours converged to inquire what happened to the her. The victim, according to sources, was driving out of her residence when the hoodlums, numbering about four, came out of their hiding and forced her to open the car door. State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad, who confirmed the incident, added that the police had begun a manhunt for the kidnappers. Mohammad also explained that investigation had since begun with a view to rescuing the victim safely and in good health. Also, an aide to the State Governor, Sir Opunabo Inko-Tariah, condemned Kogbara’s abduction, even as he expressed op...

There were indications on Saturday that President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress had begun moves to compensate the South-East for not getting any appointments so far in the current administration. SUNDAY PUNCH reliably gathered that some states in the geopolitical zone might get more than one ministerial slot. The Presidency and the APC sources, who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH on condition of anonymity, also justified the appointments made by Buhari on Thursday. A top member of the party said the President was not unmindful of criticisms that greeted the alleged lopsided appointments. He said, “The President has assured us that all zones that have not been represented in the appointments he has made so far will be compensated. “For example, some states in the South-East may get more than one ministerial slots. The President is going to make board and ambassadorial appointments. All zones, including the South-East, will be represented in this gover...

A frontline politician in Bayelsa state and former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission Mr. Timi Alaibe has denied ordering his security men to shoot in order to evade arrest in Bayelsa state. Mr. Alaibe was alleged to have ordered his security men to shoot in order to avoid being arrested on sanitation day in Bayelsa but in a telephone conversation with our reporter from Abonnema in Rivers State, the All Progressives Congress APC stalwart in the state said the allegation was born out of mischief by political enemies. Mr. Alaibe while speaking as at 5:29 pm on telephone said it will be irresponsible and mischievous of anybody to link him with an incident he did not participate or know anything about. “I can tell you truthfully that since the day I declared for APC in Bayelsa state I have not gone back there for any function either personal or public. Today I am speaking to you from Abonnema in Rivers state where I came to attend a burial. I was never in Ba...

  The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Thursday said it had apprehended another employee of Arik Air, Ikechukwu Chibuzor Oliver, for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of 20kg cocaine to London on Monday. According to the NDLEA, Oliver had confessed to the crime and had revealed that he charged N400,000 for each of the three bags containing the substance. Oliver, Arik Air’s employee in the catering department, was said to have assisted Chika Egwu Udensi to get the cocaine onboard the London-bound Flight W3101 on which Udensi arrived in the UK on Monday night. Udensi, a senior flight attendant with the airline was arrested with the substance by the UK Border Force at the Heathrow Airport, London, shortly after the Airbus A330 landed. The NDLEA, in a statement, said 35 years old Oliver, who is a catering loader at Arik, was found to have subverted airport security by concealing cocaine in catering supplies. The statement by the anti-narcotics age...

I have noted with dismay the attitude of Mr. John Idumange a political harlot and blackmailer of repute. This man who used to be a die hard supporter of ex governor Timipre Sylva has perpetually attacked distinguished personalities from Bayelsa state who he cannot match in terms of  achievements  or clout. This man who claims to be fighting the cause of the people of the state has poured venom on members of the opposition and his tantrums which in most cases is motivated by hate sentiment  and greed, has continued to deceive gullible persons. Mr. Idumange gives the impression of being an activist and patriot interested in the betterment of the people of Bayelsa state. He has persistently attacked the person of Mr. Timi Sylva the leader of the All Progressives Congress in the state despite the well-known fact that he was usually on his knees begging the ex-governor for assistance. I have also witnessed in recent times that this same man has started another ro...

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Thursday said it had reduced the number of crude oil off-takers for the proposed 2015/2016 term contract from 43 to 16. It said the move was part of measures to optimise the marketing of the nation’s crude oil and secure new market potential. The corporation, in a statement signed by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, said, “In a novel move to instill transparency and probity in the award of the annual crude oil term contract, the NNPC has mapped out measures to execute the 2015/2016 award of contract to companies for the evacuation of Nigeria’s crude oil equity from the various crude and condensate production arrangements.” It said, “In the days ahead, we shall place advertisement for the 2015/2016 term contracts and the publication will run for one month in major national and international print media to ensure effective message penetration. Later, the guidelines for the selection o...

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Lasun Yusuf, on Monday shunned the summit organised to proffer solutions to the financial crisis rocking Osun State. The Osun Legislators’ Forum, comprising of lawmakers from Abuja and the House, convened the summit with a view to solving the current financial crisis in the state. Although the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, and Senator Isiaka Adeleke also were not present at the summit, their absence did not raise questions like Lasun’s. The summit was attended by Governor Rauf Aregbesola; former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola; a former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal, Oluseyi Petinrin (retd.), monarchs and other prominent leaders in the state. Lasun’s absence further fuelled speculations that the rift which his emergence as the deputy speaker caused between him and Aregbesola had not been settled. Lasun, who represents Osogbo/ Olorunda/ Orolu Federal Constituency, had defied the position of th...

Bayelsa state witnessed what many have termed the political Tsunami of our time with the decision of frontline politicians in the state to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party PDP to the All Progressives Congress APC. This defection has left the ruling party in the state seething in anger and sulking in regret for losing strong elements that have always made the party thick in the state thanks to the attitude of the governor who despite his incompetence has refused to see reason why he must not contest for second term and the PDP which has failed to learn their lessons. The All Progessives Congress APC clearly the frontline party in the forthcoming guber polls has placed itself in pole position and has become the best option to ease out the inefficient Seriake Dickson and his band of failed backers and if what Nigerians witnessed last Saturday is anything to go by, then the Governor will continue with the myth which is now a political tradition in the state where no governor...