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  The Island town of Abonnema in Akuku Toru Local Government of Rivers state came alive yesterday 12 of September when Chief Barr. Dumo Lulu Briggs buried his mum Madam Irene Ine Danagogo. The late mother of the Rivers born politician died at the age of 77. (See Pix)          

THE Communities Development Committee, CDC, of Oil and Gas Producing Communities in Niger –Delta, has reprimanded members of the dissolved board of the Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for dragging  President Muhammadu Buhari to court over the dissolution of the board. Buhari Buhari Chairman, Board of Trustees, BOT, of the CDCs, Prince Maikpobi Okareme, in a statement, said, “We (oil producing communities) are totally in support of President Muhammadu Buhari and frown seriously at the dissolved board members’ court action.” He, however, advised: “Mr. President should consult with all relevant stakeholders while constituting the new board to reflect wishes    of the oil producing communities who are custodians of the oil environment because he who wears the shoes knows where it pinches the most.” Okareme recalled that in a communique, July 2, the CDC drew the attention of President Buhari to the unfair appointment of board members without compl...

FORMER Militants in the Niger Delta under the Third Phase Group has called on the Federal Government to aggressively pursue development of the Niger Delta to forestall another crisis in the region. The former militants, who flayed the actions of former Presidential Adviser to the President  on the Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, said that the call is timely as such failure in the past led to increase in militancy and unrest, which caused drastic drop in national earning. They warned the current handlers to be mindful of what plagued the Kuku regime, claiming that the amnesty programme was a huge failure under its immediate past coordinator, Kuku. The Ex-militants call was contained in a joint statement by National Chairman, Diepreye Ogbetebe; Vice Chairman, John Government; Secretary, Etarighobe Thompson and Delta State Chairman, Prince Ogor. They spoke as another Niger Delta group, Egbema Voice in Warri North Local Government Area, Delta State, yesterday, urged Pres...

  Delta State House of Assembly has approved a loan facility of N5.021 billion for the upgrading of the Asaba International Airport, which was downgraded by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on account of alleged lapses in the runway and taxiways. A request dated Tuesday, September 8, 2015 was forwarded to the state legislature by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for guarantee of the facility for ULO Consultants Limited, the contracting firm handling rehabilitation work at the Asaba Airport. The construction firm was pre-qualified by the Nigerian aviation authority to undertake the airport rehabilitation work, said the letter read at the house's plenary by Hon Monday Igbuya. Okowa noted in the letter that the downgrading meant that large aircraft like the 'Boeing 737' were barred from the Asaba Airport, though smaller aircraft like the D8 and Jets of maximum take-off weight of 25 metric tons were authorised by the NCAA to operate at the airport. H...

Following the gesture of President Mahammadu Buhari and his deputy to publicly declare their assets, the Grace Movement Initiative (GMI), a socio-political group in Bayelsa state has called on Governor Henry Seriake Dickson to emulate the gesture by declaring his assets to Bayelsans. The group said in a statement by its secretary, Evangelist Elliot Zamide that the action would  be in tandem with the governor's claim to transparency in the management of government's funds. Zamide insisted that for Governor Dickson’s mantra of accountability and transparency to be taken seriously, there was need to declare his assets now. The group recalled that prior to his becoming Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Dickson’s wealth (asset) profile was not as huge and bloated as it is presently. "We know Dickson before he became governor of Bayelsa State, and he never had this kind of wealth which he is displaying and deploying for his re-election campaigns as is bein...

The Nigerian Army again on Thursday told the Rivers State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja how the April 11, 2015 governorship election was aborted by the snatching of electoral materials and sporadic shootings in four local government areas in the state. Four officers who appeared before the tribunal on Thursday on the strength of the subpoena served on the Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Tukur Buratai, said they led separate army patrol troops in Abua/Odual, Ikwerre, Gokana and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas of the state during the election. The witnesses were Capt. Sadiq Abubakar (leader of the patrol troops in Abual/Odua); Capt. Fred Bala (leader of the patrol troops in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni), Capt. Isa Al-Makura, (leader of the troops in Ikwerre) and Capt. Jeremiah Salihu (leader of the troops in Gokana). The subpoena served on the Chief of Army Staff was obtained from the tribunal by the All Progressives Congress and its candidate in...

A former Governor of Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva, says ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s support for Baylesa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, will not threaten his chances of returning to Government House. Sylva, who is seeking the nomination of the All Progressives Congress in the forthcoming governorship election, said this in an interview in Abuja, on Thursday. According to him, the former President’s support for Dickson was a clear indication that former President Jonathan was the “President of Bayelsa State” and not the whole of Nigeria. Sylva spoke after going through a screening exercise, preparatory to contesting the APC governorship primaries. He said, “Well, frankly, I am not worried. I always say that the former President was the President of Bayelsa State and he has proven me right. He has always been the President of Bayelsa State; He was never the President of Nigeria.” Asked what his chances of getting the APC ticket were, Sylva said, “I feel tha...

  President Muhammadu Buhari has said that it is not easy for his administration to fight terrorism, oil theft and corruption at the same time. But he said in spite of the difficulties being faced in fighting these scourge, his administration would not relent in eliminating the vices from the nation’s body polity. Buhari said this when the President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, visited him in Abuja on Thursday. The President, who expressed appreciation for Gnassingbe’s visit and for his concern about regional security, said his regime was being challenged with the Boko Haram insurgency, oil theft, illegal fishing, oil pollution and illegal dumping of toxins in the country. Buhari said it was not easy for his administration, which he said, was fighting on many fronts. According to him, the government is contending with insurgency in the North-East and oil theft in the South-South while trying to provide infrastructure in the country at the same time. He sa...

The Rivers State Governor, Barr. Nyesom Wike, yesterday, said that he had declared his assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau in accordance to law. Wike explained that he had by his action, fulfilled the country’s constitutional requirement, adding that public declaration of assets was not part of the dictates of the law. Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, the governor pointed out that it was necessary for people to de-emphasise asset declaration, stressing that the sincerity behind such an exercise was the most important thing. According to Wike, some public office holders could declare more than their assets to pave the way for them to steal public funds in future while others, who had held public offices in the past, might not disclose fully their assets in order to give the impression that they were never involved in corrupt practices while in office. He stressed that the most important thing was for public office holders to...

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State yesterday took a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari saying the only achievement recorded by the administration has been the harassment of leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In a statement, Governor Fayose commended the president for his efforts at ending the Boko Haram insurgency saying “I wish to call on all Nigerians to support the President in restoring peace to the Boko Haram ravaged North Eastern part of Nigeria.” He, however, berated the Buhari administration for the alleged lopsided appointments, selective anti-corruption crusade and the recent invasion of the Akwa Ibom State Government House by officials of the Department of State Security, DSS. Besides, he said “As at today, the only achievement recorded by the President Buhari’s government is the harassment of leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and those perceived as not on the same political page with the president in his party.” In addition, he sai...