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APC Presidential Candidate Tinubu Pioneers Autonomy For legislature

Oluwasola Akintonde
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Former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Mr. Bola Tinubu signed into law the first self-accounting bill of the state legislature in the country.
This according to him demonstrated Tinubu’s commitment to the principle of separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.
While addressing members of the Media and Publicity Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council for Lagos State, via zoom meeting, Ikuforiji explained that Tinubu’s exposure to the democratic values both at national and international levels must have influenced his decision to make such law during his first term as Governor.
Ikuforiji, who was elected from Epe as a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly in 2003 and became speaker for 10 years is however optimistic that the leadership of Bola Tinubu as a President would develop further cohesion among the tiers of government.
“The former Lagos State Governor made it possible for the Lagos House of Assembly to become the envy of other houses due to the autonomy of the House of Assembly and the freedom the House enjoyed during the Tinubu government is unparalleled.
“I am very sure that the Presidency under Tinubu will ensure harmonious relationship with the National Assembly to fastrack socio-economic development of the country.
“You will recall that it was a tug of war then between the former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the National Assembly, whereas the financial autonomy the house enjoyed made it possible for peace to reign supreme in the state.” he said
Ikuforiji mentioned that recent passage of the bill by the National Assembly, compelling state governments to enact the self-accounting laws for their Houses of Assembly shows that Tinubu is a trail blazer and visionary.
Cordial relationship
Former Speaker stressed that during his reigns as the Lagos State Governor, Tinubu established mutual relationship with the State House Assembly, thereby allowing smooth administration to thrive.
He said: “If he wanted to do something that I believe would not fly, I would let him know and because he knows that the development of the House of Assembly as a democratic institution guided me, he would think about it again”
“As the policemen of the system, members of the House performed oversight functions on ministries, departments and agencies without the interference of Governor Tinubu.
“Rather, Tinubu as Governor made it clear to the Commissioners and Permanent secretaries to supply all the necessary information to enable lawmakers perform their oversight functions.”
He described the APC Presidential candidate as a good listener who worked with the legislators to make laws which led to the giant strides of the state.
The Lagos Chairman, APC PCC Media and Publicity Committee, Hon Kehinde Bamgbetan said the session was in the bid to bring back the memory of how the Tinubu led government worked closely with the House of Assembly in the overall benefits of Lagosians.
It was also to showcase what Nigerians will benefit under the Tinubu Presidency in terms of Legislative interventions.

 

 

Olusola Akintonde

Building Collapse: FCTA Orders Arrest, Prosecution Of FHA Officials

Emmanuel Ukoh
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The Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA Abuja, has ordered the arrest and prosecution of some of the officials of the Federal Housing Authority, FHA, the Developer of the building that collapsed on Thursday in Gwarinpa II District, as well as the site Engineer supervising the construction.

Similarly, the FCTA will also review the mandate ceded in granting development permits and control to the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), in the Development of Gwarinpa Estate.

The Coordinator, of Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Umar Shuaibu, who spoke on behalf of the FCT Administration during a press briefing in his office at Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, said the Administration is deeply worried over the incessant collapse of buildings being developed and handled by the FHA in Gwarinpa Estate, Gwarinpa II, Wupa and Bunkoro Districts of Phase III of the Federal Capital City.

Umar said the FCT Administration has observed that there are flagrant violations of development control guidelines by the FHA, which has resulted in frequent building collapses in the Estate.

They vowed to take all necessary measures to reverse the trend in order not to endanger the lives of FCT residents.

He said the FHA has shown glaring incapacity for the development of the districts allocated to them, via improper monitoring of developments, and lack of adherence to laid down guidelines for development as enshrined in the Abuja Master Plan.

The Coordinator noted that the FHA does not possess the needed competence to handle sensitive emergencies required to guarantee the safety of lives in any unforeseen circumstances.

 

Prosecution

Umar disclosed that all the officials of the FHA, developers and others involved in the incident will be made to face the full wrath of the law.

“Henceforth, the FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, has directed the security agencies to arrest the following and charge them for manslaughter: the FHA Officer in charge of granting the development permit, the FHA Officer saddled with monitoring the development; the developer; and the Site Engineer supervising the development for the Developer.”

According to him, all structures being developed in the area have been sealed off by AMMC, pending the conclusion of investigations to ascertain their structural integrity.

He revealed that if the outcome of the integrity test being conducted by FCTA, turns out to be faulty, the entire structure would be demolished.

The Coordinator insisted that it is the statutory obligation of the FCT Administration to coordinate and monitor all developments in the Federal Capital Territory per the Master Plan.

A three-storey building under construction had collapsed in Gwarinpa estate under the purview of the FHA, resulting in the death of three persons, and 21 injured.

The AMMC Coordinator said the entire rescue operation of the incident which lasted for 30 hours was coordinated by the FCT Administration with support from some construction giants in the FCT.

 

 

 

 

Emmanuel Ukoh

Population Commisssion Administers Oath Of Secrecy On Trainees

Confidence Okwuchi
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The National Population Commisssion, NPC Kwara State has administered oath of Secrecy on the 752 trainees and 460 Special Workforce that participated in the ten day training programme organised by the commission.

The exercise was performed by Magistrate Shaaba Florence of the  State Judiciary on each of the trainees at the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, venue of the exercise.

Earlier, the  Federal Commissioner of the NPC in the state, Abdulrazaq Gidado commended the trainees for their perseverance and patience throughout the ten day period of the training.

He pleaded with them to transfer the knowledge they acquired to the supervisors and enumerators at the local government areas of their posting.

The NPC Commisssioner appealed to all Nigerians to take advantage of the 2023 census to make themselves available to be counted as it would go a long way to guide the government to plan adequately well for the future of the nation.

Gidado said such opportunity would come again after ten years hence the need to be part of this exercise.

He expressed concern over the low  population figure of the state in the last census and urged Kwarans to come out enmass and be counted.

Adequate Security

The NPC boss promised that the commission would provide adequate security measures for all functionaries as it has liased with traditional rulers and all security agencies in this regard.

In his remarks, the State Director of NPC, Mallam Saheed Yusuf appreciated the trainees and implored them to impact the knowledge they gained on the Supervisors and Enumerators as their assignment would determine the accuracy and quality of the data for the exercise.

Responding on behalf of the trainees, Professor AbdulRasheed Adeoye of the University of Ilorin pledged that they would work arduously to justify what they have been assigned to do and appreciated the commission for given them the opportunity to serve.

He commended the commission for introducing digital to the 2023 census exercise which according to him, would make it more accurate and authentic.

The ten-day training programme organised for Facilitators and Specialize Workforce for Population and Housing Census ends on Sunday.

 

Confidence Okwuchi

Ethiopia Prime Minister Meets With Region Leaders

Christopher Ojilere
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Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed has met with senior leaders of the Tigray region forces.

The meeting is the first time since they signed a peace deal with the national government ending two years of war.

Report says Mr. Abiy and other officials met today and held a discussion with the TPLF delegation regarding the progress of the peace process.

As a result, Mr. Abiy passed decisions about increasing flights, banking, and other issues that would boost trust and ease the lives of civilians

The Addis Ababa government and forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, TPLF signed agreements in November to permanently cease hostilities, ending fighting that killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.

Friday’s meeting was Abiy’s first with senior administrators of the northern Tigray region since the fighting broke out.

Meanwhile, the war was rooted in old territorial and other grievances between the political elites of Tigray and other regions, built up over decades of turmoil, violent regime change, and long periods of authoritarian rule.

 

REUTERS/Christopher Ojilere

President Buhari Renews Appointment Of NITDA Boss  

Emmanuel Ukoh
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Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has renewed the appointment of Mr Kashifu Inuwa as the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA for another four years.

The President said he renewed the appointment of Inuwa as Director General owing to the agency’s remarkable success.

President Buhari spoke at the launch of the National Policy on the Nigerian Government Second-Level Domains and National Data Strategy held in the State House, Abuja.

The President said he observed NITDA’s outstanding execution in different areas of its mandate and was impressed.

“Based on the impressive performance of NITDA, I approved the re-appointment of Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi as the Director-General for the second term in office, from 2023 to 2027,” he said.

The President highlighted his administration’s commitment to the diversification of the economy through the development of policies, design of programmes, and implementation of projects in the digital economy sector since 2019.

(L-R) Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy Professor Isa Ali Pantami and Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA Kashifu Inuwa

 

President Buhari said the diversity has been successful considering the contribution of the ICT sector to Nigeria’s gross domestic product in the second quarter of 2022 which stood at 18.44%, compared to the contribution of the oil sector which was 6.33% in the same period.

“In December 2022, I approved for the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami to travel to the United States of America to engage SpaceX to complete the process of deployment of StarLink services in Nigeria.

“We are glad that StarLink services are already deployed. This has made Nigeria the first and only African country to have this link. With the deployment, we will have 100 per cent broadband penetration. This is a major milestone in our digital economy journey.

“Since October 2019, we have developed a total of 21 new national policies and strategies and I will be unveiling two of these today, namely the National Policy on the Nigerian Government Second-Level Domains and the National Data Strategy.

“This number of policies is unprecedented and quite commendable. All the policies and strategies are national instruments to support Nigeria’s digital economy at the national and sub-national levels for significant development across all sectors.

“It is our responsibility to give our country a good name in cyberspace and the National Policy on Nigerian Government Second-Level Domains is a step in this direction. Digital identity has been actively promoted by our administration for a sustainable and secure digital economy,” he said.

President Buhari directed Pantami to ensure relevant institutions and stakeholders implement the policy and ordered government officials to stop using private emails for official purposes, while all FPIs must migrate their websites to the relevant government domains.

 

Minister of Communication and Digital Economy Professor Isa Ali Pantami

 

The Minister said the policies being launched were outcomes of compliance with the President’s mandate to formulate a blueprint that was approved by the Federal Executive Council, FEC.

Pantami said the ministry relied on relevant provisions of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 as amended, and the NITDA Act 2007, adding that the benefits would consolidate the gains achieved so far in the digital ecosystem.

He reiterated the indispensability of data in national life, emphasizing data was critical and could be leveraged for the development of other sectors of the economy.

 

 

 

 

Emmanuel Ukoh

Burkina Faso Gives Assurance of Relation With France

Christopher Ojilere
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Burkina Faso’s Military Leader, Ibrahim Traoré, has said there had been no break in diplomatic relations with France.

This comes after he asked the former coloniser to withdraw its forces.

He also denied Russian Wagner mercenaries, a private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin, were active in the country.

He said: “we’ve heard everywhere in the press that Wagner is in Ouagadougou. That’s also how we heard about it. I’ve asked some people who say, ‘oh really? Where are they?

“We’ve since heard that they’re even in a hotel somewhere, we’re surprised to hear about that.

“There’s a general state of mind whereby if you deal with Wagner, everyone runs away from you, so it’s something which has been created in order that everyone shuns us well congratulations, good job.”

Meanwhile, former colonial power France had Special Forces based in Ouagadougou, but its presence had come under intense scrutiny as anti-French sentiment in the region grows, with Paris withdrawing its ambassador to Burkina Faso over the junta’s demands.

Last month Paris confirmed the Special Forces troops, deployed to help fight a years-long jihadist insurgency, would leave within a month.

Diplomatic relations
However, Ibrahim Traoré insisted diplomatic relations were unharmed.

“The French embassy is here,” he said. “French nationals are here, just as ours is there, so diplomatically nothing has changed. 

“This is about an agreement over military presence, and as they have said, our sovereignty is up to us, so that’s what we are expressing through our denunciation of this agreement. So there is no breaking off of diplomatic relations, or hatred of any particular country.”

Report says protests demanding the departure of French troops have continued in the country despite assurances they would leave anyway.

Thousands of civilians, troops, and police have been killed in Burkina Faso, more than two million people have fled their homes and around 40 percent of the country lies outside the government’s control.

 

AFRICANEWS/Christopher Ojilere

 

Lawmakers Block New Election Bid In Peru

Christopher Ojilere
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Peruvian lawmakers have once again blocked the President’s attempt to bring elections forward to 2023.

Protesters have been demanding new elections, but congress has refused to make it happen.

President Dina Boluarte’s proposal for the new vote was rejected Friday by a congressional committee on a technicality before the bill could even be debated.

Report says Peru has been in crisis since early December when then-President Pedro Castillo was arrested after attempting to dissolve congress and rule by decree. Bouluarts was Castillo’s Vice President.

Meanwhile, dozens of people have been killed in almost daily protests that have swept the country since Castillo’s arrest.

Lawmakers have, however, moved the elections that were originally slated for 2026 up to April 2024.

 

VOA/Christopher Ojilere

Olympic Snowboarders Sue Coach Over Alleged Sexual Abuse

vonsports
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Olympic bronze medallist Rosey Fletcher is among three former US snowboarders suing their ex-coach.

The US Ski & Snowboard federation, and the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee alleging sexual abuse that they say the organisations covered up, court documents showed.

Fletcher, a 2006 Olympic bronze medallist, Erin O’Malley and Callan Chythlook-Sifsof sued former coach Peter Foley and the sports bodies in US District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday.

They allege Foley committed sexual assault and battery against them and other women for nearly twenty years with the assistance, permission and endorsement of the USOPC and the USSS.

The suit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, alleges Foley exploited his position of trust with the athletes to coerce sexual acts through force, manipulation, emotional abuse, intimidation, and retaliation.

“Foley’s abuse was reported to executives of the USSS and the USOPC on numerous occasions by multiple athletes who were coached by Foley, yet no action was taken,” the lawsuit alleges.

In a separate lawsuit filed Thursday, former USSS communications staffer Lindsey Nikola alleged sexual misconduct by Foley.

“We are aware of the lawsuits that were filed,” US Ski & Snowboard said in a statement

“US Ski & Snowboard has not yet been served with the complaint nor has had an opportunity to fully review it. US Ski & Snowboard is and will remain an organization that prioritizes the safety, health and well-being of its athletes and staff.”

The federation also reiterated in its statement that it had reported allegations of misconduct against Foley to the US Center for SafeSport in 2022.

“This case is currently under investigation by SafeSport, which has full jurisdiction over such matters,” the federation said.

The USOPC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chythlook-Sifsof went public via social media with allegations of sexual misconduct against Foley in February 2022, when Foley was coaching the US team at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

She said on her Instagram account that “Peter Foley has taken naked photos of female athletes for over a decade” and made a sexual remark to her and a teammate when she was only 17 at Lake Louise, Canada, in 2014.

Foley received support last February from snowboarders on the Olympic team. He was fired by USSS in March after he was temporarily suspended by the US Center for SafeSport.

 

 

 

Punch/Samuel Isaiah

Kenya’s Edwin Kibet wins 2023 Lagos City Marathon

Emmanuel Ukoh
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Edwin Kibet Koech of Kenya has won the 8th edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon event held in Lagos, Nigeria.

Kibet beat more than 300 elite runners to win this year’s edition with a time of 2:14:06 seconds on Saturday morning.

Kibet was seconds ahead of Dekeba Shefa of Ethiopia with a time of 2:14:54s while Bernard Sang made it a 1-3 for the Kenyans in 2:17:14s.

The 42km annual event, which was last year recently upgraded by the world athletics body to a gold label, saw the 39-year-old Kibet claim a $50,000 cash prize for first position.

Ethiopian, Shefa took home $40,000 and Sang got $30,000.

Kibet, with Shefa following closely behind, broke off from the pack towards the 30km mark and held on for the finish.

The men winners

 

In the women’s category, 2018 winner and last year’s runner-up, Alemenseh Guta of Ethiopia, crossed the line first in 2:40:42, followed by 2020 second-placed, Kebene Urisa in second place in 2:40:44 with compatriot, Naomi Maiyo maintaining the same position she took in 2022 in third place with a time of 2:40:56.

Having finished in 2nd place in the last two marathons, Maiyo is hoping for a 3rd time-a-charm outing in 2024.

Maiyo said she was hoping to finish better this year but couldn’t due to the weather.

She said, “I’m happy to have been invited to the tournament like last year. I’m also happy I won the third position. Next year I hope and pray I come to win the race”.

All the winners

 

The winners of both the men’s and women’s races qualified for the marathon event at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

 

First Nigerians

Gyang Nyango was the first Nigerian to cross the finish line in a time of 2:27:15s. While Nyango takes home 3 million Naira for his efforts, Adamu Muazu who came second will pocket 2 Million Naira and third place Friday Yohanna with a time of 2:33:02s gets 1 Million Naira.

The same goes for the women with Deborah Pam (2:49:33) first, Elizabeth Nuhu (3:00:20) second and Dimatu Yahana (3:02:12) third.

Race for Platinum Label

The Lagos City Marathon attained a gold label status after seven editions and organisers were looking to begin an application for the Platinum label. One of the criteria for a Platinum label is a course record of 2:10 minutes for the men’s race and 2:13 minutes for the women’s.

Unfortunately, that could not be achieved as the winner, Kibet fell short of the time by 4 minutes. That means that the quest for an upgrade continues.

The 42km race began at the National Stadium in Surulere and ended at the Eko Atlantic City in Victoria Island.

 

 

 

 

Emmanuel Ukoh

Ndidi Ruled Out Of Villa Clash

vonsports
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Wilfred Ndidi will play no part in Leicester City’s Premier League clash against Aston Villa on Saturday.

A lengthy injury list for Leicester still includes James Justin, Jonny Evans, Ryan Bertrand, Boubakary Soumare and Ricardo Pereira while Jamie Vardy is in with a slim chance of returning from a glute problem.

The midfielder who has been sidelined since sustaining a muscle injury in Leicester City training was ruled out of the clash due to personal reasons.

Leicester City manager, Brendan Rodgers further revealed that his return to the squad is imminent.

“He, Ndidi has been training well,” Rodgers was quoted by the club’s official website.

“He’s had a personal issue this week that won’t see him involved at the weekend but hopefully going forward he won’t be too far away.”

Ndidi has featured in 16 games across all competitions for Leicester City this season.

Meanwhile, Kelechi Iheanacho is poised to play a role in the encounter at Villa Park.

Iheanacho had to bail Leicester out against lower-tier opposition Walsall, as Rodgers’s men squeaked past them into round five courtesy of a one-goal success

Rodgers has remained reluctant to throw Iheanacho in from the first whistle this season, but the FA Cup hero will surely be considered for a starting role in the number nine place over Patson Daka this time around.

 

 

 

 

 

Punch/Samuel Isaiah

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