Author: oduduwanews

Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo state, has returned to Nigeria after three a month of medical vacation abroad.

ODUDUWA NEWS reports that Akeredolu landed in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state.

Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, the wife of the Ondo state governor had posted on X and revealed that the governor was on his way home.

The governor left the country on June 7 to attend to his health challenges in Germany and was supposed to return on July 6.

However, Akeredolu could not return after his 21-day medical leave. The state government said, “Akeredolu will resume duty after being certified fit by doctors”.

His deputy, Luck Aiyedatiwa has been acting as the governor of the state.

A 100-level student of the Federal University of Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), Atanda Modupe Deborah, has been found d£ad two days after she went missing.

It was gathered that the student of Nursing Department, stream A, Faculty of Basic Medical Science, went missing after she went to study in the class on Monday night, September 4, 2023.

Her roommates declared her missing when she did not return from the night reading.

Her body was found buried in a shallow grave behind her faculty with her eyes plucked out on Wednesday, September 6.

Reacting to this incident in a statement on Wednesday evening, the Registrar of the University, Mufutau Ibrahim, ordered all students to vacate the campuses.

The university management stated further that the armed security personnel have been quickly deployed for patrol, surveillance and security purposes, and that several arrests have been made.

“The University Management has received a report on the case of Ms Modupe Deborah Atanda who was reported missing as at Wednesday, 6th September 2023; and Management is saddened at the current turn of events,” the statement read.

“It is pertinent to promptly inform the entire University community that immediate steps have been taken in this regard, as all National Security Personnel have been drafted to handle the situation. As a matter of fact, several arrests have been made of the suspects.

“To this end, all students (Stream A and any other full-time student still on any of the University’s campuses) are hereby directed to vacate the premises with immediate effect to ensure a proper, holistic and unimpeded thorough investigation, please.

“It is worthy of note that armed security personnel have been quickly deployed for patrol, surveillance and security purposes.

“Rest assured that all steps would be taken by the University to fish out any and all culpable persons; and they shall face the full wrath of law.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has ended its two-day warning strike and has asked all the affiliate unions to return to work on Thursday, September 7.

The labour union embarked on a two-day warning strike on Tuesday, September 5, to draw the attention of the government to the hardship being faced by Nigerians as a result of the petrol subsidy removal.
In a letter to all its affiliates and Chairpersons of State Councils, the NLC expressed gratitude to them for working to make a significant strides in achieving the Congress goals set during its National Executive Council, NEC, where the decision for the strike was taken.

The letter, dated 6th September with the title, “The Two-Day Nationwide Warning Strike: Nigerian Workers have spoken,” which was signed by the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said that the message conveyed through the warning strike resonated loudly with the government, adding that it would only take an inattentive ear not to hear it.

The All Progressives Congress APC in Oyo state has described the Wednesday judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal which validated the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the poll held on February 25, 2023 as an indication that the nation’s democracy was moving in the right direction with a prospect to meet up with the global standard.

A 5-man panel of judges led by Justice Haruna Tsammani had ruled that various petitions from the former vice president and the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and former governor of Anambra state who was also the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) at the 2023 general election as well as that of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) lacked merit and thereby affirmed the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu, as validly elected and sworn-in as the President of Nigeria.

Reacting to the development in a statement issued on Wednesday and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC posited that the Judiciary arm of government had again proved that it was ready play its role as a reliable custodian of justice and the rule of law that is always ready to safeguard democracy and also serve justice to all without fear or favour.

“As active contributors to the transparent processes that produced President Bola Tinubu as the candidate of our great and the colourful electioneering which had issue-based campaigns as its nucleus as well as his electoral victory on February 25, 2023, we had no doubt in our mind that challenging Tinubu’s mandate in court were only chasing shadows. We are indeed glad that the court did justice to the matter in the face of blackmail, propaganda and threat of harassment.

“While we are using this opportunity to congratulate our dear leader, President Bola Tinubu, and the leadership of our great Party on this hard won victory yet again, we urge Mr. President to forge ahead in his efforts aimed at uniting Nigeria and also reposition the country to reclaim its pride of place in the global community. The present administration cannot afford to lose focus on the mission to fix all the key sectors of economy, power, security, health, agriculture, ICT among others and it is on this premise that we call on all patriots, including members of the opposition, to join hands with President Tinubu to move the nation forward.” Oyo APC stated.

In a similar development, Oyo APC has has congratulated its national assembly members who have had their electoral victory upheld by the various tribunals. “It is a thing of joy than the mandates given Sen. Abdulfatai Buhari and Sen. Sarafadeen Alli as well as Hon. Akin Alabi, Hon. Olaide Akinremi, Hon. Akeem Adeyemi and Hon. Lateef Muhammeda by the good people of their Senatorial districts and constituencies respectively have been affirmed by the courts as this is an eloquent testimony that the Judiciary remains the last hope of the common man.” APC concluded.

The Vice President, Kashim Shettima arrived at the Election Presidential Tribunal on Wednesday.

Judgment on three petitions filed by the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, contesting the election of President Bola Tinubu, will be delivered today.

Wednesday’s judgment will be delivered by the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Haruna Tsammani, assisted by other members of the panel-Justices Stephen Adah, Monsurat Bolaji-Yusuf, Moses Ugo, and Abba Mohammed.

Also, the All Progressives Congress National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje; and Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule; Ekiti state governor, Abiodun Oyebanji; Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello; former governor of Yobe; Mala Buni; and Imo state governor, Hope Uzodinma are among other APC chieftains that arrived at the courtroom to witness the presidential judgment.

Details later…

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, on Tuesday, disclosed the readiness of the newly-created ministry to develop infrastructure in lake and coastal facing towns and cities across the country to further attract tourists to waters for maximum revenue generation.

Oyetola also reiterated the commitment of his ministry to strengthen Public Private Partnership arrangement, in order to abolish undue charge on crude oil exportation, and to put an end to the menace of Charter Vessel.

He also called for the need to invest in the fishing sector since most of the shrimps that are imported into the country are gotten from the nation’s waters.

The erstwhile Osun State Governor stated these during his working visit to one of the agencies under his ministry, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) office in Lagos, in continuation of his tour of the agencies under the ministry.

Interacting with the management and staff of the agency, Oyetola noted that no effort would be spared to properly harness the nation’s maritime potential, increase revenue generation and stem the tide of capital flight in the sector.

The minister expressed satisfaction with NIMASA’s Modular Floating Dock, which, according to him, will further help generate employment for Nigerians.

Oyetola, who decried the rates for Charter Vessels that carry crude, said the time has come to ensure stakeholders’ buy-in as the nation needs national carrier, especially through a PPP arrangement to overcome the challenge.

He said: “I am particularly interested in the NIMASA Modular Floating Dock because of its potential to generate employment and stem capital flight.

“But we must find a way of ensuring stakeholders’ buy-in, in whatever we do so that we are seen to be working together for the growth and development of Nigeria.

“Similarly, I am convinced we need a national carrier, especially through a PPP arrangement. We are about the only country that is an OPEC member that still charters vessels to carry our crude where 30 per cent of the charge goes to freight. We must find a way around it.

“Again, what most Nigerians do not know is that most of the shrimps that are imported into our country are gotten from our waters. Therefore, it is now time to put an end to it by getting involved.

“I have been to Barbados before; I knew how much we paid just for coastal tourism. Here in Nigeria, we also have what it takes to attract tourists to waters. Therefore, we shall be developing the infrastructure in cities and towns that are lake or coastal facing for this purpose.

“According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the fisheries sector contributed 1.09% of the country’s total GDP in the year 2020 and 0.9% in the Q3 of 2021. We are regarded as a net importer of fishery products.

“But we are determined to change the narrative by putting in place measures to make Nigeria a major player in that regard.

“Nigeria makes up about 853 kilometres of the estimated 47,000 kilometres of coastline in Africa. Nigeria has one of the largest wetlands in the world, with its coastal and marine ecosystems covering a total of 70,000 square kilometres.There are countries around the world that rely solely on earnings from the tourism sector.”

While charging members of staff of NIMASA to rededicate themselves to quality service delivery and key into the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration, Oyetola said repositioning the sector was non-negotiable

“Like I told your counterparts at the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, we all have a duty to reposition this sector for the welfare and wellbeing of Nigerians. We have the potential to grow our economy and create more jobs through this novel ministry. We must put everything to work to deliver on the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“On our part as a ministry, those challenges that are internal and are affecting your smooth operation shall be looked into with a view to addressing them one after the other. The ones that are external, we shall take them up immediately.

“I have full confidence in your capabilities and dedication, and I look forward to witnessing the continued success of NIMASA in shaping the future of our maritime sector. Together, we can build a thriving blue economy that benefits us all,” Oyetola stated.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has taken a swipe at former President Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly being “reckless” with the Nigerian economy.

Obasanjo who sat for an interview with TheCable, stated that Buhari was allegedly spending money recklessly and had no understanding of how the economy works.

He said;

“Tinubu said the other day that it was unacceptable that he would spend 90% of revenue to service debts.

I wasn’t spending 90% when I went worldwide to get debt relief. Do you think that anybody would give you debt relief today?

Buhari was spending money recklessly. I know Buhari didn’t understand economics. I put that in my book.

But that he could also be so reckless, I didn’t know. Who would you go to today and ask for a favor?

Tinubu says he has trimmed the number of people attending the United Nations General Assembly.

Is that news? He will meet with Justin Trudeau, and he will meet with Emmanuel Macron. That will not solve any problem.”

The Oyo State House of Assembly has granted the request of Governor Seyi Makinde to access #50billion revolving overdraft for the development of recurrent and capital expenditures in the State.

The approval was sequel to a request letter sent to the Oyo State House of Assemly by Governor Makinde and read at the plenary on Tuesday by the Speaker, Hon Adebo Ogundoyin.

Governor Makinde in the letter said “The request is part of the efforts of the present administration towards financing its recurrent expenditure which includes salary and conventions, capital expenditure and support/finance various contractual obligations. “

The facility is for a period of 45 months at a concessionary rate of 25.1% per annum.

This is subject to review in line with the prevailing money market conditions.

While deliberating on the request, the lawmakers acknowledged the various projects being embarked upon by the State Government across the State.

They said such a facility was inevitable to enable the State Government to meet up with its financial obligations especially in terms of its recurrent and capital expenditures.