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July 1, 2015 : Simon Utebor, Yenagoa 

The Bayelsa State Government is set to employ no fewer than 30,000 workers, particularly indigenes, in its $3.5bn fertiliser and petrochemical company, State Development and Investment Corporation, has said.

The Deputy Managing Director, BDIC, Mr. Tam Alazigha, in an interview with journalists in Yenagoa on Wednesday said the $3.5bn Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemical project to be sited at Odioma in Brass Local Government Area is expected to generate a turnover of $1.5bn.

He, therefore, predicted a prosperous future for the people of the state as the corporation intensified action on restructuring the state economy and expanding economic opportunities.

Alazigha said the new offices that were opened in South Africa, United Kingdom and Atlanta and the United States, would “take Bayelsa to the world and bring the world to Bayelsa”.

He said the development would open outposts in strategic locations in the various key markets in order to leverage on opportunities that the markets offered to drive the restoration of the Bayelsa economy.

Alazigha said, “The $3.5bn Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemical project at Odioma, which is expected to generate a turnover of $1.5bn will employ about 30,000 Bayelsans. This high-impact catalytic project is expected to produce 5,000 metric tonnes of Methanol per day, 2,200 metric tonnes per day of Ammonia and 7,700 metric tonnes per day of Urea for domestic and export markets.

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“This humongous project will ensure availability of high-grade fertilizer for farmers throughout the planting season and meet 25 per cent of the country’s projected annual domestic demand of 10 million metric tonnes. The BDIC is to take up a 10 per cent equity stake in the project.

“The only property owned by the corporation are those in the U.K, located at St. John’s Wood registered under BDIC UK Ltd and forms part of the assets in the balance sheet of the corporation. The property was bought at £2.3m but now valued at over £3m with a monthly rental income of £7,000. For the office in the United States, the property was purchased in BIDC’s name in 2013 for $ 850,000 and was leased as a property with a monthly income of $5,000.”

He said other achievements included the $300m Liquefied Petrochemical Gas project at Agge, with a projected turnover of $100m and which would produce butane or cooking gas.

Alazigha also stated that the corporation was into serious negotiation with Microsoft and Goggle to facilitate deployment of the much vaunted white space technology in the state to make internet available in the rural areas and hence build businesses.

He said the small and medium scale businesses were also key areas of interest in which, adding that much had been done by BDIC to change the state from being a civil service state to a modern economy with a lot of enterprises.

According to him, Bayelsa State with a Gross State Productof $18.5bn (N2.4 trilion) and vast resources in oil and gas is a rich state.

He added, however, that such status had yet to fully benefit the people as it should be.
Alazigha said that it was clear to the state government on getting into office in 2012 that public funds accruing from the consolidated revenue were grossly inadequate to address the huge challenges of infrastructure deficit.

Based on this, he said, the government consequently came up with BDIC as a special purpose vehicle and strategic enabler of market-driven development which could also be a fall back option in times of national or global financial crisis and emergency.

The BDIC, which now has an asset base of over $1.2bn, he said, leverages private sector funds and expertise to grow wealth of Bayelsans and insulate the economy from oil price volatility.

Alazigha, who came to the job with vast experience having worked with JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas as investment banker, said the BDIC idea, as a global best practice, was playing similar roles as in such investment institutions like the Qatar Investment Authority, Malaysia Development Berhad, and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa.

 

 

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July 1, 2015 : Mudiaga Affe

The Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, has sent an executive bill to the state House of Assembly seeking death penalty for convicted kidnappers in the state.

He said this was to curb incidence of kidnapping in any part of the state.

The spate of kidnapping in the once-quiet Calabar metropolis had been on the steady increase with the latest being the recent abduction of a senior resident pastor of Winners Chapel in Calabar, Mr. Seyi Adekunle.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Christian Ita, the governor is also seeking, through the bill, to empower the state to seize any property belonging to convicted kidnappers and other criminals.

He is also seeking rewards to citizens who provided credible information to security agencies on activities of criminals.

The statement read, “The Governor has sent an Executive Bill to the State House of Assembly, seeking death penalty for convicted kidnappers in state.

“The bill also seeks to empower the state to seize property belonging to convicted kidnappers and other criminals in the state, even as it offers rewards to citizens who offer credible information to security agencies on activities of criminals.”

Ayade added that the government could not condone any act of lawlessness in view of ongoing effort at re-engineering the economy of the state.

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He said Cross Rover must maintain its leading position as the most peaceful state in the country and the most investor friendly.

The governor has also approved the appointment of Mr. Jude Ngaji as the State Security Adviser. Ngaji’s appointment is with immediate effect.

This came just as Governor Ayade has also approved the setting up of a Security Taskforce code named “Operation Skolombo.”

The Taskforce, which has Gen. Mannings Nyiam (retd) as chairman,  is saddled with the responsibility of riding the state of criminals.

July 1, 2015 : NAN 

 

 

Six persons have been declared missing in an ambush in Pang Village in Heipang, Barkin Local Government of Plateau State, according to Capt. Ikedichi Iweha, spokesman for the Special Task Force.
He also said three soldiers attached to the STF, maintaining peace in Plateau, were seriously injured in the ambush.
Iweha told the News Agency o Nigeria in Heipang on Wednesday that the corpse of one of the six missing persons had been found.
Iweha explained that there was a report of cow rustling at Pang Village which prompted the response of officers operating in the area around 4pm on Tuesday, June 30.
“But on getting to Pang village, our team of officers was attacked around 8.30pm leaving three of our soldiers seriously injured.
“About 400 cows were reportedly rustled by some unknown youths, who carried out the ambush and shooting of the officers,” he said.

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The STF spokesman added that the injured officers had been taken to hospital, while most of the rustled cows had been recovered.
Three of the cows were found dead, while four were wounded.
He expressed surprise at the attack on the STF personnel who, he said, were neutral parties.
Iweha promised that the STF would do all it could to rescue the remaining five missing persons and also trace the attackers.
 

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July 1, 2015 : Olusola Fabiyi and Friday Olokor 

 

Prof. Attahiru Jega
| credits: File copy

Prof. Attahiru Jega on Tuesday bowed out of office as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Consequently, President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mrs. Amina Bala Zakari, as the acting chairman of INEC.

Zakari, the first female to occupy the position albeit in an acting capacity, was until Tuesday, a National Electoral Commissioner at INEC.

A statement issued by the Director Communications in the Office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Haruna Imrana, on behalf of the HoS, Mr. Danladi Kifasi, confirmed the appointment.

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Kifasi said Zakari’s appointment was with immediate effect and would subsist from June 30, 2015 until the appointment of a substantive chairman.

Jega was appointed the chairman of the commission by former President Goodluck Jonathan on June 30, 2010.

He conducted two elections in 2011 and 2015.

Speaking briefly at the end of the closed-door handing over ceremony at the commission in Abuja, Jega said the future of the country and commission was bright.

He said he was grateful to God and the country for the opportunity to serve.

He said, “We feel great; we thank God Almighty for the opportunity to serve the country. The future is bright for the commission and the country.”

Jega said, “In whatever we have achieved, we should keep it up and do more”, adding that there was still a lot to be done.

Jega left the commission with six national commissioners whose tenure also expired on Tuesday.

The other six national commissioners who left with him on Tuesday were Col. M.K. Hammanga (retd.), Adamawa State, (North-East); Dr. Ishmael Igbani, Rivers State, (South-South); Prof. Lai Olurode, Osun State, (South-West); Dame Gladys Nwafor, Abia State, (South-East); Mrs. Thelma Amata Iremiren, Delta State, (South-South); and Dr. Nuru Yakubu, Yobe State, (North-East).

Four other national commissioners would leave the commission in July and August this year. These include Dr. Abdulkadir Oniyangi, Kwara State (North-Central) whose tenure will expire on July 21; Mrs. Amina Bala Zakari, Jigawa State (North-West) whose tenure will also expire on July 21; Dr. Chris Iyimoga, Nasarawa State (North-Central); whose tenure will expire on August 11; and Wali, Sokoto State (North-West) whose tenure will also expire on August 11, 2015.

 

 

 

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PDP thugs batter APC witnesses at Ekiti tribunal

July 1, 2015 : Kamarudeen Ogundele 

National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, John Odigie Oyegun

Thugs suspected to be loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State on Tuesday beat up witnesses who testified for the All Progressives Congress before the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal.

The tribunal is hearing a petition filed by the APC senatorial candidate for Ekiti Central, Gbenga Olofin, against the return of Senator Fatimat Rasaki of the PDP.

Olofin on Tuesday closed his case at the tribunal after calling eight witnesses while his opponent, Rasaki, opened her defence by being the first witness to testify in support of her election.

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The Tribunal Chairman, Justice A. N. Erabor, admitted the voter register in evidence after listening to a counter-argument between the petitioner’s counsel, Yemi George; and respondent’s lawyer, Jude Ogodi.

But the hoodlums, who had waited outside the courtroom during proceedings, unleashed terror on the petitioner’s witnesses and supporters as they came out of the courtroom.

The thugs also laid ambush at the gate of the court complex for the APC members and supporters, most of whom fled in different directions immediately they spotted the hoodlums.

The riot policemen attached to the tribunal had to smuggle the witnesses out of the premises in a Golf car to an unknown location.

Justice Erabor expressed shock at the violence and warned parties to the case before the tribunal that he would no longer tolerate such in the future.

Olofin however said he was happy about the admissibility of the voter register and other documents, saying that would serve the cause of justice but described the attack on his witnesses and supporters as “barbaric.”

He said the violence could scare other witnesses from giving evidence at the tribunal.

The spokesperson for Olofin, Akogun Tai Oguntayo, said the victims of the attack had been receiving treatment in a private hospital in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

One of the victims, one Lateef Subairu, received a deep cut in the eye. An independent broadcaster from Lagos (name witheld) was also beaten to a pulp.

Another APC supporter, Igbalajobi Olaiya, was beaten and rendered naked by the thugs who tore his clothes.

“It is becoming worrisome. If they have nothing to hide, they should allow justice to take its natural cause. We believe it was because of the admissibility of the documents tendered on Tuesday by the tribunal that made them to be jittery,” Oguntayo said.

But the PDP denied that the attackers were known to the party. It advised the APC to check for enemies within its fold for the attack on its members.

The PDP Publicity Secretary in the state, Jackson Adebayo, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, denied that the PDP members carried out the attack.

Adebayo described the allegation that the party was behind the attack as “malicious.”

He said, “It is laughable and malicious for the APC to allege that members of our party beat up their members. It is known to everybody within and outside Ekiti that the APC’s house is divided.

“They should check within and trace the attack to one of the splinter groups in their party. For them to blame the PDP for their woe is an attempt to promote falsehood and malicious agenda of the party.”

The three-man panel headed by Justice A.N. Erabor, with Justices A.T. Lamina and P.A. Obayi as members, had on May 11 appealed to security agencies to provide security for the judges, lawyers, politicians and other members of the public.

In his opening remarks, Justice Erabor had described the panel’s assignment as critical and crucial and that it must be diligently prosecuted. He said the tribunal would handle all matters dispassionately within 180 days, in line with Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution.

He said, “If you notice any infraction in the course of the proceedings, just call our attention to it. We don’t want any frivolous allegation against any of the members of this tribunal.

“Nobody has monopoly of knowledge. I expect everybody to play his role professionally so that all the issues can be handled firmly and fairly.

“The Supreme Court has set a time frame of 180 days in line with Section 285 subsections 6 and 7 of the 1999 Constitution. This law is sacrosanct because of the sui generic nature of the Election Petitions Tribunal and it is on this basis that we have to avoid unnecessary distraction.

“We are appealing to the security agencies to provide security for the judges, lawyers, politicians and other members of the public.”

The APC candidate for the Ekiti South Senatorial District, Senator Tony Adeniji is also challenging the victory of Mrs. Biodun Olujimi of the PDP before the tribunal.

The APC is equally challenging the victories recorded by the candidates of the PDP in Ado I, Ise Orun, Ekiti South West I and Oye I State constituencies in the election.

July 1, 2015 : Afeez Hanafi with Agency Report

Indonesian search-and-rescue teams work at the site of an Indonesian military C-130 Hercules aircraft crash in Medan...on Tuesday
| credits: AFP

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No fewer than 113 people died on Tuesday after an Indonesian air force C-130 plane crashed into a building in city of Medan, on the northern island of Sumatra.

Twelve crew members and 101 passengers, comprising military personnel and their relatives, were reportedly on board of the aircraft. No sooner than the plane took off from an air force base in neighbourhood when it lost control, crashed on the buildings and went up in flames.

The plane was said to be heading for Tanjung Pinang in Sumatra.

The military spokesman, Fuad Basya, told Al Jazeera that the plane took off at around midday local time from an air force base carrying military equipment and crashed in the city about two minutes later, about 5 kilometres from the base.

Police chief of Medan city, Mardiaz Dwihananto, said several bodies had been recovered from the wreckage, noting that the evacuation was still on.

“The bodies were in [the] debris of the plane and buildings… We are taking the bodies one by one by ambulance to Adam Malik hospital. We haven’t managed to evacuate all of the bodies,” he said.

Local radio station, El Shinta, said earlier that the aircraft had hit homes, but it was not immediately clear if anyone inside had been killed or injured.

“This was a C-130 military aircraft on a routine trip, carrying soldiers and their families,” she said.

“The pilot radioed in, saying there was an issue with the plane…he tried to turn back and then the plane went down over Medan. The plane went down in a populated area, hitting two empty buildings. That number could have been much higher,” Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker reported.

The Indonesian military has now opened an official investigation to try and figure out what went wrong.

It is the second time in 10 years that a plane has crashed into a Medan neighbourhood.

In September 2005, a Mandala Airlines Boeing 737 crashed shortly after takeoff from Medan’s Polonia airport, into a crowded residential community, killing 143 people including 30 on the ground.

Medan, with about 3.4 million people, is the third most populous city in Indonesia after the capital Jakarta and Surabaya.