NIGERIAN NOTCH

The youth wing of apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide has declared that it is yet to endorse a presidential candidate.  With two weeks to the Presidential election, almost all the regional organisations have endorsed their choice Presidential candidate.  However, the National President of OYC, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike told journalists in a statement on Saturday that it was yet to endorse any candidate.  Okwu said the Igbo body was being circumspect on taking a stand ahead of the February 25 presidential polls as many Igbo sons are on the ballot.  He noted that, “we are delighted that as Nigerians go to the polls this February 25, we have capable Igbo sons vying for the presidency.  “Among them is Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who is the presidential candidate. We also have Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, who is the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Justice Peter Umeadi of the All Prog...

President Muhammadu Buhari is presiding over a crucial Council of State meeting being attended by vice president Yemi Osinbajo, some former heads of state, ex-Chief Justices of Nigeria, Ministers and others at the Aso Rock presidential villa in Abuja. The INEC Chairman is expected to brief the Council on the preparations of the commission for forthcoming elections. Also, the Governor of CBN is expected to brief members on the ongoing cash swap policy of the bank and the difficulties being experienced by Nigerians in getting the new currency. Some of the others present at the meeting include former Heads of State Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar and Gen. Yakubu Gowon, former President Goodluck Jonathan, Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, Senate President Ahmed Lawan, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila. Also present at the forum are Governors Nasir El-Rufai, Babajide Sanwo -Olu, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and two former Chief Justices of Nigeria.

Directors of banks, under the auspices of the Bank Directors Association of Nigeria (BDAN) said, it working to free up the bottlenecks that led to the unavailability of Naira notes in the country. This is even as they empathised with bank customers who had found it hard to make cash withdrawals across the country.  In a statement signed by the group chairman, Mustafa Chike-Obi, BDAN said, it has been in communication with banks and is seeking out ways to bring the situation under control. “We, the Bank Directors Association of Nigeria (BDAN), empathise with members of the public at this crucial time. We are mindful of the discomfort and hardship associated with the current currency reform which has introduced the newly designed naira notes and reduction in withdrawal limit. “It has indeed been a difficult period for Nigerians and BDAN is making it top priority to ensure that this hardship is not only addressed but eliminated. We are in constant communication with all the Banks and ...

Governors and some civil society organisations have expressed divergent views on the order by the Supreme Court of Nigeria restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the federal government from ending the legal tender statuses of the old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes on February 10, 2023. While the governors hailed the apex court for the ruling, describing it as a big relief for suffering Nigerians due to the currency scarcity, the CSOs said it portends danger to credible polls. The apex court made the order yesterday following the suit filed by three state governments challenging the Naira swap policy. A seven-member panel, led by Justice John Okoro, halted the move of the federal government in a ruling in an ex-parte application brought by the three northern states. The three states had specifically applied for an order of Interim Injunction restraining “the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the commercial banks from suspending or determining or ...

The Imo State Governor, Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma has presented Refuse Trucks and Waste Disposal Buckets to the Imo State Waste Management Agency (ISWAMA).  In his address, Governor Uzodimma expressed displeasure over the indiscriminate dumping of waste and refuse on the roads and streets of Imo State, cautioning that it is not going to be business as usual for defaulters.  He said that "by the efforts of the Agency the State Capital and its environs have been gradually getting cleaner though it is still a work in progress."  Governor Uzodimma promised that "soon, through legislation, ISWAMA will be granted autonomy to enable them to generate their revenue and resources and be able to maintain the items and equipment they are working with." #HopeNewAndElectronicMediaCenter

The CBN has assured the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Nigerians that the apex bank would not do anything inimical to the success of the 2023 general elections. Emiefele also allayed the fears in some quarters that the crisis associated with the circulation of the redesigned Naira notes may jeopardize the 2023 elections. The CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who gave the assurance yesterday when he hosted the INEC management led by its chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, at the CBN headquarters in Abuja yesterday, assured Nigerians that the apex bank will not allow itself to be used to frustrate the elections. “The CBN will not allow itself to be used as an agent to frustrate the forthcoming election which is a positive assignment. If you require cash to pay some of your service providers, we will make it available to you. We will not allow ourselves to be seen as agents that frustrate a genuine assignment,” he said. Speaking earlier, the INEC chairman had noted the ...

The federal government yesterday said that the current fuel price hike will be a thing of the past as the government is working round the clock to return the operations of the sector to normalcy.  The minister of state for petroleum resources, Timipre Sylva, who spoke yesterday, in a statement by his spokesperson Horatius Egua, said the federal government is working to holistically address the problem of petrol supply and distribution across the country. This is coming on the heels of renewed efforts by the NNPCL to maintain the 450. 92 million liters weekly evacuation of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) to different petrol stations across the country. He said the current queues at filling stations did not start with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, but are linked to years of “rot” in previous governments. The problems associated with fuel queues in the country is not a problem that came with Buhari’s government but a fallout of long years of rot and decadence in products...

HIGHLIGHTS OF SECURITY SUMMIT ON SURVEILLANCE AND INFORMATION GATHERING TECHNOLOGY • 500 MILLION NAIRA WORTH OF OVER 6000 SECURITY GADGETS COMPRISING SOLAR POWERED CCTV CAMERAS,  WALKIE TALKIES, AND TRANSMISSION EQUIPMENTS TO BE DISBURSED AND USED IN NETWORKING THE ENTIRE 7 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS IN ANAMBRA SOUTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT.  • "YOU HAVE INDEED DONE WELL AS THE SENATOR REPRESENTING MY ZONE AND I AM READY TO GIVE YOU EVERY NECESSARY SUPPORT TO SUCCEED." GOVERNOR CHARLES CHUKWUMA SOLUDO SAYS.  • "DEVELOPING ANAMBRA IS MY PASSION AND ALSO A COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR PEOPLE,  SENATOR UBAH, YOU HAVE INDEED DONE WELL IN THIS REGARD"  GOVERNOR CHARLES SOLUDO REITERATES  • THIS IS MY FIRST TIME OF VISITING IFEANYI UBAH INTERNATIONAL STADIUM, I AM AMAZED AT THE FACILITIES AND LAND SIZE .I DO NOT THINK IT HAS A RIVAL IN THE ENTIRE SOUTH EAST. WE WILL FIND WAYS OF PARTNERING IN ORDER TO CREATE  MORE RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR OUR PEOPLE " GOVERN...

By Christian ABURIME Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo has taken delivery of security equipment and information gadgets donated by the Senator representing Anambra South, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah. The items include 6000 Streetlights with Surveillance Cameras, 1000 walkie talkies, trained personnel, among others. The Governor recieved the items at FC Ifeanyi Ubah International Stadium, Nnewi/Ozubulu during the Anambra South Security Surveillance and Information Technology Summit. "Senator Ifeanyi Ubah is a true onye Anambra, so I appreciate, congratulate, and applaud him on behalf of the government and good people of Anambra. We gladly accept this gift for the safety of Anambra South", Soludo stated. "We must ensure that the skilled security people adhere to the Anambra State Vigilante Law and Police Act." Governor Soludo gave the Senator his word that the Solution Security team, made up of the Commissioner for Homeland Affairs, Chief Chikodi Anara...

The corridors of power should be an exclusive reserve for men of conscience, men with the zeal to serve humanity, and men who have the burning desire to lead and make positive impacts that guarantee the needed changes. The leadership qualities possessed by High Chief Dr. Chinedu Anthony Umeadi, the YPP senatorial candidate for Anambra Central Senatorial District in the coming elections need to be studied and emulated by others. As the 2023 general elections are fast approaching and the ambassadors of poverty in the name of politicians are moving from town to town with their usual fake promises. We implore the good people of Anambra Central Senatorial District to guard themselves well to avoid allowing themselves to be deceived again. Let us arise and face those faceless political jobbers squarely by rejecting those masked agents of abject poverty with our votes. The golden opportunity has availed itself before us now. To miss it now is to wait till the next four (4) years, at least. To...

The Imo State Governor, Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma has assured of the readiness of his Government to provide an enabling environment for credible polls in the State. Governor Uzodimma disclosed this while playing host to a delegation of the European Union Election Observers on a working visit led by Thomas Boserop at the Government House, Owerri. The Governor maintained that no registered voter in Imo State will be disenfranchised in the coming elections and as such, every necessary measure has been implemented across the State to ensure a successful exercise.

The Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has dismissed the purported  assassination threat against the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. It could be re-called that Mr. Emma Powerful, the spokesman of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, had alleged of a plot to assassinate Atiku in the South-East. However, in a statement issued on Monday by the National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike he urged Atiku to ignore the alleged threat. Okwu said there was nothing to warrant the killing Atiku or anyone else in the South-East, stressing that all the presidential candidates were free to come to the region and present their blueprints to the masses.  He noted that “We received with concern the statement credited to IPOB, wherein they alleged that there was a plot to assassinate the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the South-East.  “We want to make it clear tha...

~ calls for government intervention to stop incessant kidnapping and robbery on the road. Indigenes of Uruagu-Nnewi community in Nnewi North local government area of Anambra state, over the weekend, took to the streets to protest the dilapidated road infrastructure on the Nnewi- Oba-Onitsha Road, particularly on the Egbo section of the road, in front of the St John of the Cross Catholic Church, which the indigenes say is the catholic mother church in Nnewi.  The protesters, who were majorly youths and elderly men, displayed placards bearing different inscriptions depicting their anger over  the neglect of roads in the area by the federal and state governments which has brought untold hardship to the people, resulting most times to the kidnapping and robbery to road users in the area.  Some of the placards read: "Nnewi community has suffered a lot due to bad road network;" "kidnaping and robbery are rampant in our community as a result of bad roads;" "Buhari, Go...

  Yesterday, I had quality interactive session with a delegation of medical practitioners from Austria, led by Rev. Fr. Dr. Emeka Emeakaraoha, who have been on a Free Medical Mission in Imo State for some days now. Their humanitarian service has brought life, hope and succour to many people who are beneficiaries of the free medical mission in partnership with the State Government. While I expressed my profound gratitude to the team, on behalf of the Government and good people of Imo State, I made important appeal to the team. I am optimistic that my appeal for the exercise to be carried out twice a year, will be considered, with a view to spreading the mission across all other communities in the State. I hinted on my willingness to enter into a partnership that will curb the menace of illicit and substandard drugs being circulated round the State. I believe in due course, the system will be properly sanitized. - Hope Uzodimma

~ AS HE ATTENDS MONTHLY GENERAL MEETING OF ABUBOR NNEWICHI NNEWI COMMUNITY  Anambra South Senator and Candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) for the 2023 Anambra South Senatorial Election Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah on Saturday, reaffirmed his will to continually partner with relevant authorities to boost development of various communities in the Senatorial District. Senator Ubah made the remarks while speaking at the Monthly General Meeting of Abubor Nnewichi Community in Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State. Addressing members of the community at the Obi Abubor, Senator Ubah appreciated them for their continuous support and reassured them that he will leave no stone unturned in partnering with relevant authorities to promote the wellbeing of his constituents. The Anambra South Senator who was flanked by the Director-General of Ifeanyi Ubah Foundation Chief Vin Onyeka also appreciated the Obi of Abubor Chief Francis Okeke (Obidiegwu) for his giant efforts to mai...