TheNewsGuru

Tag: Kogi State

  • COVID-19: Kogi closes company, places Chinese workers on compulsory isolation

    COVID-19: Kogi closes company, places Chinese workers on compulsory isolation

    Kogi State government on Friday directed immediate closure of a ceramic tiles manufacturing company in Ajaokuta as part of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the state.

    The state Commissioner for information and communication, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, said this in a statement in Lokoja.

    According to him, government has also commenced monitoring the health status of the Chinese and other nationals working in the company.

    ”They have been placed on compulsory isolation,” Fanwo said in the statement.

    The statement, however, urged residents not to panic, but maintain simple hygiene and obey the stay at home order as already directed by the government.

    Fanwo said that markets, schools and some government offices would remain closed, while social and religious gatherings were suspended till further notice.

  • CAN calls for prayers, calm over elections’ postponement

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kogi chapter, has advised Nigerians to remain calm and continue to pray fervently for peaceful elections.

    Its state chairman, Dr John Ibenu, gave the advice while speaking to newsmen after a church service on Sunday in Lokoja.

    The cleric was reacting to the rescheduling of the Presidential and National Assembly elections to Feb. 23 from Feb. 16 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Ibenu appealed for calmness despite describing the postponement as being ‘unfortunate’.

    ”God is in charge; everything works together for good to them that love God; we should see it as part of the answers to our prayers from God.

    “Those who are planning to cause violence should desist because God will bring all their works and actions to judgment,” Ibenu said.

    He advised Nigerians, especially Christians, to remain calm and continue to pray fervently for peaceful and violence-free elections.

    The cleric also advised Nigerians to shun all acts of electoral violence and malpractice at all times and in all places before, during and after the elections.

    He urged Christians to vote for candidates who would stand for righteousness, peace, joy, security, job creation, unity and progress of Nigerians.

    Also, Pastor Dapo Olumuyiwa, the State Pastor of Living Faith Church, Lokoja, urged Christians to be resilient and not be discouraged.

    He admonished them not to be disappointed by the rescheduling of the elections, but rather be more committed to voting against evil in Nigeria.

    In his sermon with the title: ”Walking In Dominion”, the cleric said that believers had been redeemed to walk in established dominion by Jesus Christ.

    He appealed to the congregation to come out massively on Feb. 23 to exercise their civic rights without any fear of intimidation.

    The cleric also urged them not to sell their votes nor release their PVCs to anybody no matter the inducement.

    He prayed that God would silence the devil and all its agents perpetrating evil against Nigeria.

     

  • 4 INEC workers, NYSC member, 3yr-old die in accident in Kogi

    4 INEC workers, NYSC member, 3yr-old die in accident in Kogi

    Four staff members of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), an NYSC member and a three-year-old girl died in an accident on Ajaokuta–Lokoja Road on Saturday, an official has confirmed.

    News Agency of Nigeria learnt in Lokoja on Sunday that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member was performing his primary assignment with INEC office in Lokoja and that the child belonged to one of the INEC staff members.

    The victims were returning in the evening from Ayingba, Kogi, where they attended the wedding ceremony of another INEC worker, NAN learnt.

    Mr Ahmed Biambo, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity at Kogi Office of INEC, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with NAN.

    Biambo said that the victims were from the Information and Communication Technology and Account departments of INEC.

    He said that the corpses had been deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja.

    Meanwhile, the Kogi Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps ( FRSC ), Mr Olisegun Martins, could not comment on the incident as he did not respond to calls made to his telephone number.

     

  • Kogi govt commences payment of 4 months’ salary to workers

    Kogi State Government on Tuesday commenced table payment of all its workers in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as part of efforts to clean the payroll of ghost workers.

    The Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Folashade Ayoade, who made this known in Lokoja, said that the exercise would involve payment of between three to four months salary to workers over a period of two weeks.

    She said that the table payment would hold in nine centres for workers in Lokoja, while it would hold in designated centres in all senatorial districts for out-station workers.

    Ayoade added that the table payment would hold simultaneously.

    According to her, only workers that were cleared during the last screening exercise will participate in the table payment.

    The monthly wage bill of workers in the state currently stands at N2.6 billion in spite of a prolonged screening exercise under which many workers lost their jobs.

    Ayoade said that lecturers and other categories of workers in state-owned tertiary institutions would stay back in their campuses to participate in the table payment exercise.

    She, however, said that workers would have to come with their original letter of appointment, the last effective letter of promotion, and staff identity card, before they could be issued their cheques for three to four months salary.

    In its reaction, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) commended the state government for embarking on the table payment of salary to its members.

    Mr Onu Edoka, the state NLC Chairman told newsmen that the exercise was a welcome development.

    Edoka charged the committee that would handle the payment to be transparent, effective and accountable in handling the exercise.

    “The table payment is part of moves aimed at sanitising the payroll of the state and we are fully in support of it.

    “We believe that this exercise will finally put to rest all the discrepancies associated with the salary payment system in the state, ‘’ the NLC boss said.

    He called on the Federal Government to release the balance of the N30 billion bail -out fund to the state government to enable it defray outstanding salaries and allowances of workers.

    Edoka, however, urged the state government to abide by the agreement it reached with the organised labour that 70 per cent of the last tranche of Paris Club refund to the state would be used to offset workers’ salary.

     

  • Breaking: Senator Smart Adeyemi loses wife

    Former Senator for the Kogi West constituency, Senator Smart Adeyemi has lost his wife, Yemisi Smart Adeyemi to the cold hands of death.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Senator Smart, succeeded by Senator Dino Melaye at the Senate, lost his wife on on Saturday, August 25, 2018.

    While the cause of the death of Adeyemi’s wife is yet to be ascertained, coordinator of Smart Adeyemi Vanguard Lokoja chapter, Barrister Labaran described Mrs Adeyemi’s death as sudden.

    “With deepest and heart felt sorrow I condole our Distinguished senator Smart for the sudden lost of his beloved wife today, we pray that Almighty give you the strength to bear this sudden great loss!” Labaran said.

    Meanwhile, National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Ologbondinyan, has expressed grief and discomfort over the passing away of Yemisi.

    “I received with grief and discomfort the news of the death of Sen. Smart Adeyemi’s wife. It came to me as a rude shock,” Kola said.

    He prayed “…God grant her eternal rest and grant the family she left behind the fortitude to bear the loss” and expressed sincere condolences to Senator Smart.

     

  • APC wins Lokoja/Kogi by-election

    APC wins Lokoja/Kogi by-election

    The Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Haruna Isah, has been declared winner of the Lokoja/Kogi House of Representatives by-election held on Aug.11.

    The Returning Officer, Prof. Rotimi Ajayi, who announced the results on Sunday in Lokoja, said Isah polled 26, 860 votes to defeat Alhaji Bashir Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 14, 845 votes.

    Ajayi said that Ahmed Imam of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) scored 2, 916 votes, while the candidates of the Accord Party and Alternative Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 149 votes and 2,984 votes, respectively.

    The Labour Party scored 90 votes; Democratic Alternative scored 159 votes; while Megga Party of Nigeria scored 50 votes, Ajayi stated.

    He said that 19,960 votes from 17 polling units were cancelled due to violence and other malpractices, saying that 15 of the affected polling units were in Lokoja Local Government Area, while two were from Kogi Local Government Area.

    Giving a further breakdown of the election results, the Returning Officer said that 51, 669 voters were accredited for the election while only 50,036 actually cast their votes.

    According to him, valid votes are 48,165, while rejected votes are 1,871.

    The by-election was conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to fill the vacancy created by the death of the former occupant of the seat, Umar Buba Jibrin, on March 30.

    Jibrin was also of the APC.

     

  • INEC plans house to house distribution of PVCs

    INEC plans house to house distribution of PVCs

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will soon embark on house to house distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to owners in Kogi.

    TheNewsGuru reports Prof. James Akpam, the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) announced this on Wednesday in Lokoja during meeting with leaders of political parties, civil society organisations, security chiefs, media and other groups.

    He said that 293,340 PVCs remained uncollected in the state, saying that the move was to ensure that the cards got to the owners before the general elections.

    Akpam said that distribution would cover the 248 wards in the state, adding that the itinerary for the distribution of the cards was being worked out by INEC and other stakeholders.

    The REC revealed that 251,639 new voters were registered in the state from July 2017 to July 2018, noting that the newly registered persons included 129,643 females and 121,996 males.

    He explained that the commission issued 59,627 PVCs to their owners and replaced 12,661 lost, damaged or defaced PVCs.

    The commissioner said that the INEC office in Lokoja had taken delivery of printed 112,323 cards on behalf of newly registered voters, saying that only 18,887 of the cards were collected by their owners.

    According to him, the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration will end on Aug. 7 until after the 2019 general election elections.

    He, however, stated that the issuance of PVCs would continue until a week before the 2019 general elections.

    He said that INEC staff would work extra hours, including weekends and holiday periods to cope with the anticipated surge in the number of eligible voters who would want to register.

    On the forthcoming bye-election to fill the vacant Lokoja/Kogi Federal constituency, the REC said that the election would hold on Aug. 11, and that voting and accreditation of voters would hold simultaneously.

    Those at the meeting were unanimous in their demand that INEC should not allow vote buying and should create level playing ground for contestants.

    They also warned against excesses of security agents and demanded that officials and election materials should arrive early at polling stations on the election day.

     

  • Breaking: Police finally arrest Senator Dino Melaye

    The Nigerian Police Force has finally arrested Senator Dino Melaye at the international wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport while the Senator was on his way to Morocco for an official assignment.

    Melaye confirmed the arrest on his Twitter page, saying, “I have just been arrested at the international wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport on my way to Morocco for an official engagement sponsored by the Federal Govt after checking in”.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh5326xgqgv/?taken-by=dinomelaye

    TheNewsGuru reports Melaye, representing Kogi West Senatorial District in the Senate, had been declared wanted by the Kogi State Police Command in March.

    This is following fracas between the lawmaker and his state governor, Yahaya Bello.

    “Stopped from traveling and under arrest. No retreat no surrender. Talk we must,” Melaye said immediately after he was arrested.

    TheNewsGuru learned that the Senator and other passengers had boarded the plane and the aircraft was about to taxi when policemen were said to have stopped the take-off, asking the passengers to disembark from the plane.

    Earlier, the Police had said it would arraign Melaye and the four suspects, who were rearrested for alleged conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms at the Federal High Court in Lokoja on the 10th of May.

    The suspects are: Kabiru Seidu, 31, alias Osama, Nuhu Salisu, 25, alias small, Musa Mohammed, 27, alias Iko and Emmanuel Audu, 26.

    However, aside from the social media posts by the Senator announcing his arrest, neither he nor the Nigerian Police have released official statements on the arrest.

    TheNewsGuru will report the development as it unfolds.

     

  • Gunmen attack on Kogi community spreads, death toll now 16

    The violence unleashed on Kpanche community in Bassa Local Government of Kogi State in the early hours of Sunday has spread to two other communities with death toll jumping from10 to 16.

    The traditional ruler of Mozum community in the area, Alhaji Khalid Bukar told newsmen in Lokoja that the violence has spread, by Sunday afternoon, to Ozugbe and Biroko, two villages under his domain.

    He said that a number of houses in both villages were completely razed by unknown hoodlums while five persons were shot dead.

    The ruler said that one person, he simply identified as Musa, was also missing.

    He said that those killed included the Madaki of Biroko, Alhaji Mohammed Umar and four of his subjects.

    Bukar said that so many houses including that of the late Madaki were also razed by the invaders.

    The traditional ruler said that he immediately informed security agents of the development but said that the damage was already done before their arrival.

    Also the police, in an update on the incident, said that six of the bandits that invaded Kpanche earlier in the day were killed and not five as earlier announced.

    The state police command’s spokesman, ASP William Aya said in a statement that 15 houses were also burnt down in Kpanche.

    He said upon receiving distress calls from residents, mobile policemen and soldiers were promptly dispatched to restore peace and order.

    “ On sighting the security personnel, they opened fire at them, but were vehemently resisted by the fire power of the security personnel where six of the attackers were killed,” he said.

    However, the release was silent on the attacks and killings at Ozugbe and Biroko communities.

    Aya said the Commissioner of police, Mr Ali Janga has ordered a thorough investigation into the unfortunate incidents.

    “ He vowed to prosecute anyone linked to the attacks no matter highly placed so as to serve as a deterrent to others.”

    Janga urged the affected residents of the affected community to remain calm as the security agencies are determined to ensure adequate security of lives and property in the state.

     

  • Labour crisis: Politicians are playing with destiny of people of Kogi – Bello

    Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state, says some politicians are playing with the destiny of the people of his state.

    On Wednesday, some workers in the state appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to send food supplies and other relief materials to them.

    The workers said they had not received salaries between 11 and 21 months.

    But reacting through Kingsley Fanwo, his spokesman, Bello said demands of labour do not warrant the “desperate posture” to paint government as inhumane and irresponsible.

    “The tyranny of labour’s blackmail and campaign of calumny against government has clearly shown there are some underbelly factors surrounding the industrial disagreement between it and government in the state,” he said.

    “This government has shown transparency and accountability by publishing our accounts and what has been paid to the individual worker in the state. No worker has come out to disclaim our facts.

    “Facts at the disposal of government show that some desperate politicians are playing politics with the destiny of the people of Kogi state, who need the services for which these striking workers are paid. When we chose to confront the failed system of the past, we had no doubt of the attendant contention with the entrenched forces of retrogression who benefited from the blind corruption of the past.

    “We have started a process of recovering our looted commonwealth from past leaders. A white paper implementation committee was constituted to recover the loot. But Labour was used to strikes. We shall remain focused in ensuring that we recover every kobo stolen from the coffers of this great state.”

    “We promised a reformed, robust, disciplined, digital and accountable civil service that will oil our New Direction Agenda. This administration is poised to pursue it to a logical conclusion to the benefit of the populace,” he added.

    “We are not ignorant of the fact that some disgruntled elements are uncomfortable with the digitalization of the civil service operations which will curb truancy and corruption. As a responsible government, we have never denied owing workers a few months salary. We have paid half of July and we are in the process of paying the balance as well as the August salary.

    “The need for labour to embrace dialogue stems from the paucity of resources across the nation. It is not peculiar to our state. We are ready to dialogue with labour when they return to work and we hope they will do that in the interest of the good people of Kogi state.

    “We will be decisive if they remain adamant and continue to go violent on workers who do not believe in their agitation.”