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Tag: kogi

  • JUST IN: Voters in Kogi file suit to remove Gov Yahaya Bello from office

    JUST IN: Voters in Kogi file suit to remove Gov Yahaya Bello from office

    Some voters in Kogi, have approached a Federal High Court in Abuja to declare the return and swearing-in of Alhaji Yahaya Bello as the governor of Kogi as null and void.

    The suit, number FHC/ABJ/C3/535/ /2017, was filed on June 16 before Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court 3, Abuja, according to documents made available to newsmen on Tuesday in Lokoja.

    Mr Michael Elokun, Mr Ibrahim Sule and Mrs Hawa Adamu, all registered voters in Kogi are the electorate suing Bello on behalf of over 1.2 million registered voters in the state.

    Other defendants in the suit are the All Progressives Party (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as well as the Minister of Justice and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

    In the originating summon supported by a 19-paragraph affidavit, the petitioners are asking the court to remove the governor on grounds that he is not a registered voter in Kogi.

    The petitioners also urged the court to remove Bello on the grounds that he was not validly nominated in writing to contest the 2015 governorship election by any registered voter in the state.

    They contended that this was in accordance with Section 32 of the 2010 Electoral Act as amended.

    Elokun, Sule and Adamu want the court to affirm that since Bello was not a registered voter in Kogi, he could not be nominated for any elective position or be voted for by the electorate in the state.

    On this premise, the petitioners are asking the court to declare as null and void the declaration of Bello as the winner of the governorship election held in the state in 2015 by the INEC.

    No date has been fixed to hear the suit.

     

     

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  • Constituents drags INEC, Kogi Gov, others to court, seeks stoppage of Melaye’s recall

    The Concerned Kogi Registered Voters (CKRV), have filed a suit at a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from commencing verification of signatures collected in order to recall Senator Dino Melaye who is representing Kogi West Senatorial District.

    Addressing newsmen on yesterday in Abuja, ‎the convener and secretary of the group, Olowosayo Gabriel Sunday and Amupitan Babayomi Segun claimed that names of dead persons and people who do not reside in the district appeared on the recall register submitted to INEC.

    The applicants, who faulted 188,000 signatures which were submitted to INEC, noted that while 111,534 voted in the general election in Kogi West, the total number of registered voters in Kogi West is 360,098.

    According to a copy of the motion which was made available to newsmen, INEC which is the first respondent was sued alongside eight other respondents, comprising some aides of the state governor, Yahaya Bello and state lawmakers from the senator’s district.

    In their application, the plaintiffs said, “that 2nd to 9th respondents fraudulently opened a recall register and signed signatures for registered voters in Kogi West Senatorial District.

    “That some of the names of the registered voters that appeared in re said recall register were dead voters and some voters who were not even residing at Kogi State and they were at different parts of the country when the purported signatures were fraudulently collated by the 2nd and 9th respondents.”

    However, the convener of the indigenes, Olowosayo Gabriel Sunday, who is also the first applicant in the suit, said, “That as at the last announcement, INEC itself agreed and announced a figure of PVC collection in Kogi West that is far less than the alleged 188,000.

    “That we are aware that there is possible connivance between the people on the recall agenda and INEC because we have evidence of photograph of PVCs in thousands gathered together for the recall, an act contrary to the electoral act.”

    He added that the move was a desperate attempt to recall Melaye.

     

     

  • Bayelsa, Kogi, Delta, 23 others owing workers 16 months salary arrears – NULGE

    …Commends Lagos, Anambra, Kano, Cross River, 10 other states for prompt payment of workers’ salaries

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) said that 23 states of the federation currently owed local government workers’ arrears of salary ranging from one to 16 months.

    National President of the union, Ibrahim Khaleel stated this in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja.

    According to Kaheel, Bayelsa state was leading in indebtedness to local council workers with between 10 to 16 months, followed by Kogi between seven to 15 months; Delta State eight to 14 months.

    “Kaduna 12 months; Oyo three to 11 months; Edo 10 months; Abia five to nine months; Kwara two to nine months; Benue nine months and Nasarawa seven months.

    “Ondo, Ekiti, Imo with six months; Zanfara have not implementing minimum wage, Adamawa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Plateau owing four months, Taraba and FCT three months.

    “While Osun state has been paying half salaries for 24 months and few staff were owed few months in Enugu,” he said.

    The union noted that Ekiti has refused to remit union dues for the past nine months and Ogun has not also remitted its deduction for seven months.

    The national president also said that 700 staff members were owed between one to three months in Cross River State.

    He called on the governors of the states to offset the salaries and other allowances of local government workers with the second tranche of the Paris Loan Refund released to them.

    He said that failure to do so, the union would be forced to mobilised and shut down all local government councils in the country.

    Khaleel called on the state governors not to divert or tamper with the second tranche of Paris Club Loan refund but use it to offset the entitlement of the workers.

    He, however, said the union was aware that some state governors were already claiming that the amount released was not in conformity with the published figure.

    “We want to state in strong term that no governor should either divert or tamper with the fund.

    “This should be an avenue where the backlog of arrears of salaries owed the Local Government workers and some other welfare packages should be settled.

    “Such as leave bonus, arrears of promotion benefits, arrears of annual increment and non implementation of minimum wage most especially in Zamfara State are resolved and paid.

    “We, therefore, use this medium to appeal passionately to the State Governors to use this 2nd Tranche of Paris club loan refund to clear the backlog arrears of outstanding salaries.

    “This is in order to ameliorate the untold hardship they are currently passing through due to this ugly situation,” he said.

    He added that the union will not tolerate a situation where any state governor will hide under any guise to deny Local Government workers their legitimate salaries and allowances.

    Khaleed commended the 14 states including Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Cross River, Niger and Anambra that were up to day in the entitlement of local government workers.

     

     

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  • Gunmen kidnap Ex-Kogi Director

    Gunmen kidnap Ex-Kogi Director

    Former Director of Press in the Kogi State House of Assembly, David Ehimony has been kidnapped by gunmen.

    A family source told newsmen in Lokoja on Thursday that Ehimoni was kidnaped on Ayere-Ikare road on Wednesday.

    He was said to be going to Ikare, Ondo State, to pick two of his children from school the midterm break.

    The retired director was taken away in his car along with his junior brother who drove the car.

    Ehimoni is the current National Deputy Secretary of the Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON).

    The family source said the abductors early Thursday morning made a telephone call to his wife to demand for N40 million ransom for his release.

    The source added that Ehimoni, who retired from the Kogi civil service in 2015 had not received his monthly pension for the past 18 months.

    The Police Public Relation Officer in Ondo State, Mr Femi Joseph who spoke to newsmen on phone confirmed the abduction of Ehimoni on Thursday.

    Joseph also confirmed that the abductors had called to demand for N40 million ransom.

    He advised the family not to pay the ransom.

  • Insecurity: Police ban rally, procession in Kogi indefinitely

    Insecurity: Police ban rally, procession in Kogi indefinitely

    The police command in Kogi on Wednesday announced an indefinite ban on rally, public procession and demonstration in all parts of the state.

    The Commissioner of Police, Mr Wilson Inalegwu, who made disclosure in Lokoja during a meeting with area commanders, divisional police officers and senior police personnel, said that the ban takes immediate effect.

    He said unknown gunmen attacked people at a rally being addressed by Sen. Dino Melaye in Lokoja on June 12 and the current tensed security situation in the state informed the decision.

    Inalegwu added that the decision was approved during an emergency meeting of the state security council held on June 13 and would remain in force until the situation improved.

    He said no public rally, procession or demonstration would be allowed in the state again without comprehensive threat assessment report from the area commanders and divisional police officers and final approval from him.

    The commissioner described the invasion of the rally being addressed by Melaye as unfortunate, sad and avoidable, reiterating, however, that the senator did not obtain permission before holding the rally.

    He directed his officers to start arresting motorists engaging in illegal use of siren on highways in the state as from June 22.

    He said vehicles with covered numbers plates and illegible number plates should also be impounded and their drivers arrested.

    The police commissioner said that a task force that would implement the decision had been set up.

    He, however, added that the state governor, his deputy, ambulances, emergency response vehicles and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s bullion vans were exempted from the ban.

    He directed police area commanders and divisional police officers to formally inform local government chairmen, commissioners, traditional rulers and others in writing, about the ban on siren.

    He said, “No abuses will be tolerated; it is strictly for crime control and not any other motive.”

    The police boss described the situation in the state as calm, saying that the rate of armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes had reduced.

    He stressed the need for the police to be ahead of hoodlums always and urged officers to constantly raid criminals’ hideouts based on intelligence and in line with best practices and respect for human rights.

     

     

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  • 95% of Kogi workers have received salary, says Bello

    The Kogi government said it has completed payment of salary to 95 per cent of of its workers that were cleared in the just concluded staff screening and verification.

    The state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, made the assertion on Monday in Lokoja in a statement issued to mark this year’s democracy day celebration.

    “ I can confirm that people are still getting payment alerts as we do our best to meet the May 31 timeline which we set for ourselves to complete all payments,” the governor said.

    Bello said that government was deploying integrated staff and payroll automation solutions to consolidate the gains from the screening in line with the ongoing civil service and pension reforms.

    With the conclusion of the exercise, he assured workers and pensioners of prompt payment of salary and pensions.

    According to Bello, the government has been able to tame the widespread insecurity of lives and property which it inherited.

    ”Today, the incidence of kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes has dropped to almost zero,” the governor said in the statement personally signed by him.

    He said that the state internally generated revenue had increased from between N350m and N400m per month to over N1 billion per month .

    The governor said that more than 1000 appointments had been made in the Ministries of Environment, Justice and the Revenue Board in the past 15 months while advert had been placed for massive recruitment into the health sector.

    Bello said plans were nearing completion for the construction of 239 blocks of two Classrooms, one in each of the 239 wards in the state under the GYB Model Primary School Initiative.

    He also announced that students in tertiary institutions will henceforth receive N10,000 as bursary as against former N3,500.

    He thanked the people for their support for his administration since assumption of office 15 months ago, saying that government will continue to cater for their welfare through provision of more democracy dividends.

    Bello also advised those in opposition to embrace peace and join hands with him to work for the progress and development of the state.

  • Kogi civil servant returns N1.7million paid in excess of salary

    A civil servant in Kogi, Mrs Husseina Mohammed has returned the sum N1, 780,500 paid in excess of her March salary to the coffers of the state government.

    Mohammed said this on Friday in Lokoja while on a courtesy visit to the Director – General, Bureau of Information and Grassrrots Mobilisation, Alhaji Abdulkareem Abdulamlik .

    She said that she received an alert from her bank in the afternoon of May 21 and discovered that a huge sum had been credited in her favour.

    Mohammed said that she immediately called the attention of her husband to the development and a decision was taken to return the money to the coffers of the government.

    The civil servant, who works at the state Teaching Service Commission, said that she started the process of returning the money back to government on May 22, saying that the money was paid into the government account with the Lokoja branch of the Zenith Bank Plc.

    She then handed over the bank teller and other documents used in paying back the money into the government bank account to the Director General

    Mohammed praised Gov. Yahaya Bello for paying her salary up till March, 2017, saying that she was not in any way affected by just concluded staff screening and verification exercise.

    She, however, pleaded with the state government to reciprocate her good gesture by paying the outstanding 15 month salary arrears of her husband, Mr Yakubu Mohammed.

    The civil servant said that the salary of her husband was being withheld for the discrepancy in his age declaration, saying that the discrepancy had since been rectified.

    In his response, the Director- General commended Mohammed for her honesty.

    He said with people like her in the society, Nigeria was sure of winning the ongoing war against corruption.

    The Director -General urged other civil servants and residents of the state to emulate Mrs. Mohammed.

    He said that her good conduct would not go unrewarded, adding that her exemplary conduct would be recorded for generation yet unborn to learn and emulate.

    Abdulmalik also reiterated the resolve of Gov. Yahaya Bello to carry the restructuring of the state civil service to the end.

     

     

     

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  • Terrorism: Kogi demolishes 18 hideouts of kidnappers, armed robbers

    The Kogi State Government on Thursday said it has demolished eighteen houses serving as hideouts for kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminals in the state.

    This was revealed by Special Adviser to the governor on security, Comrade Mr Jerry Omodara (retired) in Lokoja.

    Omodara explained that the houses were destroyed in line with the provisions of the state’s law on kidnapping, armed robbery and other crimes.

    He said that 17 of the houses were demolished in Kogi central senatorial district while one, an estate, was demolished in Kogi East senatorial district.

    Omodara said that more houses were being identified, adding that any house where arms and ammunition were recovered, would be pulled down.

    He restated Governor Yahaya Bello’s resolve to rid the state of criminals, and declared that there was no going back on that stance.

    Omodara advised criminals to steer clear of Kogi in their own interest.

     

     

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  • Kogi Govt not owing workers’ salaries, says Governor’s aide

    Mr Gbenga Olorunpomi, the Senior Special Assistant on Electronic Media to Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi, has said that the State Government was not owing salaries of civil servants.

    Olorunpomi told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja that the government had paid the salaries of all workers cleared by the recently concluded civil servants verification exercise.

    “This government came to power at the time civil servants were on strike; the issue that led to the strike was that of the salaries owed to the workers for many months.

    “At that time, all schools in the state were shut down; the government of Gov. Yahaya Bello then decided that the only way to tackle this was to do total civil service verification.

    “In the process, we found out that the state had plenty issues; about 83,000 personnel were withdrawing salaries from the state and this is a state that is barely 25 years old.

    “So there was need to do an audit to find out how we got to the situation where there were more senior than junior level civil servants; it was lopsided,” he said.

    According to the aide, the issues necessitated the civil service reform which is part of the five cardinal programmes of the government.

    The others, he said, are security, education, job creation and agriculture.

    Olorunpomi said the exercise had been completed and the state now has a civil service that the government can manage.

    “All persons that were cleared by whatever committee that was set up at the time were paid.

    “We got our bailout fund to do this, we used the resources that came in from FAC allocation and we have been paying salaries since then.

    “Whatever noise we are hearing now is either by those who are yet to be cleared or those who have benefited from the system of inefficiency in the past.

    “Anyone who has been certified cleared has been paid salary.

    “To prove our point, we published the names and amounts paid to all workers, ministries, departments and agencies in the state’s website, www.kogistate.gov.ng.

    “The website will show you all the amount of monies paid to workers as salaries, pension and other entitlements since the inception of this government in January 2016 to date.

    “As I speak with you now, Kogi state is moving ahead to a better future,” he said.

  • Two cattle rustlers to die by hanging in Kogi

    A Kogi High Court sitting in Okene on Thursday sentenced two trans-border cattle rustlers – Muhammed Lawal Jauro and Yusuf Sanni – to death by hanging.

    The duo got the sentence after Justice Josiah Majebi found them guilty of cattle rustling and culpable homicide.

    The accused were arraigned on a three-count charge of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and culpable homicide, contrary to various sections of the Penal Code.

    The prosecution had told the court that sometimes in January 2016, one Dauda Abdullahi made a report of a gruesome murder and theft of cows, belonging to one Haruna, in one of the farm centres in Okene.

    He said that upon investigation, the accused persons were arrested at Ajase-Ipo in Kwara State, while their leader, Awaijo Wetti, escaped and was still at large.

    The prosecution further submitted that the suspects, who had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges, later pleaded guilty.

    The prosecution quoted Jauro as saying in his statement that in December, 2015, one of his friends, Yusuf, a resident of Kabba junction, Zariagi, called him on phone and informed him that there were cows belonging to one Haruna, at a bush in Okene.

    “He further suggested that we should go and steal the cows. After that, our leader, by name Agwaijo Wetti, a resident of Tyre village along Okene-Auchi road, asked us to meet at the bush of Okene, which we did.

    “Myself, Yusuf, Ado and our leader, Agwaijo Wetti, gathered and, with our cutlasses, went to meet the owner of the cows and all of us machete him with cutlasses until he died.

    “Three of us then took control of the cows and took them to Ajase-Ipo in Kwara state,” Jauro was further quoted as saying.

    In his judgment, Justice Majebi declared that the confessions of the accused persons were weighty and admissible in determining the case against them.

    “The confessions of the respective accused persons are graphic, direct and the accused persons stated that after killing the deceased Haruna, they went with his cows to Ajase-Ipo where they were arrested and the cows were recovered in the bush where they kept them.”

    Majebi said that the not guilty plea by the accused during the trial could not be substantiated because the admission of the commission of the said offence by the accused persons in their respective statements was clear, specific and unambiguous.

    To believe their plea of not guilty, the jurist said “is to believe the holiness of a Bishop hanging a talisman on his neck.’’

    He held that the prosecution had satisfactorily established that the death of the deceased was caused by the convicts as there was “a nexus between the acts of the accused persons and the death of the deceased.”

    The judge sentenced them to 28 years each, on the first three count charges, and death by hanging on the fourth charge of culpable homicide.

     

     

     
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