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Tag: Kwara

  • Police to begin screening of shortlisted candidates July 1

    The Kwara Police Command, on Friday, disclosed that the screening exercise for state indigenes, who applied for placement in the Nigeria Police Force would begin on July 1.

    In a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Ilorin, Ajayi Okasanmi (DSP), the exercise would hold at 7 a.m. at the Police Training School, Ilorin.

    According to him, the shortlisted candidates are to appear in their white T-shirts, white shorts and their original credentials put in office flat-file with two passport photographs.

    He said that invitation had already been sent to the shortlisted candidates by the Police Service Commission.

    The PPRO added that they are to report at the venue of the screening on the days indicated in their invitations.

    He also warned all the candidates to conduct themselves in an orderly manner, warning anyone having nothing to do with the exercise should stay away from the vicinity.

    The PPRO said that the list of shortlisted candidates would be pasted at the Police Training School, venue of the screening and Local Government Area Secretariats.

    This, according to him, is to enable those who did not get notifications to check their names.

  • Breaking:Court dismisses certificate case against Kwara Gov

    Breaking:Court dismisses certificate case against Kwara Gov

    A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin on Wednesday dismissed the certificate forgery case filed against Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq after the claimant insisted he was withdrawing the case.

    Justice Adenike Akinpelu struck out the case after Adekunle Oluwafemi Abraham, a member of the PDP who had filed the case, told the court he had indeed presented a notice of withdrawal of the matter.

    Justice Akinpelu said the withdrawal meant that the efforts of one Olusola Olaseinde who wanted to join the suit were inconsequential since the original case has been withdrawn.

    AbdulRazaq had repeatedly said the case was politically motivated and meant to stop him from contesting the March 9 governorship poll, adding that the claimant was acting out a script from his political adversary.

    The Governor had won several court cases filed by a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by one Ishola Balogun-Fulani, an ally of the former Senate President Bukola Saraki.

    Balogun-Fulani had filed a suit challenging the candidature of AbdulRazaq. But the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court dismissed the case, affirming that the Governor was rightly nominated by the APC National Working Committee led by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

    Following the dismissal of Balogun-Fulani’d case, a member of the Saraki-led PDP, filed a case alleging that AbdulRazaq did not have the requisite qualifications to run for the office of Governor.

    Insiders said the PDP stalwart hurriedly withdrew the case after information emerged that the WAEC has since forwarded a confirmation to the court that the Governor possesses genuine certificate from the West African regional examination body headquartered in Accra, Ghana.

  • Kwara eyes N200bn CBN funds for ‘innovation hubs’

    Kwara eyes N200bn CBN funds for ‘innovation hubs’

    The Kwara State government has revealed that the state would benefit from the 200 billion naira funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria has set aside to promote innovative ideas and entrepreneurship.

    Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq made this known while a receiving a delegation of the Kwara Youth Centre (KYC) who visited him in his office Ilorin.
    The governor said talks have reached an advanced stage for the state to be considered for the funds that would establish innovation hubs in the area of high-end movie production and textile manufacturing.

    Abdul rasaq said when these hubs are created, they would generate at least 2000 jobs in the area of movie production and textile designs in the state, and also attract European and Chinese firms which will lead to technology transfer to the indigenous workers.

    The governor said he envisions a state where government would create the right environment for individuals to create wealth and employment rather than anyone relying exclusively on the government to give them job.

    Convener of the Kwara Youth Centre Kayode Oyin-Zubair, said the group had come to bring the governor up to speed on the activities of the group which the Governor had long been supporting.

    The group urged the governor to focus on empowering the youth in various ways and establishing economic clusters for different categories of entrepreneurs, artisans and creative sector.

    It also called on AbdulRazaq to open up Kwara with access roads, saying that is the only way to boost agriculture and other initiatives of the administration.

    The governor later inducted the KYC as an advisory board to the government.

  • Gov. Abdulrazaq appoints Chief of Staff, SSG, CPS

    Gov. Abdulrazaq appoints Chief of Staff, SSG, CPS

    Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, on Friday announced the appointments of Chief of Staff (CoS), Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Chief Press Secretary (CPS).

    A statement by the Deputy Chief Press Secretary, Agboola Olarewaju, said those appointed are Aminu Logun (CoS); Dr Mamman Jibril (SSG) and Rafiu Ajakaye (CPS).

    Agboola said the three appointments were with immediate effect.

    Logun, an industrialist, hails from Ilorin and an alumnus of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, Jos.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the new Chief of Staff was the Chairman of the 80-member Kwara State Transition Committee set up by Abdulrazaq.

    An alumnus of Barewa College, Zaria, Logun attended King’s College, Lagos; had a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Loughborough University of Technology; and a Master of Science (MSc) from Birmingham University, both in the United Kingdom.

    Jibril, who hails from Dumagi in Kwara North, was head of the Geography Department at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, where he still teaches.

    He has a Bachelor’s degree in Geography, Masters of Science (MSc) in Geography and Planning and PhD in Geography. He specializes in Remote Sensing Applications.

    Jibril is a member of the Nigerian Geographers and Cartographic Association and has published several articles in local and foreign journals.

    Ajakaye, the new CPS, holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and International Studies from Lagos State University (LASU) and currently doing his Master degree in History and Diplomacy in the same university.

    The CPS, who hails from Alabe in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara, was until his appointment, the Nigerian correspondent for Anadolu Agency, a Turkish semi-official news medium and world’s fifth largest news agency.

    Ajakaye has reported for various local and international news media.

    He has 15 years’ experience in active journalism as a politics and development journalist.

    He worked at the Daily Independent where he was at various times a Trainee Reporter, Reporter, Senior Reporter, acting News Editor for the weekend titles and Foreign Editor for the newspaper.

    Ajakaye also worked on the Politics Desk of the paper and was the Coordinator of its Development page for years.

    He has also contributed articles to various international news platforms with vast experience in election reporting in and outside Nigeria.

  • Council autonomy: Differing tunes from Rivers, Kwara, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    By Ehichioya Ezomon

    The contentious issue of autonomy for local government councils in Nigeria resonated in the past weeks in the Houses of Assembly in Rivers and Kwara states. On the burner was the power of state governors to dissolve democratically-elected councils, and sanction “recalcitrant” chairmen.

    While the Rivers Assembly seems to hold the governor as cpable of doing anything with elected council chairpersons, its counterpart in Kwara seeks a complete break for the councils, in tandem with the provisions of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    Lately, Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike suspended 12 council chairmen for “failing” to attend a state-organised function, an action that “contravenes” the Local Government Laws of the state.

    The governor later sent an executive request to the Rivers House of Assembly, craving for a seal to the “fait accompli.” And pronto, the lawmakers endorsed the prayer retroactively.

    The affected local government areas are: Okrika, Abua/Odual, Emohua, Degema, Khana, Gokana, Ahoada East, Ikwerre, Eleme, Andoni, Omuma and Ogu/Bolo.

    Meanwhile, in Kwara, the House of Assembly has passed a Bill to amend the Kwara State Local Government (Amendment) Law No. 3 of 2006, which literally gave powers to the governor to dissolve, at will, elected local government councils.

    In the new amendment, the House makes it “unconstitutional for the state governor to unilaterally dissolve democratically-elected local government councils in the state.”

    Worthy of note is the differing reason(s) the respective legislature in Rivers and Kwara gave for its support of the matter before it. Debating the issue, the Rivers lawmakers argued that the governor’s action was in line with the Local Government Laws of 2018.

    Besides, they held that the suspension of the council chairmen “will serve as a deterrence to those who may feel that they are above the law.”

    Contrarily, the Kwara Assembly said the principal law, empowering the governor to dissolve democratically-elected councils, was out of sync with the amended 1999 Constitution, and a Supreme Court judgment regarding elections into and dissolution of councils.

    During consideration of the general principles of the amendment bill, the legislators said section 18 of the 2006 Law contradicted Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees that the local government councils shall be democratically-elected, and governed appropriately.

    Section 7(1) states that: “The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the Government of every State shall, subject to section 8 of this Constitution, ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.”

    As it remains the mandate of a state to ensure the existence of local government councils, so long will the governor or House of Assembly deny autonomy to the so-called third tier of government.

    The stranglehold on the councils flows from the maxim: “He who pays the piper dictates the tune.” It’s a contradiction in term for the constitution to allow the states to provide for the “establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of councils,” and yet strip the states of the power of control over the councils.

    The solution lies in the constitution giving the states total control of councils, or make them “absolutely” autonomous in creation and financing, as the “Third Tier of Government” of the Federation. That means effecting an amendment to the revised 1999 Constitution.

    But carrying out an alteration requires two-thirds concurrence by the 36 State Houses of Assembly – always an unachievable target, as shown in the 2014 and 2017/2018 exercises.

    While both Chambers of the National Assembly ratified autonomy for councils, as capable of deepening the nation’s democracy, only 10 of the state assemblies voted for it. Twenty-four states, excluding Lagos and Rivers, stepped it down “for future consideration.”

    Ironically, the assemblies couldn’t muster the two-thirds approval for their financial autonomy until in the 2017/2018 amendment, captioned, “Constitution Fourth Alteration Bill.” Part of it grants financial autonomy to the States’ Assemblies and Judiciary, which President Muhammadu Buhari has assented to.

    Henceforth, the Assemblies and Judiciary will operate like the National Assembly and the Federal Judiciary, which are financially independent of the Executive. Their budgetary allocations will be transferred directly to their accounts, respectively.

    Let’s hope the assemblies will leverage on their financial independence, to assist in untying the local government councils from the apron string of state governors.

    Until then, we can only hazard why the Kwara Assembly suddenly woke up to the reality of the 2006 Law that conferred undue powers on the governor to dissolve democratically-elected councils.

    Was it done to advance the “freedom” the House has gained; as a forewarning to the incoming government of the All Progressives Congress (APC), or just to flex muscles over its newfound financial autonomy? Only time will tell!

    Turning to Rivers State, there maybe more to the clampdown on the 12 council chairmen by Governor Wike, and the Rivers House of Assembly’s quick endorsement of his action.

    It’s surprising, and indeed unthinkable, that not one or two, but 12 council chairmen were absent at a state function without proper and tenable reasons given, and accepted in advance of the event!

    What’s their aim? What’s their leaning in the Rivers political hotbed? Are they of the opposition APC or sympathetic to its cause against the ruling PDP in the state, and wanted to test the governor’s resolve?

    Whatever their motives, the fate that befell the council chairmen shows that without absolute autonomy for local governments, state governors, in cahoots with the Houses of Assembly, will continue to hold and treat the councils as vassals.

    The governors have argued that globally, it’s only in Nigeria that power is shared among three tiers: Federal Government, State Government and Local Government Councils. That’s why they find a common ground to oppose autonomy for councils.

    The division in the Nigerian Governors’ Forum pre-2015 elections, and the fierce partisanship post-the polls didn’t, and hasn’t affected the governors’ opposition to council autonomy.

    The resolution, though, is with the State Houses of Assembly, which should use their numerical strength to do the needful in the next opportune moment of constitutional amendment.

     

    * Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

     

  • Ekiti, Ondo, Kwara, Benue assure workers of readiness to pay N30,000 minimum wage

    Governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Samuel Ortom (Benue) have assured workers of their readiness to pay the N30,000 new minimum wage.

    They spoke Thursday at different fora on the minimum wage, which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari

    Fayemi said the welfare of the workers had always been his concern, stressing that his government would pay the minimum wage for effective and efficient service delivery.

    The governor, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Biodun Omoleye, spoke in Ado-Ekiti at the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) delegates’ conference, where Olatunde Kolapo was elected as the new chairman of the state NLC.

    He said the newly elected leadership of the trade unions would be invited soon for a meeting on the modalities to ensure the payment.

    He announced that facilities at government offices would be upgraded and conducive environment would be provided to ensure the optimal performance of workers.

    At the event, NLC National President Ayuba Wabba, who was represented by an ex-officio, Maureen Onyia-Ekwuazi, stated that the workers would not accept any minimum wage that is less than N30,000 from the governors.

    Wabba said the new minimum wage has become binding, having been signed into law by the President, stressing that the excuses by some governors that they would not be able to pay was not tenable.

    But, Akeredolu pleaded with the Federal Government to review the present revenue sharing formula to enable states to cope with the new increment.

    He spoke through the Head of Service (HoS) Toyin Akinkuotu during the election of Mr. Sunday Adeleye as the state NLC Chairman.

    The governor said: “We are not against the new minimum wage and if we are not against it, we are in support. Our prayer is that the Federal Government should look into the revenue allocation sharing formula, by giving more money to states and local governments to enable them to implement the new minimum wage”.

    Congratulating the new NLC executives, the governor, who hailed the peaceful conduct of the election, advised workers to cooperate with the new executives.

    To Ortom, workers deserved more than N30,000 minimum wage if funds were available to pay.

    The governor said consultations would soon begin towards successful implementation of the new wage.

    The governor, however, called on the Federal Government to review the Revenue Allocation Formula in favour of states to facilitate the smooth implementation of the new wage.

    He spoke at the JS Tarka Foundation, Makurdi while opening the Benue State NLC Council delegates’ conference.

    Ortom urged those that would be elected at the conference to brace and provide selfless service to the organised labour, stressing that they should be servant leaders.

    Ahmed said his administration was also committed to paying the new minimum wage.

    Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Communications Dr. Muyideen Akorede said “in this regard, the government set up a committee headed by the Head of Service, Mrs. Modupe Susan, to work out the modalities and sources of revenue for the payment months before the President signed the new minimum wage into law”.

    “The committee is expected to submit its report to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed next two weeks,” the media aide said.

    Ahmed said the state government did not owe core civil servants any salary arrears.

    But, he stated that the state government is owing junior secondary school teachers and local government workers some months’ salaries.

    The state is claiming that the junior teachers and council workers are in the payroll of Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

    Teachers under the aegis of Kwara State Concerned Teachers have blamed their predicament on Nigerian Union of Teachers’ (NUT) leaders.

    The group said the NUT leaders had mortgaged the welfare and interest of its members.

  • Kwara governor-elect certificate forgery allegation: It’s laughable – APC

    Kwara governor-elect certificate forgery allegation: It’s laughable – APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) says allegation that Kwara governor-elect, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq forged his Senior Secondary School Certificate (SSSC) is laughable.

    The APC said those spreading the falsehood were engaged in a futile exercise.

    The governor-elect was alleged to have forged the SSSC he presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the state’s gubernatorial election.

    Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, APC National Publicity Secretary said in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, that the allegation was politically motivated.

    “Our attention has been drawn to the politically sponsored allegation against the APC Kwara governor- elect, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, that he forged the SSSC he presented for election.

    “We understand the desperation of the sponsors of this campaign of calumny to get power through the back door after the crushing defeat they suffered from Kwara electorate in the last general elections.

    “While it is the right of the rejected opposition and their proxies to approach the election tribunal relying on their flimsy and false claims, we assure Kwarans that it is an exercise in futility,” he said.

    Issa-Onilu said the allegation would surely come to nought, adding that challenging the popular mandate given to Abdulrazaq amounted to mere shadow boxing.

    He noted that the outcome of the elections in Kwara was an expression of a collective resolve of Kwara electorate for a new progressive order that had long eluded the state.

    He, however, stressed that the APC was confident in the Kwara governor-elect, affirming that all documents he submitted to INEC for the election were authentic.

    He, therefore, urged APC members in Kwara not to exercise any doubt about the governor-elect, but to gear up for the task of setting the state on a path to progress under Abdulrazaq.

  • ‘Allegations of certificate forgery against Kwara gov elect baseless’

    ‘Allegations of certificate forgery against Kwara gov elect baseless’

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara, Mr Oluwafemi Yusuf, on Saturday accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of a plot to distract the state’s governor-elect, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, with the allegation that he forged the Senior Secondary School Certificate he presented for his election.

    Yusuf, who spoke to journalists in Ilorin, said the governor-elect hails from a renowned family in Ilorin and would not involve himself in a scandalous act as being alleged by the opposition.

    He said there were many traps set for the APC prior to the conduct of the just concluded elections which the party eventually surmounted and expressed the hope that the current allegation would also end as an exercise in futility.

    The APC stalwart stated that the party was unfazed with the attempts to blackmail Abdulrazaq, adding that the incoming government had passed that stage and was busy working for the good of the state.

    “The issue of certificate or no certificate is one of the plots the opposition set for us. There were a lot of traps that they set for us to put us on our toes like that of an APC faction. But we were able to overcome that.

    “Issue of certificate scam in the country is not a new thing. We have heard series of allegations of certificate scandals aside from that of Toronto (against a former Speaker of the House of Representatives).

    “This is just another gimmick to blackmail our governor-elect. But I want to assure you that Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq comes from a renowned family.

    “The family is very proud of itself. And honestly I used to envy that gentleman. None of the children of Alhaji Abdulganiyu Abdulrazaq has been found wanting.

    “Our governor-elect is somebody that has dealings with people around the world. So, if at this point in time somebody is raising allegation about certificate, it could be suspicious.

    “I don’t believe in that. I believe it is one of the political gimmicks of trying to distract the incoming government, and where we are in Kwara State now, we have passed that stage.

    “Let them continue to unveil their gimmicks while we are busy working on the new Kwara.’’ Yusuf said.

    On the expectations from the incoming government, the APC chieftain said Kwara had been driven back in the last few years but gave an assurance that the state would rise again in the next four years.

    “I’m one of the very strong voices in saying that Kwara has been driven back in the last 16 years.

    “ Kwara is one of the first generation states that we have in the country including Rivers, Kano and Lagos.

    “Out of these four states, which one of them can one compare Kwara with? If the succeeding governments after (Mohammed) Lawal had followed the foundation he laid, it wouldn’t have been as bad as this.

    “I want to project and foresee that in the next four years Kwara will start rising. I’m not saying we would be there in the next four years but we would start rising.

    “ My prayer is that we should not see another driver that will drive us backward the way we were driven back in the last 16 years.

    “It is because we are misplacing our priority here. Projects that doesn’t concern the masses or are people oriented were being executed,’’ he said.

    Yusuf also said the APC in the state had succeeded in what could have instigated crisis within its fold during the pre-election period.

    He said party leaders were concerned about the development of the state which prompted them to forgo their personal ambitions.

    “There is not going to be crisis. The most fragile thing that can break the party is what we have overcome.

    “ That was during our primaries. The struggle is about the people of Kwara, not about them (aspirants),’’ he said.

  • Kwara guber poll: Saraki congratulates APC’s Abdulrasaq

    The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has congratulated Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for emerging winner of the Kwara State governorship elections.

    Abdulrasaq won the March 9 elections with 331,546 to beat his closest rival, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Razaq Atunwa, who scored 114,754 votes.

    In a message on his official twitter page, Mr Saraki said “I thank all Kwarans, particularly PDP supporters, who worked for the party in the just concluded elections. My congratulations go to Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq and all those who emerged at all levels. I wish them all the best,” He said.

    Recall that Saraki who is a former governor of the state, lost his re-election bid to represent the Kwara Central Senatorial district in the just concluded general elections.

    The senate president lost to the APC candidate, Ibrahim Oloriegbe.

    Abdulrazaq will succeed Abdulfattah Ahmed as the governor of the state on May 29.

     

  • No intimidation of voters by security agents in my ward – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Saturday said there was no report of intimidation and harassment of voters by security operatives in his Oro Ward 2 Polling Unit 006 in Kwara.

    The minister stated this while addressing newsmen after casting his ballot in Saturday’s governorship and State House of Assembly elections at his home town, Oro, Irepodun Local Governemnt Area of Kwara.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 35 candidates are contesting for the Kwara governorship seat while 338 candidates from 19 political parties are vying for the 24 seats in the state House of Assembly.

    “I did not see or hear of any intimidation and harassment of people by the security operatives where I voted and I have not received any report of such from anywhere.

    “To the contrary, the report I got from some areas was that there was even no sufficient security personnel and those who said that might be expecting security men with guns around voting areas.

    “You can see that here in my polling unit, there are no security personnel harassing people.

    “In fact, I have not even seen any of them with gun.

    ‘‘I do not think that the military are deployed to harass but to see to the smooth running of the polls except for people that have skeletons in their cupboards,’’ he said.

    Mohammed said the turnout of voters in his unit was impressive, adding that he was satisfied with the process so far.

    He reiterated his advice to voters to be vigilant and ensure that their votes were counted and collated accurately.

    Chief Jacob Aransiola, the Balogun of Oro town who also came out to cast his vote, corroborated the minister that the exercise was peaceful.

    “The exercise has been going on smoothly and we do not envisage any problem here because Oro people are very peaceful.

    “We have appealed to the people to be law abiding, cast their vote peacefully and allow the process to end in peace,’’ he said.

    Speaking in the same vein, a party chairman in the ward, Mr Joseph Ibitoye, said voting was free and fair in the entire 13 polling units comprising Oro Ward 2.

    Mrs Kemi Olaseinde, a domestic election observer, representing Better Community Life Initiative at the polling unit, said the exercise was smooth and peaceful.

    “We have not observed any hitch or infraction. The turnout of voters is impressive and the security is adequate without any breach,’’ she said.