TheNewsGuru

Tag: LG

  • BREAKING: Oyo Assembly suspends 13 LG chairmen indefinitely

    BREAKING: Oyo Assembly suspends 13 LG chairmen indefinitely

    The Oyo State House of Assembly has suspended 13 council caretaker chairmen in the state indefinitely.

    Their suspension was ascribed to their “non-compliance to the resolution of the House on submission of status of earthmoving equipment in their respective domains to the House as requested.”

     

    The affected councils are Akinyele East LCDA, Ido LG, Oluyole LG, Ibadan North-East LG, Lagelu West LCDA, Soro LCDA, and Ogbomosho Central LCDA.

     

    Others are Ogbomosho South LCDA, Ajorosun LCDA, Ibarapa North West LCDA, Itesiwaju LG, Oyo East LG, and Oyo South East LCDA.

  • Nasarawa Assembly suspends LG boss over insurbordination

    The Nasarawa State Hosue of Assembly has suspended the Chairman of Nasarawa Local Government in the state, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Ottos, over alleged insubordination.

    The House also suspended the Deputy Chairman, Karu Local Government, Lawal Yakubu Karshi, over the same allegation.

    Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, the Speaker of the House, announced this after the Chairman of the House Committee on Local Government, Alhaji Mohammed Alkali, moved a motion on the activities of the affected council officials at an emergency sitting in Lafia on Monday.

    Abdullahi alleged that the chairman of Nasarawa local government and Deputy Chairman, Karu Local Government abandoned their official duties to attend a court case involving former Secretary to the Government of the State (SSG), Alhaji Aliyu Ahmed.

    He said the act was a disservice and a constituted insubordination.

    ” The Chairman of Nasarawa Local Government Council is hereby suspended, pending the investigation of his act of insubordination.

    “The Deputy Chairman of Nasarawa Local Government is hereby directed to take over the affairs of the council on acting capacity with immediate effect

    ” The Deputy Chairman, Karu Local Government, should also proceed on suspension.

    ” The Commissioner of Police is hereby directed to provide adequate security cover to acting Chairman of Nasarawa Local Government while the investigation lasts, ” he said.

    The speaker expressed dismay at how the Nasarawa Council boss allegedly abandoned his people on the eve of election to attended a court case that did not concern government, instead of staying around to assist security agents in ensuring peaceful Nasarawa Central constituency by-election.

    Mr Daniel Ogazi, the Deputy Majority Leader of the House, who seconded the motion moved by Mohammed Alkali and other lawmakers who contributed during the sitting, supported the move.

    They noted that the house would never give room for anyone to rubbish the image of the institution.

    The Speaker also set up a seven-man committee to investigate the two affected officials.

    ” The members of the committee are Dr Peter Akwe to serve as Chairman of the committee; Mr Mohammed Alkali is the Deputy Chairman of the committee while others are Mohammed Omadefu, Mohammed Agah Muluku, Aliyu Dogara, Danladi Jatau while the Deputy Clerk of the House, Ibrahim Musa, is the Secretary of the Committee.

    He gave the committee three months to submit its report.

  • Ekiti APC suspends LG primary elections indefinitely

    Ekiti APC suspends LG primary elections indefinitely

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Ekiti State Chapter on Saturday said it has postponed the local government primary elections in two local government areas of the state.

    The ruling party’s shadow primary which was scheduled to hold on Saturday was suspended indefinitely in Ado and Ikole Local Government over security concern while the elections held in other 14 local councils.

    The party spokesperson, Ade Ajayi who stated this in Ado Ekiti in a telephone chat with newsmen, said the decision was reached by the party high decision making organ following emergence of a security report that some hooligans were plotting to tinker with the political atmosphere and disrupt the exercise.

    Ajayi said that a new date would be communicated to all concerned stakeholders as soon as report shows that the coast is clear.

    “The reason for the postponement in respect of the two local government is due to security concerns. We had it on record that there would be breakdown of law and order.

    “And it was on this basis we decided to postpone the election in the two local government until further notice. The remaining 14 Council election will hold today as scheduled”, he said.

    The indefinite postponement has created fear and re-awakened the suspicion of some aspirants who alleged the party leadership of plotting to impose its anointed candidates on the people.

    Two of the aspirants who spoke to newsmen at the venue of the primary including Alhaji Tajudeen Gidado, and Tosin Aluko, expressed displeasure over the suspension of the party’s shadow election.

    They accused the leadership of the party of being undemocratic, warning that they would resist any attempt to impose on the party.

    In her reaction, Mrs Aluko, an aspirant in the election lamented that the leadership of the party were determined to impose a candidate.

    “I just heard it here now that the election has been Postponed. I don’t want to believe it because Governor Kayode Fayemi issued a statement last week that there would be primary election and that there won’t be imposition.

    “We have been waiting here since morning for the primary. Some people are with the Deputy Chairman of the party now, Sola Elesin, they don’t want the election to hold because of the plan they have to impose one of us as the candidate.

    ” I don’t know why they are doing this, they should allow people to make their choice because this is democracy. They’re doing this because they want to impose someone. But the governor they are dropping his name has come out to say he has no preferred candidate.”

    But the party Spokesman described the allegations as a conjectural statement that lack content of validity in all its measure.

    Ajayi maintained that all aspirants will be given a level playing ground to participate in the excercise, noting that the election will be conducted in a transparent, free and fair manner without compromising the basic principle of internal democracy.

  • FG’s NFIU policy will ground operation of 774 LGs, CNPP warns

    FG’s NFIU policy will ground operation of 774 LGs, CNPP warns

    Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has warned that the new policy introduced by Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) that local governments can’t withdraw beyond half a million naira for capital expenditure will cripple the third tier of government.

    CNPP faulted the federal government’s interference in the running of the councils, saying Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution gave the states the powers to regulate the councils’ operations through the oversight functions of the Houses of Assembly.

    The political body added that as much as it supported financial autonomy for effective operations of the councils, it insisted that the NFIU policy, limiting the expenditure of the councils, would ground the local governments and increase poverty level among the citizens.

    Speaking in Ado Ekiti yesterday, the CNPP Chairman in Ekiti, Deacon Olu Akomolafe, said the NFIU policy, apart from being ill-motivated, also tramples on the constitution, which gives the states regulatory power over the councils.

    Akomolafe urged the federal government to look for a better and more effective way to fight corruption at the local government level.

    He urged the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to approach the court to contest the NFIU policy, since he described it as anti-people, if the option of dialogue fails.

    “The NFIU policy limiting withdrawals by any council to fund capital projects to N500, 000 is a bad policy and antidemocratic. It will ground the operations of the LG administration.

    “With this policy in operation, the LGs would only be effective in the payment of salaries of workers and the capital projects that could have complemented the efforts of the states will be ineffective and people at the grassroots will suffer.

    “It is not even right for the FG to meddle in the running of the councils, because section 7 of the 1999 Constitution puts the LGs under the control of states.

    “If the FG is saying that the states can’t control the local governments, what of the 10 percent being given as reimbursement to councils monthly?

    “Are they saying the states have no say about how such money is spent,” he asked?

    Setting agenda for Governor Kayode Fayemi on how to run a distinct Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum, Akomolafe urged the governor to resist attempt by anybody to divide the forum along parties, ethnic and caucuses lines.

    “Our dear governor must resist division and prevent the recurrence of Rotimi Amaechi- Jonah Jang debacle in Governors Forum, so that they can collectively fight for intervention funds to help the states pay salaries and fund capital projects that will benefit the people”.

  • Samsung foldable phone launch confirmed

    Samsung foldable phone launch confirmed

    Samsung has confirmed date for the launch of its foldable phone that will launch alongside the Galaxy S10 family.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Samsung will launch the foldable phone at the Galaxy Unpacked event set to hold February 20.

    The South Korean company on Monday confirmed the upcoming launch through a teaser posted on its social media channels.

    The phone in question could debut as the Galaxy Fold or Galaxy F, as per some recent rumours.

    A glimpse of the foldable phone concept was notably showcased by Samsung at its annual developer conference last November.

    The latest teaser video posted by Samsung begins with Korean text that folds and makes way for the tagline “The future unfolds” in English.

    https://youtu.be/1KIKaS2221I

    The movement of text is followed by the prominent number 10, which apparently depicts the Galaxy S10 range.

    All is enough to highlight the debut of a foldable phone at the forthcoming Galaxy Unpacked event.

    However, Samsung has ensured that its message will clearly be sent to the targeted audience and thus tweeted, “The future of mobile will unfold on February 20, 2019.”

    Meanwhile, Samsung did not reveal any hardware specifications of the device at its annual developer conference.

    However, it did mention that its foldable smartphone form factor is based on an Infinity Flex Display panel. There is also the newly released One UI interface that supports foldable device.

    While the cover panel of the foldable phone by Samsung is so far reported to sport a 4.58-inch display, its inner foldable panel is said to come in 7.3 inches of size.

    The smartphone is also rumoured to have a triple rear camera setup and come with a mode called Multi-Active Window to run up to three apps simultaneously.

    Other companies such as Energizer, Huawei, and LG are also expected to unveil their foldable phone models later this month.

    These developments are likely to be featured at MWC 2019 in Barcelona starting February 25.

     

  • Huawei set for launch of foldable 5G smartphone

    Chinese smartphone maker, Huawei is set for the launch of the first foldable 5G smartphone.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the launch event will take place just a day before Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 kicks off.

    The smartphone maker made this know via a press invite, that was shared by the official Huawei Mobile Twitter handle.

    The invite image depicted what appears to be a foldable smartphone’s hinge, giving slight hint as to its design.

    It showed the silhouette of a foldable smartphone’s hinge and leaves little scope of doubt regarding the product Huawei is expected to launch at the event on February 24, 2019 in Barcelona.

     

    The Chinese smartphone maker’s foldable smartphone is expected to come equipped with the in-house HiSilicon Kirin 980 SoC and the Balong 5000 modem.

    The Huawei’s upcoming foldable 5G offering will reportedly feature a 7.2-inch display.

    Huawei will reportedly manufacture between 24,000 and 30,000 units of the upcoming smartphone in the initial phase, however, it is not known in what markets it will eventually arrive.

    Huawei’s announcement is still a few weeks away, but with companies like Samsung, LG and Xiaomi throwing their hat in the foldable smartphone segment, 2019 appears to be the year when the foldable form factor truly becomes mainstream.

     

  • Supreme Court orders Ekiti to relocate LG’s headquarters

    Supreme Court orders Ekiti to relocate LG’s headquarters

    The Supreme Court on Friday ended the 19-year legal dispute over the right location of the headquarters of Ilejemeje Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

    Resting the case in its judgment, a five-man bench of the apex court unanimously ordered the Ekiti State Government to immediately restore the headquarters of the local government to Eda-Oniyo from where it was relocated to Iye-Ekiti shortly after the state was created on October 1, 1996.

    The case started in the High Court of Ekiti State with the suit filed in 1999 by the traditional ruler of Eda-Oniyo, Oba Julius Awolola, the Eleda of Eda-Oniyo, to challenge the sudden relocation of the headquarters of Ilejemeje local government from his town, as established by the state’s law, to Iye-Ekiti.

    The Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour-led bench of the apex court, on Friday, held that the establishment of the headquarters of the Local Government in Eda-Oniyo was backed by statute and could not be relocated elsewhere without the promulgation of a new law.

    Justice Paul Galinje, who read the lead judgment of the apex court’s panel, held that the act of the Ekiti State Government, relocating the headquarters of the local government from Eda-Oniyo to Iye-Ekiti “has no legal basis”.

    “The location of the headquarters of Ilejemeje Local Government in Eda-Oniyo is a product of statute and no law has been promulgated to relocate it to any other place,” he ruled.

    Justice Galinje upheld the earlier judgment of the Ekiti State High Court which had in 2001 affirmed that Eda-Oniyo was the lawful location of the Ilejemeje Local Government Area’s headquarters.

    The apex court set aside the March 6, 2006 judgment of the Ilorin Division of the Court of Appeal which had ruled otherwise.

    Oba Awolola had instituted the appeal in 2008 to challenge the judgment of the Court of Appeal which had ruled in favour of the respondents.

    The respondents to the appeal are the Governor of Ekiti State, the Attorney-General of the state and the Chairman of the Ilejemeje Lcoal Government Area of the state.

    It will be recalled that the Federal Military Government had October 1, 1996, created among others, Ekiti State with Ilejemeje Local Government Area as one of its 16 local government areas.

    The headquarters of the Ilejemeje Local Government Area was located in Eda-Oniyo with the backing of the States Creation (Transitional Provisions) Decree No. 36 of 1996 .

    But three months later, by a radio announcement, the Ekiti State Government notified the public of the relocation of the local government from Eda-Oniyo to Iye-Ekiti.

    Oba Awolola was said to have on behalf of the people of Eda-Oniyo protested to the office of the Head of State which informed him that it did not authorise the movement of the local government to Iye-Ekiti and continued to recognise Eda-Oniyo as the headquarters of Ilejemeje local government.

    But the protests were said to have failed to produce the desired result, following which the traditional ruler, representing the people of Eda-Oniyo, filed an action in the High Court of Ekiti State in 1999 against the Governor of the state, the Attorney-General and the Chairman of Ilejemeje Local Government Area.

    He sought, among others, declaratory orders that by virtue of the State Creation ( Transitional Provisions) Decree No. 72 Vol. 83 of 1996, and the Local Government (Basic Constitutional Provisions) Decree of 1997 and 1998, the headquarters of Ilejemeje Local Government area was Eda-Oniyo.

    He also sought a declaration that the relocation of the headquarters for Eda-Oniyo to Iye-Ekiti as illegal, null and void.

    He also sought an order restraining the defendants from recognising Iye-Ekiti as the headquarters of Ilejemeje Local Government Area and a perpetual injunction restraining them from carrying out the administration of the Local Government Area from any other town apart from Eda-Oniyo.

    The High Court ruled in 2001 in favour of Oba Awolola, but the Ekiti State Government had appealed against the judgment and won at the Court of Appeal.

    To challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal, Oba Awolola, through his lawyer, Mr. Oluwadamilare Awokoya, filed the appeal marked SC.194/2008 before the Supreme Court.

    In its judgment on Friday, the Supreme Court on Friday set aside the Court of Appeal’s judgment and affirmed that of the High Court.

    Agreeing with Oba Awolola’s lawyer, the apex court ruled that non-filing of the suit at the High Court within three months when the dispute arose in 1996 as stipulated in the Public Officers Protection Law of Ekiti State did not render the suit incompetent.

    While the dispute over the location of the headquarters of the Ilejemeje Local Government Area started in 1996, the plaintiff who was exploring other means of settlement did not go to court to challenge the decision of the Ekiti State Government until 1999.

  • Ondo Assembly dissolves LG caretaker committees for the second time

    The Ondo State House of Assembly has dissolved the 18 Local Government Caretaker Committee Chairmen in the state.
     
    The dissolution came into effect on Thursday at the plenary of members of the Assembly in Akure.
     
    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the lawmakers had, on April 18, granted another six-month tenure extension to the 18 caretaker committees.
     
     
    The Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Oluwasegun Ajimotokin, representing Irele State Constituency, moved the motion for the dissolution of the caretaker committees.
     
    Ajimotokin noted that the tenure of the caretaker chairmen had earlier been elongated for six months, which lapsed on October 17.
     
    He said that since the issue had been extensively debated and resolved at the parliamentary meeting of the members, the House decided that the 18 local government caretaker committees be dissolved.
     
    “The House at its parliamentary meeting has adequately debated the tenure of local government chairmen and resolved that they be dissolved.
     
    “I hereby move a motion for the dissolution of the committees across the 18 local government areas of Ondo State with immediate effect,” he said.
     
    His motion was seconded by the Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Jamiu Maito, representing Akoko South-West Constituency 1.
     
    The Speaker of the House, Mr. Bamidele Oleyelogun, subjected the position of the House into a voice vote and it was unanimously agreed that the 18 caretaker committees should be dissolved.
     
    Following the dissolution, Oleyelogun directed the caretaker committees to hand over the management of the local governments to the Directors of Local Government Administration with immediate effect.
     
     

  • Suicide: Ekiti senior LG official jumps into well

    Tragedy struck on Monday as a senior local government official, Michael Kayode Bamisaye, alleged committed suicide at his residence in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    Bamisaye, who was the Director of Finance in Ise/Orun Local Government Council, Ise-Ekiti, jumped into the well in his compound behind Tinuola Maximum School, off Afao Road, Ado-Ekiti.

    The deceased had earlier drunk water mixed with cement in an earlier attempt to kill himself before jumping into the well.

    Top management staff of local governments in Ekiti State has being paying condolence visit to Bamisaye’s home.

    Sympathizers have been trooping to his residence to commiserate with the widow and other members of the family.

    Activities were said to have been grounded at Ise/Orun Local Government secretariat when the report of Bamisaye’s death filtered in from Ado-Ekiti.

    The cause of the suicide could not be immediately ascertained.

    Bamisaye was said to be the third senior management staff that would die in Ise/Orun Local Government Council this year as two other directors had died before him in mysterious circumstances.

    A source said: “The deceased woke up at about 4.00 am to assist his wife to do some house chores and even called some council workers he used to convey to Ise every day to be ready to join him to their station.

    “All of a sudden, he disappeared and went outside with the wife looking for her. Later she discovered that the well was opened and they saw the body floating.

    “The wife and other people who joined her searching later saw the cement he had mixed with water which he might have taken before taking the plunge into the well.

    “The men of the State Fire Service had come to remove the corpse which has since been deposited at the mortuary.”

    Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Caleb Ikechukwu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, was not available for comment as his phone was switched off.

  • Panic as robbers snatch N9m LG workers’ salary in Kebbi

    Gwandu Local Government Area of Kebbi says suspected robbers have stolen over N9m meant for the payment of April salary of workers of its Departments of Health and Agriculture.

    The chairman of the council, Shehu Bagudu, told newsmen in Gwandu on Thursday that the incident happened on May 24.

    “The incident happened when the cashier of the area, Bashir Gwandu, collected the money from the bank and went to his house.

    “As he was about to open the gate of his house and unknown to him, the thieves had been trailing him from the bank.

    As he was opening the gate to enter his house, the suspects who had laid ambush for him, attacked him, snatched his car with the money inside and drove away.

    “The car was later discovered in Tambuwal Local Government Area of Sokoto State,” he said.

    The council chairman also dispelled the rumour that he was shielding the cashier, who is his son-in-law

    Bagudu said he could not stop the Police from doing their proper investigation.

    “I have not slept ever since this incident happened.

    “The boy is my son-in-law ever since before I became the chairman of the council, and he is known to be trustworthy in the council.

    “We wrote to the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs on the incident, but we are still waiting for their response.

    “At the same time, the Criminal Investigation Department of the State Police Command is on top of the situation, doing proper investigation,” he said.

    He added that the council had held a series of meetings with the affected workers, saying “the cashier’s family is planning to pay part of the stolen money before the arraignment of their brother in court on June 4.”

    The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Mustapha Suleiman, who confirmed the incident, said the cashier had been undergoing proper investigation by the CID since the incident.

    “The cashier has just been granted bail after the necessary investigation and he was given bail on the surety of a former Sole Administrator in the council,” he said.