Gov. Nasir Idris of Kebbi, has appealed for the establishment of a military base at Arewa Local Government Area of the state to beef up security in the area.

Idris made the plea in an interview with Journalists shortly after a condolence visit to Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camp at Kangiwa, headquarters of Arewa Local Government Area on Wednesday.

Daily Asset recalls that some suspected members of Lakurawa had on Sunday, March 9, attacked, killed 11 people and burnt seven villages in Arewa LGA.

The villages are; Dogon Daji, Danmarke, Yar Goru, Tambo, Birnin Debi, Garin Nagoro and Garin Rugga, all in Arewa LGA.

The governor expressed sadness over the ugly incident that claimed lives and appealed to the Federal Government to consider the possibility of establishing a military base in the local government.

He said the base, if established, would reduce the length of time in response to distress call from surrounding villages.

While promising to assist the affected communities in the IDP camp to repair their houses, the governor assured that they would not stay long as refugees.

Idris directed the LG council to ensure that enough cooked food was supply to the IDPs, instructing that a big cow should be slaughtered at an interval of four days.

Report says that while in the camp, four women delivered four babies, two males and two females.

In view of this, the governor directed that two big rams be slaughtered for each baby on the day of naming ceremony and each mother should be supplied with all necessary goods (baby consignment).

The governor pleaded with the affected victims to accept the will of God Almighty in good faith and continuously pray to Allah (SWT) to bring an end to the security challenges bedeviling the state and the nation at large.

Earlier, the council Chairman, Arewa LGA, Alhaji Sani Aliyu, lauded the governor for sending a powerful delegation of Commissioners under the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Yakubu Bala-Tafida, who attended the funeral prayer of the deceased while he was out of the state.

He said the state government was up and doing as far as security was concerned, attributing the recent development to reprisal attack by the suspected Lakurawa members.

In their separate testimonies, the villagers, Malam Aliyu Sani, Buhari Sani and Halima Musa said the Lakurawa invaded their villages killed people, set houses ablaze including the main Juma’at Mosque. (NAN)

The Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Martins  Amaewhule have called on Economics and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offenses Commission(ICPC) to investigate the River Electoral Chairman.

Amaewhule, who is the Speaker of the Assembly, made the remark during the plenary at the Assembly quarters complex in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

He said that the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) Chairman, Justice Adolphus Enebeli (rtd), should be investigated for alleged misappropriation of the Commission’s fund.

He said that it is the duty of the Rivers State Assembly, that enacted the state Independent Electoral Commission law and set up the State Independent Electoral Commission, to exercise oversight over it.

“It is not only constitutional, but it is the convention the world over,” he said.

Amaewhule said that Enebeli and the Commissioners came before the House of Assembly for screening and confirmation and admitted that they were not going to live above the Constitution or the Rivers’ law.

“And it is usually the practice that questions are put forth to them, asking them if they will come before the House when questions are needed to be asked.

“And they also confirmed to us that they will come before the Assembly to answer questions when necessary.

“Today, we are calling on them and they are refusing to honour the summons of this August Assembly.’’

He said that the House is vested with the powers in Section 128 of the state Constitution to invite the commission for investigation, for the chairman and members to answer questions put forward to them.

Amaewhule said that it had become necessary for the house to invite the EFCC and ICPC to assist it, in pursuit of its investigative powers, to find out how funds were spent by the commission.

He said that the crime commissions should also investigate how public funds were expended by the chairman, who is the chief accounting officer of the commission, in a manner that was unknown to the Assembly.

Amaewhule said that there was no approval, no budgetary allocation, no appropriation law, and billions of public funds went down the drain in futile actions.

“It’s important that they come and bring themselves forward for this investigation and that’s exactly what this motion has said,” he explained.

Amaewhule said that the motion and the prayers were voted in favour by the 26 member against nil.

He, however, said that the House did not condemn the refusal of the RSIEC’s chairman and others who failed to subject themselves to investigation by it.

He added that the House had agreed to invite the bankers to the RSIEC to produce the commission’s bank statements from Jan, 1, 2024 till date.

Amaewhule stated that the power to also investigate the government of the River State was rested on the Assembly by virtue of the provisions of Section 128. (NAN)

A Constitutional Lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, on Wednesday,, called for an aggressive fight against political corruption perpetrated by the nation’s elites.

Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), disclosed this in a paper he presented at the Midwest Achievers Awards in Benin, titled ” Has democracy led to good governance in Nigeria”?

The human rights activist said that
political corruption undermined the nation’s democratic principles.

“The ugly trend  should be aggressively addressed with the same seriousness and penalty as in financial crimes and other forms of corruption.

“Political corruption is often overlooked because it involves the elites, who have political power,” he said

He noted that such form of corruption manifested mostly in elections into various political positions in the country.

“Nigeria’s election history for instance, is rife with stories of manipulation and voter exploitation by the political class.

“Post-election adjudication should not only focus on determining winners of elections.

“Political elites and their agents, who violate electoral rules should be sanctioned with fines and imprisonment,” he said.

Ozekhome noted that free and fair elections were  the foundation of democratic legitimacy, transparency, and accountability.

“We should consistently safeguard these tenets to ensure leaders are held accountable to the people,” he noted.

The activist advocated for a harmonised fight against corruption, which should be sustained through oversight from anti–corruption agencies.

“There should be institutionalisation of development focussed principles to forster change in Nigeria and Africa,” he said.

The Director of Midwest Achievers Awards, Dr Owen Omo-Ojo, said the event was to recognise achievers, who have made their marks in the society.

“We aim at spotlighting achievers, who have dared to dream, navigated turbulent times and upheld the highest ethical standards.

“The men and women under spotlight, inspired hope in their communities and beyond.” he said.

Report says that Ozekhome was honoured as the “Defender of Democracy” at the event.(NAN)