The House of Representatives Committee on Navy has resolved to scrutinise the process leading to the acquisition of foreign military platforms by the Nigerian Navy.

Chairman of the committee, Rep. Yusuf Gagdi (APC-Plateau), made this known while addressing newsmen after a meeting with the leadership of Nigerian Navy in Abuja on Monday.

While stating that the committee was not carried along in the process, Gagdi said that the navy failed to respond to letters demanding for documents to facilitate effective oversight of the security agency.

According to him, the lawmakers are not satisfied with the acquisition of foreign platforms without the knowledge of the committee.

“We came to the navy to ask questions on tax payers’ money; how money appropriated to the vavy is being spent.

“We came to ask questions on how the interventions by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is being spent by the navy.

“We also came to ask how the junior officers are being treated by the senior officers, including the famous case of Seaman Haruna Abbas; how he was suddenly dismissed.

“It is our responsibility, on behalf of the Nigerian people,vr to ask questions on these pertinent issues; we have asked them, but we are generally uncomfortable with them.

“So we have said that we are going to go on oversight visit, to perform a deep-rooted oversight to know how resources are being applied.

“We cannot say anything further until we have gone to see those projects and the platforms that are being built, then we can come back here, and have another interaction,” he said.

Gagdi said that the committee was dissatisfied with the navy over the manner it handled the disciplinary case of a personnel, Seaman Haruna Abbas, which led to his dismissal after six years in detention.

It was alleged that the officer, Abbas was held in detention for the period without trial over some disciplinary issues.

As a result, his wife reported the matter to a popular programme on Human Rights Radio/Television, thus then sparking a wide condemnation before the man was tried and subsequently dismissed from service by the naval authorities.

Earlier in his remarks, the Chief of Naval Staff,  Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, told the committee that navy was facing several challenges.

Ogalla said that the challenges included, but not limited to, inadequate resources to effectively carry its operations.

He added that beyond its military responsibility, the navy also engage in policing the waterways, thus complementing the Nigeria Customs Service which with no deep-sea policing capacity. (NAN)

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has broken its silence on the arrest of convicted cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye aka Bobrisky, popular social media personality.

The NIS spokesman, Kenneth Udo confirmed the arrest of the cross dresser in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

Udo said that Bobrisky was intercepted at Seme Border on Monday while attempting to leave the country.

“In keeping with its commitment to securing the borders, the NIS intercepted Idris Okuneye otherwise known as Bobrisky at the Seme Border over an attempt to exit the country.

“The Service wishes to inform the public that Idris Okuneye is a person of interest over recent issues of public concern.

“He is undergoing interrogation and will be handed over to the appropriate authorities for further action.

“The Service assures the public that it will continue to be civil and professional in its statutory responsibility of manning the country’s Borders,”he said. (NAN)

The Governor of Nasarawa, Abdullahi Sule, says the state is one of the richest states in the federation if its potentials are effectively harnessed.

Sule said this in an interview with newsmen over the weekend.

The governor said that the state, with an annual Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N7.

” We are also generating between N1.

He said that Nasarawa was blessed with hydrocarbons, solid minerals, precious metals, which are yet to be fully tapped; and a huge comparative advantage in agriculture.

He said that there was a marble site in Gudi, where a Chinese company produces tiles and other ceramic products.

“You will even be more excited if you had gone to the site of our lithium processing plant.

“There are also tin operations. These solid mineral factories are being duplicated across the state, and more companies are coming in to invest in the solid minerals sector right now.

“We pride ourselves on being the state housing the biggest lithium processing plant in the country.. These are the kinds of developments happening,” he said.

The governor said that his administration had also invested heavily in agriculture.

“Abdullahi Adamu, our first executive governor, has a farm of about 3,000 hectares.

“We have our own 10,000 hectares belonging to the state government. We have already started harvesting rice.

” We have not even signed any MoU with any buyer; instead, we are focused on harvesting the rice. We are keeping it in the warehouse, forming a pyramid of rice,” he said.

He said that the Nasarawa State Vocational and Technology Center in Lafia was one of the developmental initiatives of the state.

According to him, the idea informed by the need to produce needed artisans for Nigeria’s industrial development.

“When Dangote decided to construct the refinery at Epe, Lagos, the whole program started with the silos, the distillation unit, and some of the most sophisticated and expensive equipment.

“The manufacturers insisted that they needed skilled and certified technicians.
We needed to go to India because we couldn not find enough in Nigeria.

“Dangote imported 4,000 technicians from India. They were the only ones qualified and deployed because nobody would have that kind of installation unit and allow an unqualified mechanic to work on it.

“This is why I said that if I become the governor of Nasarawa, we will produce skilled technicians who will be ready for employment when another Dangote is looking for 4,000 skilled artisans.

“At least we can say we in Nasarawa have 500 technicians; go and find the other 3,500 elsewhere. This is my motivation and my dream,” he said.

Sule said that the state was committed to uplifting the standard of women and other vulnerable groups.

According to him , the government recently inaugurated a gender document, the first in the country.

He said that It was all about women, and is part of the Human Capital Development Agency, chaired by the Deputy Governor.

“All these initiatives are geared towards helping women.

“Nasarawa is a pacesetter when it comes to women taking the lead in leadership and careers.

” For the first time, a woman is the Chief Justice of Nasarawa, and for the first time, we have a woman as Vice Chancellor of the state university.

“This is part of my administration’s vision to empower women, and the reason is that I have had some very important women who played key roles in my life, and I have seen their impact,” he said.

The governor expressed commitment to providing quality infrastructure in the rural areas.

According to him, the wealth of Nasarawa is in the villages.

“The farming areas and the minerals we are discussing are located in the villages.

“The activities that will truly bring wealth to Nasarawa are in the villages. One of the things we must do is empower the villages to foster a sense of belonging.

” Our administration is committed to inclusivity. We do not want anyone to be left out.

“Youth, women, or the elderly; everyone is included. That is why we are providing training and skill acquisition for young people who have just graduated from school.

“We are also doing it for those who are retiring. We want the entire value chain to be incorporated,” he said.

He said that, though Nasarawa was among the states receiving the least allocation from the federal government, it remained one of the states with the greatest potential in human and capital resources.

“We have mineral resources, oil and gas. Oil drilling is taking place in Obi Local Government Area,

“Our state is one of only three states in the North where oil exploration is happening. For this reason, Nasarawa can not be poor,” he said.

He said that the state government was not borrowing money to execute any of its projects.

“Since I came in, we have not gone to the bank to borrow money. This is a mentality I brought from the private sector; we should not rely on borrowing.

“I decided to close all loopholes. There is a lot of money in Nasarawa, especially in internally generated revenue revenue, but there are also many leakages.

“Our aim is to block these leakages, but we still have a long way to go in terms of revenue generation for the state,” he said.

Sule said that the government was also exploring other sources of revenue.

He said that proximity to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was also a major advantage for Nasarawa.

“You will see many projects motivated by our closeness to the FCT, especially in relation to housing.

“These projects are targeted at wealthy individuals living in the FCT, encouraging them to come to Nasarawa. That is one of our strategies,” he said.(NAN)