From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

The management of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Samuel Ogbuku has disclosed that the Commission was willing to partner with state governments in any area that will benefit people of the Niger Delta Region.Speaking on Tuesday in Yenagoa during the commissioning of the state office of the commission, the Managing Director of the commission Dr.

Samuel Ogbuku maintained that NDDC was not a government but an interventionist agency in the Niger Delta Region. He named the building, Chief Melford Okilo building adding that late Okilo was one of the people that fought for the existence of NDDC.He commended Governor Douye Diri, saying: “You Excellency, I want to thank you, I have thanked you before that you have given us every support we need as NDDC. I cannot go and say that you have not been supporting the board of NDDC. You have attended my programmes very well.”This shows that in Bayelsa State we are united for development. We are united for the purpose of peace and development of our people. Keep representing that peace which you represent.”Speaking earlier, Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State in his remarks thanked NDDC for acquiring the edifice.He called for more unity in the state saying, “I want to believe that in this state, we are one and the same people. We are the only homogeneous Ijaw state in Nigeria”.He said there are no other ethnic groups in Bayelsa State maintaining that “we need to support one another. As united as we are, we should support one another.Commenting on the IDP Camp commissioned at Otiokpoti, he commended NDDC and asked it should be replicated in all the local governments.He said that those challenges can be counted when there is unity.He maintained that is what Bayelsa State has set out to do under his watch.He commended President Bola Tinubu for accepting to award the second phase of the Nembe Brass Road.Also, Abubakar Momoh, Minister for Regional Development thanked Governor Douye Diri for always identifying with NDDC adding that NDDC has never competed with any government.Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Olanipekun Olukoyede in his remarks thanked NDDC for the judicious use of the resources made available to them.

From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

The former Governorship Candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 off-cycle election in Bayelsa state, Udengs Eradiri has said everything that is happening in Governor Douye Diri’s government is just a fluke.Eradiri said the governor has no real capacity to deal with leadership, saying no way, no strategy.

“People are on the street killing people anyhow in this town, they are not even concerned, they want to be vice president to Atiku”. Udengs disclosed this during an interaction with members of the Federated Correspondents’ Chapel (FCC) of the NUJ when he appeared as a guest on the Correspondents’ Forum to view his point on burning issues in the state and the country in general.Correspondents’ Forum is a Platform setup by the leadership of the Federated Correspondents’ Chapel for government officials, politicians, business men and women and others to air their views on issues happening.According to him, “they have never learned, all the people that have associated with Atiku have been doomed ,Alamieyeseigha as he joined Atiku, he suffered until he died, Ibori went to prison because of Atiku , Okowa is owing Delta state heavily because of Atiku, Sim crisis in Rivers state is because of Atiku. This one now wants to go and put himself in the same Atiku ambition that is not going anywhere”.Speaking further said, Nigeria as a country does North and South and it was the turn of the South, the North robs it on our face as if we don’t have heads. The governors don’t have capacity; they are a disgrace to governance. The Ibori’s, Alamieyeseigha and Odili stood because they have no skeleton in their cupboards but this current set of governors, they have eaten the money from excess crude brought by president Tinubu, that is why they are running to join APC to hide.”No confidence because they can’t defend those monies, they cannot even stand in one place and keep their heads high, putting our state in a mess and in a political quagmire.”The way the politics is now, I don’t want to play oppositions again, I have joined APC because I see pepper for Labour Party, our people are too poor for oppositions, I went to every part of this state, poverty is the order of the day, on the day of election people voted otherwise because of poverty.”The economy is dying, if you know the number of shops that are closing down everyday because of no capacity to deal with issues. Bayelsa is in a mess, let’s stop deceiving ourselves”.He said when Sim and his Oga were having problems, the next thing they said is Ijaw fight, saying now that they have scattered the vice presidential thing, where are the Ijaw leaders to lead Sim? Sim doesn’t have capacity for governance, where is the solidarity of Ijaw people? I said it before that Sim with Wike fights are purely political issues that have no ethnic bearing, ijaw people say they will do this they will do that, now that Sim is outside where are they?

By Eze Okechukwu, Abuja

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio has commended President Bola Tinubu for signing into law the bills for the establishment of the Federal College of Education, Bende, Abia State, Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, Item Bende, Abia State and the Federal University, Okigwe, Imo State.

Akpabio also extolled the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu who sponsored two of the Bills and other stakeholders in the Senate including the Deputy Whip, Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi, Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Osita Ngwu and main sponsor of one of the bills, Senator Patrick Ndubueze for their exceptional leadership, effective representation and their commitment to the wellbeing of their people.In a statement through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, the Senate President praised stakeholders in both the House of Representatives and the Senate for their steadfastness and support for the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration.The three institutions aim to provide quality education, research opportunities, and cater to the educational needs of the SouthEast region and healthcare delivery to advance knowledge and improve health outcomes in the region.Akpabio said that the establishment of the institutions would mark a significant milestone in promoting education and development in the South-East region.According to Senator Akpabio, “I applaud President Tinubu for his inclusive leadership and demonstrated commitment to the development of the South-East region and efforts to heal the deep-seated wounds of the past.”The establishment of these institutions will go a long way to remove the nagging feelings of distrust and socio-economic marginalization among the people of the South-East. I commend the President for his open-heartedness and unrestrained affection for the region.”The significant support of leaders and lawmakers in ensuring the passage of these very important bills establishing these institutions is noteworthy and commendable.”I call on the great Ndigbo people to continue to key into the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration and position for a strategic and progressive alliance with President Bola Tinubu,” he said.Akpabio assured that the continued support of the South-East for the Tinubu administration will attract more dividends of democracy to the region.