POLITICS
Bayelsa Restates Commitment to Nembe-Brass Senatorial Road Project
From Tayese Mike, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State Government has restated its commitment to the commencement of work on the Nembe-Brass Senatorial road project in line with its policy of completing inherited projects across the state.
State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, made this known when the Progressives of the Central Senatorial District of Bayelsa State, paid him a courtesy visit at his office in Government House, Yenagoa.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo explained that abandoning any meaningful inherited project was tantamount to wasting the scarce resources of the state.
According to the Deputy Governor, government’s desire is to ensure that the Nembe-Brass Road continues at the same pace with the ongoing Sagbama-Ekeremor and Yenagoa-Oporoma road projects.
He said the Governor Douye Diri-led government had already taken some far reaching steps towards the take-off of the Nembe-Brass Senatorial road project.
These include redesigning of the project as well as completion of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) to mitigate its effect on the area.
But considering the capital-intensive nature of the project, he disclosed that government had entered talks with the Federal Ministry of Finance on possible ways to involve multinational oil companies operating in the area in funding the multi-billion naira project.
According to Senator Ewhrudjakpo, the state government had already suggested that the Nembe-Brass Road be funded under what is known as Tax Infrastructure Rebate Project to enable multinational companies enjoy tax holiday during the period of its construction.
He commended the group for their steadfastness, courage and show of true statesmanship, and assured them of the present administration’s readiness to work with them.
“On the issue of the Nembe-Brass Road that you raised, clearly there were some issues about it. But we have almost sorted them out. The only problem we have is that resources are not available.
“But we are still working hard. If you will recall, just recently we have started talking to the Federal Ministry of Finance to do what we call Tax Infrastructure Rebate Project.
“So, AGIP, SHELL, AITEO and all other companies operating within that area will have a tax holiday in exchange for helping us to construct the road. That process is on because we don’t have all the resources.
“We are working around those issues to ensure we get the Nembe-Brass Road not only up and running, but also keep it going at the same velocity as the Sagbama-Ekeremor and the Yenagoa-Oporoma roads. We have that as a top priority.
“We have already done a redesign of some of the areas because some of the earlier designs were not very amenable. We have also done an EIA to take care of environment impacts issues that the project may throw up,” he said.
Speaking earlier on behalf of the Progressives of the Central Senatorial District of Bayelsa State, Engineer Charles Ambaiowei, lauded the Prosperity Government for keeping faith with the aspirations of founding fathers of the state by continuing the senatorial road projects.
Engr Ambaiowei, who is a former Commissioner for Works in the state, advised the present administration to do what he calls “holistic planning for the state” and give equal attention to all the three senatorial roads.
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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