The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Dr Nnanna Uzor Kalu as a commissioner in the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) to represent the South-East geopolitical zone.

The confirmation followed the presentation and adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service, chaired by Sen.

Kalu’s confirmation was previously stepped down in March due to a petition filed against him.

At the time, the senate had confirmed 12 out of 13 nominees for the NASC, withholding only the nomination from the South-East pending resolution of the matter.

Presenting the report, Fasuyi explained that the petition had been thoroughly investigated and dismissed by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions.

The committee found no grounds to disqualify the nominee.

“In line with the findings and recommendations of the relevant committees, the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service recommends the confirmation of Dr Nnanna Uzor Kalu,” Fasuyi said.

In his remarks, Senate President Godswill Akpabio thanked both committees for handling the issue with diligence and fairness.

He congratulated Kalu on his confirmation and urged him to serve with integrity.

“I urge the newly confirmed commissioner to uphold equity, fairness, and constitutional values while representing the South-East in the commission,” Akpabio said.(NAN)

The Zamfara chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the calls for violence by the State Women Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hajiya Rabi Madawaki.

In a statement issued in Gusau on Tuesday by the State APC Publicity Secretary, Yusuf Idris, the party called on security agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter.

Idris said, “We call on the security agencies to immediately arrest the women leader, Hajiya Rabi Madawaki, over her uncultured utterances.

“APC as a strong opposition party in the state will not be intimidated by any threats from the Zamfara PDP government and they should know that the will of the people must prevail.

“The state PDP Women Leader, Hajiya Rabi Madawaki, made the statement in the presence of the Governor’s wife,  Hajiya Huriyya Dauda.

“The threat and intimidation by the PDP women leader came out with a completely different but savage way of forcing out support and subsequently,  votes for the governor,  Mr Dauda Lawal in the 2027 governorship election.

“Madawaki said in the presence of governor’s wife in Hausa language, at a gathering held in Gusau on Friday that translated as ‘anyone who does not vote for Dauda, we will maim, beat, kill him,  (zamu ci ubanshi zamu yi mashi duka)’.

According to him, in a civilised scoiety,  elections are always supposed to be free, fair and non violent.

Idris said, “President Bola Tinubu’s administration is trying to remove such threats to lives and property as well as  any form of intimidation from politics.

“The Zamfara chapter of the APC will not be scared by any form of intimidation and harassment or any act of violence.” (NAN)

 Thousands of people in north-west Pakistan on Tuesday blocked a highway by placing the coffins of four children who were killed by a suspected drone strike.

The protests in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan region began earlier on Monday after a family home was hit, local resident Mohamed Jamal Dawar said.

It is not clear who was behind the incident.

Local activist Zahid Wazir said the drone was operated by the Pakistani military.

He said the home was likely mistaken as a hideout used by Islamist militants.

Pakistani intelligence officials said the explosives were fired by a quadcopter that was being operated by the Taliban militants to target a nearby military post, but that it missed the target.

An independent verification was not possible as the region is inaccessible to outsiders.

Activists of a local rights group, the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, which is against the militarisation of the region by both the military and the Pakistani Taliban, vowed to continue the protest.

“We will continue to demand justice for our kids,” Wazir said.

The Pakistani military and Islamist militants have been fighting each other in the region for more than two decades.

More than 80,000 Pakistanis, an overwhelming majority of civilians, have lost their lives in years of violence. (dpa/NAN)