Niger Government has established the state Price Control and Monitoring Board, approved by Gov. Umaru Bago to ensure fair pricing and consumer protection.

Alh. Abubakar Usman, Secretary to the Niger Government (SSG),  inaugurated members of the board on Thursday in Minna.

The eight-member board has Alh.

Usman noted that the inauguration of the board marked a significant step in the state’s commitment to ensuring fair pricing and consumer protection.

He said that the board was expected to control and stabilise prices of essential commodities and eradicate or reduce to the barest minimum, hoarding of essential commodities across the state.

He said that board would also handle issues that may arise as a result of enforcement and penalty for contravention of guidelines among several others.

“The board will be responsible for the distribution, monitoring and evaluation of essential commodities and keep price under continuous surveillance.

“They will also interpret price movement and relate them to other development in the State’s economy,” Usman said.

He said the board was expected to interface with relevant stakeholders such as local government chairmen, traditional institutions and councilors and well as market organisations to ensure the success of their mandate.

The SSG enjoined members of board to bring their wealth of experience and expertise in economics, consumer affairs and market dynamics to bear in their assignment.

He said that their appointment underscored the government’s dedication to maintaining economic stability and safeguarding the interests of both consumers and businesses in the state.

In his remarks, the board chairman, Ahmed, assured that the board would interface with relevant stakeholders within and outside the state in order to bring succour to the populace.

Other members of the board include Hamza Bello, Permanent Secretary, Investment, Aliyu Abubakar, Permanent Secretary, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and Garba Abdullahi, from Ministry of Basic Education.

Also on the board are Adamu Maikasuwa, Ministry of Agriculture, DCP Aminu Garba, Nigeria Police, Niger Command, Aminu Ladan, Chairman, Chanchaga Local Government Area and Usman Liman, retired Statistician-General as Secretary of the Board. (NAN)

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has reiterated the importance of strict adherence to traffic laws, emphasising the prohibition of commercial motorcycles on highways and other restricted routes.

Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, the General Manager, said this in a statement on Thursday, signed by Mr Taofiq Adebayo, Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, LASTMA.

Bakare-Oki said that non-compliance with the regulations not only jeopardised the safety of the riders but also endangered the lives of other road users.

The statement came following the death of a motorcycle rider going against traffic on Carter Bridge, due to a collision with a fast-moving vehicle.

Bakare-Oki noted that the deceased, reportedly traveling from Ebute Ero, collided head-on with a fast-moving vehicle as it ascended Carter Bridge from Ilubirin.

“The forceful impact of the collision led to the immediate death of the motorcyclist while the vehicle driver ran away.

“Personnel from the LASTMA promptly arrived at the scene of the accident and swiftly alerted officers from the Central Police Station at Adeniji Adele and Shemo.

“Together, they coordinated efforts to retrieve the lifeless body of the rider, while LASTMA officials handed over the motorcycle to security authorities for further investigation,” he said.

The LASTMA boss extended his heartfelt sympathy to the family of the deceased.

“LASTMA remains committed to upholding public safety and is intensifying its efforts to minimise the occurrence of such tragic incidents on Lagos roads,” he said. (NAN)

Dr Tony Okocha, Acting Chairman of the All Progressive Congress(APC), in Rivers, has described the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate the burning of local government offices as “an attempt to witch hunt”.

“The Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the bombing of Local Government offices is just a witch hunt.

“The governor merely wants to use it to deal with his perceived enemies,” Okocha told newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

Report says that Gov Siminalayi Fubara recently  inaugurated the Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the arson, killings and destruction at various local government council secretariats in the state.

The seven-member panel, which has one month to conclude its assignment, has Justice Ibiwengi Minakiri as Chairman and Mrs. Inyingi Brown as Secretary.

It is expected to investigate the attacks and burning of local government councils’ secretariats on October 7, 2024, shortly after newly elected local government officers were sworn in.

Okocha, while faulting the governor’s action, said that there was no sincerity in it.

“The said election itself was illegal and, thus, a nullity.

“The governor has said that he knows the people that attacked the local government secretariats.

“If he knows the people, why not just ask the Police to arrest them? Why is he setting up a judicial commission of enquiry?”.

Okocha said that he would take the probe seriously if it is stretched  to include all issues of arson that the state had suffered in the past.

“If the governor really wants justice, the terms of reference of the commission should be all-inclusive.

“All issues of bombing should be probed. The House of Assembly bombing should be probed.

“We also want the bombing of the APC State headquarters to be probed. We do not want selective probes. We want to see genuine search for justice.

“Let’s have a full package  that involves all cases of arson. That is the only way the Rivers government can do justice,” he said.

On whether he would appear before the panel if invited to do so, Okocha said he would  appear before it “if it will probe all incidents of arson in Rivers”.

“Yes, I will appear before the panel if all cases of arson in Rivers are included in its assignment,” he said.

Okocha regretted that the state had become “a Rivers of trouble”, and blamed the situation on “the man who should protect everyone”.

“The governor is supposed to be the chief law officer, but he has failed in that crucial  task.

“We have a valid court judgement that stopped the local government election.

“It is that judgement that stopped the Police, security agencies and INEC from participating in the elections.

“Strangely, in spite of all, the governor went ahead with the elections. So, clearly, it is a nullity.”

On the cause of political upheavals in Rivers, Okocha declared that “Fubara is fighting himself”.

“The governor is fighting himself; the APC is only beginning to get strong now.

“We used to be just a social club as we have never won any election in Rivers.

“The PDP won the governorship seat in addition to the three Senate slots, the 12 seats in the House of Representatives and the 32 state assembly seats.

“So, it is one party fighting itself. The party was elected to serve, but what we are being served  is trouble,” he fumed.

He said 14 people aspired to govern the state on the PDP platform, but Fubara, “the least of them”, got the ticket and became governor.

“It means he was favoured over others. People were ignored in his favour and they are angry. Those are the people fighting him,” Okocha said.

The APC chairman expressed optimism that  Fubara’s squabble with his party would favour the APC in 2027.

“As the crisis festers, there is no project to Fubara’s name. He has not done anything to the Rivers people in close to two years.

“As a virile opposition, we are taking the governor on many issues.

“We want to demarket him so that we shall win the seat in 2027,” he said.

Okocha said that peace would have returned to Rivers State if Fubara had listened to President Bola Tinubu’s counsel.

“When Rivers was about to get burnt, President Tinubu stepped in to broker peace.

“He suggested that all court cases should be withdrawn and the Budget be re-presented before the House of Assembly.

“He also suggested that members of the House of Assembly should be given access to state matters.

“I recall that Fubara agreed and told Mr President that peace was priceless while terror was senseless, but we got a different thing when we returned home,” he said. (NAN)