By Eze Okechukwu, Abuja

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio yesterday returned to the country from a brief vacation in London, promising Nigerians of robust legislative engagements when the senate resumes from its annual recess on September 23.His return has however put an end to the speculation that the Senate President was critically ill and admitted in a London hospital.

Recall that Akpabio had attended the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva between July 29 and 31st after which he headed to London for a short vacation. The Senate President, who touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 4.00am Monday was received at the Presidential Wing by senators, aides and Nigerians from different walks of life.Fielding questions from journalists on arrival, the Senate President “promised Nigerians robust legislative engagements on resumption”.He further justified the presence of a strong Nigerian delegation at the International Parliamentary Union in Geneva, assuring the people of more derivatives of democratic governance and effective collaboration with the other arms of government.

From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

A Niger Delta Youth Leader, Douye Karikarisei has described the sterling performance of the Chief Dr. Samuel Ogbuku led Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in the region as a true reflection of the President Bola Tinubu Renewed Hope Agenda.

Douye Karikarisei said among the intervention agencies and MDAs set up by the Federal Government, the present NDDC has emerged the most effective with the Renewed Hope Agenda interpreted through visible projects, infrastructures, empowerment and giving the people in communities across the region a sense of belonging. Karikarisei, who made this known at the weekend in Port Harcourt, while felicitating with the Managing Director of the NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku as he marks 50 years of age on Tuesday 19th August 2025, said the unparallel and distinguished performance of the Dr. Ogbuku led commission in the region has made it easier for the President to prevail across the region in the forthcoming 2027 Presidential elections.Karikarisei commended the Ogbuku led NDDC for the recent commissioning of projects and infrastructure across the different states of the region, including the 27.5-kilometre Ogbia-Nembe Road, constructed in partnership with Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, “The road, with seven bridges and 50 culverts, connects 14 communities in Bayelsa State.”According to him, the NDDC also commissioned the 6km Iko-Atabrikang-Akata-Opulom-Ikot Inwang-Okoroutip-Iwochang Road and 600m Ibeno Bridge in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, as well as the 9km Obehie-Oke-Ikpe Road in Ukwa West LGA of Abia State.”In the area of electricity, the NDDC commissioned the 45-km double-circuit 33KV feeder line from Omotosho Power Station to Okitipupa in Ondo State, “This electrification project supplies light to the 25 local governments that have been in darkness for over 15 years.”The Dr. Ogbuku led commission also inaugurated the 1×15MVA 33/11KV electricity injection substation in Amufi, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area in Benin City, Edo State.” “As part of the “Light-Up-Niger Delta” strategy, the commission has displayed a high sense of inclusion by mobilising youths, community leaders and Women groups to participate in the allocation of solar lights projects across their various communities.“Thousands of youths from the region are being trained in Nigeria and in prestigious institutions around the world by the Dr. Ogbuku led commission to acquire the technological know-how for the future development of the region and country. Also, several empowerment programmes are frequently rolled out to empower both the youths and the elderly across the region.“For the first time in the history of the Niger Delta region, solar lights have powered thousands of streets and roads that were once in darkness and had claimed hundreds of innocent lives through deadly accidents. Dr. Ogbuku’s visionary leadership has renewed the hope of millions of people across the region,” the statement read.

From Attah Ede, Makurdi

Benue State Government said it is revamping 98 Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) across 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.The Special Adviser to Governor Hyacinth Alia on Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs (BLGCA), Denen Aondoakaa, disclosed this while playing host to members of the correspondents’ chapel in his office in Makurdi.

Denen maintained that the administration of father Alia is doing the renovation in partnership with relevant stakeholders under the IMPACT Project Nigeria, a World Bank assisted project. ”The government has embarked on the project to ensure that health services are sufficiently made available to rural dwellers.”We are renovating 98 PHCs across the IMPACT Project. Each Local Government has three to four PHCs. We want to ensure that when a woman walks into a PHC, someone is there to attend to her.””We are also renovating staff quarters and chairmen residential buildings to make them stay back at their respective local government areas to work instead of running to urban centers. “In most LGs, residential quarters for the Director of General Services and Administration (DGSA and Chairmen were dilapidated and abandoned. But we are renovating them and creating an enabling environment for the officers to stay comfortably and work in their respective LGAs”, Aondoakaa said.On the security situation in the state, he intimated that there are still communities in the state that people cannot access as a result of continued attacks by suspected headers.He noted that the anti-open grazing law is still in place in the State, stressing that any cow that is not ranched is not supposed to be in Benue as the owners are breaking the law.The adviser added that the state government is doing everything to support the security agencies to do their job in the state, stating that the government will continue to improve on what they are doing.