NEWS
Wike to Complete Vice President’s Abandoned Official Resident Before May 29th
By Laide Akinboade, Abuja
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday, said his administration has concluded arrangements to Complete the abandoned construction of the official residence of the Vice President before May 29th 2024.
Wike made this known while on inspection of the project being handled by Messrs Julius Berger in Abuja.
The Minister who was accompanied by some key officials of FCT Administration praised the construction giant for displaying strong commitment towards the completion of the project by mobilizing to site without being mobilized.
He therefore pledged to make funds available before December for the completion of the project having got the approval of the President and the Vice President.
According to him: “When we came here last time, bushy it was, and you made a promised to us that you will be a able to complete this project in the next eight months, even though we have not mobilized you, I do know that you have confidence in us, let me assure you that we will mobilise you before December God willing.
“Then, you have to expedite to see that this is completed before May 29th 2024. I believe you have that capacity, I believe you don’t need to wait, you know I will not make a promise that I will not fulfill, as far as I have gotten the support of Mr President and the Vice President, I can tell you to go.
“Put everything you have so that we can achieve this, so that all these stories about abandoned projects will be a thing of the past. The manpower seen shows that you are really serious, so, just go ahead, you are going to be mobilized.
In his welcome address, the Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, Engr. Sheu Hadi disclosed that the project site has been captured in the original Abuja master plan.
“The original master plan of Abuja provides this site as the official residence of the Vice President,” he said.
While giving the overview of the facility, the Director of Public Building, FCDA, had this to say: ” Right behind us is the main building, it has three different living rooms on the Ground floor and also the Vice President private room and conveniences, and there is also a provision for the second lady private lounge.
“The building over there is the chapel, and the one behind us is the mosque, and a dormitory for the security personnel, right behind there is the entrance with the screening facility for guests that would be coming into the premises. This is what the project entails, it was awarded in 2010.
Showing commitment to the completion of the project, Julius Berger explained that it has so far cleared all the bush in the area including cleaning of Inside of the building.
“We have already mobilized our team, facilities are here, the next step is to order all the equipment required and the finishing products build up, since scheduled is been very tight, so far we are thankful for giving us this opportunity to finalise,” he said
Meanwhile the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike has set up a taskforce to critically examine the land swap initiative started by his predecessors.
The land swap initiative that was started in 2012 had suffered a setback, due to several factors.
One of the challenges, include agitation for integration, instead of relocation by some indigenous communities that will be affected by initiative.
The Minister noted that the taskforce working on the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), was being empowered to handle all the complaints about the land swap.
Wike disclosed that several stakeholders have raised a lot of concerns about the initiative, hence the need to quickly review it.
He has directed the taskforce to review the agreement and all other documents that have relevant information on the initiative.
The taskforce that is headed by the Senior Special Assistant to the Minister on Lands, Urban and Regional Planning, Michael Chinda, has the mandate to work and deliver results within two months.
Wike said, “We have had a lot of complaints about land swap. You have been mandated to look at the agreement and consider its favourability to government.”
The FCT Customary Court, Dutse, Abuja has appealed to the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to facilitate the renovation of its court complex which fell victim to vandalism and arson during the 2020 EndSARS protests.The President of the Court, Aderinto Adesoji, made the appeal during a resumed hearing in a divorce case between a petitioner, Chiwendu Nwadi and her husband, Emeka Nwadi in Ushafa, Abuja.
The Customary Court, Dutse has been sharing the court complex of a sister court in Ushafa for its sittings following the destruction. of its facilities, four years back.NAN reports that while Customary Court, Ushafa, the real owner of the facility, has its sittings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in a week, the Dutse court has its sittings on Tuesday and Thursday. Report says that Dutse and Ushafa are communities in Bwari Area Council of the FCT and they are about 17 kilometres apart.Addressing lawyers to the parties in the divorce case, when they were finding it difficult to agree on a date for next hearing in the matter, the President of the court said it is a recurrent challenge in matters before the courtAccording to him, the constraint of the panel, sitting only twice in a week has grossly affected quick dispensation of justice.He said most cases before the cout involve families, in particular, custody of children which require urgent adjudication, and should not be encumbered.Adesoji said, considering the fact that lawyers and their clients are affected by the constraints, the NBA should take steps to ensure that the appropriate authorities renovate the Dutse court complex.He said promises have been made by the association to that effect in the past, but they were yet to be actualised.Responding to the President’s appeal, Mr Moses Ibe, the lawyer to the petitioner promised the court that he would convey the message to the NBA, Bwari branch for necessary action.Ibe said this in an interview after the court session, that the distance of the court to its jurisdiction and the restrictive days of sittings have affected quick dispensation of justice.He said the essence of building the Dutse court was to bring justice closer to the people, but it has been defeated by the failure of appropriate authorities to renovate it for useThe Counsel promised to officially write to the NBA, Bwari branch to convey the Judge’s message and request for interventionAccording to Ibe, the Dutse court complex, used to serve as the Secretariat of the NBA Bwari branch, before it was vandalised and set ablaze by the EndSARS protesters.Meanwhile, the court has adjourned further hearing in the divorce petition until Oct. 21 to enable the respondent file his reply.Adesoji and other members of the panel, Nana Atipkoru, Aisha Hamza adjourned the case following the position of the respondent’s lawyer, Cornelius Simon, that his client was not served with the “particular of claims” in the petition.The panel directed that all necessary processes should be filed and served before the adjourned date so that the case would be fixed for definite hearing.The panel also ordered that the parties should maintain the status quo, particularly, as regards the custody of the children – the last child is with the petitioner, while the other two are in the custody of the respondent.In the case, the petitioner is seeking, among others, the dissolution of her 13 years marriage with her husband on the ground that “the union has broken down irretrievably”.She alleged that the husband, “is a man of unimaginable violence and cruelty, fetish, a serial wife beater and adulterer’The petitioner alleged that her husband deliberately poisoned her drink which led to losing her pregnancy.According to the petitioner, the union, consummated in 2011, under the native law and custom, as well as exchange of marital vows in a Church, has produced three children, ages, 12 years, 11 years and 2 years.She urged the court to dissolve the marriage, grant custody of the three children to her and restrain the husband from using thugs or any security agents to harass her. (NAN)
The Northern Youths Assembly has cautioned the National Assembly against passing the Tax Reforms Bill from the executive before the legislature.This is contained in an open letter to the lawmakers signed by the group’s President, Dr Ali Mohammed, and Secretary-General, Dr Garba Abduljafiz and made available to newsmen in Kano on Thursday.
The group said the bill, if passed into law, would not be in the interest of the people, particularly youths, urging for broader consultation on matters of that nature. The youths urged the National Assembly to concentrate on youth-friendly laws to safeguard the country’s future instead.“The youth are Nigeria’s future, “and our prosperity hinges on investments in education, skills development, and job creation.“As the largest political demography in the nation, youth must have a say in laws and policies that directly impact the country’s future.“We call for the creation of a special place at the centre, to allow the youths to contribute to solutions that may promote sustainable development, job creation, and economic empowerment,” the group said.The group urged the lawmakers to focus more on making laws that would improve investment climate and job creation.“We urge the National Assembly members to direct their resources and energy towards creating laws that would prioritise and encourage foreign investment.“The laws should encourage skills development and jobs creation for the teeming population of the youths, to improve measures that risk stifling the Nigerian economic opportunity.“We also urge them to stop complying with the dictates and advisory of the agents of destruction, IMF and World.“We must stay away from the trap of the IMF and World Bank, as they are all out to destroy our country through their ill-formulated policies and misleading advisory’’, the group said. (NAN)
The Defence Headquarters has confirmed the emergence of a new terrorists’ group known as ‘Lukarawas’ exacerbating insecurity in the North Western part of Nigeria.The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, made this known while briefing newsmen on the operations of the military on Thursday in Abuja.
Buba said that the new terror group emerged from the Republic of Niger after the coup that led to the breakdown of military cooperation between Nigeria and Niger. He said that the terrorists began incursion into northern parts of Sokoto and Kebbi States from the Niger Republic and Mali axis, particularly after the coup in Niger Republic.According to him, prior to the coup, there were joint border operations with Nigerien security forces which kept the terrorist at bay.“The terrorists took advantage of the gaps in cooperation between both countries and exploited difficult terrains to make incursions in remote areas in some North Western states to spread their ideology,” he said.Buba said that the group was accommodated by the locals who initially thought that the group meant well for them, adding that they failed to report the movement to the military and security agencies.He gave assurance that toops had sustained Imtelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) to degrade the terrorists.He added that the terror group had continued to take advantage of the vast under-governed areas to hide and evade troops as well as harass the locals.According to him, troops are locating them and eliminating the threat. (NAN)
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