Air Peace'll meet with Emir of Kano soon over missed flight - Onyema – Newstrends
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Air Peace’ll meet with Emir of Kano soon over missed flight – Onyema

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3 years ago

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The management of Air Peace has said that it will meet with Aminu Ado Bayero, the Emir of Kano and the emirate very soon in a bid to resolve the misunderstanding arising from last week’s missed flight by the emir and his entourage.

The airline said that it would not like the issue to heat up the polity, maintaining that it would continue to preach peace and unity of Nigeria.

Allen Onyema, the Chairman, Air Peace, made the statement on Monday when Independent Newspapers’ team led by Mr. Don Okere, the editor, Daily Independent, paid him a courtesy visit in his office at the Government Reserved Area (G.R.A) Ikeja, Lagos.

Independent Newspapers selected Mr. Onyema as the Businessman of the Year 2021 in its annual award slated for Saturday at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.

Fielding questions from the editorial team, Onyema regretted the altercations that arose from the missed flight, but described the emir as a quiet and a peace loving man who would not encourage violence of any sort.

He also cautioned the public, especially the media, against escalating the issue, assuring that the airline would resolve the issue amicably. He said: “I don’t want to be used to heat up the polity.

“I don’t want Air Peace to be a source of rancour in the country. Air Peace has always been known as an airline that was borne out of peace.

‘I have been a very peaceful person and I have been pursuing tenets of peace all my life and I have been pursuing peace and unity of this country selflessly right from my teenage years.

“So, I cannot allow myself to be used or to be involved in anything that will tear the country apart.

‘And the Emir of Kano I know is a peace loving man. I have always known him as a prince when the late father was still alive.

“I have paid homage to the father several times. He may not remember me, but when I bring pictures of me and his father and him also, he will realise that I have been paying homage to his father.

“I have always known him as a very quiet and unassuming person and nothing has changed.

“I don’t think the emir of Kano will want to be involved in what is happening and I can tell you he is a very respectable man.

“We are going to meet any day. He’s not a troublesome person and I am sure he will like to meet with me and I will also like to meet with him, too.

“There is nothing at stake, we are all one Nigeria. We don’t want people to capitalise on this to start fanning embers of disunity in the country. People should play it down; the media should play it down.

“The fragile peace we have in this country should not be toyed with in any way. Air Peace will not allow itself to be a source of rancour in the country.”

Recall that Isa Bayero, the cousin of the emir, had on Saturday issued a three-day ultimatum to Air Peace to apologise for allegedly “disrespecting” the monarch.

He had earlier written a letter of complaint to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), asking the regulatory body to take action against the airline for allegedly disrespecting the emir and the people of Kano.

He purported that the airline turned down his request to delay the Lagos-Kano scheduled flight after they were delayed in Banjul, Gambia, to Lagos.

Also, Onyema lauded President Muhammadu Buhari, Sen. Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation, and Capt. Musa Nuhu, the Director-General of NCAA, for putting national interest forward during the faceoff with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over his airline’s slots issue with the Middle East country.

He said the airline on Tuesday recommenced flight services to Dubai through the Dubai International Airport.

“Yes, we are returning to Dubai tomorrow (Tuesday). I cannot be a prouder Nigerian with what the Federal Government did as it concerns our flight operations into Dubai; Nigerians of all works of life and ethnicities were proud of the way the government stood behind Air Peace.

“The government was even ready to sacrifice the diplomatic relationship with the UAE if they didn’t do the right thing.

“I thank President Muhammadu Buhari for providing that kind of leadership where every Nigerian is protected no matter where you come from and no matter who you are,” he said.

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BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

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13 hours ago

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November 14, 2024

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BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

The federal government has unveiled a proposed budget of N47.9 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year.

Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, disclosed this to journalists on Thursday following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

Bagudu revealed that the council had approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2025-2027.

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According to the minister, the government has pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel, with an oil production target of 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd).

The budget also sets the exchange rate at N1,400 per dollar and aims for a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4%.

 

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

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EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

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13 hours ago

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November 14, 2024

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EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told FIJ that they have arrested Timber Wabote, the former executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCMB), on the grounds of a failed $35 million Bayelsa refinery project fraud.

Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s spokesperson, confirmed this to FIJ on Thursday.

“It is true,” Oyewale responded to FIJ’s inquiries.

Wabote is accused of misappropriating public funds for a refinery project that should have improved local energy production.

Vanguard reported that the NCDMB under Wabote paid $35 million to support the development of energy infrastructure in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa, yet there was nothing to show for it.

The EFCC picked Wabote up following the arrest of Akintoye Adeoye Akindele, the Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, for alleged misappropriation, money laundering and diversion of $35 million in public funds.

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“NCDMB under the watch of Wabote allegedly paid the $35 million to Akindele to build a 2,000 barrel per day (BPD), refinery, jetty, gas plant, power plant, data centre and tank farm at Brass free trade zone (FTZ), Okpoama Community in Brass LGA of Bayelsa State,” a source with the EFCC had explained.

Since December 2020 when the payments were made, Akindele abandoned the project with little or nothing to show for the huge sum he received.

Preliminary investigations showed that Wabote’s NCDMB financed 17 different projects, including the 2,000 BPD refinery in Brass LGA.

There has been a series of public fund misappropriation cases in the energy sector in recent times.

FIJ earlier reported that members of the House of Representatives summoned three ministers to defend how over $2 billion was spent on renewable energy with not much to show for it.

A recent FIJ report also recently detailed how residents of Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa, have not had power in their homes since July due to the vandalisation of the Ahoada-Yenagoa transmission towers caused by unidentified persons.

The Bayelsa state government told FIJ it was the federal government’s responsibility to provide electricity for residents. The state has no renewable energy options reliable enough to power its capital despite the multi-million-dollar NCMB energy project.

Transparency in the energy sector has become necessary at a time when Nigerians have suffered power instability due to frequent grid collapses.

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

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Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

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13 hours ago

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November 14, 2024

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Yahaya Bello

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested an adjournment in the new case against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, stating that the 30-day window for the previously issued summons is still active.

The commission has granted administrative bail to his co-defendants, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, and asked the court for an extension of time for Bello to appear.

At the resumed hearing before Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, EFCC Counsel Jamiu Agoro noted that the court’s order from October 3rd had not yet expired.

“In that wise, we feel it will not be appropriate for us to take proceedings while that 30 days is still running. So we have discussed and agreed to come back on the 27th day of November, 2024, my lord,” he told the court.

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He also mentioned that the previously set date of November 20th was not convenient for the prosecution counsels.

Counsel to the second defendant, Aliyu Saiki, SAN, confirmed that his client had been granted administrative bail by the prosecution and had no objection to the adjournment request. The third defendant’s counsel, ZE Abass, concurred.

The prosecution counsel also requested the court to allow the notice of hearing to be pasted on the last known address of the first defendant.

After hearing from all counsels, the judge granted the EFCC’s application for adjournment and the issuance of the hearing notice.

“I have considered the application for adjournment by the complainant and issuance of hearing notice and the submission by the second and third defendants. The application is granted,” she said.

Justice Anenih then adjourned the case to November 27th for arraignment.

The former governor, alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are being prosecuted as 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively, in a fresh 16-count charge instituted against them by the EFCC.

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

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