Questions over Buhari's ministerial nominee, Odum's background; born 1972, had NECO 2000 – Newstrends
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Questions over Buhari’s ministerial nominee, Odum’s background; born 1972, had NECO 2000

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On Tuesday, Senate President Ahmad Lawan read a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari, requesting the upper legislative chamber’s confirmation of seven nominees for appointment as ministers.

The nominees are Henry Ikechukwu (Abia), Umana Okon Umana (Akwa Ibom), Ekuma Joseph (Ebonyi), Goodluck Nana Obia (Imo), Umar Ibrahim Yakub (Kano), Ademola Adewole Adegorioye (Ondo) and Udi Odum (Rivers).

However, one of the nominees, Odum, has an interesting background.

WHO IS UDI ODUM?

Born July 24, 1972, Odum got his first school leaving certificate from the State School, Ogbema, in 1986. However, it took over 10 years before he got his National Examination Council (NECO) result — in 2002 — after he attended the Government Secondary School, Egbolom.

Odum served as the chairman of Abua/Odua LGA in Rivers State. He also won the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) award for best LG chairman in 2008.

In 2009, he bagged a B.Sc. in management from the University of Port Harcourt, and was excluded from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme in 2011. He, however, went on to obtain a postgraduate diploma in management, also from the University of Port Harcourt, in 2012.

THE DRAMA WITH WIKE

Months after he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), in 2015, Odum was accused of involvement in pre-election violence aimed at disrupting Nyesom Wike’s governorship campaign in Abua/Odua LGA.

According to reports, Wike, the then governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), narrowly escaped death as he was caught in a cross-fire between armed hoodlums and security operatives in the LGA.

“I enjoin the police to fish out those behind this dastardly attack. I tell you, we know those who are involved in this. We shall go after them. They will not get away. The commissioner of police must have to find out those that carried out this attack this afternoon,” Wike was quoted as saying at the time.

“You cannot do that here when I have come to Abua to campaign and come to Port Harcourt to rest. They must face justice.

“Wherever they are, they must face justice. The former chairman of Abua/Odua Local Government Area, Hon Udi Odum, is involved. The current chairman of the caretaker committee of Abua/Odua local government area, Gift Igoma, is involved. Tell them I am coming after them. They will never run away”.

However, Odum had denied his involvement in the chaos, and said the incident was the work of cultists in the area.

“What happened is essentially a cult war between Icelanders and Greenlanders who are largely PDP members. I am not a member of the PDP. We are currently involved in a rigorous political campaign for our party here,” he had said.

According to a source in the presidency, Odum was nominated by Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation.

The upper legislative chamber is expected to screen the ministerial nominees on a later date.

 

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Yahaya Bello govt spending third term in office through Ododo – Clark

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Yahaya Bello, Chief Edwin Clark

Yahaya Bello govt spending third term in office through Ododo – Clark

Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, says the former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, administration was nothing to write home about.

This is even as he asked the embattled former governor to surrender himself to the authorities.

Bello has been in the news for days on end over money laundering and financial impropriety.

He was declared wanted after he evaded the economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC) who had stormed his Abuja residence to apprehend him.

Speaking on Bello’s time as the governor of the middle belt state, Clark, who is the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, stated that state sponsored violence, corruption, civilian repression and political killings were rife when Bello was in office.

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Clark also pointed out that Bello is still running the show in Kogi state as he is currently spending third term in power through the incumbent governor, Ododo, who he planted in office.

“Yahaya Bello is just being stubborn. He has been living very very rough…having a very rough government, corruption, killing of people in the place during elections and so on,” Clark said during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday.

“There’s time for everything and it has come for him to answer questions. He should go to court. He should go to court to answer the substance of the case, where did he get the money from?

“Is it true or not that the money he paid to the American school belongs to him or belongs to the government of Kogi State?

“The behaviour of the new Governor shows Yahaya Bello is in power for the third time. Ahmed Ododo is just running after him.

“I just want to plead with Ododo to do the needful so that the youth in this country will have something to fall upon.”

Yahaya Bello govt spending third term in office through Ododo – Clark

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‘Unfounded accusation’ – Obi slams Umahi over instigation of Igbo against Tinubu claim

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David Umahi, Peter Obi

‘Unfounded accusation’ – Obi slams Umahi over instigation of Igbo against Tinubu claim

Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, says he is not in the business of whipping up ethnic sentiments or amplifying Nigeria’s fault lines to gain socio-political mileage.

Obi said this reaction to comment made by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, at an event on Wednesday on the Lagos-Calabar road project.

Obi has been vocal in his criticism of the road project, calling it a misplaced priority as it is not what Nigeria needs at a time of lean resources and plethora of challenges begging for drastic solution.

Umahi while speaking at the event said Obi’s position on the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project amounted to pitting Nigerians of Eastern extraction, who are majorly Igbos, against the government of President Bola Tinubu.

He also accused Obi of demolishing property without compensating those affected when he was Anambra governor, Obi was inciting South Easterners against the government

“When His Excellency Peter Obi was the governor. He made a statement saying, “Any infrastructure that stands in the way of the road must go. And there would be no compensation paid.” That’s what he said,” Umahi said.

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“And I think he’s inciting some of the South-East people that are not well informed. He is inciting them. And gets them into trouble,” he added

Reacting to Umahi’s allegation of divisiveness and sedition in a statement on Wednesday, Obi opined that he is a preacher of peace and advocate of unity who always wants what is best for the country.

Obi, who described criticisms that he is inciting Igbo against Tinubu’s government as baseless, stated that he won’t wallow in the murky water of divisive ethnic politics like many of his contemporaries and opponents do.

He stated, “My focus is on fostering constructive dialogue and inclusivity, rather than engaging in divisive politics, Claims of incitement are baseless distractions. I have always advocated unity and advancement, refusing to partake in reactionary divisive politics.

“I refuse to be reduced to the level of those who wallow in ethnic politics. Worse still, I have never and can never descend so low as to base my political aspirations on any sectional or ethnic interest.”

The former Anambra governor also said there were no comparisons between the demolition he did when he was governor and what the Tinubu-led government was currently doing.

‘Unfounded accusation’ – Obi slams Umahi over instigation of Igbo against Tinubu claim

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NDIC jacks up deposit insurance cover from N500,000 to N5m

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NDIC jacks up deposit insurance cover from N500,000 to N5m

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has announced a significant increase in the maximum deposit insurance coverage levels for Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other financial institutions, effective immediately.

During a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, NDIC Managing Director Bello Hassan disclosed, “For Deposit Money Banks, the increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage from N500,000 to N5,000,000, would provide full coverage of 98.98% of the total depositors compared with the current cover of 89.20%. In terms of the value of deposit covered, the revised coverage would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 25.37% compared with the current cover of 6.31% of the total value of deposits.”

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Hassan further explained, “The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage for primary mortgage banks from N500,000 to N2,000,000 would provide full coverage of 99.99% of the total number of depositors and would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 43.10% of the total value deposits from the current cover of 40.60%.”

Additionally, Hassan noted, “The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage for subscribers of Mobile Money Operators from N500,000 to N5,000,000 per subscriber.”

NDIC jacks up deposit insurance cover from N500,000 to N5m

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