News
‘Wike’s displacement of 100,000 Rivers people wicked, evil, inhuman’
Former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has said Governor Nyesom Wike’s forceful ejection of over 100,000 poor and vulnerable Rivers residents from their waterfront homes is “wicked, evil and inhuman”.
He pointed out that it was part of the governor’s plans to convert the areas into personal ownership.
He was reacting to the recent ejection of residents from more than 10 waterfront communities in Diobu, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Dakuku, who described Wike’s action against the residents as callous, said the spite with which the governor treated the waterfront occupants was cruel as there was no lawful quit notice or any compensation paid.
“This commando-style of doing things always adopted by Wike has become the hallmark of his administration and its legacy,” he stressed.
He argued that Wike’s action against the waterfront residents was against all Universal Laws and Conventions on Human Rights and Habitation, including the United Nations Human Settlement Programme, UN-Habitat, United Nations Housing Rights Programme, UNHRP, the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Nigeria’s Policy on Housing.
Peterside, in a statement by his media team, stressed that shelter was a right and fundamental to the welfare, survival and health of man.
“For Wike, who, in the over six years of his regime, was unable to provide any sort of housing programme for Rivers residents, to sack them from the little they had, shows how he holds Rivers’ poor population in disdain.
“Some of the residents of those demolished areas, most of whom are Rivers people, had lived there for over forty years. His actions have dislocated many families and ruined their economic survival, throwing them into the worst form of poverty. Governor Wike’s action has created more nuisance than sanity or security,” he stated.
Dr Peterside said in as much as he stood with and would support any urban renewal programme, such should follow due process and have human face.
“I totally support urban renewal but it should follow due process that will respect human dignity and inflict minimal pains on the people.
“A responsible government would plan with inputs from all critical stakeholders, reach an understanding with residents of the affected areas on a workable timeline, and pay necessary financial compensation to cushion the effects of consequential migration.
“Rivers people do not know the vision and development goals of the Wike administration for waterfront development other than primitive acquisition of land for the governor and his cronies” said Dakuku.
He challenged Wike to make public his development plans for those sacked waterfront settlements if he had any.
“Knowing Wike too well, he has no development plans for them. If he didn’t have any development plan for Rivers State since 2015, is it now that he is engulfed in the politics of his 2023 ambition that he would have development plan? The use of the left hand is not learnt in old age.
“By May this year, Wike would have spent seven years in office but with absolutely nothing to show of how he has helped lift Rivers people out of poverty, or how he has helped Rivers youth develop themselves.
“All he is interested in is transactions that will give him monetary benefits. Those sacked waterfront residents should not forget Wike’s wickedness against them and repay him and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, come 2023,” he said.
The Nation
News
Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name
Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name
Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has directed the immediate freezing of all state-owned bank accounts.
In a statement issued on Thursday by his Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, the governor stated that the accounts would remain frozen until further notice.
He instructed commercial banks, ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to comply with the order immediately or face severe consequences.
The statement reads: “All state bank accounts with commercial banks have been frozen. Commercial banks must comply with this order and ensure that not a single naira is withdrawn from government coffers until further notice.
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“Heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies must ensure full compliance without delay.
“Following necessary investigations and reconciliations, the governor will take appropriate action and decide on the way forward. For now, this order remains in effect.”
Okpebholo also directed relevant agencies to revert the name of the Ministry of Roads and Bridges to its previous title, the Ministry of Works, a change made during the Godwin Obaseki administration.
“It is odd to name a government institution the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, especially when not a single bridge was built by the previous administration — not even a pedestrian bridge.
“In the coming days, we will examine further actions taken by the previous administration and make decisions that serve the best interests of the state,” the statement added.
Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name
News
Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi
Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi
Prominent Islamic scholar Dr. Ahmad Mahmud Gumi has criticized the widely discussed two-state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict, calling it a “deception.”
His remarks followed a recent summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Riyadh, where President Bola Tinubu and other leaders condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and urged an end to hostilities.
In an interview with Daily Trust at his Kaduna residence, Gumi argued, “This Two-State Solution is a deception. No Israeli will allow a Palestinian to survive, and Palestinians will never allow Israel to survive.
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The only solution is to dissolve the two states and create a democratically electable region.”
Gumi commended the OIC’s support for Palestine, noting that Muslims and Arabs worldwide increasingly see the treatment of Palestinians as “genocide” and accuse Israel of human rights abuses.
He also called for a return to the pre-1948 structure, where Palestinians, Jews, and Christians lived together, suggesting a single, inclusive state that allows peaceful coexistence.
“When I hear people talking about Two-State Solutions, I know they are just deceiving themselves,” Gumi added, advocating for a unified region where people of all faiths can live together, similar to the multi-faith coexistence seen in countries like the United States.
Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi
News
Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll
Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll
The Labour Party candidature of Olusola Ebiseni for the upcoming gubernatorial election in Ondo State has been nullified.
The nullification follows the sacking of Ebiseni by the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday.
The governorship election of the southwest State will hold on Saturday, 16 November 2024.
The judgement disqualifying Ebiseni was unanimously delivered by the three members of the panel and read out by the chairman of the panel, Justice Adebukola Banjoko.
The judgment granted the prayer of the Labour Party who preferred the case against Ebiseni.
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Justice Banjoko held that, “the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024 brought by the Labour Party against Chief Olusola Ebiseni and two others is allowed.”
Justice Banjoko further stated that the Certified True Copy of the judgment would be provided to the parties involved in the appeal as soon as possible for their review.
Recall that Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to accept and recognize Olusola Ebiseni and Ezekiel Awude as the Labour Party’s governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the November 16 Ondo State governorship elections.
Justice Nwite confirmed that the second primary election conducted by the Labour Party, which resulted in Ebiseni and Awude being selected as candidates, was valid and should be upheld by INEC.
However, the appellate court has now overturned the judgment of the trial court’s judgment.
Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll
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