Politics
Wike Tasks Palliative Committee To Focus On Less Privileged
Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike has charged the committee in charge of the distribution of palliatives to reach out to all the less privileged, irrespective of political party affiliations.
Governor Wike gave the charger last Monday while inaugurating the committee to distribute foodstuffs to Rivers people as palliative to cushion the hardship caused by strategies to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Governor Wike said: “The distribution of these foodstuffs has nothing to do with party membership. It should get to all less privileged people.
“That is why we have clerics, security personnel and other people in the Committee. There should be no application of sentiments in sharing”.
According to the Governor, the sharing train of the committee will reach out to all the 23 local government areas of the state but stressed that Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor local government areas with the highest concentration of residents of the state would take the lead.
So far, the Committee which is chaired by the State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ambassador Desmond Akawor, has covered parts of Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
Also last week, the state Governor announced the settings aside of N2billion to empower farmers and fishermen in the state to produce food for residents during the period of the lockdown.
In a press conference on Monday, Gov Wike said the committee will purchase all agricultural products produced in the state for distribution to the less privileged.
He said that the step was to ensure that non complains of hunger within this period.
“Ours is to ensure that no agricultural product like yam, plantain, palm oil and fish leaves out state during this period.
“While the farmers and fishermen will make their profits, the less privileged will have enough food supply for their families.”
The 33- member Committee is headed by the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr Tammy Danagogo while the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Fred Kpakol serves as the Secretary.
The Brick House landlord, last week declared Carveton Helicopters Persona Non Grata and directed council chairmen to close all offices of the company in the state.
This followed the illegal entry of the company’s helicopter , it’s crew and passengers into the state in contravention of the Executive Order by the governor, closing all land, sea and air borders of the state as a measure to check the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Rivers State.
Gov Wike stated that the state Government appreciated the need to to protect business interests and operations in the state and would do whatever that was required to ensure that no business was unduly affected by the measures put in place to combat the coronavirus.
He said: “However, we shall not welcome businesses or companies that value their business activities or profit more than or in clear disregard of the lives and health of our people.
“By it’s actions Carveton Helicopters have already shown that Rivers lives do not matter to it, it is an enemy of Rivers people and is hereby declared Persona Non Grata in Rivers State”.
According to the Governor, the insensitive and provocative actions of Calverton Helicopters took place in the midst of credible intelligence report about plans by enemies of the state to traffic carriers of the dreaded Coronavirus into the state.
The governor said COVID-19 in the state was a matter of life and death, and that the government would not succumb to any blackmail from any person, institution or quarters in its determination to protect the citizens and the state from the spread of the dreaded Coronavirus.
So far, Port Harcourt Chief Magistrate Court No 11 Presided over by Chief Magistrate D.D Ihua- Maduenyi Esq has ordered the remand of 10 passengers who flew into the Airforce Base Port Harcourt on board the Twin- Ottar Carveton Helicopters on 7/4/2020 in contravention of paragraph 8 of the Executive Order RVSG01/ 2020.
The Rivers State Chief Executive, vowed that he was ready to set aside his immunity to testify against those who violate the state’s border closure regulations aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus.
Gov Wike, in the week under review, appealed to Christians and Muslims to continue to shun public worship of anything above 50 persons per hall to check the spread of the coronavirus in the state.
By: Chris Oluoh
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted on the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise yesterday (Sunday) despite calls by some opposition political parties and civil society organisations for an extension over concerns that millions of citizens could be excluded from the 2027 general elections.
In a notice issued on its X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, the commission reminded the public that the exercise would end on Sunday, July 26, with designated registration centres open from 9am to 3pm.
“Your future won’t wait. Neither should you. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends Sunday, 26 July 2026,” the Commission stated.
INEC also reminded prospective voters that they could complete the registration process online through its dedicated CVR portal or visit designated INEC offices and registration centres nationwide for physical assistance.
The new Electoral Act stipulates that INEC is required to stop voter registration, updating and revision of the voters’ register 90 days before an election to allow for data clean-up, the printing of Permanent Voter Cards and other logistical preparations.
The law also requires the Commission to display the voters’ register for claims and objections within the stipulated period to enable eligible Nigerians to challenge omissions and errors and help ensure the credibility of the final register for the polls.
The INEC National Commissioner on Information and Voter Education, Mr Mohammed Haruna, told The Tide source that the Commission would not extend the deadline, stressing that the registration exercise had to close to allow the electoral body to begin cleaning the data already collected.
“By midnight on Sunday, voter registration ends. There won’t be any extension. There are so many things that we need to do at the back end. We have to draw a line; otherwise, we won’t be able to produce a clean copy of what has been posted,” he said.
Mr Haruna explained that the commission’s Information Technology team and the Voter Registration Department would begin processing the data immediately after the closure of the registration window.
He said INEC would deploy its Automated Biometric Identification System to detect and remove multiple registrations before the provisional voters’ register is displayed for public scrutiny.
“We have this automatic biometric system that will check whether somebody has registered more than once. They will publish the register for claims and objections. That is, if anybody thinks a name shouldn’t be on the register, or if he has some claims, for instance, that his name has been omitted or some of his details are incorrect,” he said.
According to him, the final number of newly registered voters would only be known after the biometric verification and the claims and objections process.
“So, it’s after all that has been done that we will have a final figure, which we will now add to the existing 93 million or so. That will then become the voters’ register. We are mandated to give every political party a copy ahead of the election,” Mr Haruna added.
Responding to concerns over the number of Nigerians who may be excluded from the 2027 electoral process by the closure, the national commissioner said INEC could only account for eligible citizens who presented themselves for registration.
He added that the commission had recorded registrations through its online platform, physical registration centres and INEC offices across the 774 local government areas.
According to a public announcement signed by Mr Ariyo Rufus, Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Inclusivity on behalf of Mr Oluwatoyin Babalola, the INEC Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the said exercise is aimed at assessing its operational readiness and testing the efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the governorship poll.
INEC stated that the exercise would simulate Election Day accreditation procedures but clarified that no voting would take place during the exercise.
The commission explained that “the mock accreditation would be conducted in selected polling units spread across the three senatorial districts of Osun State, covering Osun Central, Osun East and Osun West.
“In Osun Central Senatorial District, the selected local government areas are Osogbo, Olorunda, Ifelodun and Boripe, with designated polling units identified for the exercise.
“For Osun East Senatorial District, the exercise will take place in selected polling units across Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Oriade and Obokun local government areas.”
INEC also listed Egbedore, Ede North, Ede South and Ejigbo local government areas as the selected councils for the mock accreditation exercise in Osun West Senatorial District.
The commission urged all registered voters whose polling units were selected to participate in the exercise, stressing that only holders of valid Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be accredited.
“This exercise is designed to test the functionality and efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under conditions similar to Election Day. There shall be no voting during the exercise,” the Commission stated.
INEC reaffirmed its appreciation to residents of Osun State for their continued cooperation and support throughout the electoral process.
INEC also assured political parties, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders of the Commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.
Mr Dare made the remark while criticizing Alhaji Abubakar for hiring a United States of America lobbyist with $1.2 million, in preparation for the 2027 elections.
In a statement he personally signed, Mr Dare said the former vice president can’t take Nigeria down the path of self-destruction.
The statement read in part: “Worse still, for a man who presumes to offer leadership to Africa’s most populous nation, his recent resort to grievance offshoring, outsourcing political warfare to Washington and reportedly paying $1.2 million to an American lobbying firm to peddle petitions against a sitting Nigerian President, stands as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and a vote of no confidence in its democratic institutions.
“It is also a stinging slight, an implicit condescension directed at generations of Nigerian journalists, policy analysts, academics, and public intellectuals who have spent decades analysing, critiquing, and carrying the burden of the nation’s democratic evolution.
“The Atiku Abubakar of today cuts a pitiable figure, a grotesque portrait of what a politician becomes when ambition overwhelms judgment and every political faculty becomes programmed for self-destruction.
“No, Atiku cannot take Nigeria down that path with him. He must travel it alone. But first, Nigerians deserve Atiku Abubakar’s report card. Charity, they say, begins at home, not in Washington.
“Nigerians deserve to know whether the Atiku Abubakar who has long presented himself as a democrat is, in reality, a politician of many colours. He has erected for himself a throne built simultaneously on sand and bayonets. It is time to explode the bayonets.”
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