THE STATES

Ekiti

Governor  Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State has warned civil
servants in the state against involvement in partisan politics, saying that those found culpable will be made to face the consequences.
Fayose handed down the warning while addressing the public servants on Grade level 01-17 at the State’s Pavilion, Ado-Ekiti, recently.
He said civil servants, by their training and orientation, had no business in party politics, adding that workers’ partisanship in politics had the tendency of destroying the entire service.
According to him, there is no crime in a particular civil servant having sympathy for one political party or the other or voting in an election, explaining that such a scenario will turn out to be something else when it is done to the extreme.
He said his government had no plan to politicise the civil service and urged the workers to also keep off partisan politics in their own interest.

FCT

The Chairman of Bwari Central Market, Alhaji Shehu
Mohammed, has advised the area council against demolition of market stalls,  to promote commercial growth of the area.
Mohammed gave the advice in an interview with newsmen in Bwari, recently.
He appealed to the council to redesign the place, to achieve a meaningful growth in the volume of business taking place in the area.
“I urge the government to look into this issue of demolition; it is disturbing us, everyday we are thinking of it, so many people in this market have vacated based on the planned demolition.
“Our economy is depreciating; our capital is going down because of this very issue; customers are no longer coming steadily to the market. Why, because of demolition of a thing.
“It is not building that is market, it is people; so, when people are vacating the market, others will stop coming there” he said.

Gombe
Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State has ap
proved N750 million for the establishment of the state’s Geographic Information Services (GOGIS) to ease land administration in the state.
The Surveyor-General (SG) of the state, Alhaji Abubakar Umar, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Gombe.
Umar said the system, when fully implemented, would ensure easy access to land information and reduce land dispute.
He said the project would enhance revenue generation as well as connect all ministries, departments and agencies to enable the state chief executive easy access to the activities of the ministries online.
“GOGIS will reduce shoddy deals in land administration; any time you want to find anything, you will just click and find your files.
“There will be no overlapping which generates shoddy deals and there will be recertification of certificate of occupancy which will generate revenue as an amount will be charged for that.”

Kaduna
The Jama’atu Nasrul Islam (JNI), has cautioned Nigeri
ans not to react negatively to the shift in the date of the general elections announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday.
A statement signed by JNI Secretary General, Dr Khalid Abubakar expressed concern over the ‘uproar’ being generated in some quarters by the shift in the date of the polls.
The statement, made available to newsmen in Kaduna, called for restraint and caution on the part of politicians.
It urged politicians not hit up the already tense political situation in the country.
The statement stressed the need for Nigerians to be patriotic, responsible, tolerant and committed to peace and stability in the country before, during and after the elections.

Kano

Traders at the Kofar-Wanbai Market in Kano have called
on the federal government to intervene in the activities of some customs officers allegedly confiscating goods in some parts of the country.
The spokesman of the traders, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, made the call while addressing newsmen in Kano recently.
He wondered why goods purchased from the eastern part of the country meant to be delivered to the north part were being impounded by custom officers.
“Despite the directive given by the Comptroller-General that goods bought from one part of the country should not be confiscated but they still ignore the directive,’’ he said.
He noted that the activities of such officers were capable of denting the image of the service when the Comptroller- General was making effort to sanitise the operations.
According to him, some of the affected traders have recorded huge loss within the last one year.

Kebbi

The Wife of Kebbi Governor, Hajiya Zainab Dakingari,
has distributed empowerment tools to women in Zuru Local Council of the state.
Dakingari distributed the tools at a PDP governorship candidate, Gen. Bello Sarkin-Yaki’s political rally in Zuru.
Our correspondent reports that the items include 414 deep freezers, 700 irrigation pumps, 200 sewing machines.
She said that the donation was to encourage women to be self-reliant and urged the beneficiaries to utilise the items judiciously to improve their economic status.
She urged the women to obtain their PVCs and vote Sarkin-Yaki as the most appropriate replacement of her husband.
“Gen. Sarkin-Yaki has served the nation competently and has unblemished record and was never found wanting, “she said.
Kwara

The Kwara State Police Command has arrested the son of
an ex-police officer on alleged charges of threatening another person with a gun and illegal possession of firearms.
Mr Salihu Garuba, the state’s Commissioner of Police, said this while addressing newsmen in Ilorin.
Garuba said that the accused person (name withheld) was arrested on Feb. 6 at Tanke, Ilorin, while threatening one Al-Amin Lukman with a gun during a rift between them.
He said the suspect was the son of a late Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in Nasarawa State.
He said when a search was conducted at the suspect’s residence at Tanke area of Ilorin, a beretta pistol; a revolver pistol and a locally-made double barrel gun were recovered.
Other items recovered, Garuba said, include: 133 pieces of 7.62mm ammunition; 28 pieces of .9mm ammunition; 22 pieces of 7.6mm ammunition; three Bullet proof vests; a respiratory and a complete set of body protector.
He said three blasts; a hand grenade; 11 smoke cartridges; 86 live cartridges; 42 pieces of 5.5mm; two pieces of .36mm ammunitions; and two pairs of handcuffs with key, were also recovered.
Lagos

The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has ap
pealed to the Federal Government to provide easy access for farmers to obtain agricultural loans.
The National Secretary of the association, Mr Okon Edehoema, made the appeal in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
He said that many farmers could not boost their production capacity due to lack of access to government guaranteed loans.
According to him, there are many bureaucratic bottlenecks preventing farmers from benefiting from financial incentives provided by the Federal Government.
“Many farmers have not benefited from various agricultural funds because of stringent conditions put in place by disbursing agencies.
“Some state governments usually divert funds meant for small scale farmers to service other causes.
“They end up issuing paltry sums to the farmers and call it empowerment,’’ he said.

Taraba

National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has
donated additional relief materials worth millions of Naira to the 27 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Taraba.
The Head, Gombe operations office of the agency, Alhaji Saidu Ahmed, presented the materials to the state government in Jalingo recently.
In his remark at the occasion, Ahmed said the additional materials were presented to the IDPS camps following a request from the state government and an assessment of the needs of the camps carried out by NEMA
He said the materials included 900 bags of assorted grains, 100 bags of sugar, 100 bags of salt, 100 bundles of roofing sheets and 500 bags of nails.
Others are 500 pieces of blankets, 1,000 pieces of nylon mats, 300 pieces of mattresses and 500 pieces of ceiling boards.
Also presented are 50 kegs of vegetable oil, 2,000 pieces of mosquito nets, 1,500 pieces of guinea brocade and 2,000 pieces of wax prints.

Zamfara

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in Zamfara has
repatriated a total of 150 immigrants who illegally entered Nigeria from neighbouring countries, this year.
The State Comptroller of the Service, Mr Shehuri Sadiq, stated this at a news briefing in Gusau recently.
Sadiq said the aliens were arrested during the ongoing mop-up operation and removal of irregular immigrants in the state.
He said the raids were carried out in areas including Bungudu, Mada, Mado town, Gusau, Samaru, Filin Jirgi, Gada biyu and Damba.

Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke receiving an ipad made in Calabar phone and ipad Assembling plant from the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Arch. Darius Ishaku during a courtesy visit, shortly after the graduation ceremony of first batch of 100 graduates from the Centre in Calabar.