News
APC Member Denied Minority Leader Slo …As RVHA Gets Principal Officers, approves Commissioners
L-R: Commandant, 42 Div., Nigerian Army Engineering Corps, Brig.-Gen. Henry Ayamasaowei, GOC. 2 Div., Brig.-Gen. Sanusi Muazu and Corps Commander, Education Corps, Maj.-Gen. Sunday Adebayo, at the 2015 second quarter conference of the Nigeria Army Education Corps in Ibadan, yesterday.
The only member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 8th House of Assembly in Rivers State, Hon. Josiah John Olu was yesterday denied the position of minority leader even as the Speaker, Rt. Hon Ikuinyiowaji Ibani vowed to be fair and ensure justice in all his dealings.
The House, in its second sitting, yesterday, elected principal officers of the House but omitted the office of the minority leader even after the only APC member had protested.
While speaking to the Speaker, Ikuinyiowaji Ibani, said the proceedings are in line with his earlier commitment to be fair and just.
According to him, “I know very well that if you must lead, there must be followers.
“There cannot be leadership without followership. I will try as must as possible to be fair, and will at all times to define what is just and justice.
“The standing order of this assembly is our bible, it means we must follow it, and that is what we have done today’’, he said.
The House had earlier elected Hon Martins Amaewhule, representing Obio/Akpor 1 as the leader, while Hon Loolo Demabari, representing Khana 1 was elected deputy leader.
Other officers include, Evans Bapakaye Bipi, representing Ogu/Bolo as whip and Major Jack, representing Akuku-Toru constituency 1 as deputy whip.
But in a swift reaction to what transpired at the floor of the House, Hon Olu said the legislators violated the standing rule.
According to him, “We have a set of rules that contain what we refer to as a standing order. Standing orders is a rule book that governs the operations of the House of Assembly and our activities, and it is very clear in the standing order that where you have two parties, there will be majority leader and minority leader, and today, being the 2nd day of the assembly, the House decided to elect other principal officers, the majority leader, deputy majority leader, whip and deputy whip. All I did was to bring to the attention of the speaker that section 9 of our standing order talks about the majority leader and section 10 talks about the minority leader.
“I represent a party, and also represent an interest. I cannot allow some persons from other parties to represent my party interest. Even though I am just one person, I represent a party, unless they want to discard the standing order’’, noted.
He said, “If the speaker sets a bad precedence, that means tomorrow, posterity will hold us accountable on our actions.
“If we have rules that streamline our business and activities, we should be able to follow them. I tried as much as possible to draw his attention of what I saw as anomalies in the selection of the house leaders. If you noticed when they were voting on what is right, I voted.
“As far as I am concerned, he is not the leader but a majority leader. We have two parties in the 8th Assembly, PDP and APC, and APC is duty-bond to have its leader, which is minority leader, even though he is a lone voice, that is my stand, and I stand by it’’, he said.
Meanwhile, in defence to the House resolutions, the Leader, Hon. Martins Amaewhule noted that every house has a procedure, and the 8th Assembly has a standing order which the House was operating with.
The leader noted that, “it is the standing order that guides how the legislators conduct the affairs of the House,” adding that “what we did today (Thursday) is in line with the standing order.”
According to him, “the speaker set matters that legislators deliberate on at every sitting, the matter we have on the order for deliberation was what we dealt with today, another day, we will have another matter on the paper, and we move on’’.
The House, however, approved the four commissioner-nominees and seven special advisers that the Executive Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike had sent to the Assembly for approval.
The names included Barrister Emmanuel Chinwe Aguma, Dr Fred Kpakor, Mrs Omini Briggs, and Barrister Emma Okah for screening as commissioners.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says it has not commenced recruitment for the 2025/2026 Basic Military Training Course (BMTC) and Direct Short Service Commission (DSSC).
The Director, Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, in a statement yesterday, described the advertisement as fraudulent.
Ejodame said that no such recruitment exercise is currently ongoing, urging the public to disregard those messages in their entirety.
“We wish to remind the general public that the Nigerian Air Force recruitment and enlistment processes are free, transparent, and merit-based.
“The NAF does not charge any fee at any stage of its recruitment exercise, and does not engage third parties or agents for enlistment.
“Whenever a recruitment exercise is to be conducted, it will be officially announced and widely publicised through credible national dailies, the NAF official website, and its verified social media platforms.
“We therefore urge members of the public to be wary of online scams and exercise extreme caution when coming across unofficial recruitment advertisements,” he said.
Ejodame also advised the public to always rely on NAF’s official social media handles for accurate and up-to-date information regarding its activities.
According to him, official NAF communication channels are: https://www.facebook.com/share/1735SmRdMo/ https://x.com/NigAirForce?t=1263ETdBwkuqewt-rSuyIg&s=09 https://www.instagram.com/NigerianAirForce https://youtube.com/@nigerianairforcehq?feature=shared
https://www.airforce.mil.ng/ “The Nigerian Air Force is committed to integrity, transparency, and efficient service delivery to the nation while projecting air power to save lives and properties of all Nigerians,” he added.
No fewer than 9,469 admissions across 20 tertiary institutions nationwide have been flagged as fake by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for the 2024 academic session.
According to the board, the admissions were conducted outside the popular Central Admission Processing System, popularly known as CAPS.
According to the list obtained from JAMB, Kano State University of Science and Technology led the pack with 2,215 fake admissions, with Ladoke Akintola University of Technology following with 1,215.
Others are Gombe state University, 1,164; Emmanuel Alayande University of Education, 761; Federal University of Technology, Owerri, 534; Ambrose Alli University, 514; Igbinedion University, 365; Akwa-Ibom Polytechnic, 340 and College of Nursing, National Orthopedic Hospital, Igbobi, 281.
Also on the list are Achievers University, 267; Nigeria Police Academy, 263; Abia State Polytechnic, 256; Osun State University, 224; Federal University, Lafia, 189; Niger State Polytechnic, 182; Federal Polytechnic, Ida, 171 and Edo State Polytechnic,166.
Others are Anchor University, 133; Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, 116 and the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, 113.
CAPS was introduced to enhance transparency and efficiency, and serves as an online platform where prospective university students can monitor and manage their admission status.
By centralising the admission process, JAMB CAPS ensures that all candidates are given fair consideration based on merit and institutional requirements.
The primary purpose of JAMB CAPS is to streamline the admission process into tertiary institutions across Nigeria. It achieves this by ensuring transparency as candidates can easily track their admission status, and guarantees that all applicants are evaluated based on consistent criteria.
The system also enhances efficiency as institutions can process admissions swiftly, and candidates receive timely updates on their application status.
The board has, over time, warned institutions against backdoor admissions offered to candidates outside CAPS, as candidates offered admission outside CAPS were barred from the mandatory National Youth Service Corps scheme.
Recall that the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, reiterated a directive in Abuja at the 2025 policy meeting of JAMB last week, declaring all admissions conducted outside JAMB as illegal.
He said institutions and individuals involved in such practices would be prosecuted and severely sanctioned.
“Any admission conducted outside CAPS, regardless of its intentions, is illegal.
“Both institutions and the candidates involved in such practices will be held accountable.
“Sanctions may include withdrawal of institutional assets and prosecution of culpable officers or governing council members,” he said.
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) says it will soon unveil a National Values Charter (NVC) to serve as a social contract between the Nigerian government and its citizens.
The Director-General of the agency, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, disclosed this in Abuja, yesterday at a one-day workshop on “Civic Responsibility and National Values for Voluntary Organisations”.
Issa-Onilu was represented by Dr Olukemi Afolayan, Director of Civic Values and Democratic Education at the agency.
He said that the charter would articulate the responsibilities of both the government and citizens towards nation-building.
“We are at a pivotal moment as a country.
“The challenges facing Nigeria range from insecurity, corruption, poor civic engagement, moral decay, and apathy in democratic processes.
“These require, not just governmental intervention, but active citizen participation,”he said.
He said that voluntary organisations had historically played key roles in moral reawakening, youth mobilisation and community development, dating back to the colonial period.
According to him, the NOA under the current leadership, has intensified efforts to fulfill its core mandate of value reorientation.
He said that the agency did that with the launch of several campaigns, including the National Identity Project approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2024.
“President, Bola Tinubu, is expected to formally unveil the National Values Charter.
“It defines the ‘Nigerian Promise’, the government’s commitment to equality, democracy, entrepreneurship, peace, inclusivity, freedom and meritocracy,” he said.
The NOA D-G said that the Charter would also highlight a ‘Citizen’s Code’ calling on Nigerians to embrace discipline, duty of care, tolerance, leadership, accountability, environmental awareness and resilience.
He urged voluntary organisations to support the campaign and serve as role models in their communities to promote patriotism and public trust.
Also speaking, Mrs Rhoda Sadus, Deputy Director of Civic Values and Democracy at NOA, said that the Charter was a critical component of a broader National Identity Project aimed at global reputational management.
“This is the first time any Nigerian organisation is targeting global reputational management through strategic media engagement, including broadcasts on international channels like CNN,” she said.
Sadus said that NOA was engaging Nigerians in the diaspora and working closely with other agencies, including the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), to promote a unified national identity.
“When the Director-General assumed office, he emphasised the need for Nigeria to define and project its identity.
“The National Values Charter was conceived to outline the responsibilities of both the government and the citizens, a departure from past initiatives that only targeted citizens,” she added.
She said that the agency would soon begin training public office holders on national values as part of the post-appointment orientation process.
“We believe that when both the government and the people fulfill their obligations, national development will follow,” she said.
In his remarks, Dr Mohammed Dambo, Commander of the FCT Man ‘O’ War, said the initiative offered an opportunity for Nigerians to unite under a common agenda for national progress.
“If America became what it is today through collective agreement and commitment, Nigeria can do the same.
“We need to stop gaslighting our leaders and start promoting a culture of excellence, patriotism and civic responsibility.”
He called for the values to be transferred to the younger generation as part of efforts to restore hope and pride in the country.
The Tide source reports that the workshop attracted the presence of representatives form Boys Scout Association of Nigeria, Girls Guide Association of Nigeria and Man O’ War Nigeria.
Others were Red Cross Society of Nigeria, Boys Brigade Nigeria, National Cadet Corps (School-Based) and War Against Indiscipline (WAI) Brigade.
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