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ECOWAS To Jammeh: Step Down Now Or Face Forceful Ejection
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has given the embattled President of The Gambia, Mr. Yahya Jammeh, till midnight today to vacate office and hand over power to the country’s President-Elect, Mr. Adama Barrow, or be ousted by force, it was learnt, last night.
Though details of the planned military intervention by ECOWAS in The Gambia if Jammeh refuses to vacate office for Barrow on Thursday remains sketchy, our correspondent learnt that ECOWAS has perfected plans to install the president-elect.
Efforts by Jammeh to erect a legal hurdle in the way of the ECOWAS-backed inauguration of Barrow suffered a serious setback yesterday as the country’s Supreme Court declined to hear an application by his party to that effect.
Last Thursday, the country’s ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) filed an application for an interlocutory injunction seeking to stop the inauguration of Mr. Barrow as President on January 19.
But the Chief Justice of the Gambia, Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle refused to grant the application.
Barrow was declared winner of the December 1, 2016 presidential election. Jammeh, who had initially accepted defeat by congratulating Barrow, suddenly recanted a week later saying he would challenge the election results at the apex court.
His recant threw the country into confusion amid intervention by African leaders suing for a peaceful transition.
The African Union (AU) and ECOWAS have pledged to withdraw their recognition of Jammeh as President after Thursday.
But Nigerian officials played down the planned military intervention by the sub-region’s power block last night, saying ECOWAS still hoped Jammeh would respect himself and leave office by tomorrow night.
“From what I gathered, they are extending the olive branch till midnight of January 18th. If he does not (handover power) by 19th, the troops will take over,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs told newsmen last night.
Asked about the composition of troops and Nigeria’s strategic role, the source responded: “I don’t have an idea of the troops but they are from ECOWAS.”
Speaking to newsmen, however, the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen. Sani Usman, said he was not aware of plans for military intervention, explaining that such issues fall squarely under the purview of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Federal Government.
Usman added that the Army could not comment on the matter. “We are not at the forefront of solving the political problem in The Gambia; we are soldiers,” he said.
An official at the Ministry of Defence, Abuja also could not provide an insight on the level of preparedness by the Nigerian military.
But as the inauguration day draws closer, tension appears to have gripped Gambians, with many struggling to leave the tiny West African nation.
Efforts by ECOWAS leaders led by President Muhammadu Buhari to persuade Jammeh to relinquish power has failed to yield any tangible result, even as Barrow relocated to Senegal, where reports suggest he would be brought into The Gambia by ECOWAS troops for the inauguration on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court yesterday refused to hear an application by Jammeh’s party, APRC, to stop the inauguration of Barrow as president on Thursday.
In the application signed by its lawyer, Mr. Edward Gomez, the APRC asked the court for an order of interlocutory injunction preventing the chief judge of the country from inaugurating or swearing in Barrow as the President of The Gambia until the determination of the election petition.
The party also asked for an order “restraining, the President from preparing, arranging, organising, conducting, partaking or participating in any manner or form in the swearing-in and /or inauguration of Adama Barrow as President of the Republic of The Gambia on January 19, 2017.”
The APRC further prayed the court for an order restraining the country’s National Assembly, its members and any organ of government from partaking in the inauguration of Barrow.
It asked the court to stop Barrow from presenting himself to the country’s chief judge or judiciary to be sworn-in as president of The Gambia.
After hearing the application yesterday, the Chief Judge, Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle, a Nigerian, refused to grant the prayers that would have effectively extended the tenure of Jammeh.
The court declined to grant the requests on the ground that the application listed the Chief Judge, who is the only Supreme Court Judge at the moment, as a party in the application.
Fagbenle, therefore, ruled that he could not grant an order against himself.
He said he would remove himself from the suit in the interest of fairness. He then adjourned the election petition until the court is fully constituted.
The court had ruled penultimate Monday that it could not consider the election petition filed by the APRC because the quorum of five judges to hear the petition could not be met because Nigeria and Sierra Leone declined the Gambian request to send judges to sit at the Supreme Court
The Gambia relies on judges and other judicial officials from other West African countries to help fill its drought of top officials in its judiciary.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.