Rivers Assembly Takes Verdict To Supreme Court
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The factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Victor Oko-Jumbo, has confirmed the filing of an appeal at the Supreme Court challenging the judgement of the Court of Appeal delivered on Wednesday, in Port Harcourt.
Oko-Jumbo clarified that the action was necessitated by the fact that the Assembly “strongly believes that the Court of Appeal was in error when it held that the Rivers State High Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear and determine Suit No. PHC/1512/CS/2024”.
The speaker made the clarification when he addressed lawmakers during plenary at the temporary facility used for legislative businesses in Port Harcourt on Friday.
Oko-Jumbo declared that he remains the authentic Speaker because there cannot be two Houses of Assembly in Rivers State.
The speaker reiterated that the seats of Martin Amaewhule and 24 other lawmakers remain vacant as declared by the then speaker, Edison Ehie, on December 13, 2023, following their defection from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on December 11, 2023.
He said: “There cannot be two Houses of Assembly in Rivers State or indeed any State in Nigeria. This House of Assembly, with me as the Speaker, is the only House of Assembly in Rivers State.
“As the whole world knows, on the 11th day of December, 2023, Martin Amaewhule and his 24 friends defected from the People’s Democratic Party to the All Progressive Congress.
“On the 13th Day of December, 2023, Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie, as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, declared the seats of Martin Amaewhule and 24 others in the RSHA vacant. That declaration by Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie has not been set aside by any court in Nigeria.”
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Group Raises Alarm Over Oil Spill In Ogoni
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A group, The Eco Defence Alliance has expressed concerns about the oil spill that occurred in Bodo City in Gokana Local Government Area (Ogoni) of Rivers State.
Coordinator of the group, Damian Gbogbara, in a statement released in Port Harcourt, decried the incessant oil spill in Ogoni land and wondered why relevant authorities have failed to proffer permanent solution to mitigate the menace.
He said: “As a new oil spill has been reported again in Bodo City in Gokana Local Government Area (Ogoni) of Rivers State, months after many other multiple crude oil spills have occurred along the pipeline but at different location, among many others over the years.
It wonders why the authorities have refused to proffer permanent solutions to the menace of crude oil spill in Bodo.
“This is not funny to hear that Bodo is a community with the highest number of crude oil spills that the world has ever recorded in human history.” Gbogbara said the latest spill occurred on Thursday, July 4, at about 12:45am in the Sugi area of Bodo community, not far from where multiple oil spills had occurred in recent times on the Trans-Niger Pipeline (TNP) operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) Limited.
According to Mrs Monica, whose residential home is located very close to the spill site, as well as that of last year’s, “a loud blast was heard like that of last year’s (2023), at about 12:45am.
Insecurity:Nigerians Must Unite Against Common Threats–Tinubu
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President Bola Tinubu has called on Nigerians to come together in solidarity against the common threats that undermine the nation’s collective well being, saying that, Nigeria has endured too much.
The President made the call on Friday, while performing the groundbreaking for the Resettlement Scheme for Persons Impacted by Conflicts at Tudun Biri community, a Kaduna village accidentally bombed by the military in December last year.
Represented by the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, the President noted with dismay that, for so long, Nigerians have been held hostage by the fear of themselves and allowed preventable incidents to escalate into transgenerational disputes. “Today, we gather to say, “Enough is enough.”
He said his administration is committed to bolstering Nigeria’s security infrastructure and advancing peace, adding that the resettlement scheme, which is targeted at the communities affected by conflicts in Kaduna, Katsina, Benue, Niger, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi, was a testament to the courage of the survivors and signals an end to their pessimism.
According to the President, the resettlement Scheme is a collective will of Nigerians to heal as a nation that has endured too much.
“It is an opportunity for each of us to come together and rebuild. It is a call to action. It is an appeal to come together in solidarity against the common threats that undermine our collective well-being.
Akpabio, Abbas, Wike, Others To Receive NEAPS 2024 Awards Today
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Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; the Speaker, House of Representatives, Taajudeen Abbas; and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, are on the list of 40 eminent Nigerians that will receive the 2024 Nigerian Excellence Awards in Public Service (NEAPS) at a ceremony scheduled for Abuja today.
The NEAPS 2024 is a collaboration involving a private firm, The Best Strategic PR (TBS), and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
In a statement announcing the awards yesterday, the Communications Officer of TBS, Mrs Caroline Yovchevska, said: “President Bola Tinubu will present NEAPS awards to 40 Nigerians in categories that include excellence in infrastructure service delivery, urban renewal, financial innovation, healthcare delivery, digital innovation, outstanding reform initiative, security management, transparency and open governance.”
Seven state governors are on the list of award recipients. They are Peter Mbah of Enugu State; Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State; Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State; Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State; Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State; Mohammed Bago of Niger State and Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.