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OPINION: STILL ON JONATHAN’ S NEGLECT OF YORUBA

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I read a letter to the editor written by Chief Kola Aderemi which was published in The Nation and Daily Trust of 23 December , 2014 in which the Ekiti Chief accused President Goodluck Jonathan of neglecting and marginalizing the Yoruba race in power sharing in the country, and that the President is now frantically courting the race to realize his re- election ambition.
Chief Aderemi further corroborated his points by reminding Nigerians how President Jonathan removed some Yoruba figures from national offices and replacing them with people from Igbo extraction.
According to him, “nothing illustrates President Jonathan’s hatred for Yoruba better than the way he removed some Yoruba people from key positions on allegation of being too close to the former President Olusegun Obasanjo. To buttress my point, I recalled how he removed Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola as People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Secretary. Mr. Yomi Bolarinwa was removed as Director General of Nigeria Broadcasting Commission, Otunba Segun Runsewe was removed as Director General of Nigerian Tourism Development Commission (NTDC) and they were replaced with Igbo people”
What impressed me most in that letter was the disclosure that from number one to 22 most important positions in the country, there is no Yoruba person.
But now that 2015 election is around the corner, President Jonathan is now courting Yoruba race for electoral support. No , this is too cheap to swallow. I totally align myself with Chief Aderemi’s position that Yoruba race must be tactical and politically sagacious in their choice.
In addition to the list of Yoruba people removed from office by President Jonathan , I recall that Segun Oni was removed as PDP South West Deputy Chairman, Olu oluleye was removed from Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF) among others. Why is President Jonathan now desperate for the people he hates to see in his government .
Governor Segun Mimiko of Ondo State who was defending the President recently cannot speak for Yoruba race. By the way , where was Mimiko when Jonathan was removing Yoruba people from public office? It is obvious that President Jonathan has not been fair to Yoruba race. Yet, this is the race that assisted him to attain the present status! Yoruba should think twice before supporting him again, because it is clear that the race has been cheated politically. As if Gov. Mimiko was equally reminding us how President Jonathan treated us with disdain, hear what he said , “a Yoruba man was to be Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2011 but was denied and the slot given to North-West geopolitical zone. Also, the position of Minority Leader in the Senate was to be given to the Yoruba but was also taken to the North Central which already had the Senate presidency. The question now is what did Mimiko do to correct the situation? Why is he now defending and supporting Jonathan to woo South West that has been badly cheated? Yoruba is wiser for this. We are not stupid and we will not take stupidity from anybody

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Oando Clean Energy, Cross River State, Sign MoU on Renewable Energy Infrastructure

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Oando Clean Energy (OCEL),  the renewable energy business subsidiary of Oando Energy Resources and the Cross River State Government have  signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the rollout of electric vehicles for mass transportation within the state at the ongoing 28th edition Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The move in setting up an electric vehicle (EV) assembly plant, is expected to create jobs for local indigenes as well as build a 100MW wind plant for power generation.

Representing the Governor of Cross River State, Bassey Otu at the MoU signing was the state’s Commissioner for Special Duties, Oden Ewa, saying the landmark agreement marked a significant step forward in the state’s journey toward a cleaner and more sustainable future. He said: “The MoU paves the way for the transitioning of our mass transit system to cleaner and less expensive fuels while also allowing for the use of our natural resource, wind, to provide electrification for our people.

“I commend Oando Clean Energy for their innovative solutions that address the impact of climate change in Nigeria and her citizens.”

According to Oando , it said,  as  a company, it has committed to ensuring that this journey to a cleaner and more sustainable energy future is as seamless and as easy as possible.

“This is by putting our confidence in, not only the technology but the partnership and ensuring that the Cross River State government and her people reap the benefits of generating power from sustainable sources”. The statement read.

Oando’s Clean Energy’s scope spans the entire 35 states of the federation and the federal capital, promising to create a cleaner, more viable energy ecosystem for Nigeria and the  people of Cross River.

In attendance at the side event were amongst others, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Abubakar Momoh;  Minister of the Environment, Abbas Balarabe;  Minister of State for Environment, Dr. Kunle Salako; Commissioner for Special Duties, Cross River State, Mr. Oden Ewa, among others.

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House Of Representatives Issues Warrant Of Arrest On Central Bank Governor, Cardoso, Accountant-General, 17 Others

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The House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Petitions has asked for a warrant of arrest to be issued on the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Oluwatoyin Madein, and 17 others over refusal to appear before it to answer questions on their operations.

It was gathered that the issuance of the arrest warrant was sequel to the adoption of a motion moved by Fred Agbedi, representing Ekeremo/Sagbama Federal Constituency of Bayelsa State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the committee’s hearing on Tuesday.

Agbedi, while moving the motion, said that the arrest warrant had become imperative following the attitude of the invitees, adding that the parliament worked with time and the CEOs had been invited four times but failed to respond to the invitations.

Agbedi said that the CBN Governor, the AGF and the rest of the invitees should be brought to appear before the committee by the Inspector General of Police through a warrant of arrest after due diligence by the House Speaker, Rep Tajudeen Abbas.

The Chairman of the Committee, Micheal Irom (APC-Cross River), in his ruling said that the Inspector-General of Police should ensure the invitees were brought before the committee on December 14.
It was gathered that the petitioner, Fidelis Uzowanem, had earlier said that the petition was anchored on the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) 2021 report.

Irom said, “We took up the challenge to examine the report and discovered that what NEITI put together as a report is only consolidation of fraud that has been going on in the oil and gas industry.

“It dates back to 2016 because we have been following and we put up a petition to this committee to examine what has happened.

“The 2024 budget of 27.5 trillion that has been proposed can be confidently funded from the recoverable amount that we identified in the NEITI report.

“It is basically a concealment of illegal transactions that took place in NNPCL; they have been in a sink with some oil companies where some companies that did not produce crude were paid cash core, an amount paid for crude oil production.”

 

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FCTA uncovers illegal oil refining warehouse in Abuja

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In continuation of the city cleaning exercise, Authorities of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) with operatives of security personnel have uncovered an illegal oil refining warehouse in Mabushi, opposite Mobile filling station on Ahmadu Bello way in Abuja.

 

The Director, Department of Development Control, FCTA, Mukhtar Galadima after the operation on Thursday, said the illegal refining site was discovered during the continuation of the city cleaning exercise.

 

According to him, about three to four plot of lands designated for commercial purposes have been converted to an area where oil and diesel are being adulterated and circulated to other parts of the city.

 

Galadima explained that the city sanitation task force will look into the provision of the law and make necessary recommendations to the FCT Administration for further actions on the plots used for the activity.

 

He said there was no arrest but the items used in carrying out the illegal refining have been impounded.

 

Galadima said, “During the continuation of our city sanitation exercise in Mabushi opposite Mobile filling station on Ahmadu way, we discovered an illegal refining site where oil and diesel are being adulterated, we have done the needful by moving the items to Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.

 

“From what we have seen so far, about three or four pilot of lands designated for commercial purposes have been converted to unapproved activities, which we believe the owners are fully aware, there will be consequences.

 

“We are going to look at the provision of the law and make necessary recommendations to the FCT Administration”

 

He said the administration will continue to go tough on activities being carried out without government approval,  especially revocation of the titles.

 

Collaborating, Head, operations FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Service (DRTS), Deborah Osho said the city management team during the exercise also discovered that most of the areas in the Nation’s capital have been converted to illegal car mart and motor parks.

 

She disclosed that fifteen vehicles have so far been impounded since the operation commenced about two days.

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