News

Bayelsa Medical University Speaks On 198 Casual Workers Who Were Disengaged

Published

3 years ago

August 23, 2022

The Vice Chancellor of the Bayelsa Medical University (BMU), Professor Ebitimitula Etebu, has exonerated the State governor, Senator Douye Diri, of any involvement in the decision by the institution to disengage 198 persons improperly absorbed in 2019 during the last administration.

He claimed their engagement was improper and violated the employment rules of the institution.

According to Etebu, the Institution had reverted to status quo due to the intervention of the leadership of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) and the State Commissioner of Education, Gentle Emela.

He said the embattled 198 persons were on casual workers allowances while awaiting the proper employment procedure but the Institution decided to disengage them due to the repeated restive nature of the affected workers and demands for new lecturers needed for the several accredited courses of the Institution.

Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, told DAILY POST while reacting to claims that Governor Douye Diri was responsible for the sack, that the administration of Governor Douye Diri has nothing to do with the decision to disengage the embattled workers of the Institution.

He added that: “The current Governor has nothing to do with anything. I am the Vice Chancellor, I told them because they were trying to destabilize the institution. Every time they were threatening, saying they are going to do this and that. And I told them, I said, look, you have no use to us, you don’t even come to work and if you ask very well, because of the hard times, we have tolerated them for all this while, but the thing that, they are now trying to take advantage of that fact.”

“People are telling them,’ they have kept you people, as casual workers for this period, you are now entitled to be employed and they have also taken that hook line and sinker. And threatening the management of the university. They go out and tell lies. These are the ones you are hearing. They go and write on Facebook and collude with the opposition. They use it to malign this current administration just to score cheap points for political gains. The institution decides to step them down due to constant security reports of their threats/restiveness to go on protest and make the University unmanageable.”

“Aside from that, in this last quarter of the year, we are going to be embarking on a flurry of advisory visits from over 13 Regulatory bodies and the NUC. This is a ritual in a specialized University like ours. Those outside the system do not understand these dynamics. We need professional lecturers, technologists, technicians etc. Now, all that is in the minds of our people is employment for our “young graduates” irrespective of our specialized requirements. These casual staff were foisted on us with a promise to provide emoluments for their salaries which never came. The University has a regulation of employing 3 academic staff to 1 non-academic staff. Currently, as things stand, our ratio is the reverse. We will implode if we continue in this manner. We don’t want a reenactment of the ugly incident that occurred a few years back in the NDU. Abinitio, BMU advertised & employed its academic, on-academic & principal officers following these due diligence principles.”

“The Governor has nothing to do with this particular situation. I, as the Vice Chancellor, spoke to them and said, I was going to step them down because we have programs that have been approved for us and we were supposed to run those programs, we were supposed to get lecturers to run those programs. So, it is not their employment that is important to us, because we don’t need them in the first place, but because we are in a State where there are no industries, everything is the Civil Service, and the cronies have been able to leverage people who have an appointment to foster them on us, they are now thinking it is their right to get employed. The times are hard, even the government is finding it difficult to pay salaries and all that”.

“They are 198, so when you are quoting me, quote me exactly the way I am telling you, so, I said, I am going to step them down, I didn’t consult the government or anybody, because I am the one running the place. They have been very restive, threatening to go on a protest, I said, okay if you are daring us, I will step you people down, and then we are going to go through the rules of engagement because for every staff that we have employed before they came in, we did advert and employed people.”

Etebu, who, however, pointed out that instead of the institution re-enacting the 2018 sad incident at the State-owned Niger Delta University, Ammassoma where the sack of some workers led to protest and deaths, said the institution had to discontinue the pattern set for the institution by politicians at inception and follow the guidelines laid out by the National University Commission (NUC) on employment of workers with the university system having dual employment, one for the lecturer and one for the non-academic staff, and one for the professional in the health profession.

News

Nigerian Govt Launches LG Proof Of Address To Improve Citizen Identification

Published

8 hours ago

December 29, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government has officially rolled out the Local Government Proof of Address, POA, project, an initiative designed to strengthen national security, improve citizen identification, and enhance service delivery across the country.

The project, initiated by the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, was formally approved through a circular issued by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, OSGF, with reference number 5964B/S,13/VBA/T.IIIA/704.

According to the circular, the POA scheme took effect from October 1, 2025. However, implementation is at various stages in different federal and state Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs.

According to the circular, under the new arrangement, all federal and state Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, government-owned corporations, and public institutions are mandated to replace the long-standing use of utility bills as proof of residence with the standardized Proof of Address issued at the local government level.

The circular explained that the POA project aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s eight-point development agenda, particularly, in the areas of governance reform, security enhancement, and institutional efficiency.

It is domiciled in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, with the Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST, serving as the coordinating federal agency.

“For years, the reliance on utility bills as proof of residence has posed major challenges. Many Nigerians do not have utility bills in their names, while others rely on outdated or shared documents that do not accurately reflect their current place of residence.

“In the same vein, the increasing use of digital services and prepaid utilities has further reduced the reliability of utility bills as a credible verification tool,” the circular stated.

Also, it noted that while the National Identification Number, NIN, remains a critical component of Nigeria’s identity management framework, a significant number of NIN records do not capture current or accurate residential addresses, limiting their effectiveness for residency verification, security profiling, and service planning.

“The POA is therefore designed to fill this critical gap by providing verified, location-specific, and up-to-date address information directly linked to local governments.

“The POA framework places residency verification at the grassroots, where local authorities have better knowledge of their communities. By anchoring address verification at the local government level, the initiative is expected to improve community-level intelligence, crime prevention, emergency response, and population data accuracy,” it added.

Beyond security, the circular noted that POA data is expected to deliver wide-ranging benefits, including improved public service delivery, equitable resource allocation, disaster management planning, urban development, social intervention targeting and financial inclusion.

The circular directed state governments to lead awareness and sensitisation efforts within their jurisdictions, with technical and institutional support from the OSGF, NIPOST, and ALGON.

News

Tax Reform Law: Reps Minority Caucus Seeks Suspension Of Implementation

Published

8 hours ago

December 29, 2025

Editor

The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has demanded the immediate suspension of the implementation of the recently enacted tax reform laws.

The demand follows allegations that the statutes were unlawfully altered after being passed by the National Assembly and assented to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Minority Leader, Rep. Kingsley Chinda, in a statement issued on Monday alongside other principal officers of the caucus, expressed deep concern and overwhelming disappointment over the controversy surrounding the tax reforms.

According to the caucus, the allegations, if proven, strike at the core of Nigeria’s legislative integrity, constitutional order and democratic governance.

While acknowledging that disagreements often accompany major reforms, the caucus stated that the present situation goes far beyond routine policy debate, as it involves claims that the laws were fraudulently altered, gazetted and circulated in a form different from what was duly passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and signed into law by the President.

It recalled that the matter was formally raised on the floor of the House during a recent plenary session, leading to the constitution of a high-powered investigative committee to probe the allegations.

News

Outrage, Confusion Trail Rumours Of Mohbad’s Wife Giving Birth Two Years After His Death

Published

8 hours ago

December 29, 2025

Editor

Many Nigerians on social media have reacted to the trending news about Wunmi, late singer Mohbad’s wife.

Rumours have emerged online that Wunmi recently welcomed a new baby with another man.

The rumours came a month after Mohbad’s family banned Wunmi from using their surname.

The viral rumour that started on X sparked controversy on social media with netizens raising eyebrows – since Mohbad died on September 12, 2023, and his body is still in the morgue.

The development has revived calls for a DNA test on her son with the late singer, Liam, who was five months old when Mohbad died.

Following the controversial circumstances surrounding Mohbad’s death, and allegation of infidelity against Wunmi, the deceased’s father, Joseph Aloba, requested a DNA to determine Liam’s paternity.

Reacting to the development, actor Stanley Ontop in a post on Instagram wrote “Mohbad dled in 2023 Him wife give birth in 2025? What God can not do does not exist! Clap hand for Jesus. Anyways in life as a man try not to kpai, no matter what. Life goes on Anyways congratulations iyawo Mohbad.”

Also @MasterminddBoB wrote on X; ”Dis is not life pausing ooooo dis is her been a stupid person amid speculation of the requested DNA test for Liam..make una get sense small.”

@AgbafianTV wrote “If the News about mohbad wife allegedly giving birth is through, then know that women are ruthless in all their ways. To be able to deal with women, you’ve to be very ruthless. Don’t die because of any woman.”

@callme_Riken wrote; “I don’t know if the news about Mohbad’s wife, Wunmi, giving birth is true. But if it is. Sooner or later, she was going to move on, whether her father-in-law agreed to bury his son or not. Life doesn’t pause forever.”

@djokaymegamixer wrote on X; “I won’t be surprised if it’s later found out that the story of the late Mohbad’s widow, Wunmi, giving birth was a hoax. There is nothing these guys can’t tweet all in the name of hustling engagements for Elon Musk’s money.”