News

Crisis Looms In Ebonyi Assembly Over Umahi’s N33bn Loan Request

Published

3 years ago

April 15, 2023

There is a brewing face-off in the Ebonyi House of Assembly not unconnected to a recent alleged demand by Governor David Umahi for the approval of a fresh N33 billion loan by the Assembly.

It was learnt that Umahi wrote to the House demanding an approval to borrow the money to enable him complete his projects before handing over on May 29, 2023.

This development, The PUNCH gathered, has generated mixed reactions among residents of the state, wondering why the governor was requesting for such a whopping sum in a state already indebted to local and international financial institutions to the tune of N75 billion.

Others are querying the relevance of the loan for project completion, even when Umahi has barely five weeks to leave office.

Meanwhile, the House of Assembly has remained adamant in its refusal to approve the N33 billion request from Governor Umahi despite persistent pressures from him and his foot soldiers.

A source said, “The House has approved the release of N6 billion for the settlement of accumulated gratuities and pensions owed to civil servants in the state since 2015 when Umahi came to office.”

The crisis has further deepened with a call from Assembly members to impeach the Speaker, Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, if he refuses to resign.

The PUNCH reports that Nwifuru is also the governor-elect in Ebonyi State and has been the Speaker of the House since 2015.

A document, titled, “EBONYI SPEAKER UNDER FIRE TO RESIGN OR RISK IMPEACHMENT,” which was signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Mr. Egede Sylvester, obtained by The PUNCH, said the members demanded immediate resignation of Hon. Nwifuru and his deputy, Kingsley Ikoro, or they would face impeachment.

The call came barely three weeks after Nwifuru was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission as governor-elect of the state.

The document quoted the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Victor Chukwu, as having spoken on behalf of his colleagues, saying, “The members of the House are no longer satisfied with the leadership of the House under the administration of Chief Francis Nwifuru and urge him to resign in his honour and for the betterment of the State Assembly and the state at large.”

It added, “His resignation would afford him the opportunity to be fully involved in the affairs of his inauguration as the governor.

“On his part, the Speaker, Nwifuru, said he had duly listened to their plea and thanked them for revealing their grievances, urging them to trade with caution for the peace and development of the state.”

Reacting, the Speaker and Governor-elect, Nwifuru, said the only request from the executive arm of government was on remittances from the excess crude account.

“The request was for 60 per cent of the funds from the Excess Crude Account to be used to offset the state’s liabilities to the Federal Government. We duly approved the request and you did not hear anything about loans,” he said.

He also debunked the report that the Assembly members threatened him with impeachment if he did not resign to prepare for his swearing-in as governor on May 29.

“I did not hear such thing and do not know who told you about it. You should know that such report is fake. You should ask the Leader of the House and its Information Officer whom you claim told you such.”

Also, responding to the loan request, the Special Assistant to Governor David Umahi on Media and Strategy, Mr Chooks Okoh, said there was no official statement as regarding the development but that whatever the governor did had always been for the interest and development of the state.

News

Gombe Wins Northeast Quiz Competition On Legislature, Democracy

Published

19 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Gombe State has emerged as the winner at the 2025 North East Zonal Quiz Competition on legislature and democracy organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) for senior secondary schools across Northeast on Friday.

Speaking before the commencement of the 2025 edition of the zonal debate which focuses on the legislature, democracy and governance, the Director-General of NILDS, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, said the exercise was to deepen the knowledge of legislative and democratic governance among secondary school students and youth.

According to him, it was also to broaden their knowledge on the history, practice and procedure of the legislature and encourage deeper understanding of civic and democratic governance.

The competition, he added, would stimulate the interest of the young students in politics and make them more proactive in matters relating to the legislature and democracy.

He explained that enhancing the knowledge of young Nigerians in the legislature would not only foster an inclusive and participatory legislature in Nigeria but would also serve as an avenue for citizen engagement in the legislative process.

Represented by Mr Jeremiah Agada, NILDS Northeast Zonal Quiz Coordinator, Sulaiman added that the quiz competition would take place in all the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“It is also to inspire young Nigerians to cultivate the interest to participate in legislative governance.

“This 10th edition of the competition is therefore the fourth time the competition has been held at the national level.

“As the 2025 NILDS Zonal quiz competition is declared open, I therefore urge all competing students and their teachers to abide by the rules of the game so that the desired objectives of the competition are achieved,” he said.

Also speaking, the Bauchi State’s Commissioner for Education, Dr Muhammed Lawal, said the exercise was a welcome development in the circle of education, adding that it was a ground where students in the zone could be tested among other students in the country.

“This will enable us to improve the quality of our delivery in our various schools to our teeming students across the zone.

“I want them to take it upon themselves that in an engagement like this, there is no loser. You put in your best, and if at the end of the day, you don’t make it up to the top, your efforts will be crowned.

“I hope this will be well covered because it will stimulate other schools to be part of and perform better so that they can come up to this level as well,” he said.

Mohammed appreciated the commitment of teachers and moderators who coached the students to fully participate in the competition and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to revamping the education sector under Gov. Bala Mohammad’s leadership.

Announcing the winner of the competition, the Quiz Master Mr. Lucky Tongs, announced Gombe State as the overall winner of the debate with 75 points

He also announced Taraba State as the first runner up with 55 points and Yobe State as the third position with 50 points, adding that the winner is expected to represent the Northeast sub-region at the National competition in Abuja.

Other states that participated in the competition included Adamawa and Bauchi.

News

Police Arrest Nollywood Production Manager For Assaulting Crew Member

Published

22 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Police have arrested a Nollywood production manager, Anierobi Courage, for allegedly assaulting a crew member.

Anierobi Courage, better known as Nwa South, reportedly assaulted the head of makeup, Mary Chizzy Eze, on October 28, 2025, while on the set of the film “Lagos to Opulence.”

A trending video of the physical altercation showed the production manager pressing Mary’s throat after slapping her, an act that has sparked widespread outrage on social media.

Reacting to the public condemnation, the Nigeria Film Crew Community (NFCC), in a statement released on Thursday, described Courage’s actions as “animalistic behaviour.”

Announcing his arrest, NFCC called on Nollywood producers and other stakeholders to blacklist Courage across all productions.

“The production manager violently hit and strangled Mary Chizzy Eze for speaking up against unequal treatment among the crew. While she has received medical care, he has been arrested.

“This level of disregard for human dignity is unacceptable. We stand firmly against all forms of abuse, assault, and crew maltreatment,” the NFCC said.

News

‘EFCC Collected N10m Before They Released Me’ – Oladips Alleges [VIDEO]

Published

23 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Popular Nigerian singer, Oladips has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of collecting N10 million from him.

The rapper made this known nearly a year after he was arrested by EFCC during a midnight raid in his estate.

Oladips was arrested with some of his neighbors for alleged fraud in November 2024.

He was released after spending five days in detention.

Speaking about his experience with the EFCC, Oladips in his latest interview on Trending podcast, stated that nothing was found on him after the EFCC investigations.

While revealing that the EFCC collected N10 million from him before his release, he lamented that “Nigeria just happened to me”.

“It’s just one smelling place like that. They just packed us there like sardines and they gave us nonsense food. Funny enough it was Zlatan that was sending me food. Zlatan is not even a friend, that’s my blood.

“He was sending someone to buy good food for me because the food there is bad. They just packed us there like sardines. I’m not even supposed to be there first of all. Like, why did I spend four to five days there when you people (EFCC) didn’t find anything on me, not even a single thing. And they still collect N10 million from me before they released me.”

When asked “Is it a thing you can take up against the EFCC later, or you will just allow the sleeping dog lie?”, the singer responded “Who is my father?”

“Who is my father now? At the end of the day, who is my father? It’s just me and my truth. It’s not something I will want to. I don’t just know how the system works. I for dey their page now if to say I dey do Yahoo. They didn’t find anything on me. If they are watching this, they know that I’m saying the truth.

“They collected money from me before they released me. They didn’t find anything on me. So, what was the money for? What was all that stress and suffering for? It’s just Nigeria. Nigeria just happened to me,” he said.

https://x.com/i/status/1983504280972615813