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Fubara, Rivers APC Clash Over N144bn Allocation Spending

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The leadership of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State, on Tuesday, challenged Governor Siminalayi Fubara to account for the N144.2bn federal allocation received by the state in the last five months, claiming that there was nothing on the ground to show for the funds.

But defending the governor, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, accused the APC of playing politics.

The Chairman of the state APC Caretaker Committee, Chief Tony Okocha, during a visit to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, questioned Fubara’s management of the state’s resources.

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Okocha said, “As a party in opposition in the state, we have received data of the sum received by the Rivers State Government from the Federal Allocation from June 22, 2023 to November 2023.

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“The Rt Hon. Speaker, it is our finding that a whooping sum of N144,291,667,791.1 has been received from the federal allocation under the governor. This amount is outside the Internally Generated Revenue of the state, which is put conservatively at N10bn every month.

“We regret that this humongous amount has not translated to action in any way in terms of development in the state. What we see are heavily funded street processions and media-sponsored rallies in support of unnecessary political imbroglios.

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“Fifth columnist and crisis entrepreneurs feed fat from our commonwealth. As a party, we shall not hesitate to punish any member of our party who is in the cohort in this gross financial malfeasance of our dear Rivers State.”

The APC leader urged the Assembly Speaker to keep a close watch on the governor, saying “And if you do nothing you are equally complicit.”

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Responding, the Assembly Speaker, Amaewhule, said the legislature would continue to make laws that would benefit the people while it would amend those harmful to the people.

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He stated, “Rest assured that the 10th Rivers State House of Assembly will not do anything outside the law. Whatever we do today is for the interest of the state so that when we are out, others coming after us will feel the impact of the service and legislation we offered to the Rivers people.”

But in a swift reaction, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Johnson, insisted that the Fubara administration had been prudent and accountable.

He said, “When we come to the accountability forum, the Rivers people will see what we have done and, of course, they know that we are on course.

READ ALSO: Protests: Let Nigerians Breathe, PDP Tells Tinubu, APC

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“Even though it is too early to assess this government, I’m sure we have since hit the ground running.

“He (Okocha) forgot that we have given about N150bn legacy project for the Ring Road, which surpasses the N144bn he is talking about. We have paid 77 per cent of it.

“We are doing 20, 000 hectres of land for housing units.

“So you don’t just raise issues or mention figures without a proper understanding as to how government works. That’s why I said it’s his own imagination.

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“We have promoted civil servants who had not been promoted for over eight years. All those funds, if you calculated from June to November, it speaks volumes about what has entered. Our wage bill is N2.6bn just from the promotion of teachers alone.

“So, he needs to go back to the drawing board and ask what and what has not been done and what has been done.”

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Old Clip Of Wizkid’s Father’s Claim On Helping Alaba Get Electricity In 1972 Sparks Outrage

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Muniru Balogun, Wizkid's Father

Muniru Balogun, the father of multiple award-winning musician Ayodeji, popularly known as Wizkid, claimed to have sorted the electricity problem of the Alaba area in Ajegunle, a commercial community in the Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State.

Wizkid’s father said he went to the defunct National Electric Power Authority in 1972 to reach an agreement that helped the area enjoy electricity till today.

The claim has since been greeted by netizens’ outrage after the clip resurfaced two years later.

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In the video recorded by GoldMyne TV in 2022, Balogun was presented with the Ajeromi Ifelodun Heroes and Icons Award.

READ ALSO: Anambra Teaching Hospital To Commence Mass Burial Of Abandoned Corpses

Wizkid’s father, speaking on his contribution to the community, said, “I came to Ajegunle in 1972. At that time, there was no light in Alaba. So, I went to NEPA and lured them to come and make a survey of the area to give them light.

“So when they presented it. I did the survey; I did the draft, and the sketch of the whole of Alaba. They presented it to their board at that time (1972), and it was approved within two weeks, after which light was given to the area.

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“So that is my contribution. I am the Baba Adinni of Alaba Central Mosque and also the former Chairman of APC for 14 years. I thank God that I’m still alive and that my son, Wizkid, is still doing well. I thank God.”

He further advised the community’s youths to shun social vices, adding that if they don’t have an education, they should have something to do while urging them to develop their talents in football, music, and the rest.

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However, the interview has been greeted with backlashes and tribal outrages from netizens who claimed that the Igbo in Alaba developed the community into the commercial city it is today and not Wizkid’s father as claimed.

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A Tweep, Mayowa David, who identifies as @kkiiikk on X, said, “But Alaba is Igboland Nannuuu….”

Another user, Phemmy, tweeting with the handle @phemifem, said, “The colonial master paid for the light in advance.”

Carter of Remo, who tweets as @Biola_carter, opined, “It’s a lie…Aguiyi Ironsi paid for it.”

One Chiefnwosu_store on Instagram queried, “Which of the Alaba? Suru Alaba or Alaba International Market?.”

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Solarklips on Instagram also wrote in Pidgin English, “He gave Alaba light ke? na him be governor or LG chairman…Ok. accepted. People must have contributed money for the transformer, but he didn’t mention them. No man can single-handedly give a village electricity not to talk of Alaba.”

This is coming on the heels of the reignited long-standing feud between Wizkid and David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido which was accompanied by fiery social media exchanges.

In the early hours of Monday, April 29, 2024, Wizkid made some controversial tweets, which became the major topic of discussion in the entertainment industry for the week.

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Wizkid had posted the embarrassing video, which had surfaced on the Internet some weeks back, in response to a fan who had asked him to release a new song.

He stated that his fans must beg him for a new song the same way Davido was pleading in the video before he would consider their request.

However, the singer did not stop there. He also threw ‘shades’ at Peruzzi, an artiste signed to Davido’s record label. Perruzi is believed to have written many of Davido’s songs, a fact that the latter has confirmed on different occasions. In one of the controversial tweets, Wizkid wrote, “You and all your crew, plus your pant washer songwriter, go to sleep at night thinking you actually got anything on me in music. Wish you all well.”

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Responding to Wizkid, Perruzi dared him to swear that he had not also sought for him. On his part, Davido responded, “You’re a sick man.” In a now-deleted tweet, Davido also called Wizkid a woman beater.

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Anambra Teaching Hospital To Commence Mass Burial Of Abandoned Corpses

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The mortuary at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Amaku-Awka, Anambra State, has reportedly been filled up.

As a result, the institution said it would commence the evacuation, disposal and mass burial of corpses abandoned at its facility since 2014.

The Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Henrietta Agbai, disclosed this in a statement sighted by our correspondent on Monday, adding that the exercise would commence from July 2024.

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READ ALSO: Pandemonium During Church Service As Man Pulls Gun, Attempts To Shoot Pastor [VIDEO]

The three-paragraph statement was issued on behalf of the Chief Medical Director of the institution, Dr Josephat Akabuike, and the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee of the hospital, Dr Emmanuel Mba.

Agbai said the decision followed the approval granted for the action by the state government.

She said, “His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has approved the disposal of abandoned corpses at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Coouth Amaku-Awka.

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“To this end, the management wishes to inform the general public that COOUTH Amaku-Awka intends to conduct mass burials of the abandoned corpses in its mortuary from 2014 to December 2023.

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“Therefore, those whose relatives are missing should visit the hospital’s mortuary for possible identification and collection of such corpses within one month of this publication.”

The COOUTH is located at the centre of Awka, it is usually the first port of call for health emergencies in and around the state, especially in cases of road accidents, gunshot injuries and critical situations, among other.

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It was gathered that most of the victims of these health emergencies do not eventually make it, and the corpses are usually moved to the hospital’s mortuary.

According to The PUNCH, the development has resulted in the hospital’s mortuary being overloaded with corpses, most of whom are unidentified, as far back as 2014.

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Gunmen Kill One, Abduct Seven Travellers On Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode Expressway

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Gunmen numbering up to seven have reportedly killed one person and abducted seven other travellers along the Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode expressway.

The gunmen armed with A.K 47 rifles were said to have waylaid and attacked the travellers in between the Ilisan, Ceplast industry and Iperu junction axis of the expressway on Friday.

A viral audio from one of the victims of the tragic incident, who was apparently a driver heading to Lagos, detailed how the gunmen stopped their vehicles with sporadic shooting and later marched them into the bush.

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He said, “This incident happened at past five in the evening, they were armed to the teeth with A.K 47 rifles shooting heavily. They even killed one person who was inside a Lexus car. So, they marched about seven of us inside the bush and when I saw that they were speaking Hausa, I started speaking Hausa to them begging them not to kill me, so they asked if I was a northerner but I said no, that I have once lived in Kebbi and Sokoto.

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“They kept taking us further inside the bush, later they asked if I had any money, so I gave them the N103,000 and my phone. There was another driver from the east who said that the kidnappers had collected N120,000 from him just as we were abducted. They later set the two of us free while the other five people abducted were still with them”.

Speaking with our Correspondent on Monday, the Spokesperson of Ogun State police command, SP Omolola Odutola confirmed the incident.

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Odutola said that the police could not confirm the number of people that were abducted but noted that the gun-wielding hoodlums killed one of the travellers yet to be identified.

She said the incident which happened on May 3, around 6:55 pm was incidented as a case of armed robbery, murder and kidnapping.

Odutola said: “We have information that about seven people whom we don’t know with A.K 47 suddenly blocked the Benin-Sagamu expressway.

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“The DPO of Ilisan when he got to the scene of the incident saw two vehicles pierced with bullets; a Lexus Jeep 300 with registration number LND 640 DY, the driver’s name is Chilaka Lugard and another Lexus Jeep 350 with registration number LSR 996 JF belonging to Kingsley Chineme. Inside this Lexus 350 car was found a cross bag with N113,000, two iPhones; an iPhone Six and an iPhone Eleven Promax.

There was also a corpse of an unidentified man who was shot in the head.

“The third vehicle was loaded with plantains and the driver who was among those abducted, regained freedom and was later allowed to go with the vehicle. The other Lexus vehicles have been taken to Ilishan Police Station.”

Odutola said the Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu was not happy with this security breach and had in an emergency meeting summoned on Monday, directed the tactical commanders and the mobile squadron to go after these undesirable elements.

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She said ‘the CP had been to the scene of this incident, and a lot of work is ongoing to fish these people out and let them answer for their criminality, I can assure you that, these criminals will be apprehended just very soon.”

About three weeks ago, some rampaging eight gunmen had stormed Ajadeh Event Centre along the Iperu-Sagamu road and snuffed the life out of Professor Yinka Olomojobi, a lecturer with Babcock University, Ilisan Remo.

Olomojobi, a Professor of Human Rights and Gender Law was reportedly shot dead on the fateful day around 9 pm by these daredevil gunmen for allegedly resisting his abduction.

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The lecturer and others were at this relaxation centre when these hoodlums began disturbing the serenity of the environment with their heavy shooting.

By the time the dust settled, Olomojobi had been killed while two others, one Dare and another unidentified person had been whisked away.

The police however said that one Awada Ishaya from Plateau State had been picked up as prime suspect of the sordid act.

Ishaya was said to have just been employed two weeks ago as a security guard when the event centre was opened.

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