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Staff Audit: Stakeholders Besiege NDDC, Demand Umana’s Sack

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Stakeholders of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Monday besieged the commission’s premises in protest against what they described as an “unwarranted audit” of staff of the Commission by the newly appointed Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Okon Umana.

The protesters also faulted Umana’s “deep” involvement in the administrative affairs of the Commission which they claimed is contrary to his assigned role as a supervisory minister of the NDDC.

Speaking on behalf of the staff of NDDC, Mr. Victor Idaye Briggs said that it was wrong for the Minister to call for the audit of staff of the Commission, an exercise he claimed was carried out years ago before the commencement of the forensic audit in the commission.

Briggs alleged that the main intent of the Minister was to sack some staff of the Commission and bring in his cronies as a way of compensating them for political reasons.

READ ALSO: NGO Knocks NDDC Over Non-remittance Of $30m Fund

He said, “We have discovered that his actual intention is to recruit those he will use for the 2023 politics and we will never allow that to happen.

“We are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency stop the minister of the Niger Delta Affairs from destroying the Commission with the ulterior motive of sacking genuine staff of the Commission and replacing them with political cronies. They are our breadwinners. They pay our school fees. If they are sacked now, where do we go to?

“We will be here as long as possible until Mr. President responds to our request. This is very unfair and we don’t want a situation where the region is plunged into an avoidable crisis. You can see that we are all young people who are dependent on their parents or relations in this Commission”.

A staff of the Commission, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “undue interference of Umana in the affairs of the NDDC has already gone beyond his supervisory role. He is going too far about the issues affecting the NDDC despite the fact that the office of the director general had since carried out an audit on the staff and contracts in the Commission.

“About two years ago, we did biometrics and all the data for staff audit were submitted to the Head of Service when this Commission was still at Aba road. Umana has no right to order his own staff to carry out a staff audit in NDDC because this is a Commission duly established by law.

“As a supervisory minister then, former Minister Godswill Akpabio never tried that kind of a thing. What is happening in NDDC right now is a clear annexation of the Commission. It is equivalent to what Russia is doing to Ukraine. On that note, we are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently inaugurate a substantive board to run the affairs of the Commission, going forward”.

Others said the protest came at the right time to forestall the possibility of using the Commission as a cash cow to fund the coming elections.

READ ALSO: Top NDDC Official Kidnapped By Gunmen In Imo

“First of all, it is our constitutional right to protest peacefully against anything that is against the interest of the staff of this Commission and by extension the Niger Delta region. Our collective demand is that the federal government should do the needful by giving the NDDC a board in accordance to the Act that established the NDDC.

“Secondly, we want the staff of the Commission to be protected from undue interference by politicians. We have discovered that what Umana Okon Umana is trying to do is to politicize this place for political reason. We don’t want that and we will never allow that to happen.”

Some of the placards read, “NDDC not a ground to settle political acrimonies”, “Mr President return NDDC to the office of SGF”, “Umana/perm Sec leave NDDC staff alone” and “President Buhari sack Umana now”, among others.

Efforts were made repeatedly to reach the Corporate Affairs Department for reactions but to no avail.

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Ondo Poll: Aspirants Disagree With Committee, Fault Process, Call For Cancellation

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As the primary of the All Progressives Congress is ongoing, some of the stakeholders in the election have been crying foul over how the election committee handled the electoral process.

The aggrieved party members alleged that the committee which was headed by the Kogi State Governor, Mr Usman Ododo, was biased in the assignment.

Ododo, who arrived in the state on Saturday morning, addressed some of the aggrieved stakeholders at the distribution centre in the Ijapo area of Akure, saying the electoral materials had been sent to the Ondo South and South-North Senatorial Districts remaining that of the Ondo Central (as at 10.30 am).

There was no issue, I just came this (Saturday) morning and I was told that the election materials have been taken to Ondo South and Ondo North Senatorial Districts, ” the committee chairman stated.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Ondo Poll: Violence Breaks Out At APC Primary In Okitipupa

But one of the aspirants, Gbenga Edema disagreed with the governor, saying no election materials were taken to anywhere.

He said, “I have been here since 6.30 am and I didn’t see any material taken out of this place. The returning officers and electoral officers of my ward, Mahin Ward 2 in Ilaje Local Government are here and unable to collect any materials.

“What we are asking for is a credible election. So, we are asking the leadership of the party to look into this. If they’re not ready for this election, they should postpone it and the right thing should be done.”

Similarly , the programme officer of the Wale Akinterinwa Campaign Organisation, Sola Arowosafe, demanded the cancellation of the whole exercise, alleging that the primary election committee was not fair with the process.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Hoodlums Storm Voting Venues Of Ondo APC Primary Election [VIDEO]

Ajisafe said, “For APC to bring Ododo to Ondo state is a low to our party and state, and position is that no primary election has taken place, no election materials have left here, and we are saying that the leadership of the party should do the needful by sending another neutral person, just like they did in Edo state to come and conduct another primary election where the good people of Ondo state will freely exercise their franchise to pick their candidate.”

“If the leadership of the party failed to do the needful, then there is a way we will react and we are going to react accordingly. If any results are announced, we are telling the leadership of the party including President Bola Tinubu that no election took place in Ondo state, and no materials were distributed for us to pick our preferred candidate.”

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The media aide to an aspirant, Chief Olusola Oke, Mr Rotimi Ogunleye, also said the committee failed to follow the guidelines of the election.

“We got here around 6:30 am, we don’t know when and where the election materials were sent out from this place to Ondo South and North senatorial districts, the truth of the matter is that there were no materials sent out.

“Why can’t they follow the due process? The national leadership of the party should call Ododo to order, they should follow the guidelines they released,” Ogunleye demanded.

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JUST IN: Ondo Poll: Violence Breaks Out At APC Primary In Okitipupa

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Violence broke out at Ward 1 at Stella Maris College, Okitipupa, between rival supporters of two aspirants of the All Progressives Congress who are contesting to be the party’s candidate for the November 16, Ondo State Governorship election.

Accredited party members, who had gathered in large numbers to participate in the candidate selection process, fled the scene when violence erupted among the rival factions.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the accreditation and election process had not begun when the violence erupted as voters scampered for safety.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Hoodlums Storm Voting Venues Of Ondo APC Primary Election [VIDEO]

One of the accredited voters, who preferred anonymity, told NAN that one of the agents of an aspirant came to the ward, snatched the validation and accreditation papers and ran away.

One of the agents came here, snatched the validation and accreditation papers and fled the venue in his car.

“They chased him, but could not catch him. This caused the violence,” he said.

The security agents at the ward were unable to contain the violence and everyone fled the scene.

 

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FG To Pin Down Ways And Means To Tackle Inflation

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The Federal Government has announced plans to pin down Ways and Means advances to address the issue of excessive liquidity in the system and combat inflation.

The Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, made this announcement in Washington DC after meeting with investors during the ongoing spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

In February, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, stated that the bank would cease providing Ways and Means advances to the federal government until all outstanding debts are repaid.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Nigeria’s Inflation Hit 31.70% In February – NBS

However, Edun said the fiscal and monetary authorities are also working towards bringing down inflation.

“The two authorities are working hand in hand to bring down inflation and pressure on price stability and stabilising the exchange rate with the target of bringing down interest rates so that investors can borrow at a more affordable rate with a view to getting the economy going the right direction again,” Edun said.

“We need to borrow less and focus more on domestic resource mobilisation. We want long-term resources to avoid repayment and refinancing pressures.”

READ ALSO: African Immigrants Struggle To Pay Bills In UK As inflation Soars – Report

Speaking further, the minister stated that the current administration is addressing food security by prioritising farmers’ access to their land, particularly in areas where insecurity has significantly hindered food production.

Edun added that agro clusters are being developed in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to increase food production in the country.

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