RSHA rescinds resolution granting Celestine Omehia recognition as former governor
The Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA) has rescinded the resolution it passed on June 30, 2015 granting Celestine Omehia as former governor of the State.
The State legislative house also directed the State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to derecognize Omehia as former Governor of the State and stop all privileges, entitlements and benefits attached to him as a result of his position as former governor. The motion was moved by Martin Amaewhule.
Omehia is said to have received a lot of financial benefits to the tune of 600 million naira and the sum of 96.5 million naira as monthly pension as of September 2022.
However, with this motion the politician is said to lose all these benefit especially the N96.5 million monthly pension.
The River State House of Assembly said that its decision was based on a Supreme Court ruling in which it was clearly presented that Rotimi Amaechi was indeed the governor of the state in 2007. That Amaechi was infact the person who contested the 2007 election and not Omehia.
Amaewhule, worried over the leakage of scare financial resource of the state to protect and promote an illegality pushed the motion of the de-recognition of Celestine Omehia as former governor of the State.
After a long session of deliberation, all 21 Lawmakers unanimous supported the motion.
With the resolution passed, Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly Ikuinyi Owaji Ibani immediately directed the Clerk of the House to ensure that it is ready for onward transmission to the Rivers State Governor.
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Nigeria requires N348trn investment commitments for 2021-2025 development plan – Minister
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed says N348.1 trillion investment commitment is required for the successful implementation of the 2021-2025 National Development Plan (NDP).
She made the declaration on Thursday in Abuja at the inauguration of the Board of Directors of the Nigeria Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Forum.
“The Ministry of Finance Budget and National Planning Commission has developed a National Development Plan 2021 to 2025.
“This plan cannot be achieved by government alone; the private sector and SMEs have a huge role in the implementation of the plan.
“To effectively implement the plan by 2025, it is expected to achieve an economic growth rate of 4.6 per cent.
“It is also expected to lift 35 million people out of poverty and create 29 million jobs.
“To attain this objective, a total of N348.1 trillion investment commitments are required and this commitment is not coming from government alone.
“In fact, 80 per cent of these resources are coming from the private sector.
“The sum of N298 trillion will be funded by the private sector.
“We are expecting SMEs to fund part of this as part of private sector’s contribution, while N49.7 trillion is expected from government,’’ the minister said.
Represented by an official of the ministry, Auwal Mohammed, the minister reminded the SMEs that they have a critical role to play in the effective implementation of the plan.
Senate urges commission to return Atala Marginal Oil field to owners
The Senate has urged the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC )to restore the Atala Marginal Oil field (OML 46) to its former owners.
According to NAN, the Chairman of Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Sen. Ayo Akinyelure, said this at an investigative hearing on Thursday in Abuja.
He said although President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered that the oil field be reallocated to the original owners, the commission has refused to obey the order.
The chairman also expressed disappointment over the non appearance of both NUPRC and the beneficiary, Halkin Oil at the hearing.
“We have invited them severally and again, they have not been able to come before Nigerians and prove that the allocation of Atala Oil to Halkin is justified before the law and before humans.
“The position of this particular committee in the last sitting was that, we want the NUPRC to provide evidence before this committee today, to inform our decision on whether to support the position of NUPRC or not.
“The Nigerian Senate has asked the NUPRC to provide a written evidence that the President has reversed his own order.
“It has not been heard anywhere allover the world that, when the President gives a presidential order, a civil servant would go ahead and reverse it without a written permission from the President.
“So, we are not convinced by the report of the NUPRC and we make bold to say the NUPRC has been misinformed to allocate Atala Oil to a private limited liability company, when Mr. President had given a presidential Order that they should give considerations to former owners of 10 Oil fields,” he said.
Brazil’s Lula on 48%, ahead of Bolsonaro on 41%, poll shows ahead of vote
Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has a seven-point-lead over incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro ahead of an Oct. 30 runoff vote, according to a poll by Genial/Quaest published on Thursday.
According to Reuters, the election headed for a run-off vote after far-right Bolsonaro beat expectations in Sunday’s first-round vote, ruining the hopes of leftist Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2010, that he could win outright.
Lula had 48 percent voter support versus Bolsonaro’s 41 percent, according to the latest survey.
Pollsters were widely criticized after the first-round vote for greatly underestimating support for Bolsonaro.
The survey by pollster Genial/Quaest interviewed 2,000 people between Oct. 3 and 5 and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
Thailand massacre: ex-cop kills 24 children in knife and gun rampage
In one of the worse mass killing incidence in South East Asia, a former policeman killed 34 people, including 23 children, during a knife and gun rampage at a daycare centre in northeast Thailand on Thursday, police said. After committing the horrific scene at the daycare, the assailant headed for his home and killed himself after shooting dead his wife and child.
The police reported that most of the children who died at the daycare centre in Uthai Sawan, a town 500 km (310 miles) northeast of Bangkok, were stabbed to death.
The age range of children at the daycare centre was from two to five years, a local official told Reuters.
The Police identified the attacker as a former member of the force who was dismissed from his post last year over drug allegations and he was facing trial on a drug charge.
The man had been in court earlier in the day and had then gone to the daycare centre to collect his child, police spokesperson Paisal Luesomboon told broadcaster ThaiPBS.
When he did not find his child there, he began the killing spree, Paisal said. “He started shooting, slashing, killing children at the Uthai Sawan daycare centre,” Paisal said.
“It’s a scene that nobody wants to see. From the first step when I went in, it felt harrowing,” Piyalak Kingkaew, an experienced emergency worker heading the first responder team, told Reuters.
“We’ve been through it before, but this incident is most harrowing because they are little kids.”
A large van that police said contained bodies of 22 people, mostly children, was seen by Reuters departing from a police station headed towards the city of Udon Thani, 80 km (50 miles) away, where autopsies would be performed.
