Kogi assembly summons BUA Group over 50,000-hectare land
Another Dangote Cement—Kogi Government situation may be in the horizon as Kogi House of Assembly on Monday summoned cement manufacturing firm, BUA Group, over a 50,000-hectare land it reportedly acquired 10 years ago but is yet to pay for it.
The lawmakers gave the summons at a public hearing of one of its ad-hoc committees held at a hotel in Lokoja since its complex was gutted by fire last Monday.
Alfa Momoh-Rabiu — the deputy Speaker of the House, who read the summons after listening to the Acting Surveyor-General of the State, Salihu Mustapha — expressed shock at the attitude of BUA Group.
“We are having problem with the Bua Group over 50,000 hectares of land it acquired in 2012 and even obtained a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) but has not paid a kobo for the land,” the Acting Surveyor-General said at the public hearing.
“We have written to the group several times but it has not responded to any of the letters.
“No compensation has been paid to the communities that own the expanse of land,’’ the Acting Surveyor-General said at the public hearing.
Umar Tenimu, the ad-hoc committee’s chairman, said that it was an offence for Bua Group to hold the land for more than 10 years without paying for it.
The group should be summoned to come and explain why it refused to pay for the land and why it refused to compensate the community involved, he said.
He added that if BUA Group refused to pay for the land and compensate the community, government shall revoke the C of O. This is according to NAN.
Gbajabiamila to meet with Finance Minister, CBN over aviation crisis
Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has scheduled a roundtable for October 20 with the Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance over the crisis in the aviation sector.
NAN reported that Gbajabiamila said this at the end of a meeting with stakeholders in the aviation sector on Monday in Abuja.
He said that the meeting was aimed at resolving the lingering aviation crisis.
“The Governor of the CBN and the Minister of Finance are not here today because they in the ministerial retreat going in the Presidential Villa.
“I am glad that we have taken your submission, there are a lot of things to unbundled and we have rescheduled the meeting so we can chart a way forward.
“While we try to look for solutions, I will plead with the foreign airlines to show some good faith and open up your portal for business to continue as usual so that Nigerians can purchases your tickets so that your travelling agents can work.
“While you go back to status quo, we will look for how you can repatriate your funds, if it requires a special intervention or whatever, we will find a way to deal with it,’’ he said.
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2023: Peter Obi to focus on security, agriculture, education in north if elected
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party has promised to focus on security, agriculture and education in the northern part of Nigeria if elected into power come 2023.
Obi made this revelation public on Monday during his talk at the Arewa Joint Committee interactive session in Kaduna.
He added that security, agriculture, and education will among his top targets for the region if elected into power in 2023.
“We will offer immediate and decisive long-lasting and permanent-effect resolution of all security challenges in the North,” he said
“Ensure that farmers return to all farmlands for the 2023 farming Season. We will make Nigeria’s arable land in the North her new oil and gold;
“As part of our Marshall Plan for Education, we will foster Federal intervention in education at all levels in the North and partnership with State Governments and international organizations in order to improve access to affordable and quality education at all levels.”
He said that his administration will “ensure very adequate representation in government, equitable appointments especially in the Security and Economic Sectors.”
The former governor of Anambra State noted that he will also work on reviving the “moribund cotton and textile industries” and “ensure very generous deployment and allocation of economic and social projects and infrastructure in the North.”
Ukraine official condemns Iran over Russian drone attacks
A Ukraine official has accused Iran of responsibility for the “murders of Ukrainians” after Russia attacked cities with what Kyiv called “kamikaze drones” made in the Islamic Republic and allegedly sold to Moscow.
According to Al Jazeera, Ukraine has reported a barrage of Russian air attacks using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones in recent weeks. Iran denies supplying the drones to Russia, while the Kremlin has not commented.
Last month President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the accreditation of the Iranian ambassador was revoked as a result of Russian forces using Iranian drones to attack Ukraine.
“Iran is responsible for the murders of Ukrainians,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter on Monday.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday called for EU sanctions on Iran, a few hours after Kyiv was hit by swarms of kamikaze drones, killing at least four people and wounding many others.
Kuleba said on Twitter he “requested more air defence and supply of ammunition [and] called on [the] EU to impose sanctions on Iran for providing Russia with drones”.
Pentagon considers funding Musk’s Starlink network for Ukraine – Politico
The Pentagon is considering paying for Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network in war-torn Ukraine, Politico reported on Monday, citing two U.S. officials involved in the discussions.
According to Reuters, the most likely source of funding would be the U.S. Department of Defense Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, designed to support the country as it fights Russia, the report added.
Musk had said on Friday that SpaceX could not indefinitely fund Starlink in Ukraine, but backtracked over the weekend to assert the rocket company would continue to fund the service in the country.
He said in a tweet on Monday that SpaceX had already withdrawn its request for funding, an acknowledgement that such a request was made.
A Pentagon spokesman said the Defense Department would not speculate on future security assistance announcements before they occur.
A separate report in the Financial Times said the European Union was also weighing funding Starlink in Ukraine, citing three officials with knowledge of the decision.
Musk, the world’s richest person and chief executive of Tesla Inc., recently said SpaceX spends nearly $20 million a month for maintaining satellite services in Ukraine and that the company has spent about $80 million to enable and support Starlink there.
“To be precise, 25,300 terminals were sent to Ukraine, but, at present, only 10,630 are paying for service,” Musk tweeted on Monday.
Starlink has helped Ukraine’s civilians and military stay online during the war, with Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov last week saying Starlink’s services helped restore energy and communications infrastructure in critical areas.
