Tompolo hails President Buhari over new Amnesty boss

A former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Chief Government Ekpemupolo a.k.a. Tompolo, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh as the new head of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

He said that the action of the President only portrayed him as a listening leader with a desire to contribute to the development of the Niger Delta.

He also hailed the President for the choice of a retired military officer, rather than the politicians who had been scheming to get the job.

He urged the new Amnesty coordinator to ensure that critical stakeholders were consulted in the running of the programme and to avoid political jobbers.

He said, “It could be recalled that I called a meeting of ex-agitators, leaders and other stakeholders in the Niger Delta last week as a result of the pressure on me to intervene in the seemingly troubled Amnesty Programme due to the non-payment of the stipends and allowances to beneficiaries for months now.

“And so, it gives me joy for the President to appoint a high-ranking retired military gentleman to coordinate the programme, rather than have any of the political jobbers, who had advertised themselves in very negative forms in order to be appointed.”

PDP broke, plans staff reduction staff by 50%

Two months after losing power at the national level and in majority of the states, the national leadership of the former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, has concluded plans to sack half of its workforce.

Towards this end, the National Secretary of the party, Prof. Wale Oladipo, has communicated the decision of the National Working Committee of the party to all its directors.

Oladipo made the party’s decision known via a memo dated July 29, 2015, which was directed to “all directors and PS/DD/HOD/SAs/PAs and Establishment Staff” of the party in Abuja.

It was titled “Re-organisation and restructuring of staff at the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party.”

Oladipo said the decision to cut down on the number of staff and other measures were taken at the 406 meeting of the NWC, where he said the report “on the reorganisation and restructuring of staff at the national secretariat” and decisions was approved.

Apart from the reduction in the number of the staff on the payroll at the party’s headquarters, he said the salaries and allowances of those to be left behind would also be cut by as much as 50 per cent.

He listed the decisions to include “reduction of the allowance of all NWC members by 50 per cent and reduction in the number of security personnel attached to the national officers by 50 per cent.”

Patience Jonathan not humiliated at PH airport – FAAN

The convoy carrying the wife of the former President, Dame Patience Jonathan, was stopped from taking her to the foot of the aircraft on the tarmac of the Port Harcourt International Airport, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has said.

The former First Lady was reportedly stopped from using the VIP lounge of the airport. But the FAAN said it was not so. It was learnt that Dame Jonathan had gone to Port Harcourt on a private visit.

Sources at the airport also alleged that the former First Lady was denied access to the lounge by security operatives of FAAN, who reportedly said they were working based on orders from “above.”

But reacting to the report, FAAN, in a statement on Tuesday, described it as misleading and mischievous, stressing that the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan was not denied access to “the VIP lounge at the Port Harcourt International Airport on July 27, 2015.”

 

However, the authority was quick to state that what its security officials did was to stop the former First Lady’s convoy from gaining access to the tarmac where her aircraft was parked.

The General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Yakubu Dati, said the security officials explained to Dame Jonathan’s team why her convoy was stopped, adding that the officials were only abiding by international safety standards.

WAEC TO WITHOLD RESULT DUE TO FOUR BILLION NAIRA DEBT

West African Examinations Council has announced that Hundreds of candidates who sat for the 2015 May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination may not have their results released in the next two weeks.

Rosacomms gathered that this is due to the fact that no fewer than nineteen states of the federation owe the council about four billion naira examination registration fees.

WAEC Head of National Office, Lagos, Charles Eguridu, at a briefing in Lagos pleaded with the affected states to off-set the registration fees of their candidates as soon as possible.

He stated that the results of their candidates for the May/June 2015 may not be release.

Benue State University Will Open Soon - Ortom

State Governor, Samuel Ortom, today expressed optimism that staff of the Benue State University, Makurdi would call of their strike and the institution would reopen soon.

He made the disclosure when pioneer medical students of the College of Health Sciences visited him at the Benue Peoples House. Governor Ortom assured the students that he was determined to do everything possible to ensure that they graduated this year.

He expressed regret that they had spent double the number of years they were expected to complete the six year course but said everything worked together for those who loved God and were called according to His purpose.

According to him he had taken proactive measures including the sourcing of funds in the face of scarce resources to pay for the accreditation of their program, purchase of equipment and payment of salaries for staff of their school so that they could call of their strike.