"We'll begin reconstruction immediately" Umahi assured as he inspect collapsed bridge with Mba

…Commends Mbah’s move to dualise Enugu-Abakaliki Road

*…Mbah commends FG’s prompt response*

The Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi, has assured of immediate reconstruction of the bridge between the New Artisan flyover and the Naira Triangle, at the Enugu end of the Enugu – Port Harcourt expressway, starting with the collapsed one.

Umahi, who blamed the bridge’s collapse on eroded abutment and age, having been constructed in 1978, also commended Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State for undertaking to dualise the Enugu State part of the Enugu-Abakaliki road, saying the governor had shown leadership in ameliorating the plights of his people.

Umahi spoke when he inspected the collapsed bridge in company with Governor Mbah Thursday evening.

“This bridge that collapsed has gone viral. A lot of people have been sending the pictures to me and have been calling. Also, you never allowed me to rest since you said I must come and see it. When you have a leader, who is committed to what leadership of a people should be, he must get support. That is why I decided I must come so that I will brief the president. 

“I am also very sure that when they see the two of us together, they will find out that the president is a man that listens. 

“Yesterday, I sent the man in charge of bridge design and construction and also the Director of Federal Ministry of Works in charge of the South East. They came and carried out their review.

“What has happened here is very unfortunate. I have read the report of my men, and I have also read the report you sent to us, and the pictures, and the two reports are the same. The piles were exposed because besides the abutment, this bridge was built in 1978.

“We are going to look at the second bridge and see how far remedial work could be done on it and see if we can use it while we do everything to demolish this one and start the reconstruction. And we are going to scale up the reconstruction of the two bridges alongside the road that is going on. 

“I want to assure you that we will do that and I have directed the contractors to do everything to provide alternative road in addition to the several routes that you have also provided”, the minister said.

On the governor’s plan to reconstruct and dualise the Enugu – Abakaliki road, Umahi assured that the federal government would expedite the necessary approvals.

“Let me also use this opportunity to thank you for your initiative in constructing a dualised road between Enugu and the Ebonyi boundary. It is a very wonderful initiative.

“We have gotten your letter and I have also sent my men to come and evaluate it. I can assure you that within the next seven days, you must hear from us. We are reviewing the drawing. We will also give you our standard and bill of quantities”, he said. 

He also commended Mbah’s suggestion on getting states involved in federal road maintenance, saying it showed the private sector mentality the governor had brought to bear on governance.

“I am happy that when you visited here, you proposed that the federal government should involve state governments in Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI). 

“I am happy that you came from the private sector. There is a very serious high hope by the steps you have rolled out. They are in tandem with Mr President’s steps and I pledge to support him very seriously and I pledge to support you. There must be a change. We must reset the country”, he concluded.

Speaking, Governor Mbah thanked the federal government for the prompt response, saying it was a mark of inclusive leadership on the part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“As you already know, I promptly visited the scene immediately this happened. This is a major gateway. So, we cried out to the federal government to say that we need to do something expeditiously. And here we are today; within 48 hours, the minister is right here with us to carry out an inspection, proffering solution on how we can at least get one section of the bridge moving.

“He also has the contractors here with him. They want to immediately swing into action.

“So, we are truly pleased with the action taken so far by the minister and indeed the president. This, for us, underscores the president's commitment to his oath of office. He committed to lead with compassion. He also committed to run an inclusive government”, Mbah stated.

Enugu Governor Challenges Ndi Igbo on Regional Railway, Road Project to Boost Economy

Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has challenged the South East to maximise their economy of scale and also pool resources to build critical regional infrastructure like railway and roads to create a common market and boost socio-economic prosperity in the region.

Mbah canvassed a multi-dimensional approach to tackling insecurity, including a common security command and control centre, inter-agency cooperation, and non-kinetic approaches such as economic transformation, employment generation, moral suasion, among others.

The governor, who gave the charge at the South East Economic and Security Summit held in Owerri on Thursday, identified transportation and logistics as some of the key enablers needed to transform the South East economy and thereby reduce poverty, unemployment and consequent crimes.

“How do we ensure that we have a road network that moves across the various cities in Anambra, Abia, Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi?

“How do we build a ring road that connects all the major cities in the South East so that we can seamlessly encourage those who are producing and those who are providing services to distribute their products and services across the different cities of the South East seamlessly?

“These are things we must be intentional about if we are going to deal with unemployment and insecurity in the South East.

“Since we now have railways in the Concurrent List, there is nothing stopping us. So, if we pick one or two projects from this summit that we can say as a people of the South East, we want to make sure that we execute them, I believe we can achieve them and they are going to have a huge spillover effect on our economy and security” the governor stated.

Mbah canvassed various funding models to actualise such enabling projects, adding that Ndigbo could take the giant step by mobilising their funds to their homeland for the purpose.

 

“The challenge will be how do we fund it? That even brings me to this philosophy of 'Aku Ruo Ulo', in my view is for us to encourage our kith and kin to bring back their wealth to the South East.  Putting a benchmark of about 30 per cent and 40 per cent of our wealth will go a long way. We have people that are wealthy Igbos. So, if we begin to think about how we invest some of those funds in the South East, it is a way of making sure that we have a huge capital flow to be able to execute some of these critical projects”, he added..

 

He therefore tasked the organisers of the summit to employ the best of Igbo brains to curate and prepare the ideas from the summit in an implementable format, assuring that the South East governors were ready to work together to ensure their full realisation.

Tinubu's minister reportedly poisoned

 Peoples Gazette is reporting that Nigerian tourism minister has been hospitalised in Abuja after suffering acute poisoning from unknown origins.

The newspaper reports that Lola Ade-John, 60, was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, shortly after she started manifesting symptoms of her poisoning, according to family sources familiar with her ordeal. She has spent four days at the facility as of Friday morning.

Ms Ade-John, a career banker and tech investor, has been on a machine to aid her breathing, our sources said. The specifics as to what substance she ingested and how could not be immediately established by The Gazette. The police and the State Security Service did not immediately return a request on whether or not any investigations had been opened into the matter.

Her worsening situation has further set the family against the government, with the permanent secretary of her ministry said to be in disagreement as to whether she should continue receiving treatment at a public hospital or be moved to a better-equipped private facility downtown.

The permanent secretary, Ngozi Onwudike, was said to have insisted that the minister should not be transferred because the FMC is a public hospital and its services wouldn’t attract substantial charges to the government, a position her family rebuffed. But they remained with her as they could not raise funds to move her to a private hospital, our sources said. A phone number for the permanent secretary did not connect on Friday morning.

A spokesperson for the FMC did not immediately return a request seeking comments from The Gazette about Ms Ade-John’s condition.

Ms Ade-John was appointed as a minister by President Bola Tinubu in August. She was immediately touted as one of the few cabinet members appointed from outside the political beltway. She was based in London for years before she was asked to return to the country to serve by the president.

Council Chairman charges committee on palliative delivery

Council Chairman charges committee on palliative delivery

Chairman of Isi Uzo Local Government Area, Enugu State, Bar. Obiora Obeagu has on Monday 25th day of September 2023, continued the distribution of Palliatives across the wards in the area in line with the direction of the Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mba.

In a statement by the Chairman, he urged the committee members drawn across the local government to be fair adding that they should adhere to the criteria for selection of beneficiary of the palliative. 

The federal Government had earlier announced a N5 billion palliative for each state of the federation, including the federal capital territory (FCT), to cushion the impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy. 

However, the Enugu State Government had further released the criteria for the selection pointing that beneficiaries must be  the vulnerable and disadvantaged ones in the community.

Tribunal Sacks Ondo lawmaker

 Tribunal sacks Ondo lawmaker

 

The election petition tribunal sitting in Akure has nullified the election of a member of the Ondo State House of Assembly representing Ileoluji/Okeigbo constituency, Hon. Nelson Akinsuroju of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

While ruling on a petition filed by the candidate of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Babatunde Fadare against the election of Akinsuroju, the tribunal declared that the March 18th, 2023 Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Constituency election, was inconclusive.

It therefore ordered a rerun election in six, out of the 27 polling units being challenged by the PDP Candidate, of the entire 191 polling units in the Constituency.

Akinsuroju, was announced winner by INEC, after polling a total number of 10,207 votes, to beat the PDP candidate who polled 9,287 votes.

But Fadare had petitioned the tribunal, challenging the outcome of the election on the grounds that the election was not valid for non-compliance with electoral laws and that Nelson Akinsuroju was not duly elected for not getting the highest lawfully votes cast.

He also urged the court to declare the election inconclusive and order INEC to conduct supplementary election in the 6 affected units where election were disrupted.

The petitioner also joined INEC and APC as respondents in the petition.

The three-man panel led by the Chairman, Rose Soji, while delivering judgement, ordered for a rerun in 6 affected polling units in Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo local government area of Ondo State.

Reacting to the verdict, counsel to Akinsuroju, Remi Olatubora SAN, said the judgement was one sided as it is based on morality of the case and not competence of the results.

Represented by Barrister Olumide Ogidan, the defense counsel, added that “the judgment shall be studied and shall be appealed within the stipulated timeframe, as stated in the Electoral Act of 2022.

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The sacked lawmaker, Akinsuroju, has however, called for calm and enjoined the people of Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo State Constituency to be hopeful as the judgment shall be appealed through his legal team.

Akinsuroju added that, their mandate would be protected for them, to ensure that they continue to enjoy the dividends of their democracy which they have been enjoying for over 4 months.

Enugu economy to add ₦26 billion as investors commit resources on transport sector

The Enugu State economy is expected to grow by an additional 26 billion Naira through massive investments by foreign and local investors who have already indicated interest in the transport sector of the state. 

This development was disclosed by the Commissioner of Transport, Obi Ozor, Friday, shortly after the State Executive Council held at the Nike Lake Resort, Enugu, on the sidelines of the Enugu State Executive Leadership Retreat organized for senior government officials.  

Addressing newsmen, the commissioner said the state had already attracted investment worth ₦26 billion in the transport sector which would lead to the concession and revival of the Enugu State Transport Company (ENTRACO) Ltd, creating over 10,000 jobs for the people. 

Obi, who stated that the state was creating diverse opportunities in the economy through intra-state and inter-state CNG-powered buses, added that the investments would further attract assembly plants for buses and other vehicles which would enable efficient and affordable transportation system.

“This monumental transaction by Governor Peter Mbah will not only bring efficient transportation but will also move Enugu close to its industrialization goal,” the Commissioner added.

While speaking on the economic impact on the lives of the people, Ozor insisted that the investments would enable thousands of jobs for the residents, create skills through the plant assembly and “save over 3,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum”.