Dr Agbu Kefas, Taraba state governor, on Sunday, declared a 24-hour curfew on Karim town and its environs in the Karim Lamido Local Government Area of the state.

The curfew followed renewed communal clashes between the Wurkuns and the Karimjos in the LGA, allegedly resulting in the killing of at least 50 people while many houses were burnt on Saturday.

The spokesman for the Taraba State Police Command, Usman Abdullahi, said the crisis started at about 3am on Saturday, adding that the exact casualty figure had yet to be ascertained.

Abdullahi said, “In the last few days, there have been pockets of guerilla attacks in some communities in the area where the Karimjos attack the Wurkuns, and the Wurkuns also attack in return, or the Wurkuns attack the Karimjos, and they also attack in return.”

Imposing a curfew on the LGA on Sunday, the governor directed security agencies to ensure strict compliance.

A statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Yusuf Sanda, also quoted Kefas as directing “all ward heads, village heads, traditional rulers, and stakeholders in Karim Lamido Local Government Area” to take note and ensure compliance.

The Nigeria Labour Congress is set to engage President Bola Tinubu on the agitation for extension of civil servants’ retirement age to 65 years.

The National President, NLC, Joe Ajaero, on Sunday, said that labour was not relenting on the agitation, which started under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

NLC had during the 2023 May Day celebrations appealed to Buhari to extend the retirement age for civil servants.

But then Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo, told our correspondent that Buhari, in the twilight of his administration, would not be able to deal with the matter.

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“The process to effect that change to 65 years (if it is accepted by the Federal Government) is a process that cannot be completed before the end of the tenure of Buhari. So, I guess the new administration will have to deal with that,” Keyamo had said.

Already, teachers under the employment of government at all levels, are enjoying the implementation of a new retirement age.

When asked on Sunday, if the congress would meet with Tinubu on the matter, the NLC President said, “Yes. Only few other establishments, including the core civil service, are now left out.

“We are, therefore, demanding that the age of retirement and length of service in the entire public service, including the civil service, be reviewed upward to 65 years of age and 40 years of service.”

Also speaking with our correspondent, the National Treasurer, NLC, Hakeem Ambali, said, “Yes, we are going to negotiate that, to avert the imminent crisis and suffering of our members whose Contributory Pension Deduction were not remitted to their PFAS by a large percentage of labour employers.

President Tinubu

“So that they (workers) are not pushed to premature death and penury, such window of five years is expected to form a transition period of normalising the scheme.”

Labour Party has expressed concern on the level of insecurity in Imo State, saying it had dislocated several residents.

The party’s national vice chairman, South East, Chief Innocent Okeke, said council areas such as Oru East, Oru West, Oguta, Orlu, Okigwe, Orsu and Njaba had become ghost towns as a result of insecurity.

He said the situation could affect voters’ turnout in the forthcoming election.

He, therefore, urged the release of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu from detention as ordered by the court, stressing that it would help to restore security in the region.

“This may bring about an end to the threat to the lives and property of people in Imo State and the wider South East region.

“The release of Nnamdi Kanu by the federal government is not only necessary to promote peace and unity in Nigeria, but is also a crucial step towards upholding the fundamental human rights of every Nigerian citizen.

“The government should, therefore, consider releasing Kanu, drop charges against him and engage in constructive dialogue with agitating groups to find a lasting solution to the country’s challenges,” he said.

A list of ministerial nominees to be appointed by President Bola Tinubu is ready.

The list, according to top sources in power corridors, is the first batch and will be sent to the Senate this week. The list of other nominees will follow after.

The president is required to appoint a minister each from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to assist him to run the government.
Immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari,
appointed 44 ministers with some states getting two ministers.

The report gathered that the first batch is made up of technocrats in line with the desire of President Tinubu to get the economy running as quickly as possible.

President Tinubu

Some serving senators from the North and the South are reportedly on the list.

“The president wants a Federal Executive Council that is performance-driven and has consequently head-hunted some highly competent technocrats to assist him in achieving his Renewed Hope Agenda upon which Nigerians voted for him.

“The president is aware of the need to depart from the old order in the appointment of ministers. He has demonstrated it in Lagos State that he is a talent spotter. Rest assured he is assembling a crack team to confront the problems in the country, said one of the sources contacted by Sunday Tribune.

It was gathered that a former Chief Executive Officer of a commercial bank from the South-West who joined partisan politics in 2020 is one of the technocrats on the list.

The person, a Fellow of Chartered Accountant (FCA) is being touted as the technocrat to be saddled with manning the Ministry of Finance where his core competence will fit in.

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Sources said the president has waded into the choice of nominee from Kano State as a result of the face-off between the immediate past governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje and his predecessor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Tinubu, it was learnt, gave Buhari the honour of presenting a nominee from Katsina State. The former president is said to have sent a name to his successor.

As part of the demonstration of his determination to begin the rebuilding of the economy immediately, it was gathered that the Senate will receive the first batch this week.

Apart from the immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, who may have been penciled in as the nominee from the state, some of his colleagues in the G-5 camp may make the list.

It was gathered that those who lost their senatorial bids and could not install successors in their states might be considered for appointments.

“The president is taking time to select those he believes will add value and move the country forward, particularly on the economic front.

“The first batch of the list is ready,” Sunday Tribune was told by a source which added that “the list will be finalised at a meeting with the president tomorrow [Monday].”

The legal battle between the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the outcome of March 18 Governorship election in Enugu state is now taking shape as the Election Petitions Tribunal holden at Enugu is set to commence full trial on Friday, 7th July, 2023.

Daily Gazette recalls that Barr. Peter Mba, the candidate of the PDP was announced winner of the keenly contested election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

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The former Enugu Finance commissioner polled a total of 160, 895 votes to defeat his closest rival, Barr. Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party (LP) who garnard 157, 552 votes

Barr. Edeoga and Labour Party rejected the results announced by INEC claiming that the election was fraught with violence, massive rigging, substantial non compliance with the electoral act, computational errors among others.

Edeoga had in an interview said that apart from reclaiming the mandate from those who undertook the electoral heist, the election was not a reflection of the will of Ndi Enugu.

Having exchanged and adopted all the briefs during the Pre-hearing sessions, the Tribunal is now ready for proper HEARING of the petitions before her.

Currently, political bigwigs in the country are lobbying for ministerial appointments from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

A group under the aiges of the Southeast Progressives Caucus Forum (SPCF) is appealing to the President to consider an illustrious son of the zone, Senator Ayogu Eze as a member of his cabinet.

Led by it’s national chairman, Dr. Wilfred Igwe, the group also said that the choice of Senator Eze will complement the development stride of the present administration based on his track record and also as a good party man.

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According to Dr. Igwe, Nigerians can only breathe easily when those who understand sectors are assigned to manage them at all levels of governance including boards and agencies.

He said for Nigeria to move to the next level in terms of security and sufficiency of food, real players and practitioners must be engaged to solve challenges and make progress.

The group described President Tinubu as a man who knows exactly what to do and will surely appoint the right persons into the right ministerial positions.

The unveiling of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ministerial list is unarguably one of the most keenly awaited developments in the country, not only by Nigerians at home, but in the diaspora.

The abysmal performance of Enugu local council chairmen in the almost two years of their administration is leaving a sour taste in the mouth.

As the third tier of government, the local government councils are the first and most tangible contact with government and indeed democracy that the people have, hence the need for the chairmen to deliberately pursue the implementation of programmes, projects and initiatives aimed at improving the lives of the people, a feature completely lacking in the present crop of chairmen in the state.

Almost two years down the line, it has become evident that the chairmen, vice chairmen and councillors have lived below expectations as clearly seen in their poor performance, misappropriation of funds as well as embarking on projects that have little or no value on the electorate leaving them to the mercies of God for survival and a total collapse of the local government system.

The desperation of some of the chairmen to get second terms in office has also led to massive embezzlement of public funds meant for developmental projects. This leaves one to wonder how a business man will continue in a business that does not fetch him profit.

Ndi Enugu are yet to see visible projects embarked-on, by these set of chairmen.

The set of activities that fall within the purview of local go councils are the building blocks of all indices of good governance, economic growth and human development. According to the 1999 constitution, local councils are responsible for primary, adult and vocational education, health services, agriculture and natural resource development.

More importantly, the local council is the level of government that is most accessible and can be most accountable to the citizens. Poor villagers who cannot afford the cost of transportation to state capital, can walk to their local councils to make their voices heard and demand accountability for service provisions.

No doubt, local government areas are treated as cash cows by state governors and political party ‘kingmakers’ rather than development centers that they are designed to be.

Local council chairmen are typically nominated by the state governor through the state’s electoral body, and supported financially by kingmakers who expect to be paid back.

This gives room for resource leakages and other forms of abuse of public treasury in the sense that funds meant for basic services are diverted for personal uses.