Port Harcourt Mundial

By Ehichioya Ezomon The faceoff between Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu recalls to mind a popular meme - "If Men Were God" - adopted by a transport company plying many routes across Nigeria. The phrase was left hanging without supplying what would happen were men to be God! But trust Nigerians! They filled the void with a stream of alternatives, thus: If men were God, "Humans will have one eye, one nostril, one ear, one hand, one leg, no fingers, no toes, no teeth, no stomach, no private parts. And wait for this: The "men-God" will limit, ration or seize air completely for any infractions! Welcome to Edo State where Governor Obaseki straddles the "Heart Beat of The Nation" and strikes fears in cowered residents. Lately in a litany of actions, Obaseki's cut communications with, and barred Shaibu from accessing him - hiding behind security details' duty to choose who to allow access to the governor. Fair...

… My Administration Doesn’t Play Politics with Development ~ Gov Diri By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa'ad Abubakar III, on Thursday, inaugurated phase two of the newly-completed Glory Drive dual carriageway, a 10.2-kilometer road project constructed by the Governor Douye Diri administration. The road, which stretches from Igbogene through several communities and eventually terminates at Onopa in the Yenagoa city centre, was conceptualsed by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan when he was governor of the state. Speaking during the ceremony, the Sultan said he was proud to be associated with Senator Diri's success story in the development of Bayelsa State. The royal father stressed that the nation's strength lies in its diversity, noting that it was important for leaders from far away to come and appreciate what the Diri administration was doing in terms of development of the state and work together to better the lot of the people. Read ...

By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa A civil society group, Coalition for Social Justice and Equity Initiative, has raised alarm over an alleged plot by the interim administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Maj Gen Barry Tariye Ndiomu (rtd.) and the governorship flagbeater of APC, Timipre Sylva, “to insert the name of the Bayelsa APC deputy governorship candidate, Joshua Maciver, into the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) database in exchange for Ndiomu to be retained as the substantive Amnesty boss.” The group, in a letter to President Bola Tinubu, called for Ndiomu’s sack, insisting that despite the alleged secret plot, Ndiomu had allegedly “destroyed the Amnesty Programme,” adding that “out of the PAP’s 2023 annual budget of N65 billion, about N23 billion was spent in paying the 30,000 ex-militants monthly entitlements, approximately N13 billion for education, about N7 billion for recurrent expenditures, and over N20 billion was allegedly spent in paying fraudulent non-existent con...

The second edition of the Women's Climate Assembly (WCA), to be held in Lagos, Nigeria from September 24 to 28, 2023, will bring together women from fourteen countries across Central and West Africa, under the theme, ‘African Women Unite for Climate Justice, Reparations and Development Alternatives.’ According to a statement made available to our correspondent by Fabian Nsemeke, of Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre, and Connie Nagiah (WoMin African Alliance), “The WCA is a collective effort led by a steering group of women’s movements, grassroots networks, and a few non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in solidarity with women in resistance. Grassroots women from communities in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Conakry, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, will gather to build solidarity and counter power against the corporations and governments that are threatening all life on Mothe...

... Insists on ‘Decentralized Award of Pipeline Surveillance Contract’ By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa Ex-militants from the six states of the Niger Delta region, under the aegis of the Supreme Egbesu Freedom Fighters of Niger Delta (SEFFND), have dismmised as "false" and " sponsored blackmail" the claim that the leader of Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, (NDPVF) and former president of Ijaw Youth Council IYC Worldwide, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo Asari was barred from the Presidential Villa due to an allege rift with President Bola Tinubu. In a statement signed by self-styled General Agadagba 1, also known along the creeks and waterways of the region as the River Don, SEFFND, said though “those behind the claims have been identified as desperate contractors seeking renewal of the oil pipeline surveillance contracts,” the claim is a calculated attempt to discredit the rising personality of Mujahid Dokubo Asari with the intention of putting a wedge between him and Preside...

By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa The presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, has described Bayelsa state as the second poorest state in Nigeria, with 88 percent, after Sokoto State with 95 percent index. Peter Obi said Bayelsa is not supposed to be among the poorest state with all the billions coming into the state every month, linking this to bad leadership. Obi handed down this during a town hall meeting in Yenagoa to unveil the Labour Party governorship candidate for the November 11 polls, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, and his running mate, retired Commodore Benjamin Nathus, and handing over of flag to them. He said, "we want to start bringing down poverty in Bayelsa by moving the state from consumptions to production. Carry our message to everywhere in the state that we have a credible, reliable, trustworthy and verifiable candidate in the person of Engr. Udengs Eradiri. "We can have a new Bayelsa by using public funds for development. The money they are giving to y...

By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, appears to be playing the ostrich in the Opu-Nembe (Bassambiri) community crisis. So said the chief press secretary to Governor Douye Diri, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, while reacting to a statement credited to the former Bayelsa governor, in which he accused the incumbent governor of stirring crisis in Bassambiri. Alabrah added that Chief Sylva was “embarking on a futile mission to deflect attention from his own disdainful role in the protracted conflict. “It is a surprise that the former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources just found his voice one month after the current crisis broke in the community.” Read more: https://phmundial.com/opu-nembe-crisis-sylva-playing-the-ostrich-diris-spokesman/

By Ehichioya Ezomon In my May 15, 2023, article in New Telegraph on, ‘Election Petitions: Need for litigants and judges to avoid technicalities,’ I referenced an opinion piece by lawyer and rights activist, Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) on, ‘The evils of technical justice.’ Adegboruwa's article of February 2, 2021 (SaharaReporters) stemmed from the Supreme Court ruling on the Osun governorship election, in which the issue of "technicalities" reared its ugly head regarding "originating summons" and "writ of summons," and how the apex court had interchangeably applied "technicalities" in its opinions. Yet, the court cautions against shutting out hearing litigants simply on ground of technicalities. In the case of Boniface Ebere Okezie & 3 Ors. v. Central Bank of Nigeria & 5 Ors. (2020) 15 NWLR (Pt.1747) 181 - that lasted 11 years (2009-2020), the Supreme Court advised: "The paramount duty of courts is to do substantial justice and not ...

By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa Former militant leader, Chief Ebikabowei Victor-Ben, has congratulated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over his victory at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT), insisting that the past 100 days of his administration has shown the President’s capacity to rescue and build a prosperous nation. Chief Victor Ben, also known as General BoyLoaf, called on the people of the Niger Delta region to support the Tinubu administration, “as his policies and vision for the region are practicable and will fulfill the desires of the people in the region in areas of empowerment, infrastructural development and sustainable peace.” He further called on Nigerians to support the present administration as it targets to reposition the socio-economic imbalance and launch the country into era of reduced borrowing, economic advancement and sustained infrastructural development. Chief Victor Ben assured Nigerians that the President Bola Tinubu administration will strive to ensure...

By Godwin Chukwumaechi Human Rights advocacy group the Niger Delta Rights Advocates (NDRA) has accused the Minister of State for Labour, Nkiruka Onyeojocha, of plotting to destablise the government of President Bola Tinubu. The group alleged that instead of the minister to concentrate on her job, “she was busy with her efforts at destabilization of the leadership of the House of Representatives and by extension becoming a cog in the wheel of progress of the Tinubu administration.” In a press release issued on Monday in Port Harcourt, the Women Wing of the NDRA called on the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to call the minister to order “to cease from sponsoring court cases that are injurious to the party and capable of dragging the name of Mr President in the mud, with her personal ambition to become Speaker of parliament.” The release, signed by Clara Nkwocha, national women leader and Gloria Kagbara welfare officer of NDRA the women also accused Onyeojocha of bein...

By Godwin Chukwumaechi A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has prophesied that the alliance between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nyesom Wike will collapse before the end 2024. In a statement in Port Harcourt on Monday Chief Eze who described the alliance as "unholy romance" said the political alliance clearly contravenes every recognized standards of sound politicking, founded on immorality and grossly distorts the ethical contents of politics and political liberalism. Speaking on the appointment of undeserving persons from Rivers State into ministries and boards, he said the reward system has been disproportionately tilted against qualified and deserving members of the Rivers APC who committed time and materials to calm the hydra-headed intra-party rivalry and instill stability in the face of very stiff and ambitious opposition and snooping saboteurs who conniv...