Governors of the 36 states were said to have received N1billion each from the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to cushion the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Governors were also said to have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Bank to receive a sum of N1.1billion for the same purpose.
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State made this revelation on Tuesday while featuring on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily.
According to Gov Bello, all the state governors have since received the N1billion from the Federal Government.
However, Yahaya Bello said he was the only state governor who refused to sign an MoU with the World Bank.
Asked why he received the COVID-19 fund from the Federal Government despite not believing in the virus, Bello said, “even though we did not have COVID-19 in Kogi State, we are equally affected; because our economy was equally affected and Federal Government released that fund to assist every state and we cannot reject it.”
He stated that he refused to sign the World Bank MoU because it was a one-sided agreement or document.
“Go and check records. Kogi State is the only State that refused to sign that document for N1.1bilion because I don’t believe in COVID. N500million has been disbursed, Kogi State did not receive and I refused to receive and I rejected it,” he said
The Kogi Governor debunked allegations that his government hoarded the CA-COVID relief packages in Lokoja or anywhere in the State as being rumoured.
The allegations, he said, were to discredit state governors and the Federal Government.
There was fire outbreak in Akure, the state capital of Ondo State, affecting four offices of different government establishments and destroying property worth millions of naira.
The offices affected by the inferno included the annex of Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Ondo State Scholarship Board, Ondo State Radiovision Corporation and the French Language Centre.
The Guardian learnt that the unfortunate incident occurred at about 10:00 p.m. on Sunday and razed all the offices, destroying various gadgets, files, documents and the entire building built with plank.
A visit to the scene of the incident, showed the ruins and debris of the building, which was built over 30 years ago as they were still smoldering.
Eyewitnesses said that the fire outbreak might be as a result of power surge from one of the appliances within the premises.
According to them, the incident was not a deliberate act as said by some people who peddled the rumour that the #EndSARS protesters torched the property.
They recounted that Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and the SUBEB Chairman, Oladunni Odu, who were at the scene for on-the-spot assessment, described it as unfortunate.
IN another related event, flights were grounded at the Akure Airport over sudden and mysterious appearance of crater on the runway of the airport.
According to sources, a crater was dug by suspected miscreants on the runway, which forced the airport authority to shut the runway. It was said to be a preventive measure on taking off and landing of flights.
The Airport Manager, Mrs. Joke Olatunji, who said she was not authorised to speak with journalists on the incident, denied suspension of activities at the airport.
Olatunji, in a suspicious move, led some government officials to inspect the runway but barred journalists from accessing the area to ascertain the level of damage on the runaway.
She said that there were two flights at the airport yesterday but refused to disclose their destinations.
Further investigation, however, revealed that the airport had been closed to operations as a result of the deep hole dug on the runway. It was noted that it was discovered overnight and subsequently led to the closure.
There were no operational activities in the airport, though it could not be ascertained whether it was the closure of the runway that was responsible or the ongoing raging protests and destruction of public and private facilities across the country.
While the spokesperson of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Henrietta Yakubu, confirmed that there were cracks on the runway during the routine checks yesterday, she claimed that the cracks had not affected flight operations in the airport, adding that repair had begun on the cracked portions of the runway.
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has come under fire for fining Arise TV, Channels Television and the African Independent Television (AIT) about N3m for alleged “unprofessional coverage” of EndSARS protests and the use of unverifiable social media reports.
Acting Director-General of NBC, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba, who announced the punitive measures yesterday, in Abuja, had alleged that at the early stage of the protest, reports available to the commission indicated the broadcast industry largely gave a fair and balanced coverage but the trend became completely reversed when violence, wanton destruction and looting were introduced.
Idachaba alleged that “Channels Television, Arise TV and AIT especially continued to transmit footages obtained from unverified and unauthenticated social media sources, adding that the pictures stimulated anger and heightened the violence that was witnessed during the crisis.”
He said: “We believe the whole country has now seen why the spurious and recklessness on the social media must not be patronised by the mainstream traditional media. We are at the stage of our nation’s history when our broadcasters have a crucial responsibility for responsive and professional broadcasting. By picking unverified, unsubstantiated social media sources and repeating the narratives, our broadcasters have shown crass lack of professionalism and a disposition to be escalators of conflict and, more seriously, a threat to Nigeria. Look at the level of damage, killings that have happened on account of unverifiable reports”.
He described as very disgraceful a situation where traditional broadcasters turned themselves to social media pundits, citing a DJ as a news source.
“Where is the authenticity, where is the credibility,” he queried.
He said the development was a total abdication of professional checks.
“It is beginning to look as if it is a deliberate ploy, so the option available is to shut down the industry but that is not the position of the government. Left for me, I would have considered some of that portion We decided to categorise the offence as Category B offence but it is easily escalated to A and A will be a shutdown. But we still pin it down to B, which is a heavy fine between N500,000 to N5 million and none of them will pay less than N2 million but any further breach will lead to the withdrawal of the licence,” he warned.
BUT the Nigeria Union of Journalists has urged the NBC to immediately withdraw the fines.
NUJ, which called for an end to contempt and disrespect for the Media by NBC, said the fines were unnecessary, discriminatory, an attempt to discourage a free, independent media, and should be withdrawn immediately.
In a statement, yesterday, in Abuja, the National President of the union, Mr. Chris Isiguzo, observed that the NBC decision further exposed the nation’s anti-democratic tendencies.
It noted that rather than trying to muzzle the media, the NBC should applaud media coverage of the protests and the professionalism of journalists who, despite enormous risks to their lives, ensured comprehensive coverage of the protests.
The statement read, “This development is of major concern to the union as journalists and media organisations are targets of attack by both protesters and government. The media, despite all its perceived shortcomings, remain the most viable tool for good governance and democracy and should be jealously guarded and protected.
“Actions like this only bring back unpleasant memories of the long tenure of military rule and the established culture of intolerance against the media when Nigeria recorded her most grievous crimes against the industry. Sadly, we are once more witnessing actions that seek to undermine the profession by both state and non-state actors.”
REACTING, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the rush to impose fines on television stations by the NBC smacked of a fresh attempt to further gag the media, suppress free speech and Nigerians’ access to information.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the clampdown had heightened widespread public apprehension of attempts at concealments of details and suppression of material evidence relating to human rights violations during the protest.
“In fact, this display of high-handedness by the NBC has hugely detracted from the efforts being made by well-meaning Nigerians to douse the tension in the land and reassure Nigerians at this critical time,” the PDP said.
It advised NBC to withdraw the fees and handle its regulatory role more professionally.
“While the PDP calls for caution by all Nigerians, especially in the handling of information, we urge agencies of government to be mindful of actions that are capable of acerbating the already precarious situation in which we have found ourselves,” the party added.
SIMILARLY, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) yesterday condemned the fines, describing them as unconstitutional and illegal.
The group also threatened legal action against the NBC if the fines were not rescinded within 48 hours.
SERAP, in a statement by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said: “This action by the NBC is yet another example of Nigerian authorities’ push to silence independent media and voices.
According to SERAP, the fines represent a new low in Nigeria’s protection of freedom of expression and the ability of independent media to function in the country.
It urged President Muhammadu Buhari to caution the NBC against intimidating and harassing independent media houses and to respect the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) and the country’s international human rights obligations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The National Economic Council (NEC) has set up a committee to engage youths and other stakeholders on ways to address ‘deeper issues’ that led to the #EndSARS protests.
NEC, at a meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), mandated the committee to focus on employment, social safety net programmes, national unity and other critical national issues.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said the committee is headed by Osinbajo.
NEC also expressed condolences to those who had lost their loved ones, sustained injuries or lost valuables to the violence that trailed the #EndSARS protests.
The meeting also expressed support for the steps so far taken by President Muhammadu Buhari in tackling the protests and commended the security agencies for their management of the crisis.
The membership of the committee is drawn from each of the geo-political zones of the country, including governors of Sokoto State, Borno State, Niger State, Ondo State, Ebonyi State and Delta State.
The statement reads: “Rising from the emergency meeting of the NEC held Monday, 26th October 2020, members commiserated and expressed sincere condolences to all those who have been injured, suffered the death of a loved one or lost property since the hijacking of the #EndSARS demonstrations by criminals and hoodlums across the country.
“The Council observed the low morale of security operatives during the period and members resolved to commend the Nigerian Police and other security agencies for their handling of what is clearly an unprecedented problem.
“Council affirmed an unequivocal belief and assurance that most members of the nation’s security personnel are law-abiding and are capable of restoring law and order in the country.
“NEC also supported President Buhari’s commitment to a complete overhaul of the country’s security services by improving the capacity of security officers across the rank and file while providing them with the necessary equipment to carry out their jobs effectively”.
It also called on the Coalition of Private Sector operators against COVID-19, also known as CACOVID, to enlighten the citizens on its palliative distribution mode and its works with state governments.
“NEC enjoined the CACOVID leadership to come out with an independent statement on the status of the distribution of palliatives donated to States which should clearly explain the circumstances behind the delay in the distribution of food items domiciled in warehouses across the country”, it said.
On the activities of groups like the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the Council emphasised the need for an urgent action to be taken, especially in the light of their tendencies to always subvert genuine agitations to cause mayhem.
The statement added: “Council reviewed the activities of IPOB and other secessionist groups, stressing that these subterranean and violent tendencies must be quickly addressed given that they have continually hijacked demonstrations and caused mayhem and lawlessness across parts of the country.
“Council decried the irresponsible use of social media in fueling misinformation and increasing social tensions.
Council agreed to embark on an objective framing of a new security and stability architecture for the country supported by the development of a framework of engagement with the youth, civil society and religious leaders. It also agreed on:
*a framework to engage with security agencies that will devolve more control to state governors who are the chief security officers of their states;
*a framework for federal support to provide compensation for those who have incurred losses in the last few weeks; and
*a framework for social security to deal with the problem of unemployment and poverty in the country
The Mambilla hydropower project has a generation capacity of 3,050 Mega Watt (MG), when completed.
The Senate on Monday berated the Federal Ministry of Power for the non-provision of budgetary allocation in the 2021 budget for the execution of the Mambila Power Project in Taraba State.
The senators expressed their displeasure when the Minister of Power, Mamman Sale, appeared before the Senate Committee on Power for the 2021 budget defence session of the ministry and its agencies.
Shuaibu Lau, senator (PDP, Taraba), in his presentation, said the project may not see the light of the day, given the absence of commitment on the project by the ministry.
He said that his assessment of the Mambila project site indicates that there is no commitment on the part of the ministry to begin the execution of the project.
"There is no road to Mambila. You can't take any equipment to Mambila at the moment, there is no road to transport personnel to the place, so how will the project take off?.
"There is a court case that has not been settled and the Chinese company cannot come with the court case still on.
"We are just going around on one particular project for more than 20 years. We must be sincere with ourselves and tell ourselves the truth about the project.
"Let us plan something and do the project accordingly as planned."
James Manager, (PDP-Delta), said that several power experts had noted that the Mambila project if completed, will help salvage the power deficit in the country.
He, however, noted that no seriousness on the execution of the project has been shown by the ministry from discussions so far.
Mr Manager said he had thought that the minister would be desirous of completing the project, given the lifetime opportunity of being a minister from that region.
He said that the project should have been a priority of the ministry before the Senate Committee on Power.
"I get very frustrated, Mr Chairman, why are we like this.
Other senators that decried the absence of commitment to the execution of the project are Danjuma Goje (APC-Gombe), Gabriel Suswan (PDP-Benue), Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP-Abia), Adamu Alero (APC-Kebbi), among others.
Responding, the Minister of Power, Mr Sale, said that since he assumed office, he had been doing his best to kick start the Mambila power project.
He, however, shocked the Senate Committee when he disclosed that prior to his assumption of office, there was nothing like Mambila project.
"I am doing my best and I will continue to do my best. The counterpart funding that we had is 200 million dollars.
"This money had been there, and I have been pressing for the release, so that we can move to site and start work.
"It is with this money that we can clear the place, do the roads, do site clearance, and begin the groundbreaking.
"This will show the whole world that we are ready, and that is when any investors that are ready to come will invest, that is what the Chinese are waiting for."
He, however, affirmed that there is lingering litigation, noting that he is still trying to convince President Muhammadu Buhari on the issues.
"It is all our responsibility and that is why we are here in the Senate for the budget defence to solve the problem. Once we succeed in taking up this project, it will be completed," he assured.
The Mambilla hydropower project has a generation capacity of 3,050 Mega Watt (MG), when completed.
The project is being undertaken by the Federal Ministry of Power with the help of a consortium of Chinese investors.
Chinese Export-Import (Exim) Bank is funding 85 per cent of the estimated 5.8 billion-dollar project cost, while the remaining 15 per cent funding will come from the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The project is estimated to cost 5.8 billion dollars and will generate up to 50,000 local jobs during the construction phase.
Among the myriad reasons world leaders will closely watch the outcome of a fraught US presidential election, the climate crisis looms perhaps largest of all.
The international effort to constrain dangerous global heating will hinge, in large part, on which of the dichotomous approaches of Donald Trump or Joe Biden prevails.
On 4 November, the day after the election, the US will exit the Paris climate agreement, a global pact that has wobbled but not collapsed from nearly four years of disparagement and disengagement under Trump.
Biden has vowed to immediately rejoin the Paris deal. The potential of a second Trump term, however, is foreboding for those whose anxiety has only escalated during the hottest summer ever recorded in the northern hemisphere, with huge wildfires scorching California and swaths of central South America, and extraordinary temperatures baking the Arctic.
“It’s a decision of great consequence, to both the US and the world,” said Laurence Tubiana, a French diplomat and key architect of the Paris accords. “The rest of the world is moving to a low-carbon future, but we need to collectively start moving even faster, and the US still has a significant global role to play in marshaling this effort.”
Few countries are on track to fulfill commitments made in Paris five years ago to slash their planet-heating emissions and keep the global temperature rise to “well below” 2C of warming beyond the pre-industrial era. The world has already warmed by about 1C since this time, helping set in motion a cascade of heatwaves, fierce storms and flooding around the planet.
Progress might have been different had Trump not triggered US withdrawal from the fight in 2017, complaining from the White House’s Rose Garden that the Paris deal “handicaps the United States economy in order to win praise from the very foreign capitals and global activists that have long sought to gain wealth at our country’s expense. They don’t put America first. I do, and I always will.”
Tubiana conceded the “Trump administration’s dangerous anti-climate stance has had a negative impact on international climate efforts”, pointing to backsliding by the rightwing governments of Australia and Brazil, which have variously sought to downplay or dismiss the need to cut emissions more rapidly.
Scientists say the world needs to halve its greenhouse gas emissions within the coming decade and essentially eliminate them by 2050 to avoid the worst ravages of the climate crisis. The four years that make up the span of the next US presidential term will be a crucial window of time in which emissions will have to be forced sharply downwards by major economies.Facebook
Joe Biden on the way to the final presidential debate at which he said his $2tn climate plan would create jobs. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP
Trump has shown no inclination to use the US’s hefty influence to aid this effort, instead using a recent UN speech to attack “China’s rampant pollution”, just minutes before the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, used the same forum to announce the world’s largest carbon emitter would peak its emissions before 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060. There needs to be a “green recovery of the world economy in the post-Covid era”, Xi said in a speech broadly welcomed by environmentalists.
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To avoid the more dire versions of climate breakdown, the world will need to cut its emissions by about 7% each year this decade – a task that will only be achieved in 2020 due to a paralysis wrought by the pandemic that has shut down restaurants, factories, retailers, offices and other businesses.
The prospects of achieving this steep challenge would dim further with another Trump term, with the US and China now openly trading insults over each other’s climate policies. “It would be pretty much game over for the international system if he’s re-elected,” said John Podesta, who advised Barack Obama on climate policy. “China would feel zero pressure to do more and it would dampen ambition around the world. We’d miss the chance to avoid warming at a catastrophic level.”
The European Union has attempted to take up some of the climate leadership mantle that was forged for the US by Obama and then dumped under Trump. But diplomats see US engagement as crucial if meaningful progress is made at UN climate talks in Glasgow, shunted to next year due to the pandemic, where countries are due to explain how they are ramping up their climate efforts.
“Who wins between Trump and Biden will be hugely significant,” said Peter Betts, a former British government civil servant who acted as chief EU negotiator in the Paris talks. “If it’s Biden, he will convene an international summit to talk about climate, with the subtext that he’s there to talk to China. He will lean on all of the US’s allies around the world – Japan, Australia, Canada - while the EU and UK will raise their ambitions anyway. So a crucial element will be some sort of understanding with China.”
Climate change protesters disrupt former vice-president Joe Biden during a campaign event on 9 October 2019 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Photograph: Scott Eisen/Getty Images
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A Trump win, conversely, won’t completely sink the global climate effort, Betts said, but will lock in a longer, more damaging and more expensive resolution to the crisis. “If it’s Mr Trump, it’s going to be a harder path,” Betts said. “It’ll be harder for the EU to build momentum and harder to get other countries to do more if the world’s second largest emitter isn’t.”
The world will “breathe a sigh of relief” if Biden wins, Podesta said, but the tangible impact will be minor if the former vice-president isn’t able to implement an ambitious $2tn plan to create millions of new jobs in renewable energy and eliminate emissions by 2050. “When Donald Trump thinks about climate change, he thinks ‘hoax’,” Biden has said, referencing the president’s infamous dismissal of climate science. “I think ‘jobs’.”
In a US where the green economy employs 10 times as many people as the fossil fuel industry, Tesla’s market value has overtaken ExxonMobil’s and a pandemic-driven downturn has caused mass joblessness, Biden’s agenda polls well. But it would still be blocked if the US Senate is retained by Republicans who are largely opposed to climate action and have accused Democrats, without basis, of attempting to deprive Americans of hamburgers and flights in order to reduce emissions.
“The main thing Biden has to do is get the US’s own house in order,” said Podesta. “He would rejoin Paris on day one or day two, but the US wouldn’t have much credibility of he can’t make progress on getting to zero carbon. It’s not just about showing up, it’s about what you do.”
A victorious Biden would be warmly welcomed by other national leaders alarmed by the climate crisis, Tubiana said, but not much time would be spent celebrating the US’s return from the wilderness. “There is no turning back, the sun is setting on the fossil fuel industry,” she said. “In a year of undeniable climate impacts, the urgency of keeping warming below 2C has never been more clear.”
Liverpool FC have opened discussions with Schalke 04 about signing the highly-rated Ozan Kabak, according to a report in England.
The Daily Mirror, as quoted by the Daily Mail, is reporting that Liverpool FC are looking at the 20-year-old as a potential signing in the 2021 January transfer window to provide cover for Virgil van Dijk.
The same article states that the Reds boss is looking to sign a centre-half to fill the void left by Van Dijk after the Dutch defender sustained a season-ending knee injury.
According to the same story, Klopp is a big fan of the Schalke defender and the defending Premier League champions have earmarked the former Galatasaray youth product as a potential signing.
According to the same report, the Bundesliga side will be looking to secure a transfer fee in the region of £40m for the Turkey international in the next transfer window.
However, the Daily Mirror reckon that Schalke 04 will drop their asking price tom £30m given the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The media outlet claim that Liverpool FC will make an initial bid of £20m for Kabak in the hope of negotiating a favourable package to sign Kabak.
Kabak made 18 appearances in two seasons for Galatasaray before Stuttgart signed the Turkish defender in 2018.
A year later, Schalke signed Kabak in a £13m deal after the Bundesliga side activated his contract release clause.
Kabak has scored three times in 30 games in all competitions over the past two seasons.
Liverpool FC were 2-1 winners against Sheffield United at Anfield on Saturday night as Klopp played Fabinho and Joe Gomez at centre-half.
