Headline
Dakuku, A Political Neophyte- Gov. Wike

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Immediate Past Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside has been described as a Political Neophyte by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.
Governor Wike explained that his administration since 2015 made conscientious effort to transform the landscape of Rivers State and restore the Garden City status of Port Harcourt, contrary to misleading lies being peddled by Dr Peterside.
The governor said Peterside, who was once stripped naked in Rivers State University for cult related activities, and whose company misappropriated funds meant for the shore protection project in Kalaibiama community in Opobo LGA, lacks the moral rectitude to criticise his administration.
He said it rather unfortunate that those who laid the foundation for cultism in Nigerian universities have gradually found their way into the country’s political sphere.
“Who are those who laid the foundation of cultism in Nigeria? It is those who went to University. Dakuku Peterside was a cultist in Rivers state University. Dakuku Peterside was stripped naked in Rivers State University. I have never been a cultist from University of Port Harcourt to Rivers State University and to Law School. How can a cultist tell me what is good.”
Governor Wike stressed that it was because of the cluelessness and lack of focus of the immediate past administration in the State, in which Peterside served as Commissioner for Works, that projects like Abonnema Ring Round awarded by Governor Peter Odili, Rumuolumeni-Rumuepirikon road, Woji road among others were abandoned. But, he has since completed these projects in the interest of the State.
The governor described the former NIMASA DG as a political neophyte because PDP has won all the elections in his Opobo Local Government Area since 2015
Meanwhile, Gov. Wike said the credibility and integrity of the Zamfara State governor, Bello Muhammad Matawalle is now at stake following his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said the preoccupation of any governor who means well for his State ought to be the delivery of dividends of democracy to the citizenry and not to join the APC that has failed Nigerians.
The governor stated this during the inauguration of reconstructed Rumuigbo, Chief Johnson Amadi, Igbodo, Finima, Rumuopareli, Bauchi, Ohia and Isaac Boro streets in Old Government Residential Area, Port Harcourt on Tuesday night.
“People must have respect for themselves. There are things I cannot do for the sake of my children. In 2019, Matawalle said I will never leave PDP. I will never disappoint PDP. If I disappoint PDP, I will never have peace in my life. Today, what has happened? Is everything politics? It is not true. Everything cannot be politics. Your credibility, your integrity is important in life. I will never betray my people.”
The governor said only spineless governors and politicians will succumb to threats and blackmail of the ruling APC to join the party or risk persecution. According to him, only governors who cannot perform decamp to APC, primarily to seek protection from a party that is allegedly fighting corruption.
“A governor invited Mr President (Muhammadu Buhari) to flag off a super highway of 260 km, and up till now, Mr President has not asked the governor about the highway.”
Governor Wike maintained that curfew imposed in the State in the wake attacks on security formation will only be relaxed when he receives security brief from the State Security Council.
“I will not lift the curfew until the security people tell me it is time to call off the curfew. Only criminals complain against the curfew. I prefer to protect life and property.”
Former governor of Abia State and Senator representing Abia Central, Senator Theodore Orji , who performed the inauguration of the eight streets, commended Governor Wike for the infrastructural transformation taking place in Rivers State.
He noted that Rivers people are happy with the achievements of the Wike’s administration because the state remains the only place where projects are being flagged off and inaugurated every day and night.
Senator Orji said it was rather mischievous for Peterside and others to peddle lies about the glaring developmental strides of the Wike’s administration.
Rivers State Commissioner of Works, Elloka Tasie-Amadi said the reconstructed eight streets have a combined length of 4.4km, an average road width of 9m (7m to 10m) and 3.7km of new drains.
“This project to the uninitiated will look merely like an improvement in the character of the road and its design speeds having been reconstructed and expanded, but it goes beyond the road. It not only improves the character of the neighbourhood and by extension our capital, it (the reconstruction) goes further to positively impact on real estate, security and much more, offering all the benefits associated with good road and transportation access.
“Most importantly, these roads have been built to last, freeing up funds for other needs in the future. It is said that it is always cheaper to do it well the first time thereby avoiding costly repairs and repeat works.”
Headline
Peddle Drugs and Die: NAFDAC Goes for the Jugular

By Eric Elezuo
Drug peddlers and their sponsors are in for a harder time if recommendations and proposal of death penalty, by the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mrs Mojisola Adeyeye, sails through.
The formation of NAFDAC was inspired by a 1988 World Health Assembly resolution requesting countries’ help in combating the global health threat posed by counterfeit pharmaceuticals
Speaking bitterly at a live television show on the hard-heartedness of peddlers, whose actions, direct and indirect, have caused the deaths of not a few Nigerian children, and in some cases, adults.
According to the Director-General, only stiff penalties will deter peddlers, especially when it leads to the death of children.
She noted that “Somebody bought children’s medicine for N13,000 or something like that, another person was selling about N3,000 in the same mall,” the NAFDAC chief said on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
“That raised an alarm. Guess what? There was nothing inside that medicine when we tested it in our Kaduna lab. So, I want the death penalty.
“Because you don’t need to put a gun on the head of a child before you kill that child. Just give that child bad medicine,” Adeyeye said.
The NAFDAC DG is also seeking the cooperation of the judiciary and the National Assembly to make such a move a reality. According to her, the agency is open to partnering with lawmakers and other stakeholders on the matter.
“You cannot fight substandard, falsified medicine in isolation. The agency can do as much as it can but if there is no deterrent, there’s going to be a problem,” she said.
“Somebody brought in 225mg of Tramadol that can kill anybody, fry the brain and you give a judgment of five years in prison or N250,000. Who doesn’t know that that person will go to the ATM and get N250,000?
“That is part of our problem. There are no strict measures to deter [people] from repeating the same thing. We can do as much as we can but if our law is not strong enough, or the judiciary is not strong enough to stand up, we’re going to have a problem.
“So, our judiciary system must be strong enough. But we are working with the National Assembly to make our penalties very stiff. But if you kill a child by bad medicine, you deserve to die,” she said.
While NAFDAC has a lot on its plate in stemming drug peddling, Adeyeye decried the shortage of manpower in the agency.
She believes with about 2,000 staff members nationwide and limited funding, NAFDAC is constrained in carrying out its activities.
“So, when it comes to staffing, you’re right on the point. We are short-staffed and I am hoping things will be better,” the NAFDAC DG said.
It would be recalled that in times past, and in recent times, the deaths of children from medicine intake has been rift, prompting a form of emergency in the medical sector to checkmate the activities of the saboteurs, who are bent on reaping gains at the expense of life and wellbeing.
Mrs Adeyeye has promptly toed the lines of former NAFDAC DG, the late Dora Akinyuli, who declared an all out against drug peddlers and couriers.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is a federal agency under the Federal Ministry of Health that is responsible for regulating and controlling the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, distribution, sale, and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, chemicals, and packaged water established in 1993 under the health and safety law.
The establishment of NAFDAC was to counter the production and sales of adulterated and counterfeit drugs, which has become a menace in Nigeria, and to Nigerians. It would be recalled also that in one incident in 1989, over 150 children died as a result of paracetamol syrup containing diethylene glycol, among a list of other horrifying incidents.
At a certain stage, fake drugs issue was so severe that neighbouring countries such as Ghana and Sierra Leone officially banned the sale of drugs, foods, and beverage products made in Nigeria.
Headline
El-Rufai Lacks Capacity to Win Even Senate Seat – Presidency

Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, has stated that the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the lacks the influence to “unsettle” President Bola Tinubu.
Bwala made the remarks during an interview with TVC News on Thursday, stating that former Kaduna State governor does not have the capacity to win even a senate seat.
He emphasized that President Tinubu is not troubled by El-Rufai’s ongoing criticisms of his administration.
Bwala also noted that el-Rufai only gains political prominence when aligning with a strong, revolutionary leader, adding: “Let me tell you something about my elder brother, el-Rufai, and whether we should be concerned.
“There’s a dynamic around him. El-Rufai needs a solid revolutionary figure to thrive. On his own, El-Rufa’i might not even secure a Senate seat.”
Headline
Reps Propose Creation of 31 More States

The House of Representatives Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution has proposed the creation of 31 additional states in the country.
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, who presided over plenary on Thursday read a letter from the committee containing the proposed states.
If approved, this will increase the number of states in Nigeria to 67.
The letter read: “This is to inform members that the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered), has received legislative proposals for the creation of states and local governments in the following order:
NORTH CENTRAL
1. BENUE ALA STATE from the present Benue State.
2. OKUN STATE from the present Kogi State
3. OKURA STATE from the present Kogi State
4. CONFLUENCE STATE from the present Kogi State
5. APA-AGBA STATE from Benue South Senatorial District
6. APA STATE from the present Benue State.
7. A 37th state, namely FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA
NORTH EAST
8. AMANA STATE from the present Adamawa State.
9. KATAGUM STATE from the present Bauchi State.
10. SAVANNAH STATE from the present Borno State.
11. MURI STATE from the present Taraba State.
NORTH WEST
12. NEW KADUNA STATE and GURARA STATE from the present Kaduna State.
13. TIGA STATE from the present Kano State.
14. KAINJI STATE from the present Kebbi State.
15. GHARI STATE from the present Kano State
SOUTH EAST
16. ETITI STATE as the sixth (6th) state in the South East geopolitical zone.
17. ADADA STATE from the present Enugu State of Nigeria.
18. URASHI STATE as the sixth (6th) state in the South East geopolitical zone.
19. ORLU STATE from the South Eastern Region of Nigeria.
20. ABA STATE from the South Eastern Region of Nigeria.
SOUTH SOUTH
21. OGOJA STATE from the present Cross River State.
22. WARRI STATE from the present Delta State.
23. BORI STATE from the present Rivers State
24. OBOLO STATE from the present Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.
SOUTH WEST
25. TORU-EBE STATE from the present Delta, Edo, and Ondo States.
26. IBADAN STATE from the present Oyo State.
27. LAGOON STATE from the present Lagos State.
28. IJEBU STATE from the present Ogun State.
29. LAGOON STATE from the present Lagos State and Ogun State
30. IBADAN STATE from the present Oyo State.
31. OKE-OGUN and IFE-IJESHA STATES from the Present-day Ogun, Oyo, and Osun states.
The request for states’ creation can only materialise if at least “the third majority of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives (National Assembly) and the House of Assembly in respect of the area, and the Local Government Council in respect of the area is received by the National Assembly.”
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