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Lagos SCID train Officers on Community Engagement, Security Services

In addition to efforts of the Nigeria Police Force and Lagos state Police command to further strengthen Community Policing and ensure maximum safety of lives and properties in the state, the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Lagos, has on Monday trained police officers on community engagement and security services.

The one-day workshop which was approved by the Lagos state commissioner of Police, CP Zubairu Muazu, and facilitated by United Kingdom-based security company, Target Search Global (TSG) was held at the department’s lecture hall at the SCID, Panti, Yaba, Lagos.

According to the Officer-in Charge of the SCID, Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Yetunde Longe, she said that the training has become necessary in order to reaffirm the vision and dedication of the Inspector-General of Police towards reforming the Police and members of the Nigerian Police Force.

The Inspector-General of Police and the Lagos state Commissioner of Police are working tirelessly in reforming the Police force and ensuring maximum safety of lives and properties. This is why the CP has approved this training in order to further help us improve on our relationship with members of the public as one of the steps in achieving this goal.” She added.

Speaking to one of the facilitators of the workshop and Lead Consultant of Target Search Global, Mr. Olufemi Aratokun-Ale he also added that the training will also focus on unveiling new trends and techniques of combating security issues and eliminating security threats in Nigeria.

Other area of focus during the training include: Mental health awareness, intelligence profiling, criminal data collection, modern interview technique, forensic evidence analysis, and so on.

L-R Business Executive Director TSG Nig. Ltd- Blessing Nwakanma, Officer-In-Charge of the SCID- DCP Yetunde Longe, Lead Consultant Target Search Global Nigeria- Olufemi Olatunji Arotokun-Ale

“The Entrepreneurship Journey Entails Hard work, Discipline and Sacrifice”, Elumelu Says to Cape Verdean Entrepreneurs

Speaking at the Youth Konnekt Forum in Cape Verde yesterday, African investor and philanthropist, Tony O. Elumelu, Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA), charged entrepreneurs to embrace hard work, discipline and sacrifice on their entrepreneurial journey to success.

He addressed over young Cape Verdean entrepreneurs in a Forum themed “African Youth: Foresight and Opportunities”, where he shared nuggets from his wealth of experience as an entrepreneur with success stories investing in Africa.

He said: “Entrepreneurship is a long-term journey. There is no quick fix. You will make mistakes. You will have challenges. For you to succeed along this journey, you must be disciplined, make sacrifices and save today to achieve your goals.”

The audience included public sector leaders – the President of Cape Verde, H.E. Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca OICVV and Prime Minister, H.E. José Ulisses de Pina Ceorreia e Silva, as well as development partners, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Mr. Elumelu addressed these stakeholders, emphasising the important role of the government in creating an enabling environment for small and medium scale enterprises to thrive while commending the Government of Cape Verde for the strong, deliberate reforms to boost entrepreneurship in Lusophone Africa. He stated that the future of the African continent is in the hands of the African youths and they must be empowered to achieve the ambition of a well-developed continent.

He said: “The Prime Minister spoke to me about the tax incentive they are putting in place. He spoke about out opening up the country for tourism, and air transportation, and the commitment to entrepreneurs, making sure that those interested in agriculture, ICT and other areas are supported to succeed. He spoke to me about creating the opportunity to meet with some of you and see how the Tony Elumelu Foundation can support some of you. This is what we expect from our African leaders: For them to know that the future of Africa is indeed in your hands,” Mr. Elumelu said.

In his keynote speech, the President of Cape Verde, H.E. Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca OICVV, expressed gratitude to Tony Elumelu for pioneering the entrepreneurship movement across the African continent. He said: “Thank you to Tony Elumelu for what you are doing for young people in Africa especially young people in Cabo Verde”. The Prime Minister, H.E. José Ulisses de Pina Ceorreia e Silva, also commended Tony Elumelu and his Foundation’s commitment to empowering African entrepreneurs across the continent.

The entrepreneurship movement led by the Tony Elumelu Foundation has caught the attention of the African public sector and has rapidly become a defining blueprint for the accelerated development of the African economy. Its goal is to leverage the youth population to create jobs, revenue and eradicate poverty on the continent. Thus far, TEF has empowered 7,531 entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries (19 of whom are from Cape Verde), with plans to again open its application portal for the 6^th cohort of its Entrepreneurship Programme on January 1, 2020.

Organised by the National Youth Ministry and the Government of Cape Verde, Youth Konnekt is one of the many plans the country has rolled out to further cement its plans to boost entrepreneurship across the region.

Tony O. Elumelu, Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation and Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) addresses entrepreneurs and public sector leaders at the Youth Konnect Forum in Cabo Verde on October 17, 2019.

Tony O. Elumelu, Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation and Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) with H.E. José Ulisses de Pina Correia e Silva, Prime Minister of Cape Verde and Carlos do Canto Monteiro, Deputy Minister for Youth of Cabo Verde at the Youth Konnect Forum in Cabo Verde on October 17, 2019

Mindshift Advocacy Unveils Powerful Initiative to Create a New Nigeria

In its determination and resolve to foster a new mindset among Nigerians, the Mindshift Advocacy for Development Initiative has unveiled a new blue print to get Nigerians to think differently, believe differently and to act differently, so as to generate a mindset geared towards development. The event which was attended by dignitaries and the media held Thursday, October 17, 2019, at the prestigious Benue Hall of the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

In his address Mr. Joko Okupe, the Founder and Board of Trustee member of the Mindshift Advocacy for Development Initiative said that “the bane of Nigeria and by extension Africa’s problems is the mindset of Africans as individuals, communities and nations, about themselves and the mindset of the rest of the world about Africa. The wrong mindset of Nigerians and Africans in general which influences the way we do things, has created problems such as lack of visionary and purposeful leadership, bad governance standards, erosion and loss of good value systems, corruption, poor understanding of global issues and how it impacts their lives; unprecedented never-ending poverty, heavy debt burdens, over dependence on international aids, endless conflicts, inadequate education etc.” According to him, the Initiative was incorporated on November 28, 2016 as a non-partisan, non-governmental organization aimed at re-directing citizens’ mindsets from negative mindsets in private lives, societies and nations to positive mindsets that foster meaningful holistic personal, social and national development. The initiative also seeks to activate a radical and positive change in the mindset of the Nigerian youth – and by extension, African youth.

According to Mr. Okupe, the Mindshift Advocacy is actually focused on shifting mindsets from negative to positive. The movement is focused on redirecting the mindset of Nigerians from negative, unproductive and unprogressive mindsets to positive, productive and progressive mindsets. A destructive person has a destructive mindset and a destructive thinking pattern. There is so much capacity in the power of the mind that the way and manner that the mind is directed, determines the outcome of a man’s action. When you look at the great nations of the world, you will discover that their people have mindsets of greatness. The average Nigerian’s mindset is anti-progress and anti-development. How can we have progress and development when majority of our citizens have the wrong mindset? We cannot achieve any meaningful transformation without a re-orientation of the citizens’ mindsets. Even when Government decides to run a campaign on changing attitudes, the success will depend on whether the mindsets of the citizens have changed or not. We cannot but pay attention to how people think. We must have that clear understanding. That essentially is the crux of the Mindshift Advocacy.

He stressed that every effort geared at re-orientating the citizens with a view to making them develop positive and progressive mindsets as individuals, society and at national levels, would put us on the road to meaningful and effective transformation of the continent for sustainable growth and development. This is why: “The changes we wish to make have more to do with how we think than what we actually do, because thinking patterns ultimately influence actions. We need to get our citizens to embrace positive mindsets that can impact thought and action for our progress and development. We must also lead by example by thinking and acting differently.”

He cited Mr. Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, who once said that Africa’s transformational change will first happen at the level of mindsets before it is translated into concrete actions. Okupe firmly believes that Africa’s journey of transformation starts with changing how people think. “It is vital for citizens of all ages and social classes to have the right mindset because they are the ones who would be actively involved in the day-to-day actions that bring about sustainable transformation.”

In order to achieve these, the initiative has in place well-articulated key focus areas toward its agenda. These areas are: family and society, government and politics, education, business and economy, media, arts and entertainment, innovation and technology, religion, culture, and health and wellness. Additionally, it will approach this systematically through social research, targeted issues campaigns, action-oriented initiatives, knowledge sharing, events, and public discourse platforms.

Fielding questions to reporters at the launch event on what methods Mindshift Advocacy will deploy to achieve its goal, Joko responded, “It is all a matter of approach and method. Our initiatives would be determined by research and insight. There is a reason or rationale behind every mindset. How much have we researched into why we behave the way we do? Why do we think the way we do? We will make efforts to dig into the foundation to understand the issues and gain necessary insights before we develop initiatives. A man whose mind is conditioned to darkness tends to acclimatise to the situation and live in it. People’s eyes can only be opened through enlightenment which will serve as an illumination to the thick, engulfing darkness and ignorance around us. Adequate exposure to realities will compel them to see and think differently. If we continue at the current pace, we are definitely on a suicide mission as a nation, though we may be fully aware of this”.

Earlier in her welcome address Mrs. Debo Onabowale, a core member of the Mindshift Advocacy for development Initiative said that “Mindshift Advocacy for Development Initiative is set to do a new thing in Nigeria by approaching the Nigerian problem from a different perspective. We believe that Nigerians, both leaders and followers, rich and poor, young and old need a different orientation to be able to chart a new direction and behaviour to propel peace and development.”

Bayelsa Governorship Poll: INEC Chairman abruptly ends stakeholders meeting as tempers flare in Yenagoa

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, abruptly called an end to a stakeholders’ meeting in Yenagoa on Wednesday as an argument between political leaders threatened to boil over into physical violence.

INEC had organised the meeting as part of its preparations for the governorship election coming up on November 16 in Bayelsa State.

In attendance were INEC officials led by Mr Yakubu, security officials including the Deputy Inspector-General of the Police (Operations), Abdulmajid Ali; community and political leaders, including many governorship candidates.

The argument was ignited by the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Elders Forum, Francis Doukpolagh, who said many people were displaced from some communities in Nembe Local Government Area by violence during the 2019 general elections.

He said since the elections, the people were yet to return home, calling for the assistance of the authorities to get them back to their communities.

Mr Doukpolagh said some residents in Peremabiri and BasabirI communities affected at the time were still living in neighbouring communities.

But he was interrupted by other community leaders who told him to speak on behalf of Bayelsa and not for his own political gains.

The confrontation led to a violent exchange of words as many of the stakeholders approached each other, shouting “Sit down and keep quiet.”

In the face of the tumult, Mr Yakubu abruptly brought the meeting to an end.

PREMIUM TIMES could not authoritatively confirm the reasons behind the confrontation.

The candidate of the United Patriot Party, Kenny Sotonye, told PREMIUM TIMES that the antagonists were members of the two major parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC). He said the confrontation has roots in the previous elections in the state.

“The national ruling party (APC) chased the persons (agents of other parties) in their communities in order to take charge for their party.
“We the opposition parties do not want such, we want people to come to vote with their conscience and vote with there interest,” Mr Sotonye said.

The governorship candidate for the All People’s Party (APP), Samuel Izibeyamadu, described the incident as a shame to democracy.

He said such incidents had become a tradition in the politics of Bayelsa State.

“What we saw here is a show of shame and this has been the tradition in the state,” he said.

“Even the military has found it difficult to curtail the scourge here when it comes to elections

“In the last elections, a deputy commissioner of Police was beaten up by a particular party for allegation known to them.

“If the military and other security personnel cannot bring calm to the state elections, there is no need for fielding candidates to be part of the elections,” he said.

Nigeria’s Debt Now N25.7trn, Rises By N753bn In 3 Months

NIGERIA’S total public debt rose to N25.7trillion ($83.882billion) by the end of June 2019, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO).

This is an increase of about N753billion over the N24.947trillion reported by the government agency as the total debt as of the end of March.

According to the figures released by the DMO on its website on Tuesday, the total debt stock is made up of both foreign and domestic debts of the federal and state governments. While the Federal Government’s debt stood at N20.5 trillion ($66.75 billion), that of the 36 states and the FCT was N5.3 trillion ($17.2 billion) by the end of June.

A breakdown of the debts provided by the DMO shows that the country’s total external debt stock stood at N8.3 trillion ($27.162billion) with the Federal Government owing N7 trillion ($22.9billion), while the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) owe N1.3trillion, ($4.274 billion)

As of the end of June, domestic debt stood at N17.4 trillion ($56.7 billion). While the Federal Government’s owes N13.4 trillion ($43.8 billion), states and the FCT owe N4trillion ($12.9billion).

Although many Nigerians have expressed concern over the nation’s rising debt profile, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said the country’s problem was not debt but revenue.

Osinbajo: Govt can’t provide adequate health care for Nigerians

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says the federal government cannot adequately provide health care services for the entire Nigerian population.

Osinbajo said this on Tuesday at the national health dialogue organised by Premium Times in Abuja on Monday.

Represented by Nicolas Audiferren, his chief physician, Osinbajo said an effective national health insurance scheme may be the best option for the development of the nation’s health sector.

“It has become obvious that the government, both at the state and federal levels, cannot adequately provide health care services. That’s the simple truth,” he said.

“Our view is that an effective national health insurance scheme remains the best option for the development of our sector and for efficient health care services in this country.”

He said the government is dedicated to attaining universal health coverage (UHC) for all Nigerians.

Reeling out some achievements of the government, he said: “We were able to allocate 1% of the consolidated revenue fund towards the funding of key health initiative in compliance with National Health act.

“Last year we also launched the patients’ bill of right, initiated renovations and improve funding for primary health care institutions. We have been able to eradicate polio.” He said

Dapo Olorunyomi, publisher of Premium Times newspaper and organizer of the event, said the conference was put together “to bring to the table experts, policymakers, stakeholders and the ordinary citizens to discuss thorny issues that matter to advance better healthcare delivery.”

Chiedo Nwankwo, a medical doctor who spoke at the event said: “Nigeria is one of the worst places for maternal, newborn childcare in the world”

Advocating for the poor, Nwankwo said: “they should not spend the little they have and get impoverished in their quest for quality health care”

She urged state and non-state actors to do more in order to improve healthcare

Muhammad Dogo, former NHIS chairman, said “Nigeria is already offtrack” in terms of achieving universal health care (UHC) by 2030.

He lamented the issue of health not having a strong constitutional backing in the country.

However, Dogo said that proper deployment of resources would help the country achieve UHC by 2030

Crisis rocks Senate over secret recruitment

Crisis is allegedly brewing in the Senate over the employment slots allocated to the lawmakers by some federal agencies.

Some aggrieved senators have vowed to resist the sharing method allegedly adopted by the leadership of the Senate to allocate the slots.

Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the agencies gave the legislators the slots through their leaders.

But the slots were allegedly shared among the 10-member body of principal officers.

According to sources, many of the lawmakers are particularly bitter that their leaders allegedly shared the 100 slots allegedly given the Senate by the Federal Inland Revenue Service among themselves.

An aggrieved senator from the South-West, said on condition of anonymity, “We were given 100 slots by the FIRS but our leaders shared the slots among themselves.”

A ranking senator from the North-West said, “We have information that one of the leaders gave 26 slots to people in his senatorial district. There is a problem in the Senate already, because the leadership has cornered jobs meant for the entire Nigerians.

“Does it mean that you must know a senator before you get a job? Nothing is being done on merit. How will you get the best brains?

“The implication of this is that many people are being offered employment without undergoing any interview.

“They give them appointment letters because they know the leaders of the Senate. How can a single senatorial district get 26 slots when others have nothing?”

But a Senator from the South-East, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that he expected every legislator to have been given a slot.

A member of the Senate Committee on Federal Character, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, also confirmed that there was a crisis in the Senate following the development.

He said, “The fact that the leaders allegedly collected 100 slots and share them among themselves has shown that we cannot win the war against the lopsidedness that we talk about in this country.

“Some of our colleagues are already coming to lobby us to take it easy with the probe but we are going ahead with it.”

Speaking with journalists on Tuesday, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Character, Danjuma La’ah, said he was aware that some agencies had been boasting that nothing would come out of the (secret recruitment) probe because they had allegedly reached out to the leaders of the Senate.

The committee is probing the allegations that some agencies had been secretly recruiting without advertising the jobs.

La’ah said, “We are hearing that some agencies will not honour our invitation because they have connection with the Senate leadership. I am not aware that any agency gave out employment slots to the Senate.

“The leadership has not told us that they received any slot.

“As the chairman of this committee, who is also representing Kaduna South, I am not in any way aware that we have been given any employment slots, so we are going ahead with our probe.

“I have taken it upon myself that I will probe deeply into the agencies’ claims and carry out an extensive investigation. We are going to expose all those that are tarnishing the image of the Federal Government.

“We are aware that some of the agencies are selling employment slots for as much as N1.5m when we have children who have not got jobs since they graduated.

“Some have become bandits and terrorists because the jobs meant for them have been cornered by some greedy people. Young educated Nigerians are joining Boko Haram because of a lack of jobs.”

On when the agencies would appear before the committee to defend themselves, La’ah said, “Never mind, they will appear soon.”

He added, “President Muhammadu Buhari is not happy with what is going and he has been looking for a way to sack people with bad records. I even want him to use this as a yardstick to sanitise the system.”

La’ah said on Friday the committee had asked the officials of the affected agencies to appear before them this week.

The committee last week started investigating the allegations of secret recruitment by some of the federal agencies.

They include the FIRS, National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, National Space Research and Development Agency, the National Open University and the Federal Civil Service Commission.

Border closure pushed inflation to 11.24% – NBS

The Consumer Price Index released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday showed inflation index rose to 11.24 per cent in September, barely a month after the border closure.

The 11.24 per cent represents an increase of 0.22 per cent when compared to the 11.02 per cent recorded in August.

The prices of food items have been on a steady increase since August when the Federal Government closed Nigeria’s borders to the neighbouring countries.

The NBS report stated that increases were recorded in all the divisions that determined the index. It said the food index rose by 13.51 per cent in September compared to 13.17 per cent in August. It said the rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, oils and fats, meat, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish and vegetables.

The NBS report read in part, “The consumer price index, which measures inflation increased by 11.24 per cent year-on-year in September 2019.

“This is 0.22 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in August 2019 (11.02) per cent.On month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.04 per cent in September 2019; this is 0.05 per cent rate higher than the rate recorded in August 2019 (0.99) per cent.”

In the same vein, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry noted that the border closure could have recorded a drastic reduction in smuggling of rice, and petroleum products among others. It, however, lamented that genuine businessmen who transacted legal business in the sub-region were victims of the border closure.

The LCCI who spoke through its Director-General, Muda Yusuf, in a statement noted that the government might mean well, but there were many businesses in the informal sector that had been adversely affected.

It read in part, “The closure of Nigerian land borders for close to two months now has come with benefits and costs. There are upsides and downsides. Reports indicate a drastic reduction in smuggling of rice, poultry products and sugar. The smuggling of petroleum products outside the country to neighboring countries has also declined considerably. We note and appreciate these outcomes.

“But it is important to reckon with the costs, supply chain disruptions and losses that businesses and individuals have suffered as a result of the closure. “Corporates, large number of informal sector players and individuals doing legitimate businesses across the borders have become victims of the border closure.

“This poses a dilemma. The government means well, but there are many innocent casualties.

“As we celebrate the benefits, we should also count the costs. Jobs have been lost; prices have skyrocketed; legitimate exports to the sub-region have been halted; intermediate products for some manufacturers have been cut off and some multinationals companies have been de-linked from their sister companies in the sub-region.”

It added that the economies of border communities had been paralysed with consequences for unemployment and poverty, stating that over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s trade with the West African sub- region was by road.

“We export manufactured products as well as agricultural products – detergents, toothpastes, plastic products, steel products, kitchen utensils, grains, ginger, onions, among others.

“We also undertake many exports to the sub-region. These are sources of livelihood of Nigerians doing legitimate business. There are also thousands of transporters who make a living from these legitimate trading activities. These are costs that would run into hundreds of billions of naira. We must weigh the costs and benefits.”

Most often, the LCCI noted, the government failed to count the cost of government policy on the citizens and businesses.

However, President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja reiterated that the border closure was an effort to support farming, fisheries and livestock sectors.

The President, represented by the Vice- Chairman of National Food Security Council and governor of Kebbi State, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, said this during the 2nd National Unity Food Fair 2019 organised by the National Council of Women Societies in collaboration with Travel Marketing Partners (Nigeria) Limited.

The President said he was not aware of protests against the closure of the nation’s borders, adding that the decision had been embraced by farmers who were already happy over it, as demand for locally produced foods had increased.

2020 Budget: Buhari To Repair State House Buildings With N4.5bn

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has a plan to spend N4.5 billion to repair State House buildings in 2020.

The Federal Government intends to spend a total of N58,446,014,724 in the presidency during the year, according to details of the Appropriation Bill he presented to the National Assembly on Tuesday.

A perusal of the document showed that of the amount, rehabilitation and repairs of State House office buildings alone will gulp N4.451 billion.

Rehabilitation and repair of residential buildings will cost N69,693,262, while a curious sub-head noted that rehabilitation and repairs of “housing” will take N10,575,702.

Chefs in the Presidential Villa will also in 2020 prepare food for the first family and their guests with cooking gas worth N18.5 million.

Fuel for generator has a vote of N45,678,552; refreshment and meals will cost N135,668,651, and welfare packages N240,730,180.

The president will also spend N91.6 million to purchase bullet-proof tyres for the many bullet-proof vehicles and plain vehicles in the fleet.

Further scrutiny of the document revealed that the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning will spend 43.6 per cent of the N9.4 trillion Federal Government’s main budget for the year.

The ministry will spend N4.1 trillion or 43.6 per cent of the MDAs vote made up of N748,602,309,977 for personnel; N3,063,398,998,775 for overhead; N3,812,001,308,752 for recurrent and N362,791,562,425 for capital expenditure.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) got an allocation of N2.749 trillion while N1.4 trillion was allocated to Service Wide Votes.

Other big spenders include the Ministry of Defence with an allocation of N878.4 billion; Interior, N254.8 billion; National Assembly, N125 billion; Police Affairs, N409.1 billion; National Security Adviser, N138.4 billion and the Ministry of Transportation, N135.6 billion.

Others are the Ministry of Power, N133.4 billion; Ministry of Works and Housing, N287.1 billion; judiciary, N110 billion; Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, N171.0 billion; Ministry of Niger Delta, N106.7 billion; Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, N444.2 billion; Ministry of Education, N652 billion; Ministry of Health, N427.2 billion and Aso Rock, N58.4 billion.

Apprehension In Bayelsa PDP As FG Drags Guber Candidate Before CCB On Monday

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State is in a fix on how to handle a petition against its governorship candidate, Senator Douye Diri, over his failure to declare his assets before the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) while he served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Principal Executive Secretary in Government House between 2013 and 2014

Tribune Online investigations revealed that Senator Diri is expected to appear before the CCB on Monday 14th of October, 2019, in response to the said petition filed against him by an anti-corruption group known as the Bayelsa Coalition for Good Governance and Accountability.

Tribune Online further learnt that the PDP flag bearer has since been duly served the CCB summon through the clerk of the National Assembly, but that he has allegedly refused to acknowledge receipt of the summon.

According to a source in the PDP, “Senator Douye Diri was evading service. When the summon was sent to his governorship campaign office, nobody was willing to accept it. That was when the summon was sent to him through the Clerk of the Natiional Assembly and served.”

Confirming the development in a chat with newsmen, the Executive Director of the Bayelsa Coalition for Good Governance and Accountability, Mr Joseph Ambakederimo, who filed the petition said they filed the petition and that they have appeared before CCB to defend their claims in the petition.