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By Johnson Nwankwo The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council has expressed anger over the non-inclusion of the entire South-East from first phase of the disbursement of the students' loan scheme. It would be recalled that tertiary institutions in South East had hitherto complained that they were marginalised by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). Our correspondent reports that the federal government, through NELFUND, last week, announced that the sum of N2.9 billion had been disbursed to 27, 667 students as the first set of beneficiaries of the loan scheme across 19 tertiary institutions in the country. South-east beneficiaries were conspicuously missing.…

By Johnson Nwankwo The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Monday, described the victory of Gov Hope Uzodinma of Imo State at the Supreme Court as a testimony of God's favour upon him. Ohanaeze also attributed the victory to Uzodimma's hard work, administrative savvy and large heart. Ohanaeze stated this in a release by its national publicity secretary, Dr Alex Ogbonnia. Recall that the Supreme Court had last week upheld the election of Uzodimma, who doubles as the Chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum and the Chairman of the Nigerian Progressive Governors Forum. The release read, "Ohanaeze salutes Uzodimma for his prolonged…

By Hadiza Suleman The Enugu State government says it has uncovered 2640 ghost and deceased pensioners on its payroll. This was disclosed on Sunday by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof Chidiebere Onyia. Onyia further announce that the state government had commenced payment of pensions to local government retirees in the state. The SSG said the payment was in line with Governor Peter Mbah's promise to clear outstanding pensions and gratuities inherited by his administration. He said that over 7000 local government pensioners had since received payments following the governor’s approval of the recommendations of the Local Government…

By Agency Report On Friday, the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service Chairperson, Emmanuel Nnamani, said the state generated N35.9 billion in the first seven months of 2024. Mr Nnamani disclosed this in Enugu while speaking at a programme to mark his first anniversary in office. He said the state could record the feat owing to the machinery Governor Peter Mbah put in place to boost revenue collection and block leakages. According to him, the revenue was generated through e-ticket sales, Pay-As-You-Earn collection, land use charges, withholding, capital gain, and consumption taxes, among other things. “We can say that in seven…

By Hadiza Suleman Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Friday, accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of transforming Nigeria into his personal enterprise. Atiku stated this in a press release issued by his media adviser, Mr Paul Ibe. In the statement, Atiku said President Tinubu is fast transforming Nigerian government into a personal property. According to him, "The future of Nigerians has been effectively mortgaged to President Bola Tinubu, his family and associates. Just as Alpha Beta, Primero, and others act as Tinubu’s proxies in Lagos, managing critical sectors and generating revenue for him and his family, he has begun to replicate this…

By Hadiza Suleman The Supreme Court, Friday, affirmed the re-election of Senator Duoye Diri as the Bayelsa State. The apex court, made up of a five-member panel, struck out the appeal lodged by Timipre Sylva, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), challenging the outcome of the November 11, 2023 governorship election. Sylva is a former governor of the state. In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, the Supreme Court ruled that Sylva’s appeal was completely incompetent and an abuse of court process. The panel therefore upheld the concurrent judgments of the Court of Appeal and Bayelsa…

By Hadiza Suleman The Supreme Court, Friday, affirmed the re-election of Senator Duoye Diri as the Bayelsa State. The apex court, made up of a five-member panel, struck out the appeal lodged by Timipre Sylva, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), challenging the outcome of the November 11, 2023 governorship election. Sylva is a former governor of the state. In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, the Supreme Court ruled that Sylva’s appeal was completely incompetent and an abuse of court process. The panel therefore upheld the concurrent judgments of the Court of Appeal and Bayelsa…