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 REBUTTAL! RE: RIVERS STATE GOVERNOR SIM FUBARA SHUTS DOWN NNPCL The attention of Rivers State Government has been drawn to a spurious news item circulating on social media on "Gov. Siminalayi Fubara shutting down NNPCL and all oil companies in Rivers State". The report was not only false, but a concocted propaganda from the imagination of the author and enemies of the State. The story was also circulated by an inconsequential and unverified medium. Governor Siminalayi Fubara is committed to the rule of law and does not rely on unconventional and crude approaches to respond to matters of governance. We therefore enjoin Rivers people and well-meaning Nigerians to discountenance the spurious and fake report as Governor Fubara at no time contemplated and/or directed such needless order of shutting down the economy for any reason. Signed  Warisenibo Joe Johnson  Hon. Commissioner for Information and Communications

 PRESS RELEASE  Don’t Set Rivers on Fire, Atiku Urges Judiciary Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has cautioned the judiciary against setting Rivers State on fire in the wake of the Wednesday judgment wherein a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to halt all payments to the state. In a statement Wednesday by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, the former Vice President, said it was appalling that some elements loyal to the Federal Government were pulling the strings from behind. Atiku wondered why Justice Joyce Abdulmalik issued the order when it was public knowledge that Rivers State had already challenged the Court of Appeal’s judgment on the legality of Rivers State’s 2024 budget. He said, “Last week the Court of Appeal declared that the Rivers State budget was illegal because it was passed by an inchoate assembly. The court ordered Governor Siminalayi Fubara to present the budget afresh. “The Rivers State Government has already filed a n...

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has said that those who ruthlessly attempted to end his administration undemocratically, had boasted then to achieve their purpose quickly to boot him out of office within one week but have failed woefully.  The Governor said he had not only stayed in office more than one year and counting, his administration is forging on strongly with sterling leadership, focused on delivering social services and quality projects to Rivers people. A statement signed by Nelson Chukwudi, Chief Press Secretary to the Rivers State Governor, disclosed that Sir Fubara made the assertion at the Rivers State Day of Thanksgiving, Praise and Worship, held at the Main Bowl of Alfred Diette-Spiff Civic Centre along Moscow Road in Port Harcourt Old Township on Wednesday, October 30, 2024. The session was a gathering of thousands of enthusiastic residents and indigenes in Rivers State, including reputable worship leaders, clergies and gospel singers, who joined in ...

Delta State Governor, Rt Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori (8th left), Secretary to State Government, Dr. Kingsley Emu (6th left), Chief of Staff Government House, Hon. Johnson Erijo (7th right), Bishop John Aruakpo (8th right), Vice president, Adaigho Gimbright (7th left) and others, during a courtesy call on the Governor by the Leadership of Isoko Church Leaders Forum (ICLF) in Government House Asaba.  Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, Wednesday, said his administration was investigating allegations of connivance by some contractors and asphalt producers to shortchange the state. Governor Oborevwori disclosed this when he played host to the leadership of Isoko Church Leaders' Forum, led by the Anglican Bishop of Oleh Diocese, Rt. Rev'd John Aruakpor, at Government House, Asaba. He reiterated his resolve to ensure that people of the state get value for every project executed by his administration. He said: "As a government, we are doing our best and I want to assur...

Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori (8th right), Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Emomotimi Guwor (7th left), Alaowei Broderick Bozimor (7th right), Secretary to State Government, Dr. Kingsley Emu (4th left) and others, during a courtesy visit on the Governor by the Leaders/Stakeholders of Ijaw ethnic nationality of the State on Wednesday in Government House Asaba. The leadership and other stakeholders of the Ijaw ethnic nationality in Delta State have pledged continued loyalty and support for the administration of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori beyond his first tenure.  Chairman of the Leaders and Stakeholders of the Ijaw nation and former Minister of Police Affairs, Alaowei Broderick Bozimo, made the pledge on behalf of the Ijaw nation during a courtesy visit to the Governor, at Government House, Asaba, on Wednesday.  The elder statesman said they had come to appreciate the Governor for the good things he was doing for the Ijaw nation and Deltans i...

Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori has charged the twenty-five Local Government Council Chairmen in the State to implement the new minimum wage for workers in their respective Councils. Governor Oborevwori gave the charge, Tuesday, during a meeting with the leadership of the Delta State chapters of the Association of Local Governments Of Nigeria (ALGON), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE). Also in attendance were the Auditor General (Local Government), Secretary to the State Government (SSG), the Chief of Staff, Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, the Chairman, Local Government Service Commission and the Accountant-General of the State. The Governor noted that with the passing of the Local Government autonomy law, a lot of burden had been put on the Councils but advised that they must implement the new minimum wage for their workers effective November, 2024. He equally admonished the Council Chairmen on the ne...

Delta Governor, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori (middle), accompanied by the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Emomotimi Guwor (5th left), SSG, Dr. Kingsley Emu (right), HRM, Pere Luke Kalanama viii (4th right), HRM (Dr.) Benjamin Ikenchukwu, Keagborekuzi l, Dein of Agbor Kingdom (3rd right), Commissioner for Information, Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza (2nd left), the Board Chairman, DPPC, Dr, Ebenezer Okorodudu (4th left), and others cutting the 30th anniversary cake of the Pointer Newspaper in Asaba on Monday, October 28, 2024 Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, Monday, urged the mass media to consolidate on its constitutional role of balanced factual reportage and agenda setting to strengthen Nigeria's democracy. Oborevwori also charged the media on dissemination of news and information that promote national unity.  He made the call in his remarks at the 30th anniversary of The Pointer newspaper held in Asaba, with theme: Honouring Truth and Unity Through Excellence ...

Today, High Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, Chairman of Platform Petroleum Ltd and Paramount Head of the Oruwari War-Canoe Houses, collaborated with the Education Champions League to host a school quiz competition at the Alliance Francaise, 20 Herbert Macaulay Street, Amadi Flats, Port Harcourt.  This event was dedicated to his late father, the revered High Chief OB Lulu-Briggs (OON), and featured the presentation of awards under the title “OB Lulu-Briggs Prize for Reading and Civic Awareness.” As the official sponsor of the 2024 ECL Quiz competition, High Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs expressed his deep commitment to fostering literacy and civic engagement among Nigerian youth.  “This is something meaningful the Education Champions League has done; it shows they understand the need to educate the next generation,” he stated during the award ceremony.  He further noted, “Some of the books quizzed on spoke about value reorientation. Truly, as a people, we need value reorientation in each...

“A Judge shall avoid developing excessively close relationship with frequent litigants – such as government ministers or their officials, municipal officials, police prosecutors in any Court where the Judge often sits, if such relationship could reasonably create an appearance of partiality.” Rule 2.8, Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers in Nigeria (2016) Sylvanus Nsofor was a little known Justice of the Court of Appeal when he breathed oxygen into Muhammadu Buhari’s political aspirations with his dissent in the presidential election petition in 2007. Eight years earlier, he had launched a unique career in the history of political litigation in Nigeria. The case arose from the election into the office of Chairman of the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area (LGA) in Rivers State in Nigeria’s Niger Delta on 12 December 1998. Cyprian Tasie Wike was the candidate of the All Peoples’ Party (APP). Cyprian Chukwu flew the flag of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). After screening aspirant...

Residents of Sabon Lugbe, Abuja, have protested against the Federal Capital Territory Administration's (FCTA) demolition of properties built by developers, claiming the demolitions were illegal and aimed at forcibly evicting property owners without prior notice. It could be recalled that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike had, on Tuesday , October 22, during an unscheduled visit to the site of the alleged illegal structures at Sabon Lugbe, accompanied by the heads of various security agencies in the FCT, had  ordered the immediate demolition of illegal structures at the Sabon Lugbe South District Layout in the FCT. In a testy verbal interaction with the residents and developers whose properties were being targeted for demolition, the FCT Minister had given the order and reiterated with finality that buildings without proper documentation from the FCT Administration would be demolished, describing the developers as land grabbers. He stated that the structures...

Mallam Shehu Dikko From the performances of our national teams in international competitions, especially in the past four Olympic Games, to all the shenanigans that marked various ministerial administrations of sports from 2015 into 2024, it was obvious that the Nigerian sports establishment needed a rejig. Perhaps, the abysmally poor and shameful outing of Team Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games jolted the nation, and determined President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's swift, bold and inspiring response to scrap the Ministry of Sports and resuscitate the National Sports Commission structure. Not entirely new in the annals of Nigerian sports, a majority of sports administrators, managers, coaches, veteran athletes and sports businessmen have voiced their preference for it. For one, it compels its composition with professionals in various fields of sports for more robust designs and rigorous evaluation of programmes, eliminates the red tapes of the ministry system and challenges its leade...

The Education Champion League (ECL), an informal gathering of book lovers and a citadel of intellectual growth, for the first time this year, resolved to bring its mission to fruition by promoting reading, writing and critical intellectual engagement, targeting young Nigerians.  In actualizing the above, the league's Aims and Objectives became:  1. Promoting Literacy 2. Educational competitions 3. Community engagements, and  4. Youth empowerment.  It further went into action by launching an ECL Quiz competition amongst Secondary schools in Rivers State, which in turn prompted them to seek for sponsors, to be able to achieve desired result. A result that will birth such multigenerational success that will identity quality leaders of tomorrow that will become the joy of many generations.  It was in this desirable search for sponsorship that the league found Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, having been weaned on the truth that he is an unrepentant lover of education, intell...