Author: statereporter

The Presidency has announced the take-off of the $550m upstream gas project between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited and TotalEnergies on the development of the Ubeta field. The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, disclosed this at an inaugural US-Nigeria Strategic Energy Dialogue, hosted by the US State Department, in Washington, DC. Speaking at a luncheon organised as part of the inaugural dialogue, Verheijen said the upstream gas project would deliver 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day when operational. A statement on the event signed by the Stakeholder Manager, Office of the Special…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has clarified that former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello is not in its custody, contrary to recent media reports. In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, the EFCC reaffirmed that Bello remains wanted, with a subsisting warrant for his arrest in connection to alleged N80.2 billion money laundering charges. “Media reports today that a former Governor of Kogi State, Mr. Yahaya Bello, is in the holding facility of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, are incorrect,” the statement read. “The Commission wishes to state that Bello is…

The United States (U.S.) Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills Jr., has said that a total of 17,600 Nigerian students secured admission into various U.S. institutions in year 2023. Mills Jr. disclosed that the Nigerian students were studying in over 970 institutions across the United States. He made this known at the 23rd Annual College Fair in Abuja on Tuesday, September 17. According to him, the majority of them studied in Texas, stressing that its annual college fairs have created financial and scholarship opportunities for Nigerian students in the U.S. “Your presence here represents the strong people-to-people ties between the United…

Against the scheming of some fifth columnists, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, has provided clarity on the issue of the tenure of the current Governing Board of the Commission, stating that the members were appointed for a four-year tenure. Addressing a Press Conference at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday, Ogbuku said the insinuations in some quarters that his tenure as the Managing Director would end this year, was false and without any foundation. He stated that subject to the provision of section 4 of the NDDC Establishment Act, “a…

Former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello is currently in custody at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) headquarters in Abuja. According to reliable sources at the Commission’s headquarters, Bello was arrested in a midnight sting operation. A source familiar with the development stated that Bello, who had initially claimed to have voluntarily honoured the commission’s invitation, was trailed and arrested by EFCC operatives in Lokoja at midnight. “Former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, is currently at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Abuja. He was arrested in Lokoja, with operatives trailing and apprehending him…

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) in Wednesday commenced the airlift of election materials for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to Benin, Edo State, ahead of the upcoming governorship election scheduled for 21 September 2024. A statement signed by Group Captain Kabiru Ali, Deputy Director, Public Relations and Information said, “This move is part of a broader effort to ensure timely and secure delivery of sensitive materials necessary for the smooth conduct of the elections. “The airlift operation demonstrates the collaboration between NAF and INEC, aimed at facilitating logistics and ensuring a peaceful election process in Edo State”. It may…

The immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has revealed why he surrendered to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, after a prolonged snub of the anti-graft agency’s invitation to answer for financial impropriety allegations levelled against him. A statement on Wednesday by Yahaya Bello’s Media office Director, Ohiare Michael, made available to newsmen, stated that Bello “willingly surrendered to the anti-graft agency because the former Kogi governor has great respect for the rule of law and supports President Tinubu’s fight against corruption in the country.” He said: “This decision was made after due consultations with his family,…

The apex socio-cultural organisation of the Ijaw worldwide, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) has set up a seven-member committee to resolve the lingering leadership rocking its youth wing, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC). Inaugurating the seven-member committee headed by Engr. Ebipamowei Wodu and former President of the IYC, Dr. Chris Ekiyor as Secretary, on Tuesday, in Yenagoa, President of the INC, Prof Benjamin Okaba, said it was in response to the calls and resolutions reached at the stakeholders meeting held on 10th September 2024 in Warri, Delta State to urgently address the misunderstandings in the Ijaw Youth Council, before they…

Salihu Moh. Lukman, the former National Vice Chairman, Northwest, of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has called on former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, as well as retired General Aliyu Gusau, to strategize on methods that could potentially dislodge the APC from power in the upcoming 2027 elections. He expressed that Nigerians are currently facing an existential crisis, as the country’s democracy is metaphorically in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Lukman believes that decisive action is needed to revive democratic structures and restore political competition in the nation’s political landscape. Lukman, in a statement issued on Tuesday…

The Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, has said nobody can put fire to the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state. Mohammed, a Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, was responding to comments made by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who threatened to truncate the existing peace in the state. Wike had warned the PDP governors during the party’s state congress in Port Harcourt to avoid interfering in the party’s matters in Rivers State, threatening to “put fire in their states.” Responding while addressing the National Working Committee of the PDP during a…