NEWS
JUST IN: Keyamo Makes Up With Senate, Takes A Bow
The initial drama that greeted the appearance in the Senate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ministerial nominee, Festus Keyamo has given way to ‘take a bow and go’.
This follows high-wired politicking in the background on Monday, which involved a shuttle to and fro the Presidency by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The tension was doused though, when Keyamo, who served as the Minister of State for Labour and Employment tendered an apology to the Senate over allegations that he looked down on the ninth Assembly.
The nominee also claimed that he had apologised in the ninth Assembly, to both Chairman, Senate Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity, Senator Godiya Akwashiki and his counterpart in the House of Representatives.
Keyamo said, “I apologise to the Senate. I am sorry, I am sorry and I am sorry.
“Regarding that programme, the account was handled by the World Bank. So, we, the head of the agencies, never saw one kobo. We only generated the list and the money was paid directly to the people’s account.
“Every detail of that account was captured and kept in a file. All the records of the beneficiaries and their data are in the ministry.”
Keyamo, a last minute ministerial nominee of President Tinubu, on Friday, appeared before the Senate on Monday, for his ministerial nomination.
Biztellers had reported that those who expected a ‘take a bow and go’ because of Keyamo’s perceived political muscle were stunned to see Senator Darlington Nwokocha (LP, Abia Central), moved the motion for the suspension of the nominee’s screening.
Senator Nwokocha put the house in remembrance of how Keyamo berated the lawmakers from both chambers when he was serving under Buhari.
He also threw light on corruption charges levelled against the nominee and how he waved-off the National Assembly’s summons in 2020 over the employment scheme of 774,000 Nigerians recruited for the special public works programme.
Senator Nwokocha said, “I move that we suspend forthwith screening of the nomination and wait until when this is cleared.”
The motion was thereafter seconded by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, (APGA, Abia South).
When the Senate took a three-hour break, the Senate President had to shuttle to and fro the Presidency, as part of attendant politicking to save the legal practitioner.
In the end, at resumption of plenary, Keyamo apologised to the lawmakers and was consequently cleared.
In what political watchers perceive as part of efforts to discomfit and scatter the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the feeling that its National Working Committee (NWC) antagonises him, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has revoked the rights to occupy the land on which the party’s national secretariat, Abuja is sited.
Biztelers reports that Wike’s revocation notice was conveyed in a letter released in Abuja on Tuesday, dated March 13, 2025.
The letter was titled, “Notice of right of occupancy with file no: MISC 81346 in respect of plot no: 243 within central area district, Abuja.”
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The letter was signed by the Director, Land Administration (FTC), Chijioke Nwankwoeze.
Wike, it was gathered predicated his action on the PDP’s failure to pay the annual ground rents due on the property for twenty (20) years, from January 1, 2006, to January 1, 2025.
The negligence on the part of the opposition party, the letter claimed was despite many publications in several national dailies and electronic media to pay up every outstanding bill and ground rent on its property.
The letter read, “I have been directed to refer to the above Right of Occupancy granted to PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP), NATIONAL SECRETARIAT and inform you that the Minister of Federal Capital Territory has in the exercise of powers conferred on him under the Land Use Act No. 6 of 1978, Cap. L5, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, revoked your rights, interests and privileges over Plot No. 243 within Central Area, Cadastral Zone A00, Abuja.
“The revocation is in view of your continued contravention of the terms and conditions of grant of the Right of Occupancy by failing to pay the annual ground rents due on the property for twenty (20) years, from Ist of January 2006 to 1st of January 2025. This is despite the many publications made by the FCT Administration since 2023 in several national dailies and on electronic media requesting all allottees of plots in the Federal Capital Territory to pay up every outstanding bill and ground rent on their property.
“You would please note that the said breaches by PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP), NATIONAL SECRETARIAT (MISC 81346) run contrary to the provisions of Section 28, Subsection 5 (a) and (b) of the Land Use Act.”
There are palpable fears that the PDP’s national secretariat might be demolished or vandalised, sooner than later because Wike added that the FCTA administration would take immediate possession of the party secretariat until all bills are settled.
A massive explosion has rocked the Trans-Niger Pipeline at Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, sending plumes of fire and smoke into the sky.
The incident, which occurred on Monday night, has left a section of the major crude oil transport pipeline in flames, though the exact cause of the explosion remains unknown.
READ ALSO: Niger Delta Youths Threaten Oil Shutdown Over Rivers Crisis
Authorities have yet to determine whether the explosion was due to sabotage, equipment failure, or other factors.
However, concerns have been raised over possible human interference, particularly in light of recent threats by militant groups to attack oil infrastructure.
The threats were issued as a response to the Federal Government’s decision to withhold Rivers State’s allocation amid the ongoing political crisis in the region.
More to follow………
With the commencement of the rainy season, the Osun State Government has issued modalities for the operations of tractors across farmlands in Osun State.
The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon Tola Faseru, according to a government house statement on Monday in Osogbo, confirmed the development.
Faseru said interested farmers should reach out to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry or the General Manager of Osun State Agricultural Development Corporation (OSSADEC) through virtual or physical applications.
He noted that the government was subsidizing the operational rate per acre to lower the cost of farm operations, explaining further that the tractors will be domiciled at the OSSADEC farm centre located across the state.
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Faseru pointed out that some of the tractors were already in operation in some farmlands, and noted that the ministry was working to set up technical centres at designated locations for maintenance of the tractors.
He narrated further that tractor drivers are being assembled, trained and retrained for seamless operation even as he explained that the administration adopted a public private partnership approach for the management of the tractors.
“We are happy to inform the public that the tractors are out for the rainy season. We are conscious of the question of sustainability, hence the careful approach to inject private sector practices.
“In 14 or so years, this is the first time Osun is having new fleet of tractors. We have learnt from what caused the failure of the past efforts. We won’t repeat the same mistakes.
“We know we are not there yet. But Governor Adeleke has blazed the trail by procuring the first set of tractors. We innovated also because of ongoing issues at the local government level.
“We don’t want it to be managed in unsustainable manner. Hence, Mr Governor insisted the tractors be managed like a business although with public subsidy”, the Commissioner posited.
He stated that the ministry is reaching out to stakeholders among the farming community to ensure accelerated access for users within the state.
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