Headlines
Obaseki’s ADC Slumps During Inauguration in Benin…In ‘Stable Condition’
The aide-de-camp (ADC) to the Governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki, (name withheld), slumped while the governor was delivering his speech shortly after he was sworn in for his second term in office on Thursday.
Decked in the police ceremonial regalia, the superintendent of police, who stood directly behind the newly sworn-in governor, started wobbling on his feet before he slumped.
While the drama was ongoing, Mr Obaseki was oblivious of what was happening behind him.
As the police officer slumped, two Department of State Services (DSS) personnel calmly came to the rescue of the police officer and escorted him to the sitting arena.
Patrick Okundia, the immediate-past commissioner for health, rushed to give the officer first case assessment and aid.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the Superintendent of Police was immediately rushed into the waiting ambulance stationed at the stadium.
When contacted on the state of health of the ailing ADC, a senior police officer in Edo State Police Command, who asked not to be named, said, “The officer is in stable condition”.
“We do not doubt the state of health of the concerned officer. People do fall and with the stress of rehearsals, movement, and other activities, the officer’s principal in preparation for the ceremony, such an incident can happen.
“That shows our humanity and there is no cause for alarm. All our officers and men are in good shape and nobody should use an isolated case like that to judge how healthy the men and officers of the command are.”
Before Mr Obaseki’s ADC’s collapse, a lady, who was one of the paramilitary guards of honour, had also slumped and was quietly taken out of the parade as the governor made to inspect the guard mounted in his honour.
The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.
The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.
Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.
“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.
Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.
The Federal government has secured a $750 million loan from the World Bank to provide subsidy to developers and operators of solar mini-grids in the country.
The Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and World Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, signed the loan agreement on March 31 and February 19 respectively.
The loan, according to a document made available to journalists on Thursday, is aimed at augmenting the supply of electricity to both households and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) through a surge in private sector-led distributed renewable energy initiatives.
It read: “The loan will be partly used to provide support to the development and operation of privately owned and operated solar hybrid mini grids in unserved and underserved areas through:
1.1. Minimum Subsidy Tender Carrying out of Minimum Subsidy Tender processes and provision of Minimum Capital Cost Subsidies to selected developers/operators of (a) Isolated mini- grids; (b) Interconnected mini-grids; or (c) Solar rooftop solutions in Participating States.”
Aside from providing the subsidy, the Federal government plans to also provide performance-based grants.
“There will be a provision of Performance-Based Grants to eligible mini-grid operators based on new customer connections for isolated mini-grids and percentage of capital expenditures for interconnected mini-grid projects.
“The grant will also cover Standalone Solar (SAS) Systems for Households, MSMEs, and Agribusinesses. This grant will provide “Support to the expansion of SAS systems for households, MSMEs, and agribusinesses in rural areas through:
2.1. Performance Based Grants for Standalone Solar Provision of Performance Based Grants (“PBGs”) to eligible companies to rapidly deploy SAS solutions in rural and underserved areas, through supply and demand side support and based on independently verified outputs, and to support deployment of solar productive use of electricity (PUE) equipment to MSMEs, agribusinesses and commercial customers.”
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar on Thursday described the N15.6 trillion attached to the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as its tentative cost by the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, as wasteful and a highway to fraud.
In a statement emanating from his media office, he criticized the minister for altering the initial plan of the project after Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech had been awarded the contract without any competitive bidding.
The statement observed that Umahi had, during his media rounds at select TV stations on Thursday, said the road project would cost N15.6 trillion ($13bn at an exchange rate of N1,200/$1), while the rail, which will pass through the road, will be costed separately.
Atiku stated: “Umahi had announced that the project would be fully funded by Hitech, and based on this, there was no competitive bidding. He (Umahi) then turned around to say that Hitech could only raise just 6% of the money for the pilot phase. This smacks of deceit.”
The statement pointed out that the minister had also said the project would not be undertaken under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), but the government would be providing 15%-30% counterpart financing.
Responding to this revelation, Atiku said the tentative cost was equivalent to the total budget of all 36 states of the federation combined.
He added: “The total budget of all 36 states of the federation for 2024 stands at about N14 trillion. If you add that of the FCT, the entire budget of all sub-nationals is N15.91 trillion. This is scandalous. Worse still, they have already awarded the contract but are still not sure of the level of the counterpart funding component of the federal government!
“Umahi had said in September 2023 that Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech had the money to construct the highway and that it would be PPP. Hitech was to build, operate, and transfer it back to the Nigerian government after years of tolling.
“It was reported by every media organization, including those owned by Tinubu. It was on the basis of this proposal that Hitech was picked. Why did Umahi then turn around to claim that it was not to be a PPP but that the government would pay 15%-30%?”
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election noted that in the 2024 budget, the project was captured as the Lagos-Port Harcourt coastal highway and was put at a cost of N500 million.
“Although the National Assembly approved N500m for the project this year, the Tinubu administration has released N1.06tn. That is more than 200 times what is in the Appropriation Act. This is what happens when the National Assembly fails in its duties,” he added.
Atiku said it was curious that the N15.91 trillion announced by Umahi did not include the cost of the railway component. He, therefore, wondered how much the project would cost if the railway component is included.
“If N15.6 trillion is for the road component alone, then the total cost could be far higher when the railway is included. We want to know the cost of the railway,” he said.
The Tribune
