By Naomi Sharang

The Senate has urged the Federal Government to convene stakeholders’ meeting to X-ray the recurring situation of flooding across the country with a view to arriving at a lasting solution.

The senate’s resolution was sequel to a point of order moved by Sen. Adetokunbo Abiru (APC-Lagos) during Tuesday’s plenary.

The motion is titled:”Flood Disaster in Ikosi-Isheri, Agboyi-Ketu and several other communities in Lagos and Ogun”.

The upper chamber also commiserated with the victims of the flood disaster and commended the governments of Lagos and Ogun for their handling of the crisis occasioned by the flood disaster.

It also directed the relevant committees of the senate to provide adequate funding for NIMET, Hydrological Agency of Nigeria, and the River Basin Development Authorities to effectively carry out their responsibilities.

Moving the motion, Abiru said that a number of communities close to the coast lines in Ikosi-Isheri and Agboyi-Ketu in Lagos and other communities in Ogun often experience flooding whenever the Oyan River dam is opened.

“The recent release of water from the dam caused unimaginable havoc  to residents’ property and livelihoods particularly on Tuesday, Oct.24.

“The  residents of the areas have fled their homes and businesses, schools and religious centres have all shut down in the affected communities,” he said.

The lawmaker further said that there is an urgent humanitarian crisis occasioned by the flood as those sacked by the flood are still hanging around with family members and friends,” he said.

He, however, said that in response to the threatening humanitarian crisis,  the governors of Lagos and Ogun and the Minister of Water Resources had all intervened in their respective capacities.(NAN)

Edited by Julius Toba-Jegede

By Sumaila Ogbaje

The APC Grassroots Governance Group (APCG3) has congratulated President Bola Tinubu on the affirmation of his victory by the Supreme Court, describing the judgment as victory for the nation’s democracy.

This is contained in a statement by the Chairman, Board of Trustees of APCG3, Dr Jerry Ugokwe, the Chairman, Advisory Board, Prof. Ojo Ademola, and the National Coordinator, Amechi Oyema, on Friday in Abuja.

According to the group, with the verdict, the president will now face the challenges facing the country without distraction.

They also congratulated the National Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, adding that the victory is a reflection of the acceptability of the party.

The group said the APC under the present leadership would lead the party to more victories at all levels and urged members of the opposition to put the election behind them for the country to move forward.

“We heartily congratulate President Bola Tinubu on the affirmation of his mandate by the Supreme Court.

“It is a call to duty and we of the APCG3 are confident that with the removal of this distraction, Nigerians will soon see better days.

“We call on the opposition to put the election behind them and support the present administration to bring the country out of the present challenges,” the group appealed. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

By Naomi Sharang

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Sen. Abdullahi Gumel, has called on Nigerians to join hands with President Bola Tinubu in actualising his Renewed Hope Agenda.

Gumel said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

The presidential aide, while congratulating Tinubu on his victory at the apex court, called on the opposition to work with the President in ensuring that Nigeria regained its position as the giant of Africa.

“We believe that now that we have put all litigation election matters behind us, the opposition should join hands with the president in the spirit of the Renewed Hope, to give Nigerians good governance which is what the country needs at the moment,”he said.

He said the victory would enable the president and his appointees to concentrate fully on governance.

“We congratulate the President and ourselves as members of the present government on the Supreme Court judgment.

“With this landslide judgment, the ministers and other appointees of government will now concentrate fully on delivering on the mandate of the present administration.

“Nothing will distract us anymore because the Supreme Court is the last court of the land.

“For democracy to strive, every candidate was given the opportunity to exhaust their complaints about the outcome of the election, now is time to face governance,” he said.

Gumel added: “Now the President will concentrate on the Renewed Hope Agenda, which he already started since his swearing in.

“The President has since assumption of office, appointed experts in various fields of endeavour, cutting across gender and age grade, to work with him in carrying out the mandate given to him by Nigerians.”

The presidential aide said the present government would be remembered as one that put smiles on the faces of all Nigerians.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Ali Baba-Inuwa

By Kingsley Okoye

The Majority Leader of the Senate, Sen.Opeyemi Bamidele, has advised opposition political parties and their candidates against stampeding the judiciary into partisan politics through alleged disinformation, mal-information and misinformation.

Bamidele disclosed this on Thursday while reacting to the Supreme Court judgement which reaffirmed the election of President Bola Tinubu, according to a statement by his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs in Abuja.

Bamidele, who chaired the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters in the ninth National Assembly, kicked against how the opposition unduly dragged the judiciary into partisan politics in pursuit of its selfish interests against collective interest of Nigerians.

While celebrating the victory of the president, Bamidele condemned what he described as “the undue blackmailing of the judiciary even before the petitions of the opposition parties and their candidates were decided.”

He observed that the judiciary “is one of the most consistent, dependable and reliable democratic institutions that still stand for and with the oppressed.

” It is therefore amoral and immoral for any political actor or party to subject the judiciary to media trial rather than abiding by the rules of law.

“Judiciary has never been vilified in the recent history of this federation by petitioners who at different times benefitted tremendously from the independence and neutrality of the judiciary.”

Bamidele noted that the petitioners “claimed to have won the 2023 presidential elections during their separate world press conferences. But when they failed to prove their cases, they selfishly resorted to blackmailing the time-tested institutions, especially the judiciary.”

He observed that the decisions of the appellate and apex courts “have clearly shown that the last elections are the most credible since the beginning of the Fourth Republic with the deployment of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, which the Independent National Electoral Commission used for the conduct of the elections.”

He, therefore, commended the apex court for standing for the truth and truth alone amid the ferocious, needless and relentless intimidation of judicial officers by the petitioners, who has said trampled upon the national interest in pursuit of their self-centric political agenda.

“Now that Judiciary has concluded all the presidential election petitions in favour of President Tinubu, Bamidele warned all political actors, interests and parties “to henceforth stop playing politics with the rule of law and the integrity of the judiciary,” he said.

Bamidele also warned “against the perverse culture of stampeding the judiciary into partisan politics.

” As far as Nigeria is concerned, judiciary remains an unbiased arbiter wholly committed to the dispensation of justice without regard to any ethnic, economic, political, religious consideration.

“It is therefore unfair and uncalled to paint the judiciary, the only source of hope for the oppressed, black in the eyes of the whole world. This does not harm the judiciary alone, but also portray all of us, Nigerians at home and in the diaspora, bad before the eyes of the whole world.

“This is completely unacceptable! And it must best stopped.”

(NAN)www.nannews.ng)