Author: nationalpoint

*** 3 CPs, 6 dep CPs deployed to Akwa Ibom Akwa Ibom State Police Command has deployed no fewer than 11,000 personnel to the 31 local government areas of the state to ensure a hitch-free Gubernatorial and House of Assembly polls. Also, three Commissioner of Police and six deputy Commissioners of Police were deployed to the state to further beef up security. It was gathered the top police personnel were drafted from the states that are not conducting elections. The State Commissioner of Police, Olatoye Durunsimi has been deployed to Imo State for the polls. Police Public Relations Officer, SP…

The 2023 electoral process has revived the age long riverine and upland dichotomy debate in Rivers State. The debate which has become the major platform, upon which ethnic nationalities lay claim to the Brick House, was also the major consideration for power shift from the riverine Ijaws to the upland region in the state.  Rivers State is politically divided into upland and riverine dichotomy. The dichotomy which has long defined politics in the state dates back to the 60s when the state had the first Ijaw Military Administrator after its creation in 1967. From then on, the Ijaws controlled the…

GUBERNATORIAL, STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS: CIEPD CALLS ON INEC TO RESPECT THE ELECTORAL ACT …DEMANDS MORE VIGILANCE, PROTECTION FROM POLICE, ARMY: …CALLS ON NYSC D_G TO SAVE MEMBERS In view of the Gubernatorial and State House of Assembly Elections in Rivers State coming up on March 18, 2023 and as a follow up to our preliminary report from the Conduct of the Presidential Elections on February 25, 2023, The Collaborative Violence Prevention and Mitigation in Rivers State Election a project implemented by Community Initiative for Enhanced Peace and Development (CIEPD) with funding from Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND), worried…

As we wind down today on what has been a challenging albeit exciting and reassuring campaign season, the attention of the All Progressives Congress 2023 Campaign Council has been drawn to series of clandestine meetings holding at the Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Council Secretariat over the last couple of days as we approach the Saturday, March 18, 2023 governorship and State House of Assembly elections. Similar meetings are ongoing elsewhere in the State by politicians whose understanding of democracy and its practice is skewed, anachronistic, archaic and utterly reprehensible. We have no problems with people exercising their citizen’s rights to free…

PRESS STATEMENT BY THE RULE OF LAW AND ACCOUNTABILITY ADVOCACY CENTRE (RULAAC) March 15, 2023 POLICE OFFICERS’ GRIEVANCES OVER NON PAYMENT OF THEIR SALARIES AND DUTY ALLOWANCES; CONCERNS ABOUT SECURITY DEPLOYMENT AND NEUTRALITY, AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CREDIBILITY OF THE MARCH 18, 2023 GOVERNORSHIP AND STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS. As the March 18, 2023 Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections approach, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) is worried about feelers and indications that the elections may be marred by more violence,  more brazenly manipulated and compromised than the previous highly disputed February 25, 2023 Presidential and National Assembly…

Former Minister of Transportation and erstwhile Governor of Rivers State, Rt Hon ‘Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi’ has urged voters in Rivers State to only vote a person of character and one who has the fear of God as Governor of the State. According to him, that person is Tonye Cole, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Amaechi made the call on Thursday when he visited traders and artisans in Elekahia mechanic village, Ikoku, Ojoto, Okija and others parts of Diobu, where they all testified of his passion and achievements during his time as Governor of the State. The traders…

The Citizens of Kingdoms and City States (COKACS) has emerged to champion the cause of indigenous kingdoms and city states that existed before the creation of colonial states and countries by invading European nations in the 19th century. Addressing a world press conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) press centre, the Shepherd of the group, Elder Kalada Jene, said after decades of research and consultations with leaders of ethnic nationalities, the organization was formed in line with the spirit of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. He said these rights, which are also recognized…

Non-for-profit organisations, Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) and Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) Africa on Wednesday, would host a one-hour Twitter Space to discuss how media reported women’s participation in the 2023 elections across the country. In a statement signed by the Executive Director CJID, Tobi Oluwatola, the Twitter space theme: Nigeria Media, Political Leadership and Women Equity’ was to commemorate the 2023 International Women’s Day (IWD) where panelists will speak to the theme. “In line with this year’s IWD theme: Embrace Equity, the event will host stakeholders to discuss how the media have engaged and…

The Chairman of the Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Mrs. Lauretta Onochie, has said the commission would no longer be throwing money at problems but would fund specific projects to address challenges in the Niger Delta. Speaking during a courtesy visit by a delegation from the Ijaw Community in Abuja and Northern Nigeria at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, the NDDC Chairman pledged that the Commission would initiate projects and programmes to empower women and youths in the Niger Delta region. Stating that the Governing Board of the NDDC was determined to change the narrative…

Today, the Kalabari Kingdom does not appear to have leadership to pilot the affairs of the kingdom. This is like a flock of sheep without a shepherd, and we are currently drifting rudderlessly without direction. This is unacceptable to us. We have been in the wilderness and there appears to be no end to it.  Kalabari is moving into a self-destructive mode because those who claim to represent us are only motivated by selfishness and greed. A Kalabari adage says, when there are patriotic elders in the community, elders should never allow a goat about to deliver remain tied up…