Author: Preye Okah

Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State on Tuesday called on the military to continue with their painstaking investigation to unravel the killers of the 17 soldiers in Okuama Community in Delta State as well as their sponsors. He assured that all those involved in the dastardly act must be brought to book to face the full wrath of the law. Governor Diri who just visited Igbomotoru Community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area to see the aftermath of the military invasion of the community, was visiting one month after the military invaded the riverine community on March 17. Addressing the…

The Bayelsa State’s eight local government chairmen and their vice chairmen, Monday April 15, received their certificates of return after their recent elections. The Bayelsa State local government election was conducted on April 6, 2024 with the candidates of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, winning all the seats. The PDP also clinched all the councillorship positions in the state’s 105 wards. The names of the incoming local government chairmen are, Bulodisiye Ndiwari, Yenagoa Local Government Area, Febo Lucky, Brass Local Government Area, and Golden Jeremiah, Ogbia Local Government Area. Others are, David Alagoa (the immediate past commissioner for Agriculture and…

The girl in question is very healthy now and she is moving around the community without any problem. Since the Koripamo tradition was performed on her, she has been very healthy, said Dominic Mathias.” Those were the words of Mathias, the Community Development Chairman of Akeddei community in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. News had broken out on the 26th of December 2023, concerning a four year old girl, allegedly married out to a 54-year-old man in a community called Akeddei. An uproar ensued. Many were aghast at the thought and frowned at it. How can a four…

A few weeks ago, there was outrage in the media over the story of a four-year-old girl that was married out to a 54-year-old man in Akeddei community in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. National Point visited the community to follow developments and capture the mood of the people following the widespread reports about the issue. One of the first people to speak to National Point on the issue, Mr. Dominic Matthias, the Chairman of the community’s development committee. “The girl in question is very healthy now and she is moving around the community without any problem. Since…

DO Foundation, a Child Rights Advocacy groups in Bayelsa State has kicked against a marriage between a four years old girl and a 54 years old man which took place on the 26th of December 2023, at Akeddei community in Sagbama Local Government Area of the State. The group described the marriage as illegal, criminal which it said is against the constitution and the Child Rights Act. DO Foundation, in statement signed by Elvis Mannie Esq.Chairperson, confirmed the development, insisting that the foundation has launched an investigation into the development with the hope of saving the child. According to Barr.…

Bayelsa State Government has faulted the report by some non-governmental organizations which declared that Bayelsa State is not economically viable, insisting that the report rated the state out of context. The Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Maxwell Ebibai, who responded to the report rather asked that the Federal Government should allow the state to access its 13 percent derivation funds directly instead of releasing whatever they want without the state knowing how much accrued to it on a monthly basis. Ebibai on Thursday in Yenagoa during a transparency briefing on the income and expenditure of the state for August, September and…

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has called on the media to investigate its activities since its inception and tell the public its achievements and failings so far. This call came as the board disclosed that it had successfully handled 545 local content policy issues since the inception of the board, saying that by 2027, it would have achieved up to 70 percent local content in the country. Speaking on behalf of the board during a capacity building workshop organized for media stakeholders from the South South on Tuesday in Port Harcourt Rivers State, Esueme Dan Kikile, Manager,…

Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has revealed that by 2024, three more Modular refineries will start operation in the country, as one has already started production. Speaking in Yenagoa during the opening of this year’s edition of practical Nigerian Content Forum with the theme, Deepening Nigerian Content Amidst Divestment, Domestication and Decarbonization, the Executive Secretary of the board, Simbi Wabote added that the board had already partnered with a local refinery known as Waltersmith to establish a 5,000bpd modular refinery in Ibigwe, Imo State. He also disclosed that this year alone, the refinery has produced and sold over…

Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, presented the 2024 budget of N480.99 billion to the State House of Assembly for consideration and passage. Presenting the appropriation bill christened, “Budget of Sustainable and Shared Prosperity,” Governor Diri recalled that in October 2023, the assembly approved the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF and FSP) for the state. He explained that the budget proposal was predicated on the assumptions contained in the approval of the assembly. His word,: “Mr. Speaker, I wish to present the 2024 budget estimates to the House. We are guided by the desire to prepare…

The Labour Party Governorship Candidate in the just concluded Governorship Election in Bayelsa State Udengs Eradiri has called on the acting factional chairman of the party, Eneyi Zidougha, to leave him out of the crisis rocking the leadership of the party in the state. Eradiri advised members of the public to disregard Zidougha’s recent claims that he had expelled him from the LP saying the Constitution of the party did not confer such powers on him. He stated that Zidougha lacked the powers to flagrantly suspend any member of the party much more, the governorship candidate. Speaking recently in Yenagoa,…