News
Insecurity: Group Tells Gov Alia To Resign Over Incompetence
A pro-democracy group known as Defenders of Democracy (DoD), has told Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia to resign if he has no answer to the spate of insecurity ravaging the state following the influx of thousands of herdsmen into the state with cattle and the resultant attacks and killing of the people.
DoD in a statement signed by its President, Amos Uchiv and made available to journalists in Makurdi Friday, condemned Governor Alia’s recent ban on political gatherings, describing it as a diversionary decision aimed at covering up his lack of capacity in addressing the security situation in the state.
The group criticized the Benue State Governor for collecting huge security votes every month but failing to apply the funds to end the wave of attacks against the people.
The statement read:
“Two days ago, Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia announced a ban on all political gatherings in the state citing high insecurity as reason for the ban.
The governor who made the announcement in a statement by his Chief of Staff, Paul Biam, said the prohibition of political gatherings was because “the security atmosphere in the state is charged following the unprecedented influx of armed herdsmen in the state”.
“Governor Alia’s statement is crass admittance of failure and an invitation for State of Emergency to be declared in Benue State. Alia has clearly demonstrated his ineptitude and incompetence in running the state.
“How does stopping political gatherings translate to addressing the security situation in the state? Is politics done on people’s farms where armed herders have been destroying crops? What have the children, women and other vulnerable people who are being killed in the communities got to do with political gatherings?
“Governor Alia has by his pronouncement, admitted that the security situation in his state has overwhelmed him. He doesn’t have answers to the Fulani invasion. He is talking about peaceful coexistence with Fulani and at the same time asking them to vacate the state within two weeks. What a contradiction!
“When Alia became governor, he promised to return the internally displaced people to their ancestral homes within the first 100 days, but he failed to do that. Herders have moved into Benue State with hundreds of thousands of cattle but Governor Alia is saying nothing and doing nothing. He is more interested in political battles, probes and white elephant projects like flyovers.
“Governor Alia has exposed his lack of leadership capacity in tackling insecurity in the state as rampaging Fulani militia have continued to kill more people in parts of the state. He cannot escape responsibility for the escalating insecurity which has led to the loss of many lives and destruction of property worth billions of naira in Benue State.
“Alia has failed us on all fronts. He is not only clueless and inept but also does not seem to bother even if half of the people are massacred by the marauding Fulani militia.
“The other day, we read in the papers that Governor Alia was one of those who recently endorsed what is called Pulaku and made sure that Benue State was included in the list of states where the Federal Government plans to establish cattle colonies, and we were wondering if the man is out of his mind. Which part of the state does he hope to cede for the construction of the Fulani settlements known as Pulaku?
“The Fulanis were very happy to hear that governor of Benue State is ready to give them lands to own and occupy. If this is part of the agreement he was said to have with the Fulani before they supported his election, someone should make governor Alia understand that his plan is against the interest of Benue people.
“Alia has made Benue people to miss the former governor Samuel Ortom in a very short time. Ortom was a strong voice against the Fulani agenda in his state and the country at large. He was always the first to rally other Nigerians to reject any attempt by the Federal Government to help the Fulani to take over parts of Nigeria as their own. Some of us did not agree with all of Ortom’s polices and actions but on the Fulani issue, he was outstanding. What we have now as governor is a total failure!
“We must remind governor Alia that Benue people voted for him to protect them, not to be flying in private jets across the world and spending their money on wasteful personal luxuries like buying expensive cars, buying houses in choice locations in Makurdi, Abuja, Lagos, the United States etc. He promised us that he would provide good governance, but what we have so far seen is a misfit in power.
“He has increased his approval limit from N50 million to a whopping N250 million and has increased the security votes astronomically, yet, the security of the state is getting worse under him.
“Lastly, our stand is, since it is now apparent that Governor Hyacinth Alia is overwhelmed and has lost control of security in state, he is free to honorably resign and allow his Deputy or the Speaker of the House of Assembly to take over. He is toying with the lives of over 7 million people by making unreasonable decisions. The security of lives and property is such an important part of governance that any government that has no capacity to provide security should vacate power immediately.
“We condemn the ban on political gatherings by the governor and urge him to rescind the decision to avoid heating the polity unnecessarily. We are in a democracy, not dictatorship!”
A tragic plane crash in the city of Gramado, southern Brazil, has claimed the lives of ten family members of influential businessman, Luiz Claudio Galeazzi.
The crash involved a private plane piloted by Brazilian businessman Luiz Claudio Galeazzi. He, along with his wife, three daughters, and other family members, died in the crash, according to a statement from his company.
The small aircraft reportedly struck a building’s chimney, as well as a house and a shop, before crashing. Local authorities confirmed that 17 people on the ground were injured, with two in serious condition.
Mr. Galeazzi, 61, was reportedly taking his family on a trip to Jundiaí, São Paulo state. All ten victims were members of his family, as confirmed by the Governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite.
The plane had taken off in poor weather conditions. The aircraft flew for about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) before crashing into the urban area just minutes after takeoff on Sunday morning.
An eyewitness, Nadia Hansen, described hearing the plane revving up before it hit the building. “At the time, it was revving up. You could see that it was accelerating a lot,” Hansen said. “Then there was a bang as it hit the building and then it passed close to my house and then it fell, and I thought it had dropped in front of the house.”
Emergency workers were seen at the crash site, attending to the wreckage and debris from damaged buildings. Galeazzi was the CEO of Galeazzi & Associados, a corporate restructuring and crisis management firm based in São Paulo. His company expressed its condolences in a LinkedIn statement, honoring Galeazzi’s dedication to his family and his professional legacy.
The crash occurred near the center of Gramado, hitting a house, furniture store, and hotel. The cause of the accident is under investigation by the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa). Governor Leite assured that the state was mobilized to provide necessary assistance.
Gramado, a well-known tourist destination, has recently been hit hard by devastating flooding earlier this year, which caused extensive damage and displaced thousands of residents.
The Federal Government has allocated a total of N6,364,181,224 billion for the renovation and rehabilitation of the residential quarters of President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and some of their aides in the 2025 budget proposal.
Sunday PUNCH’s analysis of the proposed allocation, contained in the 2025 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly, showed that the annual maintenance of the Presidential Villa would gulp N5.49bn.
According to the proposed budget, N765m will be used for the renovation of the Vice President’s quarters and guest house.
The renovation of the president’s quarters at the State House will cost N6.39m, while the renovation of security quarters, auditorium, gymnasium and presidential aides’ quarters will cost N49m.
In addition, the renovation of Prescott barracks at Maple State House officers’ mess building and signal office in Asokoro, Abuja will cost N51m.
Further analysis of the budget revealed that Tinubu and his vice are also expected to have N87m as honorarium and sitting allowances, while N127m was allocated for the procurement of SUVs.
Also, N3.66bn was budgeted for the purchase of State House operational vehicles and N1,09bn will be spent on replacement of SUV vehicles at the State House.
Under the budget of the State House Lagos Liaison Office, there is an allocation of N14.72m for the routine maintenance of State House Lagos facilities (Dodan Barracks, Vice President guest houses at Ikoyi, among others).
Another N140.10m was allocated for the completion of renovation and furnishing of the State House annex (Dodan Barracks), Lagos.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government is planning to spend N1.83bn on converting forfeited properties from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission into State House quarters.
The plan to convert forfeited houses from the EFCC comes in the same month that the commission disclosed the recovery of an estate in the Lokogoma District of Abuja, measuring 150,500 square metres and containing 753 units of duplexes and other apartments.
The commission described this as its “single largest asset recovery” since its inception in 2003.
The estate rests on Plot 109 Cadastral Zone C09 of the district, and was forfeited in a ruling on Monday, December 2, 2024, by Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie.
(Punch)
WHEN we look at this month, USD was traded at ₦ at the beginning of this December on Monday, December 2, 2024. As at today with USD being traded at ₦1,655 we see a % for United States Dollar to Naira exchange rate for this month.
On this page, we are primarily focusing on the Black Market Dollar To Naira Exchange Rate Today, the USD to Naira currency pair are the most traded currency in the FX market.
Black Market Exchange Rates
Buying Rate
Selling Rate
Dollar to Naira 1655 1640
Pounds to Naira 2150 2000
Euro to Naira 1730 1700
Canadian Dollar to Naira 1146 1135
Rand to Naira 52 43
Dirham to Naira 0 0
Yuan to Naira 62 62
G.Cedi to Nair 70 50
CFA F. (XOF) To Naira 0.83 0.81
CFA F. (XAF) To Naira 0.74 0.74
READ ALSO: INSIDE LIFE: 26-Year-Old Lady Died In Bangladesh With No One To Claim Her Body, She Is A Nigerian From Enugu (SEE PHOTO)
Having full knowledge how much USD to NGN black market exchange rate today will give you a better opportunity to plan and make informed decisions.
Nairatoday.com
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SEE NAIRA Rates Against The USD, GBP, EURO Today December 23, 2024
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