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Few Hours To Edo Election, Governorship Candidate Withdraws
The governorship candidate of the Accord Party, Kennedy Iyere, has officially withdrawn from the upcoming 2024 Edo Gubernatorial election, citing a desire to serve Nigeria at a higher level and address pressing social and economic challenges, particularly the food crisis.
He referenced his previously proposed multi-billion dollar initiative, the ‘Food4All Initiative,’ which he presented to President Bola Tinubu.
This program aims to achieve food security and create mass employment for youth and women through the “One-Family-One-Farmer Scheme.”
In a statement announcing his decision, Iyere highlighted his commitment to leveraging his expertise to implement effective solutions for the country’s challenges.
Iyere also revealed that internal party conflicts played a significant role in his withdrawal, explicitly mentioning a conspiracy involving his running mate, Bright Enabulele, who allegedly sought to undermine his candidacy. ‘
Despite these challenges, Iyere urged voters in Edo State to remain peaceful and vote their conscience, stressing the importance of equitable power rotation among the three Senatorial Districts.
Looking ahead, Iyere expressed his commitment to focusing on national development and assisting the federal government in creating a roadmap for economic inclusion.
He emphasized the need for social intervention programs aimed at engaging and deradicalizing youth.
In closing, Iyere reiterated that his alignment with the Federal Government stems from a selfless desire to serve humanity through public service rather than engaging in partisan politics.
He said, “My focus is no longer on the governorship seat but on a higher and bigger portfolio than a Governor. I want to serve Nigerians at large and not just Edo indigenes. I want to help rebuild Nigeria’s lost economic greatness.
“Serving as a Governor will actually place limitations on me. So, when I saw the plots displayed by Enabulele and some leaders of Accord Party at the State Level, then I knew it was time for me to embrace a higher calling, which was to step up my game to the federal level where I am presently hugely contributing my efforts towards national development.
“I am assisting the federal government to devise a road map for the economic inclusion, engagement, self-emancipation and deradicalisation of youths by designing and driving social intervention programmes that aim to mitigate unemployment and enhance youth and women entrepreneurial opportunities for mass self-employment, wealth creation and poverty alleviation.
“These programmes will fully kick-start in the month of October 2024 and Nigeria will be placed yet again on the pathway of rapid economic recovery. Our intervention programmes will enhance opportunities for youth entrepreneurship engagement in multiple sectors, especially agriculture, food and beverage, technology, entertainment, innovation and creativity.
“More than six million youth and women entrepreneurs (as MSME owners and operators) shall be created or produced within the first one year of the official kick-off of this entrepreneurship programme. Nigerian youths and women lack access to the business capital required as entrepreneurs to either start up a new business or operate an existing business. This programme will squarely address that essential need.”
The bandits who kidnapped the Head of the Zamfara State Office of Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, Alh. Bashir Aliyu Abara Gummi, are demanding an additional N44m ransom to release him after collecting N16m from his family.
Gummi was abducted in October 2024 along Funtua-Gusau Road while travelling to Abuja to represent the Zamfara State Government at a meeting.
The bandits opened fire at moving vehicles, k!lling two persons before kidnapping the coordinator and scores of other travellers.
It was gathered that his family managed to gather N16,000,000 ransom which the kidnappers accepted but refused to release him.
According to a source, they are now demanding a new ransom of N44,000,000, along with 10 motorcycles.
“We implore the State Government to take immediate action to save this important individual, as the kidnappers have set a deadline of Thursday, February 6, 2025, which was yesterday”, the family source added.
Meanwhile, the bandits have released a video of the victim, pleading for help.
A 4% charge has been placed on Free On-Board (FOB) value of imports by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
This was announced by the NCS spokesman, Abdullahi Maiwada in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
Maiwada noted that the directive was in line with the provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act (NCSA) 2023.
“In line with the provisions of Section 18 (1) of NCSA 2023, the NCS is implementing a 4 per cent charge on the Free On-Board (FOB) value of imports.
“The FOB charge, which is calculated based on the value of imported goods, including cost of goods and transportation expenses incurred up to the port of loading, is essential to driving the effective operation of the service.
“Furthermore, the NCS acknowledges concerns raised by stakeholders over the sustained collection of 1 per cent Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) fee.
“It is a regulatory charge imposed for funding Nigeria’s Destination Inspection Scheme alongside the 4 per cent FOB charge.
As a responsive government agency, the service wishes to assure the general public that extensive consultation is ongoing with the Federal Ministry of Finance to address all agitations raised by our esteemed stakeholders, “ he said.
He urged all stakeholders to comply with the directive, which was conceived after extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders and organisations.
“All stakeholders are urged to support this legally binding initiative.
“As the measures introduced in alignment with the NCSA 2023 reflects a balanced approach born out of extensive consultations with industry players, importers, and regulatory bodies,” he said.
US authorities are looking for a small plane carrying 10 people that has been reported missing in the state of Alaska.
The US Coast Guard for the Alaska region said a Cessna Caravan craft was 12 miles (19km) offshore on a flight from Unalakleet to Nome when “its position was lost”.
The two cities are some 146 miles from each other across the Norton Sound, an inlet of the Bering Sea on Alaska’s western coast.
Search and rescue crews “are working to get to the last known coordinates” of the flight, state officials said in a statement.
They said they had been notified of an “overdue” aircraft operated by the airline Bering Air at 16:00 local time on Thursday (01:00 GMT).
The 10 people on board comprised nine passengers and a pilot, the update from the Alaska Department of Public Safety said. There was no information immediately available about who was on board.
The volunteer fire department in the landing city Nome said the pilot had told air traffic controllers that “he intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway to be cleared”.
David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air, was quoted by Sun UK as saying that the aircraft left an airstrip in Unalakleet at 2:37 pm before officials lost all contact less than an hour later.
It was 12 miles offshore when it was last sighted, according to the US Coast Guard.
Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement: “We are currently responding to a report of a missing Bering Air caravan.
“We are doing an active ground search from Nome and from White Mountain.
“Due to weather and visibility, we are limited on air search at the current time.
“National Guard, Coast Guard, and Troopers have been notified and are active in the search.”
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