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Delta Govt To Use KPIs To Measure Progress

Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori has disclosed the strategic imperatives of the MORE agenda of his administration have been distilled into deliverables that can be measured, tracked and reported.

Governor Oborevwori made the disclosure at the 2023 Delta State Executive Council Retreat held at Maryam Babangida Leisure Park, Asaba on Friday.

Oborevwori said his administration was committed to ensuring excellence, process driven and result oriented governance for the people of the State.

He said the retreat with Theme: “Delivering the M.O.R.E Agenda for Advancing Delta: Strategies Enablers” was necessary to ensure that Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of government align their programmes and activities with the administration’s policy focus.

“These key performance indicators will enable us to measure our progress as an administration based on established timelines and benchmarks for success.

“This will in turn, enable efficiency of government, enhance performance, hold the MDAs accountable, and promote judicious utilization of resources.

“It is my earnest expectation that this forum will provide the pathway for us to deliver on the promises of the MORE agenda through fiscal responsibility, synergy among the MDAs, robust community engagement, effective public communication, creative execution of programmes, and excellent service delivery,” he said.

Governor Oborevwori remarked that a key component of his administration’s policy thrust is to ensure a credible feedback mechanism, adding “For us to achieve our stated goals, MDAs must constantly monitor the progress of projects under their jurisdiction and formulate a mechanism for feedback and evaluation.

He said: “As evidenced from the projects that we have so far completed and embarked upon, this administration is process driven, result-oriented, and excellence-inclined.

“Indeed, we are poised to ADVANCE the state into an era that will accelerate the realization of its full potentials through the MORE agenda.

“Towards this end, the Commissioners are expected to sign a Performance Bond at the end of this retreat. This is not meant to scare anybody. It is to serve as a motivation to stay focused on the deliverables that have been established”.

“As I stated in my inauguration speech, the MORE agenda is designed to foster inclusive and sustainable economic growth and private sector job creation, strengthen the human capital, build an enabling infrastructure, bolster public financial management, and improve governance and accountability systems for improved service delivery.

“The issues before us are simple – they are about improving the quality of life of our people, about building bridges of social cohesion, about giving our people hope of a better tomorrow, and about accelerated development.

“To effectively achieve this target, it demands thought and action from me and all those who have the privilege to serve as elected officials, political appointees, or civil servants.”

Governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki in his keynote speech, on “Innovative approach to building a state that works for the citizens (opportunities, challenges and prospects for advancing the Delta State economy), said the pandemic of three years ago had driven global inflation to an all time high.

He said since the era of COVID-19 there has been a significant increase in use of technology and Artificial Intelligence in doing things, stressing that the effect on developing countries like Nigeria was frightening and warned that sub-national and local governments must work assiduously to deliver for the people.

The Edo State Governor said plans where underway to buy back the state’s shares in the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), stressing that talks were ongoing between Delta, Edo, Ekiti, and Ondo States to repurchase the shares.

Welcoming participants earlier, the State Deputy Governor, Sir Monday Onyeme thanked the governor for organizing the retreat, saying it would give participants insight into the philosophy and clear vision of the Agenda.

The Deputy Governor said there was a new Sheriff in town whose agenda was geared towards reshaping the tools of governance for greater efficiency as encapsulated his more agenda and urged participants to do things differently.

The Secretary to the State Government, Dr Kingsley Emu who gave a detailed breakdown of the More Agenda, gave an overview of the thematic areas of the More Agenda and specific areas to cover.

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‘Look at How Stupid and Unintelligent you people are’ – Asari Dokubo Slams Those Saying Lagos Belongs to the Binis

Asari Dokubo has slammed Nigerians who are pushing the narrative that Lagos state belongs to the Binis. His comment comes days after the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare 11, said that the Binis founded some parts of Lagos state.

The Monarch’s comment sparked a debate with people agreeing and also countering the monarch’s assertion. Some people in their submissions, insisted that the Binis own Lagos state

In a video shared online, Asari asked which of the Obas of Benin owned Lagos.

He described those peddling the idea that Lagos belongs to the Binis as unintelligent and stupid people.

“Look at how unintelligent and stupid you are to say that the Bini people founded Lagos. It’s a useless argument.

“Daume also attacked Lagos and attacked Abeokuta and Daume is in Benin Republic. So Daume people will say they owe this place because they came to fight there?

Borogu, which of them is the Benin Republic, will now say that because they had their army all over the place in those days, Igbo-Ora and the whole Okedun belong to them?

“You don’t know history. The Bini army attacked Lagos Island. The Ijaw army ferried them to attack not the whole of Lagos, just Lagos Island.

“Lagos was five divisions, four of these divisions were in the former Western Region. You don’t know history. But they keep Talking about ‘Lagos belongs to Benin’ which Oba of Benin can Lagos belong to?

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Nigerians will soon enjoy improved Electricity supply — Power Minister

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has assured that Nigerians will soon start enjoying improved power supply across the country.

This was even as he stated that the totality of the re-enacted electricity act has changed the entire landscape of the power sector.

The Minister disclosed this at the 3rd edition of the Power Correspondents Association of Nigeria annual workshop in Abuja on Thursday.

According to him, the 2023 Electricity Act has liberalised electricity generation, transmission, and distribution while also empowering states, organisations, and even individuals to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity.

He noted that the key part of the 2023 Electricity Act is the development of the Integrated National Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan.

“We are working with the National Council on Power (NCP) to develop and send the implementation strategy to the FederalE Executive Council (FEC) for approval,” he said.

Also, he said, “Part of the strategy in our road map is the emphasis on the bottom-up approach, unlike the top-down approach of the past.

“The implication, with the bottom-up approach, is that we will prioritise metering, distribution, and transmission infrastructure. In the short term, we will focus on customers down to distribution and transmission infrastructure. This is to ensure that a significant portion of what is generated currently gets to end users.

“We will also pay attention to the generation segment, particularly in areas of distributed (embedded) power from renewable energy sources, while at the same time advancing base load power through thermal and hydroelectric plants in the medium to long term.”

He further noted that the administration would explore the country’s regional energy potential.

“We will focus on solar energy in the North, mini hydropower plants in the Middle Belt and the Southwest, hybridised with solar, while our coastal states will be identified for wind energy utilisation.

Taking all the above into consideration, especially with the liberalisation of the sector, Nigerians will soon start to experience the objective that led to the Act, which is improved power supply across the country,” he said

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Court Remands 14-year-old Suspected Killer of FUTMinna Lecturer

A Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Minna, Niger State capital, has remanded a 14-year-old prime suspect, Joy Afekafe, over murder of Mrs. Funmilola Sherifat Adefolalu, an associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna.

The Nigerian Police, Niger State Command, arraigned the 14-year-old Afekafe on three count charges which include criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and armed robbery.

The offences are in contrary to sections 97, 221 and 298 of the penal code law

The prosecution told Chief Magistrate Fati Hassan Umar that two other suspects in the crime: Wallex and Smart are still at large.

The prosecutor, DSP Ahmed Saidu told the court that the trio had invaded the residence of the deceased on the 28th of October 2023 ”where you took a knife in the kitchen and stabbed her all over her body.

”You also used a wooden stool and hit her on her head after which you carted away $3000, one laptop computer, one mobile phone, two power banks and a car battery.”

The prosecution added that as a result, “the victim was taken to the IBB Specialist hospital where she was confirmed dead by medical doctors”.

When the charge was read to Afekafe, she pleaded not guilty to the crime.

The prosecution pleaded with the court to remand the accused in the Correctional Centre to enable the Police forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution in the state Ministry of Justice for legal advice, adding that it is only the High Court that has jurisdiction to try the case.

Chief Magistrate Fati Hassan Umar directed that Afekafe be remanded at the Children Correctional Centre before adjourning the case to 11th of December, 2023 for further mention