. The Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has emerged winner of the All Progressives Congress, APC, primary which held on Monday in Akure, the Ondo State capital. Out of the 3127 delegates who voted during the exercise which lasted about 10 hours, Akeredolu polled 2458 votes to emerge winner while his closest rival, Olusola Oke scored 262 votes. With the outcome of the primary, Akeredolu will be the standard-bearer of the party in the October 10, 2020 governorship election.
2. The Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, on Monday slumped during the ongoing probe by the House of Representatives on the commission.Pondei slumped while being grilled by the committee led by Thomas Ereyitomi. Efforts were made to revive him before he was rushed out of the hall.
3. Alhaji Isa Funtua, a close ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, is dead. Funtua died on Monday after suffering cardiac arrest. He was a former President of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN).
4. Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Monday, said that the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Joy Nunieh, did not participate in the one year service of the National Youth Service Corps. Akpabio said this during questioning by lawmakers at the House of Representatives Committee investigative hearing on financial mismanagement in the NDDC. He also disclosed that Nunieh had on several occasions shunned meetings he had called.
5. Similarly, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has linked contacts awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to members of the National Assembly, saying that majority of the contracts awarded were handled by the lawmakers. He made the disclosure while answering questions at the ongoing probe by the House of Representatives committee. He alleged that the chairman of the House Committee and few other colleagues could explain better.
6. Still on NDDC probe, the Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, who collapsed at the public hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on NDDC had been sick. Director, Corporate Affairs at the NDDC, Charles Obi Odili disclosed this in a statement. The statement says Prof. Pondei who had been ill for more than 2 weeks ignored his doctor’s advice to honour the National Assembly. He said it was unfair to hold Pondei personally liable for acts committed when he was not the head of the Commission.
7. The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta, Olubumi Ojo Monday excused himself from the hearing into the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) following accusation of conflict of interest. The lawmaker stepped aside for Thomas Ereyitomi to continue the investigation into mismanagement of funds by the Commission. The Acting Managing Director of the commission, Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei last week staged a walkout on the committee, stating that Mr. Ojo is a man of interest in the ongoing investigation.
8. The Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has described as “half-hearted” and “insulting” the congratulatory message extended to him by the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Chief Ndutimi Alaibe following last Tuesday’s Supreme Court’s dismissal of his appeal. Expressing dissatisfaction, Senator Diri said Alaibe went too far in his bid to unseat him.
9. Gabriel Suswam, Chairman, Senate Committee on Power has said that the senate was not interested in reversing the privatization of the power sector. He spoke on Monday during the committee’s oversight visit to some government structures being occupied by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC). The lawmaker said the Senate was only interested in enhanced performance to create efficiency.
10. Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Monday recorded the highest COVID-19 new cases in the country. This was announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Monday night. NCDC said Abuja recorded 102 cases while Lagos had 100 cases in the latest figure released by the agency.
