THISISLAGOS MIDDAY NEWS UPDATE APRIL 30, 2018
Ambode has done well — APC (Guardian)
The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday said Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode had performed remarkably well to deserve another term in office. The Assistant Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Mr Abiodun Salami, spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. He said the governor had made great strides in infrastructure development, health, education, sports, entertainment and other critical sectors. Salami said the gale of endorsements for the governor to seek another term was proof of his impact in governance. He dismissed the claim by some opposition parties that they were working together in a coalition to stop Ambode in 2019. Read more
Lagos is safe, commissioner tells investors, business owners (DailyTrust)
Lagos State government has described the simulation exercise carried out by the officials of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) alongside other emergency stakeholders code named “Operation Oko Jasosa” at the early hours of Sunday, April 28, 2018, as a way of reassuring investors and entire residents of Lagos of the preparedness of the state emergency responders to swiftly respond to emergency situations in a very coordinated manner. The Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, Mr. Seye Oladejo who spoke through the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Jemilade Longe, disclosed that the exercise shows the capability of the various emergency responders in the state. Read more
Will Lagos-Ibadan Expressway ever be delivered? (Nation)
The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has, more than any other highway, gained the attention of Nigerians and successive governments. Eighteen years on, the road has featured on the to-do-list of the Federal Government which continues to pump money into it to make it safe for road users. Fixing the road, which is gateway from Lagos to other parts of the country, is becoming expensive. Before Messrs Julius Berger Plc and Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) Plc were hired by the Government in 2013, the 127.6-kilometre highway was at best a deathtrap. The contracts were awarded for N167 billion with a completion date of 2017. The two firms were hired following the failure of Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited (BHSL) to fulfill the agreements it reached with the government on the project. The N91 billion contract awarded to BHSL was terminated on November 19, 2012. Read more
‘LASG paid out N254.7m as aid’ (Punch)
The Lagos State Government says it has given out over N254.7m as aid to 2,046 indigent residents of the state. The Special Adviser to the Governor on Civic Engagement, Mr. Benjamin Olabinjo, stated this on Friday at a press briefing in Ikeja. He said, “The money was disbursed in the last three years as financial assistance to handle health challenges, multiple birth, road accidents, fire disasters and other situations.” Olabinjo said a total of 119 petitions arising from complaints from individuals, groups and communities were successfully resolved. Read more
Lagos APC leaders urged to return performing lawmakers (Guardian)
Ahead of next year National Assembly elections, some faithful of the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have urged the party’s leaders to ensure reelection of lawmakers who are discharging their legislative duties in the best interest of the nation, the state and the incumbent governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode. The party’s faithful mainly from the Lagos central and east senatorial districts specifically commended the role currently played by Senators Remi Tinubu and Gbenga Ashafa respectively, saying the Lagos leaders should not allow the intrigues ongoing at the federal level sweep away its best in the next general elections. Read more
Lagos pilgrims get N30m refund (Nation)
Lagos State government will today commence payment of N30 million refunds to pilgrims who performed last year’s hajj. Each pilgrim is entitled to N12, 000 each. Commissioner for Home Affairs and Amirul-Hajj Dr AbdulHakeem AbdulLateef explained that the fund was meant for some services which were not rendered to them. He said: “We agitated for refund of money meant for some services that were not rendered and it was granted. We shall share this money to the pilgrims except those who owe us. Lagos will never short-change pilgrims for whatever reason, what we are refunding belongs to them and not a gift from the government. In the past and in some states, the Amirul-Hajj diverts such funds for private use, but for me, nothing will follow any man to his grave except his good deeds. People should not be denied of what is due to them. Lagos will always strive to set good examples.” Read more
14 parties in Lagos form coalition to topple Ambode (Vanguard)
Fourteen opposition parties in Lagos State have formed an alliance to challenge Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 elections. The Chairman of Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the state, Mr Kola Ajayi, made the disclosure on Saturday in an interview newsmen in Lagos. He said that the “Star Alliance “was recently formed with the objective of providing what he called a credible alternative to the APC. Ajayi, who also chairs the alliance, listed other parties in the coalition as MEGA, Action Alliance and New Nigeria People’s Party. According to him, the others include People’s Progressive Party, People’s Redemption Party, Democratic Alternative and Accord. Read more
LASG makes changes to Cleaner Lagos Initiative (Punch)
The Lagos State Government has made some changes to the Cleaner Lagos Initiative. According to the government, the changes are part of the integrated response to the problems of waste management in Lagos, adding that to achieve the goal of a cleaner and environmentally sustainable state, attention must be paid to all touchpoints of the waste management process. It noted that the initiative had pooled together several agencies across the value chain with the aim of delivering a safe and sustainable environment for residents. In a statement made available to our correspondent, the government said under the CLI and with the recent changes, community sweeping would henceforth be supervised by the Ministry of the Environment, while mechanised street sweeping would be managed by three private companies – Avatar, Wastecare and Corporate Solutions. Read more
APC CONGRESS: Lagos Progressives demand zoning of chairmanship (Vanguard)
Ahead of the All Progressives Congress, APC, a coalition of Lagos Progressives has called for the zoning of the chairmanship position in Lagos state to other senatorial zones. It also called on the Lagos APC chairman, Chief Henry Ajomale to step aside after 14 years having served as chairman of the Action Congress, AC, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and the APC. In a statement by its coordinator, Mr. Taoridi Jinadu Akapo, the coalition said: “The practice of liberal democracy is overshadowed by the clamours for political zoning and other power-sharing arrangements as mechanisms for zonal and administrative balancing. Read more
NASFAT empowers physically-challenged persons (Punch)
Nasrul-Lahi-L-Fathi Society on Sunday empowered several women and the physically-challenged in Lagos with items and tools. The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the programme, organised by NASFAT, Ipaja branch, also featured the inauguration of a block of six classrooms to propagate good morals through Western and Islamic education. NASFAT’s Chief Missioner (Worldwide), Alhaji Maroofdeen Onike, who inaugurated the classrooms, said the society was committed to the spiritual well-being of the people, especially its members. Read more
Ajomale: Adeola, Faleke won’t get APC return tickets, if… (NewTelegraph)
Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman, Chief Henry Ajomale, has disclosed that Senator Solomon Adeola, representing Lagos West Senatorial District and a member of the House of Representatives, representing Ikeja Federal Constituency, Hon. James Faleke, may not return to National Assembly in 2019 on the platform of the party. Speaking to journalists in Lagos, Ajomale said Senator Adeola, rumoured to be aspiring for governorship seat in Ogun State would lose his seat should he collect nomination form for the state gubernatorial poll. Also, he said Faleke having transferred his voter’s register to Kogi State to for the 2016 deputy governorship election would not run again in Lagos. Read more
Delta government understudies Lagos security trust fund (Guardian)
Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), Dr. Abdurrazaq Balogun, at the weekend played host to the Delta State Security Trust Fund led by its Executive Secretary, Sam Osasa, who were on a familiarization/working visit to understudy the LSSTF in the effort to replicate the agency in Delta. Balogun said the peaceful atmosphere and security of lives and property being enjoyed in Lagos can be attributed to the massive support to security agencies by the state government and the private sector through the LSSTF. He said the creation of the fund was necessitated by the increasing menace of crime in the state and the inability of security agencies, particularly the police to tackle these crimes. Read more
Govt, firms funding security in Lagos – LSSTF (Punch)
The Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) has said the peaceful atmosphere and security being enjoyed in the state can be largely attributed to the support given to security agencies by the private sector and the government through the LSSTF. The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of LSSTF, Abdurrazaq Balogun, stated this on Friday during the visit of delegates from the Delta State Security Trust Fund, led by its Executive Secretary, Sam Osasa. Balogun told his visitors that the creation of the LSSTF was necessitated by the increasing crime rate in the state and the inability of the security agencies, particularly the police, to tackle the crimes. Read more
Yinka Davies for ‘Isale Eko’ stage play (Nation)
Following the recent announcement that Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode will be celebrated through song and dance in the anticipated stage play, ‘Isale Eko’, Yinka Davies is set to come on board the crew. The singer will debut the ‘Isale Eko’ theme song ,‘Iye,’ at the command performance of the three day extravaganza which is billed for viewing in June at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. According to the Executive Producer of ‘Isale Eko’, Mr. Edgar Joseph, who is also an investment banker, the play which touches the very essence of Nigerian heritage and would be streamed live has been drawing the attention of stakeholders. Read more
Building collapse: SCOAN Trustees open defence May 10 (NewTelegraph)
The Registered Trustees of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) will on May 10 tell Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of a Lagos High Court in Igbosere all it knew about the circumstances that led to the collapse of a seven-storey building within the church’s premises on September 12, 2014. The SCOAN is facing a count charge of building without approval before the court. The judge had on March 8 dismissed SCOAN’s no-case submission and directed that it open its defence yesterday. However, at the resumed hearing of the matter last Friday, SCOAN’s lawyer, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), informed the judge about his inability to proceed owing to the absence of his witness. Read more
Lagos allays fear over Operation Oko Jasosa (NewTelegraph)
Commuters and motorists on the ever busy Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos watched with trepidation seeing the scene of a supposed trapped victims in a pool of their own blood in a make-belief multiple accidents on the bridge yesterday. In the simulation exercise of multiple accidents, which resulted in several hours of traffic gridlock on the bridge, about six vehicles were involved and one of them plunged into the lagoon while a car burst into flame following gravity of the stage-managed accident. Victims were also soaked in blood in the pseudo emergency scene which lasted almost an hour. Rescued victims were taken to the waiting ambulances and responders at the University of Lagos Waterfront by a combined team of local divers and marine police while other law enforcement agents ensured that the exercise was unobstructed. But the government was quick to announce to the residents that the accident was not real, describing the exercise as “Operation Oko Jasosa.” Read more
Increasing activities of Paedophiles, Sodomy worries Lagos Police Boss (ThisDay)
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, has expressed worry over the increasing spate of sodomy and activities of paedophiles. Edgal who made this disclosure while parading 22-year-old Musa Mohammed, said the suspect was caught pants down having carnal knowledge of a 12-year-old boy through the anus. He said the victim has already been taken into protective custody and was undergoing interrogation with experts proficient in the art of handling minors and infants. To find lasting solution for such cases, he advocated for the services of criminologists and sociologists to get to the remote cause of this anormaly and its sudden surge. Read more
Police arrest woman for burning daughter with pressing iron over N250 (Vanguard)
A 30-year-old woman, Ayo Sherif, has been arrested for allegedly burning her 16-year-old daughter with pressing iron, over missing N250, in Ijora Badia area of Lagos State. The injured girl, a Senior Secondary School 2 student, Sherif Aishat, is currently undergoing treatment from the burns sustained on her upper and lower limbs, at an undisclosed hospital. Vanguard gathered that Aishat, who is also a part time auxiliary nurse, was given N500 by her boss on April 24, 2018, with an instruction to give someone N250, use N50 as transport fare and return the balance to him the next day. Read more
Police arrest 4 suspected teenage cultists in Lagos (ThisDay)
The Lagos State Police Command, weekend, arrested four suspected teenage cultists, all secondary school students in Surulere, prompting the Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, to raise an alarm over the continued initiation of underaged boys into cultism. The four secondary schools students who were caught with some dangerous weapons, were identified as 17-year-old Femi Awoniyi, 15-year-old Dauda Sodiq, 13-year-old Ajala Hafiz and 17-year-old Temilehin Balogun. While three of the suspects were students of Atunrase Senior Secondary School, Surulere, the other suspect was a student of Birch Freeman Junior Secondary School, also in Surulere. Read more
Abayomi wins Zenith ‘Next Generation’ Junior Tennis Masters (Guardian)
Unseeded Philip Abayomi capped his string of upsets in the round robin phase with a 9-5 victory over Godgift Timibra in the finals of the inaugural Zenith Bank “Next Generation” Junior Tennis Masters, which ended at the National Stadium, Lagos at the weekend. Abayomi, who was playing his first ever final on the national stage, started a bit tentatively but loosened up and started hitting out when he got the first break to lead 4-2. Riding on the loud support of members of the stadium-based Mainland Tennis Club the ‘revelation’ of the tournament was hardly threatened as he coasted home with the title. Read more
Cycling Lagos’ international championship to incorporate clubs, professionals, others (Guardian)
The Cycling Lagos is set to begin with an international yearly cycling event involving professionals, amateurs, clubs, associations, celebrities, corporate personalities, children and youths. The competition will debut this year from July 7 to August 25. Unveiling the programme for the maiden edition of the championship in Lagos at the weekend, Chairman, Cycling Lagos, Mr. Soji Adekeye said the competition would enhance the development of the cycling culture in the country, adding that it would be an engaging two months of activities. “The event promises to be one of the biggest sports, tourism and entertainment events in the nation and the entire Africa. We are using this medium to unveil activities built in to add value to the property and enhance the development of the cycling culture in Nigeria even from early age. Read more