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NASS Minority Leadership: Wike plots Upset, meets Akpabio

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The immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike has on Thursday held a meeting with the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio for over six hours ahead of the Senate resumption on July 4, 2023.

It was gathered that the marathon meeting was Wike’s move to block the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, hierarchy from nominating the Senate Minority leaders at the upper and lower legislative chambers of the National Assembly.

The meeting, which held in the office of the Senate President, had the Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau in attendance, the newly appointed Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Abdullahi Abubakar Gumel, Senator Jibrin Isah representing Kogi East Senatorial District, and Senator Salihu Mustapha representing Kwara Central Senatorial District.

It was learnt that Wike insisted on nominating the Minority leader of the 10th Senate from his faction rather than allowing the PDP national organ to handle the nomination.

Though he declined speaking with journalists after the meeting ended at about 6.30 pm, and drove away in the convoy of the Senate President, a source, who spoke under anonymity, revealed that the former governor explained reasons his faction should be allowed to produce the Senate and House of Representatives Minority leaders.

It could not be confirmed, if the Senate President agreed to Wike’s proposal.

Recall that the choice of Majority and Minority Leaders of the upper and lower legislative chambers have been traditionally handled by the political party organ.

He said, “Wike was only serious in his faction producing the principal officers, but never revealed names of those he was targeting.

“He is very serious about getting the required support from the leadership of the National Assembly, as well as membership of the other minority political parties in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.”

Meanwhile, the APC has 59 Senators, PDP 36, Labour Party 8, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) 2, Social Democratic Party (SDP) 2, APGA 1 and YPP 1.

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HAPPENING NOW: Blackout hits Abuja, Embassies affected

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The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has announced power outage in various parts of Abuja including hotels and diplomatic buildings.

The AEDC made the announcement in its verified X handle today.

It said the blackout also affected Bolingo Hotel, Wada Maida Building, which houses the headquarters of Sudan, Egypt embassies, Envoy Hotel, the European Union embassy, among others.

The other places affected by the blackout are the National Planning Commission (NPC), the National Hospital, and the Turkish, Pakistani, and Indian embassies.

“Also, Garki Area One, Two, Three, Seven and Eight; Garki village; Garki market; Ubiaja Street; Kaltungo Street; and Lagos Street have been affected.

“Also affected are Oka Akoko Street, Treasury House, Karibu Hotel, and part of Asokoro, such as Yakubu Gowon Street.

“Similarly, Imo Government Lodges, Gado Nasko Street, Justice Sowemimo, Hassan Musa Katsina Streets, part of Jasse Martin, NIA, and TY Danjuma Street are without power supply.

“It said also affected are Lugbe, Jedo, Forte Royal, Back Of Dunamics, Customs Quarters, Aviation Village Piwoye Kapwa Ok Water, Nicomsat, Korean School and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,”.

It attributed the power outage to a technical fault.

“The technical team of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) is currently working to restore the power supply.

“We regret the inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding,” AEDC said.

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Burial begins for Oyo school teacher killed by JAS terrorist group

The deceased teacher is expected to be buried at his residence in the Owolake area of Ogbomoso.

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The burial arrangements for Adesiyan Adegboye, the teacher killed during last Friday’s coordinated attack on three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, began on Friday at Ayegun Baptist Church, Ogbomoso.

Adegboye, 49, was shot dead during the invasion carried out by armed bandits at Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Community Grammar School, and L.A. Primary School, Esiele.

The deceased teacher is expected to be buried at his residence in the Owolake area of Ogbomoso.

The attackers reportedly stormed the schools around 9:30am, abducting several teachers and students during the operation that threw the communities into panic.

Following the incident, the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, visited the affected area on Saturday and ordered the deployment of additional detectives from the Force Headquarters in Abuja to support ongoing rescue efforts.

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FG launches GovGuideNigeria to boost citizens governance access

GovGuideNigeria platform is accessible through WhatsApp and the web, and is available in English, Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba to ensure wider accessibility for citizens across different linguistic backgrounds.

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The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijan, has said that Nigerians can now access the government information and services through the newly launched GovGuideNigeria.

The artificial intelligence-powered platform was launched on May 21 by the government in collaboration with Meta, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), and local developer partner Publica AI.

According to the Minister, the platform is accessible through WhatsApp and the web, and is available in English, Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba to ensure wider accessibility for citizens across different linguistic backgrounds.

Tijani stated that the platform provides users with easy access to information from more than 35 federal ministries and over 60 government agencies.

He described the initiative as part of the government’s efforts to improve public service delivery through technology and digital innovation.

Sade Dada, Head of Public Policy, Meta, said during the launch “Meta’s open-source AI is critical to economic growth and productivity — and GovGuide Nigeria, is a clear example of what this looks like in practice.

Ignatius Willie, CEO, Publica AI said, “Today is not just a product launch. It is a step towards democratising how Nigerians engage with their government. With GovGuide Nigeria, we are not simply digitising access to public services; we are making them conversational, multilingual, and available on the channels Nigerians already use every day.

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