The GbaramatuVoice was established in 2015 as a monthly tabloid published by the Gbaramatu Publishing Company Limited. It hit the newsstand first on August 2015. The newspaper’s sole objective is to bring to public glare what the management saw at the cradle of its formation as information gap and asymmetrical reportage of the activities and people of the Niger Delta.
The Nigerian Army has announced the commencement of a nationwide “cyberwarfare” operation, as protests against police brutality continue in the country. The army said the operation will be under the banner of Exercise Crocodile Smile, which it said is an annual exercise and traditionally holds in the last quarter of the year. It made the announcement on
By Our Correspondent Fresh agitation is building in the Niger Delta region following perceived inequality in the implementation of the law guiding ownership and exploitation of solid minerals in the country. Niger Delta leaders and prominent interest groups are reportedly angry that indigenous artisans in Zamfara State and other parts of the north were allowed
Leaders of Ijaw communities in the Niger Delta region have restated their demand for the stoppage of the recently launched bidding processes for the allocation of oil licenses by the federal government. They described the bidding process without addressing the concerns of the affected people of the oil-rich states as insensitive. They also vowed to institute legal
By Ebi Perekeme The remains of renowned emeritus professor of literature and poet, Professor John Pepper Clark, was committed to mother earth at exactly 11.30p.m., on Thursday in his island country home in Kiagbodo town, Delta State, after a brief lying in state for few family members. Clark was buried after few words of prayers
The 2023 presidential election will hold on February 18, 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed. Chairman of the Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this on Thursday. In his goodwill message at the inauguration of the special adhoc committee on the review of the 1999 constitution, the INEC Chairman told members of
By Ebi Perekeme The body of renowned Nigerian literary icon, Professor John Pepper Clark, who died on Monday, will arrive his hometown Kiagbodo today, for burial. Chief Ebikeme Clark, former chairman of Burutu Local Government Council and son of Niger Delta leader, Chief Edwin Clark, disclosed this to GbaramatuVoice in a telephone. According to him,
By Joshua Williams The Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, on Tuesday, kicked against the nomination of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Social Media, Ms Lauretta Onochie, as National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, representing the South-South. The Situation Room which is a coalition of 70 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in
By Ebi Perekeme President Muhammadu Buhari has extended deepest condolence on behalf of the Federal Government to the Clark-Fuludu Bekederemo family on the passing of the renowned writer and Emeritus Professor of Literature, Prof. John Pepper Clark. President Buhari in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Chief Femi Adesina paid tribute to one of Nigeria’s
By Ebi Perekeme Emeritus Professor of Literature and Renowned Writer, Prof. John Pepper Clark is dead. The poet is the younger brother of former Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South Leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark. In a statement signed by Prof. C. C. Clark, for the family and Mr. Ilaye Clark, for the children and
By Ebi Perekeme President Muhammadu Buhari, has asked the Senate to confirm the appointment of one of his media aides, Lauretta Onochie, as a National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission representing Delta State. Others are Prof. Mohammed Sani Katsina), Prof. Kunle Ajayi (Ekiti), and Seidu Ahmed (Jigawa). The letter was read by the
By Joshua Williams National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.) has incurred the wrath of Niger Delta groups for his comment that over N712 billion had been “wasted” on the region’s Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP). Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide (IYC), the Movement for the Survival of the Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta
Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu, says the controversial Water Resources Bill 2020 clearly guarantees the right of every citizen to water. At a media session at the weekend, Adamu said contrary to uninformed commentaries, “the Bill clearly declares that every citizen has a right to water. “If you have your traditional pond, you
By Enaibo Asiayei An Ijaw Rights advocates group drawn from the nine States of the Niger Delta region under the Movement For The Survival of the Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), on Sunday sent a warning letter to the Federal Government and Governors from the region to renegotiate the agreement reached on
By Joshua Williams Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, umbrella body of monarchs, leaders and stakeholders of the coastal states of Niger Delta, has voiced deep concern at the low-cut appropriations by President Muhammadu Buhari to projects in the Niger-Delta region in the 2021 Appropriation Bill forwarded to the National Assembly for approval. The group in a
By Ebi Perekeme The Interim Administrator of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (retd) yesterday said that the programme, which was meant to train and rehabilitate ex-agitators, has been derailed from its original focus by endemic corruption. Dikio also told State House correspondents after meeting behind closed-doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at
The federal executive council (FEC) has approved the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri narrow gauge rail line valued at $3 billion. Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, disclosed this to state house correspondents after the council’s weekly meeting on Wednesday. The minister said the rail line will have new branches — from Port Harcourt
Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Minister, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA), on Wednesday reiterated that the Ministry is committed to implementing the recommendations of the Inter-Agency Committee towards alleviating the flooding disaster in the Niger Delta Region (NDR). The Minister stated this at the official presentation of the Inter-Agency Committee’s report on the assessment of
By Loveth Ojogun Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and former governor of Bayelsa State, His Excellency, Timipre Sylva has been awarded Niger Delta Most Outstanding Minister of the Year by the Board of Directors of the GbaramatuVoice Newspaper. While presenting the award on behalf of Gbaramatu Voice board of Governors, Deputy governor of Delta
Five foreigners comprising three Russians, one Ukranian and one Equatorial Guinean, who were abducted on May 9, 2020 by pirates in Yellow Island have been rescued by troops. Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major-General John Enenche, in a statement, disclosed that the victims who were freed after troops raided the hideouts of the pirates in the
By Joshua Williams The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Hon. Timipre Sylva has said the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will not be scrapped but commercialised if the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is passed into law. Sylva, who spoke with newsmen on Monday evening after a closed-door meeting with the leadership of the National
The newly appointed Interim Administrator for the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Col. Milland Dikio Dixon (rtd), has promised to live to expectation. He also said he will clear the cobwebs in the programme and work with the stakeholders in the Niger Delta. He said the narrative about the Amnesty Programme must change. Dixon, who spoke while
By Joshua Williams Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang, yesterday, insisted that the allocation of the 13 per cent derivation fund to the governors of oil-producing states was fuelling under-development, bitterness and rancour in host communities and Niger Delta in general. Enang stated this in Abuja, when members
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, thursday cautioned against playing the blame game in the ongoing efforts by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to tackle the challenges besetting the Niger Delta region. Gbajabiamila noted that while various stakeholders had unwittingly contributed to the region’s challenges in terms of policies and politics, there
By Ebi Perekeme Construction work has commenced on the $50m (N18.95bn) Transportation University being constructed by the Chinese government for Nigeria in Daura, Katsina State. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, who inspected the project on Saturday, said the target was to complete the university in September 2021. China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation is
The President Muhammadu Buhari, has sacked Prof Charles Dokubo as the Coordinator, Amnesty Programme. He has also approved the appointment of Col. Milland Dikio (retd.), as the interim administrator of the programme. The President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, announced this in a statement made available to journalists on Thursday. The
The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has asked states to prepare for flood in communities bordering the River Niger to prevent loss of lives and property. This is contained in a statement signed by Clement Nze, NIHSA director-general, on Tuesday. Nze identified states likely to be affected as Kebbi, Kogi, Rivers, Niger, Kwara, Nasarawa, Kogi,
The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is the most expensive amnesty programme in the world, gulping N243 billion ($1.68 billion) in five years. A report on the Assessment of the PAP by the Nextier Security, Peace and Development (SPD), unveiled in Abuja on Tuesday, revealed that funds were used
By Joshua Williams The reconciliatory efforts of the Governor Mai Mala Buni led Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary National Convention Planning Committee (CENCPC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress ( APC) on Monday saw Minister of Transport, Rotimi Ameachi and his counterpart Minister of State, Petroleum, Timipre Sylva agreeing to work together to reposition the party in the South-South
…Demand completion of East-West Road Niger Delta militants, under the auspices of Joint Revolutionary Council, JRC, a merger of militant groups, Monday morning, threw their weight behind Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, saying findings by them showed the National Assembly was after him because he refused lawmakers from continuing their plundering of
By Joshua Williams Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, has called on the Federal Government to put aside the alleged plans to scrap the Presidential Amnesty Programme for ex-agitators in the Niger Delta region. This came even as he charged the people of the region to come up with a new narrative about holding
…We need $4bn to ameliorate destructions on Ijaw land By Ebi Perekeme Even as Nigerians celebrate the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari led government on the commencement of the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Pipeline Project, the Ijaw National Congress and Bayelsa Center in United States, has kicked against the project. This is coming even as the group
By Ebi Perekeme Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State, on Tuesday, lodged 12 grounds of appeal before the Court of Appeal in Abuja to challenge the tribunal judgement that sacked him from office and ordered the Independence National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct a fresh election in the state within 90 days. In the Notice
The Bayelsa State Gubernatorial Petition Tribunal has nullified the election of Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State. The election was nullified based on a petition by the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP), which argued that it was unlawfully excluded from participating in the election. The tribunal ruling can, however, still be challenged at the appeal
Dina Jihad Khali and Chamseddine Waell Mohammed, two Lebanese men, have been arrested by officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). According to the NCS, they were found to be in possession of $890,000 cash while at the Port Harcourt International Airport. The Lebanese nationals were apprehended while trying to board a flight to Lebanon.
“Boko Haram have infiltrated Southern Nigeria…preparing to spark a second civil war in 2022” A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, says repentant terrorists revealed that a serving northern governor is a Boko Haram leader. Mailafia said this on ‘Morning Crossfire’ programme on Nigeria Info Abuja 95.1FM on Monday.
