…Flood kills 14 persons, affects 17 councils in Niger, NISEMA reveals***

Alleged offer of automatic tickets to serving members of the National Assembly for the 2019 elections has sparked crisis between the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the aspirants.

The protesters, who stormed the party’s Abuja secretariat yesterday, demanded a level-play field for all aspirants through free, fair and transparent primaries across the states.

One of the protesting groups from Kogi State said offering automatic tickets to the legislators was a violation of the Electoral Act, the PDP constitution and the party’s guidelines.

In an address read by Dr. Halimat Hamzat on behalf of the group, the aspirants insisted that they must be given equal opportunity to be voted for, either through delegates’ election or direct primaries.

Hamzat said the party’s plot to offer automatic tickets to the lawmakers was uncovered last week when an aspirant for the House of Representatives visited the Abuja home of one of the party’s leaders, where he met a serving PDP senator.

He said the senator reportedly told the aspirant that tickets for National Assembly positions had been allocated to serving members of the Senate and House of Representatives.

“As if that was not enough, Senator Dino Melaye met members of the seven local governments in Kogi West on Friday and boasted that the issue of senatorial ticket has been settled by the highest organs of the party.

“Melaye told them that PDP’s senatorial ticket for Kogi West has been given to him, even as someone who recently defected to the PDP. This is in total disregard for the interests, eligibility and qualification of other aspirants,” Hamzat said.

The group expressed reservations about the possibility of the party leadership conducting free, fair and transparent primaries into the available National Assembly seats.

In the meantime, no fewer than 14 persons have been killed in flood disasters that ravaged 17 of the 25 local councils of Niger State during this year’s rainy season.

Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NISEMA), Ibrahim Inga, made this known yesterday when the state Media Strategy and Communication Committee visited him in Minna.

Inga disclosed that the agency has spent N763 million on emergency responses, risk reduction and preparedness in the last three years and had identified 11 resettlement centres in 65 communities across the state.

“Niger state is ranked second frontline flood state in the country and already, flood has affected 17 local councils this year with 14 lives lost so far,” he said.

He added that rapid assessment was ongoing, pointing out that the victims were from Shiroro, Lavun, Lapai and Edati local councils.

Other affected local councils are, Gbako, Munya, Agaie, Rafi, Bida, Bosso, Chanchaga, Wushushi, Gurara, Mariga, Magama, Mokwa and Borgu.

Inga, however, lamented that rice farm that was almost due for harvest at Gima in Lavun Local Council provided for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Anchor Borrowers Programme, was submerged in the flood.

He said the agency has intervened by providing cash and relief materials to victims of the flood disaster in the state.

He added that 80 per cent of the flood received attention after an assessment, noting that N364 million was voted for victims of market fire and tanker explosions from May 2015 to date, while N210 million was spent for the procurement of relief materials for flood victims.

The Nation with additional report from Guardian NG