Veritas Radio

04/08/2025

PWDs LEFT OUT OF ₦400 MILLION EMPOWERMENT IN EKET FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY

There is growing concern as Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Eket Federal Constituency and in Akwa Ibom State express displeasure over their exclusion from the recently disbursed ₦400 million empowerment funds in Eket Federal Constituency and over ₦2.4 billion distributed cumulatively across the whole State.

According to them, they have not been carried along in the planning, selection, or ex*****on of the empowerment program that cuts across Eket, Esit-Eket, Onna, and Ibeno.

The PWD community says this is yet another instance where their voices and needs have been overlooked despite their right to equal opportunities and support.

They are now calling for deliberate inclusion in all empowerment and development programs going forward.

🟠 Should empowerment truly be considered successful if it excludes the most vulnerable?

Let’s hear your thoughts. 👇

01/08/2025

13.5 BILLION NAIRA.

What are our Local Government Chairmen doing with the huge allocations that are coming into the councils?

Over 13 Billion Naira was shared amongst the 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State in the month of June 2025 by the Federation Account Allocation Committee FAAC.

Eket received - 478,000,000.00
Mkpat Enin - 491,000,000.00
Esit-Eket - 373,000,000.00
Nsit Ubium - 438,000,000.00
Uyo - 605,000,000.00
Ikot Ekpene - 456,000,000.00
Etinan - 480,000,000.00

Have you felt the impact in your local government area?

Let us know.

And what do you feel can be done to improve accountability and transparency...?

30/07/2025

OPEN LETTER TO THE EKET HOST COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TRUST FUND (HCDTF) TRUSTEES AND MANAGERS

Subject: The Urgent Need for Transparency, Inclusion, and Accountability in Eket’s PIA Implementation

Dear Trustees and Management of the Eket HCDTF,

I write as a concerned journalist, citizen, and stakeholder in the sustainable development of Eket, a land rich in oil but impoverished by decades of exclusion, mismanagement, and broken promises.

When the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) came into force in 2021, it brought renewed hope to oil-producing communities like ours. For the first time, 3% of oil companies’ operating expenditures would be dedicated to the Host Community Development Trust Fund (HCDTF). This was not just money, it was supposed to be justice, long overdue. Yet, more than three years down the line, the people of Eket are asking: where is the justice?

A Trust Fund Struggling with Trust
As at the last published figure, over ₦36 billion has been remitted to the EMOIMEE Trust Fund (which Eket is a part of) between 2021 and 2022. Yet, till date, less than ₦5 billion has reportedly been deployed for projects. The silence surrounding the specific amount meant for Eket, and the absence of any clearly published project list, is both deafening and disheartening.

We are seeing tricycles and minibuses distributed under questionable conditions. We are hearing of scholarships awarded, yet no names or processes published. We are told empowerment is ongoing, but no community hall has been consulted, and no youth group has been briefed.

○ Where are these projects to be carried out located?

○ Who decided which communities get what and based on what needs assessment?

○ Few committee members in communities selected by who?

Even more worrisome is the case of the much-publicized solar street light project. Residents in Eket were hopeful when the announcement was made months ago. Yet today, there is no trace of implementation.

What happened to the street light project? Was it abandoned? Deferred? Executed elsewhere? Or just another phantom promise on paper?

This is not empowerment; this is exclusion.

Per official reporting during the 2024 AGM:

● 1,572 tertiary scholarships/bursaries awarded

● 143 secondary school scholarships

● 396 commercial vehicles distributed across communities

● 100 ICT training sessions, and 150 skills acquisition programs

● 3 ambulances procured and active

● 8 medical outreach programs held

● Planting of improved palm oil seedlings; installation of solar-powered water pumps in host communities

Again, no publicly broken-down tally for Eket LGA itself

The Community Is Watching.
The people of Eket are not illiterate. We see through the haze. We know that oil companies have already fulfilled their legal obligation by remitting funds. What remains is for the Trust to honor its moral and statutory duty by ensuring these funds are judiciously utilized, equitably distributed, and publicly accounted for.

○ Why has there been no official public forum held in Eket LGA for Eket HCDTF to explain the Trust’s plans, progress, or priorities?

○ Why are the names of scholarship beneficiaries and empowerment recipients not published in the spirit of transparency?

○ Why are the traditional institutions and youth leaders sidelined in decision-making?

○ Why is there no functioning website or updated channels where citizens can track projects or lodge grievances?

○ What happened to the street lights that were promised?

○ Why are some of the projects ex*****on for previous funds taking FOREVER?

We Demand a Better HCDTF for Eket.
Eket deserves more than these few empowerment and some backdoor deals. Eket deserves:

● A full breakdown of PIA funds specifically allocated to the Eket LGA.

● Publish details of scholarships beneficiaries in tertiary institutions and secondary schools.

● Clear, published locations and timelines for all Eket-based projects.

● Public documentation of all ongoing and completed projects in Eket.

● An independent audit committee including civil society and youth representatives.

● Inclusion of women, youth, and persons with disabilities in the Trust’s advisory and project planning structures.

● Town hall engagements at ward level to identify real community needs.

Do Not Repeat the Mistakes of the NDDC
We do not need another development institution that enriches elites and sidelines the community it was designed to serve. The NDDC failed because it became a pipeline of patronage instead of progress. Let not the Eket HCDTF walk the same path.

A Final Appeal
You, the trustees and managers were chosen to act in our name and for our benefit. We ask you to remember that. History is watching. The youth are watching. And someday soon, the Trust will either be celebrated for community transformation or condemned for quiet complicity.

The choice is yours and it's Eket’s wish

Peters Buhari
Veritas Radio

26/07/2025

UNFAIR BILLING: WHY SHOULD CONSUMERS PAY FOR FAULTY PREPAID METERS?

Electricity consumers under the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) are grappling with an unfair and deeply frustrating policy: being asked to pay for the replacement of damaged, obsolete, or faulty prepaid meters; devices they neither manufactured nor maintained.

For context, the prepaid meter was introduced to promote transparency, eliminate crazy bills, and foster trust between the electricity providers and consumers. But today, that very symbol of hope is turning into another burden for the already overcharged Nigerian electricity user.

In many cases across Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Cross River, and Bayelsa States (areas under PHED coverage), consumers have reported being forced to pay as high as ₦226,000 to ₦130,000 just to replace a prepaid meter that got faulty - sometimes through no fault of theirs. Some meters simply expire or become obsolete over time. Others develop faults after years of usage. In a proper service-based economy, replacement of such essential utility infrastructure should be the responsibility of the distribution company, not the consumer.

WHAT DOES NERC SAY?
According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), meters remain the property of the distribution company. If that is the case, why are consumers being asked to pay for the replacement of assets that don't belong to them? Even under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme, the initial payments by customers were designed to be amortized or refunded through energy credits over time which most persons complained that it never happened. And no prepaid meter consumer is supposed to be placed on estimated billing when their meter is taken away for replacement. This current practice contradicts consumer protection principles and violates the spirit of regulatory guidelines.

THE BIGGER QUESTION: Who Should Bear the Cost?
Let’s be clear: Consumers didn’t ask for meters that will expired. They didn’t build them. They don’t service or recalibrate them. So why should they pay to replace them?

In other parts of the world, if a utility meter goes bad, the company replaces it at no cost to the customer, because it's part of their operational responsibility. Here, unfortunately, we’re asked to pay for the electricity we consume, pay for a meter they use to track our consumption, and still pay again when that prepaid meter fails. Where is the fairness?

WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN?


IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION OF THE REPLACEMENT CHARGES: PHED should halt the current practice of charging customers for meter replacements, especially in cases where the fault is not due to consumer negligence.

REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT: NERC must step in to ensure that distribution companies do not continue exploiting customers under the guise of meter replacement.

TRANSPARENT METER MAINTENANCE POLICY: There should be a clear, customer-friendly policy on how faulty or expired meters are handled with timelines and support mechanisms for users.

PUBLIC SENSITIZATION: Customers must be educated on their rights regarding prepaid meters. Silence enables exploitation.

CONCLUSION
Electricity is already expensive, and the service delivery often leaves much to be desired. The last thing Nigerians need is to be punished for using the very systems that were supposed to protect them. PHED and other DISCOs must be held accountable.

Until then, we must continue to ask: Why should I pay to replace a prepaid meter that isn't mine in the first place?

24/07/2025

23rd JULY, 2025

AKWA IBOM STATE POLICE COMMAND

PRESS RELEASE

AKWA IBOM STATE POLICE COMMAND RECOVERS SUSPECTED STOLEN PROPERTIES, ARRESTS SUSPECT

The Akwa Ibom State Police Command in its continuous efforts in fighting crime has recorded another significant breakthrough with the recovery of suspected stolen items from one David Ededet Okon of Mbiabam in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area.

The suspect was arrested on Sunday, July 20, 2025 and the following items were recovered:

* 4 set of drums
* 6 guitars
* ⁠15 mixers
* ⁠2 equalizers
* ⁠2 amplifiers
* ⁠8 gas cylinders
* ⁠25 speakers
* ⁠2 ovens
* ⁠2 gas cookers
* ⁠3 keyboards
* ⁠11 stabilizers
* ⁠1 washing machine
* ⁠5 compact disc
* ⁠1 giant ceiling fan
* ⁠5 generators
* ⁠2 coil of DSTV wires
* ⁠1 “DELL” laptop
* ⁠9 desktop computer monitors
* ⁠13 TV sets
* ⁠4 electric irons
* ⁠1 sonic insect killer
* ⁠2 electric kettles
* ⁠1 motor battery
* ⁠10 microphones
* ⁠1 DSTV decoder
* ⁠1 Sony decoder
* ⁠6 DVD set
* ⁠2 tomba drum
* ⁠5 standing fans
* ⁠2 cymbals

The Command calls on members of the public who lost their properties to report to the Command Headquarters with evidence of ownership and claim the items.

Meanwhile, investigations are ongoing to arrest the suspect’s accomplice, one Sanusi (other names unknown) who is still at large.

Signed:

DSP Timfon John LLB, Anipr
Police Public Relations Officer
Akwa Ibom State Police Command.

23/07/2025

Is there still hope for the IBOM DEEP SEAPORT now that Dangote plans to build his own SEAPORT?

22/07/2025

Suspended Kogi Central senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has arrived at the National Assembly complex to resume her duties despite the Senate's insistence on her suspension.

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has made her way into the National Assembly after her convoy was initially stopped from entering the premises.

She walked into the premises, accompanied by her supporters including Aisha Yesufu.

11/07/2025

JUST IN: 5,728 new lawyers called to bar in Abuja.

28/06/2025

President Bola Tinubu is set to leave Abuja on Saturday, June 28, 2025, for a visit to two countries: Saint Lucia and Brazil.

His initial destination is Saint Lucia, where he plans to conduct a state visit aimed at enhancing Nigeria's ties with Caribbean countries and bolstering South-South cooperation.

After concluding his visit to the island nation, President Tinubu will travel to Brazil to attend the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

28/06/2025

APC officially announced that the National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has resigned.

Ali Bukar Dalori is set to take on the role of Acting National Chairman until NEC of the Party convenes immediately to address the vacancy left by the recent resignation.

In a statement released by Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC announced his resignation, which is effective immediately, to attend to urgent and important personal matters.

The statement reads: “The All Progressives Congress (APC) wishes to announce the resignation of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, (CON), as the National Chairman of our great Party. His resignation, which is effective immediately, was offered to enable him attend to urgent and important personal matters.

“In his letter of resignation addressed to the National Working Committee (NWC) through the National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, Dr. Ganduje expressed gratitude to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for the opportunity to serve the Party at the highest level.

“The President has directed the Deputy National Chairman (North), Hon. Ali Bukar Dalori, to assume the position of Acting National Chairman, pending the meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party to be summoned immediately to fill the vacancy created by the resignation.

“Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, CON, assumed leadership of our great Party in August 2023, following the resignation of his predecessor, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.

“Throughout his tenure, he dedicated himself to strengthening Party unity and cohesion, expounding its democratic ideals, and enhancing the Party’s electoral competitiveness. The confidence placed in him by the Party’s NEC and National Caucus meetings in February 2025 was a profound recognition and honour for his service.

“He leaves his position as National Chairman with great pride in our collective achievements, including successful defections from opposition parties and legal affirmations of our Party leadership’s legitimacy.

“We assure all Party faithful that we remain steadfast and unwavering in our mission to deliver transformative governance for all Nigerians, in line with President Tinubu’s renewed Hope Agenda.

“The National Working Committee (NWC) extends its gratitude to Dr. Ganduje for his invaluable contributions and distinguished record of service to our great Party.

We pray for his good health, and success in his future endeavours in service of the nation and humanity.”

24/06/2025

https://youtu.be/jbbIKrpbWtM?si=66UxB7oUTiRe3DBb

Is marriage really about love—or is it about building a family? In today’s video, we dive deep into the controversial truth about marriage, children, and why...

20/06/2025

This is the reason why Nigeria will never win the war against the terrorists.