Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 41-year-old Canadian lady, Adrienne Munju, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos.

She was nabbed on Thursday, October 3 for importing large consignment of ‘Canadian Loud’, a strong strain of synthetic cannabis.

NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, announced the arrest in a statement on Sunday, saying suspect was apprehended during the inward clearance of passengers on KLM airline flight from Canada at the terminal 1 of the Lagos airport.

“During a joint examination of her three bags, Adrienne who was coming to Nigeria for the first time was found with 74 parcels of the illicit substance weighing 35.20 kilograms stuffed in two of her three bags,” he said.

“In her statement, she claimed she was recruited to traffic the consignment through an online platform for 10,000 Canadian dollars upon successful delivery in Lagos. She said she took the offer because she needed the money to pay for her ongoing master’s degree programme in Canada.”

In different operations, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports, Onne, Rivers State intercepted 13,298,000 pills of opioids including Tramadol, Tramaking Quick Action Tramadol, Tamol-X, Royal Tapentadol and Carisoprodol as well as 338,253 bottles of codeine based cough syrup, all worth over ₦9,017,771,000 in street value.

The opioids were recovered in three containers coming from India, targeted by the NDLEA during a 100% joint examination of the cargoes with men of the Nigerian Customs and other port stakeholders on Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd October 2024.

Governor Siminalayi Fubara has sworn in 23 newly elected local government chairmen in Rivers State.

The exercise held at the Executive Council Chambers of the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Sunday, comes a day after the Rivers State Independent National Electoral Commission (RSIEC) conducted an election at the grassroots.

The event was attended by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, who is also the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum.

The governor expressed joy at the success of the LG election, saying it takes the help of God to survive the past few days.

He also appreciated President Bola Tinubu for being a democrat.

Fubara, who assured Mohammed that he is still a member of PDP, however, said that a desperate situation requires desperate action. According to him, what his administration did with the support of the people was to salvage the local government councils.

He said he would not go in the ways of his opponent by being confrontational to protect the assets of the state and cause a breakdown of law and order.

He advised the new chairmen to see themselves as servants and not emperors.

He said the local government areas need development and charged them to work for the people who are the real political structure.

Earlier on Sunday, RSIEC issued certificates of return to the newly elected local government chairmen.

After an exercise held amid heightened tension, the Action People’s Party (APP) won 22 chairmanship positions out of 23 in the oil-rich state.

However, the state electoral umpire suspended the declaration of results for Etche Local Government Area (LGA) because the collation is ongoing.

The RSIEC chairman, Adolphus Enebeli, who declared the result on Saturday, also said that announcement for the 319 councillorship seats will be announced alongside that of the Etche Chairmanship position when collations are concluded.

But a day after the election, RSIEC declared Uzodinma Nwafor of the Action Alliance (AA) as the winner of the election in Etche Local Government Area.

He described the election as free, fair, and credible, despite all odds. According to him, polls were closed at 3 pm and recorded a large turnout of voters.

Enebeli saluted the patriotism of the residents who turned out to vote.

The declaration of the results was observed by members of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), chairmen of the state’s independent electoral bodies across the country, and members of the Nigerian Bar Association who acted as observers in the polls.

He said the commission “adopted the principle of bi-location because of the exigencies” they found themselves.

**South-South Development Commission Bill Scales  Second Reading

The Senate has commenced the process to amend the Northwest and Southeast Development Commission Acts, specifically addressing the allocation of Managing Director and Chairmanship positions.
Additionally, the Senate passed the South-South Development Commission Bill for second reading, further advancing efforts to establish the commission.

Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, while presenting the amendments, explained that the proposed changes to the Northwest Development Commission Act, 2024, aim to ensure fair geopolitical representation within the commission’s Governing Board. One key amendment is to prevent the appointment of both the Chairman and Managing Director from the same state in the zone, while also mandating Senate confirmation of these appointments, as required by the Nigerian Constitution.

“To uphold fairness and align with the federal character principle, it is necessary that the commission’s membership reflects other geopolitical zones, in line with the Acts governing federal commissions,” Bamidele said.

A similar rationale was provided for the proposed amendments to the Southeast Development Commission Act.

Following the second reading, Senate President Godswill Akpabio stressed the importance of the amendments, noting that they are essential for the smooth operation of the development commissions in both regions.

Meanwhile, the Senate also approved the South-South Development Commission Bill for second reading, just months after initially rejecting it. The bill, sponsored by Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (APC, Cross River South) and supported by Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP, Bayelsa West), received overwhelming support across party lines.

During the debate, Senator Dickson clarified that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), often misconstrued as a zonal entity, is actually a resource-based commission addressing the environmental damage caused by oil exploration across several states. He noted that the NDDC serves not just the South-South, but parts of the Southeast and Southwest as well, while the proposed South-South Development Commission would be zonal.

With strong backing from the Senate, President Akpabio referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Special Duties and requested a report within one week.