Residents have staged protest in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State over the inability of the council chairman to provide basic amenities.

To drive home their demands, the protesters seized the official speedboat belonging to the council chairman, Mr Julius Takeme.

Vowing to sustain the protest until the council addressed their demands, they lamented that many residents had died due to the poor state of healthcare in the area, while the council boss remained unconcerned.

The action was part of an ongoing protest over the deplorable state of the council’s only government hospital and the general neglect of infrastructure at the LGA headquarters.

The protesting residents accused the chairman of poor performance and failure to fix the LGA’s sole hospital, which they said lacked basic amenities.

“There are no doctors, no nurses and no drugs. People are dying daily in Burutu because we don’t have a functional hospital.

“Many residents have died due to the lack of drugs and water despite huge allocation,” a resident lamented.

According to report, the demonstrators also decried the lack of potable water, electricity and other basic amenities at the council headquarters.

They expressed frustration that, despite the huge budgetary allocation to Burutu LGA, the situation at the headquarters was worse than in the individual villages that make up the council.

“We have received billions, yet Burutu town has no light, no water, no hospital. Our villages are even better than the headquarters,” a demonstrator stated.

“We will not back down until the needful is done. We need doctors, nurses, drugs and water for our people,” he declared.

The residents called on the Delta State Government to intervene urgently to prevent a further breakdown of law and order in the LGA.

Efforts to get a reaction from the chairman’s office were unsuccessful, but an aide confirmed that the chairman might be waiting for a directive from Governor Sheriff Oborevwori the report said.

The Federal High Court sitting in Gombe has ordered the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to conduct a fresh primary election for its governorship ticket in Gombe State.

The court, presided over by Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed, gave the order in a suit filed by Usman Aliyu Garry to challenge the emergence of Prof. Isa Ali Pantami as the PDP governorship candidate.

Garry had challenged Pantami’s emergence after the party announced him as its sole candidate on June 26, 2026, arguing that the required primary election was not conducted.

Pantami, who was an aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had defected to the PDP after the APC settled for Jamilu Gwamna as its consensus candidate.

Pantami subsequently secured the ticket through voice affirmation during the PDP governorship primary held in May.

But in its judgment delivered on Thursday, the court ordered the PDP to conduct a fresh primary election in accordance with the party’s guidelines and relevant electoral laws.

Senator Ireti Kingibe, representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has told FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, that she cannot be intimidated by insults, threats or political pressure, insisting that no minister is above the law.

Kingibe also declared that Wike could not determine whether she would return to the Senate in 2027, saying the decision belonged to the people of the FCT.

She stated this on Thursday in a post on her X platform, in response to the minister’s recent comments on her criticism of the FCT Administration and her political future.

“I have never been one to be intimidated by insults, threats, or political pressure, and I will not start now,” Kingibe said.

She said her responsibility as a senator was to ask questions, demand accountability and defend the constitutional principles upon which democracy was founded.

According to her, raising questions about public borrowing, public funds and the conduct of government should not be construed as an act of disrespect but as part of her legislative responsibility.

On the controversy over loans obtained by the FCT Administration, Kingibe challenged Wike to produce the official record showing that the Senate approved the borrowings.

“As for not getting approval for the loans, I dare the FCT Minister to show the people of the FCT, and all who have asked, the Votes and Proceedings of the day the approval was given.

“I cannot speak for the House of Representatives but I know that it was NEVER brought before the Senate,” she said.

Kingibe further declared that no public official was above scrutiny.

“No Minister, no matter how powerful, is above the law. No public office holder is above scrutiny,” she said.

The senator also rejected any suggestion that Wike could determine her political fate ahead of the 2027 election.

“And no individual has the authority to decide by personal declaration who the people of the FCT will elect in 2027. That decision belongs solely to the people,” she said.

Kingibe also condemned what she described as attempts to intimidate, silence or demean women in public office.

“Women who choose to serve in public office must not be expected to remain silent simply because they ask difficult questions or refuse to compromise their principles,” she said.

She vowed to continue scrutinising government activities and speaking on issues affecting residents of the FCT.

“I will not be distracted by personal attacks. I will continue to speak when the interest of the FCT demands it, scrutinise matters that require scrutiny, and stand firmly for the people I represent,” she said.

“I did not enter public service to be intimidated. I entered it to serve.

“The will of the people of the FCT will prevail on the day of the election.”