TECHDIGEST – Claim: There is a post circulating on social media platform(Facebook) that Ekiti State run a Christian-Christian ticket from 2010 to 2018.

Full text:

A Facebook page titled; Buharist Reporters had on June 30 published a list of past political track records of presidential and governorship candidates who picked Christians as their running mate at various presidential and governorship elections in the country. The post which was captioned as ‘FLASH BACK CHRISTIAN-CHRSTIAN TICKET’ cited the names of Mr Ayo Fayose who governed Ekiti State from 2014 to 2018 with his deputy, Niyi Adebayo and Olujimi Abiodun. Christian/Christian ticket, “no noise from Muslim community.”
The page went ahead to cite Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State between 2010 – 2014 to have also selected a Christian as his deputy.

Verification:

A search conducted by PRNigeria revealed that Dr Kayode Fayemi and Mr Ayo Fayose ran Christian-Christian tickets during their campaigns for Gubernatorial elections which they eventually won respectively.

Between 2010 to 2014, Dr Kayode Fayemi picked a Christian running mate, Funmilayo Olayinka under the platform of Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN) who later died on April 6, 2013.

Mr Fayemi, in a letter dated May 3, 2013, addressed to the Speaker of the Assembly, Adewale Omirin, requested the House to consider Prof Modupe Adelabu, another Christian for the position of deputy governor, in the bid to fill the vacant position following the death of the former deputy governor.

Mr Ayo Fayose also ran a Christian-Christian ticket between under the platform of People Democratic party (PDP). He picked professor Kolapo Olusola Eleka, a Christian as a running mate.

Conclusion:

Based on the available evidence, PRNigeria states that it is an established fact that Mr Ayo Fayose and Dr Kayode Fayemi ran Christian/christian tickets at different periods of their campaigns for gubernatorial elections in Ekiti State.

The post Fact-check: Is it true that between 2010- 2018, Ekiti State Ran on a Christian – Christian ticket appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – Over one year after the 36 state governors agreed to implement the unified rate of N145 per linear metre fee for Right of Way (RoW) in the laying of fibre optic cables for broadband deployment, 29 states have refused to implement the agreement, a situation that is slowing down the pace of broadband deployment and penetration in the country.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, who delivered the keynote address at a recent virtual stakeholders’ forum, organised by the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), said few days ago, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, gave his consent in writing, to begin the implementation of the agreement in the state.

The recent development would take the total number of states implementing the new RoW fee to seven, which includes: Kaduna, Katsina, Plateau, Ekiti, Kwara, Anambra and Imo.

Worried about the development, Pantami appealed to the 29 state governors to consider implementing the new rate as earlier agreed, to enable Nigeria meet its 70 per cent broadband penetration target by 2025, as enshrined in the 2020-2025 Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP).

According to the Minister, he had engaged with the members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), facilitated by its chairman, the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on the 22nd of January 2020, and they agreed on the unified rate.

“At that meeting, I made a presentation on the benefits of broadband and requested the buy-in of the governors for the implementation of Broadband Plan and the Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria, and the governors unanimously agreed to adopt a maximum of N145/linear metre.

“Some of the governors have even waived this amount altogether. Many of the governors have begun full implementation and some have notified us in writing.

“We received reports that some states have introduced some extraneous charges that have increased the charges beyond the amount agreed. We are discussing with states involved in such cases, with a view to addressing the disparity,” Pantami said.

Before the January 2020 meeting there was disparity in the fees charged by state governors in their respective states, which range between N500 to N6,000 per linear metre.

Pantami’s keynote address, which focused on the importance of broadband in national development, also assessed the level of broadband penetration in the country and how to achieve the country’s broadband strategies, which seek to deliver data download speeds across Nigeria at a minimum of 25Mbps in urban areas, and 10Mbps in rural areas, with effective coverage available to at least 90 per cent of the population and penetration rate of 70 per cent by 2025 at a price not more than N390 per 1GB of data.

The NNBP also targets the deployment of nationwide fibre coverage to reach all state capitals, and provision of a point of presence in at least 90 per cent of local government headquarters. It also targets tertiary educational institutions, major hospitals in each state and fibre connectivity at statutory rates of N145/meter for Right of Way (RoW).

President of ATCON, Ikechukwu Nnamani, in his opening remarks, said: “The development of a solid digital economy rests on the foundation of a well distributed broadband infrastructure and involves the convergence of all technology types and classes of service.

“To this end we have brought together key industry leaders cutting across the nine sub-group of ATCON’s membership to discuss and strategise with the leadership of the public sector on the best ways to achieve an accelerated implementation of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan.”

Chairman of MTN Board of Directors, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, said the private sector must be actively engaged in achieving the Nigerian National Broadband Plan, because broadband is the driver of economic growth and development. He stressed the need for more telecoms infrastructure rollout by telecoms operators and the need for funding of broadband rollout in rural areas by government.

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