Abuja
Bayelsa election: Governor Diri, INEC ask appeal court to reverse tribunal’s judgment
Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State on Thursday in Abuja asked the Court of Appeal to reverse the decision of the Bayelsa Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which nullified the November 16, 2019 governorship poll in the state. Similarly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have also approached the appellate court asking it to reverse the tribunal’s judgement. In their separate appeals, the appellants prayed the court to uphold that the conduct of the governorship election and its outcome which produced Mr Diri as governor complied with relevant laws. Arguing on behalf of Mr Diri, his counsel, Chris Uche, (SAN), told the court that the case of the first respondent (Advanced Nigerian Democratic Party (ANDP)) was statute barred as ...
PDP calls for articulate strategies to mitigate flood
File Photo The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has urged the governments at all levels to articulate strategies to mitigate the menace of flood and forestall such devastation in the future. The party made the call in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja on Wednesday. Ologbondiyan urged the Federal Government and other public-spirited groups and individuals to immediately come to the aid of the communities and victims of flood-ravaged parts of the country to alleviate their sufferings. He consoled the victims of the devastating flood, which ravaged communities, homes, businesses and farmlands in Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Anambra and other states in the country. “The PDP commiserates with the government and people of Kebbi state where no fewer t...
Anglican Primate wants programmes to cushion hike in petrol, electricity tariff
The Primate, Church of Nigeria, Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba, on Wednesday called on the Federal Government to urgently come up with programmes to cushion the effects of the hike in petrol prices and electricity tariff on citizens. Ndukuba, who made the call at the 13th General Synod of the Church in Abuja, stressed that the hike would worsen the economic hardship on Nigerians and increase the poverty level in the country. While lamenting the negative effects of COVID-19 on the citizenry, Ndukuba expressed regret that most of the small and medium scale enterprises had collapsed and many more Nigerians had lost their jobs. On national security, the Anglican Primate stressed the need for government to accord priority to community policing and support regional security organisations to strengthen ...
Labour plan nationwide protest, strike for Monday
File Photo The Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have vowed to embark on a nationwide protest on Monday, September 28 to protest recent hikes in fuel prices and power tariff. The TUC, in a statement by its President, Comrade Quadri Olaleye and Secretary-General, Comrade Musa-Lawal Ozigi, appealed to Nigerians to get ready for the “unprecedented mass action against corruption, obnoxious policies, rape and other violent offences, breach of Collective Agreement, unemployment, etc.” The National Executive Council of the NLC endorsed the decision of the Central Working Committee to proceed on strike on Monday. It noted the decision by government to increase petrol and electricity tariff must be challenged by workers, civil society groups and other labour centres. The ...
Nigerian government putting in place strategies to maximise non-oil revenue – minister
In a bid to cushion the effect of continued dwindling oil revenue, the Federal government says it is putting in place an Integrated Revenue Monitoring System in place to help the monitoring of the revenues of the Federal Government Owned Entities (FGOEs) online real-time to improve transparency and accountability. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said this at the orientation program for Directors of Revenue Tuesday in Abuja. She said the federal government is putting robust policies in place to maximize its non-oil revenue as it is increasingly concerned with the dwindling profile of Revenue, a trend she said has to be quickly arrested particularly with Key revenue generating agencies of the Government. The minister noted that with revenue dwindling...
PTF warns against neglect of virus protocols
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has warned against perceived neglect of the non-pharmaceutical protocols and other measures aimed at tackling the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country. The PTF chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, gave the warning at the daily briefing by the PTF on Monday in Abuja. He said that there was increasing disregard for basic non-pharmaceutical measures that have proven to be very successful. He said face masks have now been turned into chin masks, social distancing and gatherings are returning to the pre-COVID era. Mustapha, however, called for vigilance in order to forestall any danger of second wave of the pandemic as the countries in Europe were currently facing. According to him, th...
PPPRA: Previous administrations spent N8.9 trillion on subsidy in 10 years
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, yesterday, disclosed that N8.9 trillion was spent on fuel subsidy by the Federal Government, mainly by previous administrations, between 2006 and 2015. According to data released to support the need for deregulation of the downstream petroleum industry, the PPPRA stated that the bulk of the sum was expended between 2011 and 2015, where N6.7 trillion, representing 74.8 per cent of the total were spent on subsidy. Giving a breakdown of the figure, the PPPRA disclosed that N257.36 billion, N271.51 billion, N630.57 billion, N409.31 billion, and N667.08 billion were spent on fuel subsidy in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, while in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, fuel subsidy gulped N2.1 trillion, N1.35 trillion, N1.32 trillion, N1.22 t...
NCC mulls new pricing regime for mobile international termination rate
Fix Africa News Magazine The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has embarked on a cost-based study to set the new pricing regime for mobile international termination rate (ITR) for inbound international voice calls in the country. The ITR is the rate paid to local operators by international operators to terminate calls in Nigeria. As part of the process for the rate determination, the Commission has organised a virtual stakeholder engagement forum with relevant industry stakeholders to intimate them with the ongoing cost-based study and the need to cooperate with Messrs Payday Advance and Support Services Limited, the consultants engaged to carry out the study. Addressing the stakeholders in Abuja recently, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said the study has b...
ECOWAS Court set to resume from extended vacation on October 7
The ECOWAS Court will be resuming its activities on Oct. 7, after its three months vacation. This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by the media office of the justices. The court will deliver judgment in nine cases filed against eight some member states. It added that the cases were also filed against Nigeria’s Cross River State and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and listed in the latest course list released by the Registry of the Court for the period Sept. 25 to Oct. 28. According to the court, among those listed for judgment is a case filed by Counsellor Kabineh Muhammad Ja’neh, a former Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Liberia against the government. “The former Justice is challenging his removal from office on the grounds that i...
Edo election: APC’s loss is masses’ revolution against injustice – Senator Okorocha
Rochas Foundation A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and former governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, has described the loss of his party in the Edo State governorship election as people’s revolution against injustice. This was even as he said members’ respect for President Muhammadu Buhari was the reason the party is still intact, warning that there could be an imminent possible implosion in the party if the leadership failed to address some issues threatening its sustenance. The senator representing Imo West Senatorial Zone, reacting to the outcome of the just-concluded Edo governorship election, insisted that APC’s loss was the masses’ revolution against injustice. “If the report I am getting from Edo is not quite interesting when injustice comes into a ...
Survival Fund: Nigerian government releases registration schedule as portal opens Monday
As the portal for the registration of prospective beneficiaries for the Survival Fund opens on Monday, the Federal Government has released the timetable for categories of businesses to register. A statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by the Project Delivery Office stated that the portal which opens at 10 PM, will have educational institutions as the first category of beneficiaries to register. “Nigerians interested in the Payroll Support scheme are to note that the site for registration will be open from 10 pm Monday, September 21, 2020. “In order to ensure a seamless registration process, the Project Delivery Office (PDO) has designed a registration schedule. “Registration for Payroll Support will start with educational institutions on Monday and will be followed with businesses in the hos...
Edo election: FCT residents commend INEC innovations, performance
Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on its performance at the just concluded Sept. 19, governorship election in Edo state. Some of the residents who spoke with newsmen, in Abuja expressed their joy that the election was relatively peaceful and that INEC deserved commendation for its innovations. A businessman, Mr Christopher Chidi, said although there were logistics challenges in few places, INEC’s performance was an improvement over previous elections. Chidi said that one of the innovations that made the election success was the introduction of the election “Result Viewing Portal” recently launched by INEC. “The portal has made it difficult for politicians to alter election results at the collation war...
