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House of Reps quizzes NDDC over N70.495 billion awarded contracts
The House of Representatives at the weekend flagged off its investigation into the N70.495 billion allegedly paid by Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to 1,773 contractors as mobilization fees without resorting to site, between 2008 and 2012. Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Wole Oke who presided over the investigative hearing into the audit queries from the Auditor General for the Federation (AuGF) for the period under review, underscored the need for the NDDC acting Managing Director, Prof. Pondei Kemerbrandikumo to provide details of the projects and list of all defaulting contractors along with a statement of accounts showing the recovered funds as alluded to by the NDDC acting Director of Internal Audit, Mr Itu Eno Ubi who argued that only the sum of N19 bill...
FCTA suspends issuance of building plan approvals for Lugbe district
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has suspended the processing and issuance of building plan approvals for Lugbe and all on-going developments in the district. The Director, Department of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima, made the disclosure in a statement issued to journalists on Sunday in Abuja. Galadima explained that the suspension had become necessary due to the ongoing harmonisation of developments in the district with the Abuja Master Plan. He decried the current state of illegal developments in Lugbe, saying that there was a myriad of contraventions, including arbitrary change of land use, among others, which must be corrected. “This is to inform the general public that the Department of Development Control, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, is not grant...
BBNaija new housemates in isolation ahead of show’s premier
Organisers of the reality show, Big Brother Naija, say all new members of the show are currently in isolation ahead of the July 19, 2020 premier of Season 5. MultiChoice, which broadcasts the show, said in a virtual press briefing that organisers are collaborating with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to guarantee the highest form of precaution and safety control for the housemates and the production crew. “They will be monitored whilst in quarantine until they are deemed fit health-wise. Anyone that shows signs of ill health, will as expected not be a part of the show.” The broadcaster said the Big Brother House has been disinfected and won’t be available to anyone until the housemates arrive. Channel Director, Africa Magic, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, also emphasized that even before...
FIRS generates N66 billion from stamp duties
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has generated the sum of N66 billion from stamp duties between January and May. The FIRS Director, Communications and Liaison Department, Abdullahi Ahmad, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday. Ahmad said the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Muhammad Nami, disclosed this at the inauguration of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Audit and Recovery of Back Years Stamp Duties and the unveiling of the FIRS Adhesive Stamp in Abuja. Mr Nami said the money realised in the first five months of the year from stamp duties represented about 1,000 per cent increase. He stated that the increment was unprecedented when compared to six billion naira collected from January to May 2019. The FIRS boss attributed this increase to the dynamism triggered by Fin...
WADA: United States report misleading and inaccurate
Getty Images The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has released a formal response to a United States government report which threatens to withhold funding if WADA doesn’t make what the United States deems sufficient reform. In a letter to James W. Carroll, director of the office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) on Friday, WADA president Witold Banka said it was “with great disappointment” that he read the 19-page ONDCP report. “Given that, during our 12 June telephone meeting, we discussed a renewed spirit of cooperation, I would have expected your office to have consulted us on the Report; or, at the very least, to have verified the factual veracity of the allegations being made against WADA,” read the letter. “Instead, in the days before publication, you informed us of the impending...
CBN: We’ll steer Nigeria away from recession
The Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday said it would not be deterred in its effort to steer the Nigerian economy away from the looming recession due to the impact of COVID-19. It said this was in spite of the push by some vested interests to impugn the integrity of the bank. The Bank’s Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor, said the bank had uncovered sinister plans by some persons in Nigeria’s economic and socio-political space to distract the CBN. He said such persons want to discredit the institution through deliberate misinformation, complete fabrications and outright lies. He, however, noted that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and his team at the bank would not be deterred by the actions of such persons. Okoroafor said the bank, in pursuit of its mandate ...
Kaduna reviews nutrition plan to include coronavirus response
The Kaduna State Government has started the review of the 2020 Operational Plan of its Multi-sectoral Strategic Plan of Action on Nutrition (KDMSPAN) to include Coronavirus (COVID-19) response activities. Mr Mahmoud Yamusa, Permanent Secretary, Planning and Budget Commission (PBC), said this at the on-going two-day Food and Nutirtion Co-ordination Meeting with Development Partners, organised by the Commission. Yamusa, who was represented by the Director, Development Aid Coordination, PBC, Mr Salisu Lawal, said that the review was necessary following the outbreak of COVID-19 and its effect on nutrition intervention in the state. He said that the review was also to enable the state implement nutrition activities in line with COVID-19 nutrition response. On his part, Lawal said that the objec...
Minister: Nigeria working on plasma of recovered coronavirus patients for treatment
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, on Sunday said the Federal Government is working on research, using plasma from the blood of recovered Coronavirus (COVID-19) patients to treat people infected with the virus. Ehanire said this while answering questions from journalists in Abuja on the possibility of using plasma of recovered COVID-19 patients to treat serious cases. The minister, who spoke at a news conference to commemorate the World Blood Donor Day (WBDD), said some research institutes were already working on the new research. According to him, plasma of patients recovered from COVID-19 is called Convalescent plasma. “It is believed that persons who suffered COVID-19 and have recovered will have antibodies inside their plasma, which can be used to treat others. “It can be used...
Professor worried by low number of coronavirus tests in Kano
The Director, Centre for Infectious Diseases Research, Bayero University, Kano, Professor Isa Abubakar, has expressed worry over the decline in the number of samples being supplied to the state epidemiology team for COVID-19 tests. He spoke in Kano while receiving a GeneXPert modular machine, certified by the Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC) for COVID-19 and other diseases test, donated to the centre by philanthropists. The professor of infections and epidemiology insisted that the present decline in the number of active cases in the state is not a sign of relief as the number of COVID-19 tests being conducted in the state had equally dropped in the recent time. ‘Honestly, as an epidemiologist, I will only be happy if the number of tests we are conducting is larger than what we a...
Ekiti polytechnic produces hand washing and sanitiding machines
The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, has produced machines for hand washing and sanitiser as part of its contribution to governments’ efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state. Speaking at the inauguration of the hand-free and pedal-operated equipment on Saturday, the Rector, Dr. Dayo Oladebeye, commended the efforts of the Department of Mechanical Engineering on the initiative. Oladebeye also applauded the functionality of the machine saying that, “it is efficient to use and it is smooth, without any friction.” The rector said that aside the hand washing and sanitising machine products, the Polytechnic has other initiatives that will attract patronages from across the country. “The Polytechnic is already making contacts to present the pedal-operated handwashing and sanitising ...
Official: ICPC investigating cases of coronavirus fraud
File Photo The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it is investigating alleged cases of corruption in the management of COVID-19 funds and palliatives. The commission’s Director of Operations, Mr Akeem Lawal, disclosed this during a virtual meeting of stakeholders on the topic, “COVID-19 Funds Management and Monitoring”, on Thursday. In a presentation titled, “ICPC Monitoring Obligation and Strategy Re: COVID-19 Emergency”, Lawal said the cases include alleged fraud by some participating public institution in the release and distribution of grains from strategic food reserve. Others, according to him, include alleged infractions in the procurement of COVID-19 palliatives and logistics and community enlightenment activities. The ICPC official, who...
NDDC HQ shut over ‘coronavirus outbreak’
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has ordered the immediate shutdown of the headquarters of the Niger Delta Development Commission in Port Harcourt following the sudden death of the Commission’s Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Chief Ibanga Etang. Chief Etang, whose death occurred in the early hours of Thursday at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital in Port Harcourt, was suspected to have died from complications arising from coronavirus disease. To this ends, Senator Akpabio has directed all staff of the Commission currently exhibiting symptoms not to panic but to report to the nearest NCDC centre in Port Harcourt for evaluation. The ministry in a statement by its Director, Press & PR, Mrs Deworitshe Patricia said the “Minister of N...
