Federal Capital Territory
Nigerian government establishes 20 new marriage registries
The Federal Government has established 20 new Federal Marriage Registries across the country in a bid to bring Federal Marriage Registry closer to the grassroots. Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola disclosed this Friday in Abuja at a National Stakeholders’ Conference on the Administration and Conduct of Statutory Marriage in Nigeria. According to him, efforts are ongoing to have Federal Marriage Registries in all the State Capitals of the Federation. A statement issued by the ministry’s Department of Press and Public Relations and signed by Towoju Raphael added that the Minister was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Shuaib Belgore. He said the Conference was necessitated by need for the Ministry to inform stakeholders and enlighten the public on some new...
Coronavirus: Nigeria has vaccinated over 1 million people – NPHCDA
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has announced that Nigeria had so far vaccinated over a million eligible people out of its target of 70 percent of the nation’s population. The NPHCDA disclosed this on its official Twitter handle, on Thursday. Newsmen report that for the country to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19, it had set an ambitious goal of vaccinating 40 per cent of its over 200 million population before the end of 2021, and 70 per cent by the end of 2022. The country kicked off vaccination on March 5, 2021, commencing with healthcare workers who are mostly at risk to the infections, being the first responders. It noted that the vaccine roll-out would be in four phases, starting with health workers, frontline workers, COVID-19 rapid response team, l...
NMA apologises to Nigerians, patients over resident doctors strike
File Photo Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has apologised to Nigerians, especially patients at various government hospitals, over the strike embarked upon by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD). Dr Enema Amodu, the Chairman, NMA, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter, made the plea on Sunday in Abuja while addressing newsmen over the NARD strike. According to him, the association is sorry and wishes to apologise to Nigerians over the action. The resident doctors embarked on strike on April 1 to press home their demand for upward review of their N5000 hazard allowance, payment of outstanding COVID-19 inducement allowance, among others. He said “we are not insensitive; we hope that government and those in charge of the discussion with NARD will take it seriously, with a v...
NBS: Nigerian government, states’ debt profile rise to N32.92 trillion
Nigeria’s total public debt portfolio as at December 31, 2020, stood at N32.92 trillion, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reveals. It made the revelation in its Nigerian Domestic and Foreign Debt report for Quarter Four, 2020, obtained from its website on Monday in Abuja. It added that the debt profile was for the States and the Federal Government. According to the bureau, Nigeria’s total public debt showed that N12.71 trillion or 38.60 per cent of the debt was external, while N20.21 trillion or 61.40 per cent of the debt was domestic. “Further disaggregation of Nigeria’s foreign debt showed that 17.93 billion dollars of the debt was multilateral, 4.06 billion dollars was bilateral from the African Development Bank (AfDB), Exim Bank of China, Japan International Cooperation Agency (...
Nigerian government distributes N20,000 each to 2,900 women in Benue
The Federal Government has disbursed N20,000 each to 2,900 women in Benue to improve their living standards. Mrs Sadiya Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, said this on Saturday in Makurdi during the inauguration of the grant for rural women project. Farouq, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Bashir Alkali, said that a cash of N20,000 would also be disbursed to about 125,000 poor women across the 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory. “Our target in Benue is to disburse the grant to about 2,900 beneficiaries across all local government councils. “The grant is expected to increase income and productive assets of target beneficiaries. “It is our hope that the beneficiaries of this programme will make ...
Nigerian government’s special cash grant for rural women launched in Yobe
Federal government has on Friday Flag-off Special Cash Grant for Rural Women in Damaturu, Yobe State capital. Launching the programme, the Minister of Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq said that “we gather to provide support to citizens of our beloved country. I am delighted to have you all converge on this venue for purpose of flagging off the Federal Government’s cash grant for rural women, which is a significant social protection programme of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, aimed at uplifting the most vulnerable groups out of poverty”. According to her, since the inception of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration in 2015, Government has paid more attention to protecting and promoting the plight of the poor and vulnerable in the country. This s...
AAC disowns Omoyele Sowore as its chair
The leadership of the African Action Congress (AAC) on Wednesday said that the party’s presidential candidate in the 2019 election, Omoyele Sowore has been expelled by the party’s highest decision making organ and he is therefore presently unknown to the party. The party also in a petition to the Inspector General of Police claimed that the convener of the Revolution Now’s utterances and behavior have become a security risk and should be investigated by the security agencies before he plugs the country into crisis. Addressing journalists in Abuja, the National Chairman of AAC, Dr. Leonard Nzenwa said the letter by Sowore to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, claiming to be the Chairman of the party amounted to impersonation. Dr. Nzenwa, who is also the National Chairman o...
2,700 Akwa Ibom women benefit from federal government’s special grant
The minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, has advised Nigerian women not to regard the N20, 000 special grant given to the rural woman by the federal government as the fabled national cake. She has rather charged the beneficiaries to judiciously use the grant to improve their living standard by utilizing it as seed capital do boost their trades and businesses for greater income. Speaking through Bashir Nura Alkali, the permanent secretary of the ministry, at the flag off of the Grant for Rural Women Project and the symbolic disbursement of the grant to 2700 women of Akwa Ibom state, in Uyo, on Thursday, Farouq explained that the Grant for Rural Women Programme was introduced in 2020 to sustain the social inclusion agenda of Presid...
Femi Falana: Bala Mohammed punished Abuja residents for trespassing but defends open grazing
Naijaloaded Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), says Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, while serving as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, demolished people’s houses because they encroached on government land. Falana, therefore, stated that it was funny that Bala could turn around to say that herdsmen have a right to stray into people’s land and reside in forest reserves without government permission. The senior advocate said this in a write-up he sent to newsmen on Saturday. He wrote, “Under the Bala Mohammed administration in the FCT, thousands of houses were demolished on the grounds that they were illegally built on landed properties belonging to the Federal Government. “The ex-minister wanted to demolish the entire Mpape housing over a million people. He had claime...
NCDC: Nigeria records 13 cases of UK coronavirus variant
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said it has found six more cases of the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant in the country. This brings the total number of people who have tested positive to the variant in Nigeria to 13. The B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant was first detected in the United Kingdom and has since spread to other parts of the world. The Director-General of NCDC, Chikwe Iheakwazu, while speaking at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing on Monday, said the six new cases were detected in Lagos State by scientists at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), at the Redeemers University in Ede, Osun State. “Last week we detected six additional samples of the B.1.1.7 variants in Lagos state,” Mr Ihekweazu said. “We already have five c...
Nigeria records 1,883 new coronavirus infections
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed 1,883 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) infections, bringing the total number of infected people in the country to 130,557. The NCDC disclosed this on its official website late Saturday. Newsmen report that the country has so far tested 1,270,523 people since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was recorded in Nigeria on Feb. 27, 2020. The health agency also confirmed one coronavirus-related death in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 1,578 in Nigeria. NCDC noted that the 1,883 new COVID-19 infections occurred in 22 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It stated that Lagos State registered the highest number with 1,040 infections, taking the total number of infected people in the state to 48,919. The NCDC ...
Nigeria correctional chief orders tightening of security at custodial centres
Interim Controller-General, Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), John Mrabure, has charged officers of the service to strengthen security-watch over custodial centres across the country. Mr. Mrabure gave the directive when he paid an unscheduled working visit to Medium Security Custodial Centre Kuje, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The service spokesman, Francis Enobore, announced this in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja. Mr. Mrabure noted that safe custody of inmates was a critical mandate of the service which must not be compromised under any circumstance. He, therefore, directed that all staff members must deploy their wealth of knowledge and experience to maintain the sanctity of all custodial centres. He cautioned against a nonchalant attitude to work and advised perso...
