government
ASUP: Why we suspended strike after 65 days
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has suspended its 65 days industrial strike with effect from Thursday, following an agreement reached between the union and the federal government. A statement by Mr Abdullahi Yalwa, National Publicity Secretary of ASUP and made available to newsmen in Bauchi, announced on Wednesday. According to the statement, “the suspension of the strike action was for a period of three months, to enable the government complete the implementation of the issues contained in the Memorandum of Action signed with the Union. “Following an appraisal of the report indicating the gradual implementation of the items contained in the Memorandum of Action signed between our Union and the Federal Government, the Union has resolved to suspend its 65 days old industrial...
UAE ratifies extradition deal with South Africa as hunt for Guptas intensifies
The United Arab Emirates has ratified a 2018 extradition treaty with South Africa, its embassy in Pretoria said on Wednesday, a move that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government hopes will lead to the return of the Gupta brothers to face corruption charges. South Africa signed the treaty with the UAE in late 2018, part of Ramaphosa’s effort to crack down on those accused of corruption and influence peddling under his predecessor, Jacob Zuma. It was ratified in April, UAE’s embassy said in a statement. The Gupta brothers – Atul, Ajay and Rajesh Gupta – are accused of using connections with Zuma to win contracts, misappropriate state assets, inappropriately influence cabinet appointments and siphon off billions of rand in state funds. The Indian-born brothers, who have repeatedly denied wrong...
Foodstuff, cattle dealers threaten to stop supply to Southern Nigeria
The Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AFUCDN) has again threatened to stop food supply to the South and other parts of the country. The union said it would carry out this threat within three weeks if governments at all levels failed to meet its demands within three weeks. National President of the AFUCDN, Muhammed Tahir, who spoke with journalists at the end of an emergency meeting of the union in Abuja on Tuesday evening, lamented that since the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, intervened in the last three months, which led to the suspension of their six-day industrial action, nothing had been done on the union’s agitation. The union had in March 2021 gone on strike and stopped supply of foodstuffs to the South following allegations of killings of its members...
Israel lawmakers to vote Sunday on anti-Netanyahu government
After weeks of political wrangling, the Israeli parliament is set to vote Sunday on whether to install a “change” coalition and end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s record 12 consecutive years in power. Announcing the date for the confidence vote, speaker Yariv Levin, a Netanyahu ally, said on Tuesday “a special session of parliament” would debate and vote on the fragile eight-party alliance, after the country’s fourth inconclusive election in two years back in March. Later in the day, the prime minister’s office announced that a march by Jewish nationalists through Jerusalem would go ahead in a week’s time, potentially de-escalating tensions with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group which went to war with the Jewish state for 11 days last month. Israeli right-wing groups had the day b...
Nigerian minister accuses entertainers of promoting abuse of women’s bodies
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Pauline Tallen, has accused entertainers of promoting abuse of women’s bodies by employing vulgar lyrics and depicting female dancers in a most disdainful manner. Tallen said this while speaking on the theme “My Body is My Own: Claiming the Right to Autonomy and Self-Determination,” at the launch of the State of the World Population 2021 report in Abuja on Tuesday. According to Tallen, entertainers are frustrating the government’s efforts which include tackling the fear and stigma of survivors of violence, weak community and facility referral systems, lack of counselling services for women and girls and the communities as well as seeking justice for victims. “It is almost disheartening to note that while we are confronting these obstacl...
Iran says nuclear talks policy won’t change after presidential vote
Iran’s policy in talks with world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear accord will remain unchanged after a June 18 presidential election because the issue is decided by its highest leadership, a government spokesman said on Tuesday. A host of barriers to the revival of the nuclear deal remain firmly in place ahead of talks due to resume this week, suggesting a return to compliance with the accord is still a way off, diplomats, Iranian officials and analysts said. “We have shown that we adhere to our international obligations under all circumstances, and this was a national decision,” cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei told a weekly news conference. Rabiei said Iran’s nuclear policy, set by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is not linked to internal developments and that the new government wou...
Nigerian government asks judiciary, parliamentary staff to call off strike
The Federal Government has directed members of the striking Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) to “urgently” call off their over-two-month-old strike. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, gave the directive in a statement on Tuesday, threatening that the government might be forced to invoke “sections of the Trade Disputes Acts” if the strike persisted longer. The threat is a government’s familiar warning of possible introduction of “no-work-no-pay” policy to break adamant striking workers. “The ministry will not be happy to be pushed into invoking sections of the Trade Disputes Acts capable of eroding all the gains made so far in the negotiations since May 6, 2021,” the statement signed by the ministry of Labou...
JUSUN strike: How we decongested our cells – Police
The police in Lagos say they have devised means to decongest their cells amidst the prolonged strike by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN). The police spokesperson in the state, Muyiwa Adejobi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday that the decongestion was carried out in collaboration with the office of the Chief Judge and Attorney-General of the state. NAN reports that JUSUN, on April 6, directed its members to shut down all courts across the country, demanding the implementation of the law granting financial autonomy to the Judiciary. “The command had been managing the situation in collaboration with the office of the state chief judge,” Mr Adejobi said. He, however, did not give the number of suspects that had been granted bail. “We work with the office of the CJ an...
2023: Delta governor cautions political office holders against distractions
Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has cautioned those who hold political appointments in his government against all forms of complacency or dereliction of duty because of their vested interest in the 2023 general election in the country. In a veiled reference to why he dissolved the state executive council and numerous senior political appointees, Okowa stressed that they should rather be preoccupied by the desire to redouble their efforts in contributing to the administration to enable it deliver on his electoral promises and finish strongly. The governor gave the charge yesterday at the Government House in Asaba while swearing in the new Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief Patrick Ukah, as well as eight special advisers whose appointments were announced last week. He ca...
President Buhari holds emergency security meeting
President Muhammadu Buhari is this Tuesday holding an emergency National Security Meeting at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja. The meeting is expected to review the current state of insecurity across the country. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN); Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha; Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari and National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), are in attendance. Also in attendance are: Ministers of Defence, Major-General Bashir Magashi (Rtd) and Foreign Affairs, Geoffery Onyema. Also in the meeting are the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Amoo; and the new Chief of Army Staff, M...
Exam malpractices: Lagos fines 27 schools N13.5 million
The Lagos State Government has fined a total of 27 private schools N13.5 million as part of punishments for being involved in examination malpractices during the 2020 Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) which was conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). Each of the affected schools is to pay N500,000. This decision was contained in a statement issued on Monday by the Office of the Education Quality Assurance (OEQA) of the state’s ministry of education. The statement, which was signed by the spokesman for the OEQA, Emmanuel Olaniran, noted that the decision followed a report by the regional examination body which indicted the concerned private secondary schools. According to Mr Olaniran, WAEC officials, who monitored the conduct of the examination across the stat...
Nigeria orders broadcasters not to use Twitter to gather information
Nigerian television and radio stations should not use Twitter to gather information and have to de-activate their accounts, the broadcast authority said following the move to suspend the US social media giant in Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria’s government on Friday said it had suspended Twitter’s activities, two days after the platform removed a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish secessionists. Nigerian telecoms firms have since blocked access to Twitter. International diplomats responded with a joint statement in support of “free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria”. Buhari, who was Nigeria’s military ruler in the 1980s, has previously been accused of cracking down on freedom of expression, though his government has ...
