Nigeria
Nigerian governors to meet with President Buhari to address security challenges
Governors of the thirty six states under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF have resolved to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to address the security challenges with continued cases of armed banditry, terrorism and kidnapping across the country. The governors are meeting with President Buhari especially to discuss last week’s gruesome beheading of about 43 Farmers in Zarbamari near Maiduguri, Borno State by Boko Haram Insurgents while they were working in their farmland without any form of resistance. The decision was part of the resolutions reached at the end of the 22nd NGF teleconference meeting. In a Communique signed by the NGF Chairman and Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said, ” Members of the forum resolved to meet with Mr. President as soon as possible to ad...
Post-EndSARS: Stop scaring police off their beats – minister
The Federal Government on Friday called on Nigerians to empathise with and appreciate personnel of the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies instead of victimising them. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who made the call while meeting with Title Editors of Nigerian newspapers in Lagos, also urged the public to resist the temptation to tag all officers with the same brush. “Today, many of them are even afraid to wear their uniforms and the result has not been pleasant, in terms of security of life and property. “I want to remind all of us of the saying that a society that makes war against its police had better learnt to make friends with its criminals,” he said. The minister recalled that six soldiers and 37 policemen were killed across the country d...
Paul Mukairu nominated for Anderlecht Goal of the Month Prize
Nigeria forward Paul Mukairu is in the running for Anderlecht player of the month award for November. Mukairu’s superb strike from outside the box on his league debut for Anderlecht handed Vincent Kompany’s side all three points against Royal Antwerp. The young forward replaced Sierra Leone’s Mustapha Bundu three minutes after the hour mark and scored the winning goal in the 76th minute. The 20-year-old is nominated along with three other players; Lukas Nmecha, Laura Deloose and Laura De Neve for the award. He provided the assist for Nmecha’s goal in the 2-1 away defeat at Beerschot. Mukairu, who linked up with Anderlecht on loan from Turkish outfit Antalyaspor at the start of the season has scored one goal in four league appearances for the club. Get more stories like this on Twitter You ...
Court remands Abdulreasheed Maina in prison custody
The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, remanded the former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Taskforce Team, Abulrasheed Maina, in prison custody. The remand order came barely 24 hours after Maina who is answering to a 12-count money laundering charge, was arrested at Niger Republic and extradited back to the country by the Interpol. The former pension reform boss jumped bail since September 29 and refused to appear for continuation of his trial. Following his arrest, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Friday, produced him Defendant in court. The anti-graft agency, through its lawyer, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, further applied that he should be remanded in custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service. Mohammed reminded the court that Maina’s re-appearance was sequ...
Lekki shootings: Nigerian Army legal team submits report to General Buratai
The legal team set up by the Nigerian Army to represent the service at the ongoing Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on the alleged shooting of protesters at the Lekki Tollgate has submitted its report to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai. The team, led by Akinlolu Kehinde, said the Nigerian Army was not under any form of trial over the alleged shooting at the Lekki Tollgate. The team has as members, the Director Legal Services of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General M.U. Wambai, Samuel Agweh, Biola Oyebanji and Colonel Michael Ede. The report was received by the Chief of Policy and Plans (COPP), Lt-Gen Lamidi Adeosun, who represented the COAS. Presenting the five-page report, Kehinde said: “I want it to be clear that at no point in time was the Nigerian Army summon...
Senate threatens labour ministers over absence at hearing
The Senate Committee on Local Content has threatened to sanction the Ministers of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige and Festus Keyamo, over their failure to appear at an investigative hearing on diving operations in the oil and gas industry. It also threatened to sanction the managing directors of international oil companies (IOCs) in Nigeria for the same reason. The IOCs MDs include ExxonMobil, Total and Chevron. The chairman of the committee, Teslim Folarin, said this at the hearing on Thursday after they all failed to show up for the event which was meant to review the challenges experienced by diving operators in the sector. The invitation followed a debate on a motion on the urgent need to ensure strict compliance with statutory regulations and provisions on Nigerian diving sector. P...
Cross River bye-election: Court affirms Stephen Odey as PDP candidate
A Federal High Court sitting in Calabar on Thursday affirmed Dr Stephen Odey as candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the Cross River North Senatorial bye election. Ruling in the suit with number FHC/CA/CS/87/2020, presiding judge, Justice S.A. Amobeda held Odey was the validly nominated candidate of the PDP for the said bye election. Relying on relevant provisions of the the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), provisions of the Electoral Act 2020 and Articles of the PDP guidelines for conduct of its primaries, Justice Amobeda ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish the name of Odey as the duly nominated candidate of the People’s Democratic Party to contest the election. Citing the relevant provisions of the const...
No official data of persons living with disability – minister
The Federal Government has said the country does not have an official data of persons living with disability, maintaining that the 25 million number being bandied around should be taken with a pinch of salt. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, stated this yesterday, in Abuja at an event to mark the 2020 International Day for Persons with Disability. “The Disability Data in the Country is not comprehensive and there is lack of generally accepted estimate for the number of Persons With Disabilities in Nigeria. “The world report on Disability published in 2011, said about 25 Million Nigerians had at least one disability while 3.6 million of these had very significant difficulties in function. “The 2006 Nigerian Census reported 3,25...
Nigeria most expensive for upstream projects – NNPC chief
The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mele Kyari, has disclosed that Nigeria remains one of the most expensive countries in the world for petroleum upstream projects. Upstream is refers to points in production that originate early on in the processes of crude oil production. Its activities include exploration, drilling, and extraction. Kyari made this known at the Nigerian Content Tower in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State during a review meeting with the Permanent Secretary, directors and chief executives of agencies in the Petroleum ministry. According to him, “Nigeria is one of the most expensive territories in the world for upstream projection and part of the corporation’s mandate is to reduce cost by at least five percent. “We have reduced costs substantiall...
Senator Omo-Agege: Why National Assembly cannot produce new constitution for Nigeria
Deputy President of Senate Ovie Omo-Agege has declared that the National Assembly has no power to replace the current constitution with new one. Omo-Agege’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Yomi Odunuga, in a statement on Wednesday said the deputy senate president made the remark when he hosted members of the Alliance of Nigerian Patriots led by Amb. Umunna Orjiako. Omo-Agege, who is Chairman, Senate Ad hoc Committee on Constitution Review, said the National Assembly had no powers to replace the current constitution, but could only amend it. He cited advanced democracies, such as the U.S., where Nigeria’s presidential system of government was modelled after and sections 8 and 9 of the 1999 Constitution as amended to buttress his argument. The lawmaker said what was only obtainabl...
Interpol raises the alarm over fake coronavirus vaccines
The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has alerted Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and 190 other countries of threat from organised criminal groups during the upcoming COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, including fake vaccines and the theft of supplies. The alert came as the UK yesterday became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for widespread use. The need for a vaccine has become more urgent globally and nationally with Nigeria recording over 67,000 COVID-19 infections and over 1,000 associated fatalities, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has so far identified 49 “candidate vaccines” at the stage of clinical trials in humans. Hopes are high ...
Qatar supports Nigerian Armed Forces, Police with $1 billion
Reuters The Republic of Qatar has released $1billion to provide scientific equipment and build an ultra-mordern hospital for officers and men of the Armed Forces including the transformation of Nigerian Police training schools and colleges. The oil rich nation released the funds through a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), Africa Global Empowerment and Development Network (AGED-Network). The organisation, AGED-Network, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rear Admiral Mackson Kadiri-led National Defence College through its Center for Strategic Research and Studies for the advancement of security sector reforms, said it also received a grant of $500 million from its partners, G20 and ASHTROM to build an ultra-modern hospital for officers and men of the armed forces. S...
