Nigerian
EFCC recovers N4.16 billion debt owed Nigerian government by lottery companies
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has recovered at least N4.16 billion out of the debt owed the federal government by lottery companies. The Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Mohammed Umar Abba, gave the figure on Thursday when a delegation from the Ministerial Task Force for recovery of unpaid revenues from lottery businesses, led by its chairman, Willaims Alo, visited the commission in Abuja. Mohammed noted that lottery companies operating in the country were not forthcoming in remitting revenues that were due to the government hence the need for the EFCC to intervene. While appraising the efforts of the Commission in this direction, he said, “We mapped out strategies which resulted in the recovery of over N1.16 billion from lottery companies, operating in Abuja with over N3 bi...
Labour insists on reversal of fuel price, electricity tariff hike
File Photo The organised labour Thursday insisted that the Federal Government should revert back to the old prices of petrol and electricity tariff, if not the strike will stand. This is as the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige and the President of Trade Union Congress, TUC, Comrade Quadri Olaleye, had a hot altercation over the letter to President Muhammadu Buhari to reverse the prices of petrol and electricity tariff. Meantime, Secretary to the Federal Government, SGF, Boss Mustapha said that deregulation of the Petroleum sector was long overdue, but the TUC President maintained its previous position that government should revert to the old prices before any discussion would continue. The meeting which took place at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, had...
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 ...
FinCen files: Corruption is another name for Atiku Abubakar, PDP – BMO
Findings by a team of international journalists on a United States of America’s agency files is an indication that corruption allegation won’t stop haunting former Vice-president Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). According to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, it is alarming that a man who aspired to lead Nigeria is always mentioned in suspicious financial activities. “It is instructive that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s name featured in a new investigation by an international consortium of journalists and media groups on suspicious transactions within the international financial system. “This is not the first time the former PDP Presidential candidate would be linked to allegations of financ...
ECOWAS likely to decide on lifting Mali sanctions Friday
The West African bloc ECOWAS will likely decide on Friday whether to lift potentially crippling sanctions imposed on Mali after last month’s coup, its mediator said. The mediator, Nigerian former president Goodluck Jonathan, called the 15-nation bloc’s sanctions “unfortunate” during a visit to Mali’s capital Bamako on Wednesday. West African leaders have heaped pressure on the ruling military junta to return power to civilians since the coup toppled president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on August 18. ECOWAS has used the sanctions, which include closing borders and restricting trade, as leverage in negotiations with the junta. Sticking points in those negotiations have included whether civilians or soldiers will run a transition government until fresh elections. The junta asked for the sanctions...
President Buhari describes demise of two Borno emirs as ‘rare double tragedy’, painful loss
President Muhammadu Buhari has described the death of two Borno Emirs as a “rare double tragedy” and a painful loss to the people of Nigeria. Buhari in a condolence letter he sent to Gov. Babagana Zulum and the people of Borno, commended the roles played by the late Shehu of Bama, Umar El-Kanemi, and the Emir of Biu, Mustapha Aliyu, in maintaining peace and stability in their respective emirates, especially in the wake of violence caused by the Boko Haram insurgents. Presenting the letters on behalf of Buhari, the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who led the federal government delegation, commended Gov. Zulum for his foresight, commitment, devotion and courage for his peace building efforts to restore normalcy in his state. “We would like to pray to God to change the situation fro...
Nigeria’s Hauwa Ojeifo wins Gates Foundation changemaker award
A Nigerian gender and disability rights advocate, Hauwa Ojeifo, has won the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation changemaker award for 2020. According to the Gates Foundation, the award celebrates an individual who has inspired change using personal experience or from a position of leadership. Ms Ojeifo, who heads “She Writes Woman,” a women-led movement giving mental health a voice in Nigeria, was recognised for her work in promoting gender equality (Global Goal #5), a statement by the foundation said on Tuesday. The awardee, who is a sexual and domestic abuse survivor, founded her platform in 2015 to provide “mental health support through a helpline, teletherapy and virtual support groups serving as a first point of contact to ensure that survivors of gender-based violence and those livin...
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 ...
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...
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...
Youths should be drivers of innovation, creativity for a better Nigeria – don
Prof. Isaac Adeyemi, the former Vice Chancellor, Bells University of Technology, Ogun, has charged Nigerian youths to harnessy their knowledge via the internet to be drivers of innovation and creativity for a better Nigeria. Adeyemi gave the charge at the Mentoring and Capacity Building Summit of Shining Star Initiative International (SSII), an NGO, in Ibadan on Sunday. According to him, the outbreak of COVID-19 is a game changer; it has changed everything and as such one should think of post COVID-19 activities and actions that will enable one to stay afloat. “The youths are the most vulnerable to the post COVID-19 events, including the educational system. “To position themselves for a successful career, the youths being exposed to technology should take the initiative to see to it that t...
