Statement
Committee of Vice Chancellors appoints new chairman
The Committee of Vice Chancellors in Nigeria has appointed the vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Sulyman A. Abdulkareem as its chairman. Also, the vice chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof. Mrs. Lilian Salami has been appointed by the committee to serve as alternate chairperson. In a statement signed by the secretary- general of the committee, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, the decision was taken during a virtual and physical meeting which took place at its secretariat in Abuja. While wishing the executive officers success in their mandate and in the discharge of their responsibilities, the secretary- general said a lot was expected from them as the nation looks up to universities in solving its socioeconomic and political challenges. The statement reads: ” The Committee of V...
Governor Ganduje: Four million registered with APC in Kano
Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, has said about four million people have so far registered as members of the All Progressives Congress in the ongoing membership registration /re-validation exercise in the State. This was contained in a press statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Abba Anwar, in Kano on Monday. He quoted the governor as saying this during the Sixth APC Stakeholders meeting, in Kano. The statement quoted Ganduje, as saying, “The registration of members has hit between three and four million members, as the state has already exhausted all the registration slips, issued to the state and is expecting more from the APC headquarters.” However, Ganduje appealed to those coordinating the registration, to ensure fairness and transparency, in the regist...
AfDB approves $1.3 million grant for female financial inclusion research in Africa
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved two grants worth $1.3 million for research aimed at increasing women’s access to a range of digital financial services on the continent. In a statement on Monday, AfDB said the grants will be disbursed by Africa digital financial inclusion facility (ADFI), a blended finance vehicle supported by the bank. The grants will be disbursed to two fintech firms, Pula Advisors Kenya and M-KOPA Kenya. AfDB said Pula Advisors will use the $1 million for research of social and economic factors that impact women farmers’ access to microinsurance in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia while M-KOPA will use the $300,000 funding for research involving 500 women and men in Kenya’s Kisumu, Eldoret and Machakos counties. It said findings from the research will inform th...
Nigeria threatens to ban flights from UAE, Netherlands
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has threatened to ban flights from the UAE and The Netherlands as a reciprocal action. The task force said the Ministry of Aviation and its relevant agencies have been mandated to take the necessary reciprocal measures as may be permissible under the laws and other international obligations expected to be discharged against Emirates airlines operating from the UAE and other airlines from The Netherlands. Mr Boss Mustapha, the Chairman of PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, disclosed this at the routine briefing of the committee in Abuja on Monday. Mustapha said: “For over a month, Nigeria has been engaged with the authorities of the UAE and The Netherlands over pre-departure testing requirements passengers should meet before ...
Ivory Coast names interim prime minister
Patrick Achi, secretary general to the presidency of the Ivory Coast, was appointed Monday interim prime minister while the country’s premier, Hamed Bakayoko, is in Europe receiving medical treatment, the president’s office said. “State minister Patrick Achi will take over the functions of prime minister and head of government in an interim capacity,” the presidency said in a statement. Tene Birahima Ouattara, presidential affairs minister and the younger brother of President Alassane Ouattara, was appointed interim defence minister, also replacing Bakayoko in that position. Bakayoko, 56, travelled to France on February 18 for health reasons and has just been transferred to a hospital in Germany, a source close to the presidency told AFP, without specifying exactly when. The nature of Baka...
AfDB approves $1.3 million grants for women’s access to digital finance
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved two grants of $1.3 million for research aimed to increase African women’s access to a range of digital financial services, including loans and micro-insurance. According to a statement from the AfDB on Monday, the grants for $1 million and $300,000 respectively, will be disbursed through the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI). ADFI is a pan-African initiative designed to accelerate digital financial inclusion throughout Africa. It is a blended finance facility of AfDB with two financial technology firms; Pula Advisors Kenya Ltd. and M-KOPA Kenya Ltd. Pula Advisors will use the $1 million for research of social, cultural and economic factors that impact women farmers’ access to micro-insurance in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia. Mor...
Protest as PDP sweeps Delta council polls
File Photo Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) on Sunday in Asaba returned all the 25 chairmanship candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as winners in Saturday’s local government elections. The PDP chairmanship candidates won the election in their respective local government areas, with landslide, according to the various returning officers. Declaring the announcement of results open, chairman of DSIEC, Mike Ogbodu said the election was conducted in observance of COVID-19 protocols, adding that the exercise was generally peaceful. Although, the All Progressive Congress (APC) which is the main opposition party, pulled out midway into the polls, the returning officers insisted that the elections were contested. Publicity secretary of the APC in the state, Sylvest...
Anambra poll: PDP fixes date for governorship primary election
File Photo The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that its governorship candidate for the November 6, Anambra State governorship poll will emerge on June 26. The governorship primary to produce the PDP candidate will be preceded by ward congresses to elect 3-man Ad-hoc delegates on June 10 and 11. The PDP stated this, on Sunday night, in a statement by its National Organising Secretary, Austin Akonbundu. According to the statement, collection of nomination and expression of interest forms expected to begin on March 10 and end on March 31. Aspirants for the PDP governorship ticket are to pay N1 million for Expression of Interest Form and N20million for Nomination Form. However, female aspirants are to pay only N1million for the Expression of Interest Form, while they will get the nomin...
Police: Why we detained OPC members after arresting ‘kidnapper’
The police in Oyo State have confirmed detaining three members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) for arresting suspected kidnapper, Iskilu Wakili, on Sunday. The police in a statement by its public relations officer, Olugbenga Fadeyi, said the three members of OPC detained are being interrogated for their involvement in arson and murder. “The Oyo State Police Command would like to inform the general public that at about 0900 hrs of date (7th March 2021), information was received that a group of persons, (later found out to be members of the Odua Peoples Congress OPC), had invaded Kajola community in Ibarapa axis of the State. “The invasion was reportedly aimed at arresting one Wakili, a Fulani by tribe, who is alleged to be the sponsor and mastermind of various criminal attacks against ...
Kola Ologbondiyan: Our congresses showcase PDP’s readiness to end misrule in Nigeria
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said the peace, harmony and unity of purpose that characterized the conduct of its zonal congresses in the North-East and South-East geo-political zones last recently Friday and Saturday, is an indication of its readiness to take over the leadership of the country. The national publicity secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, stated this yesterday in a chat with newsmen in Abuja. According to him, “the peaceful conduct of its zonal congresses shows the sharp contrast between the PDP and the All Progressives Congress, APC whose activities are always enmeshed in selfish contestations, lust for power, bloody clashes and overheating of our national polity.” The statement continued: “The harmony in the PDP as one indivisible family is a direct product ...
‘Fulani warlord’ Iskilu Wakili arrested in Oyo
A joint team of Ibarapa security operatives, including Oodua Peoples Congress, Vigilante, and other groups have arrested the alleged notorious Fulani warlord terrorising Oyo communities, Iskilu Wakili. Newsmen gathered that Wakili was arrested after several attempts resulting in a gun battle. There had been reports that Wakili and his gang were involved in the killings and kidnapping of several people in Ibarapa, Oke Ogun, Oyo State. Wakili was nabbed barely seven days after his second-in-command, Isiaka Muhammadu, was arrested alongside four others. The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, confirmed Wakili’s arrest in a statement made available to newsmen by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, on Sunday. Adams said the Fulani warlord was arrested around 7 am on Sunday ...
ASUSS lauds Nigerian government over recognition as legal trade union
The Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) has commended the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity for granting recognition to the trade union in spite of an alleged deregistration plot against it by a rival union. ASUSS also saluted the Supreme Court of Nigeria for proving the judiciary as the last hope of the common man by upholding its appeal in a judgment delivered on January 15, where it held that ASUSS’ registration did not contravene the trade union statutes. This was contained in a statement entitled “A Woeful Cry; Agony Of A Loser” signed by ASUSS National Secretary Sola Adigun and made available to reporters in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday . Adigun, who doubles as the ASUSS Chairman in Ekiti, upbraided the national leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) for m...
