Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Bomb Explosion In The FCT
Details would come soon.
Lagos Fuel Scarcity Is Artificially Induced Says NNPC
He said that Abuja had also witnessed such situation in the previous week and the special task force comprising NNPC, PPPRA, and the DPR went out to ensure that all the lines in Abuja were decimated.
He then stated that the NNPC did not believe that there was fuel scarcity in Lagos, but rather they believed that people were hoarding because some think that Government was going to raise the price of petrol, an assumption he said “there is no truth in”.
“Government is not, as far as we know, going to raise any price, and retailers who have fuel in their tanks should please release it for people to buy.”
The Executive Secretary of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, Obafemi Olaore, had been quoted to have said, “The Federal Government through the PPPRA just released the 1st quarter allocation of fuel importation to petroleum marketers who will now commence importation of the product”. He also said that importers should have brought in the products in the next one month.
Mr. Farouk, in his response to the statement, confirmed the said release to have been done on February 20, but added that there are already vessels on the West African waters waiting to come into Nigeria and he did not feel the marketers would delay in getting the products into the country.
He insisted that the fuel scarcity in Lagos had nothing to do with the importation of the products but rather the deliberate act of the filling stations to hoard the product, providing instances as experienced by the special task force to validate the view.
He promised that as the task force has successfully cleared the queues in Abuja, it would do same in Lagos and other places starting from Monday, March 3.
Court Refuses To Reinstate Suspended CBN Governor, AdjournsTo March 12
A Federal high presided by Justine Kolawale refused the suspended CBN governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi an ex parte motion brought forward by him.
Mallam Sanusi had filed the motion on the 24th of February 2014, before the court urging the court to make an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants from obstructing, disturbing, stopping or preventing him in any manner whatsoever, from functioning as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and enjoying in full, the statutory powers and privileges attached to the office.
While Sanusi urged the court to expeditiously grant his interlocutory application, he maintained that there might be irreparable and serious damage and mischief on him in the exercise of his statutory duties as the CBN Governor if there are further delays.
The ruling judge Justice Kolawole held that the court does not have the judicial powers to declare the suspension unlawful but to order that the plaintiff be reinstated to perform his duties as the Governor of the CBN.
Justice Kolawole added that the court can also, even where the tenure had lapsed, order the defendants to pay the plaintiffs such remunerations and allowances on the basis that the plaintiff’s suspension also carries with it the stoppage of his remuneration and allowances.
The trial judge further said, it is unsafe, judicially speaking to embark on far reaching interim orders which have all the attributes of a mandatory injunction without according the defendant a hearing.
The hearing of the motion has been adjourned to the 12th day of March 2014.
FG Suspends Sanusi, Appoints Sarah Alade As Acting CBN Governor
The statement noted that Sanusi’s tenure has been characterised by “various acts of financial recklessness and misconduct which are inconsistent with the administration’s vision of a Central Bank propelled by the core values of focused economic management, prudence, transparency and financial discipline”.
The statement addeed that Jonathan has ordered that Mallam Sanusi should hand over to Dr. Sarah Alade who will serve as Acting Governor until the conclusion of on-going investigations into breaches of enabling laws, due process and mandate of the CBN.
N212b Fraud: Refuses To Register Foreign Judgment Against Akingbola
A Lagos high court sitting in Igbosere area of Lagos state, has discharged an ex-parte order, which stated that the former Intercontinental bank Managing Director pay Access Bank Plc the sum of N212.2bn.
The High Court of Justice, Queens Bench in London, had on the 1st of August 2012, ordered Mr Akingbola to pay Access Bank the money for some fraudulent practices committed when he was in charge of the defunct Intercontinental bank which was acquired by Access Bank on the 31st of January 2012.
In a bid to enforce the London Court judgment in Nigeria, Access Bank had approached Justice Adedayo Oyebanji of the Lagos High Court with an ex-parte application. In the ex-parte application, the bank sought to register the foreign judgment and the accompanying order of Justice Michael Burton, dated September 13, 2012.
Justice Oyebanji had granted the request of Access Bank by registering the London judgment and ordering Mr Akingbola to pay the judgment sum.
Justice Oyebanji had granted the request of Access Bank by registering the London judgment and ordering Mr Akingbola to pay the judgment sum.
Not satisfied with the decision, Mr Akingbola, through his lawyer, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), filed an application before Justice Babajide Candide-Johnson of the same court seeking to quash the registration of the foreign judgment for lack of jurisdiction.
In a ruling on the application today, Justice Candide-Johnson discharged the ex-parte order on the grounds that the subject matter of the London judgment, an unlawful share purchase orchestrated by Intercontinental Bank and Mr Akingbola’s breach of statutory duties as director of the Bank were matters relating to the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), which the British judge admitted he relied totally on but which only Nigerian Courts and specifically the Federal High Court could properly exercise jurisdiction.
Justice Candide-Johnson then held that since Federal High Courts alone have exclusive jurisdiction on CAMA related cases, his court could not have entertained the claims leading up to the judgment and consequently could not register same as that would make it a judgment of the court.
The judge, however, refused Mr Akingbola’s application seeking to restrain Access Bank from enforcing the London judgment in any other court.
Chimamanda Adichie Writes On The Anti-Gay Law
This is an article written by multiple-award winning writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie titled 'Why can’t he just be like everyone else?' Find it below...
I will call him Sochukwuma. A thin, smiling boy who liked to play with us girls at the university primary school in Nsukka. We were young. We knew he was different, we said, ‘he’s not like the other boys.’ But his was a benign and unquestioned difference; it was simply what it was. We did not have a name for him. We did not know the word ‘gay.’ He was Sochukwuma and he was friendly and he played oga so well that his side always won.
In secondary school, some boys in his class tried to throw Sochukwuma off a second floor balcony. They were strapping teenagers who had learned to notice, and fear, difference. They had a name for him. Homo. They mocked him because his hips swayed when he walked and his hands fluttered when he spoke. He brushed away their taunts, silently, sometimes grinning an uncomfortable grin. He must have wished that he could be what they wanted him to be. I imagine now how helplessly lonely he must have felt. The boys often asked, “Why can’t he just be like everyone else?”
Possible answers to that question include ‘because he is abnormal,’ ‘because he is a sinner, ‘because he chose the lifestyle.’ But the truest answer is ‘We don’t know.’ There is humility and humanity in accepting that there are things we simply don’t know. At the age of 8, Sochukwuma was obviously different. It was not about sex, because it could not possibly have been – his hormones were of course not yet fully formed – but it was an awareness of himself, and other children’s awareness of him, as different. He could not have ‘chosen the lifestyle’ because he was too young to do so. And why would he – or anybody – choose to be homosexual in a world that makes life so difficult for homosexuals?
The new law that criminalizes homosexuality is popular among Nigerians. But it shows a failure of our democracy, because the mark of a true democracy is not in the rule of its majority but in the protection of its minority – otherwise mob justice would be considered democratic. The law is also unconstitutional, ambiguous, and a strange priority in a country with so many real problems. Above all else, however, it is unjust. Even if this was not a country of abysmal electricity supply where university graduates are barely literate and people die of easily-treatable causes and Boko Haram commits casual mass murders, this law would still be unjust. We cannot be a just society unless we are able to accommodate benign difference, accept benign difference, live and let live. We may not understand homosexuality, we may find it personally abhorrent but our response cannot be to criminalize it.
A crime is a crime for a reason. A crime has victims. A crime harms society. On what basis is homosexuality a crime? Adults do no harm to society in how they love and whom they love. This is a law that will not prevent crime, but will, instead, lead to crimes of violence: there are already, in different parts of Nigeria, attacks on people ‘suspected’ of being gay. Ours is a society where men are openly affectionate with one another. Men hold hands. Men hug each other. Shall we now arrest friends who share a hotel room, or who walk side by side? How do we determine the clunky expressions in the law – ‘mutually beneficial,’ ‘directly or indirectly?’
Many Nigerians support the law because they believe the Bible condemns homosexuality. The Bible can be a basis for how we choose to live our personal lives, but it cannot be a basis for the laws we pass, not only because the holy books of different religions do not have equal significance for all Nigerians but also because the holy books are read differently by different people. The Bible, for example, also condemns fornication and adultery and divorce, but they are not crimes.
For supporters of the law, there seems to be something about homosexuality that sets it apart. A sense that it is not ‘normal.’ If we are part of a majority group, we tend to think others in minority groups are abnormal, not because they have done anything wrong, but because we have defined normal to be what we are and since they are not like us, then they are abnormal. Supporters of the law want a certain semblance of human homogeneity. But we cannot legislate into existence a world that does not exist: the truth of our human condition is that we are a diverse, multi-faceted species. The measure of our humanity lies, in part, in how we think of those different from us. We cannot – should not – have empathy only for people who are like us.
Some supporters of the law have asked – what is next, a marriage between a man and a dog?’ Or ‘have you seen animals being gay?’ (Actually, studies show that there is homosexual behavior in many species of animals.) But, quite simply, people are not dogs, and to accept the premise – that a homosexual is comparable to an animal – is inhumane. We cannot reduce the humanity of our fellow men and women because of how and who they love. Some animals eat their own kind, others desert their young. Shall we follow those examples, too?
Other supporters suggest that gay men sexually abuse little boys. But pedophilia and homosexuality are two very different things. There are men who abuse little girls, and women who abuse little boys, and we do not presume that they do it because they are heterosexuals. Child molestation is an ugly crime that is committed by both straight and gay adults (this is why it is a crime: children, by virtue of being non-adults, require protection and are unable to give sexual consent).
There has also been some nationalist posturing among supporters of the law. Homosexuality is ‘unafrican,’ they say, and we will not become like the west. The west is not exactly a homosexual haven; acts of discrimination against homosexuals are not uncommon in the US and Europe. But it is the idea of ‘unafricanness’ that is truly insidious. Sochukwuma was born of Igbo parents and had Igbo grandparents and Igbo great-grandparents. He was born a person who would romantically love other men. Many Nigerians know somebody like him. The boy who behaved like a girl. The girl who behaved like a boy. The effeminate man. The unusual woman. These were people we knew, people like us, born and raised on African soil. How then are they ‘unafrican?’
If anything, it is the passage of the law itself that is ‘unafrican.’ It goes against the values of tolerance and ‘live and let live’ that are part of many African cultures. (In 1970s Igboland, Area Scatter was a popular musician, a man who dressed like a woman, wore makeup, plaited his hair. We don’t know if he was gay – I think he was – but if he performed today, he could conceivably be sentenced to fourteen years in prison. For being who he is.) And it is informed not by a home-grown debate but by a cynically borrowed one: we turned on CNN and heard western countries debating ‘same sex marriage’ and we decided that we, too, would pass a law banning same sex marriage. Where, in Nigeria, whose constitution defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, has any homosexual asked for same-sex marriage?
This is an unjust law. It should be repealed. Throughout history, many inhumane laws have been passed, and have subsequently been repealed. Barack Obama, for example, would not be here today had his parents obeyed American laws that criminalized marriage between blacks and whites.
An acquaintance recently asked me, ‘if you support gays, how would you have been born?’ Of course, there were gay Nigerians when I was conceived. Gay people have existed as long as humans have existed. They have always been a small percentage of the human population. We don’t know why. What matters is this: Sochukwuma is a Nigerian and his existence is not a crime.
Northern Governors Call For New Strategy of Fighting Terrorism
As the incessant attacks by terrorist group Boko haram continues in the north,Governors of theof the nineteen northern states today met in Kaduna where they extensively discussed in the security situation in the north calling the federal government to deploy security personnel to the north.
The chairman of the forum and governor of Niger state, Dr Babangida Aliyu who read out a communique at the end of the meeting, governors urged Nigerians to see the security challenges in the region as a collective battle.
He therefore urged the federal government to adopt measures to boost the morale of security personnel to enable them effectively fight the terrorists.
“The situation has gone beyond the normal pattern that we gave to Boko Haram and I think we need to really appreciate the gravity of the situation,” he stressed.
He decried the spate of attacks in the northern region, particularly in Borno and other north eastern states, emphasizing on the need for the Federal Government to take measures to curtail it.
“But it appears that we are becoming a little callous that we don’t seem to care much about what is happening. We must continue to encourage the federal government to really do what it is supposed to do.
“And we must take a position so that we create, if it is lack of political will on our part, we must create that political will so that from our own political will, it transcends to the federal government and to the people of Nigeria.”
According to him, the forum would also discuss ways to coordinate and regulate the operation of cattle dealers, cattle traders’ and abattoir operation as well as agriculture and the activities of nomadic herdsmen.
CBN Governor Insists There Is $20million Unaccounted For By The NNPC
Governor of the central bank of Nigeria Mr Sanusi, speaking during a presentation at a hearing by the Senate Committee on Finance, said "Out of the $20 billion, there is $6 billion that NNPC says was shipped on behalf of Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), there is $2 billion third party finance; that’s $8 billion and the balance of $12 billion from our books and even from the books of the NNPC submission, is what is outstanding from the domestic crude of the $28 billion that was exported by Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC)".
He went on to say that "as far as the Central Bank is concerned, the most important point to establish is that there is a difference of $20 billion between what NNPC shipped and what it repatriated", adding that "we raised observations based on some of these figures they have given.
"We did present documents from Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency and from the Presidency to indicate that in our view, there is no subsidy of kerosene, first of all, and that payment of kerosene subsidy is in violation of a waiting presidential directive” he said.
CBN Launches Biometric Customer Registration
The Central bank of Nigeria today launched the second phase of the Bank verification Number( BVN) Project.
The project seeks tol improve and strengthen the ‘Know Your Customer ’(KYC) process of the banking industry.
The BVN is a biometric authentication of bank customers using Point of Sale and Automated Teller Machines. It is designed to ensure the safety of customers’ funds and avoid losses through compromise of Personal Identification Numbers (PIN).
The CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, speaking at the launching in Lagos said that all commercial banks were expected to have captured biometric details of their customers nationwide in the next 18 months.
He further said the CBN would start issuing circulars to banks informing their customers to come in and register for the biometric authentication within one week as it would allow banks enrol and verify the identity of each customer from any point of transaction device.
The CBN Governor gave Nigerians the assurance that the new system, which was also expected to address the issue of customers forgetting their Personal Identity Number, would attract no charges to the customers.
Two banks have been selected to take charge of he smooth running of this project which will start from February 17 to March 31.
We Remember Goldie Harvey On This Day 14th February
Today we remember one of Nigeria's fearless singer and diva, Goldie Oluwabimpe Susan Harvey who passed away this day last year.
This sad event which took her life happened on the 14th
of February after she returned from the US where she went to see the
Grammys and complained of a severe headache soonafter which she passed
on
According to the department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, in an autopsy on late Nigerian pop star, Goldie Harvey, revealed that the musician died of ‘hypertensive heart disease’ which triggered “intracerebellar haemorrhage.’
You are remembered in our hearts Goldie.
Rest in peace.
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Boko Haram: 53Killed, 300 Houses Set Ablaze In Fresh Insurgents’ Attack
Gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko haram sect on Tuesday attacked Konduga town in Borno State, leaving n0 fewer
than 53 persons dead. They also abducted 25 teenage girls and set fire on many houses in the town.
Konduga is a town along Maiduguri-Bama Road and is about 40 kilometres from the state capital, Maiduguri.
The gunmen attacked the only hospital in the town, abducted the medical doctor and carted away drugs and medical equipment.
The town’s central mosque, the palace of the district head, the market and the Abba Ashigar School of Business and Administrative Studies were set ablaze.
Residents of the town who survived the attack claimed that over 100 people were killed during the attack, adding that many corpses were still in the bush surrounding the community.
The Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, who visited the town on Wednesday, broke down in tears during the funeral prayer organised for 33 victims of the attack.
It was learnt that few hours before Shettima’s arrival at the town, 18 corpses had already been buried at the Madarari area of Konduga.
Some corpses were seen unattended to on the streets.
Residents were also seen fleeing the troubled town when the governor visited.
The insurgents were alleged to have torched about 80 per cent of the buildings in the town during Tuesday attack that eyewitnesses said lasted between 4pm and 8pm.
The insurgents, who were over 200, according to eyewitnesses, stormed the town at 4pm in 39 Toyota Hilux vehicles, armed with sophisticated weapons including rocket propelled grenades (RPGS), assault rifles and explosive devices.
Fashola Inaugurates Maternal/Child Care Centre And Nursing School
The governor spoke in Lagos on Thursday during the inauguration ceremony of the seventh Maternal and Child Care Centre (MCC) and a School of Nursing in Igando area of the state.
He said that the new specialised facility in Igando would improve access to care as mothers and children would no longer need to travel to Ikeja or Festac Hospitals for services.
"What all these MCCs in Ikorodu, Ajegunle, Festac and now Igando strive to achieve is to ensure that women in need of gynaecologists and other specialists do not have to drive almost 21 kilometres.
"What all these MCCs in Ikorodu, Ajegunle, Festac and now Igando strive to achieve is to ensure that women in need of gynaecologists and other specialists do not have to drive almost 21 kilometres.
"It means those who used to drive from Ikorodu to Ayinke House in Ikeja now stay in Ikorodu, while those who drove from Ajegunle to Island Maternity now stay in Ajegunle for care. Those who used to drive from Amuwo Odofin no longer need to come to Island Maternity and Ikeja.
"This can make the difference between a mother who survives and a baby who arrives alive because we have shortened the distance to care," the governor said.
Fashola said that the provision of the nursing school was in furtherance of the government’s efforts to train and provide healthcare personnel to meet the needs of people. He said that location of the school in the hospital’s premises would help provide opportunity for the students to have access to health facilities for practical knowledge.
The governor said that the two projects were pointers to the fact that the state government was committed to the development of the Alimosho local government area of Lagos state. He also said that plans for the transformation of the local government is in progress.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, said that the two projects would impact positively on healthcare delivery.
He said that the new nursing school was equipped with modern facilities to effectively train students in nursing, midwifery and public health.
Maku Names Replacement Of Sacked Ministers
Minister of information Labaran Maku today the 12th of February announced the names of serving ministers to take charge of the ministries of the sacked ministers, stating that the Minister of State for Trade and Investments, Mr Samuel Ortom, will take charge of the Ministry of Aviation pending the appointment of a new minister, while Mr Darius Isiaku takes over as the Minister of Niger Delta Affiars.
The Minister of State for the FCT, Missus Olajumoke Akinjide, would replace Capt. Caleb Olubolade (Rtd) in the overseeing of the Ministry of Police Affairs
Mr Maku while briefing the State House correspondents after the council meeting said: “The ministers had indicated their interest to pursue other goals in the country and so President Goodluck Jonathan asked them to go”.
The ministers include the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama, Minister of Police Affairs, Captain Caleb Olubolade (Rtd), the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Godsday Orubebe, and the Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah.
The president was said to have thanked them for the job they have done in assisting the government to realise the transformation Agenda.
Maku also said that the former Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Mike Oghiadome, contrary to the reports in the social media, resigned to go and pursue his interest in politics.
He said the former Chief of Staff has nothing to do with the investigations going on in the NNPC.
Gov. Peter Obi Boosts MDGs In Anambra State With N5b
The governor presented the cheque at the flag-off of the 2012 and 2013 Millennium Development Goals Conditional Grants Scheme to State and Local Governments at the Women Development Centre, Awka on Monday.
The programme is a collaboration between the State and the Federal Government.
Fourteen local government areas selected from the three senatorial zones are benefiting in this phase of the scheme, with each receiving at least two hundred million naira and over three thousand projects are to be executed.
Schools of Nursing, Midwifery and Laboratory Technology as well as Hospital will also receive various forms of interventions.
Governor Obi expressed gratitude to President Goodluck Jonathan for the continual presence of the federal government in the State and South-East, as well as encouraging indigenous entrepreneurs, including Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company, Nnewi.
Governor Obi in his speech said fifteen 32-seater buses would be distributed to the schools of Nursing, Midwifery and Laboratory within the next two weeks, while hospitals would be equipped.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Jonathan on MDGs, Dr. Precious Gbeneol in hr address said the MDGs office decided to scale up intervention from six to fourteen local government areas because of the outstanding performance in the previous round as well as the timely provision of counterpart funds by the Govenror.
Dr. Precious Gbeneol commended the Governor for adopting the MDGs framework as the developmental policy thrust of his administration, noting that his commitment stood the state out as one of the states with the best rate of project implementation nationwide.
She went on to say that the projects would make positive impacts on many families on completion.
The Chairman, MDGs implementation Committee and Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Prof. Chinyere Okunna said the State was ahead of others in the implementation of MDGs.
Senate President Stops PDP Senators Defection To APC
Senate President David Mark, today legally foreclosed any further attempt by the 11 senators from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Though five out of the eleven PDP Senators at Tuesday’s plenary made spirited effort to invoke their order of privilege, yet Mark pointedly told them that all amounts to defiling all legal glitches and as such they must respect judicial order.
Sen. Mark, relying on Order 53(5) of the Senate Standing Orders 2011 as amended, successively declared their planned defection to APC as null and void and of no effect.
The five senators that raised points of order, citing Order 14, which deal with the privileges of Senators, to announce their defection to the APC were: Senators Bukola Saraki(Kwara Central); Abdullahi Adamu(Nasarawa West), Aisha Alhassan(Taraba North); Magnus Abe(Rivers South East) and Wilson Ake (Rivers West).
Senator Saraki was the first to raise Order 14 on matter of privileges, drawing the attention of the President of the Senate to the letter he jointly submitted in respect of their cross carpeting to the APC and asking him to read the letter.
In response the senate president also made reference to Order 53(5) which reads: “reference shall not be made to any matter on which a judicial decision is pending, in such a way as might in the opinion of the President of the Senate prejudice the interest of the parties thereto.”
The Presiding officer further told Saraki, “it cannot be a matter of privilege to you because the matter is in court and no mention should be made of it. Therefore, I rule you out of order.”
The other four Senators followed Saraki in like manner, raising the same point of order and announcing their defection to the main opposition party. They received the same response from Mark
The Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume(Benue-APC) in an attempt to help his prospective party colleagues, raised Order 15 and moving a motion immediately that Mark should read the letter of the defecting Senators.
Order 15 reads: “any Senator may rise at any time to speak upon a matter of privilege suddenly arising, and he shall be prepared to move, without notice, a motion declaring that a contempt or breach of privilege has been committed, or referring the matter to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges, but if the matter is raised in Committee of the Whole Senate, the Chairman shall leave the Chair and report progress.”
After citing this Order, Akume went further to say, “this is a legislative house and privileges are guaranteed by law. This is an issue that has dragged on for so long. We cannot stop people from associating. By the power conferred on me as the Minority Leader, I have the right to speak on behalf of my people. Therefore, I move that the Senate President should read the letter now. I so move.”
Countering Akume’s motion and argument, Mark confronted the APC leader, saying, “tell me your privilege that is being breached and I will rule on it. I do not want to shut you out, but there shall be no further reference made on it.”
When the former Benue State governor could not wriggle out of the legal cage, Mark ruled him out of order, declaring that by the power conferred on him by Order 14 which Akume referred to, he was not satisfied by his explanation.
The defecting Senators had earlier gone to court and obtained an interim injunction to stop the President of the Senate from declaring their seats vacant. The court order also stated that the status quo should be maintained by the parties in the suit.
However, negating this legal hurdle, the eleven aggrieved Senators from the ruling party jointly wrote a letter, expressing their defection to the APC and desperately impressed on the President of the Senate to read their letter of defection to the Chamber.
Not willing to violate the rules of the Senate, Mark, in the last three weeks, has tactically tried to manage the situation politically so that the matter would not degenerate and disintegrate the Upper House.
Last week, after one of the closed door sessions, the Senate reportedly implored Mark to seek further legal advice in order to be able to handle the matter without breaching the law. They also resolved that the Senate would look into the matter on Tuesday this week.
Seeing the mood of the Senate, that the defecting Senators were making suspicious movements in the Chamber, Senator Mark quickly called for a closed door session that lasted for twenty minutes to, perhaps address themselves on how to handle the issue without undermining the integrity of the Senate.
Briefing the Press after the session, Spokesman of the Senate, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe said that the Senate earlier resolved at the closed door session that they would continue to maintain the dignity of the Upper Chamber, saying, “that was why everything was done openly without rancour.
Meet The Soon To Be Tallest Dog In The World
Hi friends! meet Freddy the tallest dog in Britain.
This dog Freddy is just an 18 months old Great Dane and is 7'4" inches tall standing on his hind legs in short he is the size of a donkey already.
Presently he is the tallest dog in Britain, where he lives in Southend -On -Sea with his owner Claire Stoneman. Soon he may be named the tallest dog in that the world as Zeus, the current Guinness Record holder is 44 inches tall but Freddy is still growing.
It is reported the dog eats over $120worth of food every week including whole roast chicken, he goes for 40 minutes walk with Claire in the wee hours of the morning so that they don't encounter other dogs because its owner says she wouldn't be able to go after the dog
ASUU: Another Strike Action Looms
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) seems to be preparing for another strike action as there is fear over the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding reached with the federal government.
The national treasurer of ASUU, Dr Tunde Aremu, hinted this while speaking at a luncheon held in honour of media for their roles in the last strike in Ibadan yesterday, disclosed that government was yet to release the N220 billion for 2014-2018 programmes.
He sounded a note of warning that the gates of the universities might again be shut should government refuse to implement the MoU before the last action was called off
He noted that the money was to be released on quarterly basis and deposited at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Aremu explained that the money was for the rehabilitation of the country’s university system but expressed fears that the MoU reached with the government before the last strike was called off might end up not being implemented as agreed.
“We do not want another strike as time wasted is life wasted,” he said.
He wondered why government allowed the last strike to last for five months when it knew that ASUU was making a patriotic demand.
While commending the media, Aremu said that the emancipation of Nigeria depends on the media and urged them not to rest in their oars.
He said the struggle for the implementation of the 2009 agreement had been partially won and called on the media to beam their searchlights on the universities on how the money would be spent.
Also speaking, the chairman University of Ibadan chapter of ASUU, Dr Olusegun Ajiboye, said the union had no option than to proceed on the inevitable strike since all avenues to let government realize the need to implement the agreement had failed.
He lamented that despite the huge resources at the government disposal, it had failed to effectively fund the country’s educational system.
Meanwhile, ASUU has condemned the sack of 92 workers of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Ibadan, by the executive secretary.
PDP Says APC's Registration Exercise Is Over Hyped
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisah Metuh, who spoke at the party's headquarter alleged that the APC is using its ongoing party registration as a means to hype and give a false impression of massive public registration and on coming success.
“We wish to alert Nigerians therefore, to the evidence at our disposal to the effect that APC is sadly and currently using every foul means at its disposal to build a particular membership figure running into tens of millions which it intends to use as a justification to fault, dispute, reject and subsequently take to violence when it loses in 2015.
“It is our strong belief that the APC wishes to announce a figure of 28-29 million registered voters in Nigeria. Subsequently, after the elections when maybe they do not have half of it or 14 or 12 million voters as usual, they will declare the election rigged, illegal.”
He went further to say that “the APC officials and members have been going round the wards and polling units, using INEC polling locations and materials and in most cases lying to people that the exercise is being embarked on by INEC or by the Federal Government.
“Unsuspecting Nigerians who think that it is census or INEC or any Federal Government registered exercise are currently being hoodwinked into registering as members of the APC.
“We reliably gathered also that in states controlled by the APC, especially in the South-West, pupils and students in schools are lured or persuaded to get the passport photographs of their parents and guardians and fill in forms of their names, which are thereafter secretly affixed to the APC membership forms without the knowledge of the innocent students or their unsuspecting parents.”
The party also thinks Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,ought to take up action against the APC on the matter and wonders why it still has not.
APC on the other hand
Budget Issues: House Queries Finance Minister Over N7.1trillion Debt
The House of Representatives, has faulted the Finance Minister Dr (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's claim that there is a decline in domestic borrowing while there has been an uncontrollable rise in government recurrent expenditure in the budget.
According to the parliament, the economy cannot be bright when government has earmarked N572 billion to service N7.1 trillion domestic debt in the 2014 Budget.
The house in response to the claim of the finance office made onThursday when it explained that the Federal Government had been instrumental to a reduction in domestic borrowing while speaking on the “uncontrollable rise in government recurrent expenditure in the budget.”
Tasking Okonjo-Iweala, the House said no one was excited about “the celebrated insignificant decline in domestic borrowing.”
It added: “The questions the people are asking are, ‘borrowing at what cost? What is the cost of the so-called reduced domestic borrowing? How is it serviced? How a
The House of Representatives spoke in a statement by the Clerk of its Committee on Finance, Mr Farouk Mustapha.re the decisions taken?”
“For us, we have carefully refrained from responding to the Minister’s assertions and claims over the past couple of weeks in view of the fact that a public hearing at which the actual state of our economy will be known has already been scheduled for March 3-6, 2014,” the statement started
It continued: “Nonetheless, we are compelled to say, as we have often stated, that no one is excited about the celebrated insignificant decline in domestic borrowing.”
” The questions the people are asking are, ‘borrowing at what cost? What is the cost of the so-called reduced domestic borrowing? How is it serviced? How are the decisions taken?’
” Beyond that, since the minister is in the habit of comparing our situation with those of other countries, why would she not tell Nigerians that the cost of our domestic borrowing remains one of the highest in the whole world?
“In 2011,our domestic debt stock was N5.6trillion. It rose to N6.5trn in 2012, and, by 2013, it climbed higher to N7.1trn.
” Domestic borrowing for 2011 stood at N852billion, N744bn in 2012 and N588bn in 2013. For 2014, it is put at N572bn.
” The cost of servicing the debt was N495bn in 2011. In 2012, it increased to N559bn and jumped to N591bn in 2013.
In 2014, a whopping N712bn has been earmarked for debt servicing.
“On the issue of rising recurrent expenditure, the minister should tell Nigerians her accomplishments in the drive to lower it instead of repeatedly passing the buck.”
“On the issue of rising recurrent expenditure, the minister should tell Nigerians her accomplishments in the drive to lower it instead of repeatedly passing the buck.”
” It does not help to keep laying the blame at the doorsteps of previous administrations or attempt to drag late President Umaru Yar ‘Adua and President Goodluck Jonathan into the problem.
“The minister said cuts have been made in the recurrent expenditure but in what areas and by how much? Are the cuts made anything to be proud of?”
President Goodluck Appoint New SAs And Executives
Those appointed are: General Martin Agwai (rtd.) who before the appointment was Deputy Chairman and Acting Chairman of SURE-P has been named the Chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P, with Mrs. Tanwa Olusi as his deputy.
General Agwai replaced Dr. Christopher Kolade, who resigned voluntarily as the Chairman of SURE-P in 2013. Both Ajadi and Njeze replaced Senator Joy Emordi and Dr. Tunji Olagunju who were both sacked.
General Agwai replaced Dr. Christopher Kolade, who resigned voluntarily as the Chairman of SURE-P in 2013. Both Ajadi and Njeze replaced Senator Joy Emordi and Dr. Tunji Olagunju who were both sacked.
Nigerian Ambassador to Switzerland, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze is now Special Adviser to the President on New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD, while Senator Suleiman Ajadi was named Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters.
The former Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ima Niboro, has been named as the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN; with Mr. Sola Omole as the Director-General of the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA and Alhaji Ladan Salihu as the Director-General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN.
“All the appointments are with immediate effect,” the statement read.
