The Federal Government, Monday, disclosed that it was set to establish a bank for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The bank to be called the ‘Development Bank of Nigeria’, will assist the small scale business owners to access funds for a longer tenure. The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, made this known at a stakeholders’ Conversation on Communicating Government Policies, Programmes and Activities to Traditional Rulers, Market Men/Women organised by the National Orientation Agency (NOA), in Abuja. She said that the bank would be launched next month. “There are many people who has…
Author: Wale Adebayo
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Monday, said that the Federal Government created 1.4 million jobs in the past three years in a bid to address unemployment in the country. The minister said this at a meeting on government policies, programmes and activities organised by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Abuja. Although she acknowledged unemployment as one of the major challenges facing the government, Okonjo-Iweala noted that efforts were ongoing to adequately address the challenge. “The administration of President Goodluck Jonathan is working tirelessly to create 1.8 million jobs in each year but…
The Defence Headquarters, Monday, said troops were dominating operations in Kukawa, Geri, Gujba in Yobe to dislodge terrorists from their hideouts in the communities. “Troops are dominating operations in Kukawa, Geri, Gujba in Yobe, to rid the terrorists on Sunday,” a statement posted on the Defence Headquarters’ website said. According to the DHQ, the Nigerian troops on Sunday night invaded Kukawa Geri, Gujba in Yobe and were determined to flush out the insurgents from their remaining hideouts. The military had since liberated most of the local governments and communities previously occupied by terrorists in the affected states. The Nigerian troops…
The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organization (APCPCO) said that President Goodluck Jonathan has himself to blame for the poor quality of advise he gets from his advisers and aides since his days as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State. The party said this in reaction to the president’s recent statement that most of the advise he received from his aides have been worthless 80 percent of the time. APC said the admission was a clear demonstration that the President lacked sound judgment, stressing that a leader was only as good as those who advise him. “The President or the leader…
According to City People magazine on February 23, 2015, the 35 year old actress who was referred as the ‘Julia Roberts’ of Nigeria by American media mogul Oprah Winfrey, is the new owner of a mansion in Accra, Ghana which cost $4M. The actress and single mother can very well afford the property as she is the brand ambassador for top brands Range Rover, Etisalat and Amstel Malta. The private property of Genevieve who also has a clothing line, is reported to be guarded by a security company.
The All Progressives Congress, APC, has said contrary to the information being peddled by the Director of Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization, Femi Fani-Kayode, the party does not wish him any ill health, even though it is seriously concerned about his mental state. “No, we have never and will never wish anyone any ill health. However, we are seriously concerned that Mr. Fani-Kayode may have unhinged, perhaps as a result of a relapse into an unhealthy lifestyle of substance abuse”, the party said in a statement issued in Dubai on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary,…
The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has revealed how over 400 clergymen in the state shared money offered as bribe to the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, by the Peoples Democratic Party to support President Goodluck Jonathan in the March 28 presidential election. The party, in a statement on Sunday, said some of the pastors drawn mostly from the Pentecostal bloc of the association, received between N50, 000 and N2 million from the N7 billion CAN allegedly got as bribe from the PDP and Mr. Jonathan. It, however, commended the Edo State chairman of CAN, Peter…
The House of Representatives said it has uncovered what may turn out to be Nigeria’s biggest fraud yet, accusing the Goodluck Jonathan administration of spending N16 trillion on its super offices yearly, while the entire country was run on a meagre budget of about N4 trillion. The claim was made Sunday by the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Reps. The committee said while the Nigerian government complains of revenue for key projects, the same government has allowed dozens of powerful offices, graded as “statutory and extra-ministerial departments”, to spend a minimum of N16 trillion yearly. According to the…
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), Alhaji Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, has enjoined Nigerians to brace up for celebrations as they would soon be liberated from the Peoples Democratic Party’s yoke, under which they have laboured for many years. According to him, the opposition parties in the country were better placed to provide the needed environment for the nation’s democracy to thrive, adding that the existence of the ruling party for over 15 years has been largely responsible for the country’s woes. According to Ibrahim, although the general election was extended for another six weeks, Nigerians should not…
With less than 28 days to the presidential election, the Nigerian Senate has assured that the 2015 Appropriation Bill will be passed within two weeks. It would be recalled that Senate announced last Thursday that there would be no plenary session on Tuesday and Thursday this week, to enable various committees hold budget defence sessions with ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government on the N4.357 trillion 2015 Appropriation Bill. The defence of budget proposals by MDAs started last week in both chambers of the National Assembly. Disclosing this over the weekend in Abuja, the chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation,…
The Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr. Ade Abolurin, has declared the corps’ readiness to provide security throughout the country for the upcoming general elections. Abolurin, who was speaking at an event in Abuja to commemorate the 2015 World Civil Defence Day yesterday, with the theme “Sustainable Peace Building”, said all modalities had been put in place for effective monitoring before, during and after the elections. He said that the deployment of men and officers of the corps had since commenced to all identified black spots with the collaborative efforts of all security apparatus, in order…
The Adamawa State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of Alhassan Adamu, a teacher at Tappare-Ganye Community Islamic Centre, for allegedly defiling and infecting at least one student of the centre with HIV/AIDS. The state police spokesman, Othman Abubakar, who confirmed the development, said that the suspect was already cooling his heels at the police command headquarters in Yola and helping the CID to ascertain the allegations levelled against him. “As soon as investigations are done, and the suspect found wanting, he will be charged to court”, Abubakar said. He, however, warned female students to be wary of randy teachers,…
The Nigerian military on Monday said it had flushed out terrorists operating in KukawaGeri, a community in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State. The Defence Headquarters, which made the announcement in a tweet on its official page, said troops have taken control of operations in the community while cordon and search operations are ongoing in the area. “FLASH: Troops are dominating OPs in #KukawaGeri, #Gubja in #YOBE, Rid of terrorists on Sunday. Cordon & Search ongoing there now #NeverAgain”, the tweet reads. In the past weeks, the Nigerian military hasrecorded tremendous success in the war against Boko Haram,…
Towards ensuring violence-free elections, all registered political parties in Zamfara State have signed a peace pact at the state Police headquarters at the weekend. The signing was supervised by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 10, Alhaji Bala Hassan, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Olufemi David, and all heads of security agencies in the state. The event also witnessed the presence of the state governor and APC gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, and the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi. While addressing the gathering, AIG Hassan disclosed that the police have the responsibility of…
Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has said that change of government at times of war is counter-productive, adding that Nigerians must vote for President Goodluck Jonathan to consolidate the gains recorded so far. Ribadu, who spoke at the weekend in Mubi, Adamawa State, when he visited the reclaimed towns of Paka in Maiha Local Government Area, Mubi in Mubi North Local Government Area and Gella in Mubi South Local Government Area, to commiserate with the people affected by the insurgency, said that Nigeria would gain abundantly if Jonathan is returned so that…
The All Progressives Congress has sounded a note of warning to the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, on the alleged threat to the life of its officer, the party’s Publicity Secretary in Ekiti, Taiwo Olatubosun. The Conference of APC Publicity Secretaries said Nigerians should hold the governor responsible if anything untoward or harmful happens to Mr. Olatubosun. In a statement by the APC Publicity Secretaries of Ondo, Osun and Kwara States, Abayomi Adesanya, Akin Morakinyo and Sulyman Buhari respectively, the party alleged Mr. Olatubosun has recently been the subject of harassment and attempted assassination from agents and aides…
Governor Bala James Ngilari of Adamawa State has dissociated himself from a newspaper advertorial berating the presidency for its alleged involvement in the politics of the state, saying the sponsor of the advert is an agent of opposition parties, who wants to cause confusion in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the coming general elections. The Director Public Affairs to the Governor, Mr. Phineas Elisha, in a press statement issued at the weekend, said the content of the said advertorial written by one Baba Rabo Jada claiming to be a supporter of the governor, does not reflect Mr. Ngilari’s…
Press Release The APC Presidential Campaign Organization, APCPCO, has assured that it will not impose any harsh tax regime on Nigerians but will rather employ existing tax policies of government to fund its people-oriented programmes. In a press statement by Garba Shehu, Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Organization, the party said that under the present administration of President Jonathan, the Nigerian people and the business community are reeling under multiple, discriminatory and harsh tax regime. The prevailing harsh tax regime under the present PDP government has caused untold hardship on the population while manufacturing industries…
A National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has described former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, as a peddler of falsehood hired for a smear campaign against the APC, its leader, and presidential candidate. “Fani-Kayode is not as smart as he thinks. If you read between the lines of his hysteria you see another extreme sentiment: that of surging desperation”, Mr. Tinubu said in a statement issued on Sunday by his Special Adviser on Media, Sunday Dare. “His statement indicates that even he now realizes that his pay master has lost to Buhari/Osinbajo. The game…
The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, has fumed over alleged plots by the Presidency to remove the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, from office before the expiration of his tenure in June. The plot to purportedly remove Jega from office heightened as media reports at the weekend claimed that four INEC national commissioners have been penciled down by the Presidency to take over from Mr. Jega, who might be directed to proceed on pre-retirement leave any time this week. In a statement by its spokesperson, Osita Okechukwu, on Sunday, the CNPP cautioned President Goodluck…