The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), on Thursday, gave drugs and consumables to three hospitals for the treatment of victims of Wednesday’s bomb attack in Kano. They are the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Kano, Muqtada Mohammed Specialist Hospital and Muhammad Abdullahi Waseca Hospital. Director-General of NEMA, Dr Sani Sidi, said the gesture was in line with the mandate of the agency to respond to emergency situations. Sidi, represented by Director of Search and Rescue of the agency, Air Commodore Charles Otegbade, said the drugs would enable the hospitals to treat the victims on admission in the hospitals. He commended residents…
Author: Wale Adebayo
Although Beninoise President Boni Yayi had often called Benin Republic Nigeria’s 37th state, it has not stopped the country from encroaching into Nigeria’s territories. According to a report by Vanguard, Benin has invaded sixteen villages in Okuta, the border town in Baruten local government area of Kwara state. The newspaper learnt that authorities of Benin Republic have gone ahead to construct Gerdarmes Office (Police station) in the affected Nigerian communities and have also hoisted the country’s flag at the affected Nigerian villages. The affected villages invaded by the Benin Republic include Ogomne, Bwin, Gandasunon, Kpuru and Woru Wuren Kparu. Others…
The Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, said his administration will not retrench workers in spite of the state’s current financial situation, . Speaking in Ise-Ekiti, yesterday, Fayose said the administration would instead discuss with workers to find means of paying their salaries. The governor, who started a sensitisation tour of local governments on the financial situation of the state, said sacking workers was not the solution to the problem. Fayose, who also visited Emure Local Government, said allocations to both state and local governments had gone down drastically. “A comparative analysis of the allocations to local governments in Ekiti between…
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) will soon start picketing of companies and establishments that indulge in outsourcing and casualisation of workers across the country, NLC President Mr Ayuba Wabba, has said. Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, in his address at the 2015 Africa Industrialisation Day Policy Roundtable Conference with the theme: “Eradicating Smuggling, Meeting the Financial and Energy Needs of Local Industries”, Wabba said that NLC in 2002, entered into agreement with Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) to ensure that casualisation and out sourcing of services was abolished in Nigeria. He added that NLC and NECA were strategising on the dates to…
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed its preparedness for the Kogi and Bayelsa States gubernatorial elections. The Kogi polls is coming up this Saturday while the Bayelsa polls has been slated for December 5. The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, stated this on Wednesday at the inaugural meeting of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters and Political Affairs in Abuja. Yakubu said the electorates’ votes will count in the elections. He said although a standard had been set by his predecessor, Prof. Attahiru Jega, INEC under his watch would build on that standard. “INEC is ready…
The seven standing committees of the Senate received a charge on Wednesday to hit the ground running in view of the need to reposition the economy. Senate President Bukola Saraki, who gave the charge while inaugurating the committees, also urged them to come up with new methods in the discharge of their oversight functions. The committees inaugurated and their chairmen are: Appropriation – Danjuma Goje (APC-Gombe Central), Finance – John Enoh (PDP-Rivers Central), Banking, Insurance and other financial institutions – Rafiu Ibrahim (APC-Kwara North), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) – Abubakar Kyari (APC-Borno North). Others are: Committees on Public Accounts –…
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has vowed to hold the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government responsible should any harm befall the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu. The opposition PDP was reacting to the statement issued by Senator Ekweremadu’s media aide, Uche Anichukwu to the effect that the deputy president of the Senate narrowly escaped assassination on his way to the office at about 10:00am between Apo Flyover and Dantata Construction Company’s yard, close to the Old Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, junction in Abuja yesterday. The suspected assassins, who Mr. Anichukwu said operated in an unmarked, tinted, brand new,…
Former Vice President Abubakar Atiku on Wednesday described the late Chief Hannah Idowu Dideolu (HID) Awolowo as the “best First Lady Nigeria never had”. The former vice president paid this glowing tribute to the memory of the deceased in Ikenne, Ogun State, while presenting to the public, a book titled – “In the Radiance of the Sage: The Life and Times of HID Awolowo, a biography of the late wife of Chief Obafemi Awolowo (SAN)”. According to Mr. Abubakar, HID was not only a loyal and supportive house-wife, she was one that helped her husband, the late premier of old…
President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) will leave for Tehran, Iran on Sunday, to participate in the 3rd Gas Exporting Countries’ Forum (GECF) opening on Monday. A statement issued by the Presidential spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Friday said that Buhari and other GECF leaders were expected to review the current market outlook on gas and discuss strategies for boosting gas production. Nigeria and other GECF members currently account for 42 percent of global gas production, 70 percent of global gas reserves, 40 percent of pipeline transmission of gas and 65 percent of the global trade in Liquefied Natural Gas.…
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), on Thursday, said that the population of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East had risen to 2.2 million. Speaking in Abuja during the UNHCR 2015 stakeholders’ briefing of the commission’s representation in Nigeria, the UNHCR Representative to Nigeria, Ms Angele Dikongue-Atangana gave the statistics, but said that the increase was not as a result of new displacement. “The number of IDPs is not really increasing as a result of new displacement. “There could be some relatively small new displacement in the course of combating insurgency and knowing that the insurgents…
Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Professor Charles Soludo has shown over the years that he is never scared to air his views. He has spoken again, now faulting the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the Federal Government and the policy regime of foreign exchange restrictions of the CBN. Soludo spoke on Thursday as a guest lecturer at the third anniversary lecture of online magazine, Realnewsmagazine.net in Lagos. He stated that while the TSA could restore sanity and transparency into Nigeria’s financial system, the initiative could be better deployed. He stressed that “concentrating the…
It is not unusual to hear news of gunhappy policemen killing civilians but this is about to stop as the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase, on Thursday, warned police officers to exercise high sense of caution in handling guns while dealing with unarmed civilians. Speaking in Abeokuta while addressing policemen at the state police headquarters in Eleweeran, Arase warned that any policeman who shoots an unarmed member of the public would be jailed. “Shoot a civilian, go to jail,” Arase warned. According to him, any police officer who engaged in indiscriminate shooting should be arraigned within 24 hours of…
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has said that the state needs Close Circuit Cameras (CCTV), in all public places and data of all suspected criminals to make the state more secure. Ambode said this at a dinner organised in honour of outgoing and incoming board members of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), held in Lagos. According to the governor, with the present situation of things, it has become necessary for the private sector to collaborate with government, especially with the reality that there are not enough security operatives to secure the state. “The next level is to…
Ondo State Governor and Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has advised the former Spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and minister of information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed to be more cautious, fact-oriented and carefully select the right words before speaking for the presidency. “As a former Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I want to believe there is an urgent need for me to assist in reorientation and exercise of Presidential familiarization for our Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed to know that he now works with the Presidency and should adapt to presidential breeze and…
The Federal government has banned the importation of small generators, popularly called “I better pass my neighbour”. The Controller, Federation Operations Unit Zone A, Lagos of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Madugu Sanni Jubrin disclosed this, yesterday. He said: “the smaller generators have been banned by the Federal Government because it is causing air pollution and destruction of our lungs and breathing system. “That is why they have banned it but people are still interested in smuggling them in, that is why we intercepted them. If you go to the market, you still see them because people have imported them…
Kogi State government has ordered the closure of all public and private schools in the state from November 18 to November 23 due to the November 21 governorship election in the state. The Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Education, Alhaji Adamu Sheidu, confirmed the closure to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lokoja. According to him, the order affects only all primary and secondary schools in the state. He explained that the step became necessary as many of the schools will serve as temporary camps for security agents being deployed to the state for the…
The Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, was on Wednesday asked by journalists to disclose his emolument but he declined. The NERC boss had convened a press conference to clarify the alleged approval of N2.7billion to himself and his commissioners as severance package during which he was asked about his salary after he debunked the N2.7billion claim. “I have the temptation to say it is X, but it is irresponsible of me or anybody to disclose it. I don’t know anywhere in the world where chief executives or senior management persons or commissioners have said on air…
The Governor of Adamawa State, Mohammadu Jibrilla, has announced an indefinite ban on night markets in Yola following Tuesday’s blast in the state capital. Jibrilla announced the ban, Wednesday, in an interview with newsmen in Yola. According to him, the ban is part of decisions taken at an emergency security meeting at Government House, Yola. He said all business premises that attracted crowds, particularly night markets, were expected to close by 6 p.m. The governor, therefore, urged those affected to show understanding as such measures became necessary in order to save lives and property. Shedding more light on the ban,…
At least 20 people were killed on Wednesday in Kano State, Northwest Nigeria, when twin bomb explosions went off at the city’s GSM market, near Farm Market. A witness said he counted at least 20 corpses being moved from the scene of the blasts while the injured were taken to the hospital. The explosions occurred during the late noon Muslim prayers. The Kano police command’s spokesman, ASP Magaji Majiya, confirmed the development. The Kano explosion is coming less than 24 hrs after a similar bomb explosion killed 34 people and injured 80 at a fruit and vegetable market beside a main…
A fresh crisis is rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as an aspirant for the national chairmanship of the party, Barrister Ahmed Ali Gulak, has dragged the National Working Committee of the party to court for allegedly refusing to initiate the process of filling the position, which is occupied by Prince Uche Secondus in acting capacity. Gulak, a former political adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, in an interview with journalists in Abuja Wednesday, alleged that Secondus had refused to initiate the process of filling the vacuum in the PDP’s leadership, created by the resignation of Adamu Mu’azu last May. The…