BEN Ayade, the Governor of Cross River State has slashed the state’s annual budget from initial N1.1 trillion he christened budget of ‘Olipotic Meristemasis’ to N147 billion.
Asuquo Ekpeyong jnr, the state Commissioner for Finance, disclosed this while addressing journalists on Monday.
Ekpeyong said the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the review of the budget as well as the need to effort to cushion its effect on citizens of the state.
“The Cross River State government had thought it imperative to do some economic policies and measures in order to forestall this hardship and cushion the effect of the pandemic,” he said.
“The budget has been submitted to the Cross River State House of Assembly for its consideration, review and possible resolutions, the budget that has been submitted has a revised figure of 2020 Original Budget Figure of N147, 130, 166, 966,” Ekpeyong explained.
He added that the budget review exercise had the participation and inputs of Ministry, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the state.
According to Ekpeyong, the fall in federal revenue and allocation of expenditure to COVID-19 responses triggered the review of the budget by the state government.
The ICIR had reported that the N1.1 trillion budget of the Cross Rivers was unrealistic considering the current state internal revenue and debt burden before the COVID-19.
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has named railway stations across the country after some prominent Nigerians citizens including late former Premier of Western Region, Obafemi Awolowo, Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate, Vice Yemi Osinbajo.
A statement by the Federal Ministry of Transportation on Monday also listed Bola Tinubu, National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing.
In the statement released by Eric Ojiekwe, Director of Press of the Transportation Ministry, the selected prominent Nigerians described as ‘deserving’ have by President Buhari’s definition contributed to the progress and development of their respective communities and the nation at large.
According to Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation, the president approved the naming of stations along the Lagos-Ibadan and Itakpe/Ajaokuta/ Aladja/Warri corridors after the deserving Nigerians.
In the statement, Kajola Station is named after Vice President Osinbajo, Apapa station was named after Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while Agege Station is named after Minister of Works and Housing, Fashola.
Other notable Nigerians named after train station include Lateef Jakande (Agbado station), Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (Papalanto station), Wole Soyinka (Abeokuta station), Aremo Segun Osoba (Olodo station) Ladoka Akintola (Omio-Adio station) Obafemi Awolowo (Ibadan station) and Alex Ekwueme (Operation Control Centre).
Meanwhile, in June, President Buhari approved the naming of the Railway Complex in Agbor after former President Goodluck Jonathan.
THE Federal Government of Nigeria says it has so far reopened 14 airports for domestic flight operations across the country.
Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation disclosed this on Monday via his official twitter handle in a report titled Current Status of Restart of Aviation Industry.
In his tweet, Sirika wrote that the 14 airports listed in the report are now open for full domestic operations.
He added that following the full reopening, ministerial approvals shall not be required for flight operations in and out of the airports.
Sirika noted that ministerial approval shall not be needed for private and charter operations in the country.
According to the Minister, further information on the reopening of other airports shall be communicated to the public in due course.
“Glad to announce that the following airports are open for full domestic operations, hence ministerial approvals in and out of them are not required (sic). This includes private and charter operations. We will keep you informed on the reminder airports in due course, please,” Sirika wrote.
Glad to announce that the following airports are open for full domestic operations, hence ministerial approvals in and out of them is not required. This includes private and charter operations. We will keep you informed on the reminder airports in due course, please. 🙏🏽🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/ojFHkAOagt
Sirika had earlier said international flight operations would not resume in October as stating that plans were still ongoing.
However, in his report, the Victor Attah Airport in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state was listed as approved for the resumption of international operations.
International Flight resumption date is not October. NAMA just issued a routine 90 day Notices to Airmen (NOTAM). In liaison with Health, Foreign Affairs & PTF COVID-19, we will announce the agreed date, regardless of the ban by Europe, UAE etc. May be earlier than October. 🙏🏽🇳🇬
A call put across to the Minister by The ICIR to confirm the status of the airport was not answered and a text message sent was yet to be responded to as of the time of filing this report.
THE federal ministry of Education has ordered the reopening of schools for students in graduating classes starting on August 4.
In a press statement signed by Ben Bem Goong, Director Press and Public Relation, the Ministry disclosed that final year students in senior secondary schools will have only two weeks to prepare for the upcoming West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) examination scheduled to commence on August 17.
The announcement follows the agreement reached during a virtual meeting between the Federal Ministry of Education, Commissioners of Education , Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), proprietors of private schools and the chief executives of examination bodies chaired by Adamu Adamu, the Minister of Education.
The meeting also resolved that a passionate appeal be made to the Federal Government through the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and public spirited Nigerians for assistance to schools across the country to enable them fast track the preparations for safe reopening, as agreed.
“Another meeting is to be convened tomorrow between the Federal Ministry of Education and Chief Executives of examination bodies namely, NECO, NABTEB and NBAIS to harmonise their examination dates, which will be conveyed to stakeholders expeditiously by the Federal Ministry of Education, “Goong said.
It was also agreed that the resumption would come after the sallah celebration to enable the students have two weeks to prepare for the examination.
Adamu Adamu, the Minister of Education had on July 8 said that no Unity School in the country would participate in the scheduled Senior Secondary School Certificate examination by WAEC.
The Minister insisted that none of the schools under his ministry would resume until schools were considered safe for students and teachers.
He however, urged the WAEC management and the state governments to reconsider their decision to open for exams.
The examination body had earlier announced guidelines for the conduct of its senior secondary school certificate examination amid coronavirus pandemic.
The release of the guidelines by WAEC followed the announcement by Emeka Nwajuiba, Minister of State for Education, who had earlier said the examination would commence on August 4 across the country.
Patrick Areghan, Head of the Nigeria National Office of WAEC while releasing the guidelines stated that the examination would hold for five weeks.
THE Katsina Emirate Council has resolved to cancel all celebrations during this year’s Eid El Kabir festival, a letter written to the Katsina State Government revealed.
The Punch reports that the letter written in Hausa and addressed to Inuwa Mohammed, Secretary to the State Government, was signed by the Secretary of the Council, Sallaman Katsina and Mamman Ifo, advising that celebrations of sallah are suspended, owing to insecurity in the state and the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In its submission, the Council advised residents to carry out celebrations in their individual homes, adding that residents use the time for supplication on behalf of Nigeria, considering the state of the nation.
Meanwhile, Kano State had last Wednesday, ordered the cancellation of sallah celebrations in the state.
According to Muhammed Garba, Commissioner for Information, the council, after deliberations at its weekly meeting held on Tuesday at Africa House, Government House, Kano, agreed that the conduct of Eid congregational prayers across the state, would be under strict observance of safety protocols.
The state government had on Sunday, distributed two million face masks to various groups in the state, in an effort to curtail the spread of COVID-19, NAN reports.
FOLLOWING incessant killings in Southern Kaduna, Nigerians are currently signing a petition to demand that President Muhammadu Buhari, Tukur Buratai, Chief of Army Staff and Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State stand trial at the International Court of Justice (ICC), Hague for their failure to stop the killings.
The concerned Nigerians also want the president, the Chief of Staff and the Governor to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and made to pay reparations to citizens of the affected communities if found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The call for signatures to push the petition to the United Nations which was started by a Concerned Citizen by the name Assian is titled Justice For Southern Kaduna,Nigeria and available on change.org.
The convener of the petition to the United Nations, lamented that communities in Southern Kaduna have suffered persistent carnage for so long,despite having the presence of military and security installations domiciled there.
He said the the frequency of attacks this year, intensified in the wake of the nationwide lockdown between March and May through July 19 to 25.
“No cogent action has been taken,either by the Government of Kaduna State nor the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
He noted that every attempt at an inquistion was often met with outright denial of the situation and censorship of protests.
“Residents there, are left traumatized, helpless and vulnerable to further attacks. The Presidency, Office of the Governor of Kaduna State and The Nigerian Army must be held accountable for the unwanton loss of lives. The inaction of the Government in this matter, strongly implicates it as a sponsor of this genocide: A Crime Against Humanity,” the petitioner said.
He called on every well meaning Nigerians and individuals across the nations to sign the petition.
“On behalf of the citizens of Southern Kaduna,the Federal Republic of Nigeria and every well-meaning citizen of the world; who stand for human rights and justice; I request that the following persons: The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria: His Excellency; President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR), The Chief of Army Staff of Nigeria; Lieutenant-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, The Executive Governor of Kaduna State; His Excellency Mr Nasir El-Rufai stand trial in the International Court of Justice,Hague for their complicity in this daily massacre of residents of Southern Kaduna Communities.”
A total of 4,483 Nigerians have signed the petition that needed 500 signatures at the time of filing this report.
On Saturday, Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, said 63 people had been killed in the past one week by the militiamen in a new launched attack despite a 24-hour curfew imposed by the Kaduna State government.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had attributed the continued killings in Southern Kaduna to the failure of security agencies to arrest and bring to book those responsible for the killings.
In 2017, Yemi Osinbajo while acting as Nigerian President made a passionate appeal to religious and community leaders in Southern Kaduna to give peace a chance in their communities.
THE Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), an agency of the federal government, has spent N5,600 per unit of hand sanitiser (500ml) in a procurement deal worth ₦5.6 million. This is one of the many cases of inflated contracts awarded in respect of COVID-19 projects in Nigeria.
These spendings with other daily payments were fraught with incomplete descriptions and vague transactions, analysis by Dataphyte has shown.
The data mined from the Open Treasury Portal (OTP) from March 1st to June 27th, 2020, shows 84 line items with COVID-19 expenses by the five federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAS). The MDAs are the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), and the Federal Ministry of Health.
Mr. Austin Chimezie, the owner of one of the big pharmaceutical stores along Oshodi-Isolo expressway, exclaimed at the price of a 500ml hand sanitiser for N5,600. According to him, even at peak period, the cost of a 500ml hand sanitiser is N3000. “We sell the bulk of that particular hand sanitiser for N12,000 a carton, usually 12 pieces per carton.
“I don’t know how someone will buy hand sanitiser for N5,600 per unit. It is extremely high. When you are buying in bulk, you even get it for a cheaper price because it is wholesale. We supply to companies too, and we know how much we sell in bulk.”
Corroborating Mr. Chimezie’s claim, a pharmacist at Dr. Rita’s Pharmacy & Superstore in Lekki, Lagos, Mr. Olusola Olarinto said no customer would buy a locally-made hand sanitiser for N5,600, especially when the bottle is 500ml. “We have some expensive hand sanitisers around here for N5,000, but they are 1 litre and above.
Federal Road Safety Corps Marshall, Boboye Oyeyemi and 2nd substantive Commandant of NSCDC, Abdullahi Gana Mohammadu.
According to the portal, the five federal bureaucracies spent ₦1.69 billion ($4.7 million at N360/US1) on COVID-19 in the last three months. The process marred the essence of the government’s new treasury transparency initiative.
Also, half of the total expenditure went to individuals for various procurement and services. These actions by MDAs and the office of the Accountant General negate President Muhammadu Buhari’s munch-vaunted anti-corruption and transparency mantra. The sanctioning process is weak and bureaucratic in nature, the details of payments for COVID-19 related expenses by the MDAs on the Open Treasury Portal (OTP) have shown.
The OTP was launched by the FG to ensure open transparency in government spendings. The portal mandates all MDAs to publish transactions above ₦5 million. But since the launch in December 2019, MDAs and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) continue to frustratethe essence of the platform with nebulous transaction details and inadequate description of payment.
Breakdown of the ₦1.69 Billion COVID19 Payments
Dataphyte analysis of the payments showed that the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) incurred ₦1.36 billion out of the total figure. It represented 80 per cent of the total amount incurred by the five MDAs within the months under review. The NCDC spent ₦42.16 million, NSCDC spent ₦170.7 million, Ministry of Health spent ₦86.63 million, while FRSC spent ₦32.26 million.
No.
MDAs
Amount (N’ million)
1
National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA)
1.360.7
2
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)
42.16
3
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)
170.7
4
Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC)
32.26
5
Federal Ministry of Health
86.63
Some of the Nebulous Transactions
Checks by Dataphyte showed that most of the transactions have no record, while the descriptions of others are vague. Other red flags in the payments include bloated contract sums, procurement, and services rendered by individuals and companies.
For instance, the NPHCDA spent ₦39.33 million for the supply of face masks (Supply & Delivery of Face Mask for LGA Training participants. Delivery at NSCS, Abuja). The line item did not state the number of face masks bought and the cost per mask. A simple calculation showed ₦39.33 million should have taken care of 78,666 people at ₦500 per face mask.
Another controversial line item for the agency is the payment for the monitoring and supervision of COVID-19 commodities across Northwest and Southwest at ₦33.23 million. The Northcentral and Northeast zones gulped the same amount. These payments were made to individuals.
Despite several attempts by this reporter to get details of the individuals from NPHCDA proved abortive. The spokesperson of the Agency directed the reporter to the Procurement Head.
“We are heading to the National Assembly to defend the mandate establishing the NPHCDA now. “When Oga (Executive Director) is done I will get in touch with you to give you an update on the question,” the procurement head, Mr Soji Taiwo, said on the phone.
Later, Mr Taiwo declined to comment on the reporter’s enquiries, but suggested a “collaborative relationship.”
Further analysis by Dataphyte showed that the agency paid the sum of ₦807.54 million to various individuals for the procurement of COVID-19 materials, training of LG staff, among others. The figure represents 55 per cent of the total amount expended by the NPHCDA on COVID-19 between March and June 2020.
The NPHCDA is not alone. The Federal Ministry of Health also paid the sum of ₦15 million and ₦71 million respectively to private individuals without adequate description.
The first payment was for a Duty Tour Allowance (DTA) Airticket, local running, and Airport taxi to embark on a full-scale simulation exercise on COVID-19 for staff at Port Health Services (PHS) in five states (Enugu, Ikeja, Rivers, Kano, and Abuja).
The other payment was made to Bulama, Mr Sadiq Abubakar for the “payment for transfer in respect of Coronavirus Emergency Response (Port Health Control).”
Other outrageous and incomplete items were the payment of ₦35.30 million for the supply of Face Mask, ₦15 million for the supply of Liquid Soup at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) headquarters in Abuja.
01/06/2020
1000682737-3
124004001
NIGERIA SECURITY AND CIVIL DEFENCE CORPS
T.A. ABARIS NIGERIA LTD
35,304,540.43
SUPPLY OF FACE MASK TO NHQ
02/06/2020
1000682820-4
124004001
NIGERIA SECURITY AND CIVIL DEFENCE CORPS
AKAKAA GLOBAL SERVICES LIMITED
26,257,751.93
SUPPLY OF ANTISEPTIC SOLUTION TO NHQ
02/06/2020
1000682820-6
124004001
NIGERIA SECURITY AND CIVIL DEFENCE CORPS
BM GOLD LTD
15,887,043.19
SUPPLY OF LIQUID SOAP TO NHQ
04/06/2020
1000683854-9
124004001
NIGERIA SECURITY AND CIVIL DEFENCE CORPS
GRACIOUS RUBY CONCEPT NIGERIA LIMITED
42,365,448.51
SUPPLY OF HAND SANITIZER TO NH
Also, ₦26.26 million paid to a contractor for the supply of ‘Antiseptic Solution’ to the same headquarters.
MDAs React
Mr. Bisi Kazeem, the spokesperson of the FRSC, said all payments were done in line with the BPP guidelines. “We are thorough about procurement at FRSC, if company papers are not complete, we don’t do business with such a contractor.”
When this reporter asked about the procurement of hand sanitisers at inflated amounts, he sent pictures of the size and product for confirmation.
The same product – Archy’s hand sanitiser disinfectant – costs N2,500 per unit on Jumia, according to checks by Dataphyte.
The officials at the Ministry of Health declined to comment. A focal person at the Procurement desk said he could not comment on the COVID-19 procurement details.
“I am unable to attend to this inquiry. As you are aware, as a civil servant, I cannot engage the Press without authorisation from Hon. Minister of Health or Minister of State for Health, Federal Ministry of Health,” he said.
Olujimi Oyetomi, the Director of Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health, who facilitated the discussion, said the Ministry can only attend to such inquiries if the matter is brought to the attention of the Minister and Minister of State for Health.
Shola Odumosu, the deputy spokesperson of the NSCDC, asked the reporter to send a request by email. Since then, he has not replied to reminders sent to him.
How MDAs Are Using OTP To Frustrate Nigeria’s Open Government
The Open Treasury Portal has not achieved the main aim of its establishment. More than six months after launching, MDAs have found a means to frustrate its usefulness. They released bogus figures, incomplete item descriptions in a way to outsmart the open governance initiative.
Also, it is challenging for stakeholders to check abuse of procurement, sharp practices, and corruption.
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) is not helping Nigerians and the government at ensuring proper description for all payments in compliance with the transparency policy. Instead of rejecting items without adequate information, it seems the office publishes without sanctioning erring MDAs.
For instance, ₦346.2 million was paid by the NCDC without any description and it passed through the Office of the Accountant General without any red flags. The same items placed on the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal (NOCOPO) of the Bureau of Public Procurement have descriptions.
Ms. Ifeoma Onyebuchi, the Program Director, PPDCdecried this act of oblivion. She queried that “given that MDAs can adhere strictly to the BPP guidelines on the submission of procurement items, why not on the Open Treasury Portal?” She called on the Office of the Accountant General to promptly correct this problem to ensure public accountability and transparency for all Nigerians.
Line items for the NCDC without description
Date
Payment No
Payer Code
Organisation Name
Beneficiary Name
Amount
Description
18/04/2020
1000673688-1
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
KAURA MOTORS NIG. LTD.
35,017,857.14
18/04/2020
1000673688-4
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
INKIYA NIGERIA LIMITED
18,940,476.19
18/04/2020
1000673688-2
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
VANTAGE WOODS LIMITED
9,648,675.00
15/03/2020
1000667770-1
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
FINLAB NIGERIA LIMITED
18,972,664.91
15/03/2020
1000667770-11
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
BIOSAFE EQUIPMENT CALIBRATIONS LIMITED
18,552,588.00
15/03/2020
1000667770-9
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
FUTURE CONCERN NIGERIA LIMITED
14,981,500.00
15/03/2020
1000667770-3
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
LAYER 3 LIMITED
14,009,719.26
08/04/2020
1000672954-7
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
KAURA MOTORS NIG. LTD.
43,607,142.86
08/04/2020
1000672954-1
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
KAURA MOTORS NIG. LTD.
42,946,428.57
08/04/2020
1000672954-2
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
INKIYA NIGERIA LIMITED
24,461,384.85
30/04/2020
1000676883-1
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
FINLAB NIGERIA LIMITED
30,229,000.00
30/04/2020
1000676883-3
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
PRUDENTIAL ZENITH LIFE INSURANCE LIMITED
15,643,694.27
30/04/2020
1000676884-2
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
SAVVY GLOBAL SERVICES LIMITED
6,856,452.38
04/04/2020
1000672626-1
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
AXAKA LTD
33,116,620.00
04/04/2020
1000672625-10
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
EMMY SOLID DIGITAL COMPUTERS LIMITED
7,260,081.80
04/04/2020
1000672619-6
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
AO DAVE INTEGRATED CONSULTANTS LTD
6,115,704.51
04/04/2020
1000672625-7
521027047
NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL ABUJA
TOTAL SECURE NIGERIA LIMITED
5,842,500.00
In a recent newspaper publication, the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris, said, “it is the responsibility of MDAs to give clear and unambiguous descriptions of payments” uploaded by his office on the Open Treasury Portal. The response clearly shows Mr. Idris is aware of how MDAs frustrate the country’s open government initiative.
The response of the OAGF cuts short of its mandates to coordinate all information on the portal. The guidelines also empower the OAGF to ensure compliance, enforcement, monitoring, reporting, and recommendation of sanctions for non-compliance.
The OTP Financial Transparency Policy & Implementation Guidelines also clearly states that MDAs should fill report parameters such as payment number, payer code, agency, beneficiary names, amount, and description. These are the responsibility of the AOGF, and it must enforce it.
Stakeholders and public policy analysts have also decried the manners at which MDAs and Accountant General run the open treasury portal. If the inadequaciescontinue, the efforts of President Buhari on Financial Transparency will only be a shadow of itself.
Segun Elemo, Executive Director of Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI), a civil society group, had called on the Nigerian authorities to track and audit public funding during COVID-19.
“The auditor-general must ensure there is an ongoing audit of all emergency spending. The ICPC should also step in. They should not wait for a year to start auditing; they must do a real-time audit of every expenditure, particularly COVID-19-related responses.”
This report was originally published by DATAPHYTE.
IN furtherance of its citizen-parliament engagements, OrderPaper Nigeria will be hosting the National Assembly Committees on Health in a citizens meet-up webinar to discuss healthcare funding, budget tracking and service delivery.
In the third edition of the monthly OPEN – Online Parliamentary Engagement Nigeria – civil society groups and citizens be engaging the Chairman Senate Committee on Primary Health Care and Communicable Diseases, Sen. Chukwuka Utazi; and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Health Care Services, Hon. Tanko Sununu.
The webinar will take place on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 2:00 pm with the topic ‘Effective National Assembly and Civil Society Partnership for improved service delivery in the health sector.’
It will be moderated by Oke Epia, TAGG-Tech Expert and Executive Director, OrderPaper Nigeria alongside Greg Anyaegbudike, Federal Team Leader, PERL- Engaged Citizens.
This special Citizens-Parliament meet-up is being implemented in collaboration with Partnership to Engage Reform and Learn (PERL) of the British Department for International Department (DFID).
OPEN was launched as a platform to have virtual discussions with lawmakers, Civil Society actors and other professionals with the view to increase citizen’s participation in legislative business.
Recall that the first edition had the Chairman House Committee on Inter-Governmental Affairs, Hon. Akin Alabi and Ms. Nimah Arigbagu, a Public Policy Expert, as featured guests.
The second edition featured the spokesman of the green chamber, Benjamin Kalu, Adebowale Olorunmola, Country Representative of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and Mr. Frank Tietie, Executive Director, Citizens Advocacy for Economic and Social Rights (CASER).
GODSWILL Akpabio, the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, has named federal lawmakers who were awarded contracts from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
This is coming seven days after Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker of the House of Representative gave Akpabio 48 hours to list the names of lawmakers who got 60 per cent contracts from NDDC as he claimed.
According to a report by Premium Times, the named lawmakers includes Peter Nwabaoshi (the senator representing Delta North Senatorial District and chairman senate committee on Niger Delta) who was listed to have been awarded 53 projects which included emergency repairs of Asue Street, Owa Phase 2; ldumuogbe Road via Ojemaye; Otolokpo College Road, Otolokpo; and the Police lshu Ani Ukwu Road, Issele Uku
Akpabio also named Matthew Urhoghide, senator representing Edo South Senatorial District in the Nigerian Senate got six projects while the former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on the NDDC, Nicholas Mutu, who represents Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency was also named by the minister as receiving 74 contracts including emergency road projects in Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers states.
Nicholas Mutu was the Chairman of the House Committee on NDDC in the 8th assembly and currently the chairman of the House Committee on Gas Resources.
James Manager, the senator representing Delta South Senatorial District of Delta State in the red chamber and a former senator, Samuel Anyanwu, who represented Imo East constituency in the 8th Senate got 6 and 19 contracts respectively.
However, Akpabio did not mention if the lawmakers were directly awarded the contracts or they nominated the projects under their Zonal Intervention Projects but were awarded in 2018.
According to Punch, the minister did not provide the cost of the projects listed against the lawmakers’ names, while the cost of contracts given to non-lawmakers had costs of various projects attached to them
SOUTH-eastern governors have ordered a compulsory COVID-19 test for all teachers in the country especially those in the eastern region of the country.
Addressing newsmen in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, on the result of a virtual meeting by the southeast governors’ forum, on Sunday, the Chairman of the forum, David Umahi, stated that it was a necessary move.
Umahi also stated that the forum had agreed and would commence testing every household, especially the elderly from 65 years and above, while he also advised the Igbo community to continue to observe all COVID-19 safety measures laid down by relevant health authorities.
The Ebonyi state Governor disclosed that pending when the Federal government decides on when it is safe to reopen schools, the forum was assessing the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region and would review school infrastructures in support with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocols
In a related development, The ICIR reported that the Federal Government had on Friday last week directed all civil servants to undergo COVID-19 testing in the nation’s capital, Abuja.
In a circular conveying the directive signed by Evelyn Ngige, Permanent Secretary and Service Welfare Officer, Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, the government said the move was to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Civil servants who are in Abuja were informed that provisions for the tests have been made available at THISDAY Dome located at Three Arms Zone, Abuja.
On Sunday, the NCDC reported 555 new cases of COVID-19, bring the country’s total to 40,532 cases, 17,374 discharged patients, and a death toll of 858.
