Home Blog Page 2329

Senate suspends recess to screen Buhari’s ministerial list

Rebecca Akinremi
-
0
Senate suspends recess to screen Buhari’s ministerial list

THE Nigerian Senate has suspended its annual recess so as to earn more time to screen the President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees for ministerial posts.

The National Assembly is meant to go on an annual recess on Friday,  July 26 and resume on September 26.

Buhari, after 55 days of his inauguration, has forwarded the list of his nominees to the Senate on Tuesday, two days before they go on break.

Senate President Ahmed Lawan, after reading out the 43 names contained in the list, announced that the screening of the ministers would commence on Wednesday during the plenary session.

Adeyeye Adedayo, Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Media and Public Affairs, who spoke to journalists during a press conference after the Tuesday plenary session said the House would sit on Wednesday, Friday and Monday against the usual Tuesdays to Thursdays sitting days. He added that they would sit beyond 2 pm which is the official time a plenary session ends.

“I want to tell you that this is a major sacrifice by the senators,” he said.

Adedayo assured that the screening of the nominees would be thorough. He added that the confirmation will end next week.

After the confirmation next week, he said the lawmakers would go on the two-month break.

Boris Johnson becomes new UK Prime Minister as Theresay May leaves on Wednesday

Rebecca Akinremi
-
0

BORIS Johnson has been elected as the United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister after winning in the leadership contest against Jeremy Hunt on Tuesday.

Johnson who was a former Mayor of London and UK Foreign Secretary will take over from his predecessor Theresa May when she formally tenders her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday, according to BBC.

He beat his rival in a poll conducted among members of the governing conservative party. Of the 160,000 votes cast, Boris secured 92,153 votes, a total of 58 per cent of the votes cast.

Theresa May, the second female British Prime Minister, announced to resign on May 24 when she lost the support of her cabinet for her inability to secure the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU), called Brexit. She missed two Brexit deadlines.

“I negotiated the terms of our exit and a new relationship with our closest neighbours that protects jobs, our security and our Union. I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal. Sadly, I have not been able to do so,” she had expressed her emotion.

The 55-year-old Johnson will inherit May’s vision of exiting the EU when he assumes the role on Wednesday. Throughout his campaign, he was vocal about his willingness to exit the EU, pledging to leave on October 31″. The date is the latest deadline for the UK to depart the bloc.

“We are not daunted, we are leaving the EU by October 31,” said Johnson in his victory speech delivered at  Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London on Tuesday. He added that the country would take advantage of all the opportunities the exit bring with a new spirit of can do.

“We are once again going to believe in ourselves, and like some slumbering giant we are going to rise and ping off the guy ropes of self-doubt and negativity,” he said.

Johnson appreciated his predecessor, saying it was a privilege to serve in her cabinet. May also congratulated him, promising her “full support from the backbenches”.

With just three months before the Brexit deadline, Johnson is expected to hit the ground running, announcing his cabinet and other top posts in the next few days.

Three years after the referendum vote to leave the European Union, Britain has remained a member, after twice delaying its exit amid continued wrangling in a divided parliament — and the country — on how to proceed.

Johnson led the 2016 Brexit campaign and has said the latest deadline must be kept, with or without a divorce agreement with the EU.

Buhari cabinet: Fashola, Keyamo, Akpabio make long awaited ministerial list

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
-
0
Buhari cabinet: Fashola, Keyamo, Akpabio make long awaited ministerial list

FIFTY-FIVE days after President Muhammadu Buhari was inaugurated for the second term in office, the president has finally sent a list of his cabinet members to the Senate for confirmation.

Top in the list are Babatunde Fashola, former Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Festus Keyamo, former Director of Communications and Strategy to President Buhari during the 2019 election, Sen. Godswin Akpabio, a former Governor of Akwa Ibom State and 40 others.

In all, 43 nominees were sent to the Senate for confirmation.

Nigerians had severally called on the president to expedite action and nominate his ministers to set the new administration on the sail.

But his aides insisted the president has the prerogative to decide when it’s right to inaugurate his cabinet.

Though the National Assembly is set to go on a two-month break from Thursday, yet there is a high expectation that the nominees would be screened before the recess.

When The ICIR called earlier in the morning to confirm names of the nominees,  Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity,  said the Centre should  “check with the Senate.”

He declined further comment before he terminated the call.

Checks at the Presidency’s official twitter handle @NGRPresident had no such information at the time of this report.

Garba Shehu, the Official Spokesperson to the President and the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity also has not yet tweeted about the ministerial list.

However, the presidential aide retweeted Abubakar Sidiq Usman, an All Progressives Congress Chieftain who announced the nomination, “Breaking: President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Ahmad Lawan has announced receiving the list of ministerial nominees for confirmation from President Muhammadu Buhari”.

Also Bashir Ahmed, Personal Assistance to the President Buhari on New Media has also released the nominee list shared below.

“In all, 43 ministerial nominees were sent to the Senate for confirmation”.

Reports claimed that unlike his first tenure when he had 36 ministers, the President purportedly resolved to also appoint extra 7 ministers, to make 43 cabinet members when eventually confirmed by the National Assembly.

“The list was sent to the Senate on Monday evening via executive communication and is expected to be read on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday,” the report says.

Other prominent Nigerians included in the lists are Hadi Sirika, Lai Mohammed, Geoffrey Onyeama, Mustapha Baba Shehuri, Chris Ngige, Ogbonaya Onu, Rauf Aregbesola, Gbemisola Saraki among others.

Unlike his first term in office, where it took Buhari six months to appoint Ministers, this new appointment came four months earlier.

List from Bashir Ahmed, Personal Assistance to the President on New Media

Nigerians mourn ChannelsTV Precious Owolabi who died during Shiite protest

Rebecca Akinremi
-
0
Nigerians mourn ChannelsTV Precious Owolabi who died during Shiite protest

“PRECIOUS Owolabi left his house yesterday for work but did not return and will never return again. Rest in Peace.’ 

That was one of the several tributes that followed Precious’ death, currently trending on social media.

The 23-year-old Precious was hit by a stray bullet on Monday during a clash between members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and men of the Nigeria Police in Abuja. Later on Monday evening, ChannelsTV confirmed his death.

Precious who graduated from the University of Ilorin was a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). He was a budding journalist as he was serving with the ChannelsTV group. Precious had joined the media crew to cover the Shiite protest which later resulted in his unfortunate death.

“The management and staff of Channels Television are greatly saddened by the untimely and unfortunate death of such a promising journalist,” ChannelsTV said in tributes. “We pray that God will grant his family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss, and avail his soul eternal rest,” it added.

The Nigerian Union of Journalists said Precious Owolabi was a “promising journalist”.  Emmanuel Ogbeche, Abuja Chairman, stressed that yesterday was another sad day for the journalism profession in Nigeria.

Also, the Committee to Protect Journalist has tasked the Nigerian authorities to “investigate and ensure those responsible for his death are held accountable.  “The CPJ is saddened to learn that Channels TV journalist Precious Owolabi has died after being shot earlier today,” it tweeted. 

Meanwhile, many sympathisers advised journalists to always wear protective toolkits when covering conflicts.

Chidi Odinkalu, former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) tweeted that journalism has its hazards, especially in the “frontlines of conflict. He said the proprietors in the media industry should take basic precautions.

“21st-century journalism is not a bed of roses but a battleground. In case you don’t know, many people want you silenced just like it happened to Precious Owolabi. Body armour is no longer an option but a must,” tweeted another user identified as Ayemojubar

Precious’ death has increased the number of journalists who had been killed in Nigeria to ten. An earlier report released by the UNESCO observatory of killed journalists in June revealed that at least nine journalists were killed in the country between 2006 and 2019.

Apart from Precious, Usman Umar who was the deputy commissioner of police in charge of operations at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) lost his life during the protest yesterday. He had already been interred on Monday evening according to the Islamic burial rite.

President Muhammadu Buhari said he deeply commiserated with the families of Precious and Usman Umar, of the FCT Police Command, who died during the violent protest by members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) in Abuja.

The spokesperson of the Shiites, Abdullahi Musa, said 17 of their members also died, while many injured. He said most of their member were arrested also.

El-Zakzaky and his wife have remained in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since December 2015 following a clash between the IMN and the Nigerian Army that year.

He was arraigned after two years of being in detention on charges bordering on culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, and disruption of the public peace.

Since then the Shiite group regularly hold protest for the release of their leader. Recently, the group said the El-Zakzaky health was failing and needed medical treatment. A bail application was filed by his counsel but the Kaduna State High Court denied him the application.

Iran announces arrest of 17 alleged CIA agents, some sentenced to death

Jennifer UGWA
-
0
Iran announces arrest of 17 alleged CIA agents, some sentenced to death

The Iranian government through its Intelligence Ministry on Sunday said they have arrested 17 citizens of the country, and have been sentenced some to death for acting as spies for the United States Central Intelligence Agency amid soaring tension between Tehran and Washington.

In a document made available to CNN, Iran claimed to have broken up a CIA spying ring and captured 17 suspects, all of whom confessed to acting as spies for the CIA.

The document Destiny of Spies read: “Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said in the document: “Individuals who consciously and deliberately betrayed the country and refused to compensate for the losses have been handed over to the judiciary system. Others, who honestly cooperated with the security system and their remorsefulness have been proved, have been managed with intelligence direction against Americans.”

“Defendants serving their sentences in prison mentioning tempting promises of CIA officers including emigration to USA, a proper job in America, and money,” the Intelligence Ministry document said.

Informants were supposed to collect classified information “from substantial centres as well as intelligence/technical operations.”

 

The announcement comes amid a standoff between Tehran and Western powers following President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran, and an accelerating series of recent maritime episodes, including Iran’s seizure of a UK-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.

Tensions in the region escalated further over the weekend after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) captured a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.

The IRGC accused the vessel of “violating international regulations.”

Britain has warned Iran it would take “robust” action in response as the UK government’s emergency response committee, known as COBRA,  meets on Monday to discuss the situation.

Iran’s actions in the strait came just hours after authorities in Gibraltar agreed to extend the detention of an Iranian oil tanker in its custody for 30 days.

The ship– Grace 1– was seized by British authorities on July 4, accused of attempting to transport oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.

It is expected that there will be a rise in global oil price.

Former governor, Orji Kalu opens defense in alleged N7.6 billion fraud trial

Amos ABBA
-
0
Former governor, Orji Kalu opens defense in alleged N7.6 billion fraud trial

FORMER governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, on Monday opened his defence in an alleged N7.6 billion fraud trial at the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos State.

Kalu was arraigned alongside, a former Abia state Commissioner for Finance, Ude Udeogu, and a company, Slok Nigeria Limited, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on 39 count charges bordering on fraud and money laundering.

Justice Mohammed Idris, the presiding judge at the resumed sitting allowed the former governor to open his defence.

Kalu, a senator representing Abia North Senatorial District, had allegedly committed the offence between August 2001 and October 2005 when he was the governor of Abia State.

The EFCC had on May 2018, through its counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, closed its cases after calling 19 witnesses against Kalu but he countered the prosecution by filing a no-case submission, which was dismissed by the trial court on July 2018.

Kalu appealed the ruling at the Court of Appeal, as he sought to upturn the judgement of the high court.

In April 2019, the Appellate Court in a lead judgement by Justice M.L. Garba upheld the decision of the lower court and dismissed the appeals filed by Kalu’s co-defendants challenging the jurisdiction of the court, following the promotion of Justice Idris to the Court of Appeal.

The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, also, issued a fresh fiat to Justice Idris to conclude the case.

At the resumed hearing, defence counsel, Awa Kalu, SAN, informed the court that he received a letter from the prosecution informing him of the resumption of the case.

Kalu’s lawyer, requested a short adjournment for the defence, to open its case while he announced the absence of the second and third defendants, Udeogo and Slok Nigeria Limited from the proceeding.

The defence counsel also told the court that he had to rush down to Lagos from Abuja yesterday without the case file due to the fact that his Secretary, whom he said was bereaved, could not prepare the case file.

Kalu’s lawyer, therefore, asked the court for a short adjournment for the defence to open its case.

Justice Idris also held that the absence of counsels to the second and third defendants could not be justified, and therefore, ordered Kalu to open his defence.

Led in evidence by his counsel, Kalu told the court his name and stated that he was a manufacturer of home goods until he resigned some weeks ago to become a Senator.

He also told the court that he had pleaded “not guilty” to all the 39-count charges preferred against him by the EFCC and stating he was aware that the trial was a joint trial involving Ude Udeogo and Slok Nigeria Limited.

Kalu’s lawyer, at that point, re-applied for an adjournment of the case as the prosecution did not object to the prayer of the first defendant’s counsel for an adjournment.

Consequently, Justice Idris adjourned the case to August 2019, for “continuation of defence” and further held that “the proceedings will continue on a day-to-day basis till it is concluded.”

17-year old Nigerian shot dead in South Africa

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
-
0
17-year old Nigerian shot dead in South Africa

The Nigerian Union in South Africa has said that another Nigerian, a 17-year-old Chinoso Dennis Obiaju has been shot dead in the former apartheid country.

According to the union, Obiaju who was in high school was reportedly shot dead in Johannesburg

This is coming barely one month after Elizabeth Obianuju Ndubisi, a deputy Director General of Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria(CIIN) was found dead in a hotel room in Johannesburg, South Africa.

President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Adetola Olubajo who confirmed the killing, stated that the deceased until his death lived in Roodeprt, Johannesburg with his guardian, Mike Nsofor.

“He went to buy an item from a shop with his friend and someone chased and opened fire on them, killing him,” Olubajo said quoting guardian to the deceased.

He noted that late Obiaju was shot about 6.30pm on Saturday.

“He was born here I learnt and the mother is in the U.S.,”the president said, adding, ” I have spoken to Mike Nsofor to pass the Nigerian community’s condolences and call for justice to be served in this case as anybody who hunts down a young schoolboy couldn’t have any justifiable reasons.”

He added that the family has resolved to bury the deceased in South Africa, noting that the union’s leaders in Johannesburg would be contacting him (the guardian) on the developments.

Olubajo who appealed to the Federal Government of Nigeria to protect Nigerians abroad said the union would visit the police on Monday to finalise on the registry and provision of his papers.

The Nigerian Senate early July warned the South African government when it expressed concerns over the incessant killings of Nigerians in the foreign country.

Unconfirmed data put the casualty figure of Nigerians killed in South Africa at between 117 and 200.

Odinkalu, former NHRC boss, sues commission over plans to ‘force staff to sign oath of secrecy’

'Kunle ADEBAJO
-
0
Odinkalu, former NHRC boss, sues commission over plans to ‘force staff to sign oath of secrecy’

A former chairman the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chidi Odinkalu has sued the Commission for directing its workers to sign an oath of secrecy, which he argues to be unlawful.

With suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/852, the action was filed at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Monday.

The defendants are the NHRC; Anthony Ojukwu, Executive Secretary of the commission; the Nigeria Civil Service Union; and Efem Atu, chairman of the union.

Odinkalu, a lawyer and human rights activist, said in the originating motion on notice that the NHRC and its chairman, with the backing of the union, is administering an oath of secrecy and confidentiality.

The motion was signed by Godwin Chigbu, the applicant’s lawyer.

“We have today filed a suit against Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, and its staff union, before the Federal High Court in Abuja asking the Court to determine the legality of the Oath of Secrecy that the Commission’s Management is forcing staff to sign,” Odinkalu tweeted on Monday.

He asked the court to declare that this oath is “incompatible with the rights guaranteed under section 39(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Article 9(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights; and the right to receive, access, or request for and obtain information held by public institutions in Nigeria pursuant to Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act.”

He asked also that the oath be declared null and void, as well as beyond the powers conferred on the human rights commission by the Act that established it.

The former NHRC chairman also urged the court to declare that the oath of secrecy violates his rights to freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution and other laws, and likewise violates NHRC’s statutory mandate to protect human rights.

In his supporting affidavit, Odinkalu stated that, acting on behalf of Ojukwu, Ibe Obidigwe through an internal memo dated July 3 directed all unit and departmental heads and state coordinators of NHRC to “distribute copies of an oath of secrecy declaration to staff of their various departments/units etc to subscribe and return same to the 1st Respondent‘s Human Resources Management Department”.

“A copy of the oath of secrecy declaration document to be subscribed by the staff of the 1st respondent (NHRC) was attached to the said internal memo or circular dated 3rd July, 2019,” the affidavit added.

“In the desperate bid of the 1st and 2nd respondents to achieve their purpose of compelling or getting the staff of the 1st respondent to subscribe to the said oath of secrecy, had a meeting with the 3rd respondent, the Nigeria Civil Service Union (NHRC branch), on 5th July, 2019 and enlisted the cooperation of the 3rd respondent to get its members to subscribe to the said oath of secrecy.”

DCP killed,journalist injured, properties destroyed as Police, Shiites clash in Abuja

Amos ABBA
-
0
DCP killed,journalist injured, properties destroyed as Police, Shiites clash in Abuja

 

A Channels Television reporter was on Monday  hit by a stray bullet during a clash between members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and men of the Nigeria Police in Abuja when a protest by the former turned violent.

The injured reporter identified as Precious Owolabi was on assignment covering the protest when he was  hit in the stomach. He was taken to an undisclosed hospital.

Reports say police used live bullets against the IMN members also known as Shiites who were protesting the continued detention of their leader, Ibrahim El-zakzaky.

Also, The PUNCH reported that a senior police officer, Umar Usman ,a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) who was in charge of Operations at the FCT Police Command was shot dead in the clash.

Killed DCP Umar Usman. Photo Credit: PR Nigeria

Umar was reportedly gunned down as he tried to pacify the rampaging Shi’ite members who disrupted commercial activities and vehicular movement during the protest.

He was immediately taken to an undisclosed hospital where he gave up the ghost.

During the violent clash that took place at the Federal Secretariat axis of the nation’s capital, an ambulance emergency response bay belonging to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and emergency vehicles were also set ablaze by the angry Shiite members.

Eyewitnesses said the Shiite members started their usual procession from the popular Nitel junction at Wuse 2 to demand the release of their detained leader who was arrested in December 2015 following a clash between his members and men of Nigerian Army in Zaria.

But Monday protest turned violent after police attempted to disrupt their procession by cordoning the road leading to the National Assembly.

Unconfirmed reports said the Shiite protesters were using petrol bombs against the police.

No casualty figure has been released by police from the clash, however a video nicked from a Twitter post shows a man lying motionless on the ground while an emergency vehicle was on fire.

However, calls placed to the Police spokesperson of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) command, Anjuguri Manza, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) was unanswered at the time of filing this report.

The police had earlier alerted the public of the violent protest going on in some parts of FCT. Police spokesperson, Frank Mba who issued a statement about violent protest urged citizens to be calm and avoid the affected areas said the police will keep the public abreast with further development.

The Presidency had earlier called on the members of the IMN to stop protesting as El-Zakzakky’s case had been taken up by the Kaduna State Government.

After the violent clash between Shiite members and the police at the National Assembly complex two weeks ago, which left two members of the sect dead and others injured, police issued a restriction order that no protest should go beyond the Unity Fountain.

 

Nigeria, Germany’s Siemens sign agreement to increase power supply

Rebecca Akinremi
-
0
Nigeria, Germany’s Siemens sign agreement to increase power supply

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has signed an agreement with a German technology firm, Siemens AG, to “dramatically” improve Nigeria’s reliable power supply to 11,000 megawatts by 2023.

According to the deal, the Phase1 will be completed in two years and Phase2 in 2023.

President Buhari agreed to the electricity roadmap with Siemens on Monday after meeting with Joe Kaeser, president of the German technology firm at the State House, Abuja.

The deal was the product of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s meeting with Buhari on August 31, 2018.

During their meeting, Merkel and Buhari expressed commitment for future cooperation to support economic growth and development in Nigeria.

Buhari met with Kaeser during the meeting, who pledged to develop a feasible roadmap to modernise Nigeria’s electricity grid with support from the German Government.

“Today, in partnership with the German Government and Siemens AG, we are making an important move forward in addressing Nigeria’s electricity challenge. Our goal is a simple one: to deliver more electricity to Nigerian businesses and homes,” the president said after signing the deal.

He challenged Siemens and other partners to work hard in achieving “7,000 megawatts (MW) of reliable power supply by 2021 and 11,000 megawatts by 2023 – in phases 1 and 2 respectively”.

According to the Nigeria Electricity System Operator (NESO), the highest megawatts‘ generation  as of July 20, 2019 was 5,016.50 MW while the lowest was 3,139.80 MW.

This amounts to an average of 4,078 megawatts of power supply as of July 20.

President Buhari said only an average of 4,000 megawatts reliably reaches consumers.

“Despite over 13,000 megawatts of power generation capacity, only an average of 4,000 megawatts reliably reaches consumers,” he said.

He said earlier attempts at solving the electricity problem in the country yielded “an imbalance between the amount of power generated and the amount available for consumers”.

“This Government’s priority was to stabilise the power generation and gas supply sector through the Payment Assurance Facility, which led to a peak power supply of 5,222 MW,”he added.

He however noted that the constraints remained at the transmission and distribution systems.

“This is why I directed my team to ask Siemens and our Nigerian stakeholders to first focus on fixing the transmission and distribution infrastructure – especially around economic centres where jobs are created.

“Whilst it was evident that more needed to be done to upgrade the sub-transmission and distribution system, our Government was initially reluctant to intervene as the distribution sector is already privatised,” said Buhari.

After positive feedback from private-sector owners of the distribution companies, Buhari said they all endorsed the Government’s intervention to engage Siemens on the end-to-end plan to modernise the electricity grid.

By solving the electricity hitches in the country, president Buhari hopes to improve investor confidence, create jobs, reduce the cost of doing business and encourage more economic growth.

However, he said the new project would not be the solution to all problems in the power sector.

Siemens is a global powerhouse that helped countries like Egypt, Iraq in improving their electricity supply.

Siemens had successfully managed to boost Egypt’s power generation capacity by over 40 per cent by connecting 14.4 gigawatts to the Egyptian national grid.

This is enough power to supply over 40 million Egyptians with reliable electricity and provide much-needed power to different industrial sectors.

The CEO said the Egypt Megaproject that transforms the country’s power landscape would serve as a  “blueprint for building up power infrastructure in the Middle East and all over the world”.

1...2,3282,3292,330...3,440Page 2,329 of 3,440