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Buhari, Jonathan, Jega Win Joint Person Of The Year Award

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Buhari, Jonathan, Jega Win Joint Person Of The Year Award

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The trio of President Muhammadu Buhari, former President Goodluck Jonathan and former chairman of the Independent national Electoral Commission, INEC, Attahiru Jega, has emerged winners of the Leadership Person of the year award for their roles in the 2015 general election in Nigeria.

The award ceremony was held at the Transcorp Hilton congress hall in Abuja on Thursday.

Chairman of the Leadership Newspaper group, Sam Nda-Isaiah, in his opening speech said “Today’s event is basically to celebrate our democracy because… several doomsday pundits (had) concluded that the (2015) election might spell the end of Nigeria as we know it” were it not for the patriotism of the three men being celebrated.

“The story of the 2015 election will be told to many generations,” Nda-Isaiah said, “If you think this is no big deal, you only need to listen to Donald Trump stumping for the American presidency.”

President Buhari, in his speech noted that “the events of 2015 … marked a watershed in the political history of our country.

“It is, therefore, our commitment to this ideal, the patriotic zeal of President Jonathan, the impartiality of the electoral umpire, INEC and exemplary conduct of the political parties … that we collectively disappointed the prophets of doom who had predicted the disintegration of the country…

He added that Nigeria’s democracy has become stronger following the 2015 elections as Nigerians “now have more faith in the electoral system in the sense that their votes would count when choosing political leaders at various levels.”

Buhari called on the media to support government’s agenda “to defeat terrorism and violent extremism in the country, fight corruption and diversify the economy to create jobs for our teeming population and generally improve the standard of living of Nigerians.”

The ceremony also featured presentation of awards to various categories of Nigerians among which were: Young person of the Year – Chibok girls; Governor of the year – Ibrahim Damkwambo of Gombe state; Public service of the year – Boboye Oyeyemi, FRSC Corp Marshal.

Former President Jonathan was represented at the event by Tanimu Turaki, former minister for special duties.

NNPC Commends Defence Intelligence On Crude Oil Theft

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NNPC Commends Defence Intelligence On Crude Oil Theft
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Maikanti Baru, NNPC, GMD

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has commended the Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA, for its support over the years, especially in the area of recovery of stolen crude.

Group managing Director of the corporation, Maikantu Baru, gave the commendation during a courtesy visit to the DIA chief, Mohammed Usman, an Air Vice Marshal, on Thursday in Abuja.

Baru said the aim of the visit was to seek for more collaboration and support “on matters of strategic national importance as it affects our operations.”

He noted that “The impacts of the despicable acts of pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft on our operations are huge; the losses are mind-boggling.

“Other impacts are loss of lives, high cost of operations, refinery shutdown, fuel crisis and environmental degradation,” he said.

The NNPC GMD promised that the corporation will continue to strengthen its partnership with the DIA and other government security agencies in securing and safeguarding national assets.

“We are committed to collaborating with the DIA towards eliminating haemorrhage of losses, revenue deferments and energy security threats,” he stated.

Baru revealed that part of the NNPC’s twelve business focus areas include the establishment of a security advisory council to renew its strategies and security architecture.

“The security advisory council will ensure robust community engagement and regularly provide crucial inputs to the national security team,” he explained.

In his response, the DIA chief promised continued partnership with the NNPC in protecting the nation’s oil facilities.

“The problem in the Oil and Gas sector is something that should worry every Nigerian because it has a direct bearing on our economy,” Usman said.

“The DIA will continue to support the NNPC towards ensuring the security of the nation’s oil and gas facilities.

“The challenges before us today are huge. I urge the NNPC and other IOCs (International Oil Companies) to identify the most critical infrastructure for us to come and assist them.

“I assure u that whatever we can do to help NNPC overcome these security challenges, we will do it in the interest of our nation,” he promised.

Walter Onnoghen May Be Next Chief Justice of Nigeria

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Walter Onnoghen May Be Next Chief Justice of Nigeria
CJN Mahmud Mohammed will retire on November 10, after attainig the compulsory retirement age of 70 years
CJN Mahmud Mohammed will retire on November 10 on the attainment the compulsory retirement age of 70 years

The Federal Judicial Service Commission has recommended a new Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, to the National Judicial Council for further recommendation to President Muhammadu Buhari.

He is Justice Walter Onnoghen, who is expected to replace Justice Mahmud Mohammed when his tenure ends on the attainment of the compulsory retirement age of 70, on November 10.

Sources within the NJC said the recommendation was made on Wednesday night, as part of efforts to ensure that the office of the CJN does not remain vacant at the end of Mahmud’s tenure.

Justice Onnoghen, born on December 22, 1950, is a native of Biase Local government area of Cross Rivers State.

After his primary education in his hometown, he proceeded to Ghana for his secondary and University education, graduating from the University of Ghana, Legon, in 1977, with a second Class Upper Division.

He attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, between 1977, and worked in the Lagos Justice ministry between 1978 and 1979.

Onnoghen became the Principal Partner and Head of Chamber of Walter Onneghen and Associates in Calabar in 1988 before he was appointed a high court judge, under the Cross Rivers state judiciary a year later.

In 1998, he was made a Justice of the Court of Appeal and was there till 2005 when he became Judge of the Supreme Court.

He is member of the Supreme Court’s body of benchers and a life bencher, as well as a fellow of the Chattered Institute of Arbitrators.

Striking Bayelsa Teachers Reach Truce With Gov. Dickson

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Striking Bayelsa Teachers Reach Truce With Gov. Dickson
striking-bayelsa-teachers-reach-truce-with-gov-dickson
Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson

Teachers of government ‎owned primary and secondary schools in Bayelsa have agreed to call off their ongoing industrial action and return to their classrooms, after a meeting with Governor Seriake Dickson on Thursday.

At the meeting, the state government and the striking teachers agreed on the modalities of payment of the salaries.

Jonathan Obuebite, the state’s commissioner of information, said in a statement that governor Dickson is saddened that students in public schools were still at home.

He noted that the meeting between the teachers and the state government was in commemoration of the 2016 World Teachers Day and it was used to address some of the challenges faced by teachers in the state.

“At the meeting solutions were proffered and the governor also thanked the principals for their show of understanding and support  to his administration,” The commissioner stated.

“Dickson after listening to complaints by some principals assured them that henceforth teachers would be paid first every month.

“To achieve that he said a new bank would be used for teachers alone to avert any form of delay in payment and he used the meeting to recognise and congratulate some honest and dedicated principals like Mr Hitler the principle of CSS Elegbegbiri who refunded money that was over paid to his school.”

Obuebite said the teachers were full of commendations for the governor at the end of the meeting, saying that his sincerity in ensuring that the strike was called off tells a lot about his commitment to education.

Appeal Court Reserves Judgement In Saraki’s Trial

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Appeal Court Reserves Judgement In Saraki’s Trial
Sarakiiii
Senate President, Bukola Saraki

The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal has reserved its judgement in the appeal filed by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, against his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.

Saraki is insisting that he should have been invited by the Code of Conduct Bureau to make clarifications on his asset declaration before charges were filed against him at the tribunal.

When trial resumed on Thursday, counsel to Saraki, Kanu Agabi, a senior advocate, told the court that the statement of his client must be part of an indispensable evidence before the tribunal.

“If you bring an accused to court without his statement, it can do damage to his case. A pre-action notice is not unconstitutional,” Agabi told the panel of appeal court justices led by Justice Abdul Aboki.

“The tribunal had been told to apply the same procedure it adopted in similar cases. If you sanction the attitude that inferior court can depart from their decisions, it will be a bad precedent.

“Legislation is subject to judicial challenge. If it is a precedent, my client can’t be treated differently.

Agabi also pointed out that “This action was filed 13 years after the case was filed. It is not in the interest of justice that you bring a man to court 13years after he had left office.”

He also noted that “only the CCB can file action at the CCT and not the EFCC or ICPC.”

Rotimi Jacobs, counsel to the federal government, urged the court to dismiss the appeal.

He argued that once the CCB finds an infraction in an asset declaration form, the onus is on the defendant to prove his innocence before the tribunal adding that “the issue of fair hearing does not appear in this case.”

After the parties had adopted their written addresses, Justice Aboki announced that the date of the judgment would be communicated to them.

The notice of appeal was filed on March 24 after Saraki’s motion challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal was dismissed.

APGA Suspends National Chairman

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APGA Suspends National Chairman
Apga's National Chairman, Ike Oye
Apga’s National Chairman, Ike Oye

The National Working Committee, NWC, of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Ike Oye, for alleged gross misconduct.

The decision was reached at the NWC monthly meeting in Abuja on Thursday.

Deputy National Secretary of the party, Jerry Obasi, told newsmen that the action was in keeping with the provisions of the party’s constitution, following alleged constitutional breaches and inordinate practices by the chairman and some other national officers.

He added that the NWC had to act so as to save the party from impending destruction and reposition it to greatness.

Also suspended alongside Oye were: the deputy national chairman (North), Abubakar Adamu and deputy national chairman, Chief Uchenna Okogbuo, both of whom were also accused of several constitutional breaches.

Some of the allegations levelled against them include not involving the NWC in making electoral regulations as well as not involving the NWC in the day to day running of the party, which violates article 12 (3) of the party’s constitution among others.

National Assembly To Summon Buhari Over Economy

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National Assembly To Summon Buhari Over Economy
President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari

The Senate has passed a motion to invite President Muhammadu Buhari to address a joint session of the National Assembly on efforts being made to take the country out of recession.

The motion was passed during plenary on Thursday in agreement with a similar resolution by the House of Representatives.

A short statement posted on the social media handle of the Senate read: “The Senate just concurred with House of Representative to invite President Muhammadu Buhari to Appear before a Joint Session of National Assembly, Abuja to explain steps being taken to end recession.”

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Nigeria Says Europe Blocking Efforts To Boost Electricity

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Nigeria Says Europe Blocking Efforts To Boost Electricity
Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun
Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun

The Nigerian government is accusing powerful western countries of blocking its efforts to boost electricity generation through the use of coal.

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, made this known during the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, IMF, General Meetings, on Wednesday, in Washington, U.S.A.

Speaking on the need to address infrastructure gaps in developing countries, Adeosun said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration takes the issue of improved power supply very seriously in order to boost the country’s economy.

She added, however, that Nigeria was not getting the much needed support from western nations.

She said: “We want to build a coal power plant because we are a country blessed with coal, yet we have power problem. So it doesn’t take a genius to work out that it will make sense to build a coal power plant.”

“However, we are being blocked from doing so, because it is not green. This is not fair because they have an entire western industrialisation that was built on coal-fired energy.

“This is the competitive advantage that was used to develop Europe, yet now that Nigeria wants to do it, they say it’s not green, so we cannot.

“They suggest that we use solar and wind, which is the more expensive. So yes, Africa must invest in its infrastructure, but we must also make sure that the playing field is level.”

The finance minister said that though there was the need for foreign borrowing to finance Nigeria’s infrastructure gap, the strategy was to get the cheapest money.

Adeosun pointed out that the debt to GDP ratio in Nigeria is low but that the cost of servicing those loans was high.

“Right now, we are being very conservative about our debt and we are trying to get the cheapest money possible from multilateral agencies,” she said.

“We are working very hard to make sure that we get multilateral funds first before we go to the euro bond market, which is a little bit more expensive.”

 

Another Indigenous Company Threatens To Leave Nigeria

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Another Indigenous Company Threatens To Leave Nigeria

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An indigenous food company has threatened to move its business out of Nigeria if the government does not put policies in place to encourage the manufacturing sector.

Eric Umeofia, the Chief Executive Officer of Erisco foods limited issued the threat when he addressed a press conference on Wednesday in Lagos, accusing Nigerian authorities of favouring foreigners to the detriment of indigenous manufacturers.

He specifically mentioned the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, as government institutions whose policies do not promote local manufacturing.

Umeofia said about 1,500 workers of the company may be sacked in the next 30 days if the situation remains the same.

The CEO pointed out that his business was doing well in Dubai and Angola before he decided to move his investment worth over $150 million down to Nigeria.

“We brought our investment down to Nigeria, worth over USD150 million and invested it in our only country – Nigeria to process 450,000 metric tons of tomato paste and ketchup annually.

“Presently, we have over 2,000 workers but producing below 20% capacity utilization of our plant since inception,” he lamented.

Umeofia alleged that the CBN allocated foreign exchange to foreigners to import frozen fish and paste that could be produced locally while it refused to allocate any forex to Erisco for the past three months to bring in raw materials.

He added that an Indian firm was recently allocated USD15.1m at N280.00/1USD while Erisco continues to run its factory with forex sourced from the parallel market at over N450/USD1.

The visibly unhappy CEO said that his workforce presently stands at 2050 while another 50 would have resumed by next Monday but the recruitment exercise had to be suspended.

Journalists at the conference witnessed a peaceful protest by more than one thousand workers of the company, calling on the federal government to save their jobs as the CEO threatened to relocate.

Kidnapped Former Minister, Husband Regain Freedom

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Kidnapped Former Minister, Husband Regain Freedom

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Former Minister of Environment, Laurentia Mallam and her husband, who were kidnapped by gunmen along Kaduna-Bwari highway on Monday, have regained their freedom.

Aliyu Usman, spokesman of Kaduna State Police Command, confirmed the development to journalists, saying that the couple were rescued at about 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

He however declined to give more details on how they were rescued, saying only that both of them were in stable condition.

It was not clear whether a ransom was paid, as the kidnappers were reported to have demanded a N10 million ransom.

According to the police spokesman, the former Minister and her husband were abducted along Bwari-Jere road on their way to Kaduna from Abuja.

Kidnapping has been on the increase in different parts of the country, especially at this period that the nation is facing its worst economic situation in decades.

Last week, the wife of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, was kidnapped in Edo State, though she was later rescued less than 24 hours later.

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