President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Bisi Adegbuyi as Post-Master General/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Postal Services, NIPOST.
This is contained in a statement issued by Bolaji Adebiyi, director media in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The appointment is coming 11 months after the retirement of former Post Master General, Ibrahim Baba who had handed over to the deputy postmaster general (engineering and technical) Enoch Ogun, the most senior official in the postal agency.
Ogun was sacked in March this year following a rift between the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, and the Nigerian Postal Service over the collection of stamp duty.
Soldiers, with help from the youth vigilante group, Civilian JTF, on Monday night succeeded in preventing an incursion into a village in Borno State by Boko Haram members.
The attempted attack, the army announced, took place around 8:00pm at Yauri village, near the state capital, Maiduguri.
“In the encounter, the troops killed 5 of the attackers and recovered 2 AK-47 rifles, 1 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), one 60mm Mortar Tube, 1 Fabrique Nationale (FN) rifle, 2 Dane Guns, 2 AK-47 rifle magazines, 2 FN rifle magazines, 131 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO) ammunition, 31 rounds of 7.62mm (Special) ammunitions, a 60mm Bomb,10 Bicycles and the sum of N31,275.00 from the terrorists,” a statement by army spokesperson, Sani Usman, a Colonel, read.
The army announced that calm has returned, with troops deployed in and around the village.
The Federal Government has announced sweeping changes in the Ministry of Education with the replacement of 17 Chief Executives of parastatals and agencies under the Ministry.
This was contained in a statement issued on Monday evening by the Deputy Director of Press and Public Relations in the Education Ministry, Ben Bem Goong.
The statement said four Chief Executives whose tenures were yet to elapse were retained, while others including the Registrar and Chief Executive of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board, JAMB, Dibu Ojerinde were relieved of their appointments.
The former JAMB boss was replaced by Ishaq Oloyede, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin.
The 17 agencies affected and their new Chief Executives include: Nigerian Institute for Education Planning and Administration, Lilian Salami; National Examinations Council, Charles Uwakwe; National Universities Commission, Abubakar Rasheed; Nomadic Education Commission, Bashir Usman; and National Library of Nigeria, Lanre Aina.
Others are National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education, Abba Aladu; Universal Basic Education, Hameed Bobboyi; National Commission for Colleges of Education, Bappah Aliyu; Computer Registration Council of Nigeria, Afolabi Aderint; National Business and Technical Examinations Board, Isioma Isiugo-Abanihe; and Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, Sunday Ajiboye.
The new appointees also included Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Abdullahi Baffa; National Mathematical Centre, Steven Onah; Librarian Registration Council of Nigeria, Michael Afolabi and National Teachers Institute, Garba Azare.
Newly Appointed
Agencies/Parastatals
Prof Abubakar Adamu Rasheed
National Universities Commission (NUC)
Mrs. Lilian Salami
Nigerian Institute for Education Planning and Administration
Dr. Hameed Bobboyi
Universal Basic Education
Prof Lanre Aina
National Library of Nigeria
Prof Charles Uwakwe
National Examinations Council
Prof Abba Aladu
National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult, and Non-Formal Education
Prof Bashir Usman
Nomadic Education Commission
Prof Isioma Isiugo-Abanihe
National Business and technical Examinations Board
Prof Sunday Josiah Ajiboye
Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria
Afolabi Aderinto
Computer Registration Council of Nigeria
Prof Bappah Aliyu
National Commission for Colleges of Education
Dr. Abdullahi Bichi Baffa
Tertiary Education Trust Fund
Prof Garba Dahuwa Azare
National Teachers Institute
Prof Michael Afolabi
Librarian Registration Council of Nigeria
Prof Steven Ejugwu Onah
National Mathematical Centre
Prof Ishaq Oloyede
Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB
Prof Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche
National Institute of Nigerian Languages
Those retained included the Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council, Samaila Junaidu; Nigerian French Language Village, Rauf Adebisi; National Board for Technical Education, Mas’ud Kazaure and National Arabic Language Village, Muhammad Mu’az.
The appointments took effect from Monday, August 1 and the new appointees are expected to report at the office of the Education Minister on Tuesday, August 02, for inauguration.
The Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Sam Olumekun, has assured that the upcoming governorship election in the state would not be declared inconclusive.
Olumekun was speaking in Benin on Monday during a voter education implementation meeting.
“We want to assure the people that we are prepared to conduct a conclusive governorship election on September 10,” he said.
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC National Chairman explained that inconclusive elections were no fault of INEC’s. He said they are as a result of incidents of violence and irregularities always caused by political parties.
He said the aim of the meeting was to find ways of better educating voters in the state ahead of the election that has been scheduled to hold on September 10, adding that elections in Nigeria appear difficult because politicians see politics as a do-or-die affair.
Other participants at the event called for more collaboration between the electoral umpire and other interest groups, including civil society organizations, the media and even physically challenged persons in order to achieve the desired result.
The leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has exonerated himself from the ongoing budget-padding brouhaha rocking the green chamber of the National assembly, while urging Nigerians not to judge the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara and the three other principal officers currently embroiled in the controversy.
The Lagos State lawmaker made the appeal in a statement to his colleagues and made available to National Assembly reporters on Monday.
“Yes, allegations have been made but I strongly believe judgment should not be passed based on allegations. We operate a constitutional democracy and we must at all times submit to its dictates and ethos. All parties are innocent until otherwise proven. This should be our guide. I plead with all members. The mudslinging must stop,” Gbajabiamila stated.
The former top contender for the post of Speaker also denied the rumuors making the rounds in the National Assembly that he is working against Dogara behind the scenes and supporting Abdulmumin Jibrin, the former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, who started the series of allegations shortly after being removed from his post by the speaker.
He stated: “Since the budget controversy that engulfed the House about a week ago, I have pointedly maintained a dignified silence. I did this for the sake of the institution I represent and which I have labored hard to grow and protect, knowing that whatever I say could be impactful both within the House and outside it.
“I was determined to keep in place the glue that holds an otherwise fragmented House, protect its integrity and at the same time avoid eroding the little confidence and vestiges of hope Nigerians have in us.
“Unfortunately, the controversy has now taken a different turn following the rather strange if not comical text making the rounds amongst members about my complicity in this rather sordid matter. I am being dragged into an arena I tried very hard to stay out of only for the good of the House.
“The Speakership election has come and gone. The election was divisive and acrimonious but I have since worked hard to heal the wounds some of which still fester amongst members on both sides.
“It is my responsibility to bring all tendencies in a House I lead together and I have worked well with the Speaker and all other Principal officers in a bi partisan manner and in the interest of the institution and the country.
“This text message, which desperately seeks to finger me in some macabre plot to destabilize the House is a throw-back and echoes our dark post Speakership election history. The resurfacing or resurgence of the faceless text messengers will not help us as a House and let me quickly add that it will fail.
“My strongest critics and biggest political adversaries in the House cannot deny the fact that my commitment has always been to strengthen the legislature and its processes and our democracy as a whole.
“I consider everyone a friend and colleague and urge that as we collectively work towards a stronger legislature and strive to deepen our democracy, we do not pull back the hands of the clock nor lose sight of the enormous responsibility placed upon us by providence as members of a critical arm of government.”
“On the budget issue at hand, it is clear that our budget process needs radical reform and very quickly too,” Gbajabiamila concluded.
Three people were killed in a flooding disaster that occurred on Sunday evening in Hayin Gwarmai Village in Bebeji Local Government Area of Kano State, while foodstuff and cash crop running into several millions of naira were swept away.
Mudansiru Bebeji, chairman of the local government told journalists on Monday that several farmlands in the area were also washed away by the flood and houses were destroyed.
He called on the federal government to come to the aid of the affected persons in order to alleviate their plight.
The Director of operations in the Kano State Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation Agency, SERERA, Abdullahi Dambatta, however said the agency had not been officially informed of the incident by the local government authorities.
He said the agency would forward the list of affected persons to the state government for assistance as soon as it gets it.
President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged that his administration will abide by the decision of the International Court of Justice on the Nigeria – Cameroun border dispute.
Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu in a press release said the president made the pledge on Mondaywhen he received a United Nations Mission led by a Special Representative of the Secretary General, Mohammed Ibn Chambers, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
President Buhari said that Nigeria will not do anything to hamper the work of the various UN committees on the border.
“We will abide by the law. Having accepted the judgment of the ICJ, we are ready to support the security and logistics requirements of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, CNMC, to carry out the border demarcation,” he said.
The President expressed his total support for the exercise, recalling that as Military Head of State between 1984 and 1985, his administration instituted the demarcation of the Nigeria land borders from Benin to Bakassi and urged that all committees be allowed to carry out their functions in line with the ICJ decision.
Earlier, Mohammed Ibn Chambers, Chairman of CNMC, had informed President Buhari that 2,001 kilometers out of 2,100 kilometers separating Nigeria and Cameroon had been marked, leaving a balance of 99 kilometers to conclude the demarcation.
He expressed hope that the remaining area will be completed latest by the first quarter of next year following the relative calm that has returned to border areas which were captured and held by Boko Haram terrorists.
Three former Niger-Delta militants, who were sent to the UK on scholarship under the amnesty programme, have graduated with First class Honours in their respective disciplines and another eighteen of them graduated with Second Class Upper.
Lucky Azibanagein graduated from the University of Liverpool with a first class in mechanical engineering and Robotic system, while Terubein Fawei and Nicholas Goodness made first class in telecommunication and networking engineering and public relations, respectively, from the University of Bedfordshire.
Coordinator of Presidential Amnesty Programme, Paul Boroh, in a ceremony organised for the students by the Nigerian High Commission in the UK, congratulated the graduates for making Nigeria proud, while restating President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment towards sustaining the amnesty programme.
“President Buhari is ever ready to implement the blueprint upon which the amnesty programme was established. The era of impunity and phoney contracts are gone for good,” Boroh said.
Boroh also called on other militants to lay down their weapons, embrace dialogue and support the president in his agenda to develop the Niger Delta region.
Thirteen communities in Jigawa State have petitioned the kano state government on the preponderance of illegal ramps on federal highways from kano leading to their various communities.
The petition, signed by Ibrahim Gumel, coordinator for the communities, said over 1000 ramps have been illegally constructed on several federal highways in kano, which have made traveling on the roads by trailers and trucks a dangerous and unsafe venture.
The petition said fuel supply to these communities in Jigawa has been affected because of the difficulties tanker drivers experience while traveling on the roads.
The affected communities are: Gudunwawa, Dan Zaki, Jogana, Dausayi, Tsamiyar kara and Gezawa. Others are Guruma, Yarkanya, kwazari, kawo, Dadin Duniya, Gabasawa and Gidan Lagge.
The petition also stated that one of the communities- Gidan Lagge- has not less than 81 illegal ramps.
Part of the petition reads: “The hazard been experienced is threatening the vehicles plying these roads, especially tanker drivers and heavy trucks. This is affecting the supply of petroleum products to these sections of Jigawa state, and this will invariably affect the life of our people. Haulage of farm produce and other materials are becoming difficult, and all these are caused by ramps built on roads that link Jigawa to kano.”
The communities called on the state government to immediately order the removal all illegal ramps on federal highways in the state.
The petition also asked government to initiate a law banning people from constructing ramps illegally on federal roads in the state. As an immediate measure, the communities urged the state government to issue a directive to all communities along federal roads to seek government permission before constructing ramps.
The state commissioner for information, Mohammed Garba, said he was yet to see the petition but stated that the government would be willing to alleviate the suffering of the people.
Dino Melaye talking to the media shortly after submitting the report
Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, Dino Melaye, wants the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to probe Manitoba Hydro International Nigeria Limited for alleged abuse of Public Procurement Act and diversion of funds amounting to N13.8 billion.
The Kogi State lawmaker submitted a petition to this effect to the EFCC in which he alleged that the company was awarded a 3-year management contract to oversee the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, assets and liabilities after the privatisation and unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria to Generating Companies and Distribution Companies by the Bureau of Public Enterprises in March 2012.
Melaye recalled that the cost of the contract was initially $30 million and was subsequently renewed for one more year at the cost of $5.2 million, adding that TCN had over 8000km of 330kv line and 12000km of 12kv connecting many substations within Nigeria.
According to him, investigations conducted uncovered several economic and financial crimes committed by Manitoba and also outright disregard of best practices in TCN.
“In 2015, the company fraudulently diverted funds transferred to the tensions for the 2015 trace maintenance,” Melaye said.
“The company was involved in splitting of contract to avoid TCN Tenders Board and Ministerial Tenders Board as observed in the case of contract of repairs of telecommunications equipment and power stations: 340kv substations (S1 and S2) which amounts to N247,061,796 and N248,859,350 respectively.
“The award of contract verbatim at the cost of N893,000,000 for repair of telecommunications equipment and remote terminal units associated with PHCN (legacy) power stations and TCN 330kv. Though the contract sum was fully paid but there is no evidence that the contract was executed.”
The controversial Senator said that Manitoba contravened the terms of contract it signed with the BPE by failing to ensure probity, accountability and transparency in the management of the TCN, as well as its failure to audit TCN’s account since assumption.
Melaye, who noted that this has led to irregularities in the Market Operations Sector, further stressed that the management contract requires the company to expand the TCN’s wheeling capacity to 6000 megawatts, which was never realised.
He said TCN’s performance under the management of the company has fallen so low that the company inherited 4000 megawatts and has now dropped to 1500 megawatts presently.
Melaye, therefore, called on the anti-graft agency to launch an investigation into the activities of the company, while also calling on the federal government to debar the company due to several contraventions of the BPE Act 2007.
