Your shaft has caved in. Exactly wat happen to my Corolla LE yesterday afternoon....wen I engage the gear it produces grinding sound. I couldn't move the car even for an inch then I called the mechanic and he got a new shaft for 8k and then I move...

Na this guy make me no ritualism�

South Africa retail giant, Shoprite, has announced the commencement of a formal process to discontinue its operation in Nigeria.

Shoprite Holdings Limited made the announcement on Monday in its operational and voluntary trading update for the year ended on June 28, 2020.
The multi-national retail group, which announced a 6.4 per cent increase (R156.9billion) in total sales of merchandise for the outgoing year despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, announced that it took the decision to discontinue its Nigeria operation “following approaches from various potential investors, and in line with our re-evaluation of the group’s operating model in Nigeria.”

“The Board has decided to initiate a formal process to consider the potential sale of all, or a majority stake, in Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Shoprite International Limited. As such, Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited may be classified as a discontinued operation when Shoprite reports its results for the year. Any further updates will be provided to the market at the appropriate time,” the report stated.

While the company’s total sales of merchandise may be on the rise, it is struggling outside South Africa. According to the report, the non-South Africa supermarket operation of the company, excluding Nigeria, contributed a paltry 11.6 per cent to the group sales. Its non-South Africa sales also declined by 1.4 per cent in the year under review. The company blamed this decline on the lockdown announced in several African countries due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Second half constant currency sales growth of 6.3% was significantly impacted by lockdown regulations across the 14 African countries in which we trade. Lockdown restrictions pertaining to store closures; social distancing; transport restrictions; the movement of people; trading hours; workforce limitations and trade in alcohol impacted various regions to differing degrees at different times.”


Shoprite opened its first store in Nigeria in December 2005 and now has a total of 26 stores across eight states in the country including Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The company also claim to have employed more than 2,000 people in Nigeria, of which 99 per cent of them are Nigerians.

Shoprite also claimed to have built more relationships with over 300 Nigeria suppliers, small businesses and farmers.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/406500-breaking-shoprite-to-pull-out-of-nigeria.html

Several N-Power beneficiaries have said they have not received their April stipends, disputing a statement by the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq.

Ms Farouq had on Saturday announced the payment of April stipends to N-Power beneficiaries and further hinted at plans to streamline the programme for better efficiency upon payment of May stipends.

She also admitted that her ministry encountered issues with the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) that caused the delay of payment to the beneficiaries.

The minister’s comments came against the backdrop of the outcry by the beneficiaries for their April stipends amid the economic impacts of the restrictions to contain COVID19 across Nigeria.

“We encountered some delays on the GIFMIS platform but I can now announce that all N-Power beneficiaries from Batch A and B have been paid their April stipends,” the minister said.

NO PAYMENT
However, following the reports of the minister’s announcement, many beneficiaries interviewed by phone and monitored on the social media expressed disagreement, saying no payment was made to them. They called for the resignation of the minister, saying that the delay in monthly payments since she took over the control of the social programme had caused them hardship.

The N-Power is Nigeria’s work-for-cash social assistance scheme with enrollees placed across public health and education establishments in the states. It started under the control of the Vice President but since the commencement of the second tenure of the Buhari administration, Ms Sadiya has been charge.

“I have heard a lot of my colleagues getting their own stipend as of Saturday but I have not received,” an N-Power beneficiary from Adamawa State told PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday. “Also, I know many others who are yet to receive the payment.”

The beneficiary asked not to be named because of fear of possible victimisation.

“I am just confused why all these are happening now, I’m a batch A volunteer and we had never experienced such in the past.


“They (humanitarian ministry) didn’t pay September and October 2019 stipends until November 2019. and November was paid on the 11th December 2019. Fortunately, they paid December stipends in the same December.

“Also they paid January stipend around 23 and 24 February, while the February stipend in March and March stipends was paid in April,” the beneficiary said.

Many Twitter users joined in rejecting the minister’s claim of payments.

Nicholas Michael
@Nicholasunique
Not all of us have seen it abeg, for many of us it's just audio � �

2
23:36 - 23 May 2020
Twitter Ads information and privacy
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@PremiumTimesng
· 23 May 2020
Nigerian govt. pays April stipends to N-Power beneficiaries- Official https:///2Tz4EHN


Nigerian govt. pays April stipends to N-Power beneficiaries- Official
The federal government on Saturday said it has concluded payment of April stipends to beneficiaries under the N-Power programme.

premiumtimesng.com

summer body crooner��
@ChibuezeNwosu2
Nobody from anywhere received anything. They are liars!!

Luqmern Yerqub✌️�
@YLuqmern
Now only God knows when May stipend is coming


Abdullahi Hassan
@KtnAbdallah
Nobody From Katsina State Received The Stipend


23:30 - 23 May 2020 · Katsina, Nigeria
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@PremiumTimesng
· 23 May 2020
Nigerian govt. pays April stipends to N-Power beneficiaries- Official https:///2Tz4EHN


Nigerian govt. pays April stipends to N-Power beneficiaries- Official
The federal government on Saturday said it has concluded payment of April stipends to beneficiaries under the N-Power programme.

premiumtimesng.com

Onyi Globest
@SampsonGlory
Still waiting for my March and April stipend@FMHDSD

23:52 - 23 May 2020
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Also, following a post on the verified Facebook page of N-Power asking, Have you started receiving your stipends?” on Saturday, many beneficiaries said beneficiaries were yet to be paid.

Nelson Confidence on Facebook said “No. You people are just joking with volunteers, but don’t forget that some of us are in the field working as health workers risking our lives in this pandemic period and the encouragement we could get from a mother is to seize our little stipend. God is watching.”

Emannuel Ajefu said, “Not yet. It’s high time you guys start(ed) giving us a concrete explanation as to the cause of the delay in payment since the creation of the new ministry.”

Jude Opara also said “So N-Power your body has reduced to telling lies about a fake payment going on. Shame on you and your government. Can u imagine that no one has witnessed any payment and the Minister went on air to announce she is done with April payment. Big shame on all of you.”

The complaints continued on Monday by many N-Power beneficiaries on social media.

In reaction, a spokesperson to the minister, Salisu Danbatta, said “Let them give you their account details for follow up and finding solutions. In the alternative, they should go to the appropriate officers they have been dealing with to lodge their complaints. That is the procedure.”

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/394507-n-power-beneficiaries-dispute-ministers-claim-of-april-payment.html

Several N-Power beneficiaries have said they have not received their April stipends, disputing a statement by the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq.

Ms Farouq had on Saturday announced the payment of April stipends to N-Power beneficiaries and further hinted at plans to streamline the programme for better efficiency upon payment of May stipends.

She also admitted that her ministry encountered issues with the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) that caused the delay of payment to the beneficiaries.

The minister’s comments came against the backdrop of the outcry by the beneficiaries for their April stipends amid the economic impacts of the restrictions to contain COVID19 across Nigeria.

“We encountered some delays on the GIFMIS platform but I can now announce that all N-Power beneficiaries from Batch A and B have been paid their April stipends,” the minister said.

NO PAYMENT
However, following the reports of the minister’s announcement, many beneficiaries interviewed by phone and monitored on the social media expressed disagreement, saying no payment was made to them. They called for the resignation of the minister, saying that the delay in monthly payments since she took over the control of the social programme had caused them hardship.

The N-Power is Nigeria’s work-for-cash social assistance scheme with enrollees placed across public health and education establishments in the states. It started under the control of the Vice President but since the commencement of the second tenure of the Buhari administration, Ms Sadiya has been charge.

“I have heard a lot of my colleagues getting their own stipend as of Saturday but I have not received,” an N-Power beneficiary from Adamawa State told PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday. “Also, I know many others who are yet to receive the payment.”

The beneficiary asked not to be named because of fear of possible victimisation.

“I am just confused why all these are happening now, I’m a batch A volunteer and we had never experienced such in the past.


“They (humanitarian ministry) didn’t pay September and October 2019 stipends until November 2019. and November was paid on the 11th December 2019. Fortunately, they paid December stipends in the same December.

“Also they paid January stipend around 23 and 24 February, while the February stipend in March and March stipends was paid in April,” the beneficiary said.

Many Twitter users joined in rejecting the minister’s claim of payments.

Nicholas Michael
@Nicholasunique
Not all of us have seen it abeg, for many of us it's just audio � �

2
23:36 - 23 May 2020
Twitter Ads information and privacy
See Nicholas Michael's other Tweets

Premium Times
✔
@PremiumTimesng
· 23 May 2020
Nigerian govt. pays April stipends to N-Power beneficiaries- Official https:///2Tz4EHN


Nigerian govt. pays April stipends to N-Power beneficiaries- Official
The federal government on Saturday said it has concluded payment of April stipends to beneficiaries under the N-Power programme.

premiumtimesng.com

summer body crooner��
@ChibuezeNwosu2
Nobody from anywhere received anything. They are liars!!

Luqmern Yerqub✌️�
@YLuqmern
Now only God knows when May stipend is coming


Abdullahi Hassan
@KtnAbdallah
Nobody From Katsina State Received The Stipend


23:30 - 23 May 2020 · Katsina, Nigeria
Twitter Ads information and privacy
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Premium Times
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@PremiumTimesng
· 23 May 2020
Nigerian govt. pays April stipends to N-Power beneficiaries- Official https:///2Tz4EHN


Nigerian govt. pays April stipends to N-Power beneficiaries- Official
The federal government on Saturday said it has concluded payment of April stipends to beneficiaries under the N-Power programme.

premiumtimesng.com

Onyi Globest
@SampsonGlory
Still waiting for my March and April stipend@FMHDSD

23:52 - 23 May 2020
Twitter Ads information and privacy
See Onyi Globest's other Tweets
Also, following a post on the verified Facebook page of N-Power asking, Have you started receiving your stipends?” on Saturday, many beneficiaries said beneficiaries were yet to be paid.

Nelson Confidence on Facebook said “No. You people are just joking with volunteers, but don’t forget that some of us are in the field working as health workers risking our lives in this pandemic period and the encouragement we could get from a mother is to seize our little stipend. God is watching.”

Emannuel Ajefu said, “Not yet. It’s high time you guys start(ed) giving us a concrete explanation as to the cause of the delay in payment since the creation of the new ministry.”

Jude Opara also said “So N-Power your body has reduced to telling lies about a fake payment going on. Shame on you and your government. Can u imagine that no one has witnessed any payment and the Minister went on air to announce she is done with April payment. Big shame on all of you.”

The complaints continued on Monday by many N-Power beneficiaries on social media.

In reaction, a spokesperson to the minister, Salisu Danbatta, said “Let them give you their account details for follow up and finding solutions. In the alternative, they should go to the appropriate officers they have been dealing with to lodge their complaints. That is the procedure.”

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/394507-n-power-beneficiaries-dispute-ministers-claim-of-april-payment.html

The Kaduna State Government today (Thursday) announced that it will keep its health facilities running and protect staff that are willing to work.

It directed the Ministry of Health to ensure that health facilities run and provide services to the public, with the support of willing workers who must be offered every assistance and protection.

In its official response to the strike notice by health workers, the state government stated that it will not bend to blackmail. The government noted that it is instructive that the strike action was announced on the same day that many health workers were showing evidence on social media of the N450,000 they had received as April 2020 incentive.

Government rejects the strike threat and will regard persons who fail to show up at their assigned places of work as having forfeited their employment. Every health worker that is willing to work is required to sign the register at the Ministry of Health and the health institutions to which they are deployed.

The Ministry of Health has the mandate of the government to ensure that residents of Kaduna State are not deprived of public health services. Every effort will be made to ensure that health facilities keep functioning, staffed by willing workers who will be guaranteed free and safe access to health facilities.

Those who are not willing to work are strongly warned against criminal action such as attempts to impede access to workplaces, harass willing workers or to sabotage facilities and equipment.

To declare strike action amidst the Covid-19 pandemic is naked blackmail, based on the mistaken assumption that the state government will reward irresponsible conduct by some health workers with surrender. The state government will not be misled into granting health workers a special status amongst public servants. The consequences of concessions made along such lines by previous governments have created a sense that some public servants are more precious than others.

Government will not be browbeaten by strike action into excluding health workers from the sacrifices being made by other public servants who are donating 25% of their salary to fund the provision of palliatives for low-income, poor and vulnerable persons that are impacted by the lockdown.

For the avoidance of doubt, the salary deductions introduced in April 2020 apply to everyone who works for Kaduna State Government from the Governor to the most junior civil servant with a take-home pay of more than N50,000 monthly. It does not favour or discriminate against any professional group in the public service. This comprehensive show of solidarity applies to everyone employed by the government, and therefore does not exclude health workers.

However, health workers are being paid additional amounts as part of an Occupational Safety Initiative as follows:


High risk staff are receiving a compensation of N15,000 per day. This refers to all cadres of personnel who are in close contact with Covid-19 patients;.

READ ALSO: Story of Dangote truck arrested for conveying arms is fake – Edo govt
Medium risk staff are receiving N10,000 per day. These are officers involved in taking samples, transferring patients to treatment centres, tracing contacts etc.;

Low risk staff are receiving N5,000 per day.

These classifications were done by the Emergency Operations Committee on which health professionals, including the NMA, are amply represented.

The Kaduna government is also paying a monthly incentive of 10% of net pay to each and every health worker in its hospitals and primary health centres. In addition, the Kaduna State Government has paid premiums for an enhanced insurance package for health workers that raises the death and disability benefits to N5m and N2.5m respectively. The insurance package also includes payment of N100,000 per day for 10 days to health workers who get infected with Covid-19.

The state government regards the other demands made as mere smokescreens to cover the first one. Asking the state government to treat the over 11,000 persons working in the health sector as frontline staff and pay them as such is not a serious request. There is a global shortage of PPEs, but amidst these supply-side difficulties the state government consistently tries to keep its secondary health facilities supplied.

Expanding health sector resilience and capacity to improve access to health services is a cardinal goal of this government. In pursuit of this objective, the government has recruited more health workers, improved health facilities and implemented initiatives of social inclusion like the Contributory Health Insurance Scheme and the supply-chain transformation project of the Kaduna State Health Supplies Management Agency (KASHMA).

The state government pays tribute to the hard work and sacrifice of many health workers who have demonstrated professionalism and commitment in helping to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. These efforts do not deserve to be besmirched by blackmail.

Muyiwa Adekeye

Special Adviser to the Governor (Media & Communication)

21st May 2020

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/394000-kaduna-govt-responds-to-strike-threat-by-states-health-workers.html

The federal government says it has disbursed N43.42 billion (about $120.6 million) to 24 eligible states based on their achievements under the performance-based grant component of the World Bank-assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme in 2018.
The 24 benefiting states who met the eligibility criteria are Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Ondo, Ogun,Oyo, Osun, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe .
Kaduna State, which achieved the highest results, got the highest share of the grant N3.96 billion, while Katsina and Benue got the lowest amount of N540 million each.
The programme, a $750 million wholly-financed loan facility by the World Bank Group affiliate, the International Development Association (IDA), was aimed at promoting the culture of fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainable development by sub-national entities in the country.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said these on Wednesday through the ministry’s spokesperson, Hassan Dodo.
She said the disbursement followed the participation of the 24 eligible states in the recent Annual Performance Assessment (APA) exercise.
Mr Dodo said the assessment was carried out by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF) as the Independent Verification Agent (IVA) in collaboration with a third-party firm, JK Consulting Limited, and the SFTAS Programme Coordination Unit (PCU).
The minister explained that the SFTAS Programme was established by the Nigerian government with the concessional loan of $750 million to support states through the provision of performance-based grants up to about $700 million.
In addition to the grant, technical assistance of about $50 million was also provided to enhance the capacity of the states to achieve the disbursement linked indicators (DLIs) by way of results.
Mrs Ahmed said the DLIs were derived from the country’s 22-point Fiscal Sustainability Plan and the 14 Open Government Partnership (OGP) commitments to strengthen fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainable development across all states of the federation.

Eligibility criteria
On the highlights of the eligibility criteria (EC) the states had to meet to be eligible, these included the online publication of the approved annual budget and audited financial statements for the previous year.
Besides, the DLIs that eligible states recorded to receive grants included achieving improved financial reporting and budget reliability; increased openness and citizens’ engagement in the budget process; improved cash management and reduced revenue leakages through the implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA).
The other DLIs included strengthened Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) collection; biometric registration and Bank Verification Number (BVN) used to reduce payroll fraud.
Also, the states were assessed on the bases of improved procurement practices for increased transparency and value for money; strengthened public debt management and fiscal responsibility framework; improved clearance/reduction of the stock of domestic expenditure arrears; and improved debt sustainability.
“The World Bank-assisted SFTAS Programme is principally to strengthen fiscal management at the State-level so as to ensure effective mobilisation and utilisation of financial resources to the benefit of their citizens in a transparent, accountable and sustainable manner, thereby reducing fiscal risks and encouraging a common set of fiscal behaviours,” the minister said.
She observed that the SFTAS programme could not have come at a better time than now given the dwindling government revenue following the declining oil prices at the international oil market as a result of the current impact of COVID-19.
The current situation of global pandemic, she noted, has further intensified the need for improved practices in fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainability as enunciated in the SFTAS ideals.
The programme began in 2018, with only 24 states meeting the eligibility criteria set by the World Bank.
The other states declared ineligible for 2018 grant, the minister said, failed to publish their annual budgets and audited financial statements online within the timeframe stipulated by the SFTAS Programme Operation Manual (POM).

The other 12 states that missed out on the 2018 grants for failing to meet the eligibility criteria included Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Plateau, Rivers and Zamfara states.
However, the minister said that considering that the SFTAS Programme has provision for different starting points, the 12 states could still participate in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 performance years respective if they meet the EC and DLIs in those years

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/390572-fiscal-transparency-24-states-get-n43-4bn-world-bank-performance-grants.html

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has been accused of dubiously converting the March salary of N-Power beneficiaries to COVID-19 palliatives by the Nigerian Government.

The ministry had delayed the payment of the N-Power beneficiaries for their March salaries for two weeks before payment began on April 14.

It was gathered that the delay in payment was to finalise plans to divert the salaries to palliatives measure for the outbreak of Coronavirus in the country.

In a document exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters, the Humanitarian Ministry spearheaded the move despite a warning by stakeholders in the scheme.

Sources in the ministry disclosed that tagging N-Power salary as Nigerian Government COVID-19 palliatives was a bid to divert funds originally meant for the palliative.

In a bank notification, the payment was tagged “30k FG alert”.

Recall that since the creation of the ministry and transfer of the N-Power scheme from the office of the Vice President to the ministry, there has been delays in the payment of salaries despite approval and release of funds by the Ministry of Finance.

“Payment has always been processed and paid through the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) but the one for the month of March was processed with the Government Integrated Financial and Management Information System (GIFMIS).

“This payment was done by skipping the Treasury Single Account of the Federal Government,” a source in the ministry familiar with the payment told SaharaReporters.

The source added that to be able to carry out the payment, the data of N-Power beneficiaries and others not included in the scheme was uploaded on the GIFMIS platform.

“The payment was done with GIFMIS, which was used to carry out the renaming of the N-Power March salary to COVID-19 palliatives," the source said.

While this was done, some beneficiaries of N-Power were deliberately excluded from the payment of the March salary.

Another source in the ministry also condemned the move, saying desperate politicians were trying to benefit from relief funds for the poor.

"There is an ongoing pressure by some politicians trying hard to loot the money that was billed to be given to poor Nigerians as palliatives and they are ready to go any length to carry out this plan," the source said.

Recall that SaharaReporters had uncovered and reported a plan by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Farouq; President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan; and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to divert funds meant as palliatives by altering the country’s social register.

The minister subsequently asked the lawmakers to nominate individuals from their constituencies to oversee the implementation of the scheme.

http://saharareporters.com/2020/04/23/ministry-humanitarian-affairs-accused-converting-n-power-beneficiaries%E2%80%99-salaries-covid-19

Nigerian lawmakers repeatedly tried to manipulate the list of beneficiaries of the government’s social investment programmes (NSIP), a presidential aide has said.

The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Investments, Maryam Uwais, accused members of the Senate and the House of Representatives of repeatedly attempting to insert names of would be beneficiaries. She said her office resisted the attempts, which may have influenced the recent criticism of the programme by the lawmakers.

Mrs Uwais, who said this in a statement on Wednesday, was responding to the leadership of the National Assembly which faulted the implementation of the Buhari administration’s programmes.

The NSIPs include the school feeding programme for primary school pupils, the N-Power for jobless graduates, the conditional cash transfer for elderly cum vulnerable Nigerians, and the government empowerment programme that includes tradermoni – giving out of micro loans to smalll-scale traders.

The lawmakers recently criticised the approach adopted by the federal government to distribute social grants to Nigerians who suffer the impact of the coronavirus lockdown.

They called for legislation for the programme in line with what it said was global best practices.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, had expressed their concerns at a meeting with the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Farouq, and some officials of the ministry on Tuesday.

The meeting, convened by the leadership of the National Assembly, was against the backdrop of the ongoing federal government interventions aimed at reducing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the most vulnerable Nigerians, following the lockdown order given by Mr Buhari on March 29.

The Manipulation Plot

Mrs Uwais lamented the attempt to insert names of beneficiaries of the programme by the lawmakers, describing it as “regrettable and dangerous”.


The lawmakers had alleged that the beneficiaries “are not known personally to the them” and the National Social Register (NSR) is a scam which needs to be reformed through a process that is “more inclusive of the NASS.”

In response, Mrs Uwais explained that the NSR comprises persons selected by the communities directly, within the constituencies of each of the NASS members.

“No person has been imported from one community to the other. They have been identified as very poor by the communities in which they reside and may not necessarily be known by the lawmakers,” she explained in her statement.

She said the identities and status of the beneficiaries can be verified as it had been done.


“It should be noted that Nigeria has signed a financing Apagreement with the World Bank, in which the process of identification of beneficiaries was set out. Any departure from the process, would place at risk the accessibility to the IDA Credit and the recovered funds from the Abacha family,” she said.

‘Repeated Demand For Inclusion’

“The demand for the inclusion of candidates to the NSR from the NASS has been a recurring issue from the inception of the NSIPs,” Mrs Uwais said. “My role and singular focus has simply been to comply with the terms of Agreement and the MoU entered into by the Federal Government of Nigeria, as well as to establish an objective, efficient and transparent process for uplifting the poor out of poverty through structures and mechanisms that are credible and sustainable.”

“I have consistently reminded both NASS committee chairmen on poverty alleviation that there is no social protection programme in the world in which politicians are responsible for selecting the beneficiaries of cash transfers.

“All successful social protection programmes extract their beneficiaries from an objective community platform, if only to ensure that the poorest of the poor are supported out of poverty in an inclusive community driven and timely manner.”

She explained that the data being collated in each household “enables the accurate and scientific measurement and tracking, to assure of analysis and research towards resolving poverty.”

“Since poverty knows no ethnicity, religion or political affiliation, the process must be insulated from influences that are likely to deviate from achieving the desired objective of alleviating abject poverty, rather than be used for patronage or as compensation for loyalty.

“The tripartite process for identification of cash transfer beneficiaries is in accordance with similar established best practice the world over, as the communities in which the poor reside know who is most in need.”

She said the the various communities take ownership and support the process, if engaged in the identification of the needy.

“While not perfect, the process is as near authentic as is possible in the circumstances, as we continue to strive towards improvement. Building the State Social Registers has been a painstaking and continuous collaborative effort, with huge amount of funds expended in striving to achieve the credibility that would be put to waste, if discarded as suggested.

“Reform is certainly welcome, but not the ‘reform’ that would introduce influence and partisanship into the NSR, thereby making a mockery of the critical data so far collated around the country.”

Manipulation of such programmes and beneficiaries by top politicians is commonplace in Nigeria. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Buhari’s ministers, including transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi, hijacked a Chinese scholarship scheme for Nigerian students to study railway engineering in China.

Applicants who had no godfathers were denied the opportunity of applying while the ministers and other senior officials nominated the eventual beneficiaries of the scholarship.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/386859-nigerian-lawmakers-repeatedly-tried-to-manipulate-nsip-beneficiaries-presidential-aide.html

Nigeria’s response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19)pandemic has caught the attention of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who described it as remarkable.

Speaking during a virtual news briefing in New York on Friday, Mr Guterres singled out Nigeria as one of few developing countries that have shown a remarkable capacity to respond.

“I have to say that some of these developing countries have shown remarkable capacity to respond.

“I was quite impressed to see, for instance, Nigeria putting in place immediately in a stadium and a hospital.

“And I saw difficulties in countries that are much more developed to do quickly the same.

“So, there are efforts done by countries in the developing world that we should point to because they represent a very strong determination.

“But the resources available are, of course, insufficient, and the health services are usually extremely out of proportion with the needs of a pandemic like this,” Mr Guterres said.

The UN Chief spoke in response to a question that sought his opinion on early confinement measures by some countries with fragile health systems to check the spread of the virus.

He was referring to the conversion of the Mobolaji Olufunsho Johnson Stadium in Onikan, Lagos, by the state government to a 101-bed isolation centre for patients.

As of 11 a.m. on Thursday, there were 190 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria, with Lagos accounting for 98 cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).


The state has discharged 23 patients as of Thursday morning, the Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, said, bringing the total recoveries to 24 nationwide.

There had also been a massive response at the national level, including the setting up of a Presidential Task Force to control the virus in the country, with the first case announced on February 28.

The president on Sunday, March 29, directed a lockdown on the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun states, while the NCDC is boosting its testing and contact tracing capacity.


Several state governments in the country including Delta that has yet to record any case of the virus had imposed movement restrictions, among other preventive measures.

Underscoring the importance of prevention, the UN chief stressed that COVID-19 “is a pandemic that must be fought from the very beginning, even before it enters a country.

“To act early rather than later is absolutely essential, because only by acting early we will be able to contain and suppress the disease, and avoid the dramatic economic and social consequences that we are witnessing in so many parts of the world.

“This is particularly true in the developing world, and this is why I’ve been asking for massive support both in the health area and in the economic and social area, from the developed countries and from international financial institutions to the developing countries,’’ he said.

The UN Chief, however, appealed to countries with effective testing, contact tracing and quarantine mechanisms in place to “do much less restrictions of movement and of separation of people.”

(NAN)

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/385822-un-chief-hails-nigerias-response-to-covid-19.html

The Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency has reduced the pump price of petrol to N123.50 per litre from the current price of N125.

This comes about a fortnight after the agency reduced the pump price to N125 from N145.

The reduction is based on the reduced landing cost of petrol into Nigeria which is caused by the global decline of crude oil prices.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how crude oil sold for about $20 a barrel on Monday compared to about $50 a barrel it sold for about two months ago.

Abdulkadir Saidu, the Executive Secretary of PPPRA, who announced the new pump price, said all retail outlets should start selling at the new price from April 1.

Earlier, the state oil firm, NNPC, announced that it had enough petrol in circulation to ensure there was no scarcity of the essential product as millions of Nigerians remain at home because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/385243-nigeria-reduces-fuel-price-to-n123-50-per-litre.html

The trial of former Pension Reform Task Team chairman, Abdulrasheed Maina, commenced on Wednesday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, before Justice Okon Abang with the first prosecution witness, Mairo Bashir of United Bank for Africa, UBA, revealing how she opened several bank accounts for the defendant.

Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, M. S. Abubakar, Mr Bashir informed the court that she is the business manager of United Bank for Africa (UBA) and oversees the affairs of the Business Section of the bank, including sales, operations, generation of deposits, giving of loans to individuals and corporate bodies.

She revealed that sometime in 2011, she solicited for fund from the defendant while he was the chairman of Pension Reforms Task Team and that Mr Maina made a deposit of N3 billion in the UBA which she said, was later transferred to the Treasury Single Account, TSA with CBN around 2012.

To further grow the bank’s deposit base, the witness said she approached Mr Maina for more deposits, prompting the defendant to open 12 accounts for himself and his immediate family members, which included two accounts for the defendant-one in Naira and another in United State Dollars. Also two accounts for the defendant’s wife and accounts for his daughters: Fauzial Abdlrasheed Maina, Fareeda Abdlrasheed Maina and Fadeela Abdlrasheed Maina.

Tesifying further, the witness told the court that she also opened accounts for the defendant’s companies which include: Faizal Farm (i), Faizal Farm (ii) and Common Input Investment Property Ltd, which were also in Naira and Dollar denominations, adding that the defendant was signatory to those companies’ accounts.

The prosecution tendered the account opening packages, and they were admitted in evidence, marked as exhibits A1-30.

Meanwhile, Mr Maina has sacked the team of his defence lawyers, which he presented upon his arraignment, last week, replacing it with a new team, led by Joe-kyari Gadzama, SAN.

Mr Gadzama informed the court that he was not ready to proceed with trial, having only been briefed the night before by Mr Maina’s previous legal team, adding that he was meeting Mr Maina, for the first time in court.

Mr Gadzama pleaded with the court for time to enable him go through the files and get a proper handover from the previous defence team.

He sought for an adjournment, which the prosecution counsel opposed on the ground that it was frivolous.

With Justice Abang, ruling in favour of the prosecution, the court proceeded with the matter, resulting in the evidence of prosecution witness.

The matter was adjourned to November 4, 5, 6 and 7 for continuation of trial.

Mr Maina is being prosecuted on a 12-count charge that borders on money laundering, fraud and operating fictitious bank accounts.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/360403-how-i-opened-several-bank-accounts-for-maina-witness.html

A new report has passed a scathing verdict on the performance of the 8th National Assembly, saying majority of the bills it passed lacked quality.


The report said this was due to a lack of “legislative proficiency” and “pre-legislative scrutiny”.

This assessment, titled “Scorecard of the 8th Assembly”, was launched in Abuja on Friday.

It was conducted by a team led by former INEC chairman and political science professor, Attahiru Jega, on behalf of YIAGA Africa Centre for Legislative Engagement (YIAGA–CLE). The study was supported by the European Union Support for Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN).


While unveiling the report, Mr Jega said 2910 questionnaires were administered across 12 randomly selected states, two from each of the six geopolitical zones of the federation.

From each state too, a senatorial district and a federal constituency were respectively drawn.

The team, however, concluded that the Bukola Saraki-led National Assembly did better than any previous Assembly, “if you consider the context under which they operated”.

“They commenced work under a relatively antagonistic relationship with the executive given the way the assembly was elected. But in spite of this, it is amazing that they were able to introduce 2166 bills within that legislative period, out of which about 515 were passed and 21 of these are actually constitutional alterations.”


The 7th Assembly passed a total of 205 bills of the 1367 introduced.

While Mr Saraki led the Senate between 2015 and 2019, Yakubu Dogara was the speaker of the House of Representatives during the same period. Both men won elections to the two offices against the wish of their then party, All Progressives Congress, but only Mr Dogara won reelection to the House in 2019.


‘Landmark’
Some of the bills passed by the 8th Assembly were regarded as a “landmark for the attention and wide reception they received”.

Two of such bills are the Not Too Young to Run and North East Development Commission Bills.

The report drew its sources from existing legislative documents, in depth interviews with committees in both Houses, civil societies as well as other relevant authorities.

It examined the last Assembly on the basis of three cardinal responsibilities which are legislation, oversight and representation.

Lawmaking
The report found that although the lawmakers fared well in the passage of many bills, the quality of the bills were not satisfactory.

Of the 515 bills that were passed, the report explained that 53 were declined assent by the president and only 80 (15.5%) received presidential assent.

This, Mr Jega said, was partly due to editorial glitches, inconsistencies with existing laws, contradictions and so on.

“Overall,” the reported noted, “the efficiency percentage (of the bills passed) was 23.8%, representing the proportion of all Bills introduced that were successfully passed by the 8th Assembly.”

Using the benchmark of six months (180 days) for the passage of a bill, the report found that the gestation period for the bulk of the bills took a longer time. Only 47 bills (9.1%) were passed in the span of 50 days, it said.

“271 bills (52.6%) took over 351 days; 14 bills were passed within 100 days; 12 within 150 days; 80 within 200 days; 41 within 250 days; 23 within 300 days; and 27 in 350 days. Notably, most of the bills passed within 50 days were either executive bills or, of emergency nature,” the report said.

To improve the quality of bills, the report recommended the entrenchment of a pre-legislative scrutiny process which could be overseen by a committee.

It is also proposed having clear monitoring mechanisms to ensure that law passed are effective and effected.

Oversight Function
The report found that a number of committees that operated in the last Assembly were active while some were redundant.

Top among the active committees was the appropriation committee of both chambers.

While the committee of the Upper House held a total of 79 meetings, that of the Lower House had 300 hearings with MDAs as well as contributed to the audit report of the Auditor General while also recovering over N40 billion from defaulting MDAs.

Another committee noted as active is committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition.

“The 8th Assembly performed fairly creditably in oversight as many of the committees met the international benchmark of the required number of meetings and the oversight activities (visits, hearings referrals, investigations, etc). However, some other committees did not live up to expectation,” the report noted.

It, nonetheless, blamed inadequate funding accruing to some of these committees for their ‘passiveness’.

Hence, the report recommended proper funding “on need basis” for the committees. It also called for setting minimum benchmarks for the committees, “to which sanctions should be attached should a committee fail to meet”.

Representation
The last Assembly was said to have excelled in the passage of landmark bills, including the Disability Bill and the amendments to the Federal Character Law, “to ensure balance, inclusion and fairness in governance”.

The report said this ensured effective representation “as the people are the primary beneficiary of the legislative gestures.”

However, the Assembly fell short when core components of representation like “visits, meetings with constituents, establishment and management of constituency offices, responses to constituents’ demands, attraction and execution of constituency projects, and communication with constituents” are considered.

On this criteria, 29.8% of the respondents of the research rated representation as positive while another 34% and 34% rated representation fair and poor respectively.

The report, therefore, suggested that the National Assembly needs to be more open and transparent while also collaborating more with citizen groups and taking advantage of technology to give an account of their stewardship.

The report urged the people to assume ownership of electing their representatives.

“The people should prioritise capacity, competence and character above other sentiments,” the report added.

Telephone calls and messages to the spokespersons of both Houses between 2015/and 2019 were not answered.

Yusuf Olaniyonu, media aide to Mr Saraki, declined to comment.

Also, Turaki Hassan, spokesperson to Mr Dogara, said he would call back, but did not at the time of this report.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/356095-saraki-led-nass-passed-record-number-of-bills-but-few-had-quality-jega-report.html

The organized labour on Wednesday rejected the offer by the Federal Government on consequential adjustment for the new minimum wage for workers from Grade Levels Seven to 14.

The organized labour also said that workers have exhausted their patience and demanded the reconvening of the meeting of the committee negotiating the consequential adjustment with a view to concluding the process within one week.

The rejection of the government offer was contained in a statement titled “Need for urgent intervention on the stalled negotiation of consequential adjustment of salaries arising from the new national minimum wage of N30, 000 per month to avert industrial crisis,” issued in Abuja and signed by Comrades Ayuba Wabba, President, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Quadri Olaleye President, Trade Union Congress, TUC, Simon Anchaver and Alade Bashir Lawal

Ag Chairman, and Secretary respectively of Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, JNPSNC (Trade Union Side).

The statement issued after a meeting at the labour house Abuja, read, “The leadership of Organized Labour in Nigeria comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) met today, 2nd October, 2019 with the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC-Trade Union Side) at the Labour House, Abuja.

“The sole agenda of the meeting was to receive briefing from JNPSNC and to discuss the way forward on the deadlock in negotiations for consequential wage adjustment for workers in public service arising from the recent enactment of the new national minimum wage of N30,000 per month.

“Subsequently, the meeting went into very extensive deliberations on the following concerns;

” Organized labour has out of its patriotic disposition demonstrated a great deal of restraint, consideration and patience with government. In the course of negotiations for consequential salary adjustment, organized labour had to moderate its initial position of having 66.6% upward salary adjustment for workers on salary grade level 07-17 by accepting an upward adjustment of 29% for officers on salary level 07-14 and 24% adjustment for officers on salary grade level 15 – 17.

“Despite this patriotic gesture, government has kept insisting that it can only pay 11% for officers on grade level 07 14 and 6.5% consequential wage increase to public workers for officers on level 15-17;

” Since the last national minimum wage of N18,000, workers have been forced to suffer huge inflation and astronomical hike in the prices of essential goods and services. The following examples would suffice “The country’s currency, the naira had suffered devaluation from N150 to $1 in 2011 to N360 to $1 in 2019, a depreciation of 140%

“Furthermore, petroleum price has been hiked from N87 per liter to N145 per liter which translates to 60% price increase.

Electricity tariff has been increased by about 60%.

“Of recent, the Value Added Tax (VAT) has been reviewed from 5% to 7.2%.

“The nonchalant attitude of the government negotiating side has dragged negotiations for consequential wages adjustment unduly. Nigerian workers have exercised tremendous patience and restraint already

“At the end of our deliberation, the leadership of organized labour in Nigeria resolved as follows

” The offer by government for salary adjustment of 11% for public workers on salary grade level 07 14 and 6.5% consequential increase for public workers on grade level 15 17 is not acceptable to Nigerian workers.

” We view the position of government as a show of insensitivity to the plight of workers and an attempt to collect with the left hand what government had offered with the right hand

” We demand the reconvening of the meeting of the committee negotiating the consequential adjustment with a view to concluding the process that started on the 28th of May, 2019 within one week

” Entering into an agreement with labour to the effect that salary of officers on grade 07-14 should be reviewed upward by 29% while that of officers on grade level 15-17 should be reviewed upwards by 24%; and “Commence immediate implementation of the signed agreement on consequential adjustment of public workers’ salaries with effect from 18th of April 2019 when the new national minimum wage of N30,000 per month was signed into law.”

Warning that the delay could disrupt the Industrial harmony being enjoyed, the organized labour said,” In conclusion, the leadership of organized labour in Nigeria wishes to categorically state that the leadership of labour cannot guarantee industrial peace and harmony in the country if our demands are not met at the close of work on Wednesday, 16th October, 2019.”

http://www.palitomedia.com.ng/2019/10/minimum-wage-crisis-looms-as-labour.html?m=1

It has been a daunting problem to get Nigerian passport. This has been the issue for weeks now all Over NIGERIA without an end in sight. For a week now, people have been captured including sick patients that needed to fly out but some, their health have been deteriorating....

For emphasis....in the ALL 36 states and FCT No passport booklet is available. Am seriously wondering where this country is headed....

It has been a daunting problem to get Nigerian passport. This has been the issue for weeks now all Over NIGERIA without an end in sight. For a week now, people have been captured including sick patients that needed to fly out but some, their health have been deteriorating....

For emphasis....in the ALL 36 states and FCT No passport booklet is available. Am seriously wondering where this country is headed....

Please, �Admin kindly push this to the front page so it can get to those concerned.

The aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, announced on Twitter on August 29 that the Beechcraft King Air 350i would help improve Nigeria airspace’s safety and security.

“Just received new calibration aircraft for the country. Make is King Air 350i. Cost $8.5M,” Mr Sirika wrote. “The agony of contracting it to South Africa or Niger at about $500K every 6 months is over. Our airspace is safer,” he wrote.

The minister credited President Muhammadu Buhari for entirely supervising purchase of the aircraft.

Mr Sirika, a retired pilot and former senator, took early pictures in the aircraft’s cockpit and posted them on his Twitter handle.


Hadi Sirika
@hadisirika
Just received new calibration aircraft for the country. Make is King Air 350i. Cost $8.5M. The agony of contracting it to South Africa or Niger at about $500K every 6 months is over. Our airspace is safer. Thanks Mr President, we started & finished during your regime ������

Aviation authorities use a calibration aircraft to monitor communication and navigation equipment for accuracy and effectiveness.

It was unclear when Nigeria last took delivery of such a plane, but there are reports that it has been more than 20 years, and the latest purchase appears to be the country’s first in modern aviation history.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/349849-nigeria-acquires-first-calibration-aircraft-for-8-5-million.html

The federal government has said it is considering the review of the revenue sharing formula for the three tiers of government.

The Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Elias Mbam, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mr Mbam said the review of the revenue allocation between the federal, state and local governments has become necessary due to the current economic realities.

He spoke after he received an Award of Excellence from the Nigeria Civil Service Union.

Under the current revenue sharing formula, the federal government takes about 52.68 per cent, the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory get 26.72 per cent and the 774 local governments share 20.60 per cent.

Also, the nine oil producing states of the Niger Delta receive 13 per cent revenue as derivation to compensate for ecological damage of oil production in the region.

This formula was designed during the President Olusegun Obasanjo Administration.

However, following years of demands for a review of the formula, the RMAFC in 2013 resolved to undertake a review to achieve a balanced development of the country.

To achieve that objective, the commission embarked on a nationwide consultation to the 36 states and also met with notable persons, including traditional rulers on the issue.

By December 2014, the commission came out with a proposed new revenue formula, which was submitted to the government.

The report was, however, not implemented.

More than five years later, the RMAFC chairman said the commission plans to constitute a standing committee next week to start work once again on the review of the revenue sharing formula.

Mr Mbam said the commission would also pursue the diversification of the nation’s revenue base for a more sustainable growth and economic development.

“My agenda is to expand the sources of revenue for the federation. I will like to expand the cake that we are sharing so that people will get reasonable quantity.

“I intend to do this through diversification in the areas outside oil and gas. That includes solid minerals, agriculture and manufacturing.

“So, we will encourage states and let them know what is available outside oil and gas, so they can develop this aspect of the economy to their own benefit,” he said.

Mr Mbam also spoke on the significance of revisiting the issue of financial autonomy for local government areas. He said this would enable the bulk of Nigerians at the grassroots to get the best out of democracy.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/345426-nigerian-govt-considering-review-of-revenue-sharing-formula.html

Zamfara Police Command has denied media reports of an attack on witnesses of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar in the state.

A counsel to Mr Abubakar had told the Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal at its last sitting that the witnesses were attacked on their way to Abuja from Zamfara.

However, the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Muhammad Shehu, said in a statement on Sunday in Gusau that no such attack was recorded in the state.

He described the claim as highly misleading.

Mr Shehu said, “The attention of the command has been drawn over newspapers stories published by some national dailies on Saturday 13 July, 2019.

“That some witnesses of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who were travelling from the state to Abuja have been attacked in the state.

“According to the reports, the witnesses were travelling to Abuja from Zamfara to give witness at Presidential Aspirant Election Tribunal in Abuja.

“They claimed to have been attacked by bandits in Zamfara State, a situation that forced them to scamper into the bush which forced the court to adjourn sitting.

“As far as the state police command is concerned, the claim is not true and has no basis; we wish to draw the attention of members of the public that the story is not true.

“Based on the crime statistics available to the command, there was no attack by bandits either on villages or on any person or group of persons travelling on any highway in the state,’’ he said.

He said since the commencement of peace and dialogue initiative with bandits in the state led by Commissioner of Police, Usman Nagogo, attacks, kidnapping and other heinous crimes have reduced drastically to about 98 per cent.

“Over 100 kidnapped victims have been rescued from the bandits through the peace dialogue”, he added.

Mr Shehu, therefore, described the reports as misleading and attempt to undermine the current efforts of both the state government and the police to bring lasting peace in the state.

“I am using this medium to appeal to media organisations to always verify their reports before publication,’’ the spokesperson said.

(NAN)

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/340866-police-dismiss-claim-of-attack-on-atikus-witnesses.html

The President of the Court of Appeal, Zainab Bulkachuwa, has cancelled this year’s annual vacation of judges of the court.


Federal High Court judges had on July 8 started their annual vacation and some other judges were due to commence theirs on Monday, July 15.

But in a statement on Sunday, the media officer of the Court of Appeal, Sa’adatu Musa-Kachalla, said the cancellation of the vacation of appellate court judges was due to “the enormous (election) petitions the court is faced with.”

According to the statement, Mrs Bulkachuwa said since election petitions were time-bound, there is a need for timely determination of the appeals arising from them by the Court of Appeal.


“We have to forfeit our annual vacation to enable us to entertain and determine all appeals arising from the various Election Petition Tribunals transmitted to the Court,” the statement quoted Mrs Bulkachuwa as saying.

The appeal court president communicated the directive in a two-day circular on July 2, the official said.

Mrs Bulkachuwa noted that many appeals pending before the court were time-bound and would be due to come up within the period of the court’s vacation from July to October.


“The need, therefore, arises for them to be heard and determined within the said period,” the statement added.

The statement also said Mrs Bulkachuwa has directed the presiding justices of the various divisions of the court to, in consultation with her, draw up a roaster to enable “the justices with medical appointments or other pressing family issues to travel for not more than 15 days within the period.”

Lake Chad Crisis: Regional Governors, Others Brainstorm In Niamey
She was said to have added that the planned roaster should be such that, “at any given time, there is a three-member panel on ground in every division to hear and determine appeals.”


“In divisions with three justices, only one justice can travel at a time and the office of the President of the Court of Appeal is to be immediately notified to form a panel in that justice’s absence should the need arise,” the circular further directed.

“According to Justice Bulkachuwa, appeals arising from the National and State Assemblies would be heard by a local panel of three members, except where it is controversial, then the president will constitute and send another panel to hear it.


“On the governorship appeals, the president of the Court of Appeal disclosed that it would be heard by a five-member panel to be set up by his lordship.

“Hon. Justice Bulkachuwa, therefore, instructed the presiding justices to notify her as soon as appeals from governorship elections were filed to ensure their speedy determination.”

Citing information from the Deputy Chief Registrar, Court of Appeal, Election Petition Tribunal, Rabi Yakubu, the statement stated that a total of 800 election petitions were filed as of June 17, 2019.

It added, “A breakdown of this figure shows that the State House of Assembly recorded the highest figure (of election petitions) of 415, Senate 105, House of Representative 214, governorship 62 and presidential 4.

“According to the fact sheet emanating from the 77 Election Petition Tribunals set up by the president of the Court of Appeal as of April 23, 2019, 65 petitions were either dismissed or struck out, while 735 petitions are pending.”


It added that a total of 1,769 appeals were determined and 3,517 motions disposed of by the Court of Appeal between January and April 2019 across all the court’s divisions in the country.

The statement quoted the Head, Legal Services Unit, Adaeze Aziwe, as adding that “a total of 2,397 appeals and 5,120 motions were filed during the period under review.”

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/340809-election-petitions-no-vacation-for-you-bulkachuwa-tells-appeal-court-judges.html

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has recommended Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad to President Muhammadu Buhari for confirmation as the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

It was learnt that the NJC chose Justice Muhammad ahead of the second most senior Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, who was interviewed with Justice Muhammad.
Justice Muhammad’s choice was said to have been in furtherance of the tradition of succession by seniority.

Justice Muhammad was appointed as acting CJN following the suspension of Justice Walter Onnoghen who was arraigned by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) for some infractions in his assets declaration forms.
Justice Onnoghen was found guilty by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), which recommended him for sack.

But the President later accepted the voluntary retirement which the former CJN tendered earlier while on suspension and before the conclusion of his trial by the CCT.

In a statement on Wednesday, NJC’s spokesman Soji Oye said the recommendation of Justice Muhammad for CJN was among many other decisions taken at the emergency meeting of the Council.
Oye said the NJC also recommended names of judges to be appointed as Chief Judges and Grand Kadis for Lagos, Sokoto, Anambra, Ebonyi, Niger, Taraba, Kano and Jigawa states.
For Lagos, the NJC recommended Justice Kazeem O. Alogba: Justice Muhammad S. Sifawa (Sokoto); Justice Ijem Onwuamaegbu (Anambra); Justice Nwaigwe A. Anselm (Ebonyi); Justice Aliyu M. Mayaki (Niger) and Justice Filibus B. Andetur (Taraba).

The NJC recommended Justice Filibus B. Andetur for appointment as the Grand Khadi, Sharia Court of Appeal, Kano and Kadi Isa Jibrin Gantsa as the Grand Khadi, Sharia Court of Appeal, Jigawa.
Oye said the newly appointed heads of courts would be sworn-in after the approval of the President and the Governors and confirmation by the Senate and state Houses of Assembly.
He said the NJC also received retirement notifications from the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court; Chief Judges of Gombe, Edo, Niger and Ebonyi states.
Oye added that the NJC also received retirement notices from the Acting Chief Judge of Kebbi State and nine other judges from the Federal High Court and High Courts of Gombe, Delta, Edo, Imo, Benue and Katsina states.

The NJC, Oye said, commended Buhari for his unequivocal position on the financial autonomy for the states’ judiciary and called on the governors to, as a matter of urgency, begin its immediate implementation.
Oye added that the NJC was of the view that the need for the governors to respect the financial autonomy of the judiciary “is not only in line with the constitutional dictates, but presently the judicial position.”

https://thenationonlineng.net/njc-to-buhari-appoint-muhammad-as-substantive-cjn/

June 20, 2019Bassey Udo

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday confirmed the appointment of the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kolo Kyari, as the new Group Managing Director of the corporation.

Mr Kyari from Borno State, succeeds the incumbent GMD, Maikanti Baru, who is due for retirement from the NNPC next month.

Mr Kyari comes to the job as the 19th GMD of the NNPC with a rich profile of professional and service credentials.

A geologist, Mr Kyari is known in the oil industry as a crude oil marketer with outfield pedigree in petroleum economics and crude oil and gas trading.

With over 32 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, his tour of duty traversed the entire value chain of the petroleum industry.

“Under his watch, the Crude Oil Marketing Division of the NNPC has recorded noticeable transformation in the management and sales of the various Nigeria’s crude oil grades via an infusion of transparency and automation of the processes,” the NNPC said of him in his official profile on its website.

A 1987 Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree holder in Geology and Earth Science from the University of Maiduguri, Mr Kyari did his National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) as a Well Site Geologist with the Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) between 1987 and 1988.

Between 1988 and 1991, he worked with the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency before joining the NNPC subsidiary, Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL), where he worked as a Seismic Data Processing Geophysicist in the Data Processing Department.

In 2006, he was appointed the Supervisor PSC, Crude Oil Marketing Department (COMD) of the NNPC, from where he rose to the position of Head, and later Manager of Production Contracts Management of the COMD between 2007 and 2014.

Mr Kyari was appointed General Manager Oil Stock Management, COMD where he worked till 2015 before being appointed Group General Manager, COMD and later Nigeria’s National Representative at OPEC.

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mele Kyari as the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

An NNPC statement by its spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, said President Buhari also appointed seven new Chief Operating Officers.

Until his new appointment, Mr Kyari, a geologist, was Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of NNPC and also doubled, since May 2018, as Nigeria’s National Representative to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.

President Buhari has directed that the New GMD and the newly appointed Chief Operating Officers work with the current occupiers of the various offices till July 7, 2019, towards a smooth transition on July 8, 2019, when their appointments would take effect to ensure a smooth transition.

However, the appointment of Farouk Garba Said (North West), who is replacing a retiring Chief Operating Officer, is effective from June 28, 2019.

The newly appointed Chief Operating Officers are:

1. Roland Onoriode Ewubare (South-South) – Chief Operating Officer, Upstream

2. Mustapha Yinusa Yakubu (North Central) – Chief Operating Officer Refining and Petrochemicals

3. Yusuf Usman (North East) – Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power

4. Lawrencia Nwadiabuwa Ndupu (South East), Chief Operating Officer Ventures

5. Umar Isa Ajiya (North West) – Chief Financial Officer

6. Adeyemi Adetunji (South West) – Chief Operating Officer, Downstream and

7. Farouk Garba Said (North West) – Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services.

Mr Ughamadu said the outgoing GMD, Maikanti Baru, had congratulated the new appointees.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/business/business-news/335969-profile-mele-kyari-the-new-head-of-nigerias-oil-giant-nnpc.html

A new lawyer, Abel Ozioko, on Wednesday announced his appearance before a division of the Federal High Court in Abuja as the new counsel for a former spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh.

Mr Metuh is facing a seven-count charge of diversion of N400 million from the office of the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

The court had earlier on Wednesday discharged the counsel who was representing the defendant in the trial, Onyechi Ikpeazu.

The court decision to discharge Mr Ikpeazu was as a result of a letter by Mr Metuh dated March 6 and filed March 12, informing the court of his intention to disengage the senior advocate from representing him in the trial.

During the session on Wednesday, Mr Ikpeazu told the court that Mr Metuh had debriefed them.

“The first defendant wrote a letter debriefing us.”

According to him, Mr Metuh said he no longer wanted them as the legal team representing him, noting that he has the right to choose his counsel.

“He said he believes we can no longer effectively represent him and that he has a right to choosing,” Mr Ikpeazu told the court.

“If it pleases the court to grant him his constitutional right and discharge me and other counsel in our chambers from further appearing. I apply that we be allowed to withdraw the application.”

Responding, the second defendant’s counsel, Tochukwu Onwubufor, said: “In my opinion, he should move the application and affidavit of facts, section 349(7 and which ought to be complied with.”
Mr Onwubufor is the lawyer for Dextra Investment Ltd, the company charged with Mr Metuh in the trial.

“I do not think a counsel is allowed to withdraw by mere affidavits of facts which were filed by counsel to the first defendant. Before a court ceases to act, it must be an order of the court.

“I urge the court to hear the application alongside the affidavits of facts filed.

“The prosecution has filed a counter affidavit and the second defendant (we have also filed a reply. So the issue has been joined.

In his part, the prosecution counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, said they were on the same page with the second defendant’s counsel.

Again, Mr Ikpeazu said “a party cannot be forced to move an application which he has withdrawn.”

Following argument from both counsel, the presiding judge, Abang Okon, made a short ruling.

“The moment a defendant debriefs his counsel, there is nothing a court of law can do.

“He has a right to engage and disengage counsel as he so wishes because it is his fundamental human right to do so.”

He cited section 36(6c) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which states that: “Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be entitled to – (c) Defend himself in person or by legal practitioners of his own choice.

“Therefore the application filed by Ikpeazu has been overtaken by an event.

“Asking Ikpeazu to argue the motion is no longer of use,” Mr Abang added

The court wondered why the legal strategy by Mr Metuh but held that it cannot question the defendant’s decision.

“In any event, I cannot stop the first defendant from presenting who would defend him in court,” the judge said.

After the ruling, the new lawyer, Mr Ozioko asked for two weeks to enable him to acquaint himself with the matter.

With the prosecution not objecting to Mr Ozioko’s request, Mr Abang adjourned to March 28 for the continuation of trial on a day-to-day basis.

“Frivolous application for adjournment will not be entertained, Mr Abang added.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-
news/320000-alleged-n400mn-fraud-trial-olisa-metuh-gets-new-lawyer.html

Islamic Financing is the way to go..!!

Russi:


Abacha did not steal yet his loot is real

Abacha's loot came from Nigeria's crude oil, now it is being shared to strangers only. Is this fair? Was any study conducted to determine the poor?
Kano---------------North................................Language: Hausa
Katsina------------North.................................Language: Hausa
Kaduna------------North.................................Language: Hausa
Niger---------------North................................Language: Hausa
Kogi---------------North.................................Language: Hausa
Bauchi------------North..................................Language: Hausa
Gombe------------North.................................Language: Hausa
Jigawa------------North..................................Language: Hausa
Benue-------------North.................................Language: Hausa
Taraba------------North..................................Language: Hausa
Adamawa,--------North...............……...............Language: Hausa
Bornu-------------North....................................Language: Hausa
Plateau------------North..................................Language: Hausa
Nasarawa---------North.....................…….........Language: Hausa
Kwara------------North...................................Language: Hausa
Ekiti--------------south...................................Language: yoruba
Osun-------------south...................................Language: yoruba
Oyo---------------south..................................Language: yoruba
Cross River------south............……..................Language: efik
Anambra --------south...............……...............Language: ibo

Guy, Na u manufacture Hausa people put for Kwara??

Wailers and Ipob touts food is ready....

Even with pictures they will argue is a scam

NEVER TAKE THEM SERIOUS

I will be very brief as much as possible...
Last week precisely, 2/05/2018 i went to FRSC office in Kaduna state located at Bida road opposite National Library to renew my driver's licence. The officer that attended to me ask me to table my expired licence and ask me to go to a cafe across the road to make a photocopy of my expired licence and to generate my payment schedule and thereafter go to the bank to make payment of #6,350 or #10,450 for 3 or 5yrs validity period respectively.

After spending 20 minutes to get the payment schedule, i proceeded to close by Wema Bank to make a payment of #6,350 and went back to tge office to tender the print out and the teller. The officer directed me to another desk for my print outs to be signed and stamped. I went back to the same officer and he ask me to go and make photocopy of all the documents. I had to go back to the cafe and made the photocopies. When i came back he demanded for the originals and ask me to keep the photocopies and that whenever FRSC officers stop me and request for my licence those my photocopies will suffice.
Thereafter, he ask me to come back this week to be captured and that i will be issued temporary print out after i am captured which will last for 60 days within which the original licence will be ready.
This morning i went back to the office to be captured and to my greatest surprise and dismay...the officer told me there was no light and that i should havev my seat and that "If Oga Comes In They Will Put On the Generator". This is almost mid-day and even the shadow of the oga is not yet to be seen.

(1) My question now is...isn't FRSC a revenue generating agency of government?

(2) Most they wait for the so called Oga to come to the office before putting on the generating set to do their legal and constitutional responsibility?

(3) Cant they take out some money from the fees being charged for the licence and fuel their generator even in the absence of the oga?

(4) The money charged for the licence isn't generator charges included since we all no light is never stable?


PLEASE, ADMIN PUSH THIS TO THE FRONT PAGE SO THAT THE AUTHORITIES WILL NO THE KIND OF CORRUPTION GOING ON IN YHIS PLACE.

Are you trying to justify their illegality? If something is wrong is wrong no matter who is involved. Anyway, u sound PDPish. My friend, next time try to be objective bcoz this country needs succour from it's numerous problems

NwaAmaikpe:



In advanced climes,
With this confession to electoral crimes, he will take his born-again stealing ass to jail.

We all know PDP rigged elections, but they did theirs with guns and thugs not like the underage voters and money being used by APC.

This is not what is trending about Metuh's case...

Mr Lawyer can you confirm or deny the statements credited to the so-called Wellington Hospital denying both your client and his so called consultant.

That is what you should be addressing and not the media or the court denying your client permission to travel abroad.

Unless we forget, the media is not the court...you can't come here and be ranting unbehalf of your client just because is paying you legal fees... You have your conscience and posterity to deal with when this case is eventually over.

You are in the stage of presenting your witnesses why can't you hurry up with it and close ur case instead of employing this ur usual delay tactics... I think of late our judges have up their game since that raid carried out by the DSS please do the needful for ur client.... Tell him to face his trial. Better for him and everyone

Cee C is on a very long thing...that girl is too over possessive, full of herself and feeling insecure. Since Tobi has bottled up she's trying to throw herself on miracle...Miracle will have none of her antics

I think it will do not ONLY Nigerlites but all people that ply that road a whole lot of good if Niger state government fix that Bida-Minna road. The road has become a death trap...so far 100 of lives has been lost on this same road and the governor had turned a blind eyes to the pathetic situation and some of thesebdeaths can be avoided and prevented if the road is fixed.

Niger state over the years has been so unlucky with its leaders...you scrape out the ashphalt of the road for about 6months now when you know you are not ready to resurface the road. Many communities along this axis have been complaining of dust raised by the motorists plying the root.

The earlier Niger state governor Abubakar Lolo Bello act as a responsible leader about this road the better for him