Following the report of the conference Committee on the Petroleum Industry Bill (Bill), the House of Representatives on Friday, in Abuja passed the bill, allowing three per cent to host communities. The three per cent is however against 10 per cent demanded by the host communities and also the initial five per cent agreed to by the House of Reps. The PIB is an Executive bill, which sought to reform the Oil and Gas sector and ensure its governance met with best global standards. It was presented by the Chairman of House Committee on PIB, Rep. Mohammed Monguno (APC-Borno) on July…
Author: Editor
President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that his administration will continue to place priority on infrastructure development including those for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene towards ensuring better living condition for Nigerians. This is contained in a press release by Mrs Kenechukwu Offie, Director (Press and Public Relations Unit), Federal Ministry of Water Resources, in Abuja on Friday. According to the release, Buhari made the commitment on Thursday in Dutsin – Ma, Katsina state during the commissioning of Zobe Regional Water Supply Scheme. The President noted that access to adequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene was part of the indices for…
A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday, fixed for judgment in the trial of Faisal, son of the embattled Chairman, defunct Pension Reformed Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina. Justice Okon Abang fixed the date after Counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mohammed Abubakar, adopted his final written address. Faisal, who was arraigned by the EFCC on Oct. 25, 2019, jumped bail around September 2020 and stopped attending his trial. Justice Abang, who issued a warrant for his arrest, ordered on Nov. 24, 2020 for the trial to continue in his absence after the EFCC made the application…
The Federal University Kashere, FUK, on Friday, matriculated 3,448 students. The students who were admitted in the 2020/2021 session, are in the faculties of Agriculture, Science, Humanities /Management and Social Science, Education and Science. Speaking at the matriculation ceremony, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Umaru Pate said 2,319 of the matriculating students were males and 1,129 females. He said with the current enrollment, the number of undergraduates was 9,87, which did not include the students admitted for the institution’s one-year remedial programme. Pate urged the freshmen to stay away from drugs and cultism as well as gender-based violence or rape. “As…
The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of being uninterested in dealing with bandits in Nigeria. The Bishop made the accusation during a virtual presentation to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in Washington, DC on Wednesday. According to Kukah, Buhari was treating the issue of insecurity in the country with a child’s glove in spite of his promise, in 2015, to deal with security issues head on. The Bishop further alleged that Buhari’s show of preference to Muslims had worsened the level of rivalry between Christians and Muslims. “The North, even the whole…
National President of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Mr Chris Isiguzo says it was wrong for the National Industrial Court, NIC, to have issued arrest warrant against him and the National Secretary for purportedly breaching its order against conducting council election in Benue state. ASHENEWS reports that the court on Thursday, issued an order of arrest against the two principal officers of the Union for allegedly violating its order not to conduct Benue state council election. However, Isiguzo in a statement made available to ASHENEWS on Friday said “the bench warrant came to us as a surprise for the simple…
On Wednesday, Senate President Ahmed Lawan, while receiving the Electoral Act Amendment Bill from the Committee Chairman, complained about what he called “calculated blackmail against the leadership of the National Assembly by mischief makers”. He was speaking out against what turned out to be a successful campaign by civil society and political parties to expose the subterranean attempts to empty the law of its “democracy protection” content and make electoral fraud easier. No Oga Senate President, there was no mischief, the National Assembly was caught out in its plot, exposed and forced to back track on some of its more…
The Sokoto State House of Assembly on Thursday, approved the request of Governor Aminu Tambuwal’s request to secure N6.26 billion loan from Zenith Bank, TAJ Bank and Sterling Bank PLC. The resolution followed a motion moved by Malami Basakkwace and Leader in the House after the consideration of a report by the whole house committee. The governor, whose request was contained in a letter dated July 13 and presented at plenary on Wednesday, said that part of the credit facility amounting to N4.6 billion, is to finance SDGs counterpart funding and certain recurrent expenditures. “It is with great pleasure that…
The federal government of Nigeria, in collaboration with United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Government of Japan government, has expressed its commitment to effectively tackling plastic pollution in the country. Minister of Environment, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, gave the commitment at a representation of Report on Study of Available Sustainable Alternative Materials to Plastics, Innovative Packaging and Recycling Technologies, in Abuja. Abubakar said that the project steering committee on the report, comprising ministries, department and agencies, NGOs and professional development partners, among others, was inaugurated on Feb. 25, 2020. He said that the aim of creating the committee was…
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) says it is striving to export cashew nuts directly from the South-East, in line with the Federal Government’s policy on diversification. The Executive Director of the council, Mr Olusegun Awolowo, said this on Thursday in Enugu during a workshop organised by the council for stakeholders in the cashew value chain. Awolowo was represented by the South-East Regional Coordinator of the council, Mr Arnold Jackson. He said NEPC had developed what it called “Zero-Oil Plan”, an initiative for boosting foreign exchange earnings through the non-oil export sector. He said the initiative had set a long…