UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned Wednesday’s deadly attack by gunmen on the Government Science College, Kagara, Niger. No fewer than 27 were kidnapped in the night raid on the boarding school, reports say. According to the BBC, three members of staff and 12 of their relatives were also abducted by the assailants. The spokesperson of the Police Force, Mr Frank Mba on Thursday, said a joint search and rescue mission was underway to free the abductees. In a statement by his Spokesman, Guterres described attacks on schools and other educational facilities as “abhorrent and unacceptable”. He urged the…
Author: Editor
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.11 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 (Q4 2020), representing the first positive quarterly growth in the last three quarters, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). According to the fourth quarter 2020 GDP estimats released Thursday, on a quarter on quarter basis, real GDP growth was 9.68 per cent indicating a second positive consecutive quarter on quarter real growth rate in 2020 after two negative quarters. The performance, NBS states appeared to have signalled an exit from the second recession. Though weak, the positive growth…
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Dr Ahmed Audi as the new Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). The Director of Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Interior, Mohammad Manga, announced this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja. According to the statement, Audi emerged the top best candidate out of those that went through the transparent selection process initiated by the Ministry of Interior. This, it said, was to replace the out-going Commandant-General of the NSCDC Abdullahi Muhammadu The president has also appointed Haliru Nababa, as the new Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional…
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has approved the conduct of its zonal congresses in the six geo-political zones for Saturday, March 6, 2021. The party disclosed this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja on Thursday. Ologbondiyan said that the party had slated the submission of nomination forms, including aspirants for National Ex-Officio, for on or before Feb. 25. “Forms are to be submitted to the Directorate of Mobilisation and Organising. “The party charges our leaders, members and teeming supporters to continue to work hard in the collective…
The Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, said the important role played by women in the country’s socio-economic and political space was an enabler for social change. Danbatta stated this in Abuja during a webinar while underscoring the need to empower women in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The webinar was organised by Zinari Communications Limited with the theme: “Mainstreaming Rural Women Enterprise Development into Digital Economy Initiative: The Opportunities, Strategies and Constraints”. The EVC, who was represented by Grace Ojougboh, the Head, Online Media and Special Publication, NCC, said women were historically central to socio-economic…
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) will be liable to pay capacity charge for rejecting load allocated to them due to constraints on their networks. The regulatory agency also said where it was established that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) was unable to deliver a DisCo’s load allocation, the TCN would be liable to pay for the associated capacity charge. NERC made this known in its “Guidelines for Economic Merit Order Dispatch of Generation Capacity and Related Matters 2020”, posted on its website on Thursday. The document, dated February 15, 2021, was signed jointly by…
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, CISLAC, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Dr Ogbonnaya Orji as the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). In a statement on Thursday, the Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani described the choice of Dr Orji “as very suitable and outstanding given his wealth of knowledge, experience in working with NEITI and sustained engagements with member countries of the global extractive industries transparency initiative at the international level over the years.” The Centre appealed to Buhari to leverage on the excellent choice of Dr. Orji’s appointment to hasten the composition…
Amidst ethnic profiling in Southern Nigeria, one of 16 highest ranking kings in Ekiti and Attah of Aiyede Kingdom, Oba Alhaji Abdulmumini Adebayo Orishagbemi, is set to install a Fulani man as one of his chiefs. His Media and Publicity Consultant, Prince Bashir Adefaka who dropped the hint in Lagos on Thursday, said details would be made available at a later time. According to Adefaka, “His Royal Majesty Oba Alhaji Abdulmumini Adebayo Orishagbemi is naturally a detribalised Yoruba man that has seen it all to know there is no gain in tribalism, regardless of what anybody says.” Aiyede community, a…
The Sokoto State House of Assembly has passed a bill for the establishment of the state Hisbah Board. This followed the adoption of the report of the House Joint Committee on Religious Affairs, Judiciary and Human Rights at plenary. Presenting the report, Chairman of the Committee, Alhaji Abubakar Yabo (APC- Yabo), said that the committee consulted widely among stakeholders before arriving at its decisions. The lawmakers unanimously adopted the report after a voice vote by Speaker Aminu Achida who presided over the sitting. NAN
Dr Bukola Saraki, former President of the Senate, says former governors and deputies elected under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were committed to ensuring victory for the party in 2023. Saraki, also Chairman, PDP Reconciliation and Strategy Committee, said this when he spoke with journalists after a closed door meeting with the former governors and their deputies in Abuja. He said that the meeting was to consult with them as key stakeholders in the process of reconciling aggrieved party members. NAN