Hearing in the ongoing alleged certificate forgery suit against Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo was stalled at the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday, due to the ill health of the trial judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed. The All Progressives Congress (APC) and one of its chieftains, Mr Williams Edobor had dragged Obaseki, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court seeking the disqualification of Obaseki in the Sept.19 governorship election. They wanted Obaseki disqualified over alleged forgery of his degree certificate and perjury. They specifically accused Obaseki of forging the Bachelor of Arts in…
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The Kebbi State Governor, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu has granted approval for the immediate payment of N3 billion gratuity arrears to all verified retirees in the state and Local Governments. This was contained in a statement signed by the Hon. Commissioner of Finance, Ibrahim Muhammad Augie and made available to newsmen in Birnin Kebbi, on Thursday, 31st December, 2020. According to the statement, N2 billion has been approved for the State Government verified retirees, while N1 billion was approved for Local Governments and Local Government Education Authorities It said that, all necessary process for the electronic payment to all categories…
Senate President Ahmad Lawan says the National Assembly will ensure the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), amendment of the Electoral Act as well as Constitution review between January and December 2021. Lawan stated this when he fielded questions from State House correspondents shortly after the signing of the 2021 Appropriation Bill into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja on Thursday. He said that efforts would be intensified by NASS to ensure the passage of the PIB before the end of the first quarter of 2021. He stated that the issue of security would also receive serious legislative…
Prof. Job Nmadu of Federal University of technology, Minna, says the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)’s nine months strike in 2020, impacted negatively on university communities by crippling their economic activities. Nmadu said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja. According to him, the 20 million people affected by the strike, included traders, landlords, hoteliers, transporters and many others. Nmadu, a professor of Agricultural Economics, said that the impact of the strike was devastating. “The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) declared a two-week warning strike and the strike became full-fledged on March 20. “With the COVID-19 lockdown,…
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) says 161 successful companies have been shortlisted to advance to the next and final stage of the bid round process for 57 marginal oilfields in the country. The spokesperson of DPR, Mr Paul Osu said on Thursday in Lagos that the firms were selected from the over 600 companies which applied for pre-qualification. A marginal field is any field that has reserves booked and reported annually to the DPR and has remained unproduced for a period of over 10 years. ”The 2020 marginal oilfield bid round process is still ongoing in line with our published timelines on DPR…
The Zonal Commanding Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, for Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa states, Assistant Corps Marshal Kayode Olagunju has called on all road users and officers to prevent the “last minute” crashes as the year 2020 comes to an end. He stated this while addressing operatives at the Corps established Help Area located at Agham, at the defunct toll gate on Makurdi, Lafia road. According to him “this is the period when the last minute rush and disregard to safety rules and regulations could result in fatal crashes”. He called on nurses, marshals and other paramedics…
It gives me great pleasure today to sign the 2021 Appropriation Bill and the enabling 2020 Finance Bill into law. I would like to appreciate the National Assembly, and in particular, thank the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and indeed all distinguished and honourable leaders and members for their cooperation in expeditiously enacting these important money bills. This will enable their implementation to commence by 1stJanuary 2021. I commend the sustained mutual understanding, collaboration and high-level engagements between officials of the Executive and Legislative Arms of Government, which have made the accelerated enactment of these Bills…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says Nigerian households will most likely have improved access to credit beginning from the first quarter of 2021. This is according to the Credit Condition Survey Report, released by the Statistics Department of the apex bank. The survey indicated that the increase already occurred in the last quarter of 2020. It sated that changing economic outlook and increased market share objectives which were major factors responsible for the increase in supply of secured credit would most likely continue into the first quarter of 2021. It also projected increase in availability of credit for the…
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Abuja signed the 2021 Appropriation Bill of N13,588,027,886,175 into law. The president’s action followed the earlier passing of the bill by the National Assembly on December 21 during an emergency session convened for the purpose of passing the budget. The signing of the budget is also in line with the president’s promise to return the nation to the January to December Budget circle. The budget estimate was increased by the sum of N505, 607,317,942 from the estimate of N13, 082, 420, 568,233 presented to the joint sitting of National Assembly by President Buhari on…
By Solomon Asowata The power sector is a critical aspect of the economy, and getting it right will help transform Nigeria into an industrialised country. Successive governments have, therefore, continued to make massive investments and implement several policies to actualise this objective. The year 2020 marked seven years since the privatisation of the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry, but many Nigerians believe its impact can be better. Power generation still hovers around 5,000MW while transmission and distribution to end users is constantly being plagued by disruptions caused by obsolete equipment and vandalism of power infrastructure. In spite of these challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic,…