Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom on Tuesday presented a budget of N435.65 billion for the 2021 Financial Year to the state House of Assembly for consideration. The proposed budget is higher than that of the current 2020 revised appropriation of N366 million by N69.65 billion. The appropriation bill comprised of N158.40 billion as recurrent expenditure, N226.96 billion as capital expenditure and N50.29 as consolidated revenue. Emmanuel said that the total projected recurrent revenue for 2021 is estimated at N255.03 billion as against the approved revised provision of N203.56 billion for 2020. In the 2021 fiscal year, the bill tagged…
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The Police Command in Ekiti on Tuesday confirmed that some hoodlums allegedly gang raped three girls during the ongoing EndSARS protest in the state. The police also confirmed that three trucks belonging to a popular business conglomerate in the country were burnt down at various spots during the protest. ASP Sunday Abutu, the spokesman of the Police Command, confirmed the burning of the trucks and the rape of the girls to newsmen on Tuesday. He warned that hoodlums were gradually hijacking the protests, which he said could portend danger for the country. ” Every Nigerian or group has the legitimate…
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila says he will not not sign the 2021 Appropriation Bill if compensation for victims of police brutality is not captured. Gbajabiamila said this while addressing members of the house at the Tuesday’s plenary in Abuja. The speaker also said that the budget must meet the reasonable demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) before he signs it. The rep said that there is no better time to rethink the system of funding for higher education in Nigeria than now as the current system does a great disservice to…
Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on Tuesday imposed a 24-hour curfew on the state following the EndSARS protest which has turned violent in the last couple of days. The development was made known in a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, (SSG), Mr Biodun Oyebanji, and made available to news men in Ado Ekiti. According to the statement, the Ekiti State government has observed with growing concern, how the EndSARS protest, which started as a peaceful protest against police brutality by youths in the state, has been hijacked by hoodlums who capitalised on the situation to…
The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on Tuesday, restrained Nnimmo Bassey from parading himself as the Chairman of Board of Trustees of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, ERA/FoEN, pending the hearing of the motion on notice. The matter is a case of Incorporated Trustees of Environmental Rights Development Foundation (ERA/FoEN) and two others, against Arc. Nnimmo Bassey and three others in case number (FHC/L/CS/FHC/1421/2020). The court also restrained the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, from recognizing or acknowledging him as chairman of the Board of Trustees. Counsel to ERA/FoEN, President Aigbokhan, Esq had argued in its motion exparte,…
The Senate on Tuesday at plenary confirmed President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominations for appointments as Chairman, Director-General and Commissioners of National Pension Commission (PenCom). The confirmation was sequel to the presentation and consideration of the report of Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service Matters at the Senate Committee of the Whole. The report was presented by the Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Mpigi Barinada. Presenting the report, Barinaga said the committee screened and found the nominees worthy of the appointments. He, however, said the committee recommended that the nominee from Katsina should be stood down because she was yet to…
As #EndSARS protests rages on across the country, the Network for Democracy and Development, NDD, says there is need for a new Nigeria built on stronger foundation. This is contained in a statement jointly signed by the National Coordinator, Tajudeen Alabede and Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Abdul-Wasi B. Moshood, Director of Public Affairs and made available to AshNews on Tuesday. The Network, which observed that the protests, championed by youths against police brutality in general and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), had jolted the nation into a moment of reckoning. It further observed that “many Nigerians, who were either…
Energy conglomerate, Sahara Group, has canvassed increased private sector collaboration toward optimising food value chains to address global undernourishment. Mrs Pearl Uzokwe, Sahara Group’s Director of Governance and Sustainability, made the call in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos. Uzokwe said global undernourishment prevalence stands at 687.8 million (8.9 per cent of global population), according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) 2020 report on the state of food security and nutrition in the world. She said the FAO report also recorded the prevalence of severe food insecurity at 746.0 million, which translates to 9.7 per cent of global population.…
Senate on Tuesday at plenary urged President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of soon urgency, address the nation on issues of EndSARS protest in the country. It also urged the protesting youths to stop the protest to allow the Federal Government address their demands. Senate resolutions was sequel to a point of order motion on “Matters of Urgent National Importance” brought by Sen. Biodun Olujumi (PDP Ekiti).
The Country Coordinator of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), Dr Rose Gidado says Nigeria could generate $638 million in six years through the exportation of cowpea, with the adoption of Biotechnology by the Federal government. Speaking in an interview on Monday in Abuja, she said the figure was based on a study conducted by the Programme for Biosafety Systems (PBS) and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), under Biosafety and Biotechnology Rapid Assessment and Policy Project (BioRAPP). Gidado said that the adoption of Pod-borer Resistant Cowpea (PBR) will enhance the outputs of Nigerian farmers, thereby impacting positively on…