By Nefishetu Yakubu The Management of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Plc, has said it had so far installed 40,000 pre-paid meters across Edo, Delta, Ekiti and Ondo, its franchise states. Mrs Funke Osibodu, the Managing Director/CEO, BEDC disclosed this at a media parley with newsmen in Benin, on Thursday. President Muhammadu Buhari in 2020 initiated the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) to meter about one million electricity customers nationwide. Osibodu told journalists that each distribution company (Disco) was allocated a number of meters to be installed for its customers, saying that BEDC had taken delivery of 54,198 out the…
Author: Newsdesk
People of Umudim village in Ekwulumili, Nnewi South local government of Anambra, say they are living in constant fear over the gully erosion sweeping away homes and farmlands in the area. Ekwulumili is an agrarian community with a large population of indigenous people and shares borders with Amichi, Igboukwu, Unubi, Akwaihedi and Orsumoghu. The massive gully measuring several meters in width and depth is expanding at fast speed. Some of the people directly affected by the disaster said they have lost their ancestral land where they were supposed to build on and cultivate. Mrs Charity Ezeoke, who lives on the…
A former Governor of Abia, Sen. Theodore Orji, was, on Thursday, arrested by operatives of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Spokesperson of EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement, stated that the former governor, who had been on the commission’s watch list, was intercepted at Nnamdi International Airport, Abuja, on Thursday. He said that Orji was later taken to the commission’s headquarters for continued interrogation. “He is being quizzed alongside his son, Chinedu, the current Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, who turned himself in this afternoon upon learning of the arrest of his father. “Orji and his sons, Chinedu…
Delta state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa says the state government will partner with the World Bank in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the state. The governor said this on Thursday when he inaugurated the State Project Steering Committee of the Nigeria COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Project (Co-PREP), at the Government House, Asaba. Okowa, represented by his Deputy, Deacon Kingsley Otuaro, said that the committee would oversee the implementation of Co-PREP projects at the state level. He said the steering committee headed by the Commissioner for Health, Dr Mordi Ononye, would review progress reports and oversee the State Coordinating Unit…
Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike on Thursday signed into law the bill on Value Added Tax (VAT) collection in the state. Wike signed the recently passed bill by the Rivers State House of Assembly into law at Government House, Port Harcourt. He maintained that the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt had sufficiently addressed the illegality perpetrated by the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS). “The Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has addressed the illegality perpetrated by the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) on behalf of the federal government in the collection of VAT in states. The…
President Muhammadu Buhari has again pledged to tackle widespread hunger among citizens across the country, assuring that he will not exit government as a failure. The National Security Adviser to the President, retired Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno, said the president made the pledge during a crucial security meeting attended by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, security chiefs and some cabinet Ministers in Abuja on Thursday He said the president was updated on security developments in various parts of the country since the last meeting of the security council was held on June 8. Monguno said: “The last National Security Council meeting we…
By Tina George, Minna The Christian Solidarity Worldwide Nigeria (CSWN) has called for the prosecution of the abductors, who call themselves husbands, of the students of Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok in Borno state. The research and press officer of the group, Mr Reuben Buhari in a statement on Thursday noted that the girls were not wilfully married out but forced, an act that is a violation of their fundamental human rights. According to the group, after seven years of forceful captivity, the girls should not be made to live with those who forcefully impregnated them and turned themselves…
Operatives of Enugu Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday arrested 14 suspected internet fraudsters at the Monarch axis of Enugu, Enugu State. A statement by the spokesperson of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren gave the names of the suspects as: Okoro Anselem, Okoh Chumsdi, Ngwuta Chibuike, Chukwugekwu Michael,Chukwuemeka Victor, Chima Richard, Simon Prosper, Joshua Bomateh and Chukwunonso Henry. Other include Waritimi Fredrick, Ifesinachi valentine, Amadi Michael, Ijere Caleb, Victor Nduka and Joshua Odoemenam. They were arrested based on verified intelligence on their involvement in internet related fraud. Items recovered from the suspects include two vehicles, several…
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa has sought greater collaboration with financial institutions in the country as a way of tackling fraudulent election financing, foreign exchange malpractices and money laundering. Speaking on Thursday, during an interactive session with managing directors of banks in Nigeria at the Conference Hall of the Lagos Zonal Command of the EFCC, he said it was important to bring the financial institutions in the country up to speed with the evolving policies in the Commission, in line with the United Nations’ categorization of the fight against corruption vis-à-vis prevention, enforcement…
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, a civil society organisation, has condemned the resurgence of violence in Plateau, saying that the recent attack has set the tempo for identity-related unrests in the state. This is contained in a statement by the Executive Director of the Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani made available to ASHENEWS on Thursday. According to him, “this killing is one too many and must be investigated and perpetrators need to be brought to justice. Every Jos crisis is a reminder of unresolved violent identity-based conflicts that exist in the state. It is also a call to action, dialogue,…