Former Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili has described National Assembly (NASS) members as a set of people not capable of being affected or disturbed by the plight of poor Nigerians. Ezekwesili, barely 24 hours after NASS passed the country’s 2023 budget to the tune of N21.8trn took to her Twitter handle @obyezeks to express her misgivings at the members’ appropriation of N228.1bln allegedly to themselves. According to her, their decision was irrespective of the fact that the budget is ‘vastly unfunded’. “So our evidently Locust-Lawmakers increased their own @nassnigeria 2023 budget by N59 billion? They appropriated a colossal sum…
Author: Newsdesk
By Ishaq Dan-Imam, Lokoja President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, arrived Okene in Kogi to inaugurate projects constructed by the state government. ASHENEWS reports that Buhari, who arrived Okene at 10.30 am and was driven to the new Palace of Ohinoyi of Ebraland for a townhall meeting. After the meeting, Buhari inaugurated the multi million Naira Reference Hospital Okene, the new Palace of Ohinoyi of Ebraland Okene, Okene-Agasa-Ogbogoro road, and other township roads in Okene. In Lokoja, the state capital, the president inaugurated the first-ever flyover bridge at Ganaja Junction Lokoja; the Muhammadu Buhari Square; the GYB Model Science Secondary School,…
The Senate has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to urgently extend the withdrawal date of old currency notes from January 31 to June 31, 2023. The upper chamber’s resolution was sequel to a point of order raised by Sen. Mohammed Ndume (APC-Borno) during Wednesday’s plenary. CBN had on October 26, announced plans to redesign the 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes. Sequel to the announcement by the apex bank, President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the redesigned naira notes. Raising Orders 41 and 51 of the Senate Standing Rule, Ndume said that the call for an extension of the date…
By Musa Yaro (Calabar) The 2022 Calabar Carnival, which over the years was christened as the biggest street party in Africa, has been described as the worst organized since its inception 18 years ago. A cross-section of people who spoke with ASHENEWS criticized the organization, structure, and styles introduced by the government and organizers, maintaining that it was an event unpreparedly organized by the government. A stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Calabar Municipality spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity at the Rabanna roundabout, blaming the authorities for “inadequate security checks as well as crowd control…
By Musa Yaro, Calabar A governorship aspirant of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Cross River state, Senator John Owan Enoh has collapsed his moves aimed at seeking perceived misgivings through court. Bassey Otu had won the party’s ticket at the primary election. Dissatisfied, Enoh approached the Federal High Court which affirmed Otu as the authentic winner of the ticket. Further dissatisfied, he went to the Court of Appeal, which also affirmed Otu’s victory. ASHENEWS reports that while Enoh was planning to proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge the judgments of the lower and Appeal courts, the presidential candidate…
The Kano State Hisbah Board says it has destroyed 25 trucks of beer and apprehended 2,260 suspected criminals in its operations from January to December. Dr. Harun Sani-Ibn, the Commander General of the Board, stated this when he briefed newsmen at the board’s headquarters on Thursday in Kano. He said that the trucks contained thousands of bottles of assorted beer, adding that more bottles would be wiped out before January. “Most of those arrested for the criminal offenses was handed over to security agencies for necessary action, and the underaged were reunited with their families. “In the year under review, in…
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has established six new zonal offices including Sokoto and five other states, making a total of 12 zonal operational offices. ASHENEWS reports that the new zonal offices, which will take off on January 1, 2023, will be operated by new zonal managers. NAN which was previously operating six zonal offices, decentralized to 12 for administrative convenience, effectiveness, and increased coverage, especially at the grassroots level. The new Akure Zone, which has Ondo, Ekiti, and Osun states, was carved out from the old Ibadan Zone while Owerri Zone, excised from the old Enugu Zone, now…
A Pakistan court freed a rapist after he married his victim in a settlement brokered by a council of elders in the northwest of the country, his lawyer said Wednesday. The decision has outraged rights activists, who say it legitimizes sexual violence against women in a country where a majority of rape goes unreported. Dawlat Khan, 25, was sentenced in May to life imprisonment by a lower court in Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for raping a deaf woman. He was released from prison on Monday after the Peshawar High Court accepted an out-of-court settlement agreed by the rape survivor’s family.…
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) says as of December 23, the country registered 49 confirmed cases of monkeypox (renamed by WHO as Mpox) cases. The centre made the announcement on its official website on Thursday, saying that this was a 9 per cent increase in the number of new confirmed cases when compared to the last report. Monkeypox was renamed Mpox to avoid the racist and stigmatising language used for the disease that originated in Africa. Mpox caused alarm when it spread worldwide earlier this year. While cases have reduced, experts warn this is not the…
ASHENEWS reports that an explosion has killed four people in Okene, home town of Kogi state governor Yahaya Bello. The explosion reportedly occurred a few meters from the Ohinoyi’s palace at Kuroko Street in Okene. This online platform further reports that the explosion occurred on the same day President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to arrive the state for a one day visit, the first since he assumed power. The president is expected to hold a town hall meeting in Okene and commission some projects in the Senatorial district before he moves to Lokoja to commission other projects. Details later… With…