President Muhammadu Buhari is currently presiding over virtual weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The Ministries of Power; Works and Housing; Trade, Industry and Investment; Health as well as Finance are expected to make presentations at the meeting. Those physically present at the meeting include Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, (represented by a Permanent Secretary in the SGF office, Habiba Lawal), Head of the Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan and the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.…
Author: Newsdesk
Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman is expected in Turkey on Wednesday, hoping to normalise relations strained after the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate. Talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan come amid efforts by the oil-rich kingdom’s de facto ruler to repair his image and Erdoğan’s search for financial and diplomatic gains to help mend an ailing economy ahead of next year’s elections. According to the Turkish presidential office, Erdoğan will receive the crown prince in an official ceremony at the presidential palace later on Wednesday, followed by a dinner in…
Kebbi state governor, Atiku Bagudu has approved the payment of N3 billion as gratuity and death benefits to 1,172 verified beneficiaries for 2021. The approval is contained in a statement issued on Wednesday in Birnin-Kebbi by the Acting Head of the Civil Service, Safiyanu Garba-Bena. “The payment is to cover 1,172 beneficiaries of state, local governments and Local Governments Education Authority,’’ he stated. The state government has given cumulative approval of more than N30 billion since 2015 for payment of gratuities and death benefits. It approved N20 billion to cover 2015 to 2018 and another N10 billion representing the balances for 2017…
Women Affairs Minister Pauline Tallen has solicited the support of UN Member States to elect Mrs Esther Eghobamien-Mshelia into the UN Committee on Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The CEDAW Committee consists of 23 experts on women’s rights from around the world. Tallen made the call at a hybrid roundtable event on” Expanding Gender Responsive Investment Initiatives for Economic Recovery and Sustainability,’’ hosted by the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the…
A Japanese court ruled Monday that the country’s ban on same-sex marriage does not violate the constitution, and rejected demands for compensation by three couples who said their right to free union and equality has been violated. The Osaka District Court ruling is the second decision on the issue, and disagrees with a ruling last year by a Sapporo court that found the ban on same-sex marriages unconstitutional. It underscores how divisive the issue remains in Japan, the only member of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations that does not recognize same-sex unions. In its ruling, the Osaka court…
President Muhammadu Buhari will on Wednesday, depart Abuja Wednesday, June 22, for Kigali, Rwanda, to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), being held from June 20 to 26, 2022. This is contained in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Femi Adesina. According to the statement, the President will join other leaders to participate in discussions focused on the progress and prosperity of the more than two billion people living in the 54 independent countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific that make up the Commonwealth. The theme for…
The Federal Government says the fixed pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) remains N165 per litre as stipulated in the petroleum product pricing template. The government also advised Nigerians against panic buying of PMS, also known as petrol, saying that the country currently had over 2 billion litres of PMS in various depots. This was made known by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd., and the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company after visiting jetties in Apapa, Lagos, on Tuesday. The depots visited by the top officials of the agencies were NIPCO…
The Senate on Tuesday, considered a bill seeking to establish the Police Pension Board. The bill which scaled second reading at plenary was sponsored by Sen. Elisha Abbo (Adamawa- North). The bill was read for the first time on June 14. Leading the debate on the bill, Abbo noted that the current pension arrangement of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) was under the Pension Commission by virtue of Section 5(1) of the Pension Reform Act 2014. According to him, the Nigeria police, though a premier law enforcement and security agency, is left on the Contributory Pension Scheme unlike the Army,…
President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration is decentralising the nation’s national grid through renewable mini-grids to address the challenges of electricity supply across the country. The president, who revealed this in an interview he granted Bloomberg News, said the Federal Government had earmarked $550 million to provide 20,000 Standalone Solar Systems (SHS), as well as Solar Hybrid mini-grids in over 250 locations. “We are also decentralising the national grid through renewable driven mini-grids. “The $550 million Nigeria Electrification Project has deployed more than 20,000 Standalone Solar Systems (SHS), as well as Solar Hybrid mini-grids in over 250 locations,” he said.…
The FCT Administration (FCTA), Social Development Secretariat (SDS), has nabbed a suspected homosexual, who allegedly molested no fewer than 19 minors, at Karmajiji village located at the Airport road, Abuja. The Acting Director, Social Welfare Services of SDS, Sani Amar, made the disclosure at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja. Amar said the the suspect was apprehended based on the directive of the FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, who was passionate about protecting and defending the rights of the vulnerable, children and women. He emphasised that the social development secretariat was duty-bound to ensure that the rights…