The Niger state government has declared Thursday and Friday as work-free days to enable civil servants who had not obtained their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), to do so. The Commissioner for Information, Dr Emmanuel Musa disclosed this while addressing newsmen on the outcome of the state weekly Executive Council Meeting at Government House Minna on Wednesday. Musa said the government harped on the importance of the PVC to the performance of their civic responsibilities. The government said it did not want people, especially civil servants, to miss out on the opportunity of exercising their constitutional right of participating in the…
Author: Newsdesk
The Senate, on Wednesday at plenary, screened and confirmed all the seven ministerial nominees sent by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 21. Buhari had in a letter that conveyed the names of the ministerial nominees to Senate, explained that the confirmation request was in accordance with the provisions of Section 147 subsection 2 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended. The seven nominees screened and confirmed by Senate, three were excused from taking questions from lawmakers. This was because of their legislative background and experience, in line with the tradition of the Senate, while four…
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved reforms to shore up the non-oil revenue to N3.8 trillion and oil revenue to N160 billion annually. Mr Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, briefed State House correspondents after the FEC meeting on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The meeting was presided over by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as President Muhammadu Buhari is on a state visit to Portugal. Akande said that the reforms would boost Federal Government’s finance especially the non-oil revenue. “Among several on the memos presented was…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Sokoto state has challenged the state government to explain why it is abandoning projects it has started. A statement by the state chairman of the party, Sadiq Isah Achida made available to ASHENEWS on Wednesday, also challenged the state governor to explain reasons for the inability of his government, to renovate the Sokoto Central Market and the fate of shop owners who lost fortunes in the ill-fated fire outbreak early last year. “We would like to call on the Sokoto state sovernment to explain to the people of the state, its reasons for abandoning…
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has awarded Petroleum Prospecting Licenses (PPLs) to 161 successful 2020 marginal fields awardees. The commission also officially unveiled the Host Communities Development Regulations and model Petroleum Prospecting Licenses (PPLs). Chief Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources, at the unveiling and licenses presentation on Tuesday in Abuja said the maiden presentation of the PPL was part of the implementation of Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021. The successful companies include Ardova Plc, Matrix Energy Ltd, Sun Trust Oil Company Limited, Deep Offshore Integrated Service Ltd, Island Energy Ltd. and Sigmund Oil Field Ltd.…
Suspected bandits have invaded Adiya Farms located close to the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, in Bodinga local government area of Sokoto state and rustled over three hundred cattle. Speaking to journalists, owner of the farm Abdullahi Adiya said over 135 cows and over 180 rams are missing as at Tuesday morning. He called on the authorities to confront the challenge of insecurity headlong so that citizens can go about their daily business without fear. Adiya said his security staff recovered some of the animals in a nearby bush while lamenting the loss of jobs this incident may trigger. When…
Turkey had previously blocked Finland and Sweden joining NATO over concerns about terrorism. The Nordic states asked to join the organisation after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Turkey, Sweden and Finland have signed a memorandum for the two Nordic states to join NATO, removing a Turkish block to the accession process. It comes after the leaders of the three nations spoke at a NATO summit in Madrid. A statement from the president of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, said: “We had a thorough meeting with president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and prime minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson, facilitated by secretary general of…
By Justina Auta The National Blood Service Commission (NBSC) says all blood receivers, irrespective of age and religious beliefs, are protected by the law, as it is meant to save lives during emergency. The Acting Director-General (D-G) of the commission, Dr. Omale Amedu, made this known in an interview in Abuja on Tuesday. Blood transfusion is the administration of whole blood or its components, to replace large amounts of blood lost through accident, injury, childbirth or disease. Amedu, while, reacting to some religious beliefs that hinder recipients from blood transfusion during emergency, said the commission would follow laid down laws…
A 101-year-old former guard of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp appears in the courtroom, his face covered with a blue folder A German court has sentenced a 101-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard to five years in prison. The pensioner is the oldest person so far to be charged with being complicit with the war crimes of the Holocaust. A German court in the northeastern state of Brandenburg on Tuesday sentenced a former concentration camp guard to five years in jail. How Holocaust perpetrators are prosecuted in Germany Prosecutors accused the pensioner of involvement in the murders of 3,518 prisoners at…
UK doctors have thrown down the gauntlet to the government by calling for a pay rise of up to 30% over the next five years, in a move that increases the chances of strike action. Delegates at the British Medical Association’s (BMA) annual conference voted to press ministers to agree to the increase to make up for real-terms cuts to their salaries over the last 14 years. Some doctors who supported the motion cited striking rail workers as an inspiration for how groups of workers should pursue pay claims with Boris Johnson’s administration. Last week members of the RMT union…