THE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has commended the conduct of the just concluded governorship election in Edo State. NBA, in a report of its Election Working Group ((NBA-EWG) on the Edo governorship election , jointly signed by its team lead, Mrs. Bolatumi Animashaun and General Secretary, Mobolaji Ojibara, said the poll was conducted in an orderly manner. “The Nigerian Bar Association Election Working Group (NBA-EWG) observed that the 2024 Edo State Governorship Election was generally orderly,” the report stated. The NBA also commended the security agencies for demonstrating a high level of professionalism throughout the election. However, it expressed concerns…
Author: Maryam Garba
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS operators are expected to start disconnecting mobile telephone lines that are not linked to National Identification Numbers, following the expiration of the September 14 deadline set by the Nigerian Communications Commission. The NCC said in a statement in August that it expected that no SIM card would remain active without a verified NIN from September 15. The telecom regulator had encouraged subscribers who were yet to complete their NIN-SIM linkage or have faced issues due to verification mismatches to visit their service providers promptly to update their details before the deadline. As of March 2024, data from the NCC…
THE Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Haitham Al Ghais, has expressed deep gratitude to Nigeria and President Bola Tinubu for their unwavering support of the organization since Nigeria joined in 1971. In a message commemorating OPEC’s 64th anniversary, Al Ghais said: “Today, we proudly celebrate OPEC’s founding. It is a pleasure and an honour to deliver this message to the great nation of Nigeria, which has played a pivotal role in this organisation since joining in 1971. Nigeria has been a steadfast supporter of OPEC’s mission to ensure a stable and balanced global oil market.”…
THE Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said it has confirmed 55, out of the 935 suspected Mpox cases across 39 local government areas in 21 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). NCDC made this known on Tuesday via Its official website, where it also confirmed that no death was recorded from the disease so far this year. States where the cases were confirmed include Enugu with eight cases, followed by Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom, recording six cases each. Other states with confirmed cases include Cross River (5), Delta (3), Benue (3), Plateau (3), Osun (2), Imo…
NIGERIA’s telecom sector risks shutdown as about 800 workers from the Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association have embarked on strike, threatening to cripple services nationwide. The union, largely contract staff, warned of massive disruptions to telecom operations if its demands were not met, as this would leave millions of subscribers to face a potential communication blackout. The strike began on Monday and the union’s demands include, among other things, reinstatement of some of its sacked workers, recognition of the union, improved working conditions, and remittance of membership dues. “The strike has become inevitable because of the prevalent precarious…
THE National grid on Monday hit a record high of 5,313 megawatts, a record high in the last three years. This was revealed by the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu while speaking at an event which took place in Beijing, China on the eve of the opening ceremony of the African-China Co-operation Summit on Tuesday. Adelabu called on the Distribution Companies to make use of the opportunity to take more energy to prevent grid collapse. He explained that frequency drops whenever power is produced and not picked by the DISCOs, adding that efforts would be made to encourage industries…
THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has denounced claims that it is involved in the admission process for higher national diploma (HND) students. A statement signed by the Spokesman of the board, Fabian Benjamin, said the board has no involvement, authority, or control over the admissions process for HND candidates. The statement added that JAMB is also not responsible for other higher institutions’ programmes besides their regular admissions. The board further added that candidates’ HND admissions are unknown and irrelevant to the mandate of JAMB. Some HND students had earlier accused the board of being responsible for their inability…
THE Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Moji Adeyeye, says the agency has not advised Nigerians not to eat bread. In a statement on Tuesday, Adeyeye labelled as false, a video circulating on social media, which claims that the agency has raised concerns about bread safety in Nigeria. “The video which suggests that NAFDAC advised Nigerians to avoid bread due to the use of saccharine by some producers, does not reflect the observations of NAFDAC during the stakeholders’ engagement on August 16, 2024, in Ibadan, Oyo State,” she said. Adeyeye clarified that…
HAJIYA Ummu Iya Abubakar, the mother-in-law of the National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, is dead. She died in Abuja in the early hours of Tuesday. Her death was announced by Professor Iya Abubakar’s family in a statement on Tuesday. Hajiya Ummu’s funeral prayer would hold at the National Mosque at 1:30 pm. She would be subsequently interred at the Gudu Cemetery, Abuja. See full statement below: “Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return — QURAN 2:156. “On behalf of Senator (Prof) Iya Abubakar and family, it is with a heavy heart and total submission to…
EDUCATION Minister Tahir Mamman says underage candidates will no longer be allowed to sit for secondary school leaving examinations. The minister stated this on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme monitored by News Point Nigeria. He said the Federal Government has instructed the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) which administers the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) which organises the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) to comply with the directive on 18 years age limit for any candidate to be eligible for the two examinations. Mamman also insisted that the age limit for any…
THE National Hospital Abuja will soon set up a VIP section that will cater for presidents, top government officials and other respected personalities within and from outside the country. The chief medical director of the hospital, Prof. Mahmud Raji made the disclosure yesterday in Abuja when he led a delegation to the headquarters of Media Trust Group, publishers of Daily Trust titles and owners of Trust TV and Trust Radio. He said a residential building or accommodation facility attached to the VIP section would be like a five star or seven star hotel to cater for all categories of VIPs.…
HUMAN rights organisation, Amnesty International, has alleged that more than 1,000 #EndBadGovernance hunger and hardship protesters are being held in various prisons across the country. In a post via its X handle on Friday, the organisation accused the Nigerian authorities of escalating a crackdown on peaceful protesters by arraigning over 1,000 protesters in court. The organisation’s stance follows the protest held from August 1-10. The protests took a twist and turned violent in some states, especially in the north, with cases of violence and looting recorded. Some of the protesters were also seen holding the Russian flag while chanting “We…
THREE lives have been lost and over 1,000 houses have been destroyed by flooding across three local government areas in Bauchi State, in North-East Nigeria. Officials of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) reported these figures as they begin assessing the extent of the damage caused by the recent floods. During a visit to the affected communities in Shira, Giade, and Katagum local government areas by the state government delegation, the Director General of Bauchi State Emergency Management Agency, Mas’ud Aliyu, said, “In Shira Local Government Area, three people have lost their lives.” “The three local government areas of Shira,…
THE federal government has paid the outstanding 45-month minimum wage arrears owed to staff of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet). Non-payment of the arrears, which date back to 2019, has often pitted NiMet management against staff of the agency and the labour unions. It would be recalled that in May this year, the unions declared industrial action over the issue but it was stalled following the intervention by the House Committee on Aviation Technology and their Senate counterpart. The unions suspended the strike action after an agreement was reached on Sunday, May 19, 2024, during a special session convened by…
THE National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has invalidated the certificates of 101 individuals mobilised for national service by the University of Calabar (UNICAL) during the 2021, 2022, and 2023 service years. According to a statement signed by the Director, Information and Public Relations of the Corp, Eddy Megwa, the organisation took this action to maintain the integrity of the national service programme and prevent unqualified individuals from participating. The statement added that the affected individuals were found to have been mobilised fraudulently, and their certificates have been canceled immediately as part of the NYSC’s strong commitment to ensuring that only…
The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye has claimed that she inherited a debt of ₦3.2bn, while ₦500m was unaccounted for upon her resumption in the office. She disclosed this on Channels Television’s Inside Sources on Friday. According to Adeyeye, such debt and missing funds were enough to declare the agency bankrupt if it had happened in a developed country such as the United States. She said, “When I got to NAFDAC, I met N3.2b Debt, and N500m missing and there was no account for it before I came.…
A MEMBER of the House of Representatives Alhassan Doguwa (APC-Kano) says he has no murder case. The comment was a reply to his colleague Abdulmumini Jibrin’s (NNPP-Kano) allegations against him. In a statement he signed on Thursday, Doguwa said, “Let me say categorically as of today. I, Doguwa, am not standing before any court of law in Nigeria for an alleged murder, a culpable homicide. “I went through virtually all criminal investigations and judicial considerations at various levels and came out clean and victoriously innocent. Copies of such rigorous police investigations conducted by the highest police investigations authority in the…
THE Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has announced that Nigeria’s power sector generated 5,105 megawatts of electricity on July 27, 2024, describing it as a three-year high. Adelabu announced this at the inaugural meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Power Sector Working Group in Abuja on Wednesday. While highlighting the recent achievements and future goals for the power sector, the minister said, “Just a few days ago, on July 27, we successfully generated and transmitted 5,105MW of power, the highest in the last three years. This is an improvement from the previous capacity of around 4,000MW or below. “Our target is to…
NO fewer than 4,877 victims of human trafficking from Nigeria have voluntarily returned to the country since 2017, a report by the International Organisation for Migration has shown. The victims returned to Nigeria under the IOM’s Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration programme, with women and girls constituting nearly 88 per cent (4,261) of the returnees, while men accounted for 13 per cent (616). The data showed that most victims fall within the age bracket of 18 to 39 years, with those aged 18 to 25 being particularly susceptible to recruitment by traffickers. Within the first quarter of 2024 alone, the…
THE National Youth Service Corps has warned that graduates of polytechnic and mono-technics without evidence of mandatory one-year Industrial Training will not participate in national service. NYSC Coordinator in Lagos State, Mrs Yetunde Baderinwa, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday in Lagos. Baderinwa said that NYSC had issued a circular to that effect. Baderinwa said, “It has been noticed in recent times that some graduates of polytechnics and mlnotechnics do not observe the mandatory one-year IT before being admitted for HND programme. “The one-year IT is a prerequisite for HND. “They must…