Author: Khadija Abubakar

THE Joint Committee on Electoral Matters has proposed a slash in salaries of legislators and executive members by 30 and 40 per cent respectively. This was proposed on Monday during an interactive session with Judiciary and political parties led by the Chairman, the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Senator Sharafadeen Alli on the National Assembly Review and amendment of the Electoral Act 2022. According to them, the salaries of legislators should be reduced by 30 per cent while that of the executives be reduced by 40 per cent to cut costs. During the session, political parties also proposed that all…

THE Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is investigating British Airways over persistent delays of departure for three consecutive days. The authority also said, as part of the investigation, it would inspect all all aircraft on the Nigerian route for regulatory compliance under its Foreign Aircraft Safety Assessment Programme. Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, who confirmed the development said the UK flag carrier has been delaying departure for about three consecutive days since August 27th. It said this has resulted in many inconveniences to members of the traveling public. Amidst the British Airways controversy, Qatar Airways passengers…

MINISTER of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced that the Federal Government has approved a 50% electricity subsidy for public hospitals across the country. According to him, this gesture aims to reduce the running costs for public hospitals and alleviate the impact on patients. The Minister, speaking at the National Neo-Psychiatric Hospital in Barnawa, Kaduna, also commissioned the Electronic Health Records and Alternative Power Supply at the Lawal Jafaru Isah Emergency Complex and the solarization project at the dialysis unit, which includes a solar-powered borehole and a 10.2 KVA inverter with a lithium battery at the…

THE Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors have declared a seven-day warning strike over the abduction of their colleague, Dr Ganiyat Popoola who was kidnapped nearly eight months ago. NARD President, Dr Dele Abdullahi, who disclosed this to our correspondent on Sunday, said the strike will begin Monday, August 26, 2024, at 12am. Abdullahi said the decision was made during the Emergency National Executive Council meeting. He said, “The strike is commencing by midnight today. It’s for seven days, it’s a warning strike, and it’s total. “During the strike, there will be no concessions, and there will be no emergency care.”…

THE Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday announced that the country has recorded a total of 40 confirmed cases of mpox out of 830 suspected cases. NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, made this announcement at the Joint NCDC/World Health Organisation National Mpox briefing with stakeholders and partners in Abuja. The WHO Nigeria Country Office disclosed that Nigeria would be receiving doses of the mpox vaccine through a donation from the United States Government. Idris noted that an Emergency Operations Centre and an Incident Management System have been established since mpox was declared a Public Health Emergency of…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu will on Friday swear in Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as the new Chief Justice of Nigeria. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday. He said the swearing-in ceremony will take place at the Council Chambers of the State House in Abuja, the nation’s capital. Justice Kekere-Ekun will succeed Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who bowed out on Thursday after clocking the retirement age of 70 years. The President also congratulated Ariwoola, whose stint in the judiciary he described as a “successful public service career,” commending him for his…

OIL marketers have attributed this round of scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit also known as petrol, to lingering logistics challenges. This was disclosed by the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association, (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry who was a guest on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Monday monitored by News Point Nigeria. According to him, oil marketers are currently supply constrained, and could “distribute only what we have”. He said, “I think until we get our supply challenges sorted out efficiently and abundantly, we will not be able to get out of this circle. “I believe you must have…

A SURGING mpox outbreak in Africa was declared an emergency by the World Health Organisation this week and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), an EU agency, on Friday said more imported cases to Europe were “highly likely”. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declared its first-ever Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS) for the deadly disease. It is the second time the WHO has issued its public health emergency warning since the epidemic first spread around the world in 2022. Now the virus has crossed from its epicentre in the Democratic…

THE Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday said Nigeria had recorded a total of 39 confirmed cases of mpox and zero deaths across 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory from the beginning of 2024. The NCDC Director General, Dr Jide Idris, who disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja, also said the country had so far recorded a total of 5,951 suspected cholera cases and 176 deaths have been recorded across 36 states, and the FCT as of August 11, 2024. The Africa Centre for Disease Control on Tuesday declared a public health emergency over…

THE Federal Government on Monday, approved the new National Policy on Health Workforce Migration. The 56-page document approved by President Bola Tinubu will tackle the exodus of health workers from Nigeria in a phenomenon colloquially known as ‘Japa’. See Full Document Below: NATIONAL-POLICY-ON-HWF-MIGRATION_FINALCOPY_PDF

THE National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has denied directing corps members to upgrade their accounts for the payment of N70,000 as their monthly allowance. Recall that the nation’s official minimum wage for public servants had been the benchmark for the Corps members’ monthly allowances for some years now. This newspaper reports that President Bola Tinubu had last month signed the National Minimum Wage Bill 2024 into law, which provides for N70,000 minimum wage for workers in both public and private sectors. NYSC Director of Information and Public Relations, Mr. Eddy Megwa, in a press statement on Sunday, said the misleading…

THE Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has disrupted an event tagged, “Unveiling the Power of Women and Food Security,” which was held without the ministry’s approval. Kennedy-Ohanenye disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday, saying the organiser has been taken into custody by the Department of State Services (DSS) for alleged impersonation of the ministry. “It got to my notice earlier today that some group of people where using the name of the ministry for some unscrupulous activities.Upon getting this information ,I stormed the alleged fraudulent event conducted in the Ministry’s name. The Perpetrator’s of this crime has been. “There…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has successfully auctioned $876.26 million to 26 deposit money banks (DMBs) in the latest Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS) held on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. The auction was part of the apex bank’s efforts to enhance foreign exchange liquidity in the market, alleviate demand pressure, and support price discovery, in line with its objectives. The CBN disclosed this development in a statement released on its website on Wednesday, signed by its Director of the Financial Markets Department, Omolara Omofunde Duke. According to the statement, the auction attracted total bids worth $1.18 billion from 32…

NIGERIA’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, says the Federal Government (FG) won’t accept any foreign interference in the aftermath of the violence that trailed the #EndBadGovernance protests in the country. He stated this on Wednesday when he met with members of the diplomatic corps in Abuja, warning that the government will not spare anyone funding the protests both from within and outside Nigeria. Tuggar said, “While the government continues to work hard through the various reform programs and measures to address the challenges facing Nigeria and Nigerians, it is pertinent to remind us that no nation tolerates foreign interference…

THE management of Bayero University Kano (BUK) has suspended lectures pending the return of normalcy in the state. In a statement issued on Monday by Deputy Registrar, Public Affairs, Lamara Garba, the Management of BUK said the decision to suspend activities was necessitated by its consideration of safety of lives and property and, therefore, enjoins the members of the University community to continue to be cautious about their movements See full statement below: SUSPENSION OF LECTURES The Management of Bayero University, Kano wishes to commend members of the University community for their support and cooperation of maintaining a peaceful atmosphere…

THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has given all tertiary institutions in the country one month to disclose all admissions conducted outside its Central Admissions Processing System before 2017. The Public Communication Advisor for JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin, who disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja, on behalf of the board’s registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, on Sunday, said the directive was aimed at enhancing transparency and fairness in the admissions process. “The attention of the board has been drawn to the predilection of some institutions to admit candidates outside the approved Central Admissions Processing System platform and process such…

AS the planned national protest against hardship looms, Amnesty International is asking Nigerian authorities to respect the rights of demonstrators. In a statement on Wednesday, Amnesty International’s Nigeria Director Isa Sanusi called on government and security agencies to allow protesters to exercise their rights. “The Nigerian authorities must ensure that security agencies respect and facilitate the right to peaceful protest, as guaranteed by both the country’s own constitution and human rights treaties including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party. Government officials must…

THE Managing Director of Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund), Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, has disclosed that over N1.1 billion has been disbursed as fees for 20,000 students who applied for the loans. Speaking in a briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, Sawyerr said the Fund would also disburse N850 million before the end of the day (Wednesday), adding that disbursement will henceforth be done daily. He said the Fund would also disburse loans to 260 students for upkeep with each being entitled to N250,000 yearly. “The payment of upkeep stipends will be conducted in the coming week with the utmost transparency and…

TELECOMMS firm MTN has closed its offices nationwide. MTN, however, directed its customers to use their “digital channels” for support. While it did not indicate the reason for the closure, the move came barely 24 hours after aggrieved customers vandalised MTN’s office in the Festac area of Lagos. The aggrieved customers whose lines were disconnected for defaulting in the NIN-SIM linkage policy had stormed the office to complain over the move. But in viral videos spotted by Channels Television, some of them were seen pulling the office’s fence. It took the intervention of police authorities in Lagos State to restore…

NO fewer than 30 Nigerians died during the just-concluded hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, the Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Mallam Jalal Arabi, has said. Arabi, who disclosed this at a post-hajj press briefing in Abuja, on Monday, explained that about four victims passed away as a result of the heat wave recorded during the hajj exercise. He said, “It is very true that the 2024 hajj experienced one of the harshest weathers that had ever been experienced in the past. But the good thing about we were informed well in advance. “It was included in the…