Author: Farouk Abbas

THE Governor of Kebbi State Nasir Idris has received the 19 rescued underage children who were trafficked from Kebbi State to Cross River State. The children, whose ages range from four to 10 years were rescued through the joint efforts of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Kebbi State Government, Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Department of State Service (DSS), and other security agencies. The governor who received the children started his speech angrily blaming the parents of these children for neglect. Governor Idris expressed gratitude for the collaborative effort that led to the children’s…

THE Federal Government has inaugurated an independent investigative panel to probe allegations of corruption and gross violations of standard operating procedures within the Nigeria Correctional Service NCoS. Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo who inaugurated the committee on Monday in Abuja said the committee must also look at the recent allegation that some correctional service personnel had provided an alternative accommodation for convicted cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky The panel, according to the Minister became necessary to sanitize the Service towards attaining transparency and accountability. Recall that the Minister, who is also the Chairman of the Civil Defence,…

THE Technical Sub-Committee on Domestic Sales of Crude Oil in Local Currency, on Sunday, confirmed that the supply of crude in naira by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is to begin on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. On September 13, 2024, the committee announced that the Federal Executive Council under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu approved the sale of crude to local refineries in naira and the corresponding purchase of petroleum products in naira. “From October 1, NNPC will commence the supply of about 385kbpd (385,000 barrels per day) of crude oil to the…

ORGANISERS of the #FearlessOctober1 protest have declared that the police, Department of State Services, and the military would not stop them from embarking on the demonstration as planned. The organisers have also written to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to request security during the demonstration, noting that protest is a fundamental right they would not submit to any state agent. Nigeria will celebrate its 64th independence on Tuesday, October 1, the day some Nigerian youths have taken to protest the hardship occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy and the devaluation of the naira. The National Coordinator of…

ABUBAKAR Umar, the Sixth Prosecution Witness in the trial of former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam has narrated before the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja presided over by Justice Peter Lifu, how in 2014, he converted the sum of ₦3.1bn wired to him by Suswam as governor, and delivered its equivalent of $15.8m in cash to him at his Maitama, Abuja residence. This was revealed in a statement by Head,  Media & Publicity, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Dele Oyewale on Saturday. Suswan, alongside his then Commissioner of Finance, Omodachi Okolobia facing 11-count amended charges of money laundering…

THE Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), is in the forefront of the implementation of the Performance Management System (PMS) in the Public Service. This was disclosed by Mrs. Titi Akisanya, the PMS Consultant from Zohar to FERMA, during the PMS appraisal session with FERMA Management at the Agency’s headquarters on Thursday 27th September, 2024. According to a statement by Maryam Sanusi,  Director Information and Public Relations, FERMA on Friday, the Performance Management System (PMS) has been at the centre of government reforms in recent years as an integral modern tool for planning, management, budgeting and improving accountability. The PMS is…

THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Bauchi Zone, has raised alarm over the exodus of 30 trained PhD holders from Sa’adu Zungur University (SAZU) formerly Bauchi State University, due to deteriorating working conditions and inadequate welfare provisions. The development was highlighted during a press conference held on Friday, where ASUU officials detailed their concerns. The absence of an employee exit policy has forced many of our best scholars to seek opportunities elsewhere, stated the Zonal Coordinator of ASUU Bauchi Zone, Namo Timothy, “SAZU has no pension or death benefit scheme in place as obtained in the structured public service…

THE Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has stressed the need for those living around River Niger and River Benue banks to relocate immediately to safe locations and secure their lives and property. In a statement on Friday, The Director General NIHSA, Umar Mohammed further affirmed that the steady rise in the water levels of river Niger and Benue has reached the red mark. He stressed the need for Nigerian citizens to heed the Agency’s warning, by doing the needful- clearing their drainages, and gutters as well as making way for water run-off. He also emphasised that the prolonged rain that…

TEN years after, former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday, denied suspending former Central Bank Governor, Dr Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, now Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, for alleging that $49.8bn went missing from the government’s coffers. Jonathan, who insisted that no such money went missing, said the CBN leadership under Sanusi cooked up the allegation. The former President spoke on Thursday in Abuja during the launch of the book, “Public Policy and Agents Interests: Perspectives from the Emerging World,” co-authored by former Minister of Finance, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, who served as Minister of Planning under his government. He responded to…

ANTI-CORRUPTION Civil Society organisations have described as statement credited to one organization, which called itself Human and Environmental Development Agenda, HEDA, calling for the arrest of former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, as a ” display of egregious ignorance”. The Coalition of CSOs, in a statement on Thursday, made available to journalists in Abuja, said, with the current situation of things around the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission-Governor Yahaya Bello saga, only an uninformed person would still be calling for his arrest. The activists said it was a known fact that HEDA had a history of encouraging executive lawlessness…

MINISTER of Works, Dave Umahi, says the Federal Government will toll all major roads in the country upon completion of construction and renovation. “We have the Lagos-Ibadan (Expressway), we are completing it and we are tolling it,” Umahi said on Thursday in Abuja at an Inter-Ministerial Press Briefing, part of activities to mark Nigeria’s 64th independence anniversary. He listed some of the roads as Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Road, and Makurdi-9th Mile, among others. The former Ebonyi State governor said the tolling of federal roads “is going to bring a lot of money to the Federal Government”. Umahi…

THE House of Representatives has referred a motion to allow other petroleum marketers to lift premium motor spirit directly from the Dangote Refinery to a joint national assembly ad hoc committee. Raised by a motion by Honourable Oboku Oforji, who argued that the coming on board of the Dangote Refinery, points Nigeria in the direction of self-sufficiency of PMS. The lawmaker described the insistence of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to be the sole lifter of PMS from Dangote Refinery as greed after it had failed to maintain the nation’s refineries. Oforji said that allowing the NNPCL and…

THE House of Representatives Wednesday rejected a proposal requesting a special grant of N300 billion from the federal government to aid victims of the recent flood in Maiduguri, Borno State. The decision came after an amendment to a motion aimed at securing federal intervention in light of the severe impact of the flood on the residents of Borno and surrounding areas. During the plenary session on Wednesday, Amos Magaji, the representative for the Jaba/Zangon Kataf Federal Constituency, introduced a motion of urgent public importance, highlighting the devastation wrought by the floods on homes, markets, and numerous health facilities. Inuwa Garba,…

THE Yahaya Bello Media Office on Wednesday called on President Bola Tinubu to step into the faceoff between the immediate past Kogi State governor and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In a statement, the Director of the Yahaya Bello Media office, Ohiare Michael, claimed the anti-graft agency has ulterior motives in the fight against corruption. He, therefore, wants President Tinubu to order an investigation over the faceoff to unravel the exact motives of the EFCC. “We call on Mr. President to please order a thorough investigation into the EFCC-former Governor Yahaya Bello face-off, since inception, with a view…

THE House of Representatives Committee on FCT on Wednesday adopted the bill seeking the approval of the N288 billion Supplementary budget for the minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. According to President Bola Tinubu’s letter, from the total sum of N288 billion supplementary budget was necessitated with a view to accommodate additional inflows from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and Miscellaneous Revenues in the sums of N8 billion and N280 billion, respectively. Chairman, House Committee on FCT, Aliyu Betara, who spoke during the budget defence meeting with members, explained the need for accelerated consideration and passage of the Appropriation bill…

A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, adjourned the arraignment of former Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi until Oct. 30. The adjournment by Justice Emeka Nwite came as ex-Gov. Bello moved to the Supreme Court to file an appeal seeking to set aside the arrest warrant issued by the trial court on April 17 against him. This newspaper reports that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had filed a 19-count money laundering charge against Bello. Upon resumed hearing on Wednesday, Bello’s Counsel, A.M. Adoyi, drew the attention of the court to the fact that the issue of arraignment…

THE Federal Government may spend about N236 billion monthly to subsidise the Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, that is imported through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company and the one that is solely off-taken by NNPC from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. On Monday, the President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, called on the Federal Government to end fuel subsidies completely. He said the removal would help determine the actual petrol consumption in the country, as his position received backing from the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and the Centre for Promotion of Public Enterprise on…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the lifting of petroleum products from Lagos-based Dangote Refinery will moderate the cost of transportation and ease food inflation. CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso stated this at a press briefing on Tuesday at the end of the 297th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in Abuja. “The committee expressed optimism that the lifting of refined petroleum products from Dangote Refinery will moderate transportation costs and significantly support the easing of food price pressures in the short to medium term. “This is also expected to moderate foreign exchange demands for importation of refined petroleum…

FOLLOWING the alleged continued persecution, intimidation and harassment of the immediate-past Governor of Kogi  State, AlhajiYahaya Bello, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Arewa Professional Forum has urged the chairman of the Commission commission to stop the embarrassment and allow the rule of law to prevail. The Forum in a statement jointly signed by Abraham Atowodi, Hassan Galadima, Ambassador Onoja on Tuesday, said, it is an established fact that the eight-year tenure of Yahaya Bello in Kogi brough about unprecedented infrastructural development, quality education, free for all healthcare and massive women and youth empowerment across the state. See…

THE Federal Government commends the National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), the Nigerian media Ombudsman, for its impartial and thorough investigation, which found Daily Trust’s report on the Samoa Agreement to be inaccurate, misleading, and not in line with the Code of Ethics for Nigerian Journalists. This ruling serves as a testament to the importance of journalistic integrity and accountability and also a reminder of the crucial role the media plays in shaping public perception through truthful and accurate reporting. The public expects that news outlets will adhere strictly to professional ethics and conduct by ensuring that their reportage is factual,…