Agency
Nigeria records 186 new coronavirus cases
The Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC) has registered 186 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) infections from three states. The NCDC said this on its official website on Saturday morning. Newsmen report that the figure represents an increase from the 146 cases recorded on Thursday and 110 cases posted on Wednesday. It said 186 additional cases were reported from three states as of July 9. The agency noted that Lagos had the highest number of cases, which was 175, while Rivers recorded eight and Gombe had three cases. According to NCDC, compilation of the newly infected cases showed that the country now has a total of 168,442 confirmed cases. The NCDC highlighted that the total of discharged cases stood at 164,323. The agency said it also discharged eight more people from isolation ...
Lagos marks 70 houses for demolition, 20 on the Island
The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) said it is set to demolish 70 distressed buildings in the state. Twenty of the buildings are on Lagos Island. The agency made this known after bulldozing a partially collapsed house at 19 Church Street on the Island. LASBCA spokesman, Mr Gbadeyan Abdulraheem, said the General Manager of the agency Mr Gbolahan Oki, supervised the demolition. Oki said it has became an urgency to immediately remove the dilapidated and distressed building, which were no longer fit for human habitation, to prevent collapse. He said many defective buildings had been marked for removal in a bid to end the era of building collapses. Oki noted that his team had earlier visited the distressed buildings to get an on the spot assessment and asked the residents to reloca...
NSITF raises N180 billion from employers’ enrollment in 10 years
The Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Dr. Michael Akabogu, has revealed that the agency has raised N180 billion from employers’ enrollment from July 2011-May 30, 2021. He also said that plans were afoot to plug revenue leakages, even as he warned the public to be wary of fraudsters masquerading as agents of NSITF. At an interactive session with Finance Journalists in Abuja on Thursday, Akabogu also stated that the scheme has registered almost 200,000 employers. Out of this number, 170,000 employers are actively involved in the scheme by making their contributions steadfastly. He added: “We have collected both from the private sector who have contributed about 80% of the total revenue and we have collected from the government and all other agencies, so we...
School feeding programme: Nigerian government to enroll 67,307 pupils in Ebonyi – NOA
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) says Federal Government will enrol 67,307 primary school pupils into the National Homegrown School Feeding Programme in Ebonyi. The Director of NOA in the state, Dr Desmond Onwo, said this on Wednesday during his visit to the Traditional Rulers Council in Abakaliki. Onwo said the programme would capture 561 public primary schools in the 13 local government areas of the state. He urged the traditional rulers to key into the programme and support NOA’s campaign to ensure that the people participated actively. “The programme is going to commence across communities in the state with an enumeration in order to identify the children. “It is going to cover from primary one to three in public primary schools. “This is not for all states in the country but Ebon...
NiDCOM, Swiss embassy partner on diaspora re-integration
The Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has called for close collaboration with the Swiss Embassy for diaspora re-integration. The chairman of NiDCOM, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, made the call in a statement by Gabriel Odu, Media, Public Relations and Protocols Officer of the commission in Abuja on Monday. Dabiri-Erewa was speaking with the Switzerland Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Georg Steiner, at an interactive session on Diaspora Reintegration, Diaspora Data Mapping and Capacity Building. She said that with the establishment of NiDCOM and ratification of the National Diaspora Policy by the Federal Executive Council, Nigerians in the Diaspora now had a one-stop agency to latch on for mutually beneficial engagement, encouragement and enablement for overall national development...
Senate summons ex-NSITF bosses over ‘N84 billion embezzlement’
The Senate has summoned former managing directors of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund over alleged missing financial documents in the agency. The former NSITF bosses are expected to appear before the Senate Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday. The Chairman of SPAC, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, at the last meeting of his panel on Thursday, said 50 queries were issued against the NSITF officials by the office of the Auditor General for the Federation. Urhoghide said the ex-NSITF bosses were being invited following the failure of the officials of the agency to respond to the queries of the AuGF regarding some alleged financial infractions. He said, “Twelve out of the 50 queries of the Auditor General of the Federation so far reviewed by the committee revealed that N84bn had allegedly be...
Ethiopia urges Tigray rebels to join ceasefire, hostilities persist
Ethiopia’s government urged Tigrayan rebels to join a unilateral ceasefire in their conflict on Thursday as aid agencies struggled to reach hundreds of thousands of people facing famine. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the former rulers of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, said on Monday it was back in control of the regional capital Mekelle after nearly eight months of fighting. The government declared a unilateral ceasefire but the TPLF dismissed it as a joke. Hostilities persisted on Thursday and pressure built internationally for all sides to pull back. “Operations are under way … and the number of prisoners of war is increasing by the minute,” TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda told Reuters by satellite phone, with light artillery fire crackling in the background. “We are closing in on...
FRSC to auction unclaimed vehicles in Akwa Ibom
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Akwa Ibom Command, on Wednesday said that it would auction all unclaimed vehicles in its custody. In a statement issued by Mr Paul James, the command’s Public Enlightenment / Public Relations Officer said that all vehicles impounded within the last six months and unclaimed would soon be auctioned. James said the corps reserved the right to invoke relevant sections of the law to auction any impounded vehicles not claimed after six months. He said traffic offenders offered with offence sheets and their documents confiscated and vehicles impounded should claim their vehicles or be auctioned. “Consequently, traffic offenders who are issued with notice of offence sheet, either have their documents confiscated or vehicles impounded to secure payment of their...
Official: NDLEA not recruiting
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has alerted the public on the activities of scammers taking advantage of the employment screening exercise conducted by the agency. Mr Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy of the agency in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja said that fraudster are demanding for payment from the shortlisted candidates. Newsmen reports that NDLEA had conducted screening for shortlisted candidates of narcotic officers and narcotic assistants. The agency had on May 12 and June 5, notified the public and job seekers to be wary of messages from persons claiming to be acting on behalf of NDLEA and demanding payments for employment. Babafemi said that the the NDLEA is investigating three telephone numbers and bank account details linked to members of the job sca...
Imo: NDLEA arrests 60, takes drug war to churches, schools
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has seized 646.23 kilograms of hard drugs and arrested 60 drug suspects in Imo State between January and June 2021. The seized drugs are Cannabis Sativa (Indian Hemp) cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and tramadol while the suspects arrested were between the ages of 17 and 60 years. Briefing newsmen on the commemoration of 2021 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking, the Imo State Narcotics Commander, Nse Inam, said that the Federal Government Special Border Task Force had transferred 4,784kg of Cannabis Sativa to the state command. Inam, an Assistant Commander General of Narcotics, further said: “15 drug addicted persons admitted, two persons were successfully rehabilitated and discharged while five others ...
President Buhari appoints PPPRA board chairman, chief
President Muhammadu Buhari, at the weekend, approved the appointment of a Chairman, and an Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer for the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). The Board Chairman is Mr Atuonwo A. Obinna, while the Executive Secretary and CEO is Mr Abdulkadir Saidu, whose appointment was renewed for another four years. According to the Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, the appointment of Mr Atuonwo Obinna as Chairman Governing Board for a four-year term is in accordance with Section 2 (1-3) and 3 (a) of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (Establishment, ETC) Act 2003. Also, the renewed appointment of the CEO brings tranquility to PPPRA as anxious staff and stakeholders wondered why suspense pervaded the agency since Saidu’s first tenure e...
NPHCDA: Over 1 million Nigerian residents receive second dose of coronavirus vaccine
The executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, says 1,005,234 people have received the second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Shuaib disclosed this on Thursday, during a media briefing in Abuja. He said the agency has extended the timeline for the administration of second dose by 11 days — from June 25 to July 5 — to enable more people to be vaccinated. He said those who received their first doses before May 13, can go to any centre to get the second dose. For those who have received the first dose, Shuaib said the figure now stands at 2,099,568. He added that the administration of the first dose is ongoing, and urged those who fall within the approved category to approach the designated centres to receive the vaccine...
