Assembly
Assembly announces $100M capital raise, receives praise from Iota co-founder Dominik Schiener
On Friday, Assembly, a decentralized layer one smart contract network built within the Iota ecosystem, announced it had raised $100 million from private investors, including LD Capital, HyperChain Capital and Huobi Ventures. The project stated that the funds will be used to accelerate the development of decentralized finance protocols, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and play-to-earn crypto games. Iota is a blockchain designed for facilitating Internet-of-Things transactions. Its proprietary technology consists of a system of decentralized acyclic graphs that can connect to one another in multiple vectors as opposed to in-series as with a regular blockchain. As a result, one new block can validate two other blocks, leading to self-sustainable transaction verification. This allegedly leads to the...
Cuba blames unrest on U.S. interference as Joe Biden backs protests
Cuba blamed historic protests that took place over the weekend on U.S. “economic asphyxiation” and social media campaigns by a minority of U.S.-financed counter-revolutionaries, while U.S. President Joe Biden said he stood with the Cuban people. The streets of Havana were quiet on Monday, although there was a heavy police presence. Outages in mobile internet – the only way many Cubans have of accessing the web – were frequent. Chanting “freedom” and calling for President Miguel Diaz-Canel to step down, thousands of Cubans joined street protests here from Havana to Santiago on Sunday in the biggest anti-government demonstrations on the Communist-run island in decades. At least 80 protesters, activists, and independent journalists had been detained nationwide since Sunday, according to exile...
Lagos assembly begins audit of 57 councils
The Lagos House of Assembly has commenced an audit exercise for all the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and the 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state. The Chairman, House Committee on Public Account (Local), Mojeed Fatai, made this known in a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday. Fatai said that the committee was expected to submit its report to the House after the weeklong exercise. The lawmaker explained that the exercise was aimed at checking probity and accountability in the local government administration as provided in the 1999 (Amended) Constitution. He said: “The essence of the exercise is to allow the committee go through the 2019 report of the Auditor General without fear or favour to any local council indicted by the officials of the Auditor General. “Also, t...
Nigerians urged to reject PIB for failing to address key issues
Socially relevant and need-meeting organisations in partnership with civil society movements have called on Nigerians to massively reject the long-expected PIB as it has failed to address fundamental issues. Rather the organisations said that the outcome of PIB was mischievous and would compound the problems of the communities, just as it would create another avenue to make the rich even richer while the suffering communities continue to languish in difficulty and poverty. The coalition group said the PIB “failed to properly address the lingering issues of the oil and gas host communities” submitting that the recent position on critical issues is a far cry from the yearnings of oil and gas host communities. “The current version of the Petroleum Industry Bill failed to address community, ec...
INEC promises to train Malawian electoral body on delineation, creation of polling units
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has promised to teach its Malawian electoral commission counterpart the tricks it used in the delineation of constituencies and creation of polling units. Speaking when his Malawian counterpart, Justice Chifundo Kachale, led a delegation on a courtesy visit on him in Abuja on Thursday, National Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, said he understand that the Southern African country is also faced similar challenges Nigeria had previously. He announced to the delegation that the Commission is currently undergoing a historic voter registration exercise, emphasizing: “We are also doing the voter pre-registration online, which will now be completed physically in person at designated centres nationwide. So you are coming at the right time. ...
NLC urges National Assembly to transform NNPC to public liability company
The Nigeria Labour Congress has cautioned the National Assembly to handle with utmost care what it described as the very sensitive issue of the unbundling of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation. It urged the lawmakers to transform the NNPC to a public liability company as part of the reforms of the oil and gas sector captured in the Petroleum Industry Bill. The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said this on Tuesday, in a statement lauding the passage of the PIB titled, ‘Congress commends the national assembly for passing the petroleum industry bill – demands that the NNPC be transformed into a public liability company.’ It stated, “We know that the process of making the PIB a law has not been completely consummated as the passed bill would still need to be harmonized by a conference of th...
Senator Lawan: Senate to pass electoral act amendment bill in two weeks
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, says the National Assembly is working towards passing the Electoral Act Amendment Bill in the next two weeks. Lawan said this at the inauguration of Mr Abimbola Yusuf, as Chief Commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) and 37 other Commissioners from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Monday in Abuja. He has urged Nigerians who were not comfortable with certain clauses in the ongoing amendment, to take their complaints to their representatives, for consideration before the passage of bill. “The national assembly is embarking on the amendment of the Electoral Act probably by next week or within the next two weeks. “It is very important that those who feel very strongly about any amendment that they think should be effe...
Speaker Gbajabiamila: Constitution review to address Nigeria’s foundational deficiencies
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has called for collaboration between the National Assembly and the 36 state Houses of Assembly to make the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution successful. Gbajabiamila, who spoke at a meeting of the Conference of Presiding Officers of Nigerian Legislatures in Abuja at the weekend, noted that the constitutional amendments are to address Nigeria’s foundational problems. The Speaker also stated that the legislature remained the most important arm of government in any democratic setting, according to a statement issued on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, titled ‘Constitution review: Gbajabiamila Seeks Collaboration Between NASS, State Assemblies…Says Legislature Remains Most Important Arm o...
Ondo assembly passes anti-open grazing, judicial autonomy bills into law
In a bid to regulate the activities of herdsmen and the rearing of livestock in the state, the Ondo State House of Assembly has passed into law the anti-open grazing bill. The House also passed into law the bill on the autonomy of the judiciary and the bill on violence against persons prohibition. The bills were passed after the chairmen of three committees submitted their reports on the bill. The plenary session of the Assembly, held on Thursday, was presided over by the Speaker, Mr Bamidele Oloyeloogun. Speaking on the bills at the session, the committee chairmen remarked that the bills were in the best interest of all citizens of Ondo State. On the anti-open grazing bill, Mr Taofik Mohammed of the House Committee on Agriculture explained that the bill was to regulate rearing and grazing...
Courts fixes date for ruling in Sheikh El-Zakzaky’s no-case-submission
A Kaduna High Court on Thursday, fixed July 28 for ruling in the No-case-submission filed by the leader of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat. Justice Gideon Kurada fixed the date after the prosecution and counsel to the defendants, addressed the court on the no case submission prayer. Mr Femi Falana, SAN, and lead counsel to El-Zakzaky, who spoke to reporters shortly after the adjournment, prayed the Court to rule in favor of his clients. “The prosecution and the defence addressed the court on the the no-case-submission prayer. ” We did indicate last time that even though the prosecution called 15 witnesses, we felt that no case has been established to warrant our clients being in court. ” In other words, we addressed the court that there...
Lagos assembly to establish organ transplant dept
The Lagos State House of Assembly has organised a public hearing on a bill to establish an organ harvest transplantation department in the state Ministry of Health. The Chairman, House Committee on Health Services, Mr Hakeem Sokunle, made the disclosure at one-day public hearing on Organ Harvest and Transplantation Bill on Wednesday in Lagos. Sokunle explained that the department was to advise the state government on all matters relating to organ harvest, transplantation and preservation. The lawmaker said the department would also formulate and develop state strategies, guidelines and protocols for medical transplant and harvest in the state. He said: “The bill when passed into law will formulate and develop state strategies, guidelines and protocols for medical transplants and harvest in...
Zamfara governor dumps PDP for APC
Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara has officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Matawalle announced his defection to APC in Gusau on Tuesday at a special grand rally to receive him to the party, organised by the National Caretaker Committee of the APC led by Governor Mai-Mala Buni of Yobe. “As from today, I Bello Matawallen Maradun, governor of Zamfara, I am happy to announce my defection from the PDP to the APC. “As from today, I am a full APC member and leader of APC in Zamfara. “I am calling on all APC stakeholders in the state to join hands with me to build the party and move the state forward,” Matawalle said. Earlier, Buni had described Matawalle’s defection as a welcome development to the APC not only in Zamfara but in Nige...
