August
ECOWAS likely to decide on lifting Mali sanctions Friday
The West African bloc ECOWAS will likely decide on Friday whether to lift potentially crippling sanctions imposed on Mali after last month’s coup, its mediator said. The mediator, Nigerian former president Goodluck Jonathan, called the 15-nation bloc’s sanctions “unfortunate” during a visit to Mali’s capital Bamako on Wednesday. West African leaders have heaped pressure on the ruling military junta to return power to civilians since the coup toppled president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on August 18. ECOWAS has used the sanctions, which include closing borders and restricting trade, as leverage in negotiations with the junta. Sticking points in those negotiations have included whether civilians or soldiers will run a transition government until fresh elections. The junta asked for the sanctions...
Cross River workers protest removal of names from payroll
Some civil servants whose names were removed from the payroll of the Cross River Government on Monday in Calabar picketed the state secretariat complex, demanding reinstatement. The protesters carried placards with various inscription such as “Ayade pay us our salaries, “No Trade Union in Cross River”, “We will protest until we are reinstated”, among others. It would be recalled that the state government in August 2019 removed the names of no fewer than 2,500 civil servants from its payroll. One of the protesting civil servants, Mr James Obeten, told newsmen that the situation had caused untold hardships in his families. “We were duly employed in 2015, and were given employment letters, it is very shocking that the government stopped our salaries since August 2019. “Without any reason, our...
Abba Yusuf accuses Governor Ganduje of violation of due process
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in the last general election in Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf has accused Governor Abdullah Umar Ganduje of violating rule of law and due process on alleged sales of public property. Besides, Abba has petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria, (CJN), Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad and Nigeria Judicial Council (NJC), requesting their urgent intervention on what he considered an abuse of power and breach of rules of law by Ganduje. In a petition filed by his counsel Bashir Yusuf Mohammad and addressed to the attorney general and commissioner for Justice, Kano state, the Yusuf claimed that the state government is already tampering with the public property which are already a subject of litigation. Yusuf had dragged the state government before th...
Wale Babalakin resigns as UNILAG’s council chairman
Dr Babawale Babalakin has resigned his position as chairman of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, governing council chairman. Following what looked like an irreconcilable difference between the now-former council chairman and the Academic Staff Union of University, UNILAG chapter, Babalakin has finally tendered his resignation. The Federal Government, in August, wielded the big axe by asking the Wale Babalakin-led Governing Council of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, and the embattled Vice-Chancellor, Prof Toyin Ogundipe, to stay away pending the outcome of a probe into happenings in the school. The government also asked the Senate of the university to appoint an Acting VC for the institution. The Federal Ministry of Education spokesman, Ben Goong, made this known in a press statement on Fri...
Katsina spends N4.2 billion on war against bandits, kidnappers – official
The Katsina State Government has said it has expended the sum of over N4.2 billion on infrastructure, logistics and security personnel allowances to tackle the wave of banditry and kidnapping bedevilling the state from June 2015 to August 2020. The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Mustapha Inuwa, disclosed this to journalists on Monday while unveiling the state government’s scorecard under his office. He said: “By way of summary, the state government’s financial support on security through the office of the Secretary to the Government of the state in terms of infrastructure, logistics and security personnel allowances from June 2015 to August, 2020 is as follows: “January to December 2015 (N691,985,088.00); January to December 2016 (N827,449, 214.30); January to December 2017 (...
Iran executes wrestler Navid Afkari for murder
Iran said it executed a young wrestler on Saturday over the murder of a public sector worker during anti-government protests in August 2018. Navid Afkari was executed in the morning at a prison in the southern city of Shiraz, provincial prosecutor general Kazem Mousavi was quoted as saying on state television’s website. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Southern-Kaduna Christian leaders boycott peace summit
File Photo A peace summit organized in Kafanchan to find an end to the conflict in Southern Kaduna, suffered set back as Christian leaders in the area who doubted the genuineness of the occasion, boycotted the summit. Nevertheless, the peace summit still went on as scheduled with over 100 participants across religious faiths. The Kaduna chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Christian leaders from the Southern part of Kaduna and the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, were earlier scheduled to attend the peace summit in Kafanchan, Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Tuesday. Friends of Southern Kaduna in collaboration with the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission organized the summit as part of efforts to find a lasting solution to the killings in Southern Kaduna. Explain...
Umar Danbatta: NCC remits N362.34 billion to Nigerian government
Fix Africa News Magazine Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Danbatta, says the commission remitted N362.34 billion into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federal Government between 2015 and now. At an interactive session with media managers and news editors at the weekend, he also noted that broadband penetration jumped from six per cent in 2015 to 43.02 per cent by the end of June 2020 leading to 199,307,796 by the end of the first half of 2020. According to him, the N362.34 billion was generated through spectrum fees and operating surplus, which has helped to boost the revenue-generation drive of the current administration. “The amount generated through that singular initiative has brought significant revenue to the government.” Dambatta...
IOM: Social media pushing youths out of Nigeria
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says social media is a major tool influencing young Nigerians to leave Nigeria. Franz Celestin, IOM Chief of Mission, said this in an interview with newsmen. Citing the number of Nigerian returnees from Libya, Celestin stated that their reason for migration could not have been poverty or insecurity. He disclosed most were from Southern parts of the country whose states were more secured and economically viable. The IOM boss observed that young Nigerians get easily moved by ‘success stories’ people post on social media. Celestin said that in spite of the North-East situation, statistics showed that less people were migrating from the region. “One of the strongest push for migration is aspiration and not just poverty, conflict or disasters. ...
Virus-hit club loses CAS appeal against UCL ouster
Slovan Bratislava lost its appeal Friday against exclusion from the Champions League by UEFA after players tested positive for COVID-19 in pre-game checks. The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld UEFA’s ruling last week that ordered the Slovakian champion to forfeit a first qualifying round game in the Faeroe Islands without playing. Public authorities in the Faeroe Islands put two different squads of Slovan’s players into quarantine when a virus infection in each group was reported in tests required by UEFA. The game was postponed twice, then UEFA’s appeal panel awarded Faeroes champion KI Klaksvik a 3-0 win to advance to the next round. Slovan later said all 35 players tested negative on returning to Slovakia. Friday’s urgent ruling from a CAS judge – without yet specifying reasons – w...
Ogun governor approves productivity bonus for health workers
Gov. Dapo Abiodun of Ogun has approved the immediate payment of Special Productivity Bonus for all categories of health workers in the state public service. Mr Kunle Somorin, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, said this in a statement on Friday, in Abeokuta. Somorin said the bonus, which was a one-time payment was applicable to all health workers in the state who were on active service as at the end of August. According to him, it is in recognition of the understanding, maturity, and dedication with which they continued to discharge their duties and responsibilities. “The bonus will be calculated as 10 per cent of the respective monthly gross pay of the beneficiaries. “We are proud that the vast majority of our health workers place service to the citizens over and above any other consi...
NSE market indices gain 0.07 percent
The Nigerian Stock Exchange on Monday closed the last trading day of August with a growth of 0.07 per cent, following sustained positive sentiment. Specifically, the All-Share Index rose by 17.76 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 25, 327.13 compared with 25,309.37 achieved on Friday. Similarly, the market capitalisation improved by nine billion naira or 0.07 per cent to close at N13.213 trillion against N13.203 trillion posted on Friday. The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are: Mobil Nigeria, Dangote Cement, Lafarge Africa, Vitafoam and BUA Cement. Analysts at United Capital Plc said, “This week, we expect to see some profit taking, given the bullish performance in the last two weeks.” Mobil led the gainers’ chart in percentage ...
