The Central Bank of Nigeria has vehemently opposed a suit before the Federal High Court in Lagos praying that the Arabic inscriptions on naira notes be removed. A Lagos-based lawyer, Chief Malcolm Omirhobo, who filed the suit before Justice Mohammed Liman, contended that having Arabic inscriptions on the naira notes portrays Nigeria as an Islamic state, contrary to the country’s constitutional status of a secular state. Omirhobo, who said he does not know what the Arabic inscriptions mean, is praying the court to order the CBN to replace the Arabic inscriptions with either English language, which is the country’s official language, or any of Nigeria’s three main indigenous languages – Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo. According to the lawyer, with the Arabic inscriptions on the naira note, the CBN ha...
Some Governors of the South-East and apex socio-cultural organization of the Igbo, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, are in a crucial meeting with Governor Nyesom Wike in Government House, Port Harcourt on Sunday. Though the agenda of the meeting could not be immediately ascertained, newsmen report that it may not be unconnected with the recent issues concerning the activities of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra and Wike’s stand on the issue. Also at the meeting were selected leaders of the Igbo community in Rivers State. Some prominent names at the meeting include Governors Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State and his Abia State counterpart, Okezie Ikpeazu as well as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nwodo. Also at the meeting which just ended was prominent Igbo politician and chieftain...
Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, Tuesday, presented a proposed budget of N378, 184,397,889 for 2021 fiscal year to the State House of Assembly. The budget is made up of N170, 370,000 for recurrent expenditures and N207.5 billion for capital expenditures. Okowa in the more than 50 minutes presentation of the Appreciation Bill at the Hallowed Chamber of the House, said the budget christened “Budget of Recovery” would be funded from four sources. The sources according to the Governor, include Internally Generated Revenue, N65.6 billion, Statutory Allocation including Mineral Revenue Derivation and Excess Crude, N219.9 billion, Value added tax, N17.5 billion and Other Capital Receipts, N17.3 billion. Explaining that the 2021 budget estimates was N96.1 billion increase over the revised budg...
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, yesterday, disclosed that N8.9 trillion was spent on fuel subsidy by the Federal Government, mainly by previous administrations, between 2006 and 2015. According to data released to support the need for deregulation of the downstream petroleum industry, the PPPRA stated that the bulk of the sum was expended between 2011 and 2015, where N6.7 trillion, representing 74.8 per cent of the total were spent on subsidy. Giving a breakdown of the figure, the PPPRA disclosed that N257.36 billion, N271.51 billion, N630.57 billion, N409.31 billion, and N667.08 billion were spent on fuel subsidy in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, while in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, fuel subsidy gulped N2.1 trillion, N1.35 trillion, N1.32 trillion, N1.22 t...
File Photo A housewife, Omolola Aluko, on Thursday requested a Customary Court, sitting at Mapo in Ibadan, Oyo State to dissolve her 20-year-old marriage with her husband, Segun, over constant beating. Omolola, who resides at Oluwo area in Ibadan, made the request while testifying before the court’s President, Chief Ademola Odunade. She said her request had become inevitable because her husband had threatened to kill her through constant beating. “Once Segun finishes beating me, he usually strips me naked even in the presence of our children and other onlookers. “My lord, my explanation may not be enough to tell how terrible Segun is and how he had subjected me to the most degrading dehumanisation. “Moreover, he does nothing to cater for our four children, let alone myself. “I have been so...
COVID-19 Task Force in Ekiti, on Monday arrested not less than 60 people who violated regulation on the compulsory use of face mask. Newsmen report that the offenders were taken to a Special Court, where they were convicted for contravening Coronavirus Disease Regulations 2020. Prof. Bolaji Aluko, Chairman of the COVID-19 Task Force, who spoke on the development, said the enforcement would henceforth be a regular exercise. Aluko said that the offenders were arrested in various parts of Ado Ekiti including Ajilosun, Ijigbo, Old Garage, Okesa, Fajuyi, Adebayo and Basiri. ”A fine of N5,000 is imposed on the convicts for refusal to wear face masks in public, in line with the new law to contain the disease,” the task force chairman said. He expressed concern over refusal of some citizens to wea...
AHA Taxis Oil marketers, under the aegis of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), yesterday, kicked against attempts by some labour groups and trade associations to stage a protest march in opposition to the recent hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), United Labour Congress (ULC) and some other oil marketing groups had threatened to embark on a nationwide strike over the hike in petrol price, while they called on the government to revert to the previous price. In a statement in Abuja, National President of PETROAN, Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry, stated that while its members are not happy with the way certain things are in the downstream petroleum industry at the moment, they do not think any stree...