Federal Government
300 more Nigerian nationals return from US
Three hundred more Nigerians who had been stranded in the United States have arrived in Abuja. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), announced this on Saturday via Twitter saying the returnees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at about 15:00pm via the Ethiopian Airlines. According to NIDCOM, the evacuation is the fifth from the US since the Federal Government started flying Nigerians who were stranded as a result of the COVID-19 back home. It said all the evacuees tested Negative to COVID-19 before boarding the flight but will also observe the mandatory 4-day self-isolation as mandated by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19. So far, a total of 1,430 Nigerians have been flown back home while the Federal Government says it has spent over N169million in...
Archbishop Martins decries Southern Kaduna killings
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Reverend Alfred Adewale Martins, has expressed deep concern over the killings in Southern Kaduna, challenging the government to show more will to deal with the situation. According to the cleric, ‘we have seen too many occasions in which villages were attacked in the middle of the night and people including babies, children and women killed with their properties destroyed while they were in bed at night.’ Archbishop Martins, in a press release signed by the Director of Social Communications, Rev Fr Anthony Godonu, noted that: ‘The pattern has been repeated in Benue, Taraba, and Adamawa states. We have situations in which people are too afraid to go to their farms because of the so-called bandits. ‘Government cannot be exonerated from the accusation of...
COVID-19: Nigerian government receives second Batch medical supplies of UN basket fund
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has joined other stakeholders to receive 2nd Batch Medical Supplies purchased with UN Basket Fund for COVID-19 Response on behalf of the Federal Government. Mr Olujimi Oyetomi, Director, Information, Media and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health, said this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja. Oyetomi said Ehanire joined the National Coordinator, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr. Sani Aliyu at the Cargo Section of Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja to receive medical supplies from EU contributions worth N26 Billion. Ehanire said this 2nd Batch of medical supplies would allay the fears of the health workers, especially the frontline health workers, who thought that Nigeria might be running short of supplies and were thre...
PDP: President Buhari government frustrating war against corruption
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Wednesday, accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government of deliberate hoarding of relevant information from Nigerians on the extent of corruption in his administration. This is even as the party said Nigerians have noted the blackmails, intimidation, and threats coming from government quarters, “in their feverish bid to frustrate whistleblowers and truncate on-going uncovering of widespread corruption in ministries, departments and agencies, under the All Progressives Congress, APC, administration.” Addressing a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Abuja, PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, said one of such antics by this administration was Tuesday, July 28, 2020 press conference by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Moh...
Nigerian government’s stimulus package will avert deep economic recession – minister
Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, has stated that the provision of stimulus package by the Federal Government will go a long way in preventing the country from plunging into deep economic recession. Prince Agba stated this at a virtual roundtable discussion, among state and non-state actors, international organizations and donor agencies, facilitated by the Nigeria’s secretariat of Open Government Partnership (OGP). The minister, who is a co-chair of OGP, led the discussion, which focused on ensuring an effective and inclusive stimulus as well as safety nets campaign for Nigeria as part of the response to the COVID-19 recovery. The Minister said that the roundtable discussion was aimed at improving transparency and accountability as the country r...
Senate invites finance, works ministers, others over road projects
The Senate committee on finance has invited the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, over the funding status of three federal government legacy road projects estimated to cost N2.7 trillion. Also to appear before the panel are the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, and the Managing Director of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Uche Orji. The chairman of the panel, Solomon Olamilekan, gave the directive during an interactive session with the NSIA boss on Tuesday. The legacy projects are the Abuja-Kano road, Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Second Niger Bridge. They are funded and implemented through a tripartite agreement between the ministries of finance, works and the NSIA. Orji, who was invited for the same r...
Nigerian government declares Thursday, Friday public holidays to mark Eid-el-Kabir
The Federal Government has declared Thursday 30 and Friday 31 July, as public holidays to mark 2020 year’s Eid-el-Kabir. The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government, through a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, ministry of Interior, Mrs Georgina Ehuriah, on Tuesday in Abuja. Aregbesola congratulated Muslim faithful and all Nigerians both at home and abroad on the occasion. He called on Muslims to continue to imbibe the spirit of love, peace, kindness and sacrifice, as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him). The minister also called on Muslims to use the period to pray for peace, unity, prosperity and the stability of the country especially as the world is witnessing global health challenges cause...
Nigerian government deregisters Ohanaeze, Arewa CF, others over security clearance
The Federal Government has deregistered frontline socio-cultural groups in Nigeria as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has withdrawn the registration certificate of Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), among others. Disclosing this in Abuja, the Registrar General of CAC, Garba Abubakar, said the measure was part of the reforms the Commission was putting in place to subject such applications to thorough scrutiny following security threats that may arise from such registrations. He said: “Yes, we have withdrawn the certificate of Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly because the certificate should not have been issued in the first instance. “We have an established protocol that all organizations; ethnic, religious with political implication should be referre...
Stakeholders commend government’s decision to reopen school for exit classes
Stakeholders in education have commended the Federal Government’s decision made at the stakeholders’ consultative meeting to reopen school on Aug. 4 for exit classes. Newsmen report that they made this known in Ibadan on Monday in separate interviews. Kayode Adeyemi, the President, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, Oyo State (NAPPS), said that the decision was a welcome development given the prevailing circumstances. Adeyemi said with the level of learning loss occasioned by the lockdown was a good decision, adding that children would not be too backward because of the holiday. “I still remain cautious about the release though it’s from a stakeholders’ forum. I just hope that the ministry of education will not come up to say that they are not prepared again. “This is ...
NIDCOM: More Nigerians stranded in Europe set to return home
The Federal Government has revealed that more Nigerians stranded in France and other European countries, due to the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world, are being evacuated to the country. This was disclosed on Sunday by the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa via Twitter. Dabiri-Erewa explained that the citizens, who have departed Citizen Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, are expected back soon and will arrive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja, the nation’s capital. The evacuation exercise was coordinated by the Nigerian Mission in France under Ambassador Modupe Irele and monitored by the commission. Upon arrival, the Nigerian returnees are expected to proceed on a 14-day self-isolation as mandated by the Presidential Task Force on C...
AGF queries NDDC over non-payment of over N70 billion unremitted tax, revenue
The last is yet to be heard about the entrenched corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as the office of the Auditor General of the Federation (oAuGF) queried the Commission over N70 billion and secrecy shrouded in the multi-million dollar revenues paid by oil firms into the coffers of the Commission since inception. The query was part of numerous audit query issued by the oAuGF including the sum of N31.453 billion ‘some payment of 2012 not verified due to non-presentation of payment vouchers and bank mandates; non-remittance of N29 billion before 2008; N5.69 billion payment vouchers from Access Bank Account Number 0015078045 not presented for audit, and payments by unrecognized oil companies into the Commission’s final accounts to the tune of N3,280,818,832, among oth...
Boko Haram: 601 ex-insurgents finish de-radicalisation programme in Gombe
The Nigerian Army on Saturday released 601 ex-Boko Haram members after undergoing six months de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration (DRR) programme in Gombe State. The graduation ceremony of the ex-insurgents took place on Saturday at Malam Sidi community in Kwami Local Government Area of the state. Speaking during the event, Bamidele Shafa, the Coordinator of Operation Safe Corridor (OSC), said the ex-insurgents were ready to be re-integrated into the society. Shafa, a major-general, said the graduating batch four clients were admitted in December 2019 and within the six months undertook a comprehensive medical test to ascertain their health status that enabled their proper care. According to him, out of the 606 clients received into the camp; 601 were graduating, three died,...
