Federal Government
Official: Oyo ready to conduct WAEC, other external exams
The Oyo State Government has disclosed its readiness to present students in the state for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) as well as other external examinations as the world prepared for post-COVID-19 realities. The Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr Nureni Adeniran, said this in Ibadan on Monday, while leading members of the board and management of SUBEB to Islamic Mission Schools 1 and II, Bode and UMC Demonstration Basic Schools I, II and III, Molete, Ibadan to warn owners of shanties and illegal structures around the schools’ environments. He said judging from the readiness of the state through the preparation of students in all terminal classes, students would now face any external examination, including WAEC and the Joint Admission Matriculati...
Federal, states, local governments share N651 billion revenue
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) at the weekend shared a total of N651.184 billion as June 2020 allocation among the federal, states, local governments, and relevant agencies in the country. This is N103.877 million higher than the N547.309 billion shared for the month of May. A communiqué released by the FAAC after its monthly meeting at the weekend for the month of Julne 2020 which was held via virtual conferencing, put gross statutory revenue available at N524.526 billion. According to the communique, the meeting chaired by the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, put gross revenue from the Value Added Tax (VAT) at N128.826 billion while revenue from the Exchange Gain was N42.832 billion. This brought the total revenue for the month to N696.184 billion. F...
NITDA warns Nigerians on fake news
Commonwealth of Nations In line with its efforts at enlightening Nigerians on the nefarious actions of cybercriminals exploiting the COVID-19 Pandemic to mislead and defraud unsuspecting victims, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has warned the general public on the recent fake news in circulation. A statement by the Head, Corporate Affairs & External Relations Corporate at NITDA, Mrs Hadiza Umar, said that the fake news tagged “Argentina Is Doing It”, being circulated over social media, particularly on WhatsApp, is aimed at causing panic and inducing terror in individuals. According to the statement, the message warns the recipient not to open a video file called ”Argentina Is Doing It” as it will hack their phone in 10 seconds. In order to lend credibili...
Nigerian government assures Zamfara residents of fairness in palliative distribution
The Federal Government on Saturday assured Zamfara residents of fairness in distribution of palliatives it donated to the state. Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, gave the assurance in Gusau on Saturday while inspecting the storage of the items donated to the state. The Federal Government brought 104 trailers laden with food items and 29,800 bags of fertilisers to be distributed to communities affected by armed banditry in the state. The minister said that a committee comprising both State and Federal Government officials would be set up to monitor the distribution exercise. “We are very optimistic that these interventions will get to the targeted beneficiaries. “As you can see, the Federal Government is very commit...
Nigerian government threatens sanctions over violation of airport coronavirus protocols
The Federal Government is probing reported violations of COVID-19 safety protocols by some high profile Nigerians accessing some of the newly-reopened airports in the country. The probe, government said, involving Adamawa State governor, Ahmadu Fintiri and the former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, is with a view to sanctioning violators if it is established that they indeed violated the rules, or apologise to them should the result of the investigations exonerate them. Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, PTF, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha, who did not mention the names of alleged violators of safety protocols, urged them to desist from flouting the guidelines. He said: “You will all recall that the aviation sector reo...
Oil marketers condemn planned protest, shutdown over fuel price hike
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...
Abdulaziz Yari: I never assaulted airport official
The immediate past Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, has denied reports that he assaulted an airport official last Saturday at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano. This was even as Yari demanded that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), retract its offensive tweets regarding the incidence and tender an apology for the falsehood peddled against him. Yari in a statement by his media consultant, Mayowa Oluwabiyi, said although he did use the airport on the said date, but such incidence never occurred. Recall that FAAN had on Wednesday in a series of tweets, condemned Yari’s action for violating COVID-19 directive at the airport. FAAN further alleged that Yari refused to adhere to the protocols and procedures put in place by the Federal Government th...
Nigerian government approves e-SIM trial for MTN
MTN Nigeria Plc (MTN) has announced the trial of e-SIM services on its network based on approvals received from the Federal Government. The trial which kicked-off on Wednesday will run for one year and is open on a first come first served basis to a limited number of subscribers who own compatible devices, a statement from MTN said. Chief Operating Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mazen Mroue, said the company was eager to get through the trial process so that the technology can be deployed for the benefit of every Nigerian. “We are in a fast-paced digital age with new technological advancements driving the constantly changing landscape. Against this backdrop, customers depend on us to provide high quality, reliable and easy-to-use connectivity solutions. “With the introduction of the e-SIM, we will ...
Labour hails Nigerian government for remitting N7.45 billion workers’ retirement benefits
The Nigeria Labour Congress has commended the Federal Government for remitting N7.45 billion accrued rights and benefits into the retirement savings accounts of federal retirees covering April and May 2019. The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, described the development as a responsible move by the government “considering the adversity imposed on our retirees and pensioners by the novel coronavirus pandemic.” Wabba in a letter addressed to the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, dated July 14 titled, ‘Remittance of accrued benefits of federal civil servants to the retirees’ retirement saving accounts,’ urged the government to also consider the payment of retirees from June 2019 and July 2020. It read, “We write to commend the Federal Government for its recent decision to release the total sum of ...
Education counsellor calls for consensus on 2020 WASSCE
Mr Benjamin Bamidele, an Education Counsellor, on Tuesday called on the Federal and State Governments to urgently resolve the impasse over the conduct of the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Bamidele made the call during an interview with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti. He said such quick and amicable settlement of the impasse occasioned by measures toward curtailing COVID-19 spread was to secure the students’ future academic performances. According to him, the endless discussion and buck-passing between the Federal and State Governments over the conduct of the examination will only compound the challenges confronting the nation’s education sector. “Apart from those challenges associated with COVID-19, the education system has for a very long time been affecte...
US judge orders delay of first federal executions in 17 years
Associated Press A U.S. judge on Monday ordered a delay in federal executions, hours before one was to be carried out for the first time in 17 years, hampering the Trump administration’s plan to revive capital punishment by the federal government. Washington district Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a preliminary injunction to allow the continuation of legal challenges of four death row inmates against the government’s new lethal injection protocol announced last year. “The public is not served by short-circuiting legitimate judicial processes,” she wrote in an order. The Department of Justice immediately appealed the ruling. The department planned to carry out the first executions at a federal level since 2003 over the next few weeks, starting with Daniel Lewis Lee, who is convicted of murder, ...
Lagos doctors begin warning strike Monday
Doctors employed by the Lagos State Government will on Monday begin a three-day warning strike. The Chairman of the Medical Guild, Lagos, Dr Oluwajimi Sodipo, at a briefing on Sunday, said the doctors were embarking on the strike after the ultimatum given to the Lagos State Government had expired. He said, “Following the emergency congress of the Medical Guild held on June 27, we resolved that the previous 21 days ultimatum given to the state government be extended by a further two weeks during which representative council meeting should be held to review the resolutions of the congress and activate the three-day warning strike if 70 per cent of the Guild’s demands are not met.” Sodipo said the demands of the Guild include the wage disparity between the federal and Lagos doctors. “The issu...
