Minister
WTO chief: ‘Safe Schools Initiative’ to stop abduction of students
The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Wednesday expressed hope that the ‘Safe Schools Initiative’ will help stop the incessant abduction of students across Nigeria. Nigerian women on Wednesday came out en masse to welcome Okonjo-Iweala in her first homecoming since she became the director-general of WTO, during a visit to the Ministry of Women Affairs in Abuja. Addressing the crowd which included Senators and members of the National Assembly, former Ministers, wives of former governors, women in the Armed Forces, women societies, female political aspirants, Civil Society Organisations, as well as students, Okonjo-Iweala expressed deep concern about the incessant abduction of girls and boys in schools. The WTO boss who noted that it is shamef...
Minister: Asari Dokubo’s Biafra declaration is a joke by an attention-seeker
The Federal Government has dismissed the reported formation of a Biafra Customary Government by an ex-Niger Delta militant, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, as a “theatre of the absurd by a joker seeking attention’’. Speaking with newsmen on the development in Lagos on Monday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime would allow itself to be distracted by the absurdity. The Minister said: “I am sure you have heard of the theatre of the absurd, that is the best way I can describe it. “If Asari Dokubo wants to form and run a phantom government, I think he is free to do so. This administration will not be distracted because we still have a lot to do. “We are not ready to give any attention or time to a joker like Dokubo who is just looking f...
FCTA assures of equitable distribution of coronavirus vaccines
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has assured of fair and equitable distribution of its 227,480 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, stressing that every strata of the society will be adequately captured in the vaccination roll out. FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, who gave the assurance on Monday at the official flagged off of the vaccination at the Asokoro District Hospital Abuja, harped on the safety of the vaccine. The minister noted that the launching was the single largest vaccination programme ever in the FCT, to herald decisive victory over the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that Abuja being the seat of the Federal Government and melting pot of the nation has been challenged by the pandemic. “The FCTA will resolutely enforce all the National Guidelines and e...
Nigerian government distributes N20,000 each to 2,900 women in Benue
The Federal Government has disbursed N20,000 each to 2,900 women in Benue to improve their living standards. Mrs Sadiya Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, said this on Saturday in Makurdi during the inauguration of the grant for rural women project. Farouq, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Bashir Alkali, said that a cash of N20,000 would also be disbursed to about 125,000 poor women across the 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory. “Our target in Benue is to disburse the grant to about 2,900 beneficiaries across all local government councils. “The grant is expected to increase income and productive assets of target beneficiaries. “It is our hope that the beneficiaries of this programme will make ...
Nigerian government’s special cash grant for rural women launched in Yobe
Federal government has on Friday Flag-off Special Cash Grant for Rural Women in Damaturu, Yobe State capital. Launching the programme, the Minister of Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq said that “we gather to provide support to citizens of our beloved country. I am delighted to have you all converge on this venue for purpose of flagging off the Federal Government’s cash grant for rural women, which is a significant social protection programme of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, aimed at uplifting the most vulnerable groups out of poverty”. According to her, since the inception of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration in 2015, Government has paid more attention to protecting and promoting the plight of the poor and vulnerable in the country. This s...
PDP advises federal government against increasing pump price of petrol
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday advised the Federal Government against increasing pump price of petrol. The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja said any contemplation to increase pump price of petrol to N212 would worsen the economic and social situations of Nigerians. This was in reaction to a debunk report that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulation Agency (PPPRA) on Thursday night released a template that a litre of fuel would now be sold for prices ranging from N209 to N212 per litre for March. Ologbondiyan said that the N212 per liter reportedly contemplated in the March pricing template was not in the best interest of Nigerians. “It is a barefaced fact that there is no way that Nigerians can survive such hike in fue...
Sports minister hails NFF president on FIFA election
Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has congratulated NFF president, Amaju Pinnick, on his election into the FIFA council. Dare said this in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media), John Joshua-Akanji, on Friday in Abuja. Pinnick was elected into the FIFA council on Friday at the CAF 43rd general meeting in Rabat, Morocco, winning by 43 votes to his opponent’s eight votes. Dare described the victory as an opportunity for Nigeria and indeed Africa to contribute to the administration of world football. The minister charged Pinnick to use his position to reposition Nigerian and African football. “This is an opportunity to use your new position to make Nigerian, African and World football great again and make it better than you met it. “This is the reward of hard work and...
President Buhari wants rapport between NDDC, National Assembly sustained
President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded the cordial relationship existing between the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the National Assembly. The president, who spoke on Thursday at the virtual commissioning of the NDDC headquarters building in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, called for such relationship for the development of the Niger Delta region. While commending the management and staff of the NDDC for staying the course and keying into the reform agenda of his administration, President Buhari said: “I am particularly pleased to note the cordial relationship between the NDDC and the National Assembly and hope that this relationship will be strengthened further for the benefit of the people of the Niger Delta region.” He said: “I, therefore, use this opportunity to ...
Nigerian government approves three power sub-stations for Kano, Benue
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved contracts for the construction of three sub-stations in Kano and Benue States as well as for the extension of transmission lines in Umuahia, Abia State and Mbano, Imo State. The Minister of Power, Engr. Mamman Sale, announced this after the 37th federal virtual cabinet meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday. Sale said council approved the construction of three sub-stations, two in Kano State and one in Benue State. He put the cost for the extension of transmission lines in Abia and Imo States at $506,324.40 plus N34,034,000 local content. “On the amount for the construction of three sub-stations in Zaki-Biam, Benue State and Bichi and Kanyi, Kano State – the one in Zaki-Biam is $8.6 million, while the local content...
Delta government heads to Supreme Court to reclaim £4.2 million James Ibori loot
The Delta State Government says it will challenge federal government’s plan to deploy the recently returned £4.2 million (around N2.2 billion) recovered from former governor, James Ibori, at the Supreme Court. The Commissioner for Information, Ehiedu Aniagwu, disclosed this on Tuesday while reacting to news of the repatriation of the funds, which the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said would be used to complete the ongoing work on Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Road and the Lagos-Ibadan road. “We would try to get take advantage of the legal system to make the federal government correct the injustice they are about to visit on us as a state,” he said. “If they are quite sure that the funds they are about to repatriate left Delta State on ...
Minister: Suspension of international flights at Kano airport affecting our revenue
The Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, has said the continued closure of the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport is affecting the revenue of government. International flights into the airport were suspended in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown. When he received a high-powered delegation from Kano State, led by Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, in his office in Abuja on Tuesday, Sirika lamented the effect of the suspension. He said it does not make economic sense for government to spend so much money, as it has done on the airport, and abandon it in the end. He highlighted the attendant degeneration of infrastructure, redundancy amongst operational staff, revenue loss, hardship on travellers, amongst others. The Minister promised that necessary steps were being taken for the resumption ...
Zimbabwe authorises Sputnik V, Sinovac vaccines for emergency use
Zimbabwe has authorised the emergency use of four Covid-19 vaccines, including Russia’s Sputnik V and China’s Sinovac, the minister of information said on Tuesday. The southern African nation last month rolled out its Covid-19 vaccination programme after receiving a donation of 200 000 doses of shots from China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). Last week, India announced that Zimbabwe had become the first African country to authorise the use of its Covaxin vaccine. The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe has authorised the use of Sinopharm and Sinovac shots from China, Russia’s Sputnik V and India’s Covaxin, the information minister Monica Mutsvangwa said in a post-Cabinet briefing. “All Covid-19 approved vaccines will be procured through the National Vaccine Procurement Fund ...
