Minister
Water Resources Bill: Minister decries misinformation of Nigerians
The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, has said that Nigerians are being misinformed about the Water Resources Control Bill. The minister made the statement while interfacing with the House of Representatives Committee on Water Resources in Abuja, following the public outcry that trailed the passage of the bill. Newsmen recall that sequel to a motion of personal explanation by Rep. Benjamin Mzondu (PDP-Benue) the house withdrew the bill which had already been passed on the grounds that it was not gazetted. The minister recalled that the bill was presented in the 8th Assembly and there was a two-day public hearing with Rep. Aliyu Ahman-Pategi as chairman. According to him, there was no issue at all until some unpatriotic Nigerians gave bad and dangerous colouration, and tried t...
CACOVID: Looted palliatives awaiting distribution
Most of the looted palliatives in warehouses across the nation were awaiting distribution to over 2 million vulnerable households, the private sector-led Coalition Against COVID (CACOVID) has explained. In a statement on Monday night, CACOVID said: “The sheer scale of this nationwide food programme and the timing of the orders and deliveries, which coincided with the lockdowns and reduced movement across the country, compelled CACOVID to roll out distribution in a staggered manner”. CACOVID maintained: “The very large size of the order, and the production cycle required to meet the demand, caused delays in delivering the food items to the States in an expeditious manner; hence the resultant delay in delivery of the food palliatives by the State Governors”. For instance, “rice had to be mil...
Ministry dissociates self from diverted school feeding funds
The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has dissociated itself from reports that N2.67bn meant for the feeding of schoolchildren during the lockdown was diverted to private accounts. In a statement issued on Monday night by the Special Assistant on Media to the ministry’s minister, Nneka Anibeze, the ministry stated that the statement by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission on the said funds was twisted and misinterpreted. “The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development hereby informs the public that the Federal Government colleges school feeding in question is different from the Home Grown School Feeding which is one of its Social Investment Programmes,” it said in the statement. ...
Flood: Nigerian government to build walls round River Kaduna
The Federal Government has said help was on the way for flood victims in Kaduna, following plans to build flood walls around River Kaduna to protect the people and their properties. The Acting Director, National Water Resources Institute, Kaduna, Dr. Martin Edufie, who disclosed this yesterday, regretted that Kaduna had in recent years suffered spates of floods, leading to loss of lives and properties, including houses, crops and even farmlands. While addressing the ‘2020 World Rivers Day’ yesterday in Kaduna, with the theme: ‘’Waterways in our Communities’’, Edufie said the Federal Government’s plan was based on yearly study on flood in Kaduna State. He said: “Very soon, we are going to have a flood control project in Kaduna. We are going to have flood walls on both banks of River Kaduna ...
South Africa minister reprimanded for party’s trip on airforce jet
South Africa’s defence minister has been reprimanded and will lose three months of salary after ruling party officials took an air force plane to Zimbabwe earlier this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday. The African National Congress (ANC) delegation’s presence aboard the flight sparked widespread criticism over the use of state resources for party business. Their trip to Harare was for crisis talks with Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF ruling party aimed at helping tackle the country’s political and economic woes. But they tagged along aboard Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s plane, rather than travelling privately. She had a scheduled meeting in Zimbabwe to discuss regional issues following a recent summit of the Southern African Development Community bloc. Mapisa-Nqakula will no...
Plateau government denies taking $359 million loan from AfDB
Plateau State government has denied the allegation of taking $350m African Development Bank, AfDB loan saying such allegation is frivolous as the government only took $11.2 million of which, 70% of the amount is being committed to infrastructure, 20% to capacity building and 10% for project management. A former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, last Thursday at a webinar discussing why Plateau State lost its relevance at the national stage, accused the Governor, Simon Lalong of non-performance despite taking loans that have no impact on the lives of citizens. Dalung said, “$350 million (N140 billion) was approved for the Plateau State governemnt by the Federal Executive Council for the purpose of the potato value chain. I was a serving Minister at the time, so I was part of tha...
AGF: Why I’ll not testify before Justice Salami panel
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, on Thursday, gave reasons why he would not appear as a witness in the ongoing probe of the suspended Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, by the Justice Ayo Salami-led panel of inquiry. In a statement that was signed by his media aide, Dr. Jibrilu Gwandu, the AGF, maintained that his refusal to testify before the panel was “purely constitutional and not based on any ulterior motive”. Malami contended that as an AGF, his appearance or otherwise as a witness in any investigation should be a constitutional matter. “In establishing propriety or otherwise of the presence of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice whose responsibility is...
Labour insists on reversal of fuel price, electricity tariff hike
File Photo The organised labour Thursday insisted that the Federal Government should revert back to the old prices of petrol and electricity tariff, if not the strike will stand. This is as the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige and the President of Trade Union Congress, TUC, Comrade Quadri Olaleye, had a hot altercation over the letter to President Muhammadu Buhari to reverse the prices of petrol and electricity tariff. Meantime, Secretary to the Federal Government, SGF, Boss Mustapha said that deregulation of the Petroleum sector was long overdue, but the TUC President maintained its previous position that government should revert to the old prices before any discussion would continue. The meeting which took place at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, had...
Minister inaugurates committee on coronavirus herbal cure
The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, has inaugurated a Committee on Covid-19 Herbal Remedies and Natural Compounds. The Minister who emphasised the threats posed by COVID-19 to the health and well-being of Nigerians and the national economy reiterated the urgent need to develop a home-grown remedy and vaccine to tackle it. Speaking at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, Onu said the Committee, made up of eminent scientists and fellows of the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) will work to authenticate claims by researchers, scientists, and traditional medical practitioners of cure and herbal remedy for COVID-19. The Minister urged members of the Committee to vigorously scrutinize and evaluate all claims brought before it, adding that it should identify the remedies with ...
Minister: Nigerian government waiting for NPAN to make submissions on palliatives
The Federal Government yesterday said it was ready to look into the hardships and the challenges the media, especially print, was facing due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this after presenting a portrait of the Argungu festival to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Briefing State House correspondents, the Minister said he had a virtual meeting with the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN, some time ago, adding that he was waiting for the association to make submissions to him on the challenges the print media was facing. He said the Federal Government was willing to assist the media industry within its means to ameliorate the situation. Alhaji Mohammed, who said gov...
Nigerian government begs health workers to suspend nationwide strike
The Federal Government has appealed to the Joint Health Sector Unions to suspend its one-week warning strike nationwide. The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, made the appeal on Monday during the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja. “I use this opportunity to appeal to JOHESU to suspend their strike and go into a negotiation. “The position of the Ministry of Health is that strikes by healthcare workers jeopardise the lives of citizens, especially at such times of global health emergencies as now. “Nigeria needs the service of all our health workers to control the spread of COVID-19. Issues around allowances are multi-sectoral and have always been served with negotiations no matter how long it took,” he pleaded. The minister’s plea is coming hours after JOHESU ...
President Buhari approves 5,000mts of maize to support poultry industry
Following hardship faced by poultry farmers, President Muhammadu Buhari, Thursday, approved the release of 5,000 metric tonnes of maize from the National Strategic Grains Reserve, NSGR, to support the Poultry Association of Nigeria, PAN, in order to mitigate the challenge of affordability of feed. This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Director, Information, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Theodore Ogaziechi, where it was also made know that the 5,000 metric tonnes of maize is subsidized at the rate of N90, 000 as against the current market price of N170, 000. The statement reads in part, “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the release of 5,000 Metric Tonnes of maize from the National Strategic Grains Reserve to support the Poultry Association of Nigeri...
