Nation
Chukwuma Soludo: I received 19 threats during banking consolidation era
YouTube The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, at the weekend in Awka, narrated how he received 19 written threats on his life following his decision to embark on banking consolidation in Nigeria in 2004 when he became the boss of the nation’s apex bank. In an interview, Soludo also recalled attempts made to kidnap his children at Offa, Kwara State where they were at the time because many people felt threatened by the policy. He said: “I am a very impatient person to see change happen and I am passionate in anything I focus on. When I was the chief economic adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, and the tenure of the former CBN governor ended and I came in. within one month, I announced a 13 – point agenda for banking consolidation. “At...
Nigerian government to launch new pricing framework for gas operations
The chairman of National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP), Mohammed Ibrahim, says the federal government will launch a new pricing framework to regulate operations in the gas sector. He was speaking on Friday at the 12th Nigerian Gas Association international conference. Represented by Olasupo Agbaje, a member of NGPE, Ibrahim said Nigeria needs to unlock new frontiers in the gas sector. He said the government is working towards achieving a 40 per cent conversion from petrol to gas for vehicles in the country. “As a nation we are committed to unlocking new frontiers through a combination of policy and technology. In terms of unlocking these frontiers, we find that we need to undertake a pricing framework review that has been concluded and in the next few days, we are going to be having a new...
Shiek Gumi: Bandits I met not behind Zamfara schoolgirls abduction
A prominent Islamic cleric, Shiek Ahmad Gumi, says the abduction of schoolgirls in Zamfara was not carried out by bandits he met with recently. On Friday, some gunmen had invaded the Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Talata-Mafara local government area of the state, and abducted schoolgirls. The police command in Zamfara said 317 students were abducted, adding that a joint search-and-rescue operation is already underway with a view to bringing back the girls. According to The Nation, Gumi, who is known to have access to bandits, said the attack was carried out by another group. “They are not the ones that abducted the girls. It is a splinter group,” Gumi reportedly said. When the Islamic cleric was asked if he would be willing to meet with the bandits to secure the release of the...
Northern governors condemn Zamfara schoolgirls abduction
The Northern States Governors Forum on Friday condemned another attack on Government Secondary School, Jangebe, in Zamfara State where hundreds of schoolgirls were abducted, saying enough is enough. Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, in a statement, said this trend is unacceptable and that strong measures must be taken to put an end to it before it escalated into a monster that would consume educational pursuit and national aspirations. Lalong said this development, which is coming on the heels of the abduction of school children in Kagara, Niger State still being addressed, called for serious concerns among all Nigerians. He said “as Northern Governors, we are deeply saddened by this embarrassing and unfortunate attack on our children who are in schools to ...
Zimbabwean vice president accused of soliciting sex at his office
Zimbabwe’s 71-year-old Vice President Kembo Mohadi on Wednesday refuted accusations of sexual misconduct by an online news outlet, saying he is the victim of “political machinations”. An online publication ZimLive has in recent days published audio recordings of phone conversations it claims are of Mohadi apparently soliciting sex from several women including, a married junior intelligence officer in his office. In one of the racy audios, a man can be heard scheduling to have sex at his office. Reading out a statement, at a news conference, Mohadi “categorically” distanced himself from the “imagined immoral behaviour”, and accused unnamed political opponents of waging a voice morphing campaign to discredit him. Victim “I am innocent and a victim of political machinations being peddled thro...
Bauchi deputy speaker asks Benue governor to apologise to Bauchi people
Following the statement by the Governor of Benue State, Mr. Samuel Ortom describing his counterpart in Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed as a terrorist, the Deputy Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly (BAHA), Hon. Danlami Ahmed Kawule, who is also representing Zungur/Galambi Constituency has urged Ortom to apologise to the people of Bauchi State for making the alleged derogatory statement. The Deputy Speaker who stated this yesterday during an interview with journalists in Bauchi, said that the citizens of the state as well as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state are not happy over the strain in relationship between the two PDP governors who are supposed to be working towards the unity of the nation. He maintained that leaders in the country should refrain from making...
PDP: Ex-service chiefs’ ambassadorial portfolio insufficient to stop ICC investigation
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has taken a swipe at the All Progressives Congress, APC, leadership in the Senate for “betraying Nigerians” by clearing former services chiefs for ambassadorial portfolios despite allegation of crime against humanity committed under their command. The party however insisted that the clearance will not stop the investigation and possible prosecution of the accused commanders by the International Criminal Court, ICC, for crime against humanity, with preliminary steps to have been initiated. In a statement issued by Kola Ologbondiyan, national public secretary of the party, the PDP described as horrendous the fact that the APC leadership in the Senate “could choose to betray Nigerians by rushing to clear the accused ex-service chiefs in a desperate attempt t...
How ICPC is combating corruption in MDAs, stopped diversion of N189 billion personnel cost
File Photo In the past few years, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Commission, as part of its statutory mandate, has been conducting systems study and review of ministries and organisations in the federal public service. The overall objective of a system review is reform of the systems and procedures of public agencies with a view to identifying and eliminating, preventing, blocking and obstructing opportunities for corruption. To achieve this, the exercise targets detecting areas of vulnerabilities, actual weaknesses, leakages and corruption risks and to recommend ways of strengthening these systems and removing the discretionary gaps and such opportunities for both individual and institutional malfeasance on public resources. In addition, the review also targe...
How ICPC is combating corruption in MDAs, stopped diversion of N189 billion personnel cost
File Photo In the past few years, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Commission, as part of its statutory mandate, has been conducting systems study and review of ministries and organisations in the federal public service. The overall objective of a system review is reform of the systems and procedures of public agencies with a view to identifying and eliminating, preventing, blocking and obstructing opportunities for corruption. To achieve this, the exercise targets detecting areas of vulnerabilities, actual weaknesses, leakages and corruption risks and to recommend ways of strengthening these systems and removing the discretionary gaps and such opportunities for both individual and institutional malfeasance on public resources. In addition, the review also targe...
NUT demands declaration of emergency on security
Nigeria Union of Teachers The Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, has frowned at the abduction of students and teachers of Government Science Secondary School, Kagara, in Niger State by bandits. To this end, the union tasked the federal government to adopt different approach in tackling insecurity as according to it, the current strategy being deployed by security agencies was not yielding any meaningful fruit. This was as it demanded a declaration of total state of emergency on security situation in the country by the government. The NUT, reacting to the development in a statement tagged:” Terrorist Attack on Schools and Abduction of Students/Teachers One Incident Too Many”, signed by its General Secretary, Dr Mike Ike Ene, regretted the reported incident. “We call on the Federal Government t...
Hundreds of thousands protest in Myanmar as army faces crippling mass strike
Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Myanmar for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations on Sunday, as the new army rulers grappled to contain a strike by government workers that could cripple their ability to run the country. People surround a police vehicle as they protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar February 12, 2021 in this still grab obtained by Reuters from a video on February 13, 2021. Trains in parts of the country stopped running after staff refused to go to work, local media reported, while the military deployed soldiers to power plants only to be confronted by angry crowds. A civil disobedience movement to protest against the Feb. 1 coup that deposed the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi started with doctors. It now affects a swa...
Security forces burst arms stockpile in Ebonyi
Nigerian security forces have burst arms stockpiles at Effium in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State after a joint security operation. An intelligence source told PRNigeria that a combined team of security forces recorded the huge success in a major sting operation carried out by the Department of State Services (DSS) in collaboration with the Nigerian Army in the early hours of 12th February, 2021 at Effium. Items recovered during the operation included: an AK-47 rifle; One (1) G3 rifle; a pump action rifle; double barreled Dane gun; five single barreled Dane guns; two locally made pistols; locally made revolver pistol and 592 different calibers of ammunition including those for General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) and AK-47 rifles. Though the DSS Spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, whe...
