Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu says the state cannot afford another total lockdown amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Friday said there were indications that the country had entered a second wave of the pandemic. “In Nigeria, the indication is that we have entered a second wave of infections, and we stand the risk of not just losing the gains from the hard work of the last nine months, but also losing the precious lives of our citizens”, Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, who represented Boss Mustapha, chairman of the PTF, said. Sanwo-Olu, who went into isolation last Saturday after testing positive for COVID-19, advised residents to adhere to health protocol and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to help limit the ...
Federal lawmakers, on Tuesday, deplored the federal government’s continued disregard for Senate’s resolutions on the issue of national security. The Senators spoke while contributing to a motion on the recent kidnapping of students at the Government Science School, Kankara, Katsina State. The Red Chamber had twice called for the replacement of the service chiefs. The lawmakers, in their various contributions to the motion, expressed deep frustration over the recurring issues of killings and kidnappings across the country and the inability of the security agencies to address the challenges. They insisted that the service chiefs had overstayed and should allow other officers with fresh ideas to take over. Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (APC, Niger) said, “Every day, people are dying and nothing ...
Senate President Ahmed Lawan on Wednesday said an amendment to the nation’s electoral law would be ready by next year. At the public hearing on the repeal of the Electoral Act 2010 and enactment of the 2020 Electoral Act, held in Abuja yesterday, Mr. Lawan said that the Electoral Act Amendment Bill will be passed by the first quarter of 2021. Mr. Lawan added that the passing of this legislation would enable the 2020 Electoral Act to be tested ahead of the elections to check its efficacy. “A free fair and credible election in 2023 is doable; we just have to remain focused,” Mr. Lawan said. “I have participated in several elections since 1999 and none of them has been the same. I have had different experiences. It means we always have some new emerging problems.” The joint hearing was organi...
Opposition candidates made gains in a parliamentary vote in Kuwait in which two thirds of MPs lost their seats and no women were elected, a result which analysts said could hamper government reform efforts to address a severe liquidity crunch. Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who took the reins in September following the death of his brother, had raised hopes of a detente between the ruling family and their critics in the perpetually deadlocked and fractious parliament. The final count carried on state media on Sunday showed that 31 new lawmakers had been elected to the 50-seat assembly, which is unusually outspoken for the highly authoritarian Gulf region. None of the 29 female candidates who stood in the election were successful. There was no official figure for turnout but local med...
The Senate Committee on Local Content has threatened to sanction the Ministers of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige and Festus Keyamo, over their failure to appear at an investigative hearing on diving operations in the oil and gas industry. It also threatened to sanction the managing directors of international oil companies (IOCs) in Nigeria for the same reason. The IOCs MDs include ExxonMobil, Total and Chevron. The chairman of the committee, Teslim Folarin, said this at the hearing on Thursday after they all failed to show up for the event which was meant to review the challenges experienced by diving operators in the sector. The invitation followed a debate on a motion on the urgent need to ensure strict compliance with statutory regulations and provisions on Nigerian diving sector. P...
Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong Bako, has stated that the hosting of the 2020 Jos National Festival of Arts & Culture (NAFEST) is a confirmation that peace has been restored in the state as he also restated his conviction in the need for regulation of the social media. The governor spoke yesterday at the opening ceremony of the 2020 NAFEST titled “Post Covid-19 and Cultural Dynamism” taking place in Jos, Plateau State. The governor who extolling the abundant resources in the state said “Plateau State is home of peace and tourism. We remain a state that is endowed with the best weather condition comparable to none in Nigeria, which explains why Plateau remains the destination of choice for many who desire to partake in its potentials such as rich arable soil, breathtaking tourism d...
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Ebonyi State has opened its orientation camps for the Batch B Stream 1A with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols. The Public Relations officer of the Corps in Ebonyi state, Ngọzi Ukwuoma confirmed this to newsmen in Abakaliki. She said the Old MacGregor College Permanent Orientation camp in the State opened on Monday with free Covid-19 test for all staff and prospective corps members. According to her, all camp officials including the State Coordinator, Mercy Bamai and all prospective corps members took the COVID 19 test before they were allowed into the camp. “All other Covid-19 safety protocols are strictly adhered to here on camp by the members of the camp community”,she said. Mrs Bamai in her own reaction said that due to the Covid-19 proto...
A former Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, says over 200,000 police officers were attached to political elites, a practice he termed “policing the elites against policing security spaces.” He spoke at the second edition of the National Dialogue series of the Political Leadership and Training Institute (POLA) of former governor of Ogun state, Otunba Gbenga Daniel held in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital. “We have about 400,000 police personnel in Nigeria and 200,000 of those officers are with the political elites. What we are doing in this country is that, we are policing the elites, we are not policing security spaces and this is an issue we have to look into”, Arase added. Arase attributed the challenges facing the police to lack of political will to implement reports of many re...