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JUSUN strike: How we decongested our cells – Police
The police in Lagos say they have devised means to decongest their cells amidst the prolonged strike by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN). The police spokesperson in the state, Muyiwa Adejobi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday that the decongestion was carried out in collaboration with the office of the Chief Judge and Attorney-General of the state. NAN reports that JUSUN, on April 6, directed its members to shut down all courts across the country, demanding the implementation of the law granting financial autonomy to the Judiciary. “The command had been managing the situation in collaboration with the office of the state chief judge,” Mr Adejobi said. He, however, did not give the number of suspects that had been granted bail. “We work with the office of the CJ an...
2023: Delta governor cautions political office holders against distractions
Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has cautioned those who hold political appointments in his government against all forms of complacency or dereliction of duty because of their vested interest in the 2023 general election in the country. In a veiled reference to why he dissolved the state executive council and numerous senior political appointees, Okowa stressed that they should rather be preoccupied by the desire to redouble their efforts in contributing to the administration to enable it deliver on his electoral promises and finish strongly. The governor gave the charge yesterday at the Government House in Asaba while swearing in the new Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief Patrick Ukah, as well as eight special advisers whose appointments were announced last week. He ca...
Exam malpractices: Lagos fines 27 schools N13.5 million
The Lagos State Government has fined a total of 27 private schools N13.5 million as part of punishments for being involved in examination malpractices during the 2020 Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) which was conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). Each of the affected schools is to pay N500,000. This decision was contained in a statement issued on Monday by the Office of the Education Quality Assurance (OEQA) of the state’s ministry of education. The statement, which was signed by the spokesman for the OEQA, Emmanuel Olaniran, noted that the decision followed a report by the regional examination body which indicted the concerned private secondary schools. According to Mr Olaniran, WAEC officials, who monitored the conduct of the examination across the stat...
Lagos governor: Twitter should have an office in Nigeria to resolve issues
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu said if Twitter had an office in Nigeria, resolving the current Twitter ban initiated by the Buhari government would have been easier. The governor made the suggestion in an interview with Arise TV on Monday. Mr Sanwo-Olu noted that he cannot categorically say if the federal government’s action against Twitter is wrong or right because he does not have the same prognosis as the President and Commander in Chief. “I cannot sit down here with all of the responsibilities that I have and fly (sic) the commander in chief of the armed forces. Even had (sic) a prognosis and security information that I do not have. I cannot begin to say that was it done is right or wrong” he asserted. He alluded that the government had only suspended Twitter operations in Nig...
Bulgaria to set up its own ‘blacklist’ after U.S. graft sanctions
Bulgaria will set up its own “blacklist” of companies and people associated with three Bulgarians and 64 entities that the United States has imposed sanctions on over alleged corruption, preventing state dealings with them, the interim government said late on Friday. The United States this week blocked assets and cut off access to its financial system to former lawmaker and media mogul Delyan Peevski, government official Ilko Zhelyazkov and fugitive gambling tycoon Vassil Bozhkov. The interim government, in office until a July 11 parliamentary election, is setting up a group of financial and interior ministry officials as well as tax and intelligence officers to identify and list people and entities associated with those under U.S. sanctions. State administrations and companies with state ...
Guatemalan president says graft fighter biased, ahead of Harris visit
Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei criticized the country’s best-known graft prosecutor for what he said was a left-wing politicization of the fight against corruption, a view at odds with strong U.S. backing for his work. Speaking in an interview with Reuters late on Tuesday, Giammattei nonetheless expressed hope that a visit to Guatemala next week by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will produce shared strategies to create prosperity in rural areas prone to emigration. Harris, a Democrat, is in charge of Washington efforts to tackle the causes of mass migration from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, collectively dubbed the Northern Triangle, including a focus on corruption and poor governance that she says limit opportunities. There is a $4 billion U.S. aid package to the reg...
Zamfara governor suspends monarch
Zamfara state governor, Dr Bello Mohammed Matawalle has suspended the Emir of Dansadau in Maru local government area, Alhaji Hussaini Umar with immediate effect. This is contained in a statement by the Special Adviser Public Enlightenment, Media and Communications, Alhaji Zailani Bappa. “His Excellency, Governor Bello Mohammed (Matawallen Maradun, Barden Hausa, Shattiman Sakkwato) has approved the suspension of His Royal Highness, the Emir of Dansadau, Alhaji Hussaini Umar with immediate effect. “Governor Matawalle further approves that the District Head of Dansadau, Alhaji Nasiru Muhammad S/Kudu will oversee the affairs of the Emirate. “Similarly, the District Head of Nasarawa Mailayi Alhaji Bello Wakkala has been suspended from Office. His suspension is also with immediate effect,” he sa...
Governor Makinde: We have tackled poverty, unemployment in Oyo
Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, has said his administration had made steady progress in tackling poverty and unemployment in the last two years. The governor, who stated this during a special thanksgiving service to commemorate his second year in office, held at the Cathedral of St. Peter, Aremo, Ibadan, also promised to provide more equipment for security agencies. He said his administration will do more in the area of security where it has already invested heavily, adding that all hands must be on deck to secure the state. The governor explained that 299 primary health care centres were being remodeled by the administration, in line with its determination to ensure that there is a functional primary health care centre in each of the 351 Electoral Wards in the state. He lauded clerics a...
SGF: Ahmed Gulak murder barbaric
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, has described as barbaric the killing of Ahmed Gulak, an APC chieftain and an indigene of Adamawa State while on his way to Chief Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri, Imo State. Mustapha, while expressing deep shock over the killing, also said the incident was unwarranted. In a statement by the Director of Press in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey, Mustapha called for urgent investigation by appropriate security agency to unravel the motive of such gruesome murder. He expressed his condolences to the APC family, the government and people of Adamawa State, his family and prays to God to grant the soul of the departed eternal rest. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make M...
Presidency: One million Nigerians benefitting from survival fund
The Presidency yesterday said that over one million Nigerians have so far benefitted from the Survival Fund scheme under the Federal Government’s Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP). The Presidency said there are 500,000 beneficiaries from the MSMEs Payroll support track, 44,500 under the one-off General MSME Grant, and another 265,425 under the artisan support track, among others. Recall that payment to new beneficiaries of the Payroll Support track and the one-time General MSME Grant had commenced at the end of April. A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, in Abuja last night explained that so far, under the ESP there are currently over one million beneficiaries nationwide from the various schemes...
Group urges President Buhari to suspend NDDC forensic audit
The South South Reawakening Group, has called for the immediate suspension of the ongoing forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), describing it as a “circus of corruption”. Converner of the group, Joseph Ambakederimo, in a statement, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a board for the NDDC to start a new phase for the development of the region. According to them, it was no longer news that the forensic audit ordered by the President has now been turned into “a circus for mismanagement and misappropriation of public funds to oil the machinery of political interests of a few, while the region and its people continue to suffer the perpetual psychological torture of these buccaneers.” The group recalled that the NDDC is still presently being run by an interim s...
Shehu Sani: A submissive legislature will enable dictatorship
CNN Former senator representing Kaduna central, Shehu Sani, says having a subservient legislature leads to dictatorship. Speaking at the 2021 national conference of the Nigerian Progressives’ Coalition in Abuja, Sani said that a submissive legislative will only enable a governance style in which the whole nation will bow to the whims of one person. Although he made no mention of the current national assembly, the comments come amid the criticism against the leadership of the legislature which has remained silent on the government’s decision to suspend Twitter’s operations in Nigeria. At the conference held over the weekend, Sani spoke against a legislature that is “afraid to speak truth to power.” “The legislature is supposed to have the duty of oversight on the activities of the executive...