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Iran’s OPEC governor dies of brain haemorrhage
Iran’s OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour-Ardebili has died of a brain haemorrhage two weeks after falling into a coma, the oil ministry said on Saturday. “Kazempour-Ardebili, who had gone into a coma over a brain haemorrhage two weeks ago in a hospital in Tehran, has passed away,” a ministry statement said, without giving further details. He died on Saturday morning aged 68, according to state news agency IRNA. The veteran politician was appointed governor to the OPEC oil cartel in 1985. He had also served as Iran’s ambassador to Japan from 1990 to 1995. Ardebili was a survivor of the 1981 bombing of the Islamic Republic Party headquarters in Tehran which killed 73 top Iranian officials. He was serving as trade minister at the time, appointed the year before. The bombing was blamed on the Pe...
POHAN: Ibrahim Gambari’s appointment’ll enhance synergy, cohesion
The national umbrella for Public Office Holders Association of Nigeria (POHAN) Thursday lauded the appointment of notable diplomat and former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, as new Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. Gambari’s appointment followed the death of the occupier of the seat, Mallam Abba Kyari, as a result of the Covid-19 disease. Applauding Gambari’s appointment, POHAN, which is the umbrella body for public servants, political appointees inclusive, said the reconciliatory roles played under the aegis of the United Nations by the ex-minister at various times would come in handy, in curbing insurgency in the northern parts of the country. In a statement by the National President of POHAN, Comrade Deola Eseyin, issued to newsmen in Abeokuta, Ogun Stat...
Liberia withdraws corruption charges against ex-president’s son
Liberia has dropped charges against four former central bank bosses, including an ex-president’s son, in a highly publicised graft scandal over the mishandling of banknotes worth millions of dollars. Five people were indicted last year for “economic sabotage” and other crimes after a probe found that an order for cash worth some 16 billion Liberian dollars ($80.6 million, 74.6 million euros) could not be traced. Charles Sirleaf, the son of former Liberian president and Nobel laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was among the five originally indicted, as an ex-deputy governor at the central bank. But on Thursday evening, Liberia’s Justice Minister Musa Dean told a court in the capital Monrovia that he was dropping charges against Sirleaf, as well as four others. The government did not respond to...
UN won’t vote electronically in Security Council election
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly will cast ballots in-person for five new non-permanent Security Council seats, its president said Thursday, effectively ruling out electronic voting despite the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter to UN members obtained by AFP, President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande said that voting members would be “invited to visit the venue at the designated time slot communicated to them in advance” in order to cast their ballot. Mexico and India are guaranteed a spot on the Council as the only countries in the running to represent Latin America and Asia respectively. Ireland, Norway, and Canada will compete among themselves for two more seats. Meanwhile, Kenya and Djibouti will vie for the only spot reserved for Africa. The vote is planned for June 17, but the letter s...
National Assembly leadership meets finance minster over 2020 budget amendment
The Leadership of the National Assembly on Thursday met with the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning to be briefed by the latter on the plan by the Federal Government to amend the N10.59 trillion 2020 budget passed by the National Assembly in December last year. The meeting which had in attendance principal officers from both chambers, was presided over by the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila. The Senate President, in his welcome address told the Executive arm of Government to ensure that the interest of Nigerians remains protected in the proposed cut to the 2020 national budget. Lawan also expressed the willingness of the Federal lawmakers to expeditiously consider the proposed amendment to the 2020 budg...
Zamfara governor commends EFCC for exposing Chinese ‘fraudsters’
Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle has commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for exposing Chinese nationals who tried to block investigations against their alleged shoddy contract in the state. Two of the Chinese nationals, representing the company allegedly approached the EFCC zonal officer with a bribe of N100 million and were immediately arrested. Reacting to the development, Matawalle said the attempted bribery further confirmed his earlier accusation that the company only collected the contract sum without executing the project. He was quoted as saying: “I want to specifically commend the leadership of Ibrahim Magu and his able Zonal Head in Sokoto, Alhaji Lawal Abdullahi, for moving this case to a significant stage by this arrest and further proving to the...
Nasarawa governor raises alarm over Islamic sect
Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule has on Wednesday raised an alarm over the presence of Darus Salam sect in the state. Governor Sule, who attributed the recent kidnappings and banditry in the state to the dreaded Darus Salam group, appealed to the federal government for deployment of more security personnel to the state to handle the situation. Governor Sule who made the appeal when he visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa Abuja to brief him on security situation in the state called for the intervention of the federal government. He said that the Darus Salam Sect earlier dislodged from the state has now reassembled in Toto Local Government Area of the state kidnapping people and involving in banditry. He said: “We want federal government to intervene by providin...
Lawmaker applauds appointment of Ibrahim Gambari as presidential chief of staff
A member of the House of Representatives, Wole Oke (PDP-Osun), on Thursday applauded the appointment of Prof. Ibrahim Gambari as Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. Oke, in a statement to newsmen in Abuja, said that Gambari’s global wealth of experience in administration, spanning several years was a great asset to the nation at this time. The lawmaker, representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency of Osun, said that Nigerians would benefit from this action of President Buhari. He said that Nigerians and friends of the country should work together to move the nation forward. “Nigerians, across the federation and in the diaspora, must work concertedly with one another, to promote common grounds, on which the survival of our great nation depends. “The surest way of attaining this...
Ibrahim Gambari an appointee of global standard ― APC governors
The forum of governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) have described Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari assumption of office as Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari as a challenge to appointees of the government. The former External Affairs Minister and former Nigeria representative at the United Nations replaced the immediate past occupant of the office, Mallam Abba Kyari who died last month due to health complications from COVID-19. Professor Gambari formally assumed office on Wednesday. The PGF in a statement signed by its Chairman and Kebbi State governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu said Professor Gambari’s rich credentials and vast international network were a challenge to those seeking appointments in government to “ai...
President Buhari urges stakeholders commitment as NLNG signs Train 7 project construction
Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), Bonny, Rivers state, says it has signed Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contracts for much-anticipated Train 7 Project with the SCD JV Consortium, comprising affiliates of Saipem, Chiyoda and Daewoo. The development signifies the commencement of the Detail Design and Construction phase of the project expected to increase the capacity of NLNG’s current six-train plant by 35% from the extant 22 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) to 30 MTPA. Tony Attah, Managing Director, NLNG, said, “The award of the EPC Contracts clearly demonstrates our Shareholders’ determination and resolve to sustain the economic dividends NLNG’s monetization of our vast natural gas reserves offers Nigeria” Group Managing Director (NNPC) and a Director on the NLNG Board, Mele Kya...
Ibrahim Gambari’ll give President Buhari’s administration a global appeal – ex-minister
Former Minister of State for Education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s choice of Prof. Ibrahim Gambari as his new Chief of Staff will pave the way for the administration to be reckoned with internationally. Gbagi, in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, described the newly appointed Chief of Staff as a man of character and excellence, whose outstanding academic accomplishments would stir the nation in the direction of meaningful progress. “When I heard about the appointment of Ibrahim Gambari as the new Chief of Staff, I was completely impressed by the President’s choice. “Without a doubt, he is a square peg in a square hole. In fact, while I served as a foreign officer in Hong Kong, he was my boss as the Foreign Affairs Minister at the time. “From my de...
US stands in solidarity with Nigeria to defeat coronavirus – envoy
Following President Donald Trump’s telephone conversation with President Muhammadu Buhari on efforts to defeat Covid-19 in Nigeria, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Berth Leonard, has restated the United States government’s promise to stand in solidarity with Nigeria to defeat the deadly virus. Ambassador Berth who said this at a teleconference with journalists, Tuesday May 12, 2020, stated that President Buhari was the first African Head of State that President Donald Trump spoke with on issues concerning the deadly virus that is ravaging the world noting that the US government is very pleased to work with Nigeria to see the end of the pandemic. She also disclosed that about 237 million USD had been expended on Covid-19 activities with Africa continent and about 32.8 million USD already...
