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Nigeria ratifies membership of AfCFTA

The Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday ratified Nigeria’s membership of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, as the implementation of the agreement formally takes-off on January 1, 2021. This is as the Council has approved N62.7 billion for the construction of Kano-Dawakin-Tofa-Gwarzo-Dariyo road in Kano. Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the 23rd virtual FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said whereas the implementation of the agreement was initially scheduled to commence in July, this year, the plan was stalled by the spread of COVID-19. Alhaji Mohammed, who briefed on behalf of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Inves...

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...

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...

President Buhari: CAMA Act will help us fight corruption

President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday explained that the recently passed Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA) in Nigeria will enhance transparency and corporate accountability in the fight against corruption. President Buhari spoke in a video message presented at the Open Government Partnership (OGP) 2020 Virtual Leaders’ Summit on the sidelines of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA75) in New York, United States. ”Since the inception of our Administration in 2015, the Government has been committed to changing international and domestic perceptions regarding Nigeria’s commitment to fight corruption and foster good governance. ”We focused on the task of dealing head-on with this destructive monster, which led to us joining the Open Government Partnership and...

Nigerian government putting in place strategies to maximise non-oil revenue – minister

In a bid to cushion the effect of continued dwindling oil revenue, the Federal government says it is putting in place an Integrated Revenue Monitoring System in place to help the monitoring of the revenues of the Federal Government Owned Entities (FGOEs) online real-time to improve transparency and accountability. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said this at the orientation program for Directors of Revenue Tuesday in Abuja. She said the federal government is putting robust policies in place to maximize its non-oil revenue as it is increasingly concerned with the dwindling profile of Revenue, a trend she said has to be quickly arrested particularly with Key revenue generating agencies of the Government. The minister noted that with revenue dwindling...

Edo election: PDP, Comrade Oshiomhole bicker over ‘intimidation’ of voters

File Photo The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo and a former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, are in a war of words over alleged planned intimidation of Edo’s voters with soldiers and stockpiling of arms. Edo PDP, through its Publicity Secretary, Chris Nehikhare, at a news conference in Benin, accused Oshiomhole, an ex-governor, of using soldiers to intimidate voters in Benin City and Auchi. It also accused Oshiomhole of stockpiling arms in his house at Iyamho hometown in Etsako West Local Government Area for the election next Saturday. It asked security agents to search the Iyamho house of the former governor while urging the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, and President Muhammadu Buhari, to call Oshiomhole to order. The...

Southern-Kaduna Christian leaders boycott peace summit

File Photo A peace summit organized in Kafanchan to find an end to the conflict in Southern Kaduna, suffered set back as Christian leaders in the area who doubted the genuineness of the occasion, boycotted the summit. Nevertheless, the peace summit still went on as scheduled with over 100 participants across religious faiths. The Kaduna chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Christian leaders from the Southern part of Kaduna and the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, were earlier scheduled to attend the peace summit in Kafanchan, Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Tuesday. Friends of Southern Kaduna in collaboration with the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission organized the summit as part of efforts to find a lasting solution to the killings in Southern Kaduna. Explain...

NNPC: AKK gas pipeline project contract not inflated

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project was not inflated to the tune of 1.527 billion dollars, as alleged in an online media outfit. The corporation disclosed this in a statement signed by its spokesman, Dr Kennie Obateru, in Abuja on Monday. He described the accusation as false, baseless and unfounded. Obateru noted that the NNPC was considering instituting legal actions against the medium and her collaborators. He added that the corporation brought the accusation to the attention of the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) which rejected the speculative analysis of the online medium as false and not portraying the true position of the BPP’s report on the subject. “This is clearly a concocted analysis aimed at attacking th...

Nigerian government’s stimulus package will avert deep economic recession – minister

Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, has stated that the provision of stimulus package by the Federal Government will go a long way in preventing the country from plunging into deep economic recession. Prince Agba stated this at a virtual roundtable discussion, among state and non-state actors, international organizations and donor agencies, facilitated by the Nigeria’s secretariat of Open Government Partnership (OGP). The minister, who is a co-chair of OGP, led the discussion, which focused on ensuring an effective and inclusive stimulus as well as safety nets campaign for Nigeria as part of the response to the COVID-19 recovery. The Minister said that the roundtable discussion was aimed at improving transparency and accountability as the country r...

National Assembly urges President Buhari to suspend plan to recruit 774,000 Nigerians

The Senate and the House of Representatives yesterday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend the implementation of the plan to recruit 774,000 Nigerians for Special Public Works across the country. The position of both chambers of the National Assembly followed a sharp disagreement between the National Assembly Joint Committee on Labour, Employee and Productivity and the Minister for State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, SAN, over the modalities for appointing the 20-member Selection Committee for the programme. Keyamo who had appeared at an interactive session organized by the joint committee opposed a resolution of the Joint Committee to resolve into a closed door session. The Minister said he rejected the lawmakers decision to quiz him behind closed doors because of the n...