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Senator Lawan: Senate to pass electoral act amendment bill in two weeks
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, says the National Assembly is working towards passing the Electoral Act Amendment Bill in the next two weeks. Lawan said this at the inauguration of Mr Abimbola Yusuf, as Chief Commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) and 37 other Commissioners from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Monday in Abuja. He has urged Nigerians who were not comfortable with certain clauses in the ongoing amendment, to take their complaints to their representatives, for consideration before the passage of bill. “The national assembly is embarking on the amendment of the Electoral Act probably by next week or within the next two weeks. “It is very important that those who feel very strongly about any amendment that they think should be effe...
House invites CBN governor on recovered loots
The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the assessment and status of recovered loots has invited the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, to appear before it. The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Adeogun Adejoro, who extended the invitation on Thursday in Abuja said that it was necessary for the committee to know the number of recovered loots and where they were being kept. The Minister of Finance, Hajia Zainab Ahmed had told the committee that she had no idea of the number of accounts being used to keep the recovered loot. She, however, said that the ministry had a record of what had been recovered and the amount that had come into the account. She stated that N50 billion was provided from recovered loot to fund the 2020 budget, adding that the...
Oyo governor unveils agriculture electronic centre in Ibadan
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has inaugurated Africa’s first agricultural electronic centre, an innovation provided by Farm Konnect Agribusiness Nigeria Plc in Ibadan. A lot of dignitaries in and outside the state were in attendance at the epoch event, which took place at the Basorun area of Ibadan. Amongst the dignitaries include the Oyo State Chief of Staff, Chief Bisi Ilaka, the Director-General Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency, Dr Debo Akande, Ekiti State Commissioner for Agriculture, and his Osun State counterpart, the representatives of the federal government, bank officials, investors and others. Speaking at the event, Governor Makinde commended FarmKonnect for bringing such an innovation that will change the face of agriculture in the country and Africa as a whole to ...
FIFA announces appointment of chief operating officers for Women’s World Cup 2023
On Tuesday, world football governing body, FIFA, announced the appointment of two Chief Operating Officers (COOs) in Australia and New Zealand respectively for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 that will be jointly hosted by both countries. Last year, the pair took up the initial appointment to lead the FIFA Women’s World Cup office in their respective host countries. Now, Jane Fernandez has officially been named as the COO for Australia, with the New Zealand COO position going to Jane Patterson, officially too. The Australian Fernandez led Football Australia’s successful joint bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. Upon a successful bidding, she was appointed Head of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Office for Australia. Her vast background in organising successful competitions include...
National Assembly raises 2021 budget by N580 billion, approves N13.588 trillion
The two chambers of the National Assembly yesterday passed the 2021 Appropriation Bill, increasing the budget size from N13.08 trillion presented to them by President Muhamnadu Buhari 11 weeks ago to N13.588 trillion. The passage of the 2021 budget followed consideration and adoption of harmonised reports separately submitted to them by their Committees on Appropriation. The two chambers increased the 2021 budget by about N580 billion and pegged daily crude oil production at 1.86 million barrels per day, while oil benchmark price was fixed at $40 per barrel. They approved N379 to dollar as the official exchange rate while GDP growth rate was pegged at 3 per cent. Highlights of the report approved by the Senate showed aggregate expenditure to be N13,588,027,886,175, statutory transfer of N4...
‘Electronic voting, best option for credible polls’
An Oyo State politician, Olayinka Oladimeji Segelu, has called for the adoption of electronic voting in Nigeria’s electoral process. Segelu, who aspired for House of Representatives in 2015, said the plan by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to commence electronic voting with Anambra State governorship election next year was a good move. He said: “Honestly, the only way we can ensure transparency and reliability in the conduct of elections in Nigeria is to embrace electronic voting as it is done in some other countries of the world. “We must understand that establishing an independent body to manage and supervise elections is not enough to guarantee free and fair elections devoid of an efficient and reliable system. “To start with, the cost of adopting the electronic bal...
