Author: Farida Usman
The Kano State Urban Planning and Development Authority, KNUPDA, has uncovered 60 new layouts under construction. According to KNUPDA, the illegal layouts, being curved out by individuals whose identities are not yet known, have triggered security threats in the state. Kano state government has constituted a strong ad-hoc committee entrusted to unravel illegal layouts in the state with a view to sanitizing the city from needless structures obstructing the city plans. Speaking while unveiling the committee on Wednesday, Managing Director, KNUPDA, Ibrahim Yakubu Adamu, hinted that out of the 60 illegal layouts uncovered, owners of 40 have responded to…
The Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) says 84 illegal refineries and 66 illegal connections have been discovered in the past week in the Niger Delta region In a tweet on the NNPCL X handle late Tuesday, it wrote: “In the past week, 66 illegal pipeline connections and 84 illegal refineries have been uncovered in the Niger Delta”. WAR ON CRUDE OIL THEFT In the past week, 66 illegal pipeline connections and 84 illegal refineries have been uncovered in the Niger Delta.#WarOnCrudeOilTheft #EnergyforToday #EnergyforTomorrow pic.twitter.com/CxiWqILlQ8 — NNPC Limited (@nnpclimited) February 28, 2024 Oil theft is a major problem in…
The police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have arrested one Samaila Wakili Fafa also known as Habu Ibrahim, a kidnap kingpin on the wanted list of the Command. In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the police command, Josephine Adeh, said the suspect was arrested on February 24, 2024 when operatives stormed Sardauna Forest, Toto, in Nasarawa State. The suspect was one of the two kidnappers the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had placed a N20m bounty on, as the other suspect, Saidu Abdulkadir also known as Dahiru Adamu, had earlier been arrested by the command. “He confessed…
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has described as outdated, the 12-year old Steve Oronsaye Report recommending the merger of government agencies and commissions. In a statement on Tuesday, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said contrary to the belief in official circles, the report won’t “substantially reduce the enormous costs of governance in the country as it does not reflect the current situation in the public service”. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) chaired by President Bola Tinubu had on Monday approved the full implementation of the Oronsaye report. According to the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Hadiza…
The House of Representatives on Tuesday called on the Federal Government to investigate and curtail the spread of an unidentified disease that has killed some persons in Nafada Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria. As a result, the House asked the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare as a matter of emergency to urgently deploy its personnel to verify the nature of the disease. The House also urged the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to put up surveillance measures to contain the spread of the disease and ensure that adequate treatment is extended to affected…
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has suspended the sale of seized food items over a stampede that claimed lives at NCS Old Zonal Headquarters in the Yaba area of Lagos State last Friday. A spokesperson for the Customs, Abdullahi Maiwada, announced this in a statement on Monday. The Customs had on February 20, 2024 said it would disposed seized food items to cushion the hardship and cost of living in the country. To start with, the Customs disposed food items at its Yaba office last Friday in the presence of other security agencies like the men of the Nigeria…
No fewer than 180 students bagged first-class degrees at the 38th convocation ceremony of Bayero University, scheduled to commence Tuesday. Besides, a total number of 11,284 students including the undergraduate, postgraduate and products of Aliko Dangote Business School. Addressing a pre-convocation media briefing on Monday, Vice Chancellor, Professor Sagir Adamu Abbas said the 38th convocation is staggered into three days to enable the graduates and their families relish the ceremony. According to the Vice Chancellor, the convocation is scheduled for graduate students from various faculties segmented through Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. He added that the convocation lecture slated for…
The National Examination Council (NECO) has released the 2023 senior secondary school examination (SSCE) external results with 67.35 percent of candidates who sat for the examination earning five credits and above including English Language and Mathematics. The Registrar and Chief Executive of the council Professor Dantani Wushishi while declaring the results on Monday, 68 days after the last examination, said 74,342 candidates sat for the examination for 29 subjects. According to the breakdown, 52.28 percent of the candidates were male and 47.71 candidates were female. The registrar also said that 8,518 candidates were booked for various forms of malpractice…
Tragedy has enmeshed Customs Rice distribution on Sunday as Seven people have reportedly died in a stampede in Lagos. Federal government has directed Customs to commence sales of seized bags of rice nationwide at subsidized cost to ease the present economic crunch. On Thursday, NCS commenced the Lagos distribution of the food items seized from smugglers where thousands of poor people bombarded the centre. Speaking during the flag-off of the exercise, Wale Adeniyi, comptroller-general of customs, said the rice to be distributed has been repackaged in 25kg to reach more Nigerians. Adeniyi added that customs has seized over 20,000…
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has insisted that its planned Tuesday and Wednesday protests over “mounting hunger and insecurity” in Nigeria will go on. NLC President Joe Ajaero disclosed this in a statement on Sunday. Ajaero accused the Federal Government of allegedly trying to use an amorphous group, the Nigeria Civil Society Forum, NCSF, to attack its members during the rallies. He vowed to ensure a total shutdown of Nigeria through the withdrawal of services by workers if any of its members were attacked during the protest. It was recalled that the Department of State Services, DSS,…
President Bola Tinubu is currently in a crucial meeting with selected members of the organised private sector at the presidential Villa. Those present at the meeting included Chairman of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, founder and chairman of BUA Group, Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu, CEO of Oando, Wale Tinubu and the Chairperson of the United Bank for Africa, Tony Elumelu. Details later…
Amid the planned protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over the hardship faced by Nigerians, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has asked the Attorney General Of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, to provide security for the demonstrators. Barring any last-minute change, the NLC will on Tuesday, February 27 and Wednesday, February 28 protest following the dramatic hike in the prices of goods and services due to the removal of fuel subsidy and the free fall of the naira, among others. The human rights lawyer in a letter dated February 24 and addressed to the Attorney General…
The members of the Northern Senators Forum have commended the decision of the leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to lift sanctions imposed on Niger Republican among other members. A statement by the spokesman of the forum Senator Suleiman A Kawu Sumaila on Sunday said the Forum believes the principled and empathetic decision of ECOWAS to lift the sanctions on Niger Republic is a testament to the organization’s commitment to regional solidarity, cooperation, and respect for human rights. Sumaila, Senator representing Kano South senatorial district who specifically recognized the impact of President Bola Tinubu added…
President Bola Tinubu has given reasons behind the delay of the free distribution of 42,000 metric tonnes of grains to Nigerians to tackle the current food insecurity. Recall that the Minister of Agriculture on February 8, promised that the federal government would distribute millet, maize and other food commodities to vulnerable Nigerians to ameliorate hardship. But for almost three weeks, no grains or food commodities have been given to Nigerians as the economy bites hard with the high cost of food. Explaining the delay, Special Adviser to the President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga said the bagging…
Barely 72 hours after the angry demonstration, the Kano state government has agreed to settle the outstanding 10-month allowances of street sweepers engaged by state Refuse Management and Sanitation Board. The angry casual workers accused the new management of the refuse board of refusal and total negligence to pay for their sweat. Although, the Managing Director of the board, Haruna Danzago has disowned the protesting sweepers and insisted government was not owing any backlog. Addressing journalists shortly after inspecting the monthly sanitation exercise, Commissioner for Environment Alh. Nasiru Sule Garo said the government has accepted to settle allowances…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that foreign exchange sellers to Bureau De Change (BDC) of the equivalent of 10,000 dollars and above are required to declare their forex sources. The apex bank stated this in a revised regulatory framework to curtail excesses of BDCs and check uncertainty in the foreign exchange market which it published on Friday. According to the CBN, sellers would also be required to comply with all Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism ( AML/CFT) regulations and and foreign exchange laws and regulations. The CBN noted that the guidelines would significantly enhance the…
The 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has uncovered yet another illegal oil refinery around Akwa-Odagwa Etche Local Government Area (LGA) with approximately one million liters of crude oil stored. According to the Garrison Commander of the 6 Division and Sector 3 Commander of Operation Niger Delta Safe, OPDS, Brigadier General EU Effiong, the reservoir was uncovered during a raid at Akwa-Odagwa in Rivers State. He said the operation occurred in the same area where an illegal refinery was busted over a month ago. Brigadier Effiong revealed that due to the earlier raid by the…
Katsina State Government has inaugurated a task force Committee on Food Security Promotion that will be monitoring prices of grains as well as hoarding and illegal movement of food items and other essential commodities. The 27-member committee, consisting of heads of various security agencies, traditional and religious leaders including grains sellers and dealers, traders union, NATO, NURTW including top government officials, is to be headed by Jabiru Tsauri who is also the Chief of Staff, Government House Katsina. The State Deputy Governor, Hon. Faruk Lawal Jobe in an inaugural speech on Thursday at the Presidential Banquet Hall, Katsina Government…
The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, will today commence the sale of seized bags of rice to the public at the rate of N10,000 per 25kg . Disclosing this to newsmen in Lagos, Comptroller General of the NCS, Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, said the process for the sale of the food items has been perfected such that a form with all the details of the applicant including the National Identification Number, NIN, will be submitted and a bar code will be generated for the collection of the commodity. Adeniyi stated that ten registration points will be opened for members of the…