Flowerbud News

Month: October 2023

  • Parents forget 5-year-old daughter at German airport

    Police in Germany say a couple left their five-year-old daughter behind at the airport after returning from a holiday.

    Reutlingen police said that officers spotted the child wandering aimlessly and alone around the terminal at nearby Stuttgart Airport late Monday.

    Fox News reports that the girl was taken to the airport police station but her mother called shortly afterward, to ask whether her daughter had been found.

    Police said the mother explained to officers that the family had driven home in separate cars and each believed the girl to be with the other parent.

    The child was eventually handed over to her father, who had returned to pick her up.

    It wasn’t clear how long the child had been abandoned at the airport by her parents.

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  • Oil, Gas export sales up to $416m

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says a total of crude oil and gas export sales of 416.07 million dollars was realised in June, which is 35.78 per cent higher than the previous month.

    The details of the figures was contained in the June 2018 edition of the Monthly NNPC Financial and Operations Reports, released in Abuja, on Thursday.

    It noted that the crude oil export sales contributed 274.95 million dollars which translated to 66.08 per cent of the dollar transactions compared with 244.72million dollars contribution in the previous month.

    According to the report, the export Gas sales for the month amounts to 141.12million dollars.

    The report noted that the corporation undertook the repairs of ruptured gas pipeline which supplies gas to most thermal electricity generating plants in the country.

    “In all, a total of 744million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd) was delivered to the gas fired power plants in the month under review,” it said.

    This, it said generated an average power of about 2,970MW compared with the May, where an average of 742mmscfd was supplied to generate 2,940MW.

    “A total of 211.51billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas was produced in the month of June translating to an average daily production of 7,056.22mmscfd.

    “For the period between June 2017 and June 2018, a total of 3,080.90 bcf of gas was produced, representing an average daily production of 7,826.41mmscfd.

    “During the period under review, production from Joint Ventures, Production Sharing Contracts and Nigerian Petroleum Development Company contributed about 69.35 per cent, 21.77 per cent and 8.88 per cent respectively, to the total national gas production,” it added.

    The report further noted that out of the 209.55bcf of gas supplied in June, a total of 113.08bcf of gas was commercialised, comprising of 36.23bcf and 76.85bcf for the domestic and export market respectively.

    This, it said translated to a total supply of 1,207.74mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 2,561.70 mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month.

    The supply, the report said implied that 53.96 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialised while the balance of 46.04 per cent was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared.

    “The gas flare rate was 10.33 per cent for the month under review, that is 721.83mmscfd, compared with the average gas flare rate of 10.4 per cent, that is, 813.37mmscfd for June 2017 to June 2018,” it said.

    In the downstream sub-sector, 1,194.93million litres of petrol were supplied into the country through the Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) arrangements as against the 1,096.45million litres of petrol supplied in May 2018.

    It noted that the petroleum products (petrol, diesel & kerosene) production by the domestic refineries in the month under review amounted to 205.73million litres compared to 161.91million litres in May 2018. (NAN)

  • President Buhari assures Nigerians he will not disappoint if re-elected

    President Buhari assures Nigerians he will not disappoint if re-elected

    President Muhammadu Buhari has assured members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Nigerians that he will not disappoint them if he is re-elected as President in 2019.
    He gave the assurance after being declared as the APC presidential candidate at the party’s National Presidential Convention which ended in the early hours of Sunday at the Abuja Eagle Square.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Buhari scored a total of 14,842,072 votes at the party’s recent presidential primaries held across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as announced by Dr Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti State Governor-elect, to emerge as the party’s candidate.
    Fayemi, who was the Chairman,APC Presidential Primary Committee, later asked the no fewer than 7,00 delegates from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to affirm the president’s candidacy through a yes vote, which they did.
    Aside the statuary delegates, the delegates who were drawn from the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, were made up of three from each Local Government Area.
    They were elected at the party’s State Congresses held earlier in the year.
    President Buhari specifically thanked all other eligible candidates within the party who deferred their aspirations because of him in the interest of the party’s unity and overall national stability.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, members of APC. I thank you deeply for your support and confidence in me. I will not let you or the people of Nigeria down.
    “Fellow party members, it is with a deep sense of humility that I stand before you today to accept the nomination of our party, the APC to be its candidate and flag-bearer in the 2019 presidential elections.
    “As I stand today before you, there is no honour greater than the confidence given to me by all of you when you affirmed my nomination.
    “I accept this honour as a tribute and mark of confidence to carry the responsibility as we all join hands to continue the good work of the APC government to 2023 and beyond,”he said.
    He thanked the party members for their support and guidance and for staying committed to the change agenda.
    The president expressed gratitude to the party’s National Chairman,Mr Adams Oshiomhole, and members of the National Convention Committee for planning and conducting the convention.
    He also appreciated the chairmen of National and State Executive Committees of the APC, saying:” I thank you very much for doing a difficult job well”.
    President Buhari, however, noted that the result of the APC presidential primaries was different this time, because he was the only candidate.
    The president, while recalling the achievements of the APC-led Federal Government, said the party was very proud of its records from 2015 to date, adding that it had arrested and checked the slide to anarchy on the security and economic fronts.
    He added that Boko Haram under the government, had been reduced to attacks on soft targets as normalcy had returned to much of North-East and neighbouring North-West states.
    The president also noted that the country’s currency had stabilised while its reserves was now $44 billion, a lot higher than it was in 2015 when the APC Government came into power.
    “Power generation capacity has reached 8,000 megawatts as against less than 4,600 when we came into office.
    “As we invest in new power generation infrastructure, we are strenuously working to address the legacy deficiencies and challenges of transmission and distribution networks across the country.
    “We are executing Independent Power Projects in nine Federal Universities to deliver uninterrupted power supply and we intend to expand to a total of 37 Universities,”the president said.
    He added that the Government through its Anchor Borrowers Programme and other incentives had empowered more than two million farmers to go back to agriculture.
    He further added that the country now produces 80 per cent of its rice requirements as many farmers who nearly lost hope were now millionaires.
    Buhari said the APC-led Federal Government had also introduced primary school feeding programmes to encourage attendance and enrollment and had introduced the conditional cash transfer.
    This, he said, was to help small and medium businesses, men and women and young people who drove our economy.
    He said the Government had repaired and was repairing major arterial roads and starting major railway projects with the aim of linking the 36 states with efficient road and rail transportation systems.
    The president maintained that the Government was attacking corruption head-on, with international support, saying that it was presently recovering Nigeria’s stolen assets and applying same to infrastructure development.
    “Today the corrupt are facing the wrath of the law and leakages have been generally blocked.We can be proud of our achievements, change has come,”President Buhari stressed.
    He, however, charged  Nigerians to think of how much the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Government earned between 1999 and 2015  that it was in power and what it did with it.
    The president recalled that under the PDP Government, infrastructure and security was down while 18 Local Government in the North-East were under control of Boko Haram.
    He said under that Government, the country’s reserves were depleted and bankruptcy was around the corner, adding that Nigerians should ask the PDP what it did with the national treasury.
    He added that Nigeria was now respected internationally, saying that the international community was very supportive of the APC-Government’s efforts to put the country in order.
    NAN further reports that the convention was attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, some APC governors, members of the National Assembly and other stakeholders of the party from across the federation. (NAN)
  • PDP Convention: 5 persons hospitalised due to rush to enter venue

    PDP Convention: 5 persons hospitalised due to rush to enter venue

    Five persons have been rushed to Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium clinic due to rush for entry into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convention venue, the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the health cases arose from the rush at the entry /exit point of the convention arena.
    The security personnel had a Herculean task preventing hoodlums from taking advantage of the over crowdedness at venue, to enter into the arena.
    The hoodlums unwittingly made things difficult for the genuine delegates to gain entry into the venue and this led to rush every now and then.

    Reacting, Dr Malcolm Brisibe, SA to Gov. Siriake Dickson on Public Health and State Emergency who is at the venue with his medical team, said that out of the cases, some were treated at the clinic and discharged.

    Brisibe said that the serious ones with complications were referred to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) for further medical attention.
    Brisibe, who declined mentioning how many patients were referred to UPTH,said that his primary function was to take care of Bayelsa delegates.

    ”I came here (convention) to take care of the Bayelsa delegates but when the health challenges escalates, I opted to assist in the medical sub-committee’s work at the convention.

    ”Definitely in a gathering like this, there is bound to be casualties because of the presence of people with different health challenges
     ”But our primary function is to take care of the any health issue of delegates from Bayelsa,” he said.
    NAN reports that many ambulances were positioned at strategic points at the venue of the convention in case of emergency.(NAN)

  • Ambode retraces step, congratulates Sanwo-Olu

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday afternoon retraced his step by congratulating the All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearer, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. (more…)

  • EFCC arraigns Saraki’s aide, others, over N3.5 bn fraud

    A Federal High Court Lagos, on Wednesday, ordered the remand in custody, of Gbenga Makanjuola, an aide to Senate President Bukola Saraki, over alleged N3.5 billion fraud.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had preferred an 11 count charge against Makanjuola, Obiorah Amobi and a company, Melrose General Services Ltd, bordering on fraud allegations.

    They however pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    Following their arraignment, EFCC’s lawyer, Mr Ekene Iheanacho, asked that the accused be remanded in prison, and also sought for a trial date.

    Responding, Makanjuola’s lawyer, Mr Paul Erokoro (SAN) drew the court’s attention to a bail application on behalf of the first accused.

    He said that the application has been served on the prosecution and sought the court’s permission to move it.

    Similar request was also made by other defence lawyer.

    Arguing his application, Erokoro said that the accused was a former member of the House of Representatives and as such prepared to face trial.

    “My client is a full-time staff at the Senate and is not a flight risk.

    “He was a member of the House of Representatives; I urge the court to grant him bail to prepare for his trial”, he said.

    Other defence counsel also pleaded with the court to admit the other accused to bail on liberal terms.

    Meanwhile, in his response, EFCC’s lawyer, Iheanacho, urged the court to dismiss the bail applications on the grounds that the accused constitutes flight risks.

    “One of the defendants have absconded; the chances that the other defendants will abscond are now higher with their arraignment.

    “We urge the court to refuse the defence requests for bail,” he said.

    After listening to the submissions of counsel in the matter, Justice Babs Kuewumi adjourned the case until Oct 9. for ruling on the bail applications.

    He, however, ordered that the accused be remanded until determination of their bails.

    In the charge, the accused were alleged to have committed the offence in December 2016.

    They were said to have conspired to disguise the unlawful origin of the sum of N3.5 billion paid into the account of Melrose.

    According to the prosecution, the accused took control of the sum which was transferred from the Nigeria’s Governors Forum account, into an Access Bank account operated by Melrose.

    The prosecution said that the accused ought to have known that the sum represented proceeds of unlawful activities.

    The offences contravenes the provisions of sections 15, 15 (2), 15(3), 18, and 18 (a) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Amendment Act 2011. (NAN)

  • NAN@40: Agency celebrates professionalism, news dissemination via modern technology

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday expressed its commitment to professionalism in performing its fundamental role of disseminating information.

    The Chairman of NAN 40th Anniversary Celebration Committee, Mr Joe Bankole, made this known in Abuja, while highlighting the success recorded by the agency since it began operations in 1978.

    According to Bankole, the agency will on Oct. 9, in Abuja celebrate commitment to professionalism because it has remained the most committed news organisation in the media industry in Africa.

    He said that the agency had successfully achieved its mandate of being a primary news content provider for Nigeria’s newspapers, electronic media and bloggers.

    “That is why the agency is still relevant because if the our  subscribers feel that what we put out is not truthful, they would have left us, particularly at this hard times when it is difficult for them to pay our subscription.

    “However, they still stick to our stories and that means we are doing something to add value to news reporting,’’ said.

    Bankole said that the agency would be celebrating some other giant strides it had recorded in dissemination of information via modern technology.

    “The agency started by distributing news bulletins in printed copies and we went on to become computerised and since then we have grown.

    “Today, we are multimedia and we are sending out news in not just text but audio and visuals so that is a lot of progress from where we started.

    “We are celebrating hard core professionalism and advancement in the use of technology to disseminate news.

    “The greatest achievement of NAN is the coverage of Nigeria because the agency has the greatest reach.

    “We go down to the local government area and we have offices in some remote parts of Nigeria.

    “We have been able to cover Nigeria well and that is why we have the slogans “No one knows Nigeria like NAN’’, “Talk to NAN Talk to All’’.

    While listing some of the challenges confronting the agency over the period, Bankole pointed out that inadequate funding remained the major setback to carry out its operations.

    He said that the agency needed to maintain its offices across the country to function at optimum level.

    “This boils down to funds. Before now we have internet services in all our offices but we can no longer cope except for Lagos and Abuja.

    “This is most biting challenge that NAN has to contend with over the years unfortunately this is not peculiar to the agency because almost all agencies of government are feeling the same impact of low cash availability.

    “This is because government too does not have the money and that is why government keeps asking people to look inwards for other means of funding themselves.

    “It has not been all easy for NAN to go out there and be doing this because it has to invest heavily in equipment, in staff and so on.

    “We can grow from there but as it is the funding for NAN has dwindled over the years,’’ he said.

    Bankole added that staff training was crucial in enabling the agency achieve its fundamental role of disseminating news objectively.

    “You cannot train them without having the money to back it up.

    “However, to get around it, NAN got training agreement with Reuters and Xinhua News Agencies, but they are not forthcoming as they used to be.

    “This year, I don’t think anybody has benefited from any serious training programme outside NAN and since that doesn’t happen, we have been doing internal training and orientation for new intakes,’’ he said.

    NAN was established by the Federal Government via Decree 19 in 1976 and became operational on Oct. 2, 1978, providing general news service to subscribers.

    With the introduction of satellite technology in 1998, the agency began to transmit stories to its clients simultaneously all over the country and some capitals in the world.

    With substantial reach and mobility across the 36 states of Nigeria, and with 501 editorial staff nationwide and correspondent in New York, the agency produces more than 200 stories daily. (NAN)

  • 2019 guber race: Sanwo-Olu unfit to rule Lagos –Ambode .’Check Gbagada Gen. Hospital for records’

    . Osinbajo declares neutrality in APC Lagos governorship bid

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Sunday said his closest challenger, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was not fit to contest the governorship election  on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), saying  Sanwo-Olu was  once a rehabilitated man. (more…)

  • Sokoto Deputy governor emerges APC governorship flag bearer

    Sokoto Deputy governor emerges APC governorship flag bearer

    The Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Ahmad Aliyu, has emerged flag-bearer of All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2019 governorship election.
    Announcing the result on Monday in Sokoto, the Chairman, APC Gubernatorial Primary Election in the state, Alhaji Sulaiman Abubakar, said the election was contested by four aspirants.
    Abubakar said that a total of 3,606 votes were cast out of the 4,600 votes during the primary election.
    He said that Aliyu scored 2,282 votes to bit his closest rival, Alhaji Faruk Yabo, who scored 837 votes during the election.
    Abubakar said that Alhaji Abubakar Gumbi, got 70 votes, while Sen. Abubakar Gada, had 20 votes.
    The Chairman added that 397 votes were invalid.
    In his acceptance speech, Aliyu thanked the delegates for electing him as the candidate for 2019 election.
    He assured delegates that he would work to ensure unity among party members for the progress of APC.
    Aliyu also urged those who lost in the contest to support his candidacy in order to ensure APC victory in the 2019 general elections.
    Earlier, the state APC Chairman, Alhaji Isa Achida, called on all party members to always protect party interest above any candidate’s to ensure victory for the party.
    “Our commitment today is to ensure a free, fair and credible primary election and such will remain because a as progressive party we always do for others to follow.
    “As such we will continue to sustain such effort toward ensuring the success of APC and electoral process in the country,” Achida said. (NAN)