Flowerbud News

Author: Lara Olaniyi

  • Organisation provides humanitarian support to 251, 513 IDPs in northeast

    Christian Aid (CAID), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), says it has provided humanitarian intervention to 251, 513 persons displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.

    Amanda Mukwashi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organisation, told newsmen on Wednesday in Maiduguri, that the organisation was providing humanitarian services in the region since 2015.

    Mukwashi disclosed that the interventions were designed to address malnutrition, shelter, education, hygiene and food needs of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in 14 Local Government areas of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

    She said that she was on an assessment visit to IDPs camps in Borno, to appraise the achievements of the interventions with a view to fashion out strategies for sustainable longer term plans in areas of shelter and education.

    The CAID’s boss lamented that many children in the IDPs camps were out of school due to lack of adequate learning spaces and teachers.

    “We need to educate the young children to save ourselves from problems in future, CAID is ready to work with the government and other partners to educate and ensure brighter future of the children.

    “Our humanitarian response programme aims at improving the conditions of persons affected by conflict or disaster by providing life saving interventions, to ensure quality of lives in the long term, while building resilience, livelihoods and peaceful communities in Nigeria,” she said.

    Mukwashi noted that such collaboration was imperative to enhance interventions in areas of infrastructure, education, recovery and livelihood support to persons affected by the insurgency.

    Quoting from statistics, she said the organisation had so far reached 251, 513 displaced persons with interventions in the region in the past four years.

    Some of the projects included distribution of 22, 048. 78 metric tons of food items; construction of 25 water hand pumps, 13 boreholes and 155 latrines.

    Other interventions include the distribution of hygiene kits to 1, 889 women while 9, 664 persons were reached under hygiene sensitisation exercise.

  • Kuje Area Council launches mass vaccination for livestock

    he Chairman of Kuje Area Council, FCT, Mr Abdullahi Sabo, on Tuesday launched mass vaccination for over 5,000 livestock to prevent the outbreak of diseases that could affect meat production and consumption in the area.

    Speaking at the launching ceremony in Kuje, Sabo said the exercise was aimed at ensuring healthy animals in the area, assuring residents that he would put more effort into livestock development.

    Represented by Vice Chairman of the Council, Mr Shame Kwasu, he assured the residents of quality meat production that will meet healthy and hygienic standards for consumption.

    “The exercise speaks volume of the efforts of this administration to prevent livestock diseases and further transmission to humans.

    “This administration also holds dearly to heart the agricultural sector, most especially as it relates to livestock farming, to ensure adequate production.

    “I urge all nomads to ensure that your livestock’s are vaccinated as the treatment and vaccination of the animals is free of charge,” he said.

    According to him, the council has concluded plans to rehabilitate existing abattoirs and slaughter slabs to ensure hygienic meat production in the area.

    Dr Godwin Abbah, the Head, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kuje Area Council, said the vaccination was also aimed at ensuring that animals brought to the market are fit and healthy for consumption.

    Abbah disclosed that the vaccination would cover over 5,000 cattle at various nomad settlements, adding that difficult terrains would be reached through motorcycles.

    He said the department was committed to encourage livestock farming in the area and urged the farmers to desist from self treatment of their animals but to always consult a veterinary doctor.

    Alhaji Adamu Usman, the Public Relations Officer of Miyeti Allah cattle breeders Association, Kuje branch, thanked the Council Chairman for the exercise and called on other FCT council chairmen to emulate him.

  • Anambra tribunal delivers judgement on 10 of 22 pending petitions

    The National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Awka, Anambra, has so far delivered judgments on 10 out of the 22 petitions pending before it as at Sept. 9.

    A total of 42 petitions, eight Senatorial, nine House of Representatives and 25 House of Assembly, were filed before the tribunal challenging various decisions by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in the Feb. 23 and March 9 polls in the state.

    The tribunal’s Secretary, Hajiyah Falilat Orire, in July that the tribunal struck out 16 petitions out of the 42 filed and seven petitions  were later consolidated into three.

    The struck out and the consolidated petitions brought  the number of pending petitions before the tribunal to 22.

     From the 10 petitions decided so far, there has not been any upset as the judgments were in favour of the various respondents.

    As at Sept. 9, the tribunal has delivered judgments on four Senatorial petitions, five House of Representatives petitions and one State Assembly petition.

  • South Africa: Moody’s calls for urgent reforms to maintain credit rating

    Ratings firm, Moody’s, says its current credit rating one notch above speculative grade South Africa depended on how quickly President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government can implement promised reforms to maintain the level.

    Moody’s lead analyst for South Africa, Lucie Villa, said at a credit conference on Tuesday in Johannesburg that the firm’s concern was how the country would overcome the fiscal risks and political constraints to economic growth.

    “A lot of the deterioration we have witnessed is embedded in the ratings level and the past downgrades. The question of course is going forward. Our expectation is stabilisation in debt,” Villa said.

    The agency is the last of the top three ratings firms to still rank Pretoria debt at investment grade, Baa3, with a stable outlook.

    The firm has delayed delivering a widely expected downgrade that analysts say would trigger a selloff of billions of rands of bonds, pushing up already soaring government borrowing costs.

    Moody’s further trimmed its economic growth forecast for South Africa to 0.7% in 2019 from a June forecast of 1.0%, but kept its 2020 forecast at 1.5%.

    Last week, South Africa recorded better than expected growth of 3.1% in the second quarter following a deep first quarter contraction, easing some of the credit downgrade fears, although lingering fears about the fate of cash-strapped state power firm, Eskom, have kept a downgrade a possibility.

    Villa said the agency was keen to see the final government plan on the promised break-up of Eskom into three separate entities and that most of the risk to the sovereign rating depended on the implementation of reforms across the economy.

    “At the political level, as things stand in terms of policy orientation, we still see a very reform-oriented executive which is why we still believe there is still some prospects of a pick-up in growth,” Villa said.

    “From a credit perspective, the main downside risks are actually to the longer-term perspective, so more from about 2020 to 2021 and beyond. And here we maintain our expectation of growth of 1.5%”.

    Moody’s is expected to deliver its next review of South Africa’s rating in November after National Treasury has tabled its medium-term budget statement.

  • Xenophobia: First batch of 320 Nigerians to return on Wednesday – Envoy

    The Consul General of Nigeria in Johannesburg, Godwin Adama, has said that the first batch of the Nigerian returnees from South Africa would depart South Africa for Lagos on Wednesday.

    The first batch of returnees, are expected to depart South Africa by 9:00 a.m Wednesday.

    The consul general also disclosed that Air peace had indicated interest to evacuate over 600 Nigerians that were willing to return to their country following the latest xenophobic attacks.

    “The first flight leaves by 09: 00 hours  this Wednesday with about 320 passengers and the second batch will leave on Thursday all things being equal.

    “We have over 600 who had indicated interest. All things being equal, without any hitches, the plane will take off by 09 : 00 hours this Wednesday.

    “The manifest for the first flight is ready, and we are working on the next flight,” he said.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had on Monday called for the immediate evacuation of  Nigerians willing to return home from South Africa following the latest attacks on Nigerians and other  nationals.

    Buhari gave the directive when he received the Report of the Special Envoy to South Africa, the Director-General of the  National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Amb. Ahmed Abubakar.

    The Chairman of Air Peace Mr Allen Onyema, had last week volunteered to send aircraft to evacuate Nigerians who wished to return home without payment.

    “Air Peace is willing to support the Nigerian Government’s efforts in this matter by deploying our B777 aircraft to evacuate Nigerians back home,” Onyema said.

    The Chairman of the Air Peace also advised the returnees against making payment to anyone for their flights to Lagos.

    Onyema urged the returning Nigerians to guard against unauthorised persons, reportedly collecting 1,000 dollars from them, adding that none of them should pay for the flights.

    According to him, airline is particularly concerned about the safety of Nigerians in South Africans following the attacks.

    “We have not designated or recruited any agent in South Africa to collect money on behalf of Air Peace.

    “So, nobody should pay money to anyone or group of persons posing as Air Peace agent or staff.

    “Any Nigerian who has paid money for repatriation to Nigeria with Air Peace should request for a refund and report to appropriate authorities,” he said.

    The Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa,  had also pledged  the Federal Government’s support to  any Nigerian that wanted to return home.

    Dabiri-Erewa said this after a closed door meeting with the Senate Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations in Abuja.

    She said that the returnees would be encouraged to enroll and participate in the various social intervention programmes of the government.

    “We will encourage them to enroll in small scale entrepreneurial programmes with the Bank of Industry under the social investment programme . So, there are things that they can do’’, she said.

  • Gov. Makinde partners with FMBN on provision of affordable housing for workers

    Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State says his government is ready to partner with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria(FMBN) on provision of affordable housing for state workers.

    Makinde made this known, on Tuesday in Ibadan, when the Management team of the FMBN visited him at the state secretariat, Ibadan.

    According to him, having affordable houses is one the improvements the government desires for the state workers.

    He acknowledged the importance of the FMBN services, adding that the state government is ready to partner with it and benefit from its housing services.

    He reiterated the commitment of his administration towards
    improving the workers’ welfare, saying provision of affordable housing would definitely enhance workers’ living standards.

    He stressed that his government has many good projects, such as Free Trade Zone, Ibadan Dry Port and Upgrading of Ibadan Airport.

    “We are targeting all these development projects to improve the economy of the state.

    “In view of the importance of FMBN, Oyo Government is ready to partner and a government delegation will soon engage with the management of the FMBN.

    “We will investigate why Oyo State stopped its contributions into the programme and if there are challenges we will engage the bank to resolve it,’’ Makinde said.

    Earlier, the leader of the team, Mr Kabir Yagboyaju, said the purpose of the visit was to intimate the governor about the programmes of the FMBN and to congratulate him on his victory at the poll.

    Yagboyaju noted that Oyo State was not contributing into National Housing Fund scheme and wanted the state to take a leading role in contributing to the scheme.

    He explained that the participation of the state in the NHF scheme could not be over-emphasised.

    He requested the governor to approve the immediate resumption of contribution of the state and local governments workers to NHF scheme.

    “The FMBN is the first foremost mortgage institution that is responsible to drive home ownership among Nigeria workers, particularly in the low and medium sector,’’ he said.

    Yagboyaju further made a request for a parcel of land that would be used to build FMBN office in the state capital.

  • Buhari mourns former Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe

    President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with the Government and people of Zimbabwe over the passing of the founding father and former President, Robert Mugabe, at 95.

    The President, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Friday, commiserated with family members, friends and political associates of the late political activist.

    President Buhari noted that Mugabe fought for the independence of his country from colonial rule and lived most of his life in public service.

    According to him, Mugabe’s sacrifices, especially in the struggle for the political and economic emancipation of his people, will always be remembered by posterity.

    He prayed that the Almighty God will grant the soul of the former president rest and comfort his loved ones.

  • UK Parliament suspension: Johnson wins in court

    A High Court in London has rejected a suit challenging Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament for five weeks ahead of Queen’s speech on 14 October.

    But in Parliament things don’t look for Johnson as reports said Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour and other parties have agreed not to Support PM’s General Election demand before EU Summit.

    The Mail Online reported that Labour will block Boris Johnson’s plans for an early General Election until November after entering into a pact with the SNP to stop a No Deal exit.

    According to the newspaper, Jeremy Corbyn held a secret meeting on Thursday with Ian Blackford, the Scottish nationalists’ Westminster leader, to agree an election should only be held after Britain has secured another Brexit delay from the EU.

    Mr Corbyn believes he can derail the Prime Minister’s plans to hold a vote on October 15, forcing him to seek another delay to Brexit.

    The Labour and SNP chiefs agreed to October 20 at the earliest, The Telegraph reported, although Mr Corbyn’s advisers have told him to go for November.

    The Prime Minister is being frustrated by Mr Corbyn, who along with Mr Blackford, has repeatedly called for a general election over the last two years, only to back off with October 31 looming.

    Mr Johnson is expected to go for broke on Monday and call for a general election again after he was slapped down in the Commons this week.

    It comes after yet another atrocious day for the Prime Minister on Thursday, with his younger brother Jo Johnson resigning from the cabinet and Johnson being heckled by the public on the campaign trail, where he made the desperate statement that he will rather die in the ditch than delay Brexit beyond 31 October.

    The legal challenge against Johnson’s planned suspension of parliament was filed by remainer campaigner Gina Milla.

    The court said the case could still be taken to the Supreme Court for a final appeal.

    Johnson announced at the end of August that he would suspend parliament from mid-September to mid-October, just before Britain is due to leave the European Union on Oct. 31, so the government could announce a new legislative program.

    That prompted campaigner Gina Miller, who defeated the government over another Brexit issue two years ago, to bring a legal challenge. She was later joined in the process by former Prime Minister John Major and opposition political parties.

    Miller told reporters outside court that parliament should be sitting during such a crucial time for Britain’s democracy, and she would not give up the fight.

    “The Supreme Court has penciled in Sept. 17 for the appeal hearing,” she said. “My legal team and I will not give up the fight for democracy.”

    Miller’s lawyer, David Pannick, argued on Thursday that comments from Johnson showed an important part of his reasoning for the prorogation, or suspension, was that parliament might say or do something that impeded the government’s Brexit plans.

    The legal challenge has lost some of its impact after lawmakers voted this week to force Johnson to seek a three-month delay to Brexit rather than leave without an agreement on Oct. 31, a move that is likely to lead to an election.

    Separate legal challenges to Johnson’s Brexit plans are also being heard in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

  • Tribunal upholds election of Sen. Oduah

    The Anambra State Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the election of Sen. Stella Oduah as the Senator representing Anambra North in the National Assembly.

    Sen. Oduah who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Appropriation in the Senate, floored the APGA candidate, that of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and 18 others to win Anambra North Senate seat.

    Oduah polled 113,989 votes, the APGA candidate polled 59,937 votes while Mr Nelson Onubogu of the APC polled 11,995 votes.

    The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate in the election, Chinedu Emeka had challenged the election, alleging that Oduah was not qualified,

    The petitioner also alleged that there were electoral malpractices which influenced the victory of the two-term Senator.

    He went on to accuse the Senator of still being a member of APGA as at the time of the election, adding that part of the process contravened the Electoral Act

    In its ruling challenging the victory of Oduah, the Tribunal held that the allegations against her and against the Election process could not be substantiated.

    Justice Esther Haruna. said the petitioner failed to prove his allegations beyond reasonable doubt and therefore ruled that Oduah was validly elected.

    In a related development, the tribunal also affirmed the election of Valentine Ayika of the PDP, representing Anaocha, Njikoka and Dunukofia Federal Constituencies.

    Ayika’s election was challenged by APGA candidate, Dozie Nwankwo.