Flowerbud News

Category: General News

  • PDP Vice President slot ennobles the Ndigbo, says Obi

    PDP Vice President slot ennobles the Ndigbo, says Obi

    Former Anambra Governor, Mr Peter Obi says his choice as the running mate to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is to ennoble his people.

    Obi said this on Friday in Enugu during a visit to the state governor, Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

    It would be recalled that the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on Oct. 12 announced Obi as his running mate, a situation that generated mixed reactions from party chieftains in the area.

    Governors of the PDP and party chieftains from the zone subsequently met and expressed their dissatisfaction that they were not consulted prior to the announcement.

    However, Obi, who said he was in the state to seek the support of Ugwuanyi, pointed out that his candidacy, was about Ndigbo in particular and Nigeria in general.

    The former governor said that the success or otherwise of his nomination would depend on the leaders of the South East.

    Obi said that if elected into office, he would attract meaningful development to the area, adding that the time to address the yearnings of the people was now.

    “This nomination is about our own area. We cannot continue to say we are marginalised. These are some of the opportunities to address whatever we think is not in our positions,” he said.

    Obi said that his record as governor was not in doubt, adding that he believed in the masses.

    Responding, Ugwuanyi described the former governor as a `trusted’ party man and a household name in the zone as well as in Nigeria.

    The governor said that the PDP enjoyed great followership in the state, adding that they were appreciative of the massive support the party enjoyed during the 2015 general elections.

    Ugwuanyi said that he had no doubt that the party would also do very well in the forthcoming elections in the state.

    The governor congratulated the entire PDP on their successful and peaceful convention in Port Harcourt.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obi also visited the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo in his Enugu residence.

    Nwodo, while receiving him said that the apex Igbo socio cultural organization would soon convene a meeting to take decision on the direction of the people in the coming election.

    He described Obi as humble and incorruptible adding “your incorruptibility in government speaks volume.

    “I look forward to when Ohaneze will take a decision on which party the Igbos will vote for and I wish it will be yours,’’ he said.

  • Facebook hires British deputy Prime Minister Clegg

    Facebook hires British deputy Prime Minister Clegg

    Facebook Inc (FB.O) has hired former British Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, to lead its global affairs and communications team, as the social network deals with a number of scandals related to privacy, fake news and election meddling.

    The appointment makes Clegg, former leader of Britain’s Liberal Democrats and deputy to David Cameron in the 2010-2015 coalition government, the most senior European politician ever in a leadership role in Silicon Valley.

    Facebook said Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, were closely involved in the hiring process, and started talking to Clegg over the summer.

    “Our company is on a critical journey.

    “The challenges we face are serious and clear and now more than ever we need new perspectives to help us through this time of change,” Sandberg said on a Facebook post congratulating Clegg.

    Clegg, 51, succeeds Elliot Schrage and will report to Sandberg beginning on Monday.

    He will move to California with his family in the new year.

    He was ousted as deputy prime minister after the Conservatives won a majority in 2015 in an election that saw his Liberal Democrats suffer a significant loss of support.

    Clegg, whose appeal to younger voters was critically damaged when he broke a promise not to raise student tuition fees, lost his own seat in Britain’s parliament in an election last year.

    He apologised in 2012 for breaking his promise on student charges, saying “I will never again make a pledge unless as a party we are absolutely clear about how we can keep it”.

    Clegg is joining a company that has apologised for its mistakes and has promised to do better on many occasions, for example for breaching its users’ trust.

    “Throughout my public life I have relished grappling with difficult and controversial issues and seeking to communicate them to others,” Clegg said in a Facebook post.

    “I hope to use some of those skills in my new role.”

    Clegg, a strong advocate of Britain’s membership of the EU, said it was a “wrench” to be leaving the public debate at a crucial time in Brexit, but added that key decisions would pass to parliament, of which he was no longer a member.

    He will join his Liberal Democrat colleague Richard Allan at the social network.

    Allan, a member of parliament between 1997 and 2005, who now sits in the upper house, is Facebook’s vice president of public policy for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

    Clegg has discussed online security and privacy, both when in office and more recently in newspaper articles.

    “I’m not especially bedazzled by Facebook,” he said in an article in the London Evening Standard in 2016.

    “While I have good friends who work at the company, I actually find the messianic Californian new-worldy-touchy-feely culture of Facebook a little grating.”

    He also said he was not sure that companies such as Facebook really pay all the tax they could, although he added that was as much the fault of governments that still hadn’t got their tax act together.

    Schrage, who led the social network’s response to its several scandals, stepped down from the role in June after a decade with the company.

    Schrage will stay as an adviser, Facebook said.

    Facebook has faced a barrage of criticism from users and lawmakers after it said in 2017 that Russian agents used its platform to spread disinformation before and after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, an accusation Moscow denies.

    In March, the company faced new scrutiny over how it protects personal information after acknowledging that the data of up to 87 million people ended up in the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

  • Kaduna Assembly to pass whistleblower, anticorruption bills next week — Speaker

    The Kaduna State House of Assembly says it will pass the Whistleblower Protection Bill and the Anti-corruption Bill by next week, as part of commitment to open governance in the state.

    The Speaker of the House, Malam Aminu Shagali, made the disclosure at the opening of a meeting with relevant stakeholders on “Open Government Partnership (OPG)” in Kaduna on Thursday.

    The meeting, supported by DFID-Supported Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), was organised for people of the state to engage OGP community on the status of the state’s Action Plan and the journey so far.

    Shagali, who was represented by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Nuhu Shadalafiya, explained that the effort was to help open governance in Kaduna State to strengthen transparency and accountability.

    ““As representatives of the people, we have a duty to make necessary legislation that will aid open government process with a view to carry the people along and make their voice count.

    “The whistleblower bill, when passed will provide a cover and protect people who provide information on anomalies and unlawful conduct by persons, public officials and corporate bodies in the state.

    “The anti-corruption bill will also help in the fight against all forms of corruption in the state,” he said.

    The Speaker said that Freedom of Information Bill will also be passed in the state in no distant time.

    He restated the support of the legislative arm of government in the state in ensuring inclusion, transparency and accountability in governance with a view to improve the lot of the people.

    He urged Kaduna citizens to take advantage of the OGP to make their voice count in demanding for better services from government intervention. (NAN)

  • OHCSF to release Rewards and Recognition template for Civil Servantsd

    The Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), says plans are underway to release a template for Rewards and Recognition in the Service to enhance productivity.

    Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office (SWO), OHCSF, made this known at the ongoing 2018 Separate Meetings of the National Public Service Negotiating Councils I,II and III (NPSNC) on Thursday in Abuja.

    She said the system was part of the federal civil service welfare policy that was currently being developed by a technical committee, due to submit its report before the end of 2018.

    Walson-Jack explained that the welfare policy was targeted at addressing the challenge of uncoordinated approach to management of welfare of employees across the federal civil service structure.

    “The policy is expected to provide a framework that would ensure that all issues of welfare and well-being of Federal Government employees were fully developed and institutionalised.

    “In line with this, a proposal for the establishment a Rewards and Recognition System in the Federal Civil Service is in the development process and currently receiving necessary attention from selected stakeholders.

    “The system is to encourage and motivate members of staff to put in their best in the discharge of their duties, thereby enhancing their productivity,’’ she said.

    According to her, the OHCSF is currently working on an Exit Management system to help civil servants transit smoothly into retirement.

    Walson-Jack added that exit system included the Pre-Retirement Training Programme and the Federal Civil Service Post Retirement Service scheme.

    The permanent secretary explained further that the post-retirement scheme was to ensure continuous utilisation of expertise of retired civil servants.

    She, therefore, urged the council to continuously collaborate and embrace the principles of collective bargaining and mutual respect at all meetings.

    “The OHCSF has consistently ensured a mutually beneficial relationship with the Trade Unions through the framework of the separate meetings of the negotiating council and other platforms.

    “I wish to reiterate the importance of the council in using the instrumentality of negotiation to resolve contentious issues in the schemes of service, salary structure, as well as retirement benefits of public servants.

    “I, therefore, enjoin the council to sustain the cordial relationship between the government and labour for the overall benefit of the civil servants and the interest of service.’’(NAN)

  • Nsukka Community protests alleged high electricity bills by EEDC

    Residents of Owerre-Enu community in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest over alleged high estimated electricity bills issued consumers by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).

    Some of the placards carried by protesters read, “We say no to EEDC high electricity monthly bills”, “if the company cannot allow us to pay N1,000 per building, EEDC please come and disconnect your light and leave our electricity cable”, “Local and state governments should come and rescue us from further exploitation by EEDC.”

    Speaking in Nsukka on Wednesday, Mr Sunday Onah, the spokesman of protesters, said the elders of the community sent them to convey the feelings of the people to government over the continued high estimated monthly bills issued by EEDC.

    “The amount is too much for us, that is why we are here to inform EEDC Nsukka District Office that we are tired of its high electricity bills.

    “As rural farmers, some of us do not have televisions, refrigerators, pressing iron in our houses, but EEDC gives us monthly electricity bill of N7000, N6000 and N5000 per building.

    “We are here to tell the company to withdraw its previous bills to the community and start billing us N1000 monthly per building or come and disconnect us,” he said.

    Onah urged local and state governments to intervene to save them from further exploitation by the EEDC.

    “Sometimes the community is without electricity for four days, one week and even longer periods occasionally, but at the end of the month EEDC will still issue very high bills,” he said.

    Addressing the protesters, Mr Patrick Okolie, the Network Manager of EEDC District Office, Nsukka, said if there was any increase in monthly bill it was as result of improvement in electricity supply.

    According to him, the area now enjoys light for between twelve and fifteen hours daily.

    Okolie explained that residents should not expect the same bill when they were having four hours in a day and now that there was an improvement in supply of electricity.

    “EEDC did not increase any electricity bill but the monthly bill given to you is what you consumed as result of improvement in electricity supply in your area.

    “The community should forward us list of residents with their phone numbers, who no longer need EEDC power supply and our staff will come and disconnect them, but we can not disconnect the entire community since some are still paying their monthly electricity bills,” he said.

    On the request that the company should give monthly estimated electricity bill of N1,000 per building, the manager said that he lacked the power to approve such and advised that the request should be forwarded to EEDC Enugu head office.

    “I lack power to say yes or no to the request for Owerre-Enu residents to be given estimated monthly bill of N1000 per building,” Okolie said.

    The network manager, however, thanked residents of Owerre-Enu for their peaceful protest and assured them that the company would continue to do its best to ensure that customers were satisfied through improvement of electricity supply.

    “I commend them for their peaceful protest and promise them that EEDC will continue to do its best to ensure customers are satisfied.

    “For your information, EEDC staff do not sit in office and issue monthly bill estimate, they first pick the reading of electricity transformer in an area and the figure generated is divided among customers using electricity in that area,” he said (NAN)

  • Ondo govt sacks Sunshine Stars’ players, technical crew

    All players of Sunshine Stars FC of Akure have been kicked out by the club owner, the Ondo State Government. (more…)

  • Gov. Umahi rewards athlete for winning African Youth Games bronze

    Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi on Tuesday rewarded Miss Chidimma Nwankwo with N300,000 for winning bronze in Taekwondo at the last African Youth Games in Algiers, Algeria. (more…)

  • Okowa presents N367bn budget proposal for 2019 fiscal year

    DELTA State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi  Okowa, on Wednesday presented a budget proposal of N367, 095,083,451 to the State House of Assembly for the 2019 fiscal year. (more…)

  • Breaking: Senate asks CBN to suspend ATM card maintenance charges

    Senate on Wednesday asked Central Bank of Nigeria to suspend the ATM card maintenance charges being deducted from customers. (more…)