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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.

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.

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.

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.

The Federal Government  received two trillion naira as revenue  from January to June 2019, Director-General of the Budget Office, Mr Ben Akabueze, has said.

Akabueze disclosed this at the Public Consultative Forum on the 2020 to 2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) in Abuja on Tuesday.

He explained that within the period under review, about N3.3 trillion was expended by the Federal Government.

The director-general said that there was an average of 1.6 million barrel of crude oil production per day on base production.

He disclosed that an aggregate of four trillion naira revenue was collected in 2018 with expenditure of N7.4 trillion, including N1.7 trillion capital budget within the period.

He expressed hope that the remaining half of the year would be better in terms of revenue performance.

Akabueze disclosed that from the data received from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the country’s oil production output had risen to 2.1 million barrels per day.

Also, at the forum, the Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Babatunde Fowler, urged taxpayers in the country to monitor their taxes to ensure they were remitted to appropriate authority.

“It is now a responsibility of everybody, especially taxpayers, to monitor to ensure transparency and accountability, if you have your tax deducted, then ask for the receipt.

“Make sure you check within 41 days of when the money was remitted to the federation account.

“This is important because during the tax amnesty close to 40 per cent has to do with withholding of tax, deducted but not remitted,’’ Fowler said.

He added that the service had put in place measures to ensure that only those companies that paid tax would access government’s contracts and services.

Fowler said necessary facilities would be deployed to the Office of the Accountant-General, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor and other government agencies to ensure compliance.

NAN

Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, says the best tool of fighting corruption is to have a well renumerated and invigorated civil service.

Tambuwal made the remarks in Sokoto on Tuesday at the opening of the 2019 meeting of the National Public Service Negotiating Councils.

The governor said his administration has given priority to workers welfare and ensured timely payment of salaries and pensions.

He added that the government had also initiated reward system aimed at boosting workers morale and enhancing productivity.

Tambuwal urged civil servants to ensure the success of government policies and programmes, and avoid colluding with bad elements to thwart government efforts at adding value to the lives of the people.

In his speech, outgoing Chairman of the council, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, urged civil servants to utilize the opportunities provided by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to become Efficient, Productive, Incorruptible and Citizen-Centered (EPIC) workers.

Walson-Jack, who is Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, said EPIC is a Federal Civil Service policy envisaged in the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, 2017-2020.

She called on civil servants to cooperate with the new Chairman of the Council in order to realize an improved public service.

” We shall use our experience in appraising the impact of existing practices and provisions to articulate enabling labour policies to maintain cordial employer-employee relations in the service” Walson-Jack said.

In her address, the new Chairman, Dr Magdalene Ajani, said the theme; Managing the Challenges of Emerging Realities in Labour/Management Negotiation in the Federal Public Service, was chosen to reiterate the need to sustain industrial harmony for enhanced productivity in the country.

Ajani underscored the importance of employer-employee interface in boosting relationship, adding that consultation, dialogue and mediation were necessary in resolving disputes.

”Formal interactive windows help to deepen and entrench cordial relations, promote systematic and systemic productivity and enhance service delibery.

” FG is concerned with workers welfare and welbeing, hence it designed Service Welfare Policy for Public Service to encourage proper renumeration, rewards and packages in the system,” she said.

Ajani, who is also the Permanent Secretary, Service Policies and Strategies in the Offfice of the Head of Service of the Federation, added that the government had floated good housing, insurance and pension policies to safeguard workers interests.

Speaking also, the Secretary Councils of Trade Unions, Mr Alade Lawal, warned government against any disparity in the implementation of national minimum wage.

Lawal emphasised that any action deviod of simless implementation of the package will be unacceptable to workers.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report that delegates were drawn from the 36 states and FCT while lectures on different topics lined up for the three-day meeting.

NAN

By Joy Mbachi
Anambra State Physical Planning Board has warned developers against building of structures without approval of the board in the state.

Mr Chike Maduekwe, the Executive Chairman of the Board, said the board would sustain its mandate of ensuring controlled infrastructural development across the state.

Maduekwe, who made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Awka, warned developers who still engage in building without approval from the board to stop forthwith or face legal action.

He said that the board recently demolished shanties in some areas in Awka, adding that more would be done at the expense of the defaulters.

“In spite of the board’s warnings to rid the state of illegal shanties, some citizens have continued to erect such unapproved structures and we cannot accommodate the disobedience anymore.

“We have commenced demolishing shanties erected in front of the office of the Transport Company of Anambra State and structures under the EEDC high tension power cable.

“Enough warming has been given to the people but they chose to do otherwise. This exercise will be carried out across the state and constant monitoring will be done to ensure compliance.

“We receive intelligence reports, which indicate that some people hide within the shanties to perpetrate crime, especially at night and we must put a stop to criminal acts in Anambra,” he said.

Maduekwe assured residents that the board has enough manpower to enforce compliance, including prosecution, and therefore, called on the people to do the right thing to avoid being prosecuted.

NAN