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The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, on Monday told his colleagues who won the primaries to see their victory as a call for service and not meal tickets. (more…)

TUNJI OLANIYI

The campaign structure of Mr. Jimi Agbaje, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship Candidate for Lagos State, has appointed a former lieutenant of the Late Engineer Funso Williams to oversee operations as its Director of Organisation. (more…)

Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu has sued the All Progressives Congress(APC)  for disqualifying him as a governorship aspirant in Oyo state on account of not presenting  the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme discharge certificate.

He claimed  it was wrong for APC to disqualify him from the governorship primary election  for not presenting the certificate.

He asked the court to declare  that the submission/presentation of NYSC Discharge Certificate to APC is not part of the requirements for him to participate in the primary election for Nomination of Governorship candidate of the party in Oyo State for the 2019 General Election.

He insisted that he went through the screening and security checks and was certified fit and qualified to be appointed as a minister.

He said participation in NYSC Scheme is not a condition precedent to be satisfied before he was appointed a minister.

He faulted the NYSC for not mobilising him for the scheme.

In the writ by his counsel, Mr. A.U. Mustapha( SAN), the embattled minister asked the court to determine five issues. They are:

*”whether by the provision of Section 2(1) of the National Youth Service Corps Decree No. 24 of 1973 and/or any other provision of the Decree being the law in force as at 1978 when the Plaintiff graduated at the University of Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) he was under any legal obligation to have warranted the plaintiff’s participation in the National Youth Service Corps in the absence of a call-up instrument duly served on the Plaintiff by the National Youth Service Corps.

*”whether, by the combined reading of Sections 176-183 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria [as Amended] and Article 20(iii) & (iv) of the Constitution of the All Progressive Congress; it is a condition that the gubernatorial aspirant of the 1st Defendant (APC) and/or any political party for that matter in Nigeria must present the National Youth Service Corps Discharge/Exemption Certificate;

*”Whether it is ultra vires the powers of the 1st defendant to have disqualified the plaintiff from participating in its primary election for nomination of the governorship candidate of the 1st defendant in Oyo State for the 2019 General Election on the ground that the plaintiff does not possess National Youth Service Corps Discharge/Exemption Certificate;

*”Whether it does not amount to denial of fair hearing as enshrined in Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution of as amended for the 1st defendant to have purportedly disqualified the Plaintiff from contesting for governorship election in Oyo State under the platform of the 1st defendant without availing the Plaintiff an opportunity to be heard on the allegations that the plaintiff avoided the National Youth Service Scheme; and

*”whether by the combined reading of the provisions of Sections 147(5), 65(1)(b) & (2), 66 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 12 of the National Youth Service Corps Act, Cap N84 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, the plaintiff was qualified to have been appointed as a Minister capable of holding the office, and/or any other governmental office at any level notwithstanding the fact that he did not participate in the National Youth Service Corps Scheme.”

In an affidavit which he personally swore to, the 65-year old minister said: “I was liable but not obligated to have participated in the National Youth Service Corps Scheme both at the time I graduated from the said University and as at the time I was called to the Nigerian Bar.

“ I know as a fact that no “call-up instrument” was served on me as at 1978 when I graduated from the said University by the National Youth Service Corps to have warranted my participation in the scheme.

“I know as a fact that I was also not served any Notice or notified in any manner to proceed to participate in the National Youth Service Corps Scheme.

“I know as a fact that participation in the National Youth Service Corps programme is not one of the requirements to be satisfied under the 1st Defendant’s constitution to enable me participate in the primary election for Nominating the party flag bearer for the office of Governor of Oyo State in the 2019 General Election. A copy of the Constitution of the 1st Defendant is hereby attached and marked as “Exhibit SHITTU 8”.

“I also know as a fact that under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended) it is not a requirement for me to have participated in National Youth Service Corps Scheme to be eligible for participation in the 1st Defendant’s primary election for Nomination of its flag bearer in Oyo State for the 2019 General election.

“ I know also as a fact that the Electoral Act 2010 [as Amended] did not make participation in the National Youth Service Corps Scheme a condition precedent for contesting any elective office whatsoever.

“I know also that participation in NYSC Scheme is not one of the requirements to enable me take part in primary election for Nomination of the 1st Defendant’s flag bearer for the office of Governor of Oyo State in the 2019 General election.”

Basic Registry and Information System of Nigeria (BRISIN) says it has commenced public awareness creation on the first phase of its programme in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Dr Anthony Uwa, the Head of BRISIN, made this known at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.

BRISIN, an integrated system for the collection, storage and distribution of information to support the management of the country’s economy, was conceived during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime.

Uwa said that though the technical committee for implementation of the programme was inaugurated by former President, Goodluck Jonathan, actual implementation is now being undertaken by the Buhari administration.

He said BRISIN had conducted digital mapping of FCT wards, people living in the city and their culture, among others.

“We have done a digital mapping of Nigeria but FCT mostly; we know where the wards are, the people that are living in the city and their culture.

“What we need now is to start the system data collection, distribution and to have the infrastructure in place.

“BRISIN has come to stay in Nigeria and it will work, notwithstanding doubts expressed in some quarters, because the Federal government is taking a stand to ensure its success,” he said.

According to Uwa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning a sensitisation meeting on BRISIN for all foreign missions in Nigeria and international organisations to aid understanding of the programme.

He said the technical committee coordinating the project was putting measures in place to address issues of bureaucracy to ensure speedy implementation in Ministries, Departments and Agencies. (NAN)

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says Egypt remains the top destination of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa.

UNCTAD in its “Investment Trends Monitor H1 2018’’ reports FDI has dropped 41 per cent in the first half of the year to $470 billion.

This was from $794 billion in the same period in 2017.

The report indicates that Egypt remains Africa’s largest recipient of foreign investment — up almost a quarter — compared with the first half of 2017.

In Western Africa, the data indicates a 17 per cent fall in investment in the first half of the year, from $5.2 billion to $4.3 billion.

The UN agency’s report, however, suggested the negative trend could be turned around by advances in regional integration, including an African Continental Free Trade Agreement.

The fall in foreign direct investment happened mainly in richer nations, including Ireland (down $81 billion) and Switzerland (down $77 billion).

Developing economies saw FDI flows declining “only slightly” in the first half of the year by four per cent to $310 billion, compared with 2017.

This includes developing Asia — down four per cent — to $220 billion – in the same period, driven mostly by a 16 per cent decline in investment in East Asia.

However, China, was the largest recipient of FDI in the first half of 2018, attracting more than $70 billion.

Latin America and the Caribbean saw a six per cent drop in investment, amid uncertainty over upcoming elections which were offset by higher commodity prices, UNCTAD said.

This downward trend was blamed partly on the “volatile global economic environment” and mixed commodity prices.

UNCTAD’s Director, Division on Investment and Enterprise, James Zhan, said overall the global financial picture was “gloomy”.

Zhan explained that foreign direct investment was important because it gave countries access to external capital, technology, market access and tax contributions.

UNCTAD said the development was mainly owing to recent tax reforms in the U.S., which have encouraged big firms there to bring home earnings from abroad — principally from Western European countries.

Zhan said the agency had warned in early January that there was “about $2 trillion of stock in the form of cash or in the form of reinvested earnings of retained earnings outside the U.S.”.

The UNCTAD’s official said the agency also warned that the $2 trillion might be repatriated in some form, following wholesale tax reform.

“And indeed, it’s happening. We have seen that outward FDI from the U.S. was from $147 billion last year to a negative $247 billion this year,” Zhan added.

He said, however, that other factors had contributed to the 2018 “huge difference in repatriation” of overseas profits by U.S. multi-nationals.

These included uncertainty about the detail and impact of tax reform and the potential impact of unresolved international trade disputes.

The tit-for-tat tariffs imposed by the U.S. and China, was also another factor, the UNCTAD official said.(NAN)

Smartphones might slowly replace the need for professional cameras, photographers say.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the debate between smart phones and cameras ensued during a panel session at the Abuja International Photo Festival on Tuesday.

In the session tagged “The future of photography: Are smart phone cameras a threat to DSLR?”, panelists Don Barber, Khalid Abdul and Amina Saleh noted that smartphone cameras are catching up and cannot be overlooked.

Abdul, who started out professional photography with a smartphone, said that phone companies are working hard to make their cameras more preferred than the professional cameras.

He however noted that although the threat of smartphones is looming over the business, they haven’t conquered the affordability problem yet.

“Not every smartphone can do the job and it cost a lot of money to get a smartphone that can take good pictures; the price of a good smartphone is almost the same as a professional camera.

“To get a good smartphone is almost the same price as a DSLR. I believe that there is still a journey for the smartphones but they will get there soon,” Abdul said.

Similarly, Saleh, who takes more pictures with smartphones, said that smartphones are a convenient alternative to professional cameras.

She said: “It is more convenient to take pictures with your phones, especially in a hostile environment where the photographer doesn’t want to it obvious that a picture is being taken.

“If DSLRs keep on being expensive, smartphones will take over. They are working hard on better picture quality and other photography features,” Saleh said.

She added that although professional camera fanatics might want to ignore the possibilities of smartphones taking over, they need to familiarise themselves with the growing technology.

Meanwhile, ace photographer, Don Barber pointed out that the term ‘photographer’ should not be used loosely because of the availability of smartphone cameras.

According to him, smartphone cameras are here to stay but they cannot take away the importance of professional cameras.

“The term ‘photographer’ is not the equipment. It is the vision and the job. So, regardless of the equipment used, a photographer will always differ from a phone user.”

NAN reports that the ongoing Abuja International Photo Festival will continue to lead conversations on the application of photography to socio-economic development. (NAN)