|
 |
Click here to Reply or Forward
|
Blog
-
Global Business research symposium holds in US – invitation
2.61 GB (17%) of 15 GB usedLast account activity: 4 minutes ago -
We’ll reorganise judiciary to fight corruption to standstill – Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday said his administration would soon reorganise the nation’s judiciary to ensure effective fight against corruption in the country.
Buhari said this at a joint news conference with the visiting Namibian leader, Mr Hage Geingob, after a closed door session at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, his administration plans to dedicate some judges to deal with corruption cases where all those found wanting in their dealings will be prosecuted.
“So we are willing but it’s very difficult under this multi-party democracy system; We are getting the cooperation of countries.
“We are trying to sell the assets wherever we found them and bring the money into the Nigerian treasury. This is all I can say at this stage because we are reorganising the judiciary.
“We are going to dedicate some judges to deal with corruption cases and try to put forward and prosecute all those that investigations proved that they have questions to answer.
“So that is what I’m telling you that we haven’t given up; we are doing our best and we will recover as much as humanly possible,’’ he said.
On his part, President Geingob thanked Nigerian government for its support and assistance to Namibia via the deployment of volunteers under the Technical Aid Corps.
According to Geingob, he is in Nigeria to pay his last respect to late Prof. Adebayo Adedeji, whom he described as his mentor.
Adedeji, onetime Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission of Africa who died on April 25 at the age of 87, will be buried on July 7.
President Geingob congratulated the Nigerian leader on his efforts in dealing with corruption in Nigeria and beyond.
He lamented that corruption in Africa was becoming a serious case and hence strong people like Buhari were needed to tackle the social ill.
He noted that President Buhari had taken steps towards fighting corruption in Nigeria worthy of emulation by his country.
“He (Buhari) is taking steps that will encourage all of us. I declared war against poverty and corruption.
“I declared my assets publicly. I therefore emulate my brother here,’’he added.(NAN)
Wednesday said his administration would soon reorganise the nation’s judiciary to ensure effective fight against corruption in the country.
Buhari said this at a joint news conference with the visiting Namibian leader, Mr Hage Geingob, after a closed door session at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, his administration plans to dedicate some judges to deal with corruption cases where all those found wanting in their dealings will be prosecuted.
“So we are willing but it’s very difficult under this multi-party democracy system; We are getting the cooperation of countries.
“We are trying to sell the assets wherever we found them and bring the money into the Nigerian treasury. This is all I can say at this stage because we are reorganising the judiciary.
“We are going to dedicate some judges to deal with corruption cases and try to put forward and prosecute all those that investigations proved that they have questions to answer.
“So that is what I’m telling you that we haven’t given up; we are doing our best and we will recover as much as humanly possible,’’ he said.
On his part, President Geingob thanked Nigerian government for its support and assistance to Namibia via the deployment of volunteers under the Technical Aid Corps.
According to Geingob, he is in Nigeria to pay his last respect to late Prof. Adebayo Adedeji, whom he described as his mentor.
Adedeji, onetime Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission of Africa who died on April 25 at the age of 87, will be buried on July 7.
President Geingob congratulated the Nigerian leader on his efforts in dealing with corruption in Nigeria and beyond.
He lamented that corruption in Africa was becoming a serious case and hence strong people like Buhari were needed to tackle the social ill.
He noted that President Buhari had taken steps towards fighting corruption in Nigeria worthy of emulation by his country.
“He (Buhari) is taking steps that will encourage all of us. I declared war against poverty and corruption.
“I declared my assets publicly. I therefore emulate my brother here,’’he added.(NAN)
-
FG restates commitment to job creation
Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, has restated the commitment of the Federal Government to job creation for the citizenry.
Ngige said this during the inaugural meeting of the Board of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) on Wednesday in Abuja.
The minister called on the NDE to expand its skills acquisition programmes in order to reduce the nation’s unemployment index.
According to him, NDE is a multipurpose vehicle whose mandate is anchored on creating varying programmes to ginger creativity, skills acquisition and self-reliance.
“The whole essence is to create a sustainable mechanism for job creation through skills development paradigm capable of producing a self-dependent generation of Nigerians.
“That is who will not only empower themselves but also transfer the skills and replicate jobs,” he said.
He, however, noted that paucity of funds has hampered such an ideal.
He added that NDE as of today is not well funded. If it were to be rich, its mandate centring on training and equipping of trainees, empowering them with loans to set up their own businesses like carpentry, tailoring, metal fabrication and welding, computer-based technology, mechatronics among others would be easy.
“But that’s not to say the NDE is not doing its best within the limit of available resources,’’ the minister said.
He, however, said it was impossible for the government alone to be charged with job creation as the private sector either alone or in liaison with the government has a huge role to play.
He noted that the public sector which the government controls was not expected to give more than 20 per cent of jobs in a well-structured economy.
Ngige further said that part of the mandate of the NDE included the comprehensive national data on unemployment.
He, therefore, called on the NDE to work in alliance with the National Identity Card Commission, who was currently creating a Single Data Base for the entire country.
Earlier, Dr Nasiru Ladan, NDE Director, said that his focus was to streamline the operations of the agency for easy actualisation of its objectives.
He decried the high rate of non-compliance among the beneficiaries of its loan scheme programme, but promised that the agency would continue to encourage women cooperative societies across the nation. (NAN)
-
NiMet predicts cloudy, rains, thunderstorms on Thursday
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted cloudy morning over the central states of the country on Thursday with prospects of early morning rain showers over Abuja, Lafia, Lokoja and Makurdi axis.
NiMet’s Weather Outlook by its Central Forecast Office in Abuja on Wednesday also predicted day and night temperatures in the range of 24 to 33 and 20 to 24 degrees Celsius, respectively.
It added that localised thunderstorms were expected to prevail over Abuja, Lokoja, Lafia, Makurdi, Yola, Gombe, Bauchi, Mambilla Plateau, Kaduna, Jos and Zaria axis during the afternoon and evening period.
The agency predicted southern states would experience moderate morning rains with cloudy skies over the southwest inland with day and night temperatures of 29 to 31 and 19 to 23 degrees Celsius, respectively.
It also predicted prospects of thunderstorms over Enugu, Owerri, Awka, Abakaliki, Umuahia, Akure, Ibadan, Oshogbo, Ado-Ekiti, Shaki, and Iseyin axis with moderate rains over Calabar, Eket, Uyo, Port-Harcourt and their environs in the afternoon and evening hours.
According to NiMet, Northern states will experience cloudy skies over the north western axis with prospects of thunderstorms over the northeast axis in the morning hours.
“Localised thunderstorm are expected over the entire region in the afternoon and evening hours with day and night temperatures in the ranges of 30 to 34 and 21 to 24 degrees Celsius, respectively.
“Cloudy skies with prospects of thunderstorms and rains are anticipated over some parts of the country in the next 24 hours,” NiMet predicts. (NAN)
-
2019: Our sensitive, non-sensitive materials, procedures are secured – INEC
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured Nigerians that its sensitive and non-sensitive materials, processes and procedures were secured, as the country prepares for 2019 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu gave the assurance on Wednesday in Abuja at the commission’s quarterly consultative meeting with Chairmen and other officials of registered political parties
Yakubu assured that the commission had introduced new innovation through the use of technology and electoral process, has gone ”far ahead mischief makers”.
He said that the commission was aware that as Nigeria approaches the 2019 general elections, there would be a lot of interest in INEC activities for virtuous and malicious reasons.
NAN reports that INEC’s assurance is coming barely three days after an image of a blank Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) was advertised by an offshore Company for purchase in the open market.
Yakubu said that within a few hours, INEC contacted the online platform responsible for the advert which promptly removed it.
“We suspect that many dubious enterprises will keep trying openly and in the dark web.
“We have anticipated these challenges and we are far ahead of the mischief makers.
“Our security source codes are not only robust but continuously enhanced. We wish to reassure Nigerians that our sensitive and non-sensitive materials, processes and procedures are secure.’’
Yakubu also assured that the commission’s electoral process had gone beyond what could be manipulated by anybody including officers of the commission.
He urged Nigerians to stop seeing INEC as a political party or its officials as rival candidates.
“We are not a political party. We have no candidate in any election. We shall continue to maintain our integrity as election managers.
“ I wish to assure you that our electoral processes have gone beyond the capacity of our own officials to manipulate. The procedures are robust.’’
The INEC chairman said the claim that the PVCs were cloned and Smart Card Readers pre-loaded before election was “simply ludicrous.’’
He said that the card readers were only configured to specific polling units 72 hours or less before an election.
“Card reader is usually set to operate only on election day from 8am and is manually shut down for accreditation after the last person on the queue has voted or automatically by 8pm.
“In Ekiti State, where we are deploying the enhanced Smart Card Readers, this process has not even commenced.
“It is impossible to pre-load the Card Readers, let alone do so with cloned PVCs.
“In any case, electoral officials at polling units on election day cross check the voter’s name on the Register of Voters which includes the voter’s photograph.
“The voter must be personally present in order to vote. It cannot be done by proxy or prior to election day.
“Is the Voters’ Register, already given to each of the 35 political parties fielding candidates in the Ekiti Governorship election, also cloned?
“Is the bearer of the cloned card also going to have a cloned face to match the original photograph on the register printed from our database?’’
He appealed to Nigerians to discountenance the unimaginative theory which is similar to the allegation of “scientific rigging” before a previous stand-alone Governorship election.
Yakubu also said denied the accusation that excess result sheets were being printed in order to alter results during collation.
He said that with lessons learnt from every election and the reports, the commission had been introducing new innovations to further protect the integrity of the processes.
He said that after each election the commission had consistently issued copies of the result sheets to agents of political parties, while copy of the result was also being displayed at each polling unit.
“Having found this a useful way of enhancing citizens’ mandate protection we now introduce the EC60E which is a large poster reflecting the result in each polling unit as recorded on the EC8A shared with agents of political parties.
“The poster is pasted at each polling unit immediately after the counting of ballot papers.
“Consequently, citizens now know the outcome of voting in each polling unit and can track the processes of collation leading to the final declaration of results.
“These posters were effectively deployed in all elections since the Anambra State Governorship election in November 2017. We shall deploy them in all forthcoming elections.’’
On Ekiti governorship election Scheduled for July 14, Yakubu said that INEC had successfully implemented 12 out of the 14 activities outlined in the timetable and schedule of activities for the election released in October 2017.
He said that only outstanding activities were last day of campaign and election day scheduled for July 12 and 14 respectively.
“We shall continue to implement all activities on schedule according to our timetable.’’
Yakubu also disclosed that INEC had concluded work on the annual audit of the accounts of political parties for 2013, 2014 and 2015.
He listed the areas of focus to include internal audit, internal control procedures, preparation of annual budgets and the maintenance of relevant books of account, fixed asset and membership register.
“At this meeting, we shall share the findings of the external auditors with you.’’
Yakubu also disclosed that as at July 3, INEC was processing 136 application from associations seeking registration as political parties.
He said that out of the figure, 74 have failed the initial assessment of the suitability of their names and logos while 62 had passed the initial assessment.
“Nine associations have undergone verification of their offices and proposed leadership while 16 are either awaiting verification or yet to supply supporting documents.
“We shall continue to operate within the ambit of the law in the registration of political parties.
Yakubu also speaking on the Continuous Voter Registration said as at June 22, the commission had 9,922,619 fresh registration, 576,346 collected PVCs, 489,354 requests for transfer and 766,435 requests for replacement of PVCsameen.(NAN)
-
WAEC releases results of 2018 WASSCE
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), said on Wednesday, that only 49. 98 per cent of the candidates, who wrote its 2018 school certificate examination, obtained credit passes and above.
The council’s Head of National Office (HNO), Mr Olu Adenipekun, said the credit passes included English Language and Mathematics.
Adenipekun gave this information at a news conference to announce the 2018 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Lagos.
According to him, the performance of candidates for its examinations in the last three years is fluctuating in view of the outcome of the just released 2018 examination.
The HNO, who gave a breakdown of the statistics of performance of candidates in the examination, said that a total of 1,578,846 registered for the examination in Nigeria.
According to him, out of the number, 1,572,396 of them sit for the examination.
Adenipekun said a total of 786,016 candidates, representing 49.98 per cent who sat for the examination, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects including English Language and Mathematics.
He said the performance, when compared to what was obtained in the same examination in 2016 and 2017, showed a decline.
“If we should compare the performance of candidates for this year’s examination under this category with that of 2016, which was 52.97 and in 2017; 59.22, we are safe to say it is fluctuating, just as it is declining.
“These statistics are clear for you to see and make your judgment,” he said
Adenipekun added that of the total number of candidates, who wrote the examination, 1,470,338 of them had their results fully processed and released.
He noted that a total of 102,058 other candidates had a few of their subjects still being processed, due to errors traceable to the candidates in the course of registration or while writing the examination.
The HNO assured that such errors were being corrected by the council to enable the affected candidates get their results fully processed and released subsequently.
He also said that a total of 1,213,244 candidates obtained credits and above in a minimum of any five subjects, with or without English Language and or Mathematics.
The WAEC official added that 858,424 other candidates obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language but without Mathematics.
Further, Adenipekun acknowledged that there were cases of malpractice but it was minimal.
“For cases that are established as in other previous examinations, the council is already looking at them,” he said.
He added that this year’s examination witnessed the participation of a total of 1,328 candidates with varying degrees of special needs.
According to him, out of the number, 251 candidates are visually challenged, 783 with impaired hearing; 123 others have low vision while 88 others are spastic cum mentally challenged.
He added that 83 of them were physically challenged.
The HNO said that the candidates, who have fulfilled their financial obligations to the council were free to check the details if their performance on the council’s result website. (NAN)
-
Kogi State Govt. to establish 12 cottage industries in 9 LGAs
Kogi State Government has concluded plans to establish 12 cottage industries in nine local government areas to boost the economy of rural communities, an official has disclosed.
Mr Edward Onoja, the Chief of Staff to Gov. Yahaya Bello, made the disclosure while inaugurating four community projects executed by ActionAid Nigeria on Wednesday at Ofuloko, Igalamela-Odolu council area of the state.
He said the cottage industries were expected to commence operations in January 2019, adding that the cottage industries include oil palm, cassava, grains processing and block molding.
The chief of staff said 500 kilometre rural roads would be constructed to assist farmers in evacuating their farm produce.
He said that the road project being sponsored by the World Bank in partnership with the state government would be executed under the state Rural Access Maintenance Project (RAMP).
Onoja said the state government would promptly pay its counterpart contribution for the project to ensure the immediate take-off of the road project aimed at transporting crops to processing centres and markets.
However, Onoja inaugurated two Rice and Maize milling factory, Garri processing and a hand pump borehole at Okpakpata.
He also inaugurated rice, cassava and maize milling machines at Ofuloko in Igalamela-Odolu council area which he described as “laudable interventionproject”.
ActionAid Nigeria country Director, Mrs Ene Obi, represented by Mr Ipoade Imolaju, Programme Manager, Humanitarian Resilience, said the essence of the projects was to enhance the living standard of women and youths.
Obi said there was need for the youth to be gainfully engaged to minimise radicalism and extremism.
In his remarks, Mr Zekeri Usman, Youth Leader of Okpeji/Okpakpata community said the intervention of ActionAid and PIBCID had added a “great value to the economic standard of our people.”
Mr Aminu Faruna, Youth President, Ofuloko community, commended the ActionAid for the support to eradicate poverty in the community.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Kehinde Oloruntoba inaugurated five similar projects supported by ActionAid Nigeria in Aku, Osara-Gada and Pears, all in Adavi Local Government Area.
Mrs Gift Owonipa, Exexutive Director, Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development (PIBCID) said the nine projects in Igalamela-Odolu and Adavi local government areas gulped N36 million. (NAN)
-
Zenith Bank donates 10 security vehicles to Adamawa Govt
The Zenith Bank plc in Yola on Wednesday donated 10 security Toyota hilux vehicles to the Adamawa Government.
Alhaji Hassan Abdulsalam, Branch Manager of the bank in Yola, while presenting the vehicles to Gov. Mohammed Bindow, said that the gesture was to boost security patrol in Yola.
Abdulsalam also said that the donation was to enhance the fight against crime especially as the 2019 general elections were drawing closer.
He also said that the gesture was in fulfillment of the corporate social responsibility of the bank in the state.
He said that the bank was developing skills acquisition centres for youths in three local government areas in the state.
The manager named the local government areas as Mubi, Demsa and Mayo Belwa.
Bindow thanked the bank for its support for the fight against crime in the state.
He said that the security of lives and property was one of the paramount responsibilities of the State Government.
He said that the donation would go along way in boosting logistics for the security agencies in the state.
The governor called on other corporate organisations in the state to emulate the bank.
NAN reports that the 10 new vehicles which carry the bank’s logo, were also provided with siren each. (NAN)
-
Head of Service visits Malaysia – Photo News
Head of the Federal Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, being received by the Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia, Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, during a visit to his office.
Head of the Federal Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita (m), Nigerian High Commissioner to Malaysia, H. E. Nurudeen Mohammed (l), and the Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia, Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, during a visit to his office.
Head of the Federal Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, and the Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia, Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, discussing during the visit to his office