Governor Nasir Ahmed el-Rufai of Kaduna State has approved the reinstatement of 1,288 public primary school teachers sacked in June 2022 after the conduct of competency test. Public Relation Officer in the State Universal Basic Education Board, Hajiya Hauwa Mohammed, dropped the news yesterday, April 5, in a statement in Kaduna. Hauwa said that 1,266 were affected by the competency test, while 22 others were removed from the government payroll for alleged unproven claims. The board had in June 2022 sacked 2,357 primary school teachers over competency test. The board had explained that of the figure, 2,192 teachers were dismissed for their failure to sit for the test, while 165 teachers were sacked for poor performance. Some of the affected teachers, however, complained that they wrote the examination and passed, but were still sacked, while others claimed to be sick at the time of the test and provided proof. Some of the affected workers claimed to have been kidnapped at the time; while some claimed to be on suspension due to verification of their certificates, while others claimed to be central administration staff, and as such, exempted from writing the test. “Having examined and verified their complaints, the state government approved the reinstatement of 392 teachers, who wrote and passed the test, and 515 central administration staff that were officially exempted from the test. “Others are: 298 teachers, who were verified to be sick at the time of the test, as well as 61 teachers that were kidnapped or involved in accidents verified by their respective Education Secretaries. “Also, 22 teachers, who were permanently removed from the payroll for unsubstantiated claims were equally reinstated, amounting to a total of 1,288 reinstated workers. The spokesperson therefore advised all affected teachers to collect their reinstatement letters from their respective Education Secretaries immediately. Source: NAN.
The Federal Government is preparing fully for the 2023 national census with the approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) of two contracts worth N15.3 billion for the supply an installation of information and communication technology (ICT) components and digital assistance devices.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said yesterday, April 5, after the Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the total cost of the ICT components is N15.3 Billion.
”Among those memos that were okayed today was the award of the contract for the supply and installation of information and communication technology (ICT) components for the 2023 population census.
”This is for the National Population Commission (NPC). It is meant for census. The ICT component contract was awarded for about N10.9 billion.
“Another contract that was approved for the National Population Commission was the contract for the development and implementation of mobile device management solution for the personal digital assistance devices to be used for the 2023 population census.
Garba Shehu said that the council also approved contract for the development of external cost of infrastructure at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) new training academy at N3.3 billion.
He said that N1billion was equally approved for the contract for the procurement of 19 vehicles for the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
The presidential aide said the council approved N65 million for variation in the cost for the supply of airport fire crash tenders in the Ministry of Aviation.
He further disclosed that the council approved a policy on HIV/AIDS to protect people living with the disease and new regulations on the woodworking ecosystem.
“Government has revised regulations pertaining to woodworking machinery and the entire ecosystem which dated back to 1959.
”New regulations have been put in place as empowered by the law.
“And by this approval, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice will domicile and gazette these changes that have been approved.
“His other approval is on policy on HIV/AIDS. Basically, this is to guarantee personal human rights over people with HIV in workplaces so that they are not discriminated against and they are given equal rights.
”They are not discriminated against and they are given all that is due to them. And they are respected, especially with regards to their personal and human rights,” he said.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola also disclosed the council approved the construction of 283.4km roads to BUA Cement company under the Federal Government’s tax credit scheme at the cost of N328 billion.
According to him, the contracts covering four different roads in Kwara is covered by Executive Order 7 which promotes investments in public infrastructure, especially roads.
Fashola explained that the contract also covered a distance of about 283.938km.
He revealed that the council also approved digitization of the ministry’s operation at the cost of N916million and would be implemented in 12 months.
Other memoranda approved by the council for the ministry, according to him, included the augmentation of 48 kilometers Kaduna Eastern bypass contracts connecting Kaduna to about 11 states in the country, from N38bilion to N78.6billion
He stated that about 24 kilometers of the road had been completed
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite also addressed the correspondents on the outcome of the meeting.
He disclosed that FEC approved a new bill known as Nigeria Mining and Mineral Act, 2023, to replace the Nigerian mining law and update the law.
The new bill captures the value chain in the mining sector, encourages value addition, as well as, recognises the artisanal miners, who will now be registered, under the proposed law.
He disclosed that FEC approved the bill for onward transmission to the National Assembly by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, revealed that the Federal Government had secured a World Bank facility worth $800 million dollars.
It will be used to attend to a segment of post-petroleum subsidy palliatives requirements in the country.
According to her, the 800 million dollars is the first tranche of palliatives to be disbursed through cash transfers to about 50 million Nigerians, who belong to the most vulnerable category of society.
She said: “When we were working on the 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the Appropriation Act, we made that provision to enable us to exit fuel subsidy by June 2023.
”We’re on course, we’re having different stakeholders’ engagements, and we’ve secured some funding from the World Bank.
“That is the first tranche of palliatives that will enable us to give cash transfers to the most vulnerable in our society that have now been registered in a national social register.
“Today that register has a list of 10 million households. 10 million households is equivalent to about 50 million Nigerians.”
Ahmed added that the government was ready to go beyond cash transfer to cushion the effect the subsidy removal will have on Nigerians.
She added: “We also have to raise more resources to enable us to do more than just the cash transfers and also in our engagements with the various stakeholders.
“There are various kinds of tasks that we have to go beyond the requirement of just giving cash transfers. Labour, for example, might be looking for mass transit for its members.
“So, there are several things that we’re still planning and working on, some we can start executing quickly, some are more medium-term implementation.”
On how much funding was received from the World Bank for the execution of the planned exit, Ahmed said: “$800 million for the scale-up of the National Social Investment Programme at the bank and it’s secured, it’s ready for this disbursement.
An elder statesman and Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has announced a $1,000 reward for anyone who can expose the author (s) of fake news recently credited to him.
Professor Soyinka said, at an Arise TV programme today, April 5, that such fake news is capable of stoking violence and endangering the nation’s democracy.
The noble laureate condemned false news attributed to him by some media platforms, saying: “I also want to use this opportunity, if you don’t mind, to warn your audience: Please beware of fake news. A lot of damage is being done by the propagation of fake news.
“Even, as recently as a few days ago. Some verbiage, some garbage, some nauseating news, which you’ve seen many times before have resurrected and attributed to Wole Soyinka. It makes me sick. I do not see why that could not be solved.
“In fact, I think it has reached a stage I’m going to go further. I want to use this opportunity now to announce a reward. I’m not a rich man, but I’m going to announce a reward.
“I look at my account and can afford a thousand dollars to anyone who can finger successfully the author of some of the tracts that are attributed to me over the past six months.
“We have repudiated again and again. Other people (would) come out to say Wole Soyinka never said this. There are some who want to believe it and there are those who have some tractions.
“So, permit me to use you as my advertising board to place a thousand dollars on those (peddling fake news about me).
“I will even go further to raise additional funds for anyone who can please relieve us of false attribution of fake news.”
File photo: Wole Soyinka | PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/Getty Images)
The Noble Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has said that he had long told Atiku Abubakar and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quit politics and leave the stage for the young ones to steer the wheel of the country.
Professor Soyinka, who featured in an Arise TV programme today, April 5, said that at different times, he asked the duo not to run for presidency again.
“I told Atiku when he was contesting and came to see me in my Ikeja office few years ago; he came with Gbenga Daniel, my former governor (of Ogun state).
“I said to him, ‘Listen, it’s about time you people left the stage, why don’t you just go away. We need an infusion of fresh blood into the system’.
“But for some people, maybe they read it as bloodletting. No, I said infusion of fresh blood. I said so I cannot support you. I think your generation should quit.
“But he wasn’t the only one. I then sought out the current President-elect, Tinubu and I gave him exactly the same message.
“I said, ‘Whatever you people are planning, I’m convinced that we need the young generation, new thinking, new sensibilities, new energies’.
“So, why don’t you just leave the stage, let’s look for somebody, a really brilliant individual then use your entire influence to catapult that person to power, and this country will see a massive transformation.
“We spoke for about an hour and a half, and then Bola Tinubu said, ‘No’. He said there were still things he felt he could still contribute.”
Outgoing British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Wendy Laing, has confessed that she enjoyed herself in the country and is sad that she’s leaving.
She said that she was particularly fascinated by Nigeria’s music, dance, culture, and that she had “a fabulous time here.”
She spoke today, April 5 during a farewell visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential villa, Abuja, after four-and-a half years tour of duty.
“I’m sad to be leaving. Nigeria is so much fun, I had a fabulous time here, and I’ll be back. I love the dance, the music, the culture. It’s been good to experience Nigeria. I have been to over 20 States, and I have told my successor to also do the same. I will be back, and still travel wider.”
She congratulated President Buhari for very successful eight years in office, saying that he had done very well to hold the country together.
This was even as President Buhari said that the United Kingdom is second home for many Nigerians, and that the relationship between the two countries will continue to wax strong.
“In fact, some wealthy Nigerians don’t feel complete till they have had a home in the UK,” he added.
President Buhari said that he looked forward to retirement and move to Daura, Katsina State, after handing over on May 29.
“I will be as far away from Abuja as possible.”
He lauded UK for cooperation on many fronts, particularly in the rebuilding of the North East, hitherto ravaged by insurgency.
Former Nigeria’s President, Olusegun Obasanjo has written a letter again, this time to the British authorities to temper justice with mercy in handing down sentence to the former Deputy Senate President, Dr. Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Nwanneka Beatrice, in their Organ Harvesting Case in London.
In a two-page letter written and signed by Obasanjo himself and addressed to The Chief Clerk, Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, London, he appealed to the Chief Clerk of the London court to take into consideration the age-long cordial relationship between the United Kingdom (UK) and Federal Republic of Nigeria to appeal to the court and government of UK to let the sentencing of the accused consider their good character and parental instincts and care be taken into consideration.
Obasanjo who described the crime ascribed to the Ekweremadu’s as unpleasant and condemnable and should not be tolerated in civilized society however pleaded that Ekweremadu and wife who have used their Ikeoha Foundation to do many charitable works for the benefits of society and his conferment with the coveted honour of the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) are testament to his service to Nigeria.
The former President said that Mr. and Mrs. Ekweremadu have learnt their lessons and pleaded that their sentencing be reduced so that they can still in future contribute to the development of society and country.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has announced that the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kano Expressways will be completed by April 30 this year.
Fashola spoke today, April 5, at the pre-inspection of the completed Loko-oweto Bridge in Nasarawa State.
“I want to appeal to commuters on that road for continuous patience and understanding: it is a difficult project to execute because it is perhaps one of the busiest roads in the country.
“Building through 40,000 vehicular traffic daily is not an easy undertaking. We cannot shut down the road. So, we have to manage and divert traffic for the safety of those involved in the construction.
“So, I want to implore that forbearance continues because the deadline date we have for completion now is the April 30 this month.
“In about four weeks, 26 days, plus or minus, that road should also be fully completed, open to traffic from Lagos to Ibadan, and beyond the toll gate up to kilometre 116.
According to him, what will be left is 9 kilometres from kilometres 17 to 27.
Fashola said the reason why that would be left is because Oyo State Government is constructing a drainage across the road, adding that the drainage was necessary to help address the issue of excessive flooding and climate change in the state.
“We believe that it is better to wait for them to finish that project, and then complete the remaining nine kilometres, instead of building it now and then having them cut it up again.”
Speaking about the Abuja-Kano expressway to be completed April 30 as well, Fashola said that it is the biggest of all the road projects in terms of scope and budget.
“Abuja-Kano is the biggest of the three projects in terms of scope, in terms of size, in terms of budget; it is 375 kilometres.
”It encompasses 41 bridges of different sizes. It was the last to start, so it cannot finish at the same time. That is the honest truth.
“But we have made progress from Zaria to Kano, that is, 137 kilometres, and the contractors tell us that by May15 that site should be fully completed.
“Then, we have Kaduna to Zaria, which is about 70 something kilometres. That side of course, they say will be completed on the 30th of this month, fully open to traffic.”
Fashola, however, said Abuja-Kaduna road which is one of the projects embarked upon by the Buhari administration, would not be finished in the life of the administration
“The eye of the storm, the most difficult part and that is the busiest part, is the Kaduna to Abuja side. That has suffered all kinds of delays and it would not be finished in the life of this administration.
“It is the most trafficked side. It has almost 40,000 vehicles in the traffic every day. But those are not just the problems; the problems are that the right of way has been severely encroached on between FCT, Niger and Kaduna states.
“We are working with the governors to help relocate all the obstructions, otherwise, we cannot fully build it.
“Apart from that, the project is also delayed by the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project. We need that gas pipeline project as a major boost for our energy security.
The minister said that these were some of the challenges unseen to members of the public, adding that both the road and the pipeline were important hence they had to be taken in sequence and order.
“We lost almost a year and a half to security challenges or sometimes contractors had to move from that section completely – they could not work.
“Thankfully, we must acknowledge the work that has been done by the law enforcement agencies, especially the Chief of Defense Staff and his team.
“They have made the return to that site easier and possible for our contractors. So, those are no longer an existent problem now. It is just the manhours now to do the work.
The Federal Government has also finished the Loko-oweto Bridge in Nasarawa State and the Second Niger Bridge both to be inaugurated soon.
File of photo of Labour Party’s National Chairman and Mr Peter Obi
Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, has issued an order restraining the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure; National Secretary, Farouk Ibrahim and two others from parading themselves as national officers of the party.
Others stopped from parading themselves as national officers are the National Organising Secretary, Clement Ojukwu, and the Treasurer.
Justice Hamza Muazu issued the restraining order while ruling in ex-parte application argued by a James Onoja.
In an application, Onoja told the court how the restrained National officers allegedly forged several documents of the FCT High Court to carry out unlawful substitutions in the last general elections.
Among the documents were the receipts, seals, and affidavits of the court to carry out criminal activities.
The Senior Counsel also tendered several documents, confirming to the Judge that the Chief Registrar of the Court wrote the Labour Party to disown several documents used for the alleged criminal activities by Abure and three others.
Onoja said that following their indictment by police investigation, the four people are to be arraigned in court, and that warrants for their arrest have already been obtained.
In a brief ruling, Justice Muazu held that the application and the supporting affidavits are a good case for the request to be granted.
The judge subsequently ordered that the four people should immediately stop parading themselves as National Officers of Labour Party.
The Federal Government has declared Friday, April 7 and Monday 10 public holidays for the 2023 Easter celebrations.
A statement today, April 5, by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, Dr. Shuaib Belgore said that the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government.
He said that Aregbesola advised Christian faithful to emulate the virtues of sacrifice, togetherness, forgiveness, kindness, love, peace and patience, which were attributes and practices of Jesus Christ as exemplified by His ministry on earth.
He also called on Nigerians to use the occasion to pray for an end to the security challenges in some parts of the country, adding that security was everybody’s business.
He enjoined them to love their neighbours through acts of kindness and generosity of spirit, with the well to do sharing their substance with the less privileged around them.
He urged Nigerians and foreigners resident in the country to display high sense of citizenship and public spiritedness by supporting the efforts of the security agencies.
This, the Minister said, is with a view to ensure peace and security of lives and property of Nigerians.
Aregbesola said that the Federal Government is doing all that is necessary to ensuring a peaceful transition of government following the peaceful conduct of the 2023 general election.
“The nation is persistently on the part to greatness and I urge all Nigerians to positively deploy their creative energy to the full realisation of the coming prosperity, as there is surely light at the end of the tunnel.”
The Minister wished all Christian faithful a most blissful celebration and all Nigerians a happy holiday.
Student cultists in the University of Benin, Edo State, have killed one of them, whose name was given as Desmond Obukobo, aka Mayor.
Report said that late Mayor, who was also the chief of the Kegites Club in the university was a member of Maphites secret cult group.
He was said to have been killed by members of the Black Axe, popularly called Aye.
Confirming the report, the
Spokesman of Edo State Police Command, Chidi Nwabuzor said: “The DPO Ugbowo reported that he got a phone call from the CSO of the university about the incident and when he got there, a room in Hall 3, he saw the lifeless body and some items like voter’s card, school ID card and other items were found with him.
“Preliminary investigation showed that the victim was a member of Maphites while the killers are members of Black Axe Aye. The DPO will transfer the case to the SCID to continue investigation.”
The university’s management has since condemned the killing.
A statement its spokesperson, Benedicta Ehnaire said the “gruesome shooting occurred in one of the Halls of Residence and was carried out by a yet-to-be-identified gunman.”
The university authority enjoined other students to be calm as the police and other security agencies work hard to arrest the culprit.
“Management is also working closely with the internal security units in ensuring that such a dastardly incident does not occur again within the University’s premises.”
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
