74 Political Parties Remain De-Registered Until Court Decides Otherwise – INEC

March 19, 2021

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the 74 political parties earlier de-registered remain banned from taking part in any election until the Supreme Court decides otherwise.

The commission stressed that whatever the judgment will be, it will abide by it, adding that for now, it will continue to recognize only 18 political parties on its record.

The commission had appealed at the Supreme Court relating to the powers of the Commission to deregister political party in accordance with Section 225(A) of the constitution.

In a statement in Abuja today, March 19, the INEC Commissioner for Voter Education, Festus Okoye, said that the various letters of complaint emanating from the affected parties whose candidates have signified intention to contest the Anambra State governorship election, are not necessary.

According to him, the deregistered parties, which hinged their request to nominate candidates on the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on June 11, 2020 cannot make the commission to jump the gun.

Okoye insisted that the commission will continue to recognize and deal with only the 18 registered political parties pending the final resolution and determination of the various appeals filed by the parties.

Facebook Announces Breakdown Of Its Social Networks

Editorial staff

March 19, 2021

Facebook has announced the breakdown of its social network, including Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.

The company however, did not immediately say what caused the service disruption or how many users were affected, in a statement today, March 19.

The problems began around 1:30 pm Eastern.

“There are a number of issues currently affecting Facebook products, including gaming streams,” the company’s Facebook Gaming Twitter account tweeted.

“Multiple teams are working on it, and we’ll update you when we can.”

Users who visited the web version of Instagram were greeted with a notice that said “5xx Server Error.”

Details later…

Azman Airline Kicks, As Suspension Slammed It By Civil Aviation Authority Bites Harder

Editorial staff

March 18, 2021

Azman Airline has cried out for help as the suspension slammed on it by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is affecting its businesses badly.

In the wake of NCAA’s hammer, Azman announced the cancellation of all its flights between Tuesday, March 16, and Friday, March 19. The development left many passengers who purchased the airline’s tickets stranded.

Azman, has earlier on Tuesday, took to its Twitter page, saying it was suspending its operations due to a safety audit by the NCAA.

A top official of Azman told news men that flying an average of 2,000 passengers and generating over ₦80,000,000 revenue daily in revenue make the management of the airline to ensure the safety of passengers, the aircraft and the operators.

“In fact, we keep up with the maintenance and certification in ensuring the aircraft are worthy of flying.

“Considering our contributions to Nigeria’s economy and our enviable safety record which has been commended by the industry players with over 1,000 staff on the airline’s payroll, we appeal to the authority to review this suspension.”

The Director-General of the NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu, had on Monday, last week, announced the suspension of the Airline, saying that the decision followed a series of incidents involving the airline’s Boeing 737 aircraft and in pursuant to Section 35 (2) of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006, and Part 1.3.3.3 (A) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) 2015.

“The suspension is to enable the authority to conduct an audit of the airline to determine the root causes of the incidents and recommend corrective actions to forestall reoccurrence.”

Arms Were Still Being Smuggled Into Nigeria Despite Closure Of Border – Buhari

Editorial staff

March 18, 2021

“We closed our land borders here for more than a year, but arms and ammunition continued to flow illegally.”

This was the complaint of President Muhammadu Buhari today, March 18, when he received in audience, the outgoing Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mohammed Ibn Chambas.

According to Buhari, the urge to possess arms and ammunition as well as to fight emanated from Libya, which he said had remain politically unstable after the death of its leader, Muammar Gadaffi.

“As far as Libya remains unstable, illegal arms and ammunition will continue to flow in the Sahel region of the African continent,” the President complained, explaining that Gadaffi held a grip on power in Libya for 42 years by recruiting armed guards from different countries, who then escaped with their arms when the Libyan strongman was killed.

“They didn’t learn any other skill, than to shoot and kill. So, they are a problem all over the Sahel countries today.”

President Buhari stressed that Nigeria has to cope with the problems of development, “as we can’t play hop, step and jump. But we will eventually overcome those problems.”

President Buhari described Chambas, who spent many years in Nigeria in different capacities, from ECOWAS to UN, as “more of a Nigerian than anything else.”

He wished him well in his future endeavours.

The outgoing Special Representative thanked the President for personal support he received from him, “and from Nigeria as a country,” adding that the country would continue to play a leadership role on the continent.

On terrorism and violent extremism in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin area, Chambas said that Nigeria is playing a yeoman’s role, particularly in giving support to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF)

Atiku Wants Federal Govt To Stop $1.5 Billion Renovation Of Port Harcourt Refinery

Editorial staff

March 18, 2021

Former Nigerian Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has raised eyebrow over the federal government’s plan to spend the sum of $1.5 Billion to renovate the Port Harcourt refinery.

“To therefore budget the sum of $1.5 billion to renovate or turn around the Port Harcourt Refinery would appear to be an unwise use of scarce funds at this critical juncture for a multiplicity of reasons.”

In a statement today, March 18, Atiku, who was defeated in the 2019 Presidential election as candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said that at this critical period, the government should be prudent with the use of whatever revenue the nation is able to generate, “and even if we must borrow, we must do so with the utmost responsibility and discipline.

“First of all, our refineries have been loss-making for multiple years, and indeed, it is questionable wisdom to throw good money after bad. At other times, I have counseled that the best course of action would be to privatise our refineries, so they can be run more effectively and efficiently.

“Moreover, the cost appears prohibitive. Too prohibitive, especially as Shell Petroleum Development Company last year sold its Martinez Refinery in California, USA, which is of a similar size as the Port Harcourt refinery for $1.2 billion. We must bear in mind that the Shell Martinez Refinery is more profitable than the Port Harcourt Refinery.

“Given this discrepancy, might we ask if there was a public tender before this cost was announced? Was due diligence performed? Because we are certainly not getting value for money. Not by a long stretch.

“We cannot as a nation expect to make economic progress if we continue to fund inefficiency, and we are going too deep into the debt trap for unnecessarily overpriced projects.

“Our national debt has grown from ₦12 trillion in 2015 to ₦32.9 trillion today. Surely that is shocking enough to cause us to be more prudent in the way we commit future generations into the bondage of bonds and debt.”

Atiku warned that Nigeria’s economy is in dire straits, which he said is a fact well-known both to the nation and international partners even as unemployment has just reached an all time high of 33 percent while inflation has hit another record high of 17 percent.

Abuja Picked As Pilot Point For National Emergency Medical Services

Editorial staff

March 18, 2021

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has been selected to serve as the pilot point for the implementation of the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System (NEMSAS).

Members of the working group, led by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, at a visit to the Federal Capital Territory Administration today, March 18, said that availability of an Emergency Medical and Ambulance service in the country could save up to 50 percent lives being lost due to the non-availability of such services.

Dr. Ehanire said that section 18 of the National Health Act empowers the Minister to engage the private sector to work with the public sector in any endeavor for the benefit of the country.

The Minister said that the Association of General Private Medical Practitioners and the Guild of Medical Directors were already engaged, as 60%-70% of medical services in the country were provided by the private sector.

He said that the ambulances that will participate in the scheme will be drawn from the private and public sectors which will be accredited and paid from a laid down mechanism that will guarantee payment for providers of such services.

This was even as the Chairman of the NEMSAS Emergency Treatment Committee, Dr. Felix Ogedegbe said that the FCT has been selected as the pilot for the programme due to the availability of an extremely competent leadership, pre-hospital and in-hospital emergency services and an adequate monitoring and evaluation environment.

“We feel that the FCT has a very healthy environment to be able to pilot the scheme with a strong and competent leadership here that we can speak to, that we can actually work with, leadership in the political space and leadership in the medical space.

“There is potentially available pre- hospital and in-hospital medical services that will be able to afford care to all the disease ranges that we can find. There is a well laid down structure in the FCT and we think this is the best place to start.”

In his response, the Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Olusade Adesola who received the visiting health team on behalf of the FCT Minister, said that it is an honour to the FCT to be selected to serve as the pilot point for such an important national health programme.

He said that there is the availability of good road network, functional communication systems and good urban facilities that can support the scheme.

“On our part, we are ready. We will be willing to partner with the technical team so that we can take this service to the next level. We want to see it deployed early enough so that residents of the FCT, our unity city, will know that indeed, there is a government that cares for them.”

Nigeria Requires $2.3 trillion To Bridge Gap In Infrastructural Deficit – Osinbajo

Editorial staff

March 18, 2021

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that Nigeria will require at least $2.3 trillion over the next 30 years to bridge the gap in the infrastructural deficit.

According to him, the only way to effectively address the massive infrastructural deficit that the country is facing is therefore, by Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement in one form or the other.

Professor Osinbajo, who spoke today, March 18, at the opening of a 2-day retreat for the National Council on Privatization (NCP) in Abuja, to deliberate on the proposed amendment of the Public Enterprises (Privatization & Commercialization) Act 1999, said: “Nigeria will require at least $2.3 trillion over the next 30 years to bridge this gap.”
The vice President, who referred to statistics from Nigerian Integrated Infrastructure Masterplan (NIIMP) and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020, said that the review of budgetary allocation for capital expenditure even over the past decade will show that government resources are completely insufficient for this purpose.
According to him, government can take either commercial or concessionary loans for infrastructure development, which he said, is an additional burden on a usually considerably leveraged balance sheet.
“There is a large pool of investable funds from both local and international investors for the development and maintenance of infrastructure. But these are only accessible where there is a business case to be made for developing public infrastructure.
“So, for both institutional and individual investors, there is far more comfort with lending or with equity participation where a private sector entity partners with a public authority owner of the infrastructure. This way the public partner can play its natural role of a regulator (regulation and policy), leaving business to the private sector whose reason for being is business. So, for investors, PPP presents the best of both worlds.”

Prof. Osinbajo advised the participants drawn from the private and public sectors at the retreat to remain focused on the objectives of the meeting, adding that developing a framework that will be attractive to investors should be topmost in their deliberations.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Director-General of BPE, Alex Okoh said that the current economic environment requires government to adopt innovative ways of attracting resources for infrastructure development.
He said that an amendment of the BPE Act will among other things, expand private sector participation in the Nigerian economy as well as attract more foreign capital to different sectors of the economy.

I Can Resign, Go Away With My Bag The Way I Came – Gov Makinde Of Oyo

Editorial staff

March 17, 2021

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has made it clear that he is ready to resign his position and leave the government house with his bag the way he came in.

“As I stand before you, if I am being asked to leave the seat as the governor, I do not have a pin to go and pick in my office in the Secretariat. I go there with my bag and go back to my house with my bag.”

Governor Makinde, who spoke today, March 17, at the Pan Yoruba Congress held at Mapo Hall, Ibadan, asked: “what do they want to do to Seyi Makinde?”

He emphasized that he would exit the office if that is what the people want, saying that he is not bothered about the title.

According to the governor, that is the reason he had vowed to take decisions in the best interest of the state and Yorubaland, adding that his administration had a duty to ensure that lives and property are secured.

“By virtue of my office, I can see some certain things that you cannot easily see and I stand on my honour to say that I will take decisions in the best interest of my people”, he said.

He said that at the last security meeting, he created a War Room because, he said, the issue of security is beyond rhetoric.

The governor also set up a Task Force on Security, which he chairs.

Anybody Can Form Group To Fight For Biafra But Nnadi Kanu Remain The Leader – IPOB

Editorial staff

March 17, 2021

File photo: Members of IPOB during protest in Anambra

The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said that anybody, including he former Niger Delta militant leader, Asari Dokubo, can form a group to fight for the realization of Biafran Republic from Nigeria, but that Nnamdi Kanu remains the indefatigable leader of the struggle.

Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Mr. Powerful in a statement today, March 17, said: “IPOB and its indefatigable leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu have been in the forefront of this struggle for our freedom, and nobody can controvert that. Formation of any pro-Biafra group is no threat to IPOB. Rather, the coming on board of more pro-groups makes the burden of IPOB lighter.

“When Biafra comes eventually, the joy of the new nation will surpass whatever sacrifice made by any group.

“Biafra is for everybody not for one man, therefore IPOB is not against any group both old and newly formed group.”

“IPOB is not interested with the formation of Biafra agitating group. Anybody can form his and her own group but one thing is certain let them maintain stand to fight for Biafra freedom and independence. IPOB will support any group genuinely formed to fight for Biafra freedom.

“We have said it time without number that anybody can form any group it likes and use it to pursue the Biafra cause. We are not against any group genuinely fighting for Biafra restoration.

Source: Daily Sun.

Diplomatic Row Looms Between Russia And US; Russia Recalls Its Envoy From US

Editorial staff

March 17, 2021

Diplomatic row is looming as Russia, today, March 17, announced the recall of its Washington ambassador to Moscow for consultations on its ties with the United States, but stressed that it wanted to prevent an “irreversible deterioration” in relations.

The announcement from the Russian foreign ministry came after US President, Joe Biden said that Russia would “pay a price” for meddling in US elections and he agreed with the assessment that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is a “killer.

“The Russian ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov, has been invited to come to Moscow for consultations conducted with the aim of analyzing what should be done and where to go in the context of ties with the United States,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

Zakharova said the most important thing for Moscow was to determine how to mend Russian-US ties “that have essentially been driven by Washington into a dead end in recent years.”

She said Russia was interested in preventing the bilateral relations’ “irreversible deterioration if Americans understand the risks associated with it.”

The foreign ministry did not reference Biden’s remarks on Putin, but said Moscow wanted to analyze the results of Biden’s first 100 days in office.

Anatoly Antonov, Russian ambassador to the US, gestures while speaking during a round-table discussion in Moscow on the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki, July 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In an interview with ABC News broadcast today, President Biden was asked about a declassified US intelligence report that said Putin tried to harm his candidacy in the November 2020 election and promote that of his rival Donald Trump.

“He will pay a price,” the 78-year-old Biden said.

Asked if he thought Putin, who has been accused of poisoning political opponents, is a “killer,” Biden said: “I do.”

The statement marked a stark contrast with Trump’s steadfast refusal to say anything negative about the Russian president.

Also today, the US government announced that it would expand the export restrictions imposed on Russia earlier this month as punishment for the poisoning of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The new measures, effective Thursday, prevent export to Russia of more items controlled for national security reasons, including some technology, software and parts, the Commerce Department said.

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