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A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to pay N1 million in damages to a businessman, Emmanuel Yashim, for violating his property rights. Justice Peter Kekemeke granted the order in a suit filed by Mr Yashim seeking enforcement of his fundamental rights. In a suit marked CV/590/2022, the applicant prayed the court to compel the EFCC to pay him N10 million as damages for the breach of his rights for impounding his car in 2022. The applicant, through his counsel, Nwachukwu Ibegbu, further prayed the court to order the EFCC to release his Mercedes Benz GLC 300, which had been in its custody since November 22, 2022. The applicant prayed the court to declare that the continuous holding of the car without stating ...

Former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Candidate in the 2023 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is fast developing a reputation for distorting and manipulating facts for his self-serving objective of discrediting the current administration. In his latest press statement, the defeated PDP presidential candidate made wild claims on a number of issues that need to be corrected so that the public will not be misled into accepting fallacies as the truth. The President Bola Tinubu-led administration believes that every true and patriotic Nigerian, regardless of political differences, should work to promote the unity and economic well-being of the country and not delegitimise genuine efforts of the Federal Government to encourage local and foreign investments into th...

Piqued by the enormous losses incurred in terms of value of perishable goods, as well as, the dwindling economic activities, Cross River government says, it would build a symbiotic relationship with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) at the federal level. The governor, Prince Bassey Otu, made the disclosure when he received the Managing Director/CEO of the Agency, Mallam Abba Abubakar Aliyu and his team, at the Dan Archibong lodge temporary office of the governor, in Calabar. "Our prime motivation, inspiration, focus and direction in this government has been on two things, energy and food security. "You have touched the two areas very seriously when you said you can provide some mini grids for our agricultural cluster, it is very important because what our people are losing i...

Maj.-Gen. Richard Gyane, Commandant, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Accra, Ghana, has called for capacity building for women and youth to build their resilience to tackle terrorism. Gyane made this known at the opening ceremony of a Mobile Training course on Women, Youth, and Violent Extremism and Terrorism, organized by KAIPTC in collaboration with the Norwegian Government, on Monday in Abuja. Newsspecng reports that the training aims at building the capacities of women and youth in Nigeria to be more resilient against the threat of Violent Extremism and Terrorism (VET). He noted that heavy-handed tactics by security forces have sown distrust among and within local communities in some countries, making women and youth more vulnerable to exploitat...

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, on Monday May 6 call the bluff off the Rivers State House of Assembly members saying ' you do not exist' He said the lawmakers are existing based on his recognition predicated on the Peace Accord initiated by President Bola Tinubu. "It has gotten to a time when I have to make a statement that they are not existing. Their existence is me allowing them to exist. If I de-recognise them, they are nowhere," the governor said Governor Fubara stated this while addressing a delegation of political and traditional leaders from Bayelsa State who visited him at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital, to seek and end to the political crisis in Rivers State and an improved relationship between both states. Others on the delegation...

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has unbundled the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) with the establishment of the Nigerian Independent System Operator of Nigeria Limited (NISO). The company disclosed this in an order signed by its chairman, Sanusi Garba and Muslim Oseni, vice chairman, in Abuja on Saturday. According to the order, TCN will transfer all market and system operation functions to the newly formed NISO. The company said that this is in line with the provisions of the Electricity Act 2023, which provides clearer guidelines for the incorporation and licensing of the independent system operator (ISO). It said that previously, TCN held Transmission Service Provider (TSP) and System Operations (SO) licences issued by NERC. ”With the establis...

President Bola Tinubu has given the assurance that his administration will continue to put in place policies for the industrialization of the country. A statement by the presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said Mr Tinubu disclosed this when he received a delegation of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers and the Nigerian Automotive Manufacturers Association. The president, represented by his chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, met the members led by the minister of industry, trade and investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, on Friday in Abuja. He urged the delegation to ensure that locally manufactured vehicles are of the highest standard that would stand the test of time and complement the government’s efforts in revitalising the automotive industry. Mr Tinubu urged t...

Iziaq Salako, Minister of State for Environment, has called for effective climate journalism to address the country’s environmental challenges. At the 2024 World Press Freedom Day on Friday in Abuja, Mr Salako said there was a need to reaffirm the collective commitment to the principles of a free and independent press as a sine qua non for effective climate journalism. The theme of this year’s celebration is “A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the Face of the Environmental Crisis.’’ “Press freedom is indispensable to promoting transparency, accountability, and social justice. It is critical to communicate the threat posed by the climate crisis and make informed decisions to be more environmentally responsible. “You as journalists have a critical role to play in driving envi...

Regent Youmor, ex-president of the Ijaw community in Lagos, says Nigerian youths must listen to the voice of reason and end violence. Mr Youmor gave the charge in Lagos against the backdrop of the recent communal clash that led to the killing of at least 17 soldiers in Okuama in Delta. He also said elders and community leaders must do their best to control and properly guide youths within their communities to promote unity and peaceful co-existence. Mr Youmor said it was time for Nigerian youths to abandon all forms of insecurity, insurgency, and other crimes and vices and join hands to take their communities and Nigeria at large to the next level of development. Mr Youmor, also the chairman of the Bomadi community in Lagos, appealed to youths in Okuama and the environs to avo...

The federal government has mandated all chief medical directors and medical directors of federal tertiary hospitals to procure needles and syringes solely from NAFDAC-approved local manufacturers. The new directive was stated in a circular addressed to all medical directors signed by the Minister of State for Health, Tunji Alausa, on Friday. The minister said that the directive aimed to boost domestic production and shield the country’s manufacturing sector from the influx of foreign goods. The circular also mandated NAFDAC to stop issuing licences for importing foreign-manufactured needles and syringes. Alausa said the health sector had dented local pharmaceutical industries, which produce needles and syringes and were in serious trouble because of the practice. He also sa...

A 55-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly trafficking 120kg of cocaine disguised as frozen chicken products, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said on Friday. The man is alleged to have been involved in an attempt to move the drugs from Melbourne to Sydney in a van loaded with frozen chickens in 2022, the AFP said in a statement. On Friday, the man was set to be charged in a Brisbane court on one count of trafficking in commercial quantities of a controlled drug. The alleged offence attracts a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. AFP said that the man was one of two Queensland residents charged in 2022 with involvement with a money laundering syndicate responsible for laundering 4.5 million Australian dollars (three million U.S. dollars). At the time, he was char...

The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) during the inauguration of a 16-man caretaker committee in the FCT council. By Joan Nwagwu The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has inaugurated a 16-member caretaker committee to pilot its affairs in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Speaking at the inauguration ceremony on Friday in Abuja, Suleiman Abdulkadir, Acting General Secretary of the National union announced that “the caretaker committee earlier appointed by Alh. Najeem Yasin led faction, is illegal and dissolved”. “In view of the fact that nature abhors vacuum, a caretaker committee comprising of 16 members has been constituted,” he said Abdulkadir announced Ajibola Ashimolowo as the Chairman, Abdulkarim Shuaibu as Deputy Chairman, Saidu Musa ...

The Nigeria Police on Thursday announced the arrest of the alleged mastermind of the attack on the Abuja-Kaduna rail. Scores of passengers were killed while many were abducted in March 2022. The mastermind was identified as Ibrahim Abdullahi, also known by the ominous moniker of Mandi. Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who made this known in Kaduna on Thursday, also disclosed that the suspect had also participated in the abduction of students from Greenfield University in 2021. Adejobi also added that 48 AK-47 rifles were seized during Mandi’s arrest and efforts were underway to identify his sponsor and supplier of weapons. He said, “On 12th January 2024, police operatives attached to an anti-kidnapping unit of Kaduna State Criminal Investigation Depart...

Executive Director, Operations NSITF Modu Gana,Coordinator from the office of Secretary to the Government of Federation, Chioma Nzewi, MD/CE NSITF Maureen Allagoa, Rep of Special Adviser to the President on Delivery Coordination, Esege Ebei Esege, Executive Director, Administration NSITF and Executive Director, Finance and Investment, Adegoke Adedeji at Stepdown workshop at the Headquarters of the NSITF, Abuja By Joan Nwagwu Mrs Maureen Allagoa, the Managing Director, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund(NSITF) says the fund is committed to actualising President Bola Tinubu’s social investment agenda. Allagoa said at a workshop in Abuja on Thursday that NSITF remained committed to the realisation of the president’s agenda on health, education and agriculture. The theme of the w...

…For Any Meaningful Development, There Must Be Research The Honourable Minister of Defence, H.E. Mohammed Badaru Abubakar CON, mni, has charged the University of Abuja to partner with the Ministry of Defence through the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) in the local production of defence equipment. The Minister stated this when the Vice-Chancellor of University of Abuja, Professor Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah paid him a courtesy visit in Ship House, Abuja. The Minister noted that the University being a center for research, can partner favourably with DICON in the production of Military weapons; drones, guns and other hardwares we need in the country. The Minister opined that UNI- Abuja is a research driven University that offers various Engineering Courses and that i...

The House of Representatives has reassured the public that the long queues at filling stations across the country will soon fizzle out. Ikenga Ugochinyere, chairman of Petroleum Downstream, said this at a joint news conference in Abuja on Wednesday. “We hereby express our concerns over the temporary presence of fuel queues in petrol stations across the country. However, we are convinced that this is temporary based on our investigation, and in a couple of days, we shall get over it,” Mr Ugochinyere said. Flanked by Henry Okojie, the chairman of Petroleum Midstream, Mr Ugochinyere said investigations had revealed that the scarcity was artificial. “We have discovered that there is availability of petrol products. We have it on good authority that we have in our storage facilitie...

The Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, will host a Justice Reform Summit with the theme “Enhancing the Administration of Justice for Economic Growth, Investment Protection and Security in Lagos State” on May 27 and 28. Ms ShittaBey-Jeje said that Mr Sanwo-Olu would be the chief host at the summit billed for the Marriott Hotel, GRA Ikeja, Lagos. She said the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, would be the chairman, with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, serving as the special guest of honour. Ms ShittaBey-Jeje said the Lagos State government had become a pathfinder for justice reform following its various landmarks and innovative achievements over the years. She, however, noted that, being th...

By Joan Nwagwu The National Union of Market Traders Employers of Nigeria (NUMTEN) has pledged to end illegal price fixing and exploitation in Nigerian markets Mr James Chukwuma, NUMTEN President made the pledge while receiving the union’s Certificate of Registration from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), on Wednesday in Abuja. The NUMTEN is the newest affiliate of the NLC. Chukwuma said that the unstable market prices was worrisome to Nigerians and one of the objectives of the union is to ensure market reform. “We are going to work with the market traders, distributors, manufacturers and even government to ensure that prices are regulated,” he said He added that the union would protect traders from persistent exploitation and victimisation by unscrupulous elements hidin...