TheNewsGuru

Tag: Officials

  • Qatar 2022: Women referees to officiate for first time at men’s World Cup

    Qatar 2022: Women referees to officiate for first time at men’s World Cup

    Women referees have been selected to officiate at a men’s FIFA World Cup finals for the first time.

    Stephanie Frappart of France, Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan have been included on FIFA’s official list of 36 referees for the tournament in Qatar later this year.

    Three women are also on the list of 69 assistant referees published on Thursday, namely: Neuza Back from Brazil, Karen Diaz Medina from Mexico and Kathryn Nesbitt from the U.S.

    “This concludes a long process that began several years ago with the deployment of female referees at FIFA men’s junior and senior tournaments,” the chairman of FIFA’s referees’ committee Pierluigi Collina said.

    “In this way, we clearly emphasise that it is quality that counts for us and not gender. I will hope that in the future, the selection of elite women’s match officials for important men’s competitions will be perceived as something normal and no longer as sensational.

    “They deserve to be at the FIFA World Cup because they constantly perform at a really high level, and that’s the important factor for us.”

    Frappart has refereed in the men’s UEFA Champions League and the 2019 European Super Cup match between Liverpool and Chelsea.

    Discussions are understood to still be ongoing over the use of semi-automated offside technology at the finals.

    The technology was tested at the FIFA Club World Cup earlier this year and the Arab Cup last year.

    FIFA has named 24 video assistant referees (VARs) for the finals.

  • N73.7m FRAUD: 2 former Bauchi accounts officers jailed

    N73.7m FRAUD: 2 former Bauchi accounts officers jailed

    The Federal High Court in Bauchi State has convicted and sentenced two former accounts officials of the state’s government to prison for issuing fake revenue receipts to intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Hajj in 2019.

    The two convicts, Kawu Chindo, a former Chief Accountant of Bauchi State Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board and Ali Baba of the Office of the Accountant-General of the state.

    The duo were dragged before the court by Gombe Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The Bauchi State Ministry of Finance and Economic Development had alleged that both Chindo and Baba produced and issued fake revenue receipts to intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Hajj in 2019.

    Following a petition by the state government, EFCC investigated and arraigned the two before the court, accusing them of conspiring to appropriate to themselves public funds to the tune of N73.7million by diverting the said amount to personal accounts, thereby committing the offence of fraud.

    The prosecution further accused the convicts of diverting the money to their personal accounts with the intention of defrauding the state government and innocent people who paid the money rather than pay the sum into the accounts of the pilgrims welfare board.

    Delivering judgment in the case, Justice Abubakar found the defendants guilty of the charged filed against them by EFCC.

    He, therefore, sentenced Chindo to seven years imprisonment, while Baba was sentenced to three months imprisonment.

  • Two Ondo Govt officials arraigned for swapping, selling mentally challenged woman’s baby for N1m

    Two Ondo Govt officials arraigned for swapping, selling mentally challenged woman’s baby for N1m

    Two officials of the Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development have been charged with conspiracy and theft of a baby belonging to a mentally deranged woman.

    Sarumi Adeyemi and Orisamehin Florence Bosede were accused of stealing Deborah Iretioluwa Olorundare’s baby girl and exchanging same with an imbecile baby boy.

    They reportedly committed the offence on September 14, 2020.

    Deborah was said to have given birth to the baby on the street and was taken by good Samaritans to MM Catholic Hospital in Ondo town.

    Some Ondo State Government officials waded in and sent the mother to a psychiatric hospital while the baby was taken to an orphanage.

    Trouble began when a decision was taken that the baby should be taken to the mother who was undergoing treatment for the necessary bonding between mother and child but, intriguingly, officials of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development did not bring the baby.

    Deborah was said to have demanded to see her baby after she was discharged from the hospital, following which a baby boy was presented to her but she rejected it, insisting that she was delivered of a baby girl and not a boy.

    Resultant petitions from concerned individuals alleging the involvement of a child trafficking syndicate in the matter prompted the Department of State Services to launch an investigation into Deborah’s claim.

    The investigation, it was gathered, revealed that Deborah was delivered a female and not a male child presented to her by the defendants.

    It was further revealed that Deborah’s baby was given to one Mrs. Toyin Olabiwonninu who allegedly paid about one million naira to adopt her.

    A ministry official, Rosemary Ali, who was interrogated was said to have informed DSS operatives that she was actively involved in the adoption process and that she was certain that the baby was a female.

    Ali said she had to lie in her first statement at the State CID claiming that the baby was a male because her life was being threatened.

    It was also discovered that the errant government officials had asked Deborah and some of her family members to sign some documents claiming that they did not need the baby.

    However, efforts so far made to retrieve the baby from Olabiwonninu have been unsuccessful as she was said to have traveled out of the country with the baby and showing no sign of returning home any time soon.

    Hearing in the case is billed to commence before Justice A. A Fasanmi on November 11, 2021.

  • PDP convention underway in Abuja; leaders, delegates, members converge to elect new officials

    PDP convention underway in Abuja; leaders, delegates, members converge to elect new officials

    Members and delegates of the leading opposition party Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have converged at Eagles Square, Abuja to hold their national convention and elect new officials.

    The convention which is scheduled for today and tomorrow is a crucial part of the party’s preparation for the 2023 elections in the country.

    National party officials, governors, ex-governors, and other bigwigs of the party are currently at Eagle’s Square in preparation.

    According to our political correspondent, Seun Okinbaloye, who is at the venue of the convention most of the positions up for grabs will be filled via consensus.

    However, some three positions are still under contestation.

    Chairman of the organising committee of the convention, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri had earlier on Friday said efforts are on to reconcile most of the contestants.

    “At the moment we are making efforts to reconcile most of our contestants so that we can scrutinise them and have a better convention

    “We are expecting 3600 delegates tomorrow (today). Most of the positions, as of today, except for three will not be contested. We are still talking with those contesting,” Fintiri said on Friday.

     

  • BREAKING: Gunmen attack Oyo prison, set inmates free- Official

    BREAKING: Gunmen attack Oyo prison, set inmates free- Official

    Unknown gunmen on Friday night attacked the Abolongo Correctional Centre in Oyo Town, freeing unspecified number of inmates at the facility.

    Mr Olarewaju Anjorin, the Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Correctional Service, Oyo State Command, confirmed the attack to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Ibadan.

    Anjorin said that the attack happened around 9.50 p.m on Friday.

    The attackers were heavily armed and engaged the guards in a fierce gun battle before freeing some inmates.

    Anjorin said: “Yes, I can confirm to you that the place was attacked and some of the awaiting inmates were set free.

    “I am there right now with the Controller and some other senior officers doing assessment of the damage done to the facility.

    “Now, we cannot ascertain the numbers of the inmates freed or people that get injured, but definitely, I will be giving you an update later.”

     

    ….Details later

  • Biodun Stephen opens up on how EFCC officials allegedly broke into her hotel room

    Biodun Stephen opens up on how EFCC officials allegedly broke into her hotel room

    Filmmaker and actress, Biodun Stephen, has recounted how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) allegedly broke into her hotel room in the middle of the night.

    In an extensive Instagram post, the ‘Breaded Life’ director said the incident happened recently while she was filming a project.

    Stephen noted that on the said night, she was sleeping when she suddenly jumped up around 3 am after sensing some people moving around the door of her hotel apartment.

    The award winning filmmaker said she later saw “two men dressed in black weapons” who identified themselves as EFCC officials.

    Biodun said she had verbally attacked them for breaking into the room without her permission.

    She said during the face-off, one of the officials had asked about her “partner” but later apologised before they eventually left her room.

    “That is how I slept in a hotel whilst filming last week. Next thing, I open my eyes at a little past 3 am. What did I see? Two men dressed in black weapons. I thought I was dreaming. Then I heard the door to my room close,” she wrote.

    “I sprang up and without thinking shouted: ‘stay right there!!! Who are you!!! They replied: ‘We are EFCC’. My head sparked. Are you kidding me? You enter into my room unannounced?? EFCC: Madam, we knocked but no response. You decided to enter my room?? You should have kept knocking.

    “I was sleeping like every normal person would. One just opened his mouth and said: “Where is the man of the room. I was confused at first. The who? He replied: ‘your partner.’

    “Anger well up inside me…Is this one roving mad man? His partner realised his folly because he quickly apologised. ‘You are not the one we are looking for.

    “I watched as they interviewed guests rudely and arrested a few. They knew the people they were after. I lost sleep afterwards. Then I heard, this is the new thing with EFCC,” she added.

    “They burst into hotel rooms in the middle of the night. Not caring who you are, in what state you are. I mean, the hotel is a really decent one so I couldn’t understand how this could happen. They alleged that the EFCC barrages their way in…A mess I tell you.”

    Reacting to Stephen’s revelation, Nollywood actress Jaiye Kuti said: “What ? What is this country turning into ? Harassment, embarrassment Aaah egbami o. So the hotel gave them master key? Goooodnesss Lord”.

  • NANS will put an end to strikes in tertiary institutions —Official

    NANS will put an end to strikes in tertiary institutions —Official

    The newly-elected Senate President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Innocent Okafor, says the new NANS officials will ensure non-disruption of academic activities in tertiary institutions in the country.

    He said the new students’ leadership would create quality leadership to the Nigerian youths and renew their hope as major stakeholders in nation-building.

    Okafor, who hails from Anambra State, emerged victorious during the NANS election held in Abuja on Friday.

    In a statement in Awka today, he urged youths in the country to look at the future with great optimism.

    He said, “NANS will ensure peaceful coexistence and non-disruption of academic activities in tertiary institutions in the country.”

    Okafor was a former secretary and deputy coordinator of NANS Zone B comprising 75 tertiary institutions across the South-East and South-South states of Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia, Imo, Rivers, Delta, Cross-River, Edo, and Akwa-Ibom.

  • NNPC denies officials sold 48m barrels of stolen crude oil

    NNPC denies officials sold 48m barrels of stolen crude oil

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Thursrday denied reports that its officials sold 48 million barrels of stolen crude oil and issued death threats to a whistleblower.

    It said the publications and television commentaries replicate the content of a letter to NNPC on behalf of SAMANO SA DE CV by its solicitors.

    NNPC, in a statement by Afe Babalola & Co, said the reports were not true.

    The Corporation said SAMANO first contacted Federal Government officials in 2015 indicating that it had been approached by an unnamed group in China to buy 48 million barrels of crude oil “stolen” from Nigeria.

    NNPC said SAMANO requested that it be allowed to purchase the stolen crude after its recovery by the Federal Government.

    The Corporation said shortly thereafter, SAMANO indicated that it was no longer interested in buying the stolen crude as it only obliged the Federal Government with the information to assist the administration’s fight against corruption.

    “The Federal Government and NNPC receive hundreds of spurious claims of this nature daily, and they always turn out to be false.

    “NNPC also believed that based on the operations and state of the international crude oil market in 2015, it was impossible to ship 48 million barrels of crude oil from Nigeria to China without any record or trace of same,” the law firm said in a statement.

    It noted that as of 2015, the daily production of crude oil in Nigeria was below 1.6 million barrels, adding that 48 million barrels of crude oil would have been the total production capacity of the country for a whole month.

    NPPC said: “It was and remains simply impossible for one-month crude oil production for the entire country to disappear without any record or trace from the shores of the country.

    “NNPC was also aware that as at the material time and because China is one of the most regulated economies in the world, the export of crude oil from Nigeria to China was exclusively undertaken by four known companies approved by, under the control, ownership, and management of the Chinese Government.

    “It would, therefore, have been impossible to transport 48 million barrels of crude oil from Nigeria to China without the active involvement of the said companies.

    “Again, from an economic perspective, it made little sense that anyone would store that volume of crude oil in China for such a considerable period having regard to the attendant significant storage costs.

    “It is noteworthy that the Chinese government had, through its officials, stated emphatically in response to this allegation at different for a, including the United Nations General Assembly, that there was no stolen Nigerian crude oil stored in any port or terminal or storage facility in China.”

    The Corporate said despite these reservations and in line with the administration’s anti-graft agenda, the Federal Government set up the Presidential Committee on Recovery of Stolen Nigerian Crude Oil in response to the claims.

    “The said Presidential Committee requested that SAMANO furnish it with evidence in proof of its allegations to enable it to investigate and verify its claim.

    “Still, SAMANO refused, neglected or failed to provide the Committee with any cogent and verifiable evidence in support of its allegations.

    “Notwithstanding the failure of SAMANO to produce verifiable evidence in support of its allegations, for completeness, relevant officials were mandated to pay an in-person visit to China and further investigate SAMANO’s claim.

    “During this fact-finding trip to China, it was discovered that SAMANO’s claim was false as there were no 48 Million Barrels of stolen Nigerian Crude Oil or any stolen Nigerian Crude Oil in any port, terminal or storage facility in China.

    “It was also discovered that all the documents previously presented by SAMANO in support of its claims were not genuine. A report of this finding was issued by the Committee to Mr President,” the statement reads in part.

  • Pantami vs Abike, others: Leak official documents, face dismissal, FG warns officials

    Pantami vs Abike, others: Leak official documents, face dismissal, FG warns officials

    Worried about the indiscriminate release of official documents to the public space by warring public servants under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government the Federal Government has threatened to dismiss anyone found culpable of such embarrassing act in the civil service.

    This development is coming days after the public show of shame between the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami.

    Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HoS), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, gave the warning in a circular dated May 22, 2020, made public yesterday by Olawunmi Ogunmosunle, spokesperson for the H0S.

    The circular, HCSF/109/S.1/120, was addressed to the the following: Chief of Staff to the President, Office of the Vice President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Permanent Secretaries, and Service Chiefs/Inspector-General of Police, and ministers, among other.

    The HoS lamented the “unauthorised disclosure” of official government documents to social media platforms in recent months, saying civil servants engaged in such acts breached the provisions of the Public Service Rules nos. 030401 and 030402 and perpetrators risked being dismissed from service. She said the official documents, in some cases, were correspondences minuted on.

    “This irresponsible and reckless action is an act of serious misconduct with a penalty of dismissal from service, as provided for in Public Service Rules Nos. 030401 and 030402. In some cases, official documents that have been minuted on are also leaked. The ugly development is embarrassing to government and, therefore, not acceptable. Any public officer caught engaging in this act of serious misconduct will be severely dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Rules. Permanent secretaries are to draw the attention of all staff to the contents of this circular and the consequences of breaking the rules,” Yemi-Esan said.

  • COVID-19: Namibia President bans new cars for govt officials till 2025

    COVID-19: Namibia President bans new cars for govt officials till 2025

    Namibia’s President Hage Geingob has banned government officials from buying new cars till 2025.

    Geingob, who announced the ban via his Twitter handle on Thursday, said the decision was inspired by the “difficult period of COVID-19.”

    He also directed a cap on monthly fuel consumption by public office holders.

    “Government will not order a new vehicle fleet for the Executive and Public Office Bearers for the period 2020-2025,” he wrote.

    “Savings of 200 million Namibia dollars (about $10.8 million) will be directed to urgent priority areas.”

    A statement he shared added that by “constantly directing government offices, ministries and agencies to do more with less,” major savings across the government system have been achieved over the past five years since Geingob.

    “Government spending has been reduced by 9%, annual travel and subsistence allowances have been cut by 62%,” it added.

    A country of 2.5 million people, Namibia’s gross domestic product $14.52 billion as of 2018.

    The country has so far recorded 16 cases of the coronavirus