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Tag: Tuesday

  • NiMet predicts sunny, hazy conditions for Tuesday, Wednesday

    The Nigerian Meteological Agency (NiMet) has predicted sunny and hazy conditions over Northern region with possibilities of isolated cases of thunderstorms over central region down to coastal cities.

    NiMet’s weather outlook released on Monday in Abuja forecast sunny and hazy conditions over the north throughout the forecast period on Tuesday.

    According to it, isolated thunderstorms are likely over Yola, Jos and Abuja during the afternoon/evening hours.

    “Southern states will experience morning thunderstorms over Lagos, Ijebu-Ode, Calabar and Yenegoa axis.

    “There are chances of isolated thunderstorms over the coastal belt, Enugu, Abakaliki and Obudu during the afternoon/evening hours,” it said.

    NiMet envisaged sunny and hazy atmosphere over northern parts of the country on Wednesday with partly cloudy to sunny conditions over central cities in the morning hours with chances of isolated thunderstorm during evening hours.

    It predicted partly cloudy to cloudy conditions over the inland in the morning with chances of thunderstorms during the afternoon/evening hours.

    “Lagos is to experience thunderstorms in the morning hours with more prospects of thunderstorms over the coast during the afternoon/evening period,” it said.

  • Insecurity: High hopes as Makinde signs Amotekun Bill Tuesday

    Insecurity: High hopes as Makinde signs Amotekun Bill Tuesday

    Barring last minute changes, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde will tomorrow sign into law the bill backing the establishment of the Oyo State Security Network Agency codenamed Amotekun Corps.

    The bill was passed with fanfare by the House of Assembly last Tuesday, as lawmakers and members of staff wore fabrics with leopard design to the plenary. It was the sole discussion for the day. The bill passed third reading and was passed by a unanimous decision.

    According to a report by The Nation, the Office of the Governor of Oyo State has started making preparations for the ceremonial signing of Amotekun bill into law by Governor Makinde tomorrow.

    The governor has played a pivotal role in the establishment of the regional security outfit due to the central location and importance of Oyo State to the Southwest.

    For instance, the security summit, which gave birth to the idea of Amotekun, was held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The outfit was jointly launched on the premises of Makinde’s office on January 9 before the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN), declared the regional security outfit illegal.

    Operation Amotekun was originally conceived as a regional security outfit by the governors of Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo and Lagos states.

    The governors agreed to give it a legal backing by the legislature of each state to overcome its illegality in the face of the Nigerian constitution.

    The state assemblies and attorneys general of the six states worked together to generate the law backing the outfit. Although it was created on state-by-state basis, the outfit will still operate as a regional organisation, wearing the same uniform, using the same operational guidelines, having joint training for personnel and working together across borders to prevent crimes or track down criminals.

  • Leadership crisis: APC holds emergency NEC meeting Tuesday

    Leadership crisis: APC holds emergency NEC meeting Tuesday

    Amidst rebellion by some members against the leadership of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, an emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has been scheduled to hold in Abuja on Tuesday, March 17 at 3pm.

    The organ of the party last met in November 2019 and skirted the demand by some members of the NEC to suspend Oshiomhole then as chairman, over his alleged dictatorial tendencies and paralysing the party’s organs. The rebels had also blamed Oshiomhole for the party’s losses in Zamfara, Rivers, Bauchi and others.

    Venue for the new meeting is the National Executive Committee Hall at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, now under cordon by the police and the DSS, following the crisis over Oshiomhole’s chairmanship.

    A sign of crisis in the party was that the meeting notice was signed by acting National Secretary, Chief Victor T. Giadom and not Architect Waziri Bulama who was named on Wednesday as substantive replacement for Mai Mala Buni, who had moved on to become governor of Yobe State.

    Giadom invited all NEC members to attend the emergency meeting in line with Article 25 (B) (II) of the Constitution of the Party.

    The call came hours after the APC Progressive Governors Forum also called for an emergency meeting of the NEC.

    President Buhari as the national leader of the party had met on Thursday with Oshiomhole and Atiku Bagudu who leads the Progressive Governors Forum.

    The agenda of the NEC which last met in December, is predictably going to centre over Oshiomhole’s position, now being challenged in the court.

    The NEC may also consider the tempest building over the recent appointments of key officers, supposedly approved by a meeting of National Working Committee of the party on 14 January.

    Arch. Waziri Bulama was appointed as the Party’s Acting National Secretary. He replaces Mai Mala Buni, who is now the Governor of Yobe State.

    Former Oyo governor Abiola Ajimobi has also been appointed as deputy national chairman(south). He replaces Adeniyi Adebayo, who is now the minister for industries.

    Mr. Paul Chukwuma is the new National Auditor.

    The appointments were said to have followed nominations from the respective zones, according to a statement by National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu.

    But Ekiti state APC has faulted the appointment of Ajimobi, as the replacement for Adebayo. It wanted Senator Gbenga Aluko to take the position.

    PGF’s Director-General, Salihu Lukman described the Abuja High court injunction against Oshiomhole as a “big opportunity” to reposition the party ahead of the 2023 general election.

    The forum, while acknowledging the existence of the conflicting court orders of the Abuja and Kano federal high courts, called for the appointment of an acting chairman for the APC until the determination of the issue relating to the legality of the suspension of Oshiomhole in court.

    “The reality is that our party APC is faced with a big problem whereby none of our organs are meeting as provided by the constitution. In fact, we are even not sure who our members are. There is, therefore, the urgent need to resume the process of party building with confirmation of our members as well as recruiting new members,” Lukman said in a statement.

    “We need to invoke provisions of Article 17 (vi) which provides that in the event of a vacancy, “the relevant Party organ shall appoint another person to act in his place pending ratification by the National Convention or Congress.”

    The forum claimed that members of the Oshiomhole-led NWC have constituted themselves into an unaccountable assembly in the affairs of the party.

    “Already, this is the second year since the last Convention in 2018 where Comrade Oshiomhole-led NWC was elected. What this means is that with or without our current challenges we are actually due for a National Convention,” Lukman said.

    Lukman said once a National Executive Convention (NEC) is convened, there will be an “emergence a new atmosphere in the party that will promote reconciliation and re-orient the party to regain its political profile as a party.”

    Oshiomhole is currently in a legal battle to keep his position.

    Justice Danlemi Senchi of Abuja High Court on Wednesday granted an order of interim injunction restraining Oshiomhole from parading himself as the APC national chairman.

    However, a Federal High Court In Kano on Thursday set aside the ruling of FCT High Court suspending Oshiomhole.

    Justice Lewis Allagoa of Kano High Court ordered the police and Department of State Service (DSS) to provide security for Oshiomhole to resume in his office.

    Oshiomhole had also gone further to file an appeal at the Appeal court.

  • NiMet predicts thunderstorms, rains for Tuesday

    NiMet predicts thunderstorms, rains for Tuesday

    The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted thundry and rainy activities for Tuesday.

    NiMet’s weather outlook on Monday in Abuja predicted partly cloudy condition within the Northern states with chances of localised thunderstorms over Sokoto, Yelwa and Gusau axis in the morning hours.

    The agency forecast thunderstorms over the region in the afternoon/evening hours with day and night temperatures of 32 to 35 degree Celsius and 21 to 26 degree Celsius.

    “For Central states, there are chances of thunderstorms over Abuja, Minna, Lokoja, Markudi, Jalingo, Yola, Kaduna, Gombe, Bauchi, Niger, Kwara, Lafia and Mambilla plateau in the morning hours.

    ” Cloudiness is likely over the region with chances of thunderstorms over Yola, Taraba and the high grounds of the central states during the afternoon/evening period.

    ” Day and night temperature values are expected to be 22 to 31 degree Celsius and 16 to 24 degree Celsius ,” it said.

    According to it, there are prospects of thunderstorms and rains over the inland cities of Southern states in the morning and afternoon hours except South East inland where cloudy condition are envisaged in the morning.

    NiMet further envisaged rain over Lagos, Calabar, Eket and Port-Harcourt axis throughout the forecast period with day and night temperatures of 29 to 31degree Celsius and 18 to 23 degree Celsius.

  • Independence: FG declares Tuesday public holiday

    The Federal Government has declared Tuesday, Oct.1, as public holiday to mark Nigeria’s 59th Independence Anniversary.

    The Permanent Secretary,Ministry of Interior, Mrs Georgina Ehuriah, announced this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

    She said the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola made the declaration on behalf of the federal government.

    The minister congratulated Nigerians at home and abroad on the commemoration of this year’s anniversary.

    He assured citizens of government’s commitment to end the current spate of insecurity in the country.

    According to him, peace and stability are necessary conditions for the development of any nation.

    Aregbesola, therefore, called on Nigerians to emulate the nation’s founding fathers in their love for fatherland.

    Aregbesola reminded Nigerians of the immense potential the country was endowed with, and assured that with commitment, ” we can move the country to the next level of socio-economic development.”

    ” As Nigerians, we should always remember that there is hope for our country and that we are blessed with both human and natural resources, tourism, cultural diversity, selfless spirit of unity and love for one another.

    ” As well as bonded brotherhood, all of which are potential we must exploit in the years ahead to make Nigeria the nation of our dreams,” he said.

    Aregbesola enjoined all Nigerians to support the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in its avowed determination to build a secure, economically viable and corruption free nation, in line with the dream of the country’s founding fathers.

    The minister wished all Nigerians a happy Independence Anniversary.

  • Airtel Africa to list 3.758bn shares on NSE Tuesday

    Tuesday, July 9, 2019 has now been fixed as the new date for the listing of about 3.758 billion ordinary shares of Airtel Africa Plc on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) at a unit price of N363.
    The exercise was earlier scheduled for Friday, July 5, 2019, but was postponed at the last minute as a result of the company’s inability to meet pre-listing requirements, including getting the authorization of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
    However, it seems the third largest telecommunications firm in Nigeria behind MTN Nigeria and Globacom has obtained the necessary things needed for the listing.
    A statement issued by the NSE on Sunday said the exercise will now take place tomorrow and the company would be expected to ‘paint the market red.’
    “The Exchange is aware of various media reports stating that the postponed Airtel Africa listing on NSE is scheduled for Monday, July 8.
    “Please be informed that the official date for the listing is Tuesday, July 9,” the statement by the NSE yesterday disclosed.
    On Tuesday, Airtel Africa would be doing a cross-border secondary listing of a total of 3,758,151,504 ordinary shares.
    On June 28, 2019, the company listed its shares on the trading floor of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) at 80 pence, approximately N363 per unit.

  • Senate postpones passage of 2019 budget till Tuesday

    Senate postpones passage of 2019 budget till Tuesday

    The Senate on Wednesday postponed passage of the 2019 Appropriation Bill till Tuesday.

    Even though, the report by the Senate Committee on Appropriations on the national budget was billed for consideration at the plenary on Wednesday, the lawmakers resolved to postpone the third reading of the bills as the details of the estimates had not been made available.

    More details…

  • N115m scam: Court to deliver ruling of ex-SEC DG’s no-case-submission on Tuesday

    An FCT High Court on Friday is to deliver ruling on Tuesday in the no-case-submission filed by the suspended Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr Mounir Gwarzo on alleged of N115 fraud.

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) charged Gwarzo alongside an Executive Commissioner in the Commission, Zakawanu Garuba, with five counts of alleged misappropriation to the tune of about N115 million and conferment of corrupt advantage on a public officer before Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf.

    They however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

    The defendants, on Feb. 7, through their counsel, Abdulhakeem Mustapha, SAN, and Robert Emupkoeruo, informed the court of their intention to file no-case submission.

    This they prayed after the prosecuting counsel, Mr Adesina Raheem, had informed the court that the prosecution was closing its case against the defendants with the testimony of the fifth prosecution witness (PW5), Taiwo Olorunyomi.

    Gwarzo’s counsel, Mustapha SAN, on March 18 urged the court to hold that the prosecution has not been able to adduce any credible evidence to make the defendant enter any defence.

    He informed the court that the no-case submission he prayed for was brought pursuant to Sections 302 and 303 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.

    According to him, the prosecution had failed to make out any prima facie case against Gwarzo, adding that the evidence adduced were all contradictory.

    He submitted that the prosecution in its written address on the submission relied on the law on certain political office holders and admitted that SEC was not mentioned in the said law.

    Specifically, he urged the court to uphold the no-case submission by the first defendant as well as discharge and acquit him of the charge against him.

    Counsel to Garuba, Mr Robert Emukpoeruo, also argued that the prosecution had failed from the evidence adduced to make any prima facie case against the second defendant.

    He said the evidence adduced by the prosecution during hearing has not established any ingredients of the offence said to have been committed by Garuba.

    He, then, urged the court not only to uphold the no-case submission but also discharge and acquit the second defendant.

    In his submission, the prosecution counsel, Mr Raheem Adesina, urged the court to dismiss the no-case-submission of the defendants and ask them to enter their defence.

    Adesina stated that there was the need for the defendants to explain to the court where they got the severance package from, since there was nowhere in Exhibit ICPC 3, before the court where severance package was mention.

    He argued that there was no single word of severance benefit in the SEC Board resolution in July, 2002 (Exhibit ICPC 3).

    He said that what was approved and collected was severance benefit when the first defendant never retired from SEC.

    The ICPC accused Gwarzo of committing fraud to the tune of about N115 million in June 2015, when he held forth as SEC Director-General.

    It alleged that the suspended D-G received the sum of N104,851,154.94 as severance benefits when he had yet to retire, resign or disengage from the service of SEC.

    It added that he conferred a corrupt advantage upon himself when he received the sum of N10,983,488.88 in excess of car grant payable to him.

    Garuba, on the other hand, was accused by ICPC of allegedly conniving with Gwarzo to commit the fraud.

  • INEC cancels supplementary elections in Bauchi, resumes collation of results Tuesday

    The Independent National Electoral Commission has decided to resume from Tuesday, the collation of the governorship election result in Bauchi State and may declare the winner of the poll, hitherto ruled as inconclusive.

    The commission announced the decision in a press statement on Friday night after resolving some issues around the result of Tafawa Balewa local government and some polling units in Ningi local government.

    INEC did not state whether by the decision, the scheduled supplementary election on 23 March has been cancelled.

    According to INEC, the number of cancelled votes in four polling units in Ningi Local Government was 2,533 and not 25,330 as recorded.

    On Tafawa Balewa Local Government election result, where collation was disrupted by armed gangs, affecting 7 out of 11 registration areas for governorship and 6 out of 11 for state assembly elections, INEC said a committee set up, has found that the results in polling units and registration areas are “available and in safe custody”.

    INEC thus decided to resume the resumption and conclusion of the collation of results of the council area for both the governorship and state assembly elections

    A new collation and returning officer for Tafawa Balewa has been appointed “to continue and conclude the collation process in place of the original collation officer, who withdrew from the exercise citing threats to her life and those of her family members”. The threatened collation officer was Dominion Anosike.

    The governorship election in Bauchi state is a straight fight between incumbent Mohammed Abubakar of the All Progressives Congress and former minister, Bala Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party.

    Bala was said to have won the Tafawa Balewa Local government election, putting him in an overall lead of his APC counterpart, but the INEC returning officer, Professor Mohammed Kyari, declared the election inconclusive.

    In declaring the election inconclusive, Kyari, gave the scores of incumbent governor as 465,453 votes and Bala Mohammed of PDP as 469,512 votes.

    “The margin between the winner and opponent is less than the total number of votes cancelled in some polling units.By law, since the margin of winner is less than the total number of votes cancelled and registered voters in the areas where the votes have been cancelled, this elections is hereby declared inconclusive,” he said.

    He said his decision was in line with section 26 part 53 of the Electoral Act.

  • FG planning to arrest, replace CJN Onnoghen on Tuesday – CUPP

    Opposition parties under the aegis of Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) on Friday said they have uncovered a plan by the Federal Government to arrest the embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, on Tuesday.

    The spokesperson of CUPP, Imo Ugochinyere, disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja.

    Ugochinyere said the arrest would be carried out shortly after a bench warrant would have been issued by the Code of Conduct Tribunal against Onnoghen.

    He added that arrangements had been concluded to immediately name Justice Tanko Muhammed as acting CJN.

    Details later…