Blog

NAN-F-32
Parliament
Madrid, Nov. 17, 2016 (dpa/NAN) Spanish King Felipe VI was the target of series of protests
launched by left-wing members of Spain’s parliament during the opening ceremonies for the newly elected parliament on Thursday.

Members of the Unidos Podemos (United We Can) movement took advantage of Felipe’s speech to show their disregard for the monarchy.

They held up a flag calling for a “Third Republic,” which many left-wingers would like to see replace the current constitutional monarchy.

The bloc’s 71 members they make up the legislature’s third-largest party made a point of not applauding during his speech and stayed seated during the playing of the national anthem.

Several representatives of regional parties joined the anthem protest.

Yet others wore T-shirts with the inscription “I didn’t vote for any king,” making sure they could be seen by members of the royal family.

Podemos members had earlier skipped a ceremony welcoming the king, as well as a military parade that closed out the opening.

“Some people are heads of state because they are the son, grandson or great-grandson of a dynasty.

With all due respect, we have more legitimacy because we were elected by the people,” Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias said. (dpa/NAN)
OYE/HA
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Edited by Damilola Oyewole/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

NAN-H-119
Committee
By Lizzy Agbaji
Abuja, Nov.17, 2016 (NAN) The Presidential Committee on North-East Initiative (PCNI) has
assured greater level of humanitarian coordination in order to fast track the rejuvenation of the North East.

Mr Alkasim Abdulkadir, the Head of Media and Communications of the Committee, gave the assurance in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

He stated that the Committee, under the leadership of Retired Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, would ensure the rehabilitation of the region and smooth reintegration of the people back to their communities.

Abdulkadir said the Committee had launched the distribution of relief items, including food and non-food items to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno as part of efforts to rejuvenate
the North-East.

He said Prof. Hauwa Biu, a member of the Committee and Head of the Education and Social Development Sub-Committee, launched the humanitarian relief intervention in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno.

He then quoted Biu as saying “it is part of the Committee’s mandate to go to the Boko Haram affected states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa to assist IDPs and returnees.

She also said that returnees who came back to their liberated communities were in need of food and non-food items which they required to kick-start their lives.

Biu also said that the relief materials distribution was taking place in two other local government areas of Damboa and Mafa, both in Borno.

Items distributed include 600 bags of 50 kg rice, 100 bags of maize, 100 bags of millet, 100 bags of guinea corn, 150 cartons of noodles, 100 cartons of salt.

Some others are 100 pieces of brocade material and 100 pieces of buckets. (NAN)
LIZ/HA
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Edited by Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

NAN-DS-15

Speed

By Shu’aib Sadiq

Kaduna, Nov. 17, 2016 (NAN)  Mr Aliyu Lawal, Managing Director, Silver Freight Nigeria Limited on Thursday said speed limit device was very effective in reducing traffic accidents.

Lawal spoke during a stakeholders interactive session on the enforcement of  the device on commercial vehicles and trucks, organized by the North West Zonal office of Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) in Kaduna.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FRSC had set February 1, 2017 as date for full enforcement of  installing the device on commercial vehicles and trucks.

Lawal said that his transport company, with about 700 trucks had recorded 1, 985 violations in 2014 before installing the device.

According to him, the rate of accident drastically dropped to 399 in 2015, about 79 per cent reduction.

He added that speed limit violations had so far dropped to 369 or additional seven percent in 2016.

Lawal, however, appealed to the authorities and transport owners to engage only well trained and duly certified drivers, to reduce road crashes.

He explained that more than 85 per cent of road crashes  are caused by human factor,  and called for more interface between the FRSC and motorists especially commercial drivers.

Lawal noted that enlightenment campaigns were necessary to stimulate compliance as against enforcement.

Earlier, the FRSC Zonal Commander, Bulus Darwang, said introduction of the device had reduced road crashes by more than half in the United Kingdom, Canada, Zambia and Kenya.

Darwang who is in charge of Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa and Kano said the enforcement had been approved by the Federal Executive Council and National Assembly, and will come into force on Feb. 1, 2017.

Stakeholders at the event included motorists,  transport owners ,licenced speed limit vendors, drivers and security agencies. (NAN)
SSA/MZA

NAN-H-118

Kanu

By Martins Odeh

Abuja, Nov.16, 2016 (NAN) The Federal High Court on Thursday in Abuja fixed Dec. 1 to give ruling on a bail application filed by the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that David Nwawusi, Onwudiwe Chidiebere and Benjamin Madubugwu charged along side Kanu had also urged the court to admit them on bail.

The presiding judge, Justice Binta Nyako gave the date after counsel to parties had argued the joint applications.

“The court has taken judicial notice of the issues canvassed by the counsel. The decision would be made on Dec.1,’’ she held.

Earlier, Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor, counsel for Kanu prayed the court to admit Kanu to bail on liberal terms.

Ejiofor, in his submission, said Justice Adeniyi Ademola of a Federal High Court in Abuja had earlier ordered unconditional release of Kanu.

The applicant also displayed other documentary evidence and newspaper publications bearing President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that Kanu would never be granted bail by any court.

He also produced a certified true copy of certificate of incorporation of the Radio Biafra, adding that his client had not done anything wrong against the Nigerian State.

Ejiofor further said Kanu had initiated a contempt proceedings against the Department of State Services (DSS) for refusing to obey an order of the court made last year, granting him bail.

“What we are saying in essence is that the applicant is a law abiding citizen and not a threat as painted by the Federal Government and its security agencies.

“The applicant is also prepared to stand trial in order to obtain justice. He will not jump the bail when granted,’’ he said.

Ejiofor further prayed the court to also admit Onwudiwe and Madubugwu on liberal terms, adding that there were innocent of the charges brought against them.

He, however, said the applicants were ready to stand justice, as according to him, they would not jump bail when granted.

Mr Innocent Adoga, counsel to the second defendant/applicant, Nwawusi, informed the court that his client was still in custody of the DSS, instead of the Kuje prison as ordered by the court.

Adoga, therefore, prayed the court to admit his client to bail on liberal conditions.

Mr Shuaibu Labaran, the prosecuting counsel, however, raised objections to the various bail applications.

Labaran urged the court to refuse the applications and order an accelerated hearing in the matter.

He said the activities of the applicants were a threat to national security.

According to him, they have been exposed to illegal weapons in the bid to actualize their dream of a Biafra State.

“My Lord, to be more specific, the firearm licence, which the third defendant/applicant, Chidiebere claimed he had was not issued by the appropriate authority,’’ he said.

NAN reports that Kanu and the three others are standing trial on 11-count charge bordering on treasonable felony, unlawful possession of firearms and terrorism.

The other item in the charge bordered on illegal and violence agitation for a State of Biafra. (NAN)

OMO/YAZ

Edited by Yusuf Zango

NAN-F-31
Warning
Berlin, Nov. 17, 2016 (dpa/NAN) U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday in Berlin said he hope that his successor, Donald Trump, would not make deals with Russia for the sake of political convenience.

He said “Trump should not take realpolitik approach and just cut some deals with Russia even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms or leaves smaller countries vulnerable.

“He should not do whatever is convenient at the time,” Obama said at a press conference. (dpa/NAN) OYE/HA
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Edited by Damilola Oyewole/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

NAN-H-114

Corruption

By Monday Ijeh

Abuja, Nov. 17, 2016 (NAN) Mr Ekpo Nta, the Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related offences Commission (ICPC), has assured the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption that the commission was committed to corruption prevention.

Mrs. Rasheedat Okoduwa, the spokesperson of the ICPC in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, said Nta gave the assurance when he received members of the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-corruption.

The statement said Nta told the committee that corruption prevention was the thrust of the activities of the ICPC in line with the objective of its mandate.

It said Nta had defined corruption as an “Opportunistic crime since people tend to abuse opportunities which then lead them to engage in corruption”.

The statement said the ICPC boss had advocated for the elimination of opportunities that predispose people to engaging in corrupt acts.

“ICPC is interested in the development and deployment of high Information and communication technology (ICT) in government processes to achieve success with greater ease.

“This will be the height of our prevention activities,” the ICPC said.

Nta further told the lawmakers that the various preventive initiatives of the commission had saved the Federal Government a lot of money.

“Some of the sectors that have benefitted from these initiatives include the Nigerian Ports Authority, Aviation and Education sectors.

“We need realistic funding for the war against corruption as corrupt persons are well off financially to fight back.”

Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Mr Akinloye Babajide, said the essence of the visit was to acquire better knowledge of the activities of the ICPC and to offer support, where necessary.

He commended the commission for fostering a good image for Nigeria through its preventive initiatives.

The committee chairman urged the ICPC management to intensify efforts in making its achievements public, adding that the mindset of people was that the commission was not doing much.

“The perception of ICPC  that it is not doing enough should be a thing of the past.

“With what I have seen, we want to contribute to the development of the commission and eradicate wrong perceptions of ICPC.”

The oversight visit also witnessed the inspection of 95 Federal Government vehicles seized by ICPC from various government officials.

The vehicles were seized after the winding down of the activities of the defunct Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (Sure-P) by the current administration. (NAN)

IMC/AK/NKO

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Edited by Akin Makanjuola/Nkechi Okoronkwo

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NAN-ELS-3
Carnival
By Collins Yakubu-Hammer
Abuja, Nov. 17, 2016 (NAN) The Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) has stressed the need for private sector participation in the 2016 Abuja Carnival as the event draws closer.

The President of FTAN, Chief Tomi Akingbogun, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

According to him, the non-participation of the private sector in the event is because the information and culture ministry did not send invitation to the sector.

He said that “Abuja Carnival is a creation of the ministry, by the ministry and for the ministry; the private sector is not part of it.

“We want the private sector to be involved from the point of planning but up till today, FTAN is not aware; we have not received any letter.

“We were never involved in the planning process, that was why I said it was created by the ministry and for the ministry.

“The hospitality industry never had any impact; hotel rooms were not booked, nothing at all.”

Akingbogun also expressed displeasure that the private sector was not carried along in the 2016 Abuja Carnival preparations, adding that “we do not know the budget and monies to be spent.

He explained that the carnival should be able to have multiplier effect on all sectors of the federal capital  territory.

He added that “look at Lagos and Calabar carnivals; you can see the impact, hotels were fully booked, even petty traders recorded high sales.

“You can see the recent football match in Uyo between Nigeria and Algeria; the town was full, aircraft had high traffic of passengers, hotels were fully booked; that is tourism.”

The FTAN boss then emphasised that government should involve the private sector or hand over the event to the private sector.

He pointed out that “when private sector drives a carnival , it will be able to transform it into commercial venture that will  impact the economy.”

Meanwhile, the Abuja Carnival which did not hold last year, would hold between Dec. 3 and Dec. 6 in the Federal Capital Territory. (NAN)
CMY/OSA/HA
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Edited by Shittu Obassa/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

NAN-HE-37
Funding

By Donald Ugwu
Abuja, Nov. 17, 2016 (NAN) The National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday endorsed the approved proposal for the changing of the Joint Venture (JV) funding regime for the oil industry.

By the endorsement, the cash call mode of funding partnerships in the industry has been eliminated.

The Minister of State, Petrolem, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, gave the hint while addressing State House correspondents after the NEC meeting.

The alternative funding system was approved by the Federal Executive Council at its meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.

Kachikwu noted that current cash call arrears in the oil sector in the last five years stood at $6.8 billion.

According to him, in 2016 alone there was an unpaid accumulated cash call arrears of more than $2.5 billion.

The minister said there was no justification for the arrears in the past years when the price of crude oil in the international market was about $110 to $120.

He said that the accumulation in 2016 was caused by the effects of militancy and the drop in oil price to less than $40 making it difficult for the administration to sustain its ability to meet up with its cash call obligations.

He said the shortfall created more problems in the industry.

“You find that your reserve begins to deplete, your ability to maintain production at current levels begin to disappear, cost of per barrel of production in JV continues to rise because of the very little volume chasing after the cost.

“At the end of the day investor confidence is waned and a lot of projects that ought to have happened in this country were basically abandoned,’’ he said.

According to Kachikwu, the ministry early in the year in collaboration with staff of the NNPC tried to find out a solution to solving the JV cash call.

“What we have been able to put together has enabled us to shave about $1.7 billion savings for the federal government from the $6.8 billion that was previously owed.

“So we are going to owe only $5.1 billion as opposed to $6.8 billion.

“The $5.1 billion, however, will be paid over a period of five years, interest free, and the barrels to pay those will come from incremental barrels generated by the oil companies not on the current 2.2 million barrels.

“In order words if for any reason we are unable to meet those thresholds we will not pay the $5.1 billion; so that is fantastic.’’

The minister said that the 2016 indebtedness would be covered through two thresholds one of which was to do an accelerated cash call payment of $1.5 billion between October and December.

He said the ministry was seeking resources from the federal government in that regard.

He said there was also plan to try and address that through some of the country’s reserve, or its holding in LNG or both or also to seek alternative funding.

“Beginning next year, if things go into place, the issue of cash call era would have disappeared. This will be the most important decision in the upstream company in the last 30 years.

“The effect of this is that investments in excess or close to $15 billion are likely to be announced by the oil companies, bringing back most of the projects in a couple of weeks once this is signed.

“In addition we are targeting using this as a parameter to save at least $1 billion in production expense per annum beginning 2017.

“Additionally, we are looking at reducing the cost per barrel of production from the current $27 per barrel, which is one of the highest in the world, to  about $18 per barrel in the next two years and about $15 over the next four years.’’

Kachikwu said that the barrel reserve per day production should increase to about 2.5 million barrels by 2019 and potentially to about three million barrels by 2021.

He said there would be very dramatic effects in the JV review as the southward slide in terms of production would cave and go upwards.

He added that oil companies would return to activities and there would be resilience in the sector, confidence in investments and more jobs would be created.

“More fundamental really, for the first time the oil industry will take responsibility to arrange its own funding and be able to produce more oil and save the federal government the whole budgetary nightmare of cash calls every year.

“This is a very dramatic move in the oil industry and we are going to make presentations to the National Assembly to bring the members up to date on this within the threshold of the existing law,’’ he added.(NAN)
DCU/YEE

Edited by Emmanuel Yashim
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NAN-AE-11
Weather
By Sumaila Ogbaje
Abuja, Nov. 17, 2016 (NAN) The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted sunny and hazy weather conditions over the central states of the country on Friday with night time temperatures of 28 to 36 degrees Celsius.

NiMet made the prediction in the Weather Outlook by its Central Forecast Office on Thursday in Abuja.

The agency predicted that the southern states will experience cloudy to partly cloudy morning with night time temperatures of 33 to 35 degree Celsius.

It also predicted possibility of isolated thunderstorms over the high ground areas of Oshogbo, Akure, and Ado-Ekiti as well as coastal cities of Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Eket in the evening and night hours.

According to NiMet, northern states will experience dust haze conditions with visibility values of two to five kilometres and less than 1000 metres over places like Katsina, Kano and Nguru.

“The region will also have night time temperatures of 34 to 38 degrees Celsius during the forecast period.

“Reduction in visibility is expected especially over the northern and central parts while cloudy conditions are expected over the southern cities with prospects of isolated thunderstorms in very few places,’’ NiMet predicted. (NAN)
OYS/FAT/AMY

Edited by Fatima Sule
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NAN-H-107
SDGs
By Lizzy Agbaji
Abuja, Nov. 17, 2016 (NAN) Fr. Evaristus Bassey, the Executive Director, Caristas Catholic Foundation of Nigeria (CCFN), said in Abuja on Thursday that faith-based organisations played a key role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Bassey said this at the inauguration of his book titled: `Localising a global agenda: How Priests, Pastors, Imams and ordinary people can enhance the 2030 SDGs’.

According to him, religious leaders play a great role in the development of every nation as they interface with the people and have the power to impart the right morals and values in them.

He explained that with the right morals and values, such people would always work for the good and development of their communities in particular, and the country in general.

According to him, attaining the 17 SDGs goes beyond just spending money on projects as a lot can be achieved by imparting the requisite skills and knowledge in people, especially the youth.

“In Nigeria and Africa as a whole we need a framework for development and for me, an opportunity came with the SDGs.

“ As a member of the working group of Caritas International, I was involved from the beginning and so it gave me an idea that we have to domesticate this.

“We clerics work with the people and I thought if they have an idea of the SDGs and how to domesticate it in the work they do, a lot of impact will be made.

“If government officials are more conscious of the yearnings of the citizens, they would work towards addressing the plight of the citizens.” Bassey said.

Also speaking, a member of the House of Representative, Hon. Peter Akpatason said faith-based organisations had from time immemorial contributed immensely to human development and advancement.

Akpatason stated that religious organisations have led campaigns that have helped protect the rights of the people against certain local traditions and barbaric cultures.

He said the first schools in the country were established by missionaries.

He added that it was on such platforms that the country’s past leaders excelled and built Nigeria.

According to him, that is not the case today as most schools established by religious organisations have become profit-making ventures where even their members cannot afford to pay their children’s school fees.

Akpatason said every Nigerian had a lot to contribute towards the attainment of SDGs.

He said Nigerians could contribute their quota by proposing bills through a lawmakers who would present them on the floors of the legislative houses.

The lawmaker urged faith-based organisations to conduct their activities in a manner that would not irritate the sensibilities of the adherents of other religions.

He also urged them to always pay tax to the government for their profit making activities.

In his remark, the acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris,  said the force needed the support of the public, especially religious leaders, to succeed in its operations.

Idris said without the support of the public through the provision of timely and accurate information, the force would not be efficient.

According to him, the role of faith-based organisations in ensuring peace and security cannot be over emphasised as they are in the best position to instil the right values in people and deter them from committing crime.

The IGP said a public complaints unit have been launched by the force where everyone can make their complains and they would be attended to.

The two other books launched by the cleric are titled, `Issues in the Church and Society in Africa: Tackling the inclusion’ and `The Young Cleric’.

NAN reports that in Sept. 2015, countries adopted a set of goals to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda.

Each goal has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15 years with everybody including governments, the private sector and civil society playing their roles. (NAN)
LIZ/YEE

Edited by Emmanuel Yashim
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