Blog

Revenue

By Kelechi Ogunleye
Abuja, Sept. 5, 2108 (NAN) The Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Wednesday said that it generated over N1 billion as revenue between January and June 2018.

The agency’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Kalu Emetu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the revenue generated in the period was N178 million over what was realised in 2017.

NAN reports that N1. 05bn revenue was generated between January and June 2017, while N 1.23bn revenue was realised in the same period in 2018.

However, residents of the FCT have condemned the VIO over the manner it often carried out arrest and impounded vehicles thereby relating the revenue generated by the agency to the money retrieved from impounded vehicle owners.

Mr Dauda Ibrahim, an Abuja based taxi driver, alleged that the VIO officials often laid siege at various points in the city in an attempt to arrest vehicles thereby causing accident.

He added that some of the officers were in the habit of extorting money from motorists, adding that such conduct negated the ethics of VIO and must be stopped forthwith.

Another driver, Mr Ebuka Eke, said that the money collected by VIO officers after impounding vehicles for road traffic infractions was too much, noting that the agency needed to look into a transparent operation method.

Reacting, Emetu said that the allegations were erroneous and unfounded.

“The increase in revenue generation is as a result of creative leadership and greater awareness on the part of the public who understand that registration and renewal of vehicle particulars are part of their obligations as citizens.

“Impounding or seizure of vehicles does not make up to 10 per cent of the agency’s revenue,” he said.

Emetu said that the agency’s Trade Licence Department was responsible for generation of substantial revenue for the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).

He said that rather the management had blamed VIO Area Commanders for not doing enough in impounding erring vehicles, especially those supposed to be tagged “OFF THE Road’’. (NAN)
KAYC/AOS/PDE
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(Edited by Bayo Sekoni/Peter Ejiofor)

Primaries

By Tukur Muntari

Kano, Sept. 5, 2018 (NAN) The All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kano State has endorsed direct primaries in selecting candidates for the 2019 general elections.

This is contained in a statement signed by the state APC Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas and issued to newsmen in Kano on Wednesday.

“Rising from a meeting on Tuesday, the state Executive Committee of the party said the decision stands to improve the stock of the APC in the coming 2019 election as well as other elections,” he said in the statement.

According to Abbas, the state APC will adopt direct primaries in selecting its candidates for the presidency, governor, National and state assemblies.

“The decision was unanimously endorsed by the state Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, the two Senators (Kabiru Gaya and Barau Jibrin), 13 members of the House of Representatives led by the Chief Whip, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa.

“Others are 33 members of the state House of Assembly led by the Speaker, Kabiru Al Hassan Rurum, 53 state Executive Committee members of the party, 44 elected local councils chairmen and 44 local government chairmen and secretaries of the party.”

He said direct primary for selecting candidates would imbue greater confidence among members, guarantee openness and ensure free and fair election.

Abbas added that it would also ensure more transparency in the political space and avoid the secrecy hitherto existing in the selection of party candidates.

The state APC chairman, therefore, urged party officials and members to be peaceful and law abiding in all their conducts.(NAN)
MTM/MZA

Cables

By Suleiman Shehu

Ibadan, Sept. 5,2018 (NAN) A 30-year-old man, Abiola Mulaila, was on Wednesday charged before an Oyo State High Court in Ibadan for allegedly stealing the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC)’s cable worth N10 million.

Mulaila is facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, malicious damage and stealing.

The Prosecutor, Mr Tijani Williams, told the court that the accused committed the offences with some other persons still at large on June 30 at Eruwa, Oyo State.

Williams said the offences contravened Sections 390, 419 and 516 of the Criminal Law of Oyo State, 2000.

He urged the court not to grant bail to the accused, saying that the he needed not show any special circumstances why the accused should not be granted bail.

“The responsibility is on the accused counsel to prove to the court why his client should be granted bail,’’ he said.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Counsel to the accused, Mr Akingbade Ogunmuyila, urged the court to grant his client bail, saying it was the duty of the prosecutor to show special circumstances while bail should not be given to the accused.

Justice A. Akintola remanded the accused in prison pending the ruling on the bail application, and said the court would send the date of the ruling to both counsels.  (NAN)

SYS/EOB/EMO

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Edited by Edith Bolokor/Ejike Obeta

Aginigban

By Emmanuel Mogbede

Abuja, Sept. 5, 2018 (NAN) Dr Cairo Ojougboh, All Progressives Congress (APC) Delta governorship aspirant, has described the death of former Acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC),  Mr Power Aginigban, as a huge loss to the Ijaw nation.

Cairo, who said this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, added that the deceased was a distinguished politician.

He further said that the deceased, who impacted on the lives of his people positively, was a great asset to the Niger Delta region and Nigeria at large.

Aginighan died in a car accident on Sept. 1, alongside his son and his personal aide in Ahoada West Local Government Area of the East West Road, Rivers.

“I have known him for over 12 years. I met him in 2006 and from then on, I worked closely with him till 2007. He was a devoted Christian and a very upright man.

“Through his philanthropic nature, he touched so many lives and recorded landmark achievements while in public service.

 “His death is, indeed, a tragic one and he will be greatly missed by all,” he said.

Cairo said the news of the demise of the former NDDC boss came to him as a rude shock and brought him great sadness.

The governorship aspirant also said that Aginighan was an honest man who devoted his time to the vineyard of the Lord and the public service.

He stressed that the deceased was a strong voice of the people and a distinguished leader whose love for public service knew no bounds.

“The Ijaw nation, Niger Delta and Nigeria at large have lost a great man whose unflinching dedication to public service and humanity was inestimable and worthy of emulation”.

Cairo added that beyond politics, the deceased was more than a political associate, saying that he had always been like a brother to him.

He condoled with the family of the deceased, the Ijaw nation, members of the APC and the people of Delta and prayed that Aginighan’s soul would find solace in God Almighty. (NAN)

EEM/OFN/DUA

Edited by Felix Nwadioha/Dada Ahmed

ANAN lauds NSITF on staff welfare

Welfare
By Bukola Adewumi
Abuja, Sept. 5, 2018 (NAN) The Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) has commended the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) for making the welfare of its staff a priority.

Mrs Petu Joyce, the Chairman of FCT Branch of ANAN, gave the commendation when she led officials of the branch on a courtesy call to the Fund in Abuja on Wednesday.
The ANAN branch chairman called for extensive training for staff of the Fund to prepare them for post-retirement practices.
Mr Adebayo Somefun, the Fund Managing Director, while receiving the team at the Fund’s headquarters, pledged the Fund’s support to the association, saying that the Fund had great regard for the code of ethics of ANAN.
Somefun, who was represented by the Executive Director, Administration, Mr Tijani Suleiman, said that the Fund was saddled with the responsibility of protecting interest of Nigerian workers.
He called on members of ANAN to always put accountability on the front burner of all their endeavours, saying this was the first and most important aspect of accounting profession.
The NSITF boss urged ANAN members to be transparent, honest and adhere strictly to the dictates of the law while remaining loyal to their employers.
He said that NSITF was the apex social security institution in Nigeria whose core mandate was to provide compensation to employees who suffered occupational accident at their work place. (NAN).
BOL/KOLE/TA
Edited by Tajudeen Atitebi

Election

By: Mohammed Mamman

Damaturu, Sept. 5, 2018 (NAN) The All Progressives Congress in Yobe, has adopted indirect elections for the party’s primaries to select candidates for the 2019 general elections.

This development was contained in a letter made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Damaturu, signed by the party’s state chairman, Adamu Chilariye and the secretary, Abubakar Bakabe respectively.

The party said it adopted the indirect option following the party’s State Executive Committee (SEC) meeting on Tuesday, September 4 in Damaturu, which “deliberated extensively on the needs and peculiarities of the state.

“The SEC also consulted widely with critical stakeholders of the party to adopt a unified position among options provided by the constitution of our great party,” it said.

The party attributed lack of updated membership register, owing to security challenges in the state, as an impediment to the adoption of direct elections for the party’s primaries.

The party also claimed that it lacked resources and time to conduct direct elections to meet the dateline provided by the national secretariat of the party.

“Therefore, in view of the aforementioned factors, the SEC and the stakeholders have unanimously resolved to adopt the indirect election option for the primary.

“The SEC and stakeholders, therefore, resolved to forward these resolutions to the National Working Committee for approval,” the letter said. (NAN)

MM/OOA/YEMI

Olabisi Akinbode/Yemi Idris-Aduloju

China to complete cassava processing plant in Sept
Cassava
By Temitope Ponle
Abuja Sept. 5, 2018 (NAN) China is to establish a cassava processing plant in Nigeria to promote the market value chain of the tuber.
Mr John Wen, Manager in the Marketing Department, Green Agriculture West Africa Limited (GAWAL), said this on the sideline of a training on cassava processing in Abuja on Wednesday.
Wen said the project, which would be completed by the end of September, was being implemented by the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS).
He said that the academy was under the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and was handling the project in collaboration with GAWAL.
“CATAS now is establishing a cassava processing mill in Abuja and once this plant is put in place we will process cassava in Nigeria.
“Hopefully, before the end of September, we will install all the equipment in the plant.”
Wen said this would be the first phase of the project which would be expanded in future based on the market’s response to the finished cassava products.
He also said that the training was being organised by CATAS for Nigerian officials in the agriculture sector and would equip participants with skills to improve market value of cassava.
Mr Liu Haiquing, the Deputy Director of Division of International Cooperation, CATAS, said that cooperation on agriculture between the two countries was vital and in line with the China-Africa cooperation plans.
“This training course focuses on cassava processing and pepper cultivation and our academy focuses on tropic groups such as cassava, coffee, cashew nuts and we can find these in Nigeria.
“I am sure the training will offer a good platform for all the participants to exchange views and to share experiences in cassava processing with CATAS scientists.”
Liu said that the course included indoor training and practical classes.
One of the participants, Mr Paul Obasi, from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the course covered new techniques of cassava processing and disease management.
“The training has actually done a lot to the participants because the Federal Government is driving towards diversifying our economy from normal agriculture projects that we used to have, making agriculture a business.
“Cassava processing is one of the veritable tools which we can leverage on to diversify our economy, thus creating jobs, increasing foreign exchange and food security.”
Another participant, Mr Innocent Onyekwere, the Head of Station, National Root Crop Research Institute, said that the training was in line with the mandate of promoting tuber and root crops of the institute.
Onyekwere said that the institute wanted to partner with CATAS in cassava processing and exporting finished products to China.
“We have bred and released more than 46 varieties of cassava including the vitamin A cassava and we have developed agronomical packages for the same varieties.
“We want to see how we can collaborate with CATAS and the institute where they can assist technology wise and we can also supply cassava needed by their industries.”
TOP/TA
Edited by Tajudeen Atitebi

Hospital

By Aminu Ahmed Garko

Minna, Sept. 5, 2018 (NAN) The Niger Government said it had spent about N254 million to construct and equip the maternal and new neonatal wing of the General Hospital in Minna.

Dr Makun Sidi, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, made this disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Wednesday.

He said that the state government embarked on the projects to improve diagnostic and management capacity of the hospital.

Sidi said that it cost the state government N188 million for the construction and equipping of maternal and new neonatal wing while N66 million was spent on the construction of laboratory complex.

He said that all the projects had been completed and now awaiting inauguration by Gov. Abubakar Bello.

“We are fully committed to ensure effective and qualitative health care delivery to people through the provision of modern health facilities in all our health institutions,” he said.

He said that the present administration had embarked on beneficial and far-reaching health interventions; ranging from infrastructure and equipment upgrade, health care financing to manpower development. (NAN)

AAG/OIF/YEMI
Edited by Ifeyinwa Okonkwo/Yemi Idris-Aduloju

Salary
By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus
Ilorin, Sept. 5, 2018 (NAN) A Professor of Economics at University of Ilorin, Prof. Gafar Ijaiya, has called for reduction in the civil service workforce to curb redundancy.
Ijaiya told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin on Wednesday that the number of people in government offices were much more than available work.
He said most states would not have problem of relying on the federal allocation before payment of salaries if the number of people being paid were reduced.

”Going by what played out some months back, it is already obvious that most of the states cannot pay their workers’ salaries without allocation from the Federal Government.
”So, the states need to cut down on their expenses and one of such ways is to sanitise the civil service.
”The civil service has been over flooded because there are a lot of people there that are not doing anything.
”For now, government’s work has reduced and there is nothing much to do.
”So, I advise that there should be a reduction in the number of people in the civil service,” Ijaiya said.
He said that some of the workers should be replaced with technology for more efficiency.
”You need to go to all these ministries, you will find out that they are not doing anything.
”There is the need to include more technology in what we do because with technology, there will be less people on the desks.
”Unlike now that we have so many people doing nothing, but with technology you will have only competent hands that will bring good results.
”I think with that the issue of delay or non-payment of salaries will not arise,” the professor said.
He said that with such decision, internally generated revenues could be diverted to other development projects and not salary payment alone. (NAN)
BAY/AAB/TA
Edited By Adeboye Ajayi/Tajudeen Atitebi

NUJ

By Benson Ezugwu
Calabar, Sept. 5, 2018 (NAN) Mr Chris Isiguzo, a presidential aspirant in the forthcoming delegates’ conference of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), says his administration’s priority is to ensure better working conditions for journalists in Nigeria.

Isiguzo made this promise in a manifesto on Wednesday in Calabar during his campaign tour of the Cross River council of the NUJ.

According to him, many journalists in Nigeria are not in paid employments while those who are fortunately employed are poorly remunerated.

He regretted that many states were yet to implement the weighing allowance for journalists, which was initiated by the NUJ leadership since 2009.

“A  labourer deserves his wages; unfortunately, this does not apply to journalists in Nigeria. Many journalists today are freelancers because the media houses cannot pay their salaries.

“This has brought a lot of quackery into the profession. We will take the issue of salary and allowances, especially the weighing allowance for our members very seriously.

“We will employ all strategic and legal means to ensure that all the states of the federation implement the weighing allowance for journalists on their payrolls.

“Unionism is all about the welfare and wellbeing of members. It is time for us to compete with our counterparts all over the world,” he said.

Isiguzo, who is also the current Vice President, South East zone of NUJ, stated that his administration would push for Stabilisation Funds (SF) for the media industry in the country.

“Like bailout funds, we are going to reach out to relevant stakeholders in the industry to try to find a way out.

“A lot of people, who come up with newspaper outfits today do not have the financial capacity to run a media house because it is capital intensive.

“The same thing happens in the broadcast industry and that is why journalists are suffering; and that is why we have proliferation of quacks in the profession. This must stop,” he said.

In his remark, Mr Victor Udu, the state chairman of NUJ, described the aspirant as very intelligent and one with the capacity to take the union to the next level.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the delegates’ conference is expected to take place in Abeokuta in October. (NAN)

BEN/ OOA/YEMI

Olabisi Akinbode/Yemi Idris-Aduloju