PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari is currently presiding over the Security Council meeting at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja. In attendance are the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, and the National Security Adviser, NSA, Major General Babagana Monguno (retd). Others are the Service Chiefs led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas, and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar. Also present…
Author: YemieFash
ShopRite Nigeria has debunked the story making the rounds that it intends to close shop in Nigeria. The Country Director for Chastex Consult, Ini Archibong, in a telephone conversation with Vanguard, said: “Shoprite is not leaving Nigeria. “We have only just opened to Nigerian investors which we have also been talking to just before now. We are not leaving, who leaves over a $30billion investment and close shop? It doesn’t sound right. “We only just given this opportunity to Nigeria investors to come in and also help drive our expansion plan in Nigeria. So we are not leaving. “I have…
THE Federal Government on Monday advised stakeholders in the education sector to ensure adherence to COVID-19 prevention protocols as schools open for exit classes. Secretary to the Government of the Federation and PTF Chairman Boss Mustapha said during a briefing in Abuja that all stakeholders must ensure strict compliance with precautionary measures. Mustapha said: “I wish to restate that the education sector is critical for the development of our children and our nation. “Reopening the sector is also a source of concern based on the fact that the school system remains a veritable ground for increasing community transmission if appropriate…
THERE were indications on Monday that cracks had developed in the Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This followed reluctance of the party’s governorship candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, to accept embattled Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi as his running mate. Also, the division in the state’s chapter of the party has been linked to the Cold War over PDP’s 2023 presidential slot. Jegede is a close ally of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; he won the primaries, despite the support Ajayi got from five PDP governors. The five governors had attempted to use the primaries to stop Jegede from becoming…
THE organised labour in Ekiti State has suspended the three-day warning strike embarked on to protest the failure of the government to pay its members’ entitlements. The industrial action, which began on Monday, was suspended indefinitely following government’s readiness to meet some of the demands outlined by organised labour at a meeting held midnight Sunday. Despite the action taken to pacify the aggrieved labour leaders, the strike was successful yesterday before the dramatic turn of events, as workers complied with the labour’s directive, by shunning their duty posts. Our correspondent, who visited the new secretariat on new Iyin Road and…
The Nigerian government spent about N523.3 million on school feeding programme during the lockdown against the coronavirus pandemic. The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (MHADMSD), Sadiya Farouq, announced this at the Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19 on Monday in Abuja. Farouk made the revelation against the rumours and speculations surrounding the Home Grown School Feeding Programme. She said that the programme was modified and implemented in three states following a March 29 presidential directive. “It is critical at this juncture to provide details that will help puncture the tissue of lies being peddled in the…
THE N6.25bn approved by President Muhammadu Buhari as COVID-19 palliatives for indigent persons in Niger Delta was diverted by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chairman of the Palliative Distribution Committee (PDC) , High Chief Sobomabo Jackrich, has alleged. Jackrich, in a petition he sent to both the Senate and the House of Representatives , prayed the two chambers of the National Assemby to investigate his claim with a view to compelling the Prof. Keme Pondei-led IMC to account for the money. Incidentally, Pondei yesterday insisted that the National Assembly ad-hoc committees probing the…
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied a report that it has substituted the name of the African Action Congress (AAC) governorship candidate and his running mate in the Ondo State governorship election. The electoral umpire in a statement issued and signed by Barrister Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, insisted that names sent by AAC national chairman, Dr Leonard Nzenwa as at July 28, being the deadline for nominations of candidates, were the names published on INEC website along with 16 other candidates for the October election. The Commission further submitted that…
Air Peace, has sacked scores of pilots across its fleet and have slashed staff salaries by up to 40 per cent. This was confirmed on Monday by the airline’s spokesman, Mr. Stanley Olise. According to Mr. Olise’s statement, the retrenchment, and shedding of staff is not unlinked with the economic devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Describing the sacking as “painful but rightful decision,” the airline’s management said the cutbacks were necessary to ensure that Air Peace survives the hardship of the times. The spokesman’s communique further stressed that the decision was inevitable under the circumstances, adding that the move…
Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, on Monday, cancelled the initially announced Covid-19 test requirement for resuming pupils in exiting classes. There has been outrage by parents of pupils in private secondary schools in the state over the request of N25,000 COVID-19 test fee by the government. But in a statement on Monday evening titled, “Ogun Makes COVID-19 Test Free For All Returning SS3 Boarding Students”, the governor stepped down the COVID-19 test as a requirement for each graduating pupil to resume. The statement read, “After reviewing these developments, I have today immediately directed that the Government Laboratories carry out…