Author: straightnewsng.com

A civil society group, OurMumuDonDo Movement, has called on the federal government to beam its searchlight on the finances of religious groups operating in the country, with a view to making them transparent and accountable to the public. National Secretary of OurMumuDonDo, Raphael Adebayo, made the call in a statement issued during the weekend, against the background of claims by a popular cleric that he was ready to increase the private jets in his fleet to a double digit figure. Adebayo said it was unacceptable that religious leaders would be allowed to continue accruing stupendous wealth without checks, even at the…

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Presidency and the All Progressives Congress, APC, of desperation to remain in power at all costs, to continue to exploit Nigerians, protect corrupt leaders in its fold, cover their incompetence and conceal the humongous sleazes in the administration. According to PDP, this is the reason APC and the cabal at the Presidency resorted to violence, intimidation as well as manipulations and alteration of results at the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to rig the February 23, Presidential election. In a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan,…

Organised Labour has given the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, up to Wednesday May 1, to inaugurate the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust, NSITF, with Chief Frank Ovie Kokori, as chairman, or face its wrath. Labour also warned Ngige against the dropping of the name of President Muhammadu Buhari in the substitution of Chief Frank Kokori as chairman of the board and accused the Minister of employing delayed tactics, while remaining the ‘sole administrator’ of the Fund. Efforts to reach the minister last night for his reaction proved abortive, as he was said to be in…

The rising incidences of kidnapping along the Abuja-Kaduna highway has created a chaotic situation at Idu and Kubwa Train stations in the Abuja, the nation’s capital. Vanguard gathered that the activities of the dreaded kidnappers and armed robbers, operating with sophisticated weapons now make even some of the top brass of the military and security organisations to park their cars and take trains between the two cities. The insecurity on the Abuja-Kaduna road, has forced a lot of travelers to abandon the road, thereby exerting pressure on the train service, with unprecedented large number of passengers moving to the stations,…

Amid calls for the adoption of open ballot system in the election of presiding officers of the 9th National Assembly, two lawmakers in the House of Representatives said Sunday that the lower chamber’s laid down rules could not be disregarded. The lawmakers, Rimamnde Shawulu (PDP-Taraba) and Kehinde Agboola (PDP-Ekiti), made the remarks in separate interviews with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. According to Shawulu, any attempt to change the House of Representatives’ Standing Orders in the 9th Assembly election without following the due process will be an aberration to the practice. The lawmaker, who got re-elected in the…

Detectives attached to Operation Puff Adder have arrested more 18 notorious kidnap suspects across the country, the Police have said. The police in a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, also said the detectives recovered a total of 22 AK 47 rifles, five locally-made pistols and a cache of live ammunition. The statement read: “Sequel to the arrest of the ‘spiritual father’ of kidnappers and armed bandits operating in the Northern part of the country, one Mallam Salisu Abubakar, Police detectives attached to Operation Puff Adder, through a series of detailed, intensive and sustained investigative operations,…

The Lamido of Adamawa, Aliyu Mustapha, said weekend that he was detained by the military administration of Muhammadu Buhari after it toppled the civilian administration led by the then President Shehu Shagari in 1983 because he was a commissioner in the civilian government of the then Gongola State. Mustapha gave the explanation while receiving the Programme Manager of Wadata Communication Limited, Zubair Idris, who paid him a courtesy visit after an event in Yola, recalled that the new military regime ordered the detention of all the politicians in government at the time for investigation for alleged corruption. “I was investigated…

Joint Admission Matricualtion Board, JAMB has alerted of fresh plots being deployed by fraudsters to dupe unsuspecting candidates as they await release of the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, results. In a weekly news bulletin released to the media on Sunday by Dr. Fabian Benjamin, its Head of Media, the board advised candidates to jealously guard their UTME registration numbers and profile codes to avoid falling victim of this latest scam. It also said more than 200 candidates, drawn from seven countries, participated in its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME. JAMB stated: ”Candidates should know that what these fraudsters…

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State to reject the proposed life pension bill for lawmakers in the state. The bill which was proposed last week by the leader of the House of Assembly Peter Akpe,  will grant life pensions to Speakers, Deputy Speakers and other members. Under the bill, Speakers will go home with N500,000 monthly, deputy speakers will receive N200,000 while 24 other members will each collect N100,000. The House is seeking life pensions for members similar to those “applicable to former Presidents, Vice-presidents, Governors and deputy governors across the…

Dominic Thiem  started slowly and finished brilliantly on Sunday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The third seed went down an early break to seventh seed Danil Medvedev of Russia, but won 12 of the last 13 games to take the title 6-4, 6-0. The Austrian became just the fourth player in the past 15 years to lift the title in Barcelona, joining Rafael Nadal, Kei Nishikori and Fernando Verdasco. He’s also the first Austrian winner at this event since Thomas Muster in 1996. Thiem now has 13 ATP Tour titles, nine of which have come on clay. “Winning this…