Author: straightnewsng.com

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, will today, commence hearing on the petition the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, filed to challenge the outcome of the February 23 presidential election. The petitioners, are seeking to invalidate the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as winner of the presidential contest. It was learned last night that a five-man panel of Justices of the Court of Appeal will conduct pre-hearing session on the petition Atiku and his party lodged before the tribunal on March 18. It was, however, not clear if…

Super Eagles stand-in captain, Ahmed Musa, has redeemed his promise to the U-23 side following their astonishing 4-0 win over Libya on Monday evening. The Dream Team were trailing the Libyans 2-0 from the first leg last week and needed a resounding win to qualify. To encourage the lads ahead of the daunting task, Musa promised to pay N1million per goal scored. Former Media Officer of the senior Eagles, Colin Udoh, has confirmed that the former Leicester City winger has sent the money. “JUST IN. @NGSuperEagles captain @Ahmedmusa718 has fulfilled his promise of a million naira for every goal scored…

The Super Eagles of Nigeria wrapped up the international break with a 1-0 win over Egypt’s Pharaohs in a friendly match at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, in Delta State on Tuesday. Debutant Paul Onuachu secured victory for the Eagles with an 8-second screamer, a kick-off which undoubtedly entered the record books as the second fastest goal in international football. Onuachu’s strike was the second fastest goal in international goal after Lukas Podolski’s, with the German striker netting after six seconds in a friendly against Ecuador in 2013. However, Onauchu replaced Odion Ighalo in one of three changes Rohr made…

The Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Mr. Tunde Fowler, has said that the Value Added Tax, VAT, was designed to support poor people, and not to create hardship for them. Reacting to concerns that the proposed increase in VAT would cause more hardship for the poor, Fowler said, “When you don’t consume certain categories of goods and services, you are not liable to pay VAT charges on those items. “VAT is not charged on all medical and pharmaceutical products. It is not charged on basic food items, books and educational materials, baby products, fertilizers, locally produced agricultural and…

Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, in the North East have called on the Federal Government to take necessary steps to ameliorate the sufferings of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country. They made the call, Tuesday, at the end of a symposium facilitated by the Norwegian Refugees Council, NRC, in Abuja. The CSOs stated that the welfare needs of IDPs would be addressed by the government’s domestication of the Kampala Convention, which it signed and ratified in 2016 and renewed in 2019. “The Federal Government has been trying its best. Of course, we know resources are scarce but we are mindful…

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has placed on hold, its earlier decision to present Certificates of Return to Muktar Idris, Governor-elect in Zamfara State as well as state Assembly members-elect. The exercise which would have taken place Tuesday, was suspended following a judgment of the appellate court regarding the sponsoring of candidates by the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state. According to the commission, it has now been served with a copy of the court judgment. “INEC has been served with the judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting in Sokoto concerning the sponsoring of candidates by the…

The Senate, Tuesday, scored the Ministry of Finance F9, which is WAEC (West Africa Examination Council) standard in budget releases to the Federal Capital Territory, FCT in 2018. It, according to the assessment, gave the Ministry 31.9 percent for the releases from the N30.4billion that was approved in the budget. Meanwhile, the Senate, Tuesday, kicked against what it described as yearly drastic reduction in the capital component budgetary allocations to the territory. Speaking in Abuja when Muhammed Bello, the Minister of the FCT, appeared before the Committee on FCT to defend the 2019 budget, Senator Dino Melaye (PDP Kogi West),…

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, says “The victory of the PDP in Bauchi State is the crowning of the struggle for the emancipation and liberation of our people from the forces of darkness, evil and retrogression that had held the state captive and hostage for over a decade.” In a statement after the declaration of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, Sen. Bala Mohammed, as the winner of the governorship election, Dogara said that Bauchi State has been emancipated from forces of retrogression. He advised the governor-elect not to take the trust reposed in them by…

The Federal Government has directed all its Ministries, Departments and Agencies to henceforth, patronise internationally accredited services of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, for the certification of their management systems and processes in accordance with international best practices. A circular from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, informed all MDAs of the attainment of international accreditation for the SON Management Systems Certification, MSC, services. The scope of the accreditation, according to the circular, covers four International Organisation for Standardisation, ISO standards namely; Quality Management, Systems, QMS, Standards, Environmental Management Systems, EMS Standards, Food Safety Management Systems,…

Victor Osimhen on Monday netted a hat-trick as Nigeria again rose to the occasion in continental football with the 4-0 demolition of Libya in the return leg tie of the U23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) decided at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba. Nigeria following a 0-2 loss they had suffered in Tunisia, qualified for the U23 AFCON scheduled to take place in November 4-2 on aggregate. The Libyans were on the defensive in the better part of the game as the Dream Team VII were on the rampage in their bid to restore the national pride. First choice, Francis…