Author: straightnewsng.com

Mohammed Adamu, Acting Inspector-General of Police IGP, says the force has identified flash points across the country and individuals who could cause a breach of the peace, assuring Nigerians of adequate security ahead of next month’s general elections. Adamu, while briefing the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and sister agencies at a meeting of the Inter Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, lCCES, in Abuja Thursday, vowed to decisively deal with such threats. A summary of his briefing was contained in a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi. Giving an insight into…

Akwa Ibom Police Command was smarter in bursting a syndicate of three women who allegedly sold two children of their neighbour on the guise of taking them to Mrs Martha Udom Emmanuel, the wife of the state governor, for financial assistance. The suspects- Enobong Nsikak Sunday, Mary Okon Bassey and Gertrude Thompson Akpan- were said to have tricked and collected the two children of one Emem Wanakwo on the pretence of taking them to the governor’s wife for aid. Mr. Musa Kimo, the Akwa Ibom Police Commissioner who told the press on Thursday at the police headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia…

A senior staffer of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Akwa Ibom State Command was among the six persons arrested and arraigned in court over alleged vandalisation of four transformers valued at N18 million in Uyo, Akwa Ibom capital. He is one Inspector Emmanuel Sampson attached to the command. Others are Kufre Elijah Okon, Daniel Okon Udom, Maurice Cosmos Akpan, Henshaw Ini Peter and Daniel Isaac Omnipotent, all males and staffers of Teskom Guards Security, situated at 15 IBB Way in Uyo local government area. They were said to have been arrested while they were vandalising the 300/33/0.415 KV…

Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, Thursday, said it was alien to have two minimum wage. NECA’s declaration came against the backdrop of approval of two separate minimum wage figures, including N30,000 for federal workers and N27,000 for states and the private sector. It, however, urged organized labour to lobby the National Assembly, NASS, for a minimumn wage of N30,000 across board, insisting there was nothing wrong with the “recommendation” of NSC. Recall that while NSC approved N27, 000 as minimum wage for states and private sector employers, and N30,000 for federal government workers. Speaking on the issue, Mr. Timothy Olawale,…

The two arms of the National Assembly, Senate and the House of representatives, Thursday gave accelerated considerations to the New Minimum Wage Bill sent to them by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday. While the 8th Senate, for the first time, suspended its rules for the bill to scale first and second reading, the House of Representatives did not only vow to pass the bill within a week but also insisted that the new minimum wage must be N30,000 across board, instead of the N27,000 approved for states and the private sector by the National Council of State, NCS. The Senate,…

The United States and United Kingdom, Thursday, vowed to impose visa restrictions on people who will perpetrate violence in this year’s elections. The United Kingdom particularly threatened to ensure that perpetrators of violence were prosecuted in accordance with international law. The countries in separate statements issued in Abuja Thursday, said all they needed to happen were free, fair and credible elections. On its part, the US explained in its statement that under its immigration law, certain violations might also lead to restrictions on family members. The statement reads: “The conduct of the upcoming elections in Nigeria is important not only…

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, Thursday, ordered the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, to stay further proceedings on the six-count charge the Federal Government preferred against the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen. The appellate court ordered the Mr. Danladi Umar’s led tribunal to temporarily hands off the matter till January 30, a date fixed to deliver ruling on an appeal the embattled CJN lodged before it. A three-man panel of Justices of the appellate court led by Justice Abdul Aboki gave the order after it listened to counsel to the CJN and that of FG,…

The National Minimum Wage Bill (2019), on Thursday, got accelerated legislations from both the Senate and House of Representatives as a means of aiding speedy passage into law. In Senate, the bill scaled both first and second reading in the Senate after which it was committed to a Special Ad-hoc Committee for further legislative work. Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over plenary, noted that the Senate decided to give the National Minimum Wage Bill presented to it by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday an accelerated hearing due to its importance. Ekweremadu added that this is the first time…

The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Thursday, declared former Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke as the authentic presidential flag-bearer of the Social Democratic Party, SDP. The appellate court, in a unanimous judgement by a three-man panel of Justices, vacated a judgement of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, which had on December 14, 2018, voided the emergence of Duke as SDP’s candidate for the 2019 Presidential Election. The High Court had maintained that Duke’s emergence was in violation of a zoning arrangement the party adopted with a view to ensuring that a President and…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it is impossible for any candidate to withdraw from the presidential election at this stage. The said election is coming up on February 16, 2019. The spokesperson of INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, stated this in reaction to the statement earlier on Thursday by the candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Oby Ezekwesili, that she was withdrawing from the poll. Mrs Ezekwesili said she was withdrawing so as to help form a coalition against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the major opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at…