Author: straightnewsng.com

Public servants in Akwa Ibom State may soon enjoy the N70,000 new National Minimum Wage as soon as Federal Government releases modalities, Akwa Ibom Governor Umo Eno has assured. Eno stated this on Saturday during a MediaChat with reporters, editors and publishers at Banquet Hall in Uyo as part of the events to mark the Akwa Ibom 37th creation anniversary. President Bola Tinubu signed the minimum wage bill into law, ending months of deliberations between government authorities, and Organised Labour. Tinubu signed it at the State House in Abuja on Monday,  July 29, 2024 days after the National Assembly National had…

Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno said he would soon dissolve the State Executive Council and boards of parastatals and agencies to rejig them. Eno  announced this on Saturday during a MediaChat at Banquet Hall in Uyo with reporters, editors and publishers as part of the events to mark the Akwa Ibom 37th creation anniversary. Before his election as governor, Mr Eno was commissioner of Lands and Water Resources in the administration of his predecessor, Udom Emmanuel. Mr Eno inherited 100 per cent of the cabinet members as well as boards and agencies and parastatals of the former administration, but appointed…

A member representing Ikot Ekpene/Essien Udim/Obot Akara Federal Constituency, Hon. Patrick Umoh, has sponsored the highest quality of bills on Constitutional amendment in the first legislative year of the 10th assembly of the House of Representatives, according to FACTSHEET. In its May 2024 publication, the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, PLAC, a Non-Governmental Organisation working on legislative strengthening, elections and Civil Society Organisations engagement, in collaboration with the House of Representatives, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, FCDO, (formerly Department for International Development, DFID), listed Hon. Umoh as ranking highest in Bills on Constitutional amendment. Some of the…

By Abasifreke Effiong General Notes: I will use public relations officers and media relations or media mangers interchangeably throughout this short presentation to refer to the same set of persons – Corporate Affairs Managers, Press Secretaries, Publicity Secretaries, Information Officers, Spokespersons, Media Advisers, Media Aides, and the latest additions, Media team and Media unit. This is my 18th year in practice as a journalist, so I’d speak objectively from my observations and experiences about the relationship between media managers and journalists in Akwa Ibom State. The Reality The relationship between media managers and journalists in Akwa Ibom state has evolved…

The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly (AKHA) has resolved controversies that arose during the Second Amendment of the Traditional Rulers Council law last year.  The Office of the President-General to last four would be ceremonial and be rotated among the three ethnic groups in the state.  Consequently, the House has given an accelerated hearing for a law to further amend the Traditional Rulers Law Cap 155 Law of Akwa Ibom State 2022 (as amended). The Speaker, Elder Udeme Otong, who presided over plenary directed the Clerk to read the Executive bill at plenary on Friday, September 20, 2024. Related…

By Israel Umoh Today, I don’t only see you as stakeholders selected from a gamut of more than 800 journalists, but also as brethren. As brethren, red blood flows in us, our flesh is Mammalian, we breathe the same oxygen and we feel pain as humans.  Brethren, we played the Biblical Gideon’s card in selecting you to join in the clamour of rebuilding the near-broken walls of media industry in the state. Gideon divided his army into two groups—those who lap the water like a dog and those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men scooped up water in…

As the Edo State governorship election holds on Saturday, September 21, 2024, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has deployed its operatives to all local government areas in Edo State to tackle voters’ inducement. A statement on Friday by the Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale said the Executive Chairman of the Commission, Ola Olukoyede, stated that the EFCC was committed to ensuring electoral integrity. He vowed to insulate voters from financial inducement in exercising their franchise. The statement read, “Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have deployed operatives to all local government areas in Edo State to tackle voters’ inducement…

By Straightnews The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has bewailed that the current price of petrol has eroded the gains of the yet-to-be-implemented N70,000 new national minimum wage.  In July 2024, NLC President Joe Ajaero said Mr Ajaero said the labour union “accepted the president’s offer of N70,000…as the new National Minimum Wage and the 3-yearly tenure for its review.” The Organised Labour initially demanded a minimum wage of N615,000, citing economic challenges and the rising cost of living, until the President tricked the labour to accepting and therefore went ahead to increase the petrol pump price per litre. President of…

By Straightnews Ahead of the October 5 local government elections, All Progressives Congress (APC), Akwa Ibom State chapter says 29 chairmanship and 368 councillorship candidates have been cleared. But, the party says it is contesting against the decision of Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC) in failing to clear the two disqualified chairmanship candidates. Addressing a press conference at the NUJ secretariat, Uyo on Tuesday, ahead of September 18 flag-off at Ikot Ekpene Township Stadium, Chairman, APC Local Government Elections Campaign/Planning Committee, Senator Ita Enang announced the party’s preparedness to surmount all odds to secure victory for its candidates.…

By Straightnews The South South geo-political zone under the aegis of Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has called on President Bola Tinubu to create modular refineries in the Niger Delta to complement the efforts of Dangote Refinery. To tackle the menace of illegal oil refining and crude oil theft, Nigerian military forces have destroyed no fewer than 137 illegal refineries in a series of operations carried out between August 2023 and July 2024, The Punch reported. PANDEF, in a statement by its Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, said the policy of Modular Refineries was already endorsed by the administration of former President…