Author: straightnewsng.com

Workers of National Assembly have commenced the four-day warning industrial action with a threat to put off power supply. The workers are protesting non implementation of the Consolidated legislative Salary Structure (CONLESS) that was approved in 2010 among other demands, The Nation reports. The Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) said the industrial action is not a picket as no one would be stopped from accessing the National Assembly but members of the union would not be allowed to carry out their duties. The workers also said President Muhammadu Buhari would not be stopped from presenting the 2019 Appropriation Bill…

For the third time in the 31-year-old Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria, courts in the state have come under dire straits as a result of lawyers embarking on an indefinite boycott over cumbrous process in filing matters in the courts. During the era of Col. Yakubu Bako (retd), the then military administrator and Obong Victor Attah, the second democratically elected governor of the state, Nigerian Bar Association called out its members on an indefinite boycott of courts over some irreconciliable differences. This time, the lawyers from the four branches of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) started the boycott of the 26…

President Muhammadu Buhari, weekend, met behind closed doors with Kabir Marafa, Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum, Downstream, on measure taken to avert fuel scarcity during the festive season, following the threat by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG. The meeting took place at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, Senator Marafa who is representing Zamfara Central senatorial district said that though there were some technical issues threatening the free flow of the products, there were adequate quantities of the petroleum products in the country that will last six months. He said…

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, has ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Commission, ICPC, to unfreeze the account of Pinnacle Communications Ltd, a firm the Federal Government engaged to implement the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasting in Nigeria. The ICPC had alleged that Pinnacle which is the only private licenced signal distributor involved in the transition process, was fraudulently recommended to the Minister of Information and Culture It consequently placed a post-no-debit restriction on a bank account the firm operated with Zenith Bank Plc. Dissatisfied with the action of the ICPC, the firm approached the…

The Federal Government has commissioned the first-ever Mobile Radio Frequency Monitory Equipment, National Spectrum Management System, Denial of Service, DOS, Equipment and a National Control Centre in Abuja. Commissioning the centre, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of Communication, described the event as historic and necessary, considering the fact that the Ministry is the Secretariat of the National Frequency Management Council, NFMC. Shittu who expressed joy on the successful delivery of the equipment and explained that it was a pioneer project of the current administration and being first of its kind after several attempts and efforts by past administrations to get…

Ahead of the Christmas and New Year celebrations and the 2019 general election, Mr Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector General of Police, has ordered Commissioners of Police and Assistant Inspectors-General of Police to beef up security nationwide. Idris also ordered AIGs and Command Police Commissioners to ensure they remain non partisan and unbiased towards any of the contesting political parties in the discharge of their constitutional duties during the elections in 2019. AIGs and CPs are also directed to re-gird crime prevention and detection strategies, and measures to ensure adequate security throughout the period of Christmas and New Year Celebrations. A…

Some prominent Nigerians have described President Muhammadu Buhari as a committed, progressive concerned with the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians. Former President Goodluck Jonathan, in a goodwill message to Buhari on his 76th birthday, Sunday, “Yours has been a life of great service to our dear nation, having served as a brave soldier, governor, minister of petroleum, head of state and now president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the message reads. “I join you, your family, well-wishers and fellow Nigerians to give thanks to Almighty God for the gift of a long life. “I wish you good health and…

In what is seen as revenue leakage, the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee probing under-remittance to the Federation Account by companies operating in Nigeria has ordered Pillar Oil to refund $300,000 that it failed to remit since 2016 into the Federation Account. Chairman of the Ad-hoc committee, Mr James Faleke, (APC, Lagos) gave the ruling during an investigative hearing on under-remittance of funds to the Federation Account, weekend. Faleke hinged his ruling on the fact that since 2016, Pillar Oil has been exploring oil but failed to pay an outstanding balance of $300,000 for a $1million remittance from 2012. He…

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, Enough is Enough, EiE, and BudgIT have sent a joint Freedom of Information request to Lt. General Tukur Buratai, Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, requesting him to use his good offices and leadership position to “urgently provide information on the 2015, 2016 and 2017 budget implementation reports of the Nigerian Army. The groups also urged General Buratai to furnish them with “the amounts released (financial implications) and expended in fiscal years 2015, 2016 and 2017 for: Operation Lafiya Dole, Operation Safe Haven, Operation Python Dance, Operation Ruwan Wuta, Operation Delta Safe, Operation Mesa, Operation…

The Nigerian Army said, Sunday, its troops located at Gudumbaliin, Borno State, last Friday, repelled an attack by suspected Boko Haram terrorists, who disguised as civilians in Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, camps. The terrorists took advantage of the ongoing distribution of relief materials by the Nigerian Army at Gudumbali and opened fire on the troops. The trucks conveying the relief materials were set ablaze. However, the troops fought gallantly and inflicted heavy casualties on them. A soldier was killed during the encounter, while another was wounded. A Cobra Armoured Personnel Carrier and a truck belonging to the unit were damaged.…