Author: straightnewsng.com

‘’I have not taken my bath, shaven nor trimmed my hair since I was taken and this is the only clothes that I put since I was captured,’’ says a freed official of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC abducted more than two months ago in Akwa Ibom community. Otobong Sylvester Ukpong, the INEC official seized on June 5, 2018 was said to have been blindfolded and taken by two gunmen on motorbikes into an untended bush in Ikot Akpan Eyara in Ukanafun local government area. Narrating his ordeals in the hands of his abductors, Ukpong kidnapped while he was going…

Racket-smashing Novak Djokovic closed in on the one title that has eluded him, reaching the final of the Western & Southern Open on Saturday with a three-set victory over Marin Cilic. His 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win moved him one victory away from the only ATP Masters 1000 title he’s never claimed. Djokovic is trying to become the first to win all nine events since the series started in 1990. One big hurdle: a rematch with Roger Federer, who defeated David Goffin in the other semifinal. Federer has won an unprecedented seven Cincinnati titles, beating Djokovic three times in championship matches.…

Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo, Saturday, declared a one-week mourning to pay homage to former UN Secretary-General and Nobel laureate, Kofi Annan. In a statement, Akuffo-Addo described Annan as a “consummate” diplomat, and noted that Ghana was “deeply saddened” by news of his death in Switzerland on Saturday after a short illness. Born in Kumasi, the capital city of Ghana’s Ashanti region, Annan became the first black head of the United Nations. “I have directed that, in his honour, Ghana’s national flag will fly at half-mast across the country and in all of Ghana’s diplomatic missions across the world” for one…

The request by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for N189 billion to prosecute the 2019 general elections hit a rock Friday following disagreement among the members compelling the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters to adjourn indefinitely. This is coming on the heels of the disclosure by Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that Nigeria now has 82 million registered voters. Members of the National Assembly Joint Committee toed their respective political party lines in their debate on the amount that should be approved by the committee for INEC. Whereas the Peoples Democratic Party…

Akwa Ibom Governor Udom Emmanuel has attributed the political persecution of Bukola Saraki, the Senate President by the Nigerian government to his worth and capacity to positively turn things around in the country. Emmanuel said “If you don’t have anything to offer, nobody will attack you. You are being attacked because you are about scoring goal. So, don’t take that for granted, count it all joy and blessing. We really love the way you protect project Nigeria”. The governor who spoke this on Friday when Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, the Senate President paid him a solidarity visit at Government House, Uyo,…

Nine persons from Etim Ekpo and Ukanafun local government areas in Akwa Ibom State abducted by unknown gunmen have been rescued by men of Akwa Ibom Police Command. Among those rescued are Otobong Sylvester Ukpong, a staff of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC attached to Ukanafun; seven women from Ikot Inyang Abia in Ukanafun and one man from Ikot Esop in Etim Ekpo local government area. Straightnews had reported in its edition of June 6, 2018 that unknown gunmen had abducted an official of INEC, serving in Ukanafun local government area also an indigene of Iwukem in Etim Ekpo, Otobong…

What began like a cult war by some aggrieved youths in Etim Ekpo and Ukanafun local government areas in Akwa Ibom State has degenerated into militancy, taking a heavy toll on the lives of law enforcement agents and civilians. Reports have it that a police officer of Akwa Ibom Police Command attached to headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia in Uyo was, Thursday, killed by suspected militants in Ikpe Annang, Etim Ekpo. This brings to three, the number of police officers so far killed by the militants in Etim Ekpo and Ukanafun this year, according to an authoritative source. Recall that July…

A Nigerian power production company, Top Two Group, is to build a 5-megawatts capacity power plant for a South African-company- Country Bird Holdings, owners of Valentine Chickens Farms in Songa, Kwara State. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, already signed between the Nigerian company and the South African entity, Top Two Group is to build, own and operate the plant and provide sustainable energy services to Valentine Chickens Farms and adjoining farms in the area. In order to get the job done successfully, Top Two Limited, a member of TOP TWO GROUP, has engaged ABDC Energy Ltd, a UK-based firm,…

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has attributed the drop in power generation to the continuous rejection of load by the Distribution Companies, DISCOs, due to frequency management. The corporation stated this in a statement signed by Ndu Ughamadu, its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, in Abuja. Ughamadu said that power generation dropped by 712MW on August13, compared to the previous day, adding that output from all the hydro power plants and some gas-fired stations, including Egbin in Lagos, suffered decline. He said, “The drop in power generation could have been triggered mainly by the continuous rejection of load…

The meeting between Senators and members of the House of Representatives over budget for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Thursday ended in a deadlock. The electoral commission is seeking budgetary approval of N189billion to conduct the 2019 general elections. The meeting came to a stalemate as the lawmakers could not agree on the figures presented to both chambers of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari and Professor Mahmood Yakubu, chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Against this backdrop, the lawmakers have summoned the INEC boss to appear before the joint committed of the Senate and House of Representatives…