Author: straightnewsng.com

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…

Worried by the invasion of the National Assembly complex by men of the Department of State Services, DSS, penultimate Tuesday, senators have concluded arrangements to sponsor a motion demanding judicial probe. Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy, Senator Isa Hamma Misau, PDP, Bauchi Central and Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, PDP, Kwara South, Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, said Thursday that they would sponsor the motion when the Senate resumes plenary in September. The senators said they would in the motion insist that the Federal Government should urgently set up a judicial commission of inquiry to probe the…

The fortunes of two senior football teams in the country, Thursday, fluctuated as Nigeria’s Super Eagles dropped by one spot to 41st position in the new ranking formula FIFA, the World football governing body while the Falconets suffered 2-1 defeat to the Spanish team. In the ranking table published on FIFA website, Nigeria garnered 613 points in August, placing it sixth on the continental stage behind Senegal, Congo DR, Ghana, Morocco and Cameroon. On the global scene, France climbed to the summit of a much-changed FIFA/Coca-Cola World ranking in the first edition of the global ladder since the new ranking…

To mark the 2018 Eid-El-Kabir celebration, the Federal Government has declared Tuesday, August 21 and Wednesday 22 August as public holidays. This was contained in a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior and signed by Dr M. B. Umar, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry. “The Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, retd, who made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government, enjoined Nigerians to use the period to embrace the virtues of love and sacrifice for the unity and development of the nation. “He called on Nigerians both at home and abroad to support the…

Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, is said to be owing states in the country N41 billion on Value Added Tax, VAT. Governor Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State speaking to State House correspondents in Abuja said the matter was discussed at the Governors’ Forum meeting. Badaru said, “We had briefing from the chairman of the FIRS and it dwelt on two aspects of tax issues. One is on the Value Added Tax, VAT, that is being collected by states and he informed the states where their positions are and the outstanding due to the states of about N41 billion that he…

In a manner akin to clamouring for restructuring, the National Economic Council, NEC, has set up a committee in the six-geopolitical zones of the country to decentralise the operations of the Nigeria Police Force. This came as National Security Adviser, NSA, Babagana Monguno, said that the ongoing security challenges in the country was asymmetric which cannot be overcome within a short period. This is even as the Nigeria’s Governors Forum, NGF, has hired the services of lawyers to challenge the intrusion in the security votes of state governors. Briefing State House correspondents after the monthly NEC presided over by Yemi…