Author: straightnewsng.com

More than 220,000 people in central Japan were evacuated on Wednesday as torrential rains hit the area after leaving at least 58 dead in the country’s southwest. Most of the central regions have been placed under a severe weather alert due to the storms and flooding, which have seen the worst rainfall recorded in the country for several decades. The Gifu and Nagano prefectures have been the most affected by the downpours, which has led authorities to issue the highest weather warning and relocate around 220,000 residents to safety. More than 800 millimeters of rain has fallen in the area…

The White House has expressed concern by some people, especially the protesters of “Black Lives Matter” campaign to erase the valued contributions by their ancestors to the emergence and growth of the United States of America. This concern arose from defacing and demolition of statues of confederates following the May 25 police killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an African American man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck and whose death galvanized protesters around the globe to rally against police brutality and racism. From its Twitter handle, White House (@WhiteHouse) tweeted on July…

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Akwa Ibom State Chapter is rumbling against President Muhammadu Buhari over what it described as “unfamiliar method” adopted in appointing people from the state to political offices without reference to the party. In a press release dated July 7 and entitled: Extraneous Federal Appointment from Akwa Ibom State, the party particularly faulted the appointment of a foreign envoy nominee, Oboro Effiong Akpabio, who the party claimed, was not from the State. The release signed by Nkereuwem Eyongekere, APC’s Publicity Secretary in the state noted that such an appointment was already unsettling members and weakening the…

Owing to uproar and complaints that greeted the salary cut and wage review of staffers of Public Service in Akwa Ibom, the state Government has backed down with a pledge to refund outstanding deductions in the month of June 2020 to the beneficiaries. The government, in a circular No. GHU/AKS/S/175/VOL.38 of June 25, 2020 had undertaken to review the Consolidated Akwa Ibom State Enhanced Public Service Salary (CONAKESS) table which was adopted by the New National Minimum Wage Agreement of January 01, 2020. Straightnews learned that the circular signed by Ephraim Inyang-eyen, the Chief of Staff to Governor Udom Emmanuel,…

The House of Representatives, Tuesday, is poised for war with theNigerian Police and the Directorate of State Security over their refusal to arrest ministers and heads of agencies summoned by the house. Consequently, the house has consolidated two Bills, seeking to penalise officers of the Nigerian Police and the DSS, for failure to arrest and compel the appearance of Ministers and Heads of agencies, who fail to honour summons of the National Assembly. The National Assembly is empowered by sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, to investigate agencies and cause arrest, of those who do not cooperate with…

Nigeria’s economic losses are put at N10 trillion yearly caused by unsteady electricity supply, the World Bank has admitted. In a new report, the World Bank noted that transition from a publicly-owned to largely privately-owned power market, which began in 2013, did not bring the expected outcomes. “The sector is under severe stress,” it said, adding that the causes for the stress were interlinked and the result of key stakeholders falling short of their expected contributions for achieving sector turnaround. The report said this had led to a lack of trust between key stakeholders and among the general public with…

The West African Senior Examinations Council (WASEC) examination that was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic will hold from August 4 to September 5, 2020. The Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, who made the announcement at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 in Abuja on Monday, said arrangement would be made for those wishing to attend revision classes. He stated that the country had more than 19,000 centres for the examination, adding that NABTEB and NECO would follow at after the WAEC examination. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has unveiled a new…

Nigeria’s COVID-19 cases surged to 28,711 as 544 new infections were announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). This is as Akwa Ibom State netted eight new Coronavirus cases, bringing to the total number to 122. The NCDC stated this on its verified Twitter handle on Sunday night, saying that Lagos recorded 199 of the new infections. “On the 5th of July 2020, 544 new confirmed cases and 11 deaths were recorded in Nigeria. No new state has reported a case in the last 24 hours. “Till date, 28711 cases have been confirmed, 11665 cases have been discharged…

Akwa Ibom Government has given ExxonMobil, the oil giant, a seven-day ultimatum to comply with stipulated COVID-19 guidelines or the government will shut down its quarantine centres in the state. The Chairman of Akwa Ibom COVID-19 Management Committee, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, while speaking with Government House correspondents in Uyo on Saturday, accused ExxonMobil of flouting the AKSG/NCDC/WHO laid-down protocols in its quarantine centres. These breaches, according to him, are capable of endangering the lives of not just ExxonMobil staffers, but also that of the people in the state. Ekuwem, who is also the Secretary to the State Government, said the…

President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to order an investigation into allegations that more than N300 billion of public funds was missed, mismanaged, diverted or stolen, as documented in the 2017 audited report by the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF). Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) also urged the President to direct the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, and appropriate anti-corruption agencies to urgently investigate the allegations. SERAP asked Buhari to publish details of N800 billion recovered loot and also urged him to direct Mr. Malami and the anti-corruption agencies to promptly…