Author: straightnewsng.com

By Akanimo Sampson Fear of the rampaging coronavirus disease has forced the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to suspend their weekly Federal Executive Council meeting. Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, announced this in Abuja on Monday. Mustapha who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, says the weekly federal executive council will be suspended “until further notice”. The Buhari administration also announced the closure of all land borders for four weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the SGF, “after a further review, Mr. President on the recommendation of Presidential Task Force…

Despite the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee sharing N581.566 billion revenue in February 2020 among the Federal, States and Local Governments in the country, the allocations to the three tiers have suffered a drastic shortfall. The Federal Government received N6.966 billion, 36 State Governments collected N3.533 billion, 774 Local Government Councils got N2.724 billion while the Oil Producing States received N1.976 billion. The N581.566 billion shared in February 2020 is lower by N59.195 billion or 65.97 per cent than N647.35 billion shared in January 2020. A communique issued after a rescheduled meeting of FAAC held in Abuja said the amount comprised…

Senator Rose Oko, who represented Cross River North in the Hallowed chamber, is dead. Until her untimely demise, Oko who died last night at a UK medical facility was the Chairman, Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, and a member of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Aged 63, the Senator was elected into office as the first female Senator from her Senatorial District in June 2015 in the 8th Senate and was re-elected in 2019. Her death came after Senator Ignatius Datong Longjan, the Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, All Progressives Congress, APC, Plateau South died on Sunday, February 10,…

As part of a comprehensive response mechanism to contain the ravaging Coronavirus pandemic in the country, the Akwa Ibom Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has postponed its State Congress. The congress earlier slated for Tuesday, March 24, 2020, at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo also known as the Nest of Champions would have hosted more than 2,000 delegates. A press release signed by Comrade Ini Ememobong, the State Publicity Secretary of the party announced that the National Working Committee and Independent National Electoral Commission have suspended political activities following the pandemic scare. “While we are yet to record any confirmed case in…

The coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged many countries in the world has dealt a devastating blow on two prominent Nigerian families, claiming one life. Suleiman Achimugu, former managing director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a victim of the pandemic died Monday at 2 a.m. The death of the 67-year-old who been had underlying medical issues and was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer is the first recorded death from the pandemic in the country. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed the death in its update on the virus on Monday. ”Our family is deeply saddened to inform you…

A Federal High Court in Lagos has fined Facebook Inc and Facebook Ireland Ltd for unlawfully interfering with the use of a Nigerian firm’s trademark. Justice Ayokunle Faji ordered Facebook to pay N10 million to Double Paws Enterprise as damages. The judge upheld Double Paws’ claim that Facebook interfered with the Nigerian firm’s ‘Pawsbook’ trademark. The judge, who delivered the judgment last Friday, also granted an order of perpetual injunction restraining Facebook from interfering with the plaintiff’s statutory rights under the Trademark Act. Double Paws filed the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1164/2017, through its counsel Gideon Okebu in July 2017. It claimed…

By Akanimo Sampson The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 30 cases of the coronavirus pandemic have now been confirmed in the country. This is coming as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says due to the complexity of the pandemic, flexible resources at the global level will be essential to responding to priority countries and where needs are greatest. Already, the indicative funding requirement supporting UNFPA’s planned interventions stands at $67,500,000 for two months (March and April). Given the fact that coronavirus is a rapidly-evolving outbreak, the funding requirements, according to UNFPA, are provisional and will be revised…

Lagos State Government has directed its public servants on Grade 01-12 to stay at home for the next 14 days as a precaution to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic. However, staffers in the health sector, water board and other essential duties are exempted from the directive but are asked to continue with their official duties. Addressing a press conference in Lagos on Sunday, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor said the Lagos State government was still monitoring the situation apart from the 19 reported coronavirus cases in the state, advising Lagos residents to observe social distancing to curb the spread…

By Akanimo Sampson More than 320 million children around the world are currently missing out on school meals due to school closures because of the coronavirus pandemic. Many of the children, according to a key United Nations agency, are from poor families and depend on the daily meals they receive at school. Some 37 countries where the World Food Programme (WFP) implements school feeding programmes have so far reported partial or country-wide closure of school. This means that nearly nine million children are no longer receiving WFP-supported school meals – and that number is set to rise in coming days…

By Akanimo Sampson Organic farmland in Europe has increased by more than one million hectares just as organic producers are also on the rise. The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) says organic land increased by 1.25 million hectares in Europe and by one million hectares in the European Union, representing an increase of 8.7 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. France reported over 290,000 hectares more than in 2017 and Spain reported over 160,000 hectares more. FiBL is, however, one of the world’s leading institutes in the field of organic agriculture. Its locations are situated in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France…