Author: straightnewsng.com

The controversy generated by the refunds of money to Akwa Ibom State Government over federal roads it constructed has reached a ridiculous height owing to various figures bandied by different government officials. Senator Ita Enang, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, had stoked the fire by saying that the Federal Government had refunded N78.2 billion to the Akwa Ibom State Government over federal roads it constructed over the years during the era of Godswill Akpabio. Shortly, Mr. Ephraim Inyang-eyen, the Commissioner for Works, refuted the claim, telling journalists that the Federal Government refunded N20 billion…

By: Israel Umoh The drama for the implementation of the new National Minimum Wage in Akwa Ibom is not yet over as Governor Udom Emmanuel is yet to give an official seal to the agreement for payment of the same to workers in the state. Though the leadership of the organised labour and the state government officials signed the agreement for the implementation of the new National Minimum Wage on Thursday, January 23, it is not yet ‘uhuru’ for the workers to celebrate. Speaking with Comfort FM Radio, Uyo on Friday, January 24, Elder Effiong Essien, the state Head of…

Akwa Ibom State has joined the top five of the leading debtor-states in the country, according to the latest statistics obtained from the Debt Management Office (DMO) website. Data from the DMO shows that Akwa Ibom is indebted to the tune of N237,404,479,750.88. However, Lagos State leads the debt profile with N441,668,732,162.26; Rivers is next with N266,936,225,793.65, while Delta and Cross River states follow with N230,574,799,366.01 and N167,967,705,888.45 respectively. Apart from the top five, Imo with (N148,900,627,563.76); Osun (N141,792,935,913.24); Ogun (N140,993,426,875.02); FCT (N137,862,316,926.60); Bayelsa (N127,243,132,172.38 and Kogi (N123,436,748,898.43) are other leading debtor-states. In all, the leading debtor-states accounted for more…

By Akanimo Sampson The Chief of Mission of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Nigeria, a United Nations agency, Franz Celestin, has declared that non-state armed groups like the blood-letting Boko Haram and its allies cannot deter them from pressing ahead with their humanitarian services in the bleeding North-East axis of the troubled country. According to Celestin, “the intended effect of the (latest attack) is to intimidate the humanitarian actors working in North-East Nigeria. We have seen this as humanitarian workers are increasingly targeted.” On January 18, non-state armed groups stormed a humanitarian facility in Ngala town, some 124…

By Akanimo Sampson The rising tide of internal displacement is currently a very big source of trouble for the United Nations. In a seeming frantic bid to find a lasting solution to the scourge, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has given an eight-man panel of distinguished members only one year to come up with a realistic plan to prevent displacement and mitigate its effects. Just last year alone, the number of people internally displaced by conflict around the world reached a record high of more than 41 million.  In the same year, the United Nations said 17 million other people were forced…

By Udeme Nana That question is common place in the first month of the year. Nevertheless, that question was definitely not what Ufot Asanga, an economics graduate who chose to become a “foot soldier” to a top politician bargained for last week. The young man was in a desperate situation. His wife, whom he married two years ago was in the labour room and his hospital bill was a bit too high- too much for him to settle with his savings and he reckoned that since he had a “boss” whom he had served diligently with all his might these past 10 years…

The US Senate has adopted ground rules for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial after nearly 13 hours of rancorous debate on the first day. Democratic prosecutors sparred with Mr. Trump’s lawyers over the process, while Republicans rejected their demands for more witnesses. The trial will resume on Wednesday with arguments by the prosecution, to be followed by the defence and questions. Mr. Trump is the third US president to undergo an impeachment trial. He is charged with abuse of power and obstructing the congressional inquiry. He denies wrongdoing and accuses Democrats of trying to unseat him for political reasons. “I’d…

By Akanimo Sampson Total, a French oil major, has been awarded Europe’s largest concession contract for Electric Vehicles (EV) charging by the ‘Metropolitan Region Amsterdam Electric’ (MRA-Electric). Under the contract deal, Total will install and operate up to 20,000 new public charging points in the Netherlands, in the three provinces of North-Holland, Flevoland and Utrecht*. Total is, however, a major energy player that produces and markets fuels, natural gas and low-carbon electricity. The company which is also operating in the Niger Delta, the oil and gas basin of Nigeria is boasting that its100,000 employees are committed to better energy that…

The recent launching of Amotekun, a security outfit, by the six governors of the South-West Region has received knocks and barbs from some people in the country. The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami, had described the security outfit as ‘illegal,’ a word that has triggered massive rallies in support of the outfit and criticsms against the declaration mostly from people of the Yoruba extraction. The latest knock came from Saleh Hassan, the National Secretary of Miyetti Allah, who ranted “Despite the education of the Yoruba people they still remain the most primitive in terms of politics. They…

By: Israel Umoh The trade dispute between Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Akwa Ibom Council and the state government is far from being over as this may snowball into industrial action owing to the inability of both parties to resolve some thorny issues, an investigation by Straightnews has shown. Governor Udom Emmanuel had directed the setting up of a committee on the implementation of the new minimum wage and the immediate past Head of Civil Service inaugurated a 16-member committee on May 16, 2019. When the committee members met on January 16, 2020, the meeting ended in a deadlock as labour…