Author: straightnewsng.com

By Akanimo Sampson China, the Asian country is posing an existential threat to the rights of people worldwide, the Human Rights Watch has dealt a seeming fatal blow on the global economic tiger. The government, according to the vocal rights group, allegedly sees human rights as an existential threat. “Its reaction could pose an existential threat to the rights of people worldwide,’’ the group said. In its detailed report on China, Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of the global rights group, said at home, the Chinese Communist Party, worried that permitting political freedom will jeopardise its grasp on power, has…

By Akanimo Sampson Migration is becoming a key contributor to population change in some countries, a report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has shown. In Equatorial Guinea for instance, the proportion of international migrants as a percentage of the country’s population has risen sharply in recent years. Nearly 17 percent of people now living in Equatorial Guinea are migrants, compared to less than one percent as recently as 2005. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states also have witnessed significant population changes as a result of migration. With many people moving to the region for work, migrants make up…

A High Court in Kubwa area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on Friday, January 17, affirmed the sacking of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah of Young Peoples Party (YPP). Ubah, a Nigerian businessman, CEO of Capital Oil and owner of Ifeanyi Ubah FC won the Senatorial seat into Anambra South on February 23, 2019. The court, in a ruling by Justice Bello Kawu, re-affirmed the order it made on April 11, 2019, and declined to set aside its judgment on the nullification of Ubah for allegedly using a forged National Examination Council (NECO) certificate to contest the senatorial election held in…

For the fourth consecutive month, Nigeria’s inflation rate climbed to 11.98% in December 2019 as food prices continue to skyrocket due to border closures. The latest figure is 0.13% points higher than the rate recorded in November 2019 (11.85%). The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated this in its consumer price index (CPI) report for December 2019 released in Abuja on Friday, January 17, 2019. According to the report, increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the Headline index. “On a month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 0.85 percent in…

A total of N716.298 billion was shared among Federal, State and local governments by Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for the December 2019. Of the total revenue, the Federal Government received N287.929 billion, state governments got N191.302 billion, while  N143.698 billion was accrued to local government councils. Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Alhaji Mahmoud Isa-Dutse announced at the FAAC meeting on Thursday that the N716.298 billion comprised revenue from Value Added Tax (VAT), Exchange Gain and the Statutory Revenue. Oil producing states received N50.279 billion as 13% derivation revenue and revenue generating agencies received N43.089…

By: Israel Umoh The meeting between Nigeria Labour Congress, Akwa Ibom Council and the state government on the payment of new National Minimum Wage and Consequential adjustments to workers in the state ended in a deadlock, an investigation by Straigtnews has shown. Though President Muhammadu Buhari signed the bill new Minimum Wage into law on April 18, 2019, and had paid it including arrears to its workers, some states have followed suit while others are about to pay. A source in the labour circle confided in the online newspaper that there was a meeting between the NLC leaders and the…

A Kaduna State High Court has ordered the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai and the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammad Adamu to stop harassing the managing partner of Kaduna-based law firm, Gloria Ballason. The court order was made Thursday, by Justice Hannatu Balogun while ruling on a motion ex-parte brought before the court by Ballason. Ballason had dragged El-rufai and the IG before the court over her alleged incessant harassment by the state government and police officers. Also joined in the suit as co-defendant is the Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State, Her prayers in the ex-parte motion include; “An interim…

The governments of the West African Monetary Zone, WAMZ, on the ECOWAS Single Currency Programme, mainly English speaking countries in West Africa, have rejected the adoption of the “Eco” by Francophone Africa countries in place of their CFA Franc. The position was announced by Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, after an Extra-ordinary Meeting of Finance Ministers and Governors of Central Banks of WAMZ, in Abuja, Thursday. They said that the declaration was at variance with the decisions of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS for the adoption of “Eco” as the…

The Federal Government is working on a plan to stop foreign-owned vessels from trading on Nigerian waters. Speaking in an interview on a private television, Thursday, Dakuku Peterside, the Director-General of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, said current cabotage waivers will be phased out within the next five years. “We have rolled out a five-year cabotage waiver cessation plan. That means that in the next five years, there are a number of waivers we would no longer grant. “So, we expect that most vessels that would be trading within our waters will be built in Nigeria, we already…

Akwa Ibom government is claimed to have collected a humongous sum of N71,997,507,634.22 as a 13 percent derivation fund accrued from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) from January 2015 to August 2019. However, the improper utilisation of the whopping fund for the execution of development projects in the local government areas in Akwa Ibom endowed with natural resources has pitched a former local government chairman against Akwa Ibom governor, Udom Emmanuel. Consequently, Chief Aniekan Willie Akpan, the former Chairman of Eket Local Government Area, has dragged Akwa Ibom governor and the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to court…