Author: straightnewsng.com

The Senate Wednesday approved N140,383,591,000 for the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, for the 2020 fiscal year. The approval came, following consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Communications during plenary. The Chairman of the Communications Committee, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, while giving a breakdown of the Commission’s total expenditure for the year 2020, said that N39,297,044,000 is for recurrent expenditure and N20,863,699,000 for special projects. The lawmaker added that out of the total budget for the Commission, the sum of N8,129,462,000 is for capital expenditure, N64,208,446,000 for Transfer to Federal Government, and N7,500,000,000 as Transfer to the Universal Service…

The House of Representatives has raised a panel to probe alleged non-remittance of N1.343 trillion Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, to the Consolidated Revenue Account by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA. Two members of the House, Ossai Nicholas Ossai (PDP-Delta) and Julius Ihonvbere (APC-Edo), sought the probe through a bill under matters of urgent public importance. They argued that the non-remittance of the IGR into the Consolidated Revenue Account domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, by PPPRA contravenes Section 162(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). They recalled that the Director-General, Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, stated at…

President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday swore in nine newly appointed permanent secretaries, including the wife of Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, Evelyn. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting. Recall that the Acting Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (Ag. HoCSF), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, had recently in a statement signed by Mrs. Olawunmi Ogunmosunle, Director, Communications, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, OHoCSF, announced that the President approved appointment of the Permanent Secretaries. The new…

A total of 2,745 condemned inmates in the country are on the death row, the Nigerian Correctional Service, NcoS, said Wednesday. The service, therefore, urged state governors to either approve their execution or commute them to life imprisonment to allow the service effectively engage them in skill acquisition and other rehabilitative efforts. It also announced that no fewer than 22 inmates who have been successfully de-radicalized by its personnel have sat for the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), a development described by the service as part of its rehabilitation efforts. The Service Public Relations Officer, Controller Francis Enobore, stated this in…

The Supreme Court in Abuja, Wednesday, upheld the election of Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom state. In similar landmark rulings, the court affirmed the elections of seven other governors whose wins at the polls in the last general elections have been in contention. The apex court in a judgment delivered on Wednesday, December 18 said the case filed by Obong Nsima Ekere, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) lacked merit. Ekere had in the March 9 governorship election challenged the victory of Emmanuel, who was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission…

The former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Chairman, Northern Elders’ Forum, NEF, Professor Ango Abdullahi, said yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari was not fighting corruption as he claimed. “We have now seen corruption on a massive scale, and nobody is doing anything about it,” he said. Professor Abdullahi, who spoke with journalists after the opening ceremony of a public lecture on “Education as an instrument for national integration: The northern Nigerian Crisis,” said if President Buhari was committed to fighting corruption, the nation’s prisons would have been full with corrupt politicians. According to him, the President’s claim to…

The House of Representatives, Tuesday, threw away a bill for an Act to provide for a single term of six years for the office of President, Governor and lawmakers at the state and federal levels. John Dyegh, the sponsor of the bill, represents Gboko/Tarkaa Federal Constituency of Benue State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC. Though the sponsor put up a spirited argument for the piece of legislation, the majority of lawmakers shot it down with a thunderous “nay!” Dyegh, who has been in the House since 2007, had argued that the four-year tenure for members was…

The National Assembly has retained the N3.327 billion which the executive proposed as travel expenses for President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the federal government’s 2020 budget. The budget as passed by the legislators and signed into law by President Buhari, Tuesday, indicated that the President would spend a total of N2.526 billion on local and international travels, while Vice President Osinbajo was allocated N801.035 billion. A breakdown showed that President Buhari would spend N1.751 billion travelling across the globe, while N775.602 million had been earmarked for his local travel. The Vice President was allocated N517.060 million…

The House of Representatives, Tuesday, said the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye has painted the National Assembly black before Nigerians. The lawmakers also accused him of trying to destroy the image of the legislature before the international community and make them lose their hard earned reputation. They raised the alarm, following a recent assertion by the ICPC boss that lawmakers duplicate their constituency projects. John Dyegh, who represents Gboko/Turka federal constituency of Benue State in the House, had raised a motion on the issue under matters of urgent public importance…

Nigeria’s inflation rose to 11.85 percent in November 2019, due to increase in the prices of food commodities. The inflation, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) CPI and Inflation Report for November 2019, gained 0.24 percent points higher than the rate recorded in October 2019 (11.61) percent. “The composite food index rose by 14.48 percent in November 2019 compared to 14.09 percent in October 2019. This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of bread, cereals, oils and fats, meat, potatoes, yam and other tubers, and fish.” On a month-on-month basis, the Headline index…