Author: straightnewsng.com

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja Thursday dismissed the petition the Hope Democratic Party, HDP, and its candidate, Chief Ambrose Owuru, filed to nullify the outcome of the February 23 presidential election and remove President Muhammadu Buhari from office. HDP, in the petition marked CA/PEPC/001/2019, contended that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, failed to follow condition precedents stipulated in the Electoral Act, when it unduly postponed the presidential election originally fixed for February 16. The party claimed that its candidate, Owuru, secured over 50million votes in a referendum that was conducted by both electorates and observer networks…

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, has said that the establishment of Special Agro-processing Zones, SAPZs, in Nigeria has the potential of attracting between one to four billion dollars investments into the country. The Chairman of the forum and Governor of Ekiti, Kayode Fayemi, stated this while briefing reporters after the forum’s 4th meeting on Wednesday in Abuja. Mr Fayemi explained that all states were potential beneficiaries of the SAPZs initiative, which would bring together the farming and the processing community. “The Forum was briefed by its Deputy Chairman, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State on the meeting between the Forum and…

Boko Haram has pulled out of two local government areas in Borno State, hours after taking control of them on Wednesday evening in coordinated attacks. The insurgents, who had captured Gubio and Magumeri, Thursday morning, withdrew from the areas which have had no military presence for sometime now. Gubio and Magumeri have no military presence as troops were withdrawn recently for routine operational changes as enshrined in the military’s rules of engagement. Our Correspondent gathered that hundreds of thousands of residents have been displaced, while others are under the captivity of insurgents, especially those who chose not to flee the…

President Muhammadu Buhari, Thursday, passed a damning verdict on the state of facilities in Nigerian universities, saying this has made it difficult for students to cope with modern methods of learning. He also said investments in education was a critical factor in driving innovation, technological advancements and employment opportunities in advanced economies. Speaking at the commissioning of the Post-Graduate Centre of Excellence built by the Central Bank of Nigeria at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, the President said the federal government had invested close to N1.3 trillion towards the development of the education sector in the past four years, excluding funds…

By Akanimo Sampson Despite the massive presence of the armed security operatives in the vastly polluted Niger Delta, Nigeria’s honey comb, oil thefts, pipeline vandalism and illegal refining of petroleum products in the region seem to be on a worrisome proportion. Data from Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), a subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas major, Shell, alone, tend to indicate that oil theft has resulted in a loss of some 11,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2018, which is more than the 9,000 bpd recorded in 2017. The big oil corporation is claiming that since 2012, it had…

By Akanimo Sampson Prospects for pollution-free energy are getting brighter as the day goes by. One of the latest Rael-Science posts says scientists have developed a large-scale economical method to extract hydrogen (H2) from oil sands (natural bitumen) and oil fields. This, according to the post, can be used to power hydrogen-powered vehicles, which are already marketed in some countries, as well as to generate electricity; hydrogen is regarded as an efficient transport fuel, similar to petrol and diesel, but with no pollution problems. The process can extract hydrogen from existing oil sands reservoirs, with huge existing supplies found in…

By Akanimo Sampson Alleged unwholesome activities of a petrochemicals corporation operating in Rivers State, Nigeria’s oil and gas capital are fueling a disturbing unease in Eleme local government area of the big oil-polluted state. Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited is being accused by her host community of employing divide- and- rule tactics in dealing with the people of Eleme, the host community. The situation there has put members of the community at loggerheads with one another. In early colonial records, according to Wikipedia, Eleme was called Mbolli. The name came from the slave merchants of Arochuku who used the words Mbolli…

By Akanimo Sampson Nigerians are deeply worried about the state of affairs in their dear country, The Guardian warned this Wednesday in its editorial opinion. This is even after President Muhammadu Buhari, according to the influential newspaper has  finally given orders to the military to shoot at brigands wherever they are, thus reducing the fear that he is soft on the notorious herdsmen who have been so complicit in acts of mass murders. The Guardian says in the last two weeks, such individuals and groups as Professor Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate, Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), Senator Bola Tinubu,…

By Akanimo Sampson Four months after Mozambique was hit by two catastrophic storms, not less than 500,000 citizens are still in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. This is the fallout of the visit of the Director-General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), António Vitorino. Vitorino who is currently on a two-day visit to Mozambique to assess and support the humanitarian response after the country was devastated by the two catastrophic storms earlier this year, says there is still a lot to do, and urgent humanitarian needs to be met, in the reconstruction of the lives of people affected by…

Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, Wednesday, attended the swearing-in of the 43 ministers, at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja. Oyo-Ita was reported to be on medical leave after her encounter with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on corruption allegation. She was also reported to have submitted her resignation letter to the Presidency over alleged contract scam totalling about N3 billion. She sat on her `traditional’ position at the Council Chamber of the presidential villa. Mrs. Oyo-Ita, who arrived the presidential villa shortly before the commencement of the inauguration of the ministers by…