Author: straightnewsng.com

By Akanimo Sampson This is certainly not the best season for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), a supposed interventionist agency that is currently immersed in some unwholesome contract deals. The commission is on the spot in the Green Chamber of Nigeria’s bicameral Legislature, the House of Representatives. Following the inability of its top officials to answer several questions posed to them by a probe panel of the House, the federal legislators have invited all the former managing directors of the troubled commission, some of whom are the money bags of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic…

Akwa Ibom State has outlawed the operation of commercial motorcyclists within Eket metropolis following reports of rape cases and other heinous crimes being perpetrated by hoodlums disguised as commercial motorcyclists. The state governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel who announced the ban in his remarks at the 4th anniversary celebration of his wife’s Pet project “Family Empowerment and Youth Reorientation Programme, FEYReP, held Thursday in Uyo, decried the alarming rate of rape in the state and country at large in recent times. Emmanuel who condemned a situation where hoodlums now disguise as commercial motorcyclists to rob, murder unsuspecting members of the public,…

The Federal Government has reiterated the need to sustain peace and ensure peaceful co-existence in the Niger Delta region through dialogue and engagements of critical stakeholders, stressing that only dialogue and not arms will sustain the region and the country beyond oil. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang, stated this at the 14th Niger Delta Dialogue facilitated by AA Peace Works and the European Union with the theme, “Niger Delta’s Security Pathway: Where to? Where From?” held in Yenagoa, yesterday. Speaking on “Dialogue and not Arms Will Sustain Nigeria and Niger Delta Beyond…

Cross River State Governor, Prof Ben Ayade has assured that the ongoing construction of a spaghetti flyover and other flyover bridges at Odukpani Junction in the state capital, Calabar, will soon be completed. Ayade gave the assurance when he visited the construction site where major civil, mechanical and structural works are moving in rapid pace. Speaking to newsmen, the governor reinstated his commitment to ensure the spaghetti flyover, the first of its kind in this part of the world, is delivered soon. According to him, “The Spaghetti Flyover looks like something impossible because of the three floors of bridges crossing…

Nigeria lost 22 million barrels of crude oil worth N1.3 trillion to thieves in the Niger Delta Region in 2019, House of Representatives stated. The House also noted that the country losses about N5 trillion yearly from oil theft, saying it was an amount the Federal Government needed to finance the budget. Moving the motion entitled “Oil Theft in Nigeria,” Chukwuma Umeoji, the sponsor said, “The House notes that Nigeria losses about N5 trillion yearly from oil theft, an amount which the government desperately needs to finance the budget. “The oil theft is not only an economic loss but also…

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris, Thursday, appealed to organised Labour to consider the poor economic situation while negotiating for consequential adjustment. Ngige also said the Federal Government was determined to conclude negotiations on Consequential Adjustment to avoid having the problem of backlogs. Senator Ngige, who stated this when he received in audience the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, that paid him a congratulatory visit, noted that a worker deserved payment commensurate to his labour. The Minister, flanked by the Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Williams Alor, and departmental heads,…

The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and its governors have dismissed reports of an altercation between President Muhamamdu Buhari and his vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, describing it as mere gossip. Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the APC Governors Steering Committee on Media and Communication, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State governor, noted that just on Wednesday, the vice president presided over a meeting of the Federal Executive Council, FEC. Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, said as governors, they deal with facts and not rumours, urging Nigerians to continue to support the Buhari administration. “There is no…

Despite meeting the bail conditions, Omoyele Sowore, Convener of the #RevolutionaryNow protest, is still in the custody of the Department of State Service, DSS, said his lawyer. Sowore was arrested and detained by men of Department of State Security, DSS but freed by Federal High Court Lagos on Wednesday, September 25.  His counsel, Femi Falana, SAN, who stated this in an interview with Channels Television, explained that no reason had been given by the DSS for its failure to comply with the court order delivered on Tuesday, September 24, 2019. Justice Taiwo Taiwo had ordered the release of Sowore who…

As a measure of checkmating terrorism and other violent extremism in Nigeria and other affected countries, Major-General Bashir Magashir, retd, the Minister of Defence has opined asset freeze, travel ban and expulsion, among other measures. Magashir, who told the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum, GCTF, and representatives of member countries of the United Nations that said terrorism threat in Nigeria and across the Sahel Africa was compounded by the global movement of foreign terrorist fighters. Speaking as the co-chair of the Criminal Justice and Rule of Law Working Group on the sidelines of the 74th UN General Assembly meeting, the minister said:…

President Muhammadu Buhari, Thursday, said Nigeria lost an estimated $157.5 billion to illicit financial flows from 2003 to 2012. Buhari quoted from the 2014 Global Financial Integrity Report in his address to the High-Level National Side-Event organised by the African Union Development Agency and New Partnership for Africa’s Development, AUDA-NEPAD, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday in New York. At the margins of the 74th United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, under the theme, “Promotion of International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows and Strengthen Good Practices on Assets Recovery and Return to Foster Sustainable Development, he noted…