Author: straightnewsng.com

An Akwa Ibom community has joined the league of beneficiaries of social health insurance programme under National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Nigeria, Straightnews has gathered. Of the five benefiting Nigerian states, Ukana Ikot Ideh in Essien Udim local government area of Akwa Ibom is the only community in the state chosen for the pilot implementation of VCSHIP-Vital Contributions Social Health Insurance Programme in the 2018 Federal Appropriation Act. Already, 36 communities from five Federal Constituencies in Imo, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Kogi States are also beneficiaries of the scheme. Under the pilot scheme, 240 lives from Ukana Ikot Ideh in…

Alarmed by the rising suicide cases, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described as worrisome the rate in which Nigerian youths take their lives. Of recent, social media have been awash with reports of youths committing suicide, especially with a popular mosquito repellent, Sniper. Straightnews had reported that Chukwuemeka Akachi, a first class final-year student of English and Liteary Studies, University of Nsukka, and Olaitan Gbadamosi, a 100-level student of Chemical Engineering Department, University of Port Harcourt, allegedly drank the chemical and died. It was also reported by social media that Michael Arowosaiye, a gospel singer, purportedly hanged himself over…

The Nigerian Army has repulsed Governor Nyesom Wike’s allegations against the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6 Division and Land Component Commander Operation DELTA SAFE, Major-General Jamil Sarham. Colonel Aminu Iliyasu, Deputy Director Army Public Relations, in a statement on Monday, described the claims as false and a deliberate effort to tarnish the towering image of the Chief of Army Staff and the GOC 6 Division. Governor of River State, Nyesom Wike had accused General Officer Commanding the Army’s 6 Division in Port Harcourt, Jamil Sarham of raising a team of soldiers to steal and sell petroleum products in the region.…

The House of Representatives has passed a bill into law to abolish the existing dichotomy between Higher National Diploma, HND, awarded by polytechnics and the Bachelor of Science, B.Sc degree by universities in the country. The bill was passed during Tuesday’s plenary. The legislation, which was sponsored by Ali Isa and Edward Pwajok from Gombe and Plateau States respectively, passed a second reading in April 2017. It seeks to end perceived discrimination against polytechnic graduates and remove the challenges facing HND holders, especially those in the public service. Leading the debate for the bill to pass second reading, Pwajok said…

The Nigerian Government has declared May 29 and June 12 as public holidays. May 29 is meant for the inauguration of new governments at the Federal and state levels while June 12 is to celebrate Democracy Day. The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, who made the announcement during a press conference in Abuja on Monday, said most of the activities formerly held on May 29 as Democracy Day would now hold on June 12. He added that the events slated for May 29 would be low key as foreign dignitaries would only be invited to attend the June 12 events.…

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has petitioned President Muhmmadu Buhari over the released guidelines by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) on granting financial autonomy to local governments. The NGF in a letter signed by Chairman and Governor of Zamfara, Abdulaziz Yari, and made available to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, expressed “dismay and angst” over NFIU action as attempt to dabble into a matter that was beyond its mandate. Yari accused the NFIU of “stoking mischief and also deliberately seeking to cause disaffection, chaos and overheat the polity”. The NFIU, which was excised from the Economic and Financial Crimes…

Nigerian winger, Henry Onyekuru, scored the winning goal in a title decider against Istanbul Basaksehir helping Galatasaray to the league title. The 21-year-old scored a header in the second half in what turned out to be a 2-1 win at the Turk Telekom Arena. The win gave Galatasaray a three-point lead over Basaksehir with a game to go but the Istanbul side won the title by virtue of their superior head to head advantage. Onyekuru celebrated the title in a tweet on Sunday: “Champions. We fought back from 1-0 in a very tough game. I am so blessed to have…

The 41 year-old TV comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskiy,  who won Ukraine’s elections last month, was sworn in as president on Monday and immediately said he was dissolving the country’s parliament to hold early elections. At the inauguration ceremony held in the parliament’s building in Kiev, Jewish Zelenskiy pledged to seek an end to the war with Russia in Ukraine’s east and told lawmakers he wanted them to pass legislation to root out corruption. Zelenskiy  won a landslide election in late April with 73 per cent of the vote, defeating the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko as he rode a wave of popular…

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said it has withdrawn 25 certificates of return issued to some candidates who won the 2019 General Elections. The Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mr Festus Okoye, who stated this at a “Forum on Media Coverage of 2019 General Elections” held in Enugu on Monday, said the commission complied with court order. Okoye noted that 20 of the 25 certificates-of-return were withdrawn from All Progressives Congress, APC, members to other APC members; while two from Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, members were withdrawn to other PDP members. He said that the other…

Of the N330 billion fine imposed on MTN Nigeria Communications Limited in August 2015 by the Nigerian Communications Commission, the mobile telecommunications operator has paid a total of N235 billion to the Federal Government. Executive Vice Chairman at NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta, confirmed this in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Monday on the side-lines of a valedictory press briefing by Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu. Danbatta said emanating from the major industry dispute, Nigerians now have the opportunity to own part of the mobile telecommunications network following the public listing of the company at the Nigeria Stock…