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In a bid to improve transparency and accountability in contracts entered into by public and private enterprises in the country, the Federal Government says it will launch a contract disclosure web portal.
The acting Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr. Chidi Izuwah said this on Wednesday in Abuja at a Public Private Partnership (PPP) training workshop organised by the World Bank.
Izuwah said the ICRC and the World Bank had been working together to ensure more openness and transparency in PPPs in Nigeria.
To this end, stakeholder engagements had taken place and an improved PPP Disclosure Framework developed with MDAs input and buy in.
Web portal
There were currently 51 ongoing PPP projects entered into by the Federal Government, cutting across all sectors and 77 pipeline projects which the public may not be aware of.
He said that the Website was set to launch at the end of August, 2017 and that all federal government's Ministries, Agencies and Departments were expected to disclose fully all their PPP contracts.
"This disclosure initiative is designed to ensure that all non-confidential information relating to PPP contracts, both pre and post contract information is made available and easily accessible to members of the public.
"The disclosure is expected to bring improvement and engender confidence in PPP contract transactions in Nigeria.
"It is also hoped that Nigerians, through the disclosure, will be better educated and informed on the salient features of PPP contracts.
"This includes agreed standards of service, scope of work, parties to the contract, general overview of the project, social and economic benefits of the project, as well as risk allocation and the actual performance levels achieved,'' he said.
Izuwah said that the portal was not just directed for local use, but would also serve to encourage foreign direct investments into the country.
He also said that the new process would ensure that contractors keep their own side of the bargain.
"For example, at the airport, what quality of service should you expect, what are your entitlements, what are you paying for?
"All these information will be made available so that Nigerians will be equipped to be able to insist and get the services they are entitled to,'' he said.
Also, the Senior Consultant on Public Private Partnerships, World Bank Group, Mr. Prashant Sharma said the bank was assisting Nigeria, Kenya, Honduras and Ghana develop a PPP Contract Information Disclosure website.
He said this would improve transparency in the procurement process and when the website goes live in August, Nigeria would be the leading country in the world in transparency and accountability in PPP contracts.
"We have been working with the ICRC over the last one year to develop an organized platform to actually deliver information and disclose information about public private partnership.
"To create a platform through which all relevant information, useful for the public to know more about public private partnerships are made public in a organized and systemized way,'' he said.
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, as well as friends and colleagues on Wednesday paid tributes to the late Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin.
They spoke at a forum held in honour of Osotimehin at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
Osotimehin was until his death the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Osotimehin was also a former Minister of Health and Director General of National Agency for the Control of AIDS.
The Ooni of Ife described the late professor as one of the greatest human assets the continent had seen in recent times.
"As I read tributes after tributes from family friends and colleagues of Prof. Osotimehin, I was filled with both awe and pride for this distinguished son of Oduduwa.
"His commitment to women and girls, his professionalism, his diplomacy, his capacity to reach out to young people, mould them and turn into the pride of their families, communities and their country are exemplary.
"His life and work are truly deserving of celebration," Ogunwusi, represented by one of his high chiefs, said.
The monarch said that the Royal Court of Ife would immortalise the deceased through the establishment of a Babatunde Osotimehin Centre of African Excellence in Reproductive and Sexual Health.
The Chairman of the Governing Council of Obafemi Awolowo University, Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi, described the late professor as a colossus who embraced transformational goals to improve the plight of women and children globally.
"He embraced and pursued three transformational goals, including zero prevention of maternal deaths, zero tolerance of practices against women and children and zero unmet needs for family planning products.
"He was a good human being and I am deeply touched to have a rare person as a close confidant," he said.
Among those who also paid tributes to the late don were Prof. Bunmi Olaopa and Prof. Temitope Alonge, the Provost, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, and the Chief Medical Director of UCH respectively.
Olaopa said that the deceased was an accomplished man who attained the pinnacle of service to humanity and indeed left his footprints in the sands of time locally and internationally.
"As we celebrate this great man who was a former Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, we acknowledge with profound gratitude his contributions to the growth and development of the college.
"To the family, the greater tributes to him is not grief, but gratitude for an accomplished and fulfilled life.
"His transition completes the circle of life and while mere words may not express the heartfelt sorrow at his demise, please take comfort in the knowledge that his works will immortalise him," he said.
The Regional Director, West and Central Africa Region, UNFPA, Mabingue Ngom, said that Osotimehin was known for his strong advocacy, especially in the fight for the wellbeing of humans globally.
"Under his leadership, UNFPA has become one of the top organisations of the United Nations.
"He had profound regard for humanity and facilitated development of young people across the world.
"His legacy lives on and his vision and example will continue to guide us at UNFPA," he said.
His colleagues in their tributes said that his immense contributions to world medicine touched practically millions of lives, especially women and children in developing countries.
With his departure, they said Africa had lost one of its most vibrant and accomplished clinical scientists.
FOUNDER of The Entrepreneurship Academy (TEA), Mr Olumide Emmanuel, has called on the Federal government to restructure its policy for entrepreneurs and Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs to thrive in the country.
He made the call at a pre-inauguration briefing of the Academy scheduled to hold from September 4 to September 15, 2017 in Lagos, where he pledged to empower entrepreneurs in the country through workshops and other financial complements to spur businesses. He said the inability of Nigerian leaders to create wealth was responsible for the habit of many engaging in looting of the treasury, which he said can be avoided by providing support for entrepreneurs in the country.
Emmanuel, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Common Sense Group (CSG), said that as a country with the major challenges of corruption, poverty, unemployment and greed, there should be ways out of these challenges.
"A lot of people in the country steal money because they don't know how to create wealth, and they are afraid of the future. If our people know how to create wealth, they won't steal because they will leverage on their wisdom and opportunities to create wealth. When people know how to create wealth, they will know how to transmit and translate their passions, desires, skills and education into wealth.
I believe that entrepreneurship is the key to solving the unemployment challenge in our country. Majority of our graduates graduated with a desire to get a job in a corporate organisation but the question is, who will create these organizations?" he said.
Pensioners under the aegis of Forum of 2011/12 Retired Public Servants of Osun, Wednesday, staged a protest at the entrance to the Government Secretariat to drive home non-payment of their entitlements.
The factional chairman of the group, Mr. Omoniyi Ilesanmi, who addressed newsmen on the sidelines of the protest, said they were out to ensure the government does not divert the released Paris Refund for other use.
It would be recalled that the Osun state government, through a statement yesterday, confirmed payment of second tranche of Paris Refund to the state and promised judicious distribution of the fund.
Meanwhile, the chairman representing the Triangular Group of Pensioners in the state, Prince Rotimi Adelugba has raised alarm over the splinter motive of Omoniyi-led group.
In a statement, Mr. Adelugba accused the Ilesanmi-led group of being sponsored by the opposition in the state to paint the present administration in a bad light, a situation he said is capable of breaching public peace.
According to him, "Right before the state government announced precisely how much it received from the federal government as second tranche of the Paris Refund; we were intimated on the series of meeting held by Ilesanmi's group and other operatives of the politician." Prince Adelugba stated. "As much as we support the right of our colleague to express their constitutional guaranteed right of freedom of speech and expression, we take an exception to their collaboration with politicians in the state thereby giving their protest a political undertone. "We are calling on the security agencies in the state to be on the lookout for well-armed miscreant who have been embedded with Ilesanmi's group with the aim of destabilizing the peace we enjoy in the state of Osun." On the payment of pensions and gratuity, Prince Adelugba pleaded with his colleague to come to the negotiating table like over 30,000 members of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners have done rather than going on the street with the sole aim of embarrassing the government. "If resolution of the issue at hand is their intention, they will be on the negotiating table and not the street, but we are certain their intention is otherwise. The government have been open to us. I recall, Osun was the first state to publish how it spent the first tranche of the Paris refund. We have confidence the Governor Aregbesola's administration to properly disburse the second tranche of the refund like he did the first one," he said.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said Wednesday he had no plans to sell Sergio Aguero but confirmed the club was in talks with “three or four” potential new signings.
Aguero
Speaking to reporters ahead of Manchester City’s Houston derby with Manchester United on Thursday, Guardiola attempted to draw a line under speculation about Argentina striker Aguero’s future.
“He’s our player. He will remain here,” Guardiola said of Aguero.
The City boss, meanwhile, was coy about a possible move for Arsenal’s Chilean international Alexis Sanchez.
Sanchez is reportedly keen to leave the Emirates although manager Arsene Wenger has indicated the player is not for sale.
“Alexis is a player from Arsenal. Arsene said that, it’s because he knows more than me,” Guardiola said.
Guardiola appeared to confirm City’s interest in Real Madrid defender Danilo and Monaco’s Benjamin Mendy but again declined to go into details.
“We are talking to three or four players – with the next three, four, five years in mind. They are young players,” Guardiola said.
“We have options for players coming, but until the deal is done, out of respect for the other clubs I cannot say anything.
“Mendy is the same case as Danilo. We have targets and we see what happens. He’s a Monaco player so I’m quiet in my comments.”
City, meanwhile, are planning to offload striker Kelechi Iheanacho, who is on the brink of a deal to join former champions Leicester City.
Guardiola said the 20-year-old Nigerian needed regular football.
“Kelechi’s a young player. It’s not easy for him,” Guardiola said.
“He needs to play at that age and that’s why he and the club decided it was best for him to leave.”
The City manager, however, admitted that the uncertainty surrounding the transfer market was distracting from his team’s pre-season and suggested the European transfer market should be shortened so it closed before the start of the new season. The window remains open until August 31.
“Unfortunately the market finishes the 31st. I think that’s a huge mistake from UEFA,” Guardiola said.
“I think the market should finish when we start the season. It’s too long, too large.
“We are playing here with guys who maybe will not continue, or with players who are coming but are not here. We are playing in a situation where we don’t know exactly what is going to happen for the rest of the season, so we miss time.”
City open their pre-season US tour against United at Houston’s NRG Stadium on Thursday. They then face Real Madrid at the Los Angeles Coliseum on July 26 before taking on Tottenham in Nashville on July 29.
Mr. Semiu Okanlawon ,the Director, Bureau of Communication & Strategy to the Osun state Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has said that some pensioners who protested a month ago as well as those who protested in the state on Wednesday against the state government must apologise to Governor Aregbesola and the people of Osun state for misinforming them on the Paris Loan Refund.
He said the protesting pensioners had accused the Governor of collecting and diverting the second tranche of the refund when it was just yesterday that the fund was disbursed.
The statement read thus:
"The attention of the Government of Osun has been drawn to another in the series of protests by a group of pensioners who have filed out again today Wednesday July 19, 2017 for reasons best known to them.
"It is interesting to note that about a month ago, this same set of pensioners accused Governor Rauf Aregbesola of collecting and diverting the second tranche of Paris loan refund, which they claimed had been released to Osun State by the federal government.
"As they have come out today, they have a duty to actually apologise not only to Aregbesola's government, but also to the good people of Osun State for misinforming, confusing and creating tension in the state through their false claim that the governor had received the second tranche of Paris loan refund about a month ago”.
"Like we have said, Osun State government, with it’s commitment to transparency under the leadership of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, made the announcement yesterday (Tuesday) to confirm the receipt of N6.314billion as the second tranche of Paris loan refund from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
"The money was paid into the account of the state government on Monday and we duly made the announcement yesterday, informing the public that Osun has got the second tranche of Paris loan refund.
"In line with our government's promise to utilise the resources of this state in the best interest of our people, we hereby restate our commitment to this promise as we begin shortly transparent deployment on our commitments to the concerned stakeholders."
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) says none of its members in Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) unit was shot by Mobile Police officer in Apapa on Wednesday
Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, the Chairman in South-West Zone of the union, made the denial in an interview in Lagos.
Korodo made the denial against reports that some tanker drivers were shot dead during a fracas involving some policemen during which two banks were set ablaze.
Korodo said he was able to confirm that none his members was killed from the report by a delegate sent from the union secretariat to Apapa to find out if any of the union members was involved in the lawlessness.
He said: "none of our members is involved; they are busy with the normal loading activities in different tank farms.
"The shooting incident involved drivers of articulated vehicles and those involved in the lawlessness were not PTD members."
Mr Tayo Aboyeji, the Zonal Public Relations Officer in PTD, said the fracas involved some drivers of articulated vehicles and the police, but not their members.
According to Aboyeji, "our members are not involved in any act of criminality or lawlessness in the area."
"Our members are in their depots loading their trucks with the intention of transporting them to various locations across the country.
"None of our members was shot by police; they are in their various tank farms loading petroleum products."
On Wednesday, a mob reportedly set two banks in Apapa, Lagos, on fire after a policeman attached to a Diamond Bank branch on Burma Road, allegedly shot and killed some trailer drivers.
According to reports, the mob also set ablaze a Sterling Bank branch on Wharf Road.
It was gathered that the policemen attached to the banks had allegedly accused the trailer drivers of indiscriminate parking in front of the banks
Angered by the killing and the bank's refusal to hand over the policeman to them, other drivers marched in protest and set the banks ablaze.
An Aba-la-Ohazu Customary Court in Aba South Local Government Area of Abia has dissolved the marriage between one Juliet Igwe and her husband, Chibuzo, over abandonment and irreconcilable differences. Wedding rings worn during marriage
Juliet, the petitioner, told the court that her husband abandoned her after only two weeks of marriage and went back to Gabon where he resides.
She told the court that her husband took her to his home town and after two weeks of co-habiting asked her to go back to her father's house and engage in a vocation.
Juliet said that her father rejected the idea and reported her husband to his foster father, one Pastor S.K. Ogbonna, who took her in.
The foster father, he added, later asked her to return to her father's house since her husband was no longer interested in the union.
Juliet said that they married on Dec. 29, 2015 under the native custom and tradition in Akpugo, Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State.
She also told the court that since the second week of January 2016 when her husband abandoned her, he had not shown concern for her in spite of being told she was pregnant.
Juliet prayed the court to dissolve the marriage and grant her continued custody of her 10- month-old child pending when he would come of age.
Although Juliet was present in court without a lawyer, Chibuzo was absent and had no legal representation.
Giving his ruling, Senior Magistrate, Diamond Olewengwa, said Chibuzo's refusal to stop the planned dissolution indicated that the parties had consented to severing the union.
He said that the marriage, having broken down irretrievably as a result of lack of love and care, denial of sex, irreconcilable differences and abandonment, stood dissolved.
He granted Juliet the continued custody of their son until maturity, adding that Chibuzo had the right to see his son whenever he wished.
The judge also ordered Chibuzo to collect his N50.00 bride price through the court registrar and to pay Juliet N30,000 monthly as upkeep allowance for their child.
Olewengwa further ordered him to pay Juliet N200, 000 in bulk for nursing the baby from birth till date since he never offered support since the marriage was contracted.
He said that the parties were free to remarry and enjoined them to maintain the peace.
The ruling of the court, he added, should be communicated to the foster father of Chibuzo to ensure compliance with the judgment.
Abuja – The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, on Wednesday called for the globalisation of the nation's economy to attract more foreign investors in the country.Ibe Kachikwu
The minister made the call in Abuja while addressing the sixth Sustainability in the Extractive Industries Conference, organised by the CSR-in-Action in Abuja for stakeholders in the extractive industry.
Kachikwu said since 2012 when the conference started, a lot had been achieved and called for the development of the nation's local economy for global participation.
He called for"the strengthening of our local economy in such a way that it can take advantage of extra border foray and invest in other countries''.
He said that unless the local economy was robust and strengthened, it could not play an international role and would not attract foreign investors.
According to Kachikwu, to attract investors, the nation needs to build a sufficient and robust infrastructure to enable cost of production to be at lowest level to do business in Nigeria.
He said the infrastructure in the nation's oil sector for 30 to 40 years had not been sufficiently developed and everything seemed to be in a state of decay.
"So we have a real major challenge in the oil sector for the next five years; so we need to create a five-year Marshal Plan to replace decayed infrastructure in the sector.
"And nowhere is more apparent than like in the refinery sector where we are one of the major OPEC producers and we are still importing bulk of our petroleum products.
"This is because our refinery infrastructure has not been maintained at the same level with other countries such as Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire where 90 per cent of their refineries capacity are working,'' he said.
He reiterated the need to upgrade the nation's oil infrastructure, adding that this was not easy now because Nigeria did not save enough during the oil boom and could not do this now because oil price had fallen.
Kachikwu urged the government to provide tax holidays and good enabling environment to encourage local producers, noting that instead of vilifying local producers, Nigerians should commend them to do more.
He added that the key to doing business was finance and there was need to assist our local producers through development finance and by creating necessary financial incentives to help them do their business.
He said infrastructure financing institutions such as Bank of industry, Bank of Agriculture and Bank of Infrastructure also needed to be strengthened to attract enough resources and capital for the sector.
He advised Nigeria and Angola to bring African oil market together so that oil and gas that were exported from Africa would come from them because America and Europe were developed and "it remained Asia and Africa''.
He said Nigeria needed to sample four or five areas and put the policies needed, so that before five years the critical areas would be solidly financed to take on the world challenges.
Other things he said, that would develop Nigeria's economy included opening it to foreign participation, investing robustly in security, encourage state policing and border protection to protect the borders because they were porous.
Earlier, Maikanti Baru, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, said Nigeria was endowed with over 39 billion barrels of oil reserves and 192 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.
Baru, who was represented by Mr Saidu Mohammed, the Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power for NNPC, said that Nigeria was among the 20 top nations in terms of hydro carbon reserves.
According to him, Nigeria's production is building up and NNPC is currently producing about 2.2 million barrels per day and about eight billion standard cubic feet of gas per day.
He said that the intention of NNPC was to sustain the current oil and gas production in the country.
Bekeme Masade, Founder/Chief Executive, CRS-in-Action, said Nigeria should be a country where artisanal/local refineries and miners were sustainably engaged and collaborated to operate legally in global market.
She said the aim of the conference was to build national plans for local capacity within the sector that was channeled through the Nigerian mining industry Roadmap with seven minerals.
She listed the minerals to include coal, bitumen, limestone, iron ore, barites gold and lead.
Masade said Nigeria could not talk about diversification, recovery and growth plan without building local capacity for global competitiveness.
According to her, the local capacity in the extractive sector should be harnessed so that opportunities in the industry will fast track economic development in the country
By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA – The All Progressives Congress APC has explained its confusion in the face of clamour by some Nigerians for a restructuring of the country, saying it does not understand what such people mean by that.
Consequently, the party has set up a committee to come up with the party’s own definition of restructuring.
APC said the committee which is headed by the Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir el-Rufa’i is not to come up with modalities for restructuring the country but to merely define the concept as it does not understand the meaning of the concept as being bandied about by some Nigerians.
“We just finished the meeting with our governors and we considered a number of issues. They include the issue of restructuring, national convention of the party and that these regular meetings would be expanded to include principal officers of the national assembly from now on”, said the party spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi.
The party spokesperson spoke Thursday in Abuja shortly after a meeting of its National Working Committee NWC and its 24 state governors.
Flanked by the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Abubakar Yari of Zamfara state, Simon Lalong of Plateau and Yahaya Bello of Kogi, Abdullahi said; “When we talk about a committee on restructuring, what we are talking about is a committee that will articulate what APC means by restructuring because we have realised that over a couple of days now or weeks, when people use the word restructuring we don’t know if we are talking about the same thing and people have gone about saying APC promised restructuring.
“So we really need to sit down to develop a shared understanding of what we mean by restructuring in our manifesto. So this committee that is setup that will now be chaired by the governor of Kaduna is mainly to define what APC means by restructuring, so that every member will know what we exactly mean”.
Other members of the 9-member committee are governors of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, Kano, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Plateau, Simon Lalong, Ogun, Ibikunle Amosun and a former Governor of Edo State, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor.
Others are APC National Organising Secretary, Sen. Osita Izunaso, National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi and Sen. Olubunmi Adetunmbi who would serve as secretary.
APC had on several occasions denied promising to restructure the country, explaining that it only promised ‘devolution of powers’ as well as ‘true federalism’. The party had also recently said it could not deliver on this first item on its manifesto, saying in light of the economic situation in the country, its major priority was putting food on the table of Nigerians.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has reaffirmed government’s decision that any programme meant for Nigerians must be produced in Nigeria, saying he was not appointed Minister to develop the economy of other countries at the expense of the Nigerian economy.
Lai Mohammed
In a statement on Wednesday, the Minister said the Creative Industry’s potential of creating 1 million jobs in three years cannot be realized if jobs meant for Nigerians are being exported to other countries under the guise of producing, in other countries, programmes to be consumed in Nigeria.
”I didn’t say that henceforth, all music videos and films will be produced in Nigeria, or that the production of music videos or films outside Nigeria will be banned. All I said was that if a programme is designated as a Nigerian (local) content programme, we will amend the Code to ensure that it is produced in Nigeria,” he said, adding: ”On that, there is no going back.”
The Minister recalled how his office was bombarded with calls from concerned Nigerians when the last edition of the ”Big Brother Naija” was produced in South Africa, saying he subsequently directed the National Broadcasting Commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the controversy.
”Following the findings, we decided to amend the relevant sections of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to prevent a repeat of that development. “We are now in the process of doing that, so that anyone who intends to produce a reality show or similar programmes for Nigerians cannot take the production of such shows outside Nigeria.
”Nigerians are a very proud and resourceful people, and we are sure that no Nigerian will be against a decision to prevent the jobs that can be done in Nigeria by Nigerians from being exported to other countries,” he said.
In a related development, Alhaji Mohammed has said the Broadcasting Code is also being amended to help develop the local football league.
”This (amendment) is not just about the Creative Industry. We are also going to ensure that the NBC Code is amended in a manner that if any company in Nigeria today invests a million dollars in promoting or supporting any (football) team or league outside Nigeria, I want the Broadcasting Code to be amended to the effect that it will not allow that programme to be aired unless that company supports the Nigerian League with a percentage that will not be less than 30 per cent of what was spent.
”This is because we cannot continue to develop the economies of the other parts of the world from the sweat of Nigerians and at the expense of the Nigerian economy,” the Minister said.
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru ABUJS – ACTING President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo Wednesday ordered for the reinforcement of security apparatus in Kaduna State so as to apprehend those behind the recent killings of innocent citizens. Yemi Osinbajo The directive came on the heel of reports of communal clashes that resulted in the loss of lives earlier this week in Kajuru, Kajuru Local Government Area of the State.
In a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and publicity, Laolu Akande , Prof. Osinbajo commiserated with families of the victims, the government and people of Kaduna State, and wishes the injured victims speedy recovery.
According to the statement, “He also commends the prompt response and efforts of the State government, and those of the security agencies which contained the situation and restored the peace.
“While condemning the act of violence in strong terms, the Acting President notes that the security challenges in Southern Kaduna which has led to the needless deaths is a source of concern for the Federal government and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians.
“Noting previous and ongoing efforts of the Buhari administration to confront the situation, Prof. Osinbajo assures that no effort would be spared in identifying and bringing perpetrators of these dastardly acts, against innocent Nigerians to justice no matter how long or hard it may take.
“According to him, Nigerians in the area and everywhere in the country have a right to live in peace, and the Federal Government considers this its sacred duty : ensuring such expectation.
“We will not relent and won’t be deterred in our pursuit of securing the lives and property of all Nigerians, everywhere and in every part of this nation. In the end, we will not only secure the peace all around, but we shall enforce justice for the victims and all of those that are affected,” he declared.”
The 29-member committee on a new National Minimum Wage will begin sitting before the end of July, NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said on Wednesday. N56,000 minimum wage "Before the end of this month, the process of discussions on a new minimum wage will commence," Wabba said at an interactive forum in Lagos.
The forum was organised by the NLC to discuss challenges facing its affiliates.
Wabba said that NLC learnt that the presidency had agreed that six people would represent the Federal Government in the committee.
"Employers' body and state governors are also expected to send representatives," the NLC president said.
He said that review of the minimum wage was long overdue, adding that workers had suffered much hardship due to Nigeria's economic situation.
"Today, inflation is more than 16 per cent but salary has remained fixed for about six years.
"It means that workers are living in penury. We will ensure that the negotiation will end well," he said.
Wabba said that achieving an improved income for workers was a collective struggle.
He urged workers, particularly union leaders, to be committed to it.
Wabba gave the assurance that the organised labour would continue to protect workers' rights.
NAN reports that the NLC and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria have been agitating for review of minimum wage from N18,000 to N56,000, due to hardship faced by workers as a result of inflation.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had in May approved constitution of the committee to start the process of deliberations for a new wage for Nigerian workers.
The meeting was presided over by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, told journalists after the meeting that members of the committee would be drawn from the organised labour and federal and state governments.
Ngige said that the chairman and secretary of the committee would be appointed by the government.
Lagos – A Federal High Court Lagos on Wednesday ordered the temporary forfeiture of a $37.5 million property on Banana Island, Lagos, and millions of naira and dollars belonging to ex-Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke.
The property, situated on the island, was allegedly purchased for the sum of $37.5 million in 2013 by Alison-Madueke. Ex Ministry of Petroleum, Allison-Madueke The house is at 3, Block B, Bella Vista, Plot 1, Zone N, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island, Foreshore Estate.
The vacation judge, Justice Chuka Obiozor, issued the temporary forfeiture orders following an ex parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The ex parte application was brought pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, No. 14, 2006 and Section 44 (2) (k) of the Constitution.
Joined as respondents in the motion are Allison-Madueke, a legal practitioner, Afamefuna Nwokedi, and a company — Rusimpex Ltd. According to the court processes presented by EFCC counsel, Mr Anslem Ozioko, the appurtenances include, 24 apartments, 18 flats and six penthouses.
Apart from the property, the court also ordered a temporary forfeiture of the sums of $2.7 million and N85 million said to be part of rents collected on the property.
Ozioko told the court on Wednesday that the EFCC reasonably suspected that the property was acquired with proceeds of alleged unlawful activities of Allison-Madueke.
He said that investigations by the EFCC revealed that Allison-Madueke made the payment of $37.5 million in cash for the purchase of the property.
He added that the money was moved straight from her house in Abuja and paid into the seller's bank account in Abuja. Ozioko stressed that the commission was convinced beyond doubts as Alison-Madueke was still in public service as the Petroleum Minister when the transaction occurred.
In a 41-paragraph affidavit annexed to the ex parte motion, the commission averred that Nwokedi connived with Allison-Madueke to purposely incorporate the company — Rusimpex Ltd on Sept. 11, 2013 to perpetrate the alleged fraud.
The commission averred that when it questioned Nwokedi, the lawyer, he explained that he had approached Allison-Madueke for opportunities in the Oil and Gas industry, adding that the ex-minister in the alternative asked if he could manage landed properties, an offer which Nwokedi accepted.
It said that Nwokedi later registered the company (Rusimpex Ltd) and listed Adetula Ayokunle, and a Russian, Vladmir Jourauleu, as the directors of the company.
According to the commission, when Ayokunle was interrogated by the EFCC, he explained that he only appended his signature on the documents on his boss' instruction, while Jourauleu denied knowledge of the company.
After listening to the EFCC counsel, Justice Obiozor made an order of temporary forfeiture of the property and the funds.
He also directed that the orders should be published in a national newspaper.
Obiozor adjourned the case until Aug. 7 for any interested party to appear before him and show cause why the orders should not be made absolute.
The Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, will play host to Africa's most sought-after and emerging artists, and leading galleries at this year’s edition of Art X Lagos.
TP-Collective, the organiser of the fair, has announced that the second edition of the annual art fair will hold from Friday 3rd November to Sunday 5th November 2017.
Last year, the debut edition of ART X Lagos saw 65 artists, drawn from 10 countries in Africa, present works of art across various medium including painting, sculpture, illustration and photography. Special projects included live art installations, and performances that combined music with visual art. During its 3-day duration, over 5,000 visitors attended comprising art lovers, enthusiasts, collectors and international observers, were in attendance.
The Director of TP-Collective, Tokini Peterside, said, "Our debut art fair in 2016 was an exciting and exhilarating experience that validated our decision to create this vital platform for the growth and increased visibility of African artists and galleries. We are incredibly proud of our achievement, which culminated in visits by over 5,000 visitors to the Civic Centre over 3 days, to see the works of Africa's most inspiring artists. This would have been impossible without the phenomenal support of the galleries, sponsors and partners, who took a huge leap of faith and committed to support us from ground zero, for which we are most grateful. In just 4 months' time, we will be opening the doors to the ART X Lagos art fair, and we look forward once again to welcoming a vast and varied local and international audience as we seek to reinforce Lagos' position as an emergent cultural capital on our continent."
Poland stopper Wojciech Szczesny has completed a move from Arsenal to Italian champions Juventus for an undisclosed fee, both clubs confirmed Wednesday.
Szczesny
Having passed a medical in Turin Szczesny put pen to paper on a four-year deal expected to be worth around £13.3 million ($17.4 million, 15 million euros).
Szczesny spent the past two seasons on loan at Juve’s Serie A title rivals AS Roma, making 72 league appearances for them during his spell in the Italian capital.
He’s likely to deputise this season for the veteran Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon, 39, but that hasn’t put the Pole off joining Massimiliano Allegri’s side.
“I’m really happy to be here,” said the 27-year-old Szczesny.
“I’ve already spoken to Gianluigi Buffon, a legend in our game, and I can learn a lot from him.
“I’m not feeling any pressure, I’m here to represent the club at the highest level. When you come to Juve, it’s because you’ve been chosen. I had no hesitation.
“In football there’s always room for improvement. I’m proud of the work I’ve done thus far and I’m ready for this new challenge – Juventus is the best choice for the next stage of my career.”
Szczesny joined Arsenal’s academy in 2006 and went on to play 181 times for the Gunners.
In a bid to improve the quality of healthcare in Nigeria, especially among men and women of the Nigeria Police Force, the Rotary Club of Ikoyi, District 9110, has announced the completion of a refurbishment of the Nigeria Police Hospital, Falomo in Lagos, as a support to the Police to help them continue to deliver their best to Nigerians.
The club President, Rotarian Isichei Osamgbi, while speaking at the official commissioning of the project held at the premises of the Police Hospital Falomo in Lagos, noted that this gesture was in line with the values of Rotary which he said is to serve humanity.
According to him, "It gives us great joy to be able to embark on such a project at a time like this. We at Rotary club of Ikoyi are determined to make immediate impact around us and this is just a start of many of such impactful projects we will be embarking on this year.
L-R President, Rotary Club of Ikori, Rotarian Isichie Osamgbi; Commissioner of Police, Medical, Emeka Nwakor-Osaji, District 9110 Governor, Rotarian Dr. Wale Ogunbadejo and Past President of the club, Rotarian Charles Okonkwo at the commissioning of the Police Hospital Refurbishment project in Lagos.
He thanked the management of the Hospital led by the Commissioner of Police, Medical, CP Emeka Nwakor-Osaji, who represented the Force Medical Officer, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Medical- AIG Ahmadu Kaunmi for their partnership and excellent professionalism in the hospital.
He noted that the conducive medical environment maintained by the Hospital and its management was a big attraction to the club to provide the needed support.
Also speaking while commissioning project, the District 9110 Governor, Rotarian Dr. Wale Ogunbadejo expressed his delight with the club's decision to refurbish the hospital. Ogunbadejo, who oversees all Rotary clubs in Lagos and Ogun States, noted that "Rotary club of Ikoyi was one to emulate, with a long standing history of delivering meaningful and impactful projects to the community which is what Rotary stands for."
A ward in the hospital
According to the District Governor, the impact of the refurbishment will be felt even by patients who use the facility as the atmosphere would enhance a very quick recovery.
Expressing the gratitude of the management, the Commissioner of Police, Medial, Nigeria Police Hospital, Falomo, Nwakor-Osaji expressed his profound gratitude to the Rotary Club of Ikoyi and Rotary International at large. CP Nwakor stated that the good works of Rotary towards humanity should be emulated by members of the community.
He went on to thank the club for the job well done while promising that the facilities upgraded would be judiciously used to ensure longevity.
The refurbishment included repainting, remodelling, and donation of mattresses, beddings and and medical equipments.
The senator representing Anambra South constituency, Sen. Emmanuel Nnamdi Uba, fondly called Sen. Andy Uba has picked a nomination ticket for the gubernatorial election coming 18th November 2017, under the umbrella of All progressives Congress, APC.
Arsenal were ravaged by food poisoning in Shanghai that ruled several key players out of their pre-season friendly with Bayern Munich on Wednesday, manager Arsene Wenger said.
Arsenal’s Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka celebrates with (L-R) Arsenal’s Spanish defender Nacho Monreal, Arsenal’s English striker Danny Welbeck and Arsenal’s English defender Kieran Gibbs after scoring the opening goal of the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium in London on May 7, 2017. / AFP PHOTO
Wenger’s ailing men were outplayed for long periods by Bayern before salvaging a last-gasp 1-1 draw and then winning 3-2 on penalties.
But the Frenchman said that the sickness that had swept the Arsenal camp, coupled with the severe heat in China and long flights, made for far-from-ideal preparations for another taxing campaign.
Wenger was shorn of Olivier Giroud because of food poisoning, then captain Per Mertesacker pulled out of the game just moments before kick-off because he too fell ill with the same problem.
New signing Sead Kolasinac had to come off before the break, while substitutes Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott both also felt unwell.
Arsenal were particularly poor in the first half in the 36 degrees Celsius (97F) heat and Wenger admitted that the extreme conditions in Shanghai were “a shock” after flying in from Australia, which is in its winter.
“We worked very hard on Monday and Tuesday so I was a bit scared that tonight we could have big problems and in fact in the first half we suffered a bit,” said Wenger, under pressure to get Arsenal back in the Champions League this season.
“Ramsey finished the game (feeling) bad and Walcott, Kolasinac, Mertesacker, Giroud, they all had a little food poisoning.”
Wenger said the Premier League club — who next travel to Beijing to face Chelsea on Saturday — did not know what caused the food poisoning.
Wenger added of the punishing pre-season schedule that many top European clubs now undertake to far-flung destinations for commercial reasons: “If you ask me is it ideal physically to prepare? I’d say certainly not.
“Has it got other advantages? Yes because we can meet fans all over the world so that is very positive and the team bonding is easier as well because we live together for two weeks.”
– ‘Nightmare’ –
Reserve goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was the unlikely hero for Wenger and Arsenal, saving Juan Bernat’s soft spot kick after Gunners substitute Alex Iwobi nodded in the leveller right at the end of normal time.
Robert Lewandowski had needed just nine minutes to fire German champions Bayern ahead from the penalty spot as they swept through Arsenal, before Iwobi’s late intervention meant the game went straight to penalties.
Both sides fielded a mixture of first-team regulars and reserves, with new Bayern signing James Rodriguez and new Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette starting.
Wenger’s team were thrashed 10-2 on aggregate by Bayern last season in the Champions League and the manager said his players were still hurting.
“I don’t think this kind of game wipes out what happened last season,” said the Arsenal boss.
“We will always remember that. We had a nightmare last season in the second half.
“But it’s still good to win against a team like Bayern.”
Bayern play AC Milan in Shenzhen, southern China, in their next warm-up game on Saturday.
Although the former Governor of Jigawa State, Ibrahim Saminu Turaki has been granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja after he was re-arraigned on a 32 count charge for corruption, sources say he is yet to regain freedom.
Recall that the fresh charges bordered mainly on conspiracy to conceal the genuine nature of N12 Billion Naira paid by a firm, Natural Resources Ltd, as signature bonus for Oil Prospecting License officially allocated to them by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2006.
But his lawyer, Mr. Ahmed Raji, SAN claimed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has allegedly not arraigned the 2nd – 4th defendants in the case yet even as the defendants were firms allegedly involved in the transactions.
The source said this development irked the presiding Judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba and further fuelled speculations in many quarters that the whole trial was politically instigated against the Former Governor.
It said Justice Dimgba cautioned the EFCC on the need to always observe the rule of law and stressed that there is a presumption of innocence for an accused until proven guilty.
It said the Justice then proceeded to grant Saminu Turaki bail and agreed with some of the release conditions earlier set by Justice Yusuf Haliru of the FCT High Court. It said the case was subsequently adjourned to September 19th 2017 for commencement of trial.
The source also claimed that Saminu Turaki has fulfilled the bail conditions but is yet to regain his freedom, adding that already, there is growing concern over the development.
It will be recalled that Saminu Turaki was arrested by EFCC on the 4th of July at a book launch in Abuja and remained in EFCC custody. On Thursday 13 July 2017, Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court admitted him to bail but the commission refused to release him even after he had fulfilled the bail conditions.
Consequently, his lawyers proceeded to file contempt proceedings against the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu at the Federal High Court, Abuja. The case will be heard on Thursday, 20th July 2017.
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