A Nigerian newspaper and Online version of the Vanguard, a daily publication in Nigeria covering Niger delta, general national news, politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle human interest stories, etc
By Levinus Nwabughiogu ABUJA – Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has warned that Nigeria would be plunged into deep trouble if the present war against corruption was not won. Buhari He said that corruption was fiercely waging reprisal attacks in the States, but assured the public that President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to sustaining the anti-corruption fight to ensure that the system was cleaned up and government business done the right way.
He also called for a re-orientation of the Nigerian people.
Speaking during a courtesy visit to him by the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers in the State House, Abuja on Tuesday, Osinbajo noted that Defence contracts of $15 billion for which many individuals were being prosecuted "is half of our country's foreign reserves."
He said: "If we are not able to sustain the trouble against corruption, we will end up in a very, very bad way as a nation.
"We have seen it in so many different ways that at almost every state, corruption fights back and fights very fiercely.
By Soni Daniel The economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Tuesday, recorded another huge cash haul worth N4 billion with the help of a whistle blower.
The anti-graft agency believes the cash is proceed of corruption and has begun manhunt for the suspect, whose names was not made public as at last night.
The Spokesman for EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the cash haul but did not give details.
‘”investigation as to the owner of the funds revealed that the money belongs to a former deputy governorship candidate in Niger State.
“The suspect uses the names of two companies– Katah Property & Investment Limited and Sadiq Air Travel Agency- in laundering the funds.
“Each of the company has N2 billion fixed in its deposit account domiciled in Guaranty Trust Bank.
“The suspected owner of the account and the account officer are currently on the run,” Uwujaren said.
The agency has confiscated huge cash worth billions of Naira in the last one week.
My best friend, who is also a childhood friend met her boyfriend eight months ago and since then, her personality has changed. She was once bubbly and outgoing, but now she's nervy and quiet. Recently, I noticed bruises on her rists, and a few months ago, she
had a swollen lip. She said she had tripped on the carpet and banged into a door. I don't have any proof but I suspect that her boyfriend is hitting her. I've tried talking
to her, but she won't say anything. How do you think I should tackle this?
Doyin, by e-mail.
Dear Doyin,
Is your friend living with her boyfriend? If she is, your butting in might be very tricky. But you urgently need to let her know how concerned you are of her well-being.
Put her in touch with professionals who can counsel her and make sure you call on her as often as you can so her boyfriend could know you are on to him.
Let her know that domestic abuse is assault and he could be prosecuted if reported.
Lagos State couldn't be more blunt of its intolerance of domestic abuse. Sadly, your friend might refuse your help, seeing it as interfering – but at least you would have planted
Emmanuel Adebayor scored a hat-trick as Istanbul Basaksehir thrashed city rivals Galatasaray in the Super Lig. The ex-Arsenal and Tottenham striker scored twice before the break and headed in a third on 57 minutes, with Mustafa Pektemek adding a fourth.
Emmanuel Adebayor celebrates with a team-mate
Adebayor's last hat-trick came for Real Madrid in 2011, while the 33-year-old now has five goals since joining Basaksehir as a free agent in January.
His side are five points behind leaders Besiktas with seven games remaining.
Save the Children, an international NGO, says about 97 per cent of meningitis victims in Zamfara are women.
The Area Operations Manager of the organisation in the state, Mr Kennedy Yibin, disclosed this on Tuesday at a one-day Stakeholders Round Table meeting on Women and Girls Empowerment and Health Outcomes and Indices in the state.
Yibin told the meeting that Save the Children monitored the victims of meningitis in isolation centres set up by the State Government at various health facilities to arrive at the percentage.
A child being immunised against mennigitis
He attributed the development to poverty, illiteracy and poor accessibility to healthcare services.
He observed that a change of attitude at the family level, which is the "baseline" and without any cost, the woman would realise her potential and how to take better care of her family particularly the children.
He explained that the meningitis scourge would not have ravaged the state like it did if the women were empowered and their potential developed to a certain level.
Presenting a paper titled "Girl child education: Foundation for Women Empowerment in Zamfara State'', a lecturer with the Federal University, Gusau, Dr Rabiatu Mafara, said women should be allowed to take control of their reproductive decision.
She said more incentives that would encourage girl child education should be introduced in order to maintain the enrolment and retention of the girls in school to enhance girl child education.
The don also charged governments at all levels to implement the policy of education for all in the country.
ABUJA – The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has admitted how some of its staff got over N3 billion as bribe in the 2015 general elections.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC had in a report detailed how about N23 billion was deployed to influence the elections, but INEC said its figure was arrived at after an in-house investigation of 282 of its serving and retired staff, including a former national commissioner and several Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs. Money allegedly recovered from INEC Electoral Officials by the I-G’s committee set up to investigate Electoral Offences and Other Violent Acts during the Re-Run Rivers State Parliamentary Election held December 10, 2016, displayed by the committee during presentation of its report to I-G Ibrahim Idris in Abuja, yesterday. Photo. Gbemiga Olamikan. “Out of over 23 billion Naira, which the EFCC report said was used to influence the elections, the Committee established that 3,046,829,000 Naira was received by INEC staff in 16 States”, said INEC in a late-evening statement signed by one of its national commissioners, Mohammed Haruna.
Part of the statement reads: “The Commission met today to consider the report of its expanded Appointment, Promotion and Disciplinary Committee on the EFCC Interim Report on Bribery Corruption and Money Laundering Charges During the 2015 General Elections.
You may recall that late last year, the Commission received an Interim Report from the EFCC detailing allegations against 202 serving and retired INEC officials and staff in 16 States of the Federation. In furtherance of its zero tolerance for corruption in the electoral process, the Commission ordered a thorough investigation into the allegations to establish the culpability or otherwise of those named in the EFCC Report.
The Committee's work was thorough and painstaking, involving issuance of queries to the 202 staff mentioned in the Report and interviewing them individually in accordance with the principle of fair hearing and in consonance with INEC Staff Conditions of Service. As a result of initial findings of the Committee, an additional 80 serving officials of the Commission, who were not named in the EFCC report but whose names came up in the course of the investigation, were also queried and interviewed.
“Among other things the Committee found that there was a clear attempt to bribe INEC staff to influence the outcome of the 2015 general elections using an NGO, the West African Network of Election Observers (WANEO), made up mainly of retired senior INEC officials.
“In reaching its decision on the findings of the Committee, the Commission adhered strictly to the INEC Staff Conditions of Service. The Commission therefore decided as follows. The cases of one former National Commissioner, five former Resident Electoral Commissioners (one of them deceased) have been referred to the Presidency and EFCC for further necessary action.
“Based on their level of involvement, two hundred and five (205) serving INEC staff will be immediately placed on interdiction, which entails suspension from duties and being placed on half salary, pending the final determination of the cases they have with the EFCC.
“Seventy staff (70) about whom there was insufficient information regarding their involvement will be referred back to EFCC for further investigation and possible prosecution.
“The Commission hereby reiterates its commitment to defending the integrity of the electoral process. Therefore, it will continue to take stern action against its officials who compromise its core values of integrity, transparency and impartiality in the conduct of elections”.
By Emman Ovuakporie and Johnbosco Agbakwuru ABUJA – THE House of Representatives Tuesday told the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufa’i not to deceive the public with his alleged published security vote, claiming that what the governor published was his security budget and not security vote.
The House also advised governor El-Rufa’i that as he was preaching transparency which was normal, he should also be aware of his past and how the company he had interest in, the Pentascope, allegedly operating from an abandoned Church in the Netherlands, ruined the Nigeria Telecommunications, NITEL
Recall that the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, had on Friday April 7, 2017 in response to calls by Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai disclosed that the leadership of the National Assembly had directed the bureaucracy and all other agencies under the National Assembly to make available details of their annual budgets beginning from 2017 budget which is still under consideration in the parliament.
Besides, Dogara had requested the Governor, who he said is “known for his consistent advocacy for openness in the budget of the National Assembly”, to, in the spirit of good governance, transparency and accountability extend his campaign to other arms and tiers of government beginning from the Judiciary, to State Governments and Local Governments.
The executive governor of Anambra state, Chief Willie Mmaduaburochukwu Obiano on Tuesday flags off the Umueri International Cargo Airport Project.
In the bid to fulfilling his campaign promises of making Anambra state an international, economic, secure and political vibrant state, Chief willie Obiano posits that “Ndi Anambra, when I took over the reins of leadership of this great state three years ago, I delivered an Inaugural Address titled – Expanding the Frontiers of Excellence. The historic ceremony we have gathered to perform here today is a very important step in expanding the frontiers of excellence in Anambra State”
See his speech and video clip:
Anambra is on the Rise!
An Address presented by the Governor of Anambra State, His Excellency, Chief Willie Obiano during the Flag off of the Umueri International Cargo Airport Project on April 11, 2017
Ndi Anambra, three years into my first term in office, I stand before you today to answer the call of history. In Christian numerology, the number 3 is the number of perfect manifestation. So, three years into my administration, the Lord God Almighty has given us a new VISION and a new SONG!
Umu nnem, our elders say that na Ugo gbuzuo, ochakee! Anambra State has finally hit the bend in the river and our famous can-do spirit has now taken over! From now on, we have nothing more to fear! Nothing! Not even ourselves!
Ndi Anambra, when I took over the reins of leadership of this great state three years ago, I delivered an Inaugural Address titled – Expanding the Frontiers of Excellence. The historic ceremony we have gathered to perform here today is a very important step in expanding the frontiers of excellence in Anambra State!
Obiano
Indeed, it is important to note that my Team and I have got a few things right in the past three years. Against all expectations and at a time of great economic recession, we have established our beloved state as a compelling investment destination and attracted investments valued at over 5 billion US Dollars. And with this airport city project, the figure now stands at 7.2 billion US Dollars. We have also successfully placed Anambra on the agricultural map and blazed a trail with the exportation of our farm produce to the UK. In addition, we have positioned Anambra as the safest state in Nigeria and completely re-engineered the social architecture of our beloved state. Finally, we have re-awakened self-belief among our people and provoked their can-do spirit. Ladies and gentlemen, Anambra is finally on the RISE!
Ndi Anambra, what we have come to flag off in Umeri today is not your usual airport project. Mbanu! Nke anyi di iche! What we are flagging off today is an Airport City Project with a model that will accommodate an airport with two runways, an aviation fuel dump, an airport hotel, an industrial business park, an international convention centre as well as a facility for aircraft maintenance. The Umueri airport city project is conceived to join some of the most advanced airports in the world with a capacity to land any of the most sophisticated vessels known to man today. It sits on 1500 hectares of land with enough elbowroom for expansion from Ivite Umueri to neighbouring communities such as Nando, Umunya, Otuocha, Aguleri, Nteje, Nsugbe and beyond.
The project is estimated to cost over 2 billion US Dollars. It is a partnership between the Government of Anambra State, Orient Petroleum Resources Limited and Elite International Investments Limited (Sinoking Enterprises Limited).
Under the contractual agreement, Elite International Investments Limited will provide all the funds needed for the project under the Build-Operate-Manage-and-Transfer arrangement. However under the same SPV arrangement, the Anambra Airport City Infrastructure Limited has allocated 75% equity stake to Elite International Investments Limited, 20% to Oreint Petroleum Resources Limited and 5% to the Government of Anambra State. The host communities are entitled to 3% of the profit from this project in perpetuity as a part of the standard corporate social responsibility.
Indeed, the economic benefits of the Umueri Airport City Project are enormous. It is expected to generate 1,200 direct and 3600 indirect jobs. We expect that Ndi Anambra will grab 70% of these jobs in continuation of our efforts to create wealth and prosperity for our people. It will also provide an opportunity for training and skills transfer to our people. I have no doubts whatsoever that this project will have a tremendous impact on the ease of doing business in Anambra State as it opens a direct access by air to our vast markets. In particular, I hope that on completion, the Umueri Airport City Project will wipe out the difficulties our businessmen and women often encounter in exporting and importing goods and services and help in improving the entire supply chain.
Ladies and gentlemen, with this project and our subsequent plan for a light rail project, Anambra State will eventually assume its rightful place as a major commercial and industrial hub in the West African sub-region. As you are aware, my administration is intensely focused on building projects that have immense economic values. That is why we have concentrated efforts in building roads and bridges that either lead to industrial clusters or the oilfields or the agricultural belt of the state.
This Airport City Project follows the same trajectory. That is why we have established a strong synergy between Orient Petroleum Resources Plc and the Airport project with a view to operating an Aviation Fuel Segment that will attract both local and foreign airlines to refuel their aircraft in Umueri. This will no doubt open a new economic corridor for our beloved state as it is expected to stimulate growth in the oil and gas sector and multiply our revenue sources. It is my candid hope also that when this airport becomes operational, the world will have a direct and easy access to the vast tourism offerings of Ogbunike Cave and Ogbaukwu Caves and Waterfalls as well as the timeless archaeological treasures of Igboukwu!
Ndi Anambra, our beloved state is fast opening its doors to the world. Let us join hands and welcome the benefits that knock on our collective door!
Umu nnem, please, always remember that wherever you are and whatever you do, our ancestors left us with a timeless reminder that Aku luo uno, amalu onye kpalu ya!
My colleagues and I are waiting eagerly to receive you, go through your business plan and offer you the assistance you need to make your enterprise sink deep roots in the soil of Anambra State!
ABEOKUTA-Former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has appealed to the government of Zambia to adhere to the rule of law and human rights principles in dealing with the opposition in the Southern African country of Zambia.
Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo and Zambian president, Edgar Lungu
The appeal is coming on the heels of the report, which broke early Tuesday that the house of the main opposition leader, Hakainde Hichilema, was allegedly broken into by the government police and other para-military agencies with the purpose of arresting him without any warrant.
Obasanjo, in a statement signed by his Media Aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, said it was in the best interest of the country to maintain the rule of law and human rights principles, which he said are recipe for peace, stability and development not only in the Southern African country, but the entire African continent.
According to Obasanjo: “Early this morning, the news broke that the Zambian government police and other para-military agencies broke into the house of the opposition leader, Hakainde Hichilema, to effect his arrest without any warrant.
“Special appeal is being made to the government of Zambia to ensure that the rule of law is followed without breach of human rights in dealing with the opposition leader of the stature of Hakainde Hichilema.
“It is in the best interest of the country in ensuring that the rule of law and human rights principles are followed to ensure peace, stability and security, which are fundamental basis for development, which all Africans require at this point in time,” Obasanjo was quoted as saying.
Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, on Tuesday said that there was no judicial gang-up against the Federal Government's corruption campaign in the country.
Onnoghen, who disclosed this after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in the Presidential Villa, described the assertion as mere speculations.
The CJN also said that the judiciary was behind the fight with all sense of responsibility.
"If there was steam then it wouldn't happen without the participation of the judiciary. So, if there is losing of steam you should not only equate it to the judiciary.
Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen,
"The fight against corruption has lost no steam. It is not correct. Now, you should know one thing: two people will always have a quarrel.
''They may be three or four or one hundred. All the parties to that quarrel will always have different stories to tell.
"By the way our system is fashioned and designed and operated, when you go to a court of law, you cannot have a drawn game.
"There must be a winner and there must be a loser. In our system, a loser has the chance of appealing to the highest court eventually.
"So, you cannot say because the government or any agency has lost a case in the high court, you have lost a case and the fight is losing steam,'' he said.
It would be recalled that the federal government had appealed an anti-corruption case against a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, his wife, Olabowale, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Joe Agi.
They were discharged and acquitted of the 18-court criminal charge filed against them by the trial Judge, Justice Jude Okeke, who held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the defendants.
Okeke described the charges as speculative and without an iota of merit.
Newsmen also report that a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to unfreeze the account of the wife of the former President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience.
The account was one of the multiple accounts of Patience the court ordered to be frozen on the ground that the money is suspected to be proceeds of crime.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday cautioned a pro-democracy advocacy group, Nigerian Wailers, over an allegation on Twitter.
The group had alleged in a tweet that the commission had assisted a popular lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), to acquire a N1 billion home in Abuja.
"Falana Acquires 1 Billion Naira Maitama Home With Help of EFCC,'' it said via its handle @NGRWailers.
The commission responded almost immediately through its handle @officialEFCC, urging the Nigerian Wailers to tread with caution.
It said, "When you are invited to substantiate your claims, you will scream blue murder and then behave like your name. Please exercise caution.''
EFCC operatives
The exchanges generated hilarious comments from other Twitter users, some of whom urged the EFCC to hold the group accountable for the "falsehood''.
One Uche Jegbefume reacted via @jaustinuche with the photograph of a man in tears accompanied with the question, "Somebody cannot just joke with you?''.
Another user, Chukwuemeka Nwosu, suggested that the group was only trying to gain publicity by its action.
"Some Nigerians love to be in the news. But when asked to illuminate their views they claim to have terminal illness,'' he said.
Tweeting via @akeem_nosiru, one Akeem Nosiru urged the commission to deal with "@NGRWailers for perpetrating falsehood''.
On its website, the Nigerian Wailers described itself as a community of people promoting the "citizens' democracy''.
"This is the pro-democracy platform that connects the people and the government through a reportage of activities of the government and demand for good governance,'' it said.
The bride who failed to show up for her wedding ceremony on Saturday in Ondo, Miss Taiwo Orimoloye, has called her parents from Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, informing them of her whereabouts.
According to a source close to the family Miss Taiwo failed to show up for the church service on her wedding day, disappointing her husband to -be and many guests who attended the wedding.
Her parents and the family of the groom knew nothing about her whereabouts.
However, a resident of Christ Land area in Oka, Ondo, where Taiwo 's parents live, on condition of anonymity disclosed that the 'runaway' bride had called her parents on a different telephone line, informing them of her whereabouts.
The resident said, " She has called her parents on a telephone line on Monday where she told them that she was in Osogbo. Her call, as a matter of fact has doused the tension in her family.
" Everybody in the family is now happy that she is alive hale and hearty. "
A truck driver driving against traffic on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Tuesday crushed three persons at Arepo, Ogun area of the highway.
Mr Clement Oladele , the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), in Ogun, who confirmed the accident, told newsmen in Abeokuta that the three persons died on the spot.
Nigerian Police
He said that the driver of the ash-coloured truck was travelling from Lagos to Ibadan in the morning and the three victims were male.
"The accident was caused by route violation and dangerous driving because the driver of the truck was facing one way.
"The police have apprehended the driver of the truck," Oladele said
The sector commander said that the FRSC ambulance conveyed the corpses of the dead to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) mortuary.
Detectives attached to the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested two suspects who posed as passengers and killed an Uber driver, in an attempt to steal his vehicle.
The suspects and one other, who is at large, strangled the driver, Innevosa Emmanuel and disposed him of his KIA RIO salon car marked KTU 594DM.
he suspects always go after uber drivers with the intention of killing them and stealing their cars, to resell them to new buyers.
The suspects boarded the vehicle from Ikeja to take them to Ogba, Oke-Ira during which they suddenly ordered the driver to make a U-turn and take them to Oremeji Street, Obawole area of Ogba, where he was strangled with a belt by the robbers and the vehicle was driven away.
According to one of the suspects, he said they were three that participated in the killing of the driver.
"I and Michael met at Ogba where I went to drink and we became friends. I told him how difficult things were for me that I needed to relocate to Benin to start all over again.
"It was at this point that Michael told me about a deal that could fetch me some money that we could get a car and then sell it to his boss.
"Michael then told me about one Alex (Emmanuel) who had a vehicle and we agreed to meet the following day. Since then we had been meeting and discussing how to buy the vehicle.
"On the fateful day the Uber driver came, I was with Michael in his office and his friend Destiny was with him but I don't know if he discussed the vehicle deal with Destiny.
"Around 9:30p.m, we called the Uber driver to come and pick us at Tantalizer eatery at Ogba. I and Destiny were inside the vehicle with the driver, but Michael was outside while I was holding the belt.
"Immediately I put the belt across the driver's neck, Destiny dragged the belt and we strangled him. When we were satisfied that he was dead, we took his corpse to Oremeji Street and dumped him in front of a church around 10:30 p.m., without anybody noticing us.
"After killing the driver, we took the vehicle to Michael's boss to sell it. The buyer then inquired from us where we got the vehicle from and Michael told him that we killed the owner.
"The buyer then said we should take the car away and Michael said we should take it to his house and park it outside, before taking it to another buyer in Benin.
"Later we were tracked to Benin, arrested and brought back to Lagos." the suspect said.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the suspects at the Command headquarters, said the command received a report of a missing Uber driver, whose car was stolen and the driver missing.
Owoseni said since then, it has been an issue of concern and detectives through their sustained efforts towards the missing driver, two days ago arrested two suspects in connection with the missing driver.
"The suspects posed as passengers, strangled the Uber driver and dumped his remains at Ogba and the vehicle was taken to Delta State, where it was recovered and the suspects arrested."
The Police boss said the suspects would soon be charged to court.
The Senate on Tuesday, rejected the report of its Ad Hoc Committee on Southern Kaduna crisis over non-reflection of details and serious issues affecting the area.
The report was also turned down because it did not cover similar crises in other parts of the country as the committee was mandated.
The committee was mandated to cover all the states in the country, especially Zamfara, Kaduna, Benue, Enugu, Abia, Taraba, Nasarawa, Delta, Edo and Kano, that had recorded clashes.
But the committee visited only Kaduna and Zamfara.
The rejection came after the presentation of the report by Chairman of the committee, Sen. Kabiru Gaya, at plenary.
Gaya had told the senators that the committee recommended that those found wanting in the Kaduna crisis should be brought to book and that victims deserving compensation should be paid.
"The reason why we raised the recommendation is that most of the white papers produced during the last routine crises in Kaduna, none has been implemented," he said.
He added that the committee also recommended that Kaduna State Government should collaborate with security agencies to embrace everybody irrespective of ethnic or religious affiliations.
"They should also set up a committee to embrace dialogue for peace to reign within Kaduna South and Kaduna State."
The lawmaker said this was very vital because there was a kind of communication gap between the government and the committee.
But reacting to the report, Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, noted that the committee identified only 10 states to visit, but that the crisis and the killings existed in more than 10 states.
"This Senate must accord this issue the seriousness it deserves. The report needs to be deeper than this; the recommendation needs to reflect more of the seriousness of the matter.
"They should be given more time to do more work on this so that they will be able to show to the whole world that this senate is serious about this matter.
"To say that we have to use money for "service wide vote'' to address this matter shows our misunderstanding of the concept of "service wide vote''. It is not a small fund, it is tied to specifics," Ekeremadu said.
On his part, Sen. Baranabas Gemade (APC-Benue) said that the report was obviously an interim one.
According to him, it is very obvious that quite a lot of work that needed to be done to bring this report to a level that we will actually establish the seriousness of this problem has not been done.
"There are many aspects of insurgency and disturbance in these areas; there is the aspect of cattle rustling and nomads straying into farmlands, disturbing people," he said.
On the recommendation of recreating cattle routes, Gemade said that there was the need to look at the fundamental requirements of our nationhood.
"Where is that law that provided free assets of nomads in West Africa to go wherever they like, however they like and do whatever they like.
"These are issues we must deal with. We must come to a point where we are in total agreement of what is good for everybody," he said.
In his remarks, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said that there were many other parts of the country with similar issues as Kaduna South that the committee' report did not cover.
"The seriousness of the matter deserves in-depth and detailed recommendations," he said.
Saraki, therefore, urged the committee to address some of the observations and report back.
Meanwhile, the Senate adjourned sitting to April 25 for the Easter holiday
Food in the European Union (EU) continued to be largely free of pesticide residues or contained residues that fell within legal limits, the European Food Security Authority (EFSA) revealed on Tuesday in a new report.
According to a 2015 EU report on pesticide residues in food, 69.3 per cent of the samples came from EU member states, while 25.8 per cent were imported from countries outside the EU.
The origin of the remaining samples was not reported.
The report showed that 97.2 per cent of the samples analysed fell within the limits permitted in EU legislation.
Among them, 53.3 per cent of the samples tested were free of quantifiable residues while 43.9 per cent contained residues that didn't exceed legal limits.
However, in 2015, 1.7 per cent of samples from EU and European Economic Area (EEA) countries exceeded legal limits, up from 1.6 per cent in 2014, and 5.6 per cent of the samples from non-EU countries exceeded legal limits, down from 6.5 per cent the previous year.
Among these, the food that exceeded legal limits the most was broccoli at 3.4 per cent, said the report.
It was followed by table grapes, which was 1.7 per cent.
The Naira on Tuesday sustained its loss against the dollar at the parallel market.
This was in spite of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)'s intervention at both the interbank market and Bureau De Change (BDC) window.
Newsmen report that the naira on Tuesday afternoon exchange between N405 (buying rate) and N410 selling rate at the parallel market.
Newsmen report that it was weaker than N405 traded on Monday.
CBN & Exchange rate: Naira & Dollar
Also, the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N490 and N430 respectively.
At the BDC window, the Naira was sold at N362 to a dollar, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro traded at N500 and N428 respectively.
Trading at the interbank market saw the Naira closed at N306.20 to the dollar.
A currency trader told newsmen that dollar had remained scarce in the market in spite of the injection of foreign exchange at the interbank market and the BDC window.
Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, the President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), decried the movement of illicit funds across the nation's borders.
Gwadabe said that the BDCs were ready to cooperate with the CBN to see rates convergence at the market.
He urged security operatives to be on the lookout for the movement of "hot money'' across the nation's borders.
Newsmen report that the CBN had not relented in providing foreign exchange to end users.
The CBN had on April 4 injected 10,000 dollars to BDCs nationwide to checkmate the activities of currency hoarders and speculators.
