Sahara Reporters Latest News Friday 25th October 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 25/10/19
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Nigeria Remains An Oil-dependent Nation, Says Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria remains an oil-dependent nation despite promises by his government to wane the country off oil revenue alone.
He made the remarks during the Africa-Russia summit held in Sochi, Russia.
Buhari said, “Our economy is heavily dependent on foreign exchange on oil.
“With the result that our high Gross Domestic Product is not as a result of domestic sector productivity.
“Our government in the last four years has focused on diversifying our economy by supporting key job-creating sectors such as agriculture, mining and ICT.
“To achieve this, we invested aggressively in infrastructure development and introduced policies and programs that enhance our ease of doing business, reduce corruption in the public sector and enforce the rule of law.
“It is this inclusive economic diversification agenda that we want to forge a new Nigeria-Russia cooperation.
“Already, we are seeing progress in areas of power generation, solid minerals development and rail transportation and I hope this will be expanded to agriculture, manufacturing and other means of transportation.”
President Buhari commended Russia for the support rendered to Nigeria and the whole of Africa during the colonial era.
He added, “Since the collapse of the USSR in 1991, relations between Russia and African nations have lagged behind historical levels.
“The former Soviet Union had been a key partner of Africa.
“We all remember the strong support we received from the former Soviet Union in our anti-colonial struggles.
“Africa will continue to remember this, and many other significant gestures of solidarity and support that shaped our history as a continent.
“We are eternally grateful to the Soviet Union for coming to the aid of Africa in its hour of need.
“As we live in an increasingly changing world driven by trade, technology and innovation, the time has come to inject new energy and pragmatism in Africa-Russia relations for the mutual benefit of both Africa and Russia.”
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Border Closure: Partner With Neighbouring Countries To Tackle Smuggling, Falana Tells Buhari
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has urged the Nigerian Government to end border closure and partner with neighbouring countries to tackle smuggling.
Commenting on the closure of land borders by the government over smuggling and evasion of taxes, Falana said the endorsement of the act by the International Monetary Fund is a ploy to weaken ECOWAS regional integration agenda.
Delivering a paper on “Rule of Law, Good Governance and Economic Development” at the annual conference of the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Accra, Ghana, Falana argued that Nigeria risks retaliation from other countries by the closure of its borders.
Falana said, “Border closure is inconsistent with the letter and spirit of ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Residence and Establishment and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
“The endorsement of the IMF is a deliberate design to weaken the ECOWAS regional integration agenda.
“The borders should be reopened without any further delay as it cannot be sustained for too long without serious repercussions for the Nigerian economy.
“The neighbouring countries may retaliate by imposing a ban on goods being exported from Nigeria by air.
“They may also close down Nigerian banks and other businesses operating in other member states of ECOWAS.
“Instead of resorting to the unilateral closure of borders, the government should drag the Republics of Benin and Niger to the Court of Justice of the ECOWAS for breaching the ECOWAS Protocol by allegedly encouraging smuggling of petrol, rice and other products. In the alternative, smuggling should be addressed like terrorism which is being jointly combated by Nigeria and her neighbours.
“The government should expose the smugglers by arresting and prosecuting them. “Without official connivance, the crime of smuggling cannot thrive in the region.”
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Government Orders NCC To Sanction Telecos Over Illegal Charges
The Nigerian Communications Commission has been ordered by the government to sanction any telecommunication firm imposing illegal charges on customers.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, gave the order in a statement on Thursday.
The commission also ordered that the new charges on Unstructured Supplementary Service Data should be stopped.
The statement reads, “We have directed the Nigerian Communication Commission to ask MTN to suspend the plan.
“We are not aware of it officially. We will investigate and make sure the right thing is done.
“The attention of the Ministry has been drawn to the activities of some mobile network operators who in spite of the earlier directive suspending the planned Unstructured Supplementary Service Data access charge on banking services, have continued the illegal deduction from subscribers.
“This also serves a notice to the general public that anyone in possession of evidence of charges after the minister’s directive had taken effect, should forward the same to the Nigerian Communications Commission for further action.”
This directive is coming days after MTN said it would start charging N4 on USSD transactions on the request of commercial banks
However, the banks including the Central Bank of Nigeria disowned the telecommunication company, saying they made no such request.
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Four Years After, Police Arrest Prime Suspect In The Murder Of Catholic Priest, Brother In Ondo
The police in Ondo has arrested a suspect in connection with the killing of a Catholic Priest, Rev. Father Godwin Ofonyelu, in the state.
The suspect, Simeon Anyaegbu, was nabbed last week Tuesday by Officers of Anti-Robbery Squad in Portharcourt, Rivers State.
Anyaegbu was later moved to Akure, Ondo State, shortly after the officers handed him over to the police in the state for proper investigation.
The Catholic priest alongside his brother, Obikwelu Ofonyelu, were both killed by suspected armed robbers in 2015.
The duo were murdered on the Owo-Oba-Akoko in the Akoko South-West Local Council Area of the state.
The victims were traveling in a Sports Utility Vehicle when the armed robbers came out from the bush and shot sporadically at them.
The robbers’ bullets hit the petrol tank of their vehicle, causing it to go up in flames and killing the brothers.
Since 2015, the families of the deceased had all remained sad and bereaved by the gruesome death of their beloved.
Following the arrest of the prime suspect, Anyaegbu, families of Ofonyelu have started raising the alarm over the delay in charging him to court by the police.
Pa Christian Ofonyelu, father of the victims, has called for “real justice” over the killing of his children.
He has also through his lawyer written a petition to the Ondo State Police Commissioner seeking urgent interventon on the case.
Spokesperson for the police in Ondo, Femi Joseph, confirmed the arrest of the suspect, stressing that proper investigations will be done on the case.
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E2%80%99s-witness-says I Did Not Investigate Naira Marley, EFCC’s Witness Says
The prosecution witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Buhari, has told the Federal High Court in Lagos that he did not participate in the investigation of the criminal allegation against Azeez Fashola, a Nigerian musician also known as Naira Marley.
The witness said this on Thursday during his cross-examination at the ongoing trial of the artiste.
When asked by Naira Marley’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, what role he played in the investigation, the witness, who is also the head of the anti-graft agency’s forensic department, said he was not involved apart from the forensic examination that he did.
“Apart from the digital forensic examination, I did not play any role during the investigation of this case, ” Nuru said.
The investigator also owned up that he was never instructed to scrutinise the ownership of the gadgets seized from the musician but he did it as standard procedure.
He said, “I was never instructed to investigate the ownership of the device but my standard is that I confirm the ownership of the device.”
The series of questioning that followed the response were regarding the process of registering a laptop.
Naira Marley’s lawyer asked Buhari if the name Azeez Fashola appeared anywhere in his report marked exhibit E. to which he answered in the negative.
Buhari also confirmed that anyone could have registered a device as “Naira Marley”, the stage name of the musician.
Questioning the choice of words used in filing the report, Ojo asked the witness to define what it means in his kind of profession to use certain words, including ‘obvious’ and ‘appears’.
In response, Buhari explained that ‘appears’ doesn’t connote certainty.
Following up, Ojo asked the witness to read page 6, line 10 of his forensic report marked as exhibit E.
It reads: “Finally, based on the analysis of the device, it appears that the user purchased credit card information from the sites analysed and used them for online shopping.”
The cross-examination was interrupted by an argument among lawyers over sitting space in court, which led to the adjournment of the matter at the instance of the court to December 11 and 12 for the continuation of cross-examination of the prosecution witness.
Naira Marley is being prosecuted for Internet fraud among other crimes.
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Former INEC Chairman, Maurice Iwu, Aided Concealment Of N1.23bn -EFCC
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Thursday informed Justice Nicholas Oweibo of a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos State, that a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Maurice Iwu, allegedly aided the concealment of N1.23bn in the account of Bioresources Institute of Nigeria Limited with number 1018603119, domiciled in the United Bank for Africa.The anti-graft agency made the revelation during the re-arraignment of Iwu over the alleged fraud.The commission re-arraigned Iwu on four counts bordering on the alleged offence.It would be recalled that Prof Iwu had earlier been arraigned in August before Justice Chuka Obiozor of the same court.His re-arraignment came consequent upon the transfer of the case from Justice Obiozor to Justice Oweibo.According to the charge slammed against the former INEC Chairman, the EFCC stated that Iwu allegedly committed the offence in the build-up to the 2015 general elections in which President Muhammadu Buhari defeated Goodluck Jonathan.The anti-graft agency insisted that Prof Iwu ought to have known that the N1.23bn formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act, to wit: fraud.Counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, informed Justice Oweibo that Iwu acted contrary to section 18(a) and 15 (2) (a) of the Money Laundering ((Prohibition) Act 2011 and was liable to be punished under Section 15(3) of the same Act.However, Prof Iwu pleaded not guilty to the charge, prompting Justice Oweibo to allow him to continue on the N1bn bail earlier granted him by Justice Obiozor.Justice Oweibo adjourned the matter until November 25, 2019, for commencement of trial.
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E2%80%93jamb National Identity Number Now Compulsory For All Admission Seekers –JAMB
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The Joint Admissions Matriculation Board has said that the National Identify Number is now a prerequisite for all prospective admission seekers to register for the 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
Coordinator of JAMB in Ondo State, Babatunde Bamisaye, who made this disclosure in Akure, the state capital, said the board will henceforth register only candidates with the NIN beginning from 2020.
Bamisaye said the NIN, which is being issued by the National Identity Management Commission, would also help to curtail malpractices in UTME.
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JAMB To Use National Identity Number To Stop Exam Malpractices
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He said, “Henceforth, the board (JAMB) will register only candidates with the NIN which is issued by the NIMC and it would become the prerequisite to enter any of our tertiary institutions.
“So, we have been asking prospective candidates to visit NIMC office and register for their NIN.”
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Ajaokuta Steel Company: Government To Spend N3.80bn On Personnel Cost, Utility
Ajaokuta Steel Plant
Ajaokuta Steel Plant
In a bid to revive Nigeria’s biggest steel mill company in Ajaokuta, the government has allocated the sum of N3,796,479,657 for the payment of salaries, allowances and contribution, and general utility.
The company, which was founded in 1979 but marred by mismanagement, is yet to commence full operation as plans are ongoing to revamp the facility.
Investigations into the proposed budget for the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development revealed that the sum allocated to the company was for personnel cost.
A breakdown of the proposed allocation shows that N2,674,375,672, will be used for salary payments while allowances and social contributions would take N858,330,211.
Also, the sum of N3,607,976,033 was earmarked as total recurrent expenditure, while N75,270,150 was budgeted for overhead cost.
A total of N3,855,600 will be spent on travels, while N7,820,400 was earmarked for general utilities.
Under general utilities, telephone and Internet charges will cost the company N2,200,000 and N2,460,000, respectively.
The sum of N2,840,400 was budgeted for water rate while a total of N6,394,400 was allocated to materials and general supplies.
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NNPC
NNPC Signs Contracts For 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline Project
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Out of the amount, N3,600,000 is for office materials/computer consumables, while newspapers and magazines/periodicals will cost N180,000 and N114,400, respectively.
The sum of N145,483,574 will be spent on the purchase of fixed assets, out of which N41,300,000 is meant for the purchase of buses.
The steel company is to purchase security and industrial equipment with N10,000,000 and N94,183,574, respectively.
Rehabilitation/repairs of the company’s fixed assets will cost N43,020,050.
An Indian company, Global Steel Holdings Limited, won the concession of the Ajaokuta Steel Mill for a 10-year period but the agreement was revoked when the Federal Government accused the firm of asset stripping, a development which led to a court case between the two parties.
The government is yet to come out with a clear decision on the offer but the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, had at the Senate last Friday said the government was looking towards Russia in renewed efforts to revive the company.
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Telecom Operators Describe New USSD Charges As Double Billing
The Association of Telecom Operators of Nigeria has said the directive by banks that customers should pay N4 per for Universal Structural Service Database transactions was equivalent to double billing.
Chairman of ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo, told Economic Confidentialthat customers already pay service charges to use the services rendered by banks.
He said, “Given that the USSD channel has become an established and most preferred channel for the banks especially for the banked population, we state that asking the customer to pay for the USSD is akin to requesting a customer to pay a bank’s landlord access fees prior to gaining access to banking premises.
“Why will the banks charge customers and not share the cost with the operators and you don’t expect the operators to charge customers?
“Banks continue to take the money without giving anything to the operators.”
Adebayo notes that telcos had only started the end-user billing system following a cease in the payment of corporate funded USSD maintenance fees.
The Nigeria Communications commission shares the sentiments of the telcos as it on Tuesday ordered an immediate suspension of end-user billing for financial transactions through the USSD channel by all telecom operators.
Spokesperson for the institution, Dr Henry Nkemadu, believes consumers already pay service charge to banks for financial transactions carried out through the USSD channels, and should include the cost of use of operators’ critical network resources.
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Nigeria To Buy 12 Attack Helicopters From Russia
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Defense World
Russia and Nigeria have signed a deal for the sale of 12 attack helicopters to the former.
The agreement was inked on Wednesday in the Russian city of Sochi where African heads of state including President Muhammadu Buhari are meeting with Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, a report from Moscow-based news agency RIAsaid.
Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, had said that discussions around arms procurement will form part of conversations with Putin.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Russia, Stephen Ogbah, had earlier noted that the country intends to purchase Russian helicopters, planes, tanks and other military equipment.
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Buhari, Putin Agree To Strengthen Ties Between Nigeria And Russia
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He said a draft deal had been finalised and was waiting for a logical conclusion which arrived on Wednesday.
While full details of the purchase have not emerged, Ogbah said the agreement will open new possibilities in such areas as the supply of military equipment and training for specialists.
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