FCT

Three more political parties were Tuesday registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) bringing the number of parties to 57.

In a statement, INEC Director of Public Affairs, Mr Emmanuel Umemegere said the commission approved the registration of the parties after having satisfied all the requirements specified in section 222 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He said the approval was given at the commission meeting Tuesday.

They include the National Transformation Party (NTP), Democratic Party for a Peoples Federation (DPPF) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

Benue

The Benue State House of Assembly has insisted that the Pesident, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, must appear before it to make firm commitments on the agreement he entered into with the Benue State Government, which he has allegedly breached by reducing the shares of the state at Benue Cement Company Plc (BCC). 

Addressing reporters at the assembly complex Tuesday after Dangote failed to appear before the House for a second time over the share crisis between Dangote Group and Benue State, House of Assembly, Speaker, Terseer Tsumba, stated that the Assembly had given the business mogul the last opportunity to appear before the lawmakers on January 12, 2010.

He said the last two dates given to Dangote to appear before the house failed to yield any results as the business mogul only sent his representatives.

Tsumba said that Dangote Tuesday chose to send a deputy managing director of his group who was in company of some senior staff of the BCC Plc. He stressed that the House was not satisfied with the action of the BCC core investor; hence the decision to give him the last chance to appear before the Assembly.

Plateau

Mr Biran Dadi of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) was Tuesday sworn in as chairman of Lantang North Local Council, Plateau State.

His inauguration followed a judgement by the State’s Local Government Appeal Tribunal, which deemed him the lawful winner of the council polls earlier given to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) by the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC).

Swearing in Dadi Tuesday, the Governor Jonah Jang lauded the council chief for his diligent pursuit of his mandate through the courts.

Jang said the swearing-in was another demonstration of his administration’s resolve to live by the rule of law.

The Local Government Appeal Tribunal has so far upturned three council elections in favour of the opposition parties. The Action Congress (AC) has retrieved Lantang South and Bokkos councils from the PDP through the appeal.

Kaduna

Officials of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) Tuesday in Kaduna urged the presidency to relieve the minister of Agriculture, Dr. Sayyadi Abba Ruma of his appointment for allegedly undermining the Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank Limited (NACRDB), as well as the nation’s peasant farmers. The NACRDB branch of NUBIFIE accused Ruma of gradually killing the bank because of his selfish interest with all sorts of uncivilised policies that are against the survival of the bank.”

The union in a statement jointly signed by NUBIFIE, NACRDB chairman, Ade Martins Odigie and the president at the association, Bala Waziri and made available to journalists in Kaduna, alleged that Ruma, whose ministry is not even part of the shareholders of the bank, had continued to undermine the financial institution in addition to running it like his personal estate. The unions further claimed that the alleged “selfish activities of the minister have brought untold hardship to millions of Nigerian farmers who relies solely on credit facilities from the agric bank.

Ekiti

Legal Luminary, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) and proprietor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) has criticised universities operating from rented facilities saying such universities were set up for profit making. Speaking Tuesday at the inauguration of the governing council of ABUAD, Babalola said the need to make a difference in university education informed the setting up of his own university, adding that ABUAD has set the standard for future private universities in the country.

He maintained that many of those who got license to operate a university and are doing so from a rented apartment are after profit, saying this ought not to be the situation.

Babalola pointed out that many great universities all over the world were not established for profit making, adding that ABUAD is meant to operate like them, giving to the society quality university education.

Also, while playing host to the management at ABUAD, Ekiti State governor, Mr. Segun Oni, said the state government has spent N8 billion on the funding of state-owned tertiary institutions in the last two and half years.

He said the amount surpasses the N7.5 billion expended on the same tertiary institutions by previous administrations in the state during a period of 11 years.

Gombe

Accounting profession in the country may be on the verge of losing out in the global standard practice due to inflation and pervading  political insensitivity to critical economic issues, the National President of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Mrs I.F. Gafar has said.

Gafar explained that the challenges in the practice of the profession, due to the unsavory external environment, has made data compatibility impossible because of poor handling of accounting historical records.

The ANAN boss, who made the assertion while delivering her address at the sixth session of the mandatory continuing professional development programme held recently, in Gombe, noted that the greatest challenge facing accountants in the country was the ability to improve reporting standard that would suit the pace of global development.

She therefore challenged the professional accountants  to be alert and watchful as that would enable them to prepare for the unforeseen financial changes in the world economy in which the Nigerian economy was an integral part.

Gafar had therefore re-emphasised the need for continued training and retraining of accounts, as it was required by the profession in compliance with the international ethics and best practices of learning about new practice opportunities.

Plateau

The Plateau State budget performance in 2009 financial year was negatively affected by the November 2008 civil unrest in Jos, the state capital, fall in oil price and non reimbursing of the state of over N10 billion as its shares of excess foreign debt reductions handed over to Nassarawa state.

Governor Jonah Jang who lamented that all these adversely affected the state government projections, noted that the resources gulped by the management of the Jos mayhem would have been expended on the provisions of water and other social amenities.

According to him, it increased internal borrowing to cover the envisaged budget deficit, which impacted negatively on 2009 budget performance.

The state is to spend N74.8 billion in 2010, as against N78.4 billion in 2009, representing N4.5 billion decrease. Chief Jang, spoke while presenting 2010 Appropriation Bill to the state legislature recently.

According to him, the estimated Recurrent Revenue for 2010 is N33.5 billion as against N38.2 billion for 2009, while the Recurrent Expenditure gulped N25.8 billion in 2009 financial year.

Lagos

The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice I. Akerele Tuesday freed 34 inmates of Ikoyi prison.

Akerele who ordered the release of the inmates during a visit to the prison said her action was pursuant to section 1 (II) of the criminal justice release from Custody Special Provision Act Cap 340, 2004 law of the Federation of Nigeria.

The freed inmates were those who had been in custody longer than the maximum period of imprisonment which they could have served if convicted of alleged offence.

She said the move was to decongest the prison and urged the beneficiaries to go and sin no more.

Ondo

The lingering agitation by the organised labour movement for better wages for workers in the nation’s public sector may end on a positive note early next year.

The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Adetokumbo Kayode (SAN), declared in Akure, Ondo State capital Tuesday that “a new wage regime that would put smiles on faces of Nigerians, would take off soon.”

According to the minister, who is on a three-day official visit to Ondo State, final arrangements are already being put in place by all the concerned stakeholders in the wage issue to prepare a workable and acceptable framework in the first month of the new year.

He disclosed that the Justice Alfa Belgore panel, which was set up by President Umaru Yar’Adua to streamline issues pertaining to agitation over the wage matter, has been approved by the Federal Government.

His words: “The issue of minimum wage is under process. The Federal Government approved the Justice Belgore Panel, which hasp Labour, employers and government as members. We have been divided into sub-committees and we have been working and it is for the committee to round off its assignment.

“I asked them to round off early next year so that we can move on. We want to change from minimum wage to living wage. We want to have a salary that can allow people to live purposeful life and take care of the vagaries of the effects of the global and national economies on our social lives.”