Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
The Federal Government says that it has evolved a comprehensive inland basin oil exploration framework to enhance the national oil and gas reserve.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, said this at the 11th combined convocation of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi in Adamawa.
Allison-Madueke, who was represented by the Zonal Manager of NNPC, Kaduna, Alhaji Salihu Sambo, said the framework was designed to intensify oil exploration not just in Chad basin.
She explained that the framework covered other basins such as Sokoto, Bida, Yola, Gongola, Anambra, Benue trough and Dahomey.
The minister, who was conferred with a fellowship award of the polytechnic, reiterated the government’s commitments toward increasing the nation’s oil and gas reserves.
“Already our neighboring countries that have similar geological setting like Chad, Niger and Cameroun have recently discovered oil in commercial quantity.
Bauchi
Hajiya Biodun Yuguda, wife of the Bauchi State Governor, has charged religious leaders to instill good values in youths for a brighter future.
Yuguda stated this at the convention of the Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), with theme “Building the New Bauchi State”.
She said that to ensure a virile society and a bright future, religious leaders should teach the youths good moral values as contained in the holy books so that they would grow with the fear of God.
The governor’s wife commended the organisers of the convention and urged the participants to contribute their quota in building a new Bauchi State.
Borno
The Borno State Judiciary is planning to hold market day meetings in villages across the state, the Chief Judge, Alhaji Kashim Zannah, has said.
Zannah told newsmen in Maiduguri on Sunday that the meetings were part of a renewed effort to sensitise rural communities on the need to engage the services of the judiciary.
“We plan to hold market day meetings with the villagers as part of our enlightenment campaign on how individuals can access our services easily,” he said.
The chief judge added that the move was part of the justice sector reform initiated in 2008, aimed at enhancing access to justice.
The reform action plan was aimed at enhancing access to justice, as well as timely and quality justice delivery, he added.
Ekiti
The Ekiti State Government has paid the two months salary arrears owed its workers in the local government service, Chief Femi Akinyemi, the Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission (LGSC), has said.
Akinyemi told newsmen in Ado Ekiti on Sunday that workers in the 16 local government areas were owed April and May salaries “due to dwindling allocation from the federation account”.
He, however, explained that the two months salary had now been paid into the workers individual accounts, adding that “we do not owe any local government staff salary as at today”.
The chairman attributed the delay in the payment to the drop in the monthly allocation from the federation account “and the current global economic melt down.
FCT
The FCT administration has promised to compensate more than 6,000 persons whose land title were revoked on grounds of overriding public interest by the government.
Sen. Bala Mohammed, the FCT Minister, disclosed this during the presentation of the report of the Ministerial Committee on Repositioning Land Administration in the territory.
He said allottees who lost their land titles as a result of the government’s action were awaiting alternative allocation.
He explained that “in order to address this problem, I will dedicate appreciable percentage of all land allocation during my tenure to providing alternative plots to this category of victims”.
He said the administration would establish FCT Civil Service Commission to correct the abnormalities in personnel management and to check indiscipline among the staff.
The Federal Government has ordered the release of N15 billion for the construction of a 200 megawatts power plant in Kaduna State.
The Vice President, Namadi Sambo, made the disclosure in Zaria at a reception organised in his honour by the Zazzau Emirate Council on Saturday.
He said that President Goodluck Jonathan gave the order as part of efforts to improve electricity supply in the country.
He stated that already a letter of credit had been issued to the manufacturer of the equipment meant for the project.
“Very soon the project site will be handed over to the contractors,” he said.
Kano
Commercial motorcyclists in Kano metropolis now harass motorists, making driving a nightmare in the commercial town, The Tide’s source’s check has shown.
The survey found that many of the cyclists, popularly known as “achaba,” often abuse motorists at the slightest encounter.
The source also found that the motorcyclists usually rode recklessly and often hit other vehicles passing by, smashing their bumpers or side mirrors.
A car owner in the city, Alhaji Na’Allah Abubakar, told the source that he was apprehensive about driving in the city because of the attitude of the motorcyclists on the road.
“Driving has become a nightmare for me because of the irresponsible traffic conduct of the achaba boys.
Kwara
Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara has vowed not to sign the Pension Bill passed by the state house of assembly until some controversial areas are resolved.
Speaking on Saturday during a media chat, the governor said that the executive would soon return the bill to the assembly with a view to amending some of the controversial areas.
“There are many controversial issues in it and I will not sign the bill because I am sending it back to the house for them to take a look at some of the issues therein.
“I know that about eight states are now operating similar pension schemes but some things must be amended,” he said.
The governor explained that he was more concerned with the resources of the state and the ability to implement the bill, saying that “definitely the bill will return to the house for a second look and to see what they can shave-off from the bill”.
Lagos
Some aviation professionals have advised airline operators to adopt manpower development as a means of solving the dearth of professionals in the industry.
The professionals were reacting to the approval given by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to Aeroconsult Training Organisation (ATO) to undertake training of professionals in the industry
In an interactive session with aviation correspondents in Lagos, the professionals decried the trend whereby airline operators, rather than train personnel, poach from each other to fill existing vacancy.
Mr Ayo Obadofin, the Managing Director of Aeroconsult said instead of the operators training their personnel to handle equipment, most of them rather seek for experienced hands to employ.
Nasarawa
Dr Peter Agu of the Nasarawa State Ministry of Science and Technology, has urged the Federal Government to enact a law that would make technical and vocational education functional.
Agu gave the advice while delivering a paper at the 3rd Academic staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) Conference at the Nasarawa State Polytechnic, Lafia on Saturday.
He said the low esteem of technical and vocational education had reduced enrolment into the polytechnics.
He stressed the need for intensified advocacy to improve the image and acceptance of vocational education in the country.
Niger
Sheikh Mohammed Yahaya, the Director of Propagation of Izala Islamic Movement, has called for an increase in the Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) of Muslim pilgrims during Hajj to ease their hardships.
Yahaya told newsmen in Minna on Sunday that the current minimum BTA of 500 dollars was grossly inadequate to cater for the needs of a pilgrim during Hajj.
He said that Nigerian pilgrims spent more than one month in the holy land during Hajj, resulting in the complete exhaustion of the allowance.
He added that “pilgrims who found themselves in such a situation were forced to beg to feed themselves or sell their personal belongings at give away prices just to feed before their return to the country.
Ogun
Former President Olusegun Obsanjo has advocated the use of green economy to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change in Africa.
Receiving participants in a climate change workshop in his Abeokuta residence, Obasanjo said: “Green economy is the vogue now; people are talking and doing something about it. We in Africa should go beyond talking about it and do someting about it.”
The Tide’s source reports that the workshop, which was for parliamentary support staff of the national and states assemblies, was organised by Africa Leadership Forum, Ota, Ogun, to enhance their capacity to perform their legislative and oversight functions.
Obasanjo told the participants that there were sufficient evidence to prove that climate change was real in Africa.
“One of the proof I know is that our own Lake Chad will no longer be in existence with water in it in the next 50 years, and the lake provides the means of livelihood for more than 1.5 million people in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroun and Niger,” he noted.
Yobe
Alhaji Muhammad Ahmadu, Yobe Resident Electoral Commissioner, said that less than 700 new voters in the state have registered in the continuous voter registration exercise in the last two years.
Ahmadu disclosed this on Saturday at a meeting organised by INEC for election stakeholders in Damaturu.
He said the exercise had been on since 2008 for those who did not attain voting age as at the last general elections.
Nation
SIM-NIN: Subscribers Kick Against Today’s Deadline, Demand Extension
The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers has requested that the Nigerian Communications Commission extend the deadline scheduled for the disconnection of telephone lines not linked to National Identification Numbers beyond Friday, March 29, 2024.
The subscribers’ body argued that telco agents were failing to capture all necessary information needed for verification, just as it also cited difficulties in uploading the captured data on the National Identity Management Commission’s server.
The President of NATCOMS, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, told The Tide’s source last Wednesday that NCC needed to order telcos not to disconnect telephone lines, considering the ongoing difficulties faced by subscribers.
The telecom regulator had insisted that there would be no changes to the deadline for the next phase of disconnection
The disconnection process was rolled out in stages, with the second phase scheduled for March 29, 2024, following the initial phase that occurred on February 28, 2024.
The third phase is slated to commence on April 15, 2024, as previously announced.
Earlier, the Director of Public Publicity at the NCC, Reuben Mouka, told The PUNCH, “We issued a publication that you can refer to. We specified certain deadlines and stipulated that subscribers who do not comply with the directive would be barred. And that has not changed.”
The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers has requested that the Nigerian Communications Commission extend the deadline scheduled for the disconnection of telephone lines not linked to National Identification Numbers beyond Friday, March 29, 2024.
The subscribers’ body argued that telco agents were failing to capture all necessary information needed for verification, just as it also cited difficulties in uploading the captured data on the National Identity Management Commission’s server.
The President of NATCOMS, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, told the source on Wednesday that the NCC needed to order telcos not to disconnect telephone lines, considering the ongoing difficulties faced by subscribers.
The telecom regulator had insisted that there would be no changes to the deadline for the next phase of disconnection
The disconnection process was rolled out in stages, with the second phase scheduled for March 29, 2024, following the initial phase that occurred on February 28, 2024.
The third phase is slated to commence on April 15, 2024, as previously announced.
Earlier, the Director of Public Publicity at the NCC, Reuben Mouka, told the source, “We issued a publication that you can refer to. We specified certain deadlines and stipulated that subscribers who do not comply with the directive would be barred. And that has not changed.”
At the last deadline on February 28, 2024, about 40 million lines that were not linked to NIN were barred.
The NATCOM president said before the first deadline, subscribers had appealed to the NCC for a one-month extension.
However, the NCC explained that there was no issue as the process was designed to occur in phases.
According to the president, the Operator’s Consumer Centre stands as the primary location for consumers to complete their registration fully, with data provided there being verifiable.
However, the president noted that telecom agents were bypassing crucial information during the registration process, resulting in incomplete registrations of subscribers.
“For example, during interactions with telecom representatives, some agents fail to collect all required the information from subscribers.
“If a subscriber cannot provide certain details, agents often leave the registration incomplete. Consequently, these incomplete registrations are deemed unverifiable,” he said.
Further, Ogunbanjo noted that NIMC also shares responsibility in this process.
He said the challenges often arise when telecom companies attempt to upload collected data on NIMC’s server, owing to network issues.
“These network difficulties, beyond the control of subscribers, hinder the timely completion of the registration process,” he said.
“NIMC’s inadequate network infrastructure exacerbates the problem. While they intend to accept data uploads, technical issues prevent them from doing so effectively.
“We urge the NCC to address NIMC’s shortcomings, improve their services, and acknowledge that meeting the deadline will be challenging given the current issues,” the president added.
NIMC is a statutory Nigerian organisation that operates the country’s national identity management systems.
NIMC’s enrollment figures as of December 31, 2023, stand at over 104.16 million unique records.
About 530,345 Nigerians in Diaspora have gotten NINs. 59.12 million male and 45.04 million female Nigerians have NINs.
When The PUNCH reached out to NIMC for comments on technical glitches, the Head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke, clarifies that the commission’s server has consistently remained operational, debunking reports suggesting otherwise.
He emphasizes that the NIMC’s services are fully functional and accessible to all users
“Our server has never been down. You can go to the various NIN centres and confirm.
Adegoke further explained the process for subscribers to link their NIN to their SIM cards,
“These individuals only need to submit their NIN and complete the verification process through their respective telcos providers.
He encouraged those who have not yet obtained their NIN to visit any NIMC centre for enrollment.
Adegoke assured Nigerians that upon enrollment, individuals can expect their NIN to be available within three hours.
However, for those requiring corrections, such as rectifying date of birth errors, the process may take up to 72 hours.
Last week, the National Identity Management Commission and the NCC issued a joint statement unveiling a strategic partnership aimed at simplifying the NIN-SIM linkage procedures for telecommunications subscribers nationwide.
Both agencies reaffirmed their dedication to enhancing the processes involved and improving efficiency regarding the NIN and SIM card linkage initiative.
They acknowledge the importance of this initiative in bolstering security measures and enhancing service delivery across the country.
The SIM-NIN linkage initiative is a crucial step towards improving the integrity of subscriber data and enhancing security measures within the telecommunications industry.
The NIN-SIM linkage policy was initially introduced by the Nigerian government in December 2020. This directive requires all telephone line users in Nigeria to associate their SIM cards with their NIN.
In December of the previous year, the NCC issued a directive stipulating that all telecommunications operators in Nigeria, including major providers like MTN, Airtel, and Globacom, among others, must enforce complete network barring on all phone lines for which subscribers have not provided their NINs by February 28, 2024.
Barely two weeks ago, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project issued a warning to take legal action against the NCC if it does not revoke the directive instructing network providers to block the phone lines of individuals who have not linked their SIM cards to their NINs.
Nation
Reps Query N15bn Payment To Remita
The House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee has queried the N15billion payment made to Remita from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for two years.
This is just as the committee accused the Central Bank of Nigeria and commercial banks of complicity in the sharing of the N15billion remittance.
The committee’s Chairman, Bamidele Salam, made the allegation at the resumed investigative hearing on revenue leakages in Abuja yesterday.
Remita is a payment solution that helps individuals and businesses make and receive payments, pay bills, and manage their finances.
The round table: Delta Bloodbath: Senate Meets Service Chiefs As Troops Comb Creeks.
Salam said that the Remita payment from the OAGF from 2016 to 2018 was questionable, adding that the OAGF paid the money without agreement or contract.
“The money is an illegal payment. There was no budget provision. So, where did they source the money from?” the chairman queried.
“If someone pays N150,000 as a Remita, you will pay 7.5 per cent Value-Added Tax in addition to it.
Salam said that the Remita payment from the OAGF from 2016 to 2018 was questionable, adding that the OAGF paid the money without agreement or contract.
“Ordinarily, that whole sum of VAT ought to go to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, but what they are doing in this transaction is that they will now add that VAT to the N150.000.
“They will add it up, gather the money together, and take it to the CBN,” he claimed.
He said, “System Spec and Remitta, both collecting revenue for the Federal Government, will share 50 per cent, while the banks and the CBN will also have their share.”
He said that by the time the committee finished its reconciliation, “I am very sure that hundreds of billions of naira will be the VAT component that was not remitted to FIRS.”
Salam stated that each bank ought to take the money and directly remit it to FIRS.
“Now, Remita is saying that each of those collecting the money will come and calculate the money that has been shared into shreds. Now, how do we track this kind of money? “he asked.
The Director, Banking Services, CBN, Mr.Ahmed Abdullahi, said it was necessary to source for an alternative way of remitting revenue, adding that Remita and System Spec were selected because they had been rendering similar services to banks.
The Chief Accountant, Treasury Single Account Department, Oyewole Adewale, representing the Accountant-General of the Federation, accused the CBN of not honouring its letters to reconcile the revenue accrued to the country through the Treasury Single Account.
He noted that the OAGF had developed a system where all revenue generated by the Ministries of Departments and Agencies of Government could now be monitored with little or no interference.
The Director, Remita Payment Services Ltd, Aderemi Atanda, while reading the summary of the TSA collection record, maintained that 10, 20, and 50 per cent were shared among CBN, commercial banks, and Remitta respectively.
Collections, he noted, often vary, saying, “In 2015.
Nation
Nigeria Needs Community-Driven Police, Not State Police -Shekarau
Former Governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, has said that the country needs to adopt community-driven police rather than establish state police.
Shekarau noted that it would be more effective in addressing the current security challenges in the country.
The former minister of education spoke in Akure at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) during the launch of a book titled ‘The Psychology of Growing Old: A Personal Experience for both Young and Old,’ written by Sehinde Arogbafa.
Shekarau argued that community police would be better controlled than state police as well as devoid of political and religious leaders’ influence.
He the involvement of communities in state policing would enhance trust, cooperation, and collaboration between the police and the citizens.
Shekarau argued that community police would be better controlled than state police as well as devoid of political and religious leaders’ influence.
He the involvement of communities in state policing would enhance trust, cooperation, and collaboration between the police and the citizens.
“I’ve been an advocate of community policing. It is different from what is being paraded as state police. Community policing means community watch.
“There is hardly any community in Nigeria that does not have what we call the vigilante group. All we need to do is the government should organise them, the government should own is up, and the government should promulgate a law.
“If I may give you an example of Kano, I’m sure you must have had experience with the Hisbah Guards; that is community watch. We set up a committee of 12 elders in every ward to do the selection of 20 responsible and respected young men for the Hisbah Guards. And we recruited them and mandated that the local government take charge of them. We’re paying them allowances. And they know everybody in the community.
“Within one to two years in Kano State, ask anybody; we don’t have any vices, no drugs, nothing in all the communities because that is community watch.
“We have over 10,000 Hisbah Guards in Kano; I did not nominate a single one; not a single party leader nominated one. It was all the elders in the community. The government created a law; we didn’t leave it in a vacuum. The number one assignment of the Hisbah Guards was to support and complement the work of all the Nigerian armed forces and the police. And they were working with them peacefully.
“Ask anybody in Kano today, and they will tell you that people prefer to report their cases to the Hisbah Guards office rather than even the police stations or even going to court. What we need in Nigeria is community watch, not just when you ask a state to create 2000 to 3000 state police bombarded by party thugs, and you will find out that you are going back to the same intimidation. There will be abuses by political leaders.
“But if you allow the communities to select with the backing of the government, the government will pay them all their allowances, provide vehicles for them, and support them, and there is a chain of command from the state to the local governments, to the wards, and even to the villages.
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