Author: Day Break
APC denies plan to field ex-President Jonathan in 2023
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied planning to field former President Goodluck Jonathan as its candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
There were reports that the Northern Governors were planning to lure Jonathan to declare for the APC and consequently field him for the Presidency in 2023.
However, the party has refuted the speculation and declared that such arrangement was not on the table of the ruling party
Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, the interim committee chairman of the APC spoke with the BBC Hausa service, saying that there was nothing like courtship in the matter as politics is all about political reality.
“Those peddling such information … are afraid,” Buni said. “But for now, there is nothing in the APC which has anything to do with the aspiration for 2023.
“Even if someone wants to base assumption on our recent visit to him during his birthday, we were there because of his capacity as a former President of Nigeria.
“Again, even if there is nothing, when we are talking of peaceful coexistence, we must give credit to former President Jonathan on the issue of peace. How he accepted defeat in 2015 and resigned to fate. That has qualified him to be a statesman and he is now among our fathers.”
Governor Buni said it is customary to visit one another and exchange pleasantries.
“Our visit to Jonathan was pronounced because of his status as a former president, that could be why some may think there was something beneath,” Buni said.
“There are numerous of such visits ,to leaders of PDP, APC, why are others not being mentioned but Jonathan?”
When asked whether the APC would listen to Jonathan if he may eventually indicate interest, Buni said “that would be a new discussion, entirely.”
“Even in America where we got this democracy, I’ve not seen where people are being confined to a limit.”
Asked whether the APC is still indecisive on Jonathan, Buni said “you are talking of democracy and at the same time talking of giving him, don’t forget even when President Buhari went to revalidate party membership in Daura.”
Buni said it is the people at the grassroots that will select leaders upwards.
“That no one should expect to be crowned from Abuja. This has shown that in APC now, it is from the lower level upwards. Not that people would be imposed from the top,” Buni said.
“Then who are we to say we are considering Jonathan? How? It has to be a party affair and once it is a party affair, then we are talking about the people.So we have nothing like that in our agenda .What we have now, and is of importance to us is to ensure peace amongst party members.
“Also, to bring members of other political parties, whichever party it might be, whoever wants ,should come in to the APC. This is our plan for now.
“We are yet to start talking about aspirants, we are not in any discussion about aspirants
COVID-19 vaccine is safe, it can’t kill says PTF
Chairman of Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 pandemic and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mr. Boss Mustapha has debunked insinuations that the vaccine for the virus was developed to kill Africans.
Mustapha spoke on Tuesday at the inauguration of the State House Clinic Special Care Centre (COVID-19 Isolation Centre), Abuja.
Dismissing the conspiracy theories concerning the vaccines, Mustapha said: ‘‘I don’t believe anyone will spend billions of dollars in manufacturing vaccines to kill us in Africa.’’
According to a statement issued by Deputy Director of Information in the State House, Attah Esa, the SGF spoke on the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines to be procured for Nigeria.
He added that the Federal Government would keep encouraging Nigerians to get vaccinated when the time comes, because ‘‘the vaccines are safe, effective and for our benefit”.
“We will appeal and explain to our people that if you do not take the vaccine, the danger of falling terribly sick and eventually dying is there.
‘‘We will be blunt to them that if you don’t take the COVID-19 vaccine, you may not be able to go anywhere in the world very soon. Even when you want to go and perform your spiritual obligation, that will be subjected to your COVID-19 status,” he said.
On the new facility being inaugurated, Mustapha hinted that a testing laboratory for the virus would soon be established at the State House Clinic.
He said the Buhari-led administration was using the challenges posed by the pandemic as an opportunity to change Nigeria’s health infrastructure.
56.2 Million NIN Linked To Sims, Says NCC
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have collected 56.18 million National Identity Numbers (NIN) since the commencement of the ongoing Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) registration started, says the Federal Government.
The government added that over 1,060 registration centres for NIN have been activated by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) across the country to give Nigerians and legal residents more time to integrate their NIN with their SIMs.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, who announced this in Abuja, explained that the NIN-SIM linkage deadline of February 9 had been extended to April 6.
According to a statement by the Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Ikechukwu Adinde and his NIMC counterpart, Mr. Kayode Adegoke, yesterday, the minister ordered the extension after a meeting of the Ministerial Taskforce on NIN-SIM registration.
Adinde and Adegoke quoted Pantami as saying: “It was reported that a total of 56.18 million NINs have been collected by the mobile network operators. Each NIN is usually tied to an average of three to four SIMs and this infers that the current figure accounts for a significant portion of the existing SIMs.
“This number of NINs collected represents a significant increase when compared with the 47.8 million reported by the Technical Committee on January 18.
“Furthermore, over 1,060 registration centres for NIN have been activated and made operational by NIMC across the country.
“Mobile Network Operators have opened hundreds of centres and are rapidly deploying resources to open thousands of other NIN enrolment centres across states of the country.
Lady Assaulted By Policemen During COVID-19 Lockdown Awarded N5m In Damages
The Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, on
Monday, February 1, awarded N5 million damages against the Nigeria Police Force and the Inspector General of Police over the abuse of a woman, Tola Azeez, in Osun State, Igbere TV reports.A video of the officers assaulting the young lady went viral in April 2020. Tola was walking along Odo Ori Market in Iwo, to buy a drug for a relative when the officers who were enforcing the lockdown, descended on her, flogging her mercilessly with their whips.
The state police command identified and arrested the erring officers, Ikuesan Taiwo, an inspector and Abass Ibrahim, a corporal.
To protest the assault, a fundamental human right enforcement suit was filed by a lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, on behalf of Ms Azeez.
The police counsel, F.B Osei, argued that Messrs Taiwo and Ibrahim were agents of the Nigeria Police Force, and that the Nigeria Police Force and the Inspector General of Police could not be held liable for the acts and omission of its officers.
This was countered by Mr Olajensgbesi who said the officers carried out the assault during an official assignment as agents of the police force.
While delivering judgement on the case on Monday, the presiding judge, Justice Ayo Emmanuel, resolved the matter in favour of the applicant. He held that the actions of the offending officers in the discharge of their official duties as agents of the police amounted to an infringement of the Fundamental Right to Dignity of Ms Azeez, a liability the Nigeria Police Force must shoulder.
He then awarded the sum of N5 million as aggravated and general damages against the police.
Tola also took to her Twitter handle to react to the judgement.
Ooni failed Yoruba by not telling Buhari truth about killer herdsmen —Sunday Igboho
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi failed to convey the crisis rocking the South-Western part of the country when he visited President Muhammadu Buhari, a Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho has said.
According to him, the monarch was a disappointment for not painting the true picture of herders’ carnage on the South-West before the President.
President Muhammadu Buhari, last week, received the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II, at his official residence in the State House, Abuja amid the crisis rocking the region.
Many speculated that the visit was to address the crisis brewing in the region over activities of herdsmen in Yoruba land.
Igboho who spoke on Wednesday morning at a virtual ‘Townhall With Yoruba In Diaspora’, said, “The monarchs are now afraid but we must keep praying for them to be united with one voice. They should not be afraid of arrest at their age. Some of them don’t even grant audience at their palaces any longer. So, everything is now in God’s hands.
“When Ooni met with Buhari over the herdsmen issue, Ooni should have told Buhari the truth, but he did not. When Ooni returned, he started tackling me to leave the remaining task to the government to finish. You can imagine that kind of talk?
“Alaafin of Oyo has asked me to meet him over the matter. Alaafin should have been the one invited to meet Buhari but since the Ooni was invited, he should be bold to tell the President the whole truth and make the demands of the Yoruba people known to the President.
“The Ooni disappointed himself. Some politicians are behind Ooni’s latest move. He invited me to his palace but I refused to go. I would have gone if he had represented us well but he did not. I won’t honour any monarch who does not cooperate with me. Enough is enough, the Fulani have done enough,” the activist submitted in the teleconference.
12 officers charged in killing of 19 migrants near US-Mexico border
The Tamaulipas state police are accused of murder, abuse of power and making false statements.Twelve police officers have been arrested in Mexico following the discovery of 19 charred corpses near the U.S. border, Tamaulipas Attorney General, Irving Barrios, said on Tuesday.
The Tamaulipas state police are accused of murder, abuse of power and making false statements.
The bodies were discovered on January 22 in a burned-out pickup truck next to other burned cars in the town of Santa Anita in north-eastern Mexico.
The people had been shot dead, according to media reports.
Among them, according to Barrios, were migrants from Guatemala.
Media had reported that almost all of the victims were Guatemalans.
Tens of thousands of Central Americans every month flee poverty and violence in their homeland to seek a better life in the U.S.
One of the four dead identified so far was a Mexican migrant smuggler, according to Mr Barrios.
The possible involvement of other police officers, as well as criminal groups smuggling Central American migrants into the U.S. and fighting for control of the region, is still under investigation, Barrios said.
New Service Chiefs will Succeed in Fight against Insurgency- Nasir El-Rufai
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has expressed strong optimism that the newly appointed service chiefs will succeed in the fight against insurgency and other crimes in the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently replaced the former service chiefs to give more bite to the fight against insecurity in the country following increased tension across the land.
However, the Kaduna State governor believes that the new chiefs with their track records will perform and bring insecurity to a halt in the land.
Exchanging views with newsmen after a visit to his Niger State counterpart, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, in Minna on Tuesday evening, El-Rufai said the new service chiefs “are coming in with new vigour so I expect them to succeed”.
“Whenever you have new people, they come with renewed vigour and the focus to make a difference. So, we hope that things will be even better,” he said.
The governor was of the opinion that banditry, kidnapping and other crimes in the northern part and across the country will soon come to an end with the appointment of the new service chiefs, but asked them to build on the foundation already laid by their predecessors.
He advised them to study a report he and his Niger State counterpart submitted to the previous service chiefs in which recommendations were made on how to check the insecurity menace in the country but did not give details of the suggestions.
World Bank: Inability to curb economic challenges will make 20m Nigerians poorer
World Bank Senior Economist, Gloria Joseph-Raji, has said Nigerian government’s inability to curb economic challenges will make 15 to 20 million Nigerians poorer by 2022.
Joseph-Raji listed factors that will push more Nigerians into poverty while speaking on Tuesday at the virtual launch of the 2021 Macroeconomic Outlook of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).
The government had planned to lift 100 million Nigerians from poverty, but the country’s economic downturn has posed a challenge which President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has found difficult to subdue.
Joseph-Raji stated that lack of jobs have prevented poor Nigerians from crossing the poverty line. She also cited low growth in the business environment as a factor driving poverty level high within the country.
The World Bank economist said high inflation had also contributed to the challenge. According to the CBN, inflation rate as at December 2020 was 15.75%. This has increased cost of living in Nigeria, as purchasing power drops amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
While commenting on the rising poverty level, Joseph-Raji said, “We actually consider Nigeria right now to be at a critical junction in the sense that the achievement of its development goal of lifting 100 million people out of poverty by 2030 was already challenging even before COVID-19 struck, and then COVID-19 has made this even more challenging and more urgent.
“So, with lower growth and fewer jobs, and then coupled with high inflation, our estimates are that the number of the poor will increase by about 15 to 20 million people by 2022 from the about 83 million people in 2019. And the 2019 numbers are from the Nigeria Living Standards Survey of 2018/2019.”
Joseph-Raji stated that the government adopted cost-reflective reforms in petroleum pricing and adjust electricity tariffs that have made fiscal resources available. But added that Nigeria’s critical point needs more bold policies to improve the business environment and the welfare of an average Nigerian.
“However, more needs to be done if Nigeria really wants to make progress towards meeting its broad development goals,” she said, while warning that Nigeria’s “outlook is very uncertain, and there is a need for the government to prioritise certain key policy reforms if Nigeria must really turn the corner and recover and rebuild resilient and inclusive growth.”
Joseph-Raji suggested more transparent and credible foreign exchange allocation should be adopted by the Nigerian government, expand tax revenue in a manner that doesn’t weigh on investment and growth.
The government was also advised to strengthen the management of monetary policies towards the primary objective of price stability.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council, Prof Doyin Salami, said to achieve economic growth which will be inclusive or felt by Nigerians, the country needs more investment
“If the economy is going to grow and people are going to feel it, then it is pretty clear that output growth must not only be rapid. We really do need to find ourselves in a position where this economy is growing at about six per cent, and to move in that direction requires significant investments.”
Kogi Top Latest Salary Structure For Doctors As Bello Approves CONMESS
LATEST SALARY STRUCTURE FOR DOCTORS: KOGI STATE, TWO OTHERS TOP THE CHART.
As posted by the State Commissioner for Health and Confirmed by News Blogs Across the Country
In a development that can at best be described as unprecedented, we are pleased to inform the public that the #NewDirection Government of His Excellency Governor Yahaya Bello has fully implemented REVISED CONMESS as the new salary scale for Doctors in Kogi State. Besides Delta and Benue States and FCT, no other State in Nigeria has implemented the full revised CONMESS salary scale! While this administration continues to make bold strides in the Health sector with life-touching projects such as Top-Notch Health Facilities Development, 21st Century Disease Prevention/Control Initiatives and other highly impactful Health Programs like Social Health Insurance/BelloCare, the importance of manpower can not be overemphasised to ensure those infrastructures/programs provide quality and efficient service to the general public. It is therefore no doubt that this landmark decision is a first and beautiful step in the right direction as such welfare boost will not only serve as a motivation for Doctors in the State but will also attract other Doctors to the State.
All the accolade and praises goes to His Excellency Governor Yahaya Bello for his unrelenting support to the Kogi State Health Sector as part of his resolve to ensure all Kogites get quality and affordable Health Care service. He has demonstrated beyond any chance of questioning that he is indeed a visionary leader who puts the interest of the people at heart.
The Doctors on their part have extended their unquantifiable gratitude for such an august consideration that has never happened in the State, and have resolved to put in their very best to help Kogites in every way possible through their health challeneges.
