Lagos — One Yusuf Ojuolape, a cobbler, was
arraigned at an Ebute Metta Magistrate’s court
for allegedly fondling six-yr-old twins (names
withheld) severally, thereby causing them
injuries.
Yusuf, alongside his friend, Akibu, a bouncer
who happened to be neighbours with the girls’
parent at 23, Okearin Street, Lagos Island, were
in the habit of calling the twins to their room to
assault them by inserting their fingers in their
private parts, according to reports.
In addition, it was learnt that their mother
simply called Mrs Akeem said she came to know
about the assault when she discovered swelling
around her daughters private parts, while she
was bathing them. After which she asked them
what happened and they told her it was Bro
Yusuf that has been assaulting them.
On hearing her daughters’ report, she left for
Yusuf’s room to confront them but the man was
not in the house.
On another occassion when she sent the kids on
an errand, they were stopped by Yusuf and his
friend who succeded in taking one of them in
while the other ran off to alert her mother.
Akibu took to his heels when the police arrived
the scene while the police succeded in arresting
Yusuf.
The prosecutor, Inspector R. Odigie, who said
he could not see clearly or understand the
medical test report, when the magistrate asked
for it, noted that Yusuf committed an offence
punishable under section 135 of the criminal law
of Lagos state of Nigeria 2003 and demanded
that he be remanded in police custody.
The charge sheet reads thus: “That you Yusuf
Ojuolape ‘m’ between June 18 and 22, 2013 at
23, Okearin Street, Lagos Island, Lagos in the
Magisterial District, did indecently assaulted 6-
year-old twins, (names withheld), by inserting
your finger into their vargina and causing them
injuries and thereby committed an offence
punishable under section 135 of the criminal law
of Lagos State of Nigeria 2003.”
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
Cobbler arraigned for fondling 6-yr-old twins
Electricity: Senate kicks against estimated billing
ABUJA — THE Senate, on 4th January, 2014 called on the
managers of electricity in the country to discard
what it described as ‘’estimated billing’’ in
charging consumers, saying the method was not
in the best interest of Nigeria and its people.
It said they should instead provide pre-paid
metres to meet up with modern day challenges
in electricity sector.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Mines
and Metallurgy, Philip Aduda, made this known,
yesterday, when the management team of
Electricity Management Service Limited, EMSL,
paid his committee a courtesy visit in Abuja.
Speaking earlier, Managing Director of the
EMSL, Mr. Peter Ewesor, had commended the
committee for its contribution to the successes
so far recorded, in the on-going privatisation of
the power sector.
He said they would do everything within its
powers to ensure accountability in its dealings
with the privatised companies.
Kerosene subsidy a scam — SANUSI
ABUJA —The Governor of the Central Bank of
Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
Has described the kerosene subsidy claim
by NNPC as a scam saying that claims by the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,
NNPC, of spending money on kerosene subsidy
are not credible.
Sanusi made the declaration at the resumed
Senate Investigative Public Hearing on un-
remitted oil revenue in Abuja stressing that the
sum of $20 billion was un-remitted to the
Federation Account by the NNPC, between
January 2012 and July 2013.
He said the burden of proof was now on the
NNPC to substantiate that the $20 billion
unremitted either did not belong to the
Federation or was legally and constitutionally
spent.
According to the CBN Governor, the NNPC, by
paying kerosene subsidy, confessed to a number
of serious infractions. Referring to the data
provided by the National Bureau of Statistics,
NBS, he stressed that kerosene was not a
subsidisd product, adding that the so-called
subsidy was rent generated for the benefit of
those in the kerosene business.
Producing evidence that former President
Yar’Adua had issued a presidential directive
eliminating subsidy payment on kerosene as
from July 2009, Sanusi said the huge losses
inflicted on the Federation Account have not
been appropriated.
Speaking further, the CBN Governor said the
burden of proof was on the NNPC to show
where it obtained authorisation to purchase
kerosene at N150/litre from Federation funds
and sell at about N40/litre, knowing full well
that the product sells in the market at N170-
N220/litre.
Citing records of the Nigeria Ports Authority,
NPA, Sanusi said the records suggest that the
NNPC imports about four to six vessels of
kerosene a month. Similarly, he said based on
industry sources, the Federation Account loses
$100 million monthly due to racketeering in the
industry.
World Cup: Baywood believes in Eagles
As Nigerians come to terms with the bronze medal
outing of the Super Eagles at the just concluded
African Nations Championship, CHAN, in South
Africa, a sports enthusiast and President of BCL,
Chris Baywood has predicted a good run for the
Eagles in the World Cup in Brazil.
Baywood’s optimism stems from his belief on
coach Stephen Keshi whom he said has brought
back the right rhythms for Nigerian football.
“It’s amazing when you think of the massive results
that Keshi has achieved since being appointed chief
coach of the national team. He has not only done
absolutely well in terms of results, he has also
changed and brought competition to the Eagles
which hitherto was a team reserved for some
foreign-based teams.
Today, there is competition in the team and the
home-based players have also justified their
inclusion in the team. We were thrilled with the
performance of the Eagles in CHAN and the
emergence of Ejike Uzoenyi as the Most Valuable
Player, MVP, of the championship. It speaks
volumes of the talents that are in the country that
many have not bothered to discover’’, he said.
The Oil and Gas magnate also believed that Brazil
would be a veritable ground for the Eagles. “Brazil
will be a good hunting ground for the team. We
should all support the team and pray for them”, the
Philanthropist added.
Religious crisis looms in Osun school
OSOGBO — Tension, yesterday, enveloped a
popular school in Osun State, the Baptist High
School, Iwo, as the students wore different dresses
that suited their religious inclination to school.
The students, thereby, defiled the state government
uniform specification recently introduced in all
public secondary schools in the state as part of the
schools reclassification programme.
Apart from the riotous outfits, the students also
sang different religious songs while on the
assembly for the morning devotion.
While the Christian students who wore white
garments sang Christian songs, the Muslim
students who appeared in veil sang Muslim songs.
Worried by the development, the school authority
hurriedly sent the students to their various
classrooms and informed the state Ministry of
Education of the development.
Reacting, the state Commissioner for Information
and Strategy, Mr Sunday Akere said government
was aware of the development and was making
efforts to bring sanity back to the system.
He said officials of the state Ministry of Education
have been drafted to the school to prevent further
breakdown of law and order.
OBJ, Buhari, Rotimi absent as Council of State meets
FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo and another
former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari,
as well as Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State
were, yesterday, conspicuously absent from the
National Council of State, NCS, meeting at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja.
No reasons was given for the absence of Obasanjo
but Buhari had earlier vowed that he would not
attend the NCS until the injustice allegedly done to
him during the 2011 presidential election was
redressed. Amaechi was, however, said to be out of
the country.
Those who attended, however, endorsed the
proposed national conference by President
Goodluck Jonathan saying anything that would
strengthen the unity of the country should be
encouraged. The council also advised politicians to
desist from making inflammatory statements that
are capable of threatening the peace and security of
the country. Among those present were former head of state,
General Yakubu Gowon, ex- President Shehu
Shagari, General Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Ernest
Shonekan and General Abdulsalami Abubakar.
Former Chief Justices of the Federation,
Mohammed Lawal Uwais, Idris Kutigi, Alpha Belgore
and Dahiru Musdapher as well as the Senate
President, David Mark and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, also
attended the meeting which has not been held for
more than a year now.
Before the commencement of the meeting,
yesterday, a mild drama played out between the
Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako and his
Abia State counterpart, Theodore Orji, when the
former protested that he would not sit close to the
later because he was no longer in the People’s
Democratic Party, PDP. Though there was no
official briefing at the end of the meeting, the
governors of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam and Imo
State, Rochas Okorocha, told State House
correspondents that the council discussed the issue
of national security, the appointment of the
chairman of the National Population Commission as
well as endorsed the proposed national conference.
Okorocha said, the meeting “deliberated on how to
move the nation forward; we also discussed other
national issues including the centenary celebrations
and other security matters. We have to adopt some
new strategies on how to move the nation forward.
Politicians have also been warned against
unguarded utterances so as not to heat up the
polity.
The meeting has helped to resolve a lot of issues
”We have to adopt some new strategies for tackling
security issues in the country. We discussed
national conference which we saw as a welcome
development. Conference is a good development
and discussions were not along party lines.”
National conference
On his part,Governor Suswam said, “The president
briefed us about a lot of things including the national
conference that is coming up. There were a lot of
contributions and the council approved it. We were
also presented with a list of the new chairman for
the population commission and some new members
to be reappointed. That too was approved and then
the National Security Adviser, NSA, briefed us on
the general security situation in the country which
all members of the council contributed as to the way
forward and the decisions that will be taken to
address some of them.
”The NSA briefed us that some of the unguarded
statements by some prominent Nigerians were
capable of inciting people; that we should be careful
as major actors in the polity to avoid making some
unguarded utterances that could unwittingly incite
the generality of Nigerians. The council took note of
that and agreed that people should be more careful
about what they say as public office holders.”
Sanusi Attacks NNPC Again: You haven’t accounted for $20bn
*Says kerosene subsidy is a scam
*The CBN Governor is ignorant — NNPC
Senate cautions him over unsubstantiated
allegations
By Emma Ujah, Clara Nwachukwu, JOHNBOSCO
AGBAKWURU, JOSEPH ERUNKE & CHRIS OCHAYI
ABUJA—Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi, yesterday, told the Senate Committee on
Finance that of the $67 billion crude oil sales that
was supposed to be remitted to the Federation
Account, only $47 billion had been reconciled
between the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation,
NNPC and CBN.
But the Committee’s Chairman, Ahmed Makarfi,
cautioned the CBN Governor over making wild and
unsubstantiated allegations without concrete and
specific figures to back them up.
The NNPC, in a swift reaction, however, dismissed
the allegation of another unremitted $20 billion oil
revenue raised against it by the CBN.
It is uncertain how Sanusi came up with the fresh
$20 billion unremitted funds against the initial $10.8
billion. The latter figure was arrived at during the
account reconciliation with the Ministry of Finance,
NNPC and CBN during a public hearing on alleged
unremitted $49.8 billion oil revenue organised by the
Senate.
CBN’s arguments
But the CBN Governor, while making the new
allegation, stated: “All we have said as CBN to which
there is no disagreement is that NNPC shipped
$67bn worth of crude. They have repatriated or we
have established that $47bn has come back to the
Federation Account. There is a $20billion that has
not come back to us. The burden of proof is on
NNPC.
“We have made suggestions that can help to
answer some of the questions and we believe that
even some of that which they (NNPC) claimed were
shipped by NPDC do not belong to the NPDC but to
the Federation.”
He said some of the issues were subject to
investigation which, according to him, had to do with
whether NNPC was repatriating money due to the
Federation Account or not, adding that it was
necessary to investigate the issue because the
NNPC had given a number of explanations on why
the money had not been remitted.
Sanusi said: “May I say, Mr. Chairman, that some of
those issues raised are subject to investigations.
They have to do with whether NNPC is repatriating
money due to the federation account or not and
because NNPC had given a number of explanations
for why money has not come.
“If NNPC, for instance, says we have sold $6billion
worth of crude belonging to NPDC, and if the CBN
believes that part of that money should come to the
Federation Account, it is related to this matter and it
had been captured in our presentation.
“We are here because they are related to the
question of whether NNPC is returning to the
Federation Account, all the amount it is
constitutionally and legally required to return.
“I have a 20-page presentation with 30 appendages,
but we have to first of all agree on what has been
paid into the CBN. NNPC did a presentation. We
have all agreed earlier that $14billion out of the
$67billion they shipped came in to the dollar
account of the federation.
“That is agreed. We have looked at Federal Inland
Revenue Service,FIRS, numbers and we have
confirmed that $16billion paid by international oil
companies to the FIRS account was not paid by the
NNPC but paid by IOCs.
“It was the proceeds of crude lifted in the name of
NNPC but sold on behalf of FIRS. That $16billion had
been confirmed by FIRS and had been accepted.
There is $1.6bn that DPR also received from IOCs
which was part of that crude and which CBN had
accepted.
“We have provided evidence in the naira crude
account out of the $28billion domestic crude
shipped by the NNPC, it had repatriated $16billion.
“Out of the $67billion that has accrued to the NNPC
account we have accounted for $47billion. Out of
the $67billion that the NNPC shipped, $47billion had
been repatriated to the CBN. What we are talking
about is the balance of the $20billion and what
explanations had been given.
“NNPC had said some of it do not belong to the
Federation Account so, $6billion NPDC we have held
the position that some of the crude shipped by the
NPDC is shipped from oil wells that belonged to the
federation. Joint Ventures that Shell went out of,
which NNPC took over and handed over to NPDC,
which then handed over to two Nigerian companies
and transferred revenues that should come to the
Federation Account for remittance.
“I have given free legal opinion to this committee,
on the unconstitutionality and illegality of that
transaction.
“Secondly, NNPC had explained that 80 per cent of
that money yet to be repatriated was on kerosene
and fuel subsidy. I have submitted to this committee
written evidence of a presidential directive
eliminating subsidy since 2009, and NNPC needs to
provide its authority for buying kerosene at N150
from the Federation Account and selling at N40 and
inflicting that loss on the federation.
“NNPC had also said that it is DPR but for us in the
CBN, every month NNPC sends report to the Federal
Allocation Account Committee. And every month
NNPC indicates how much it has deducted as PMS
subsidy.
“From April 2012 to date, NNPC had submitted
reports to the FAAC consistently showing it is
deducting nothing from PMS, so we are surprised
that having submitted nil returns since April 2012,
we are now being told that deductions were being
made.
“I don’t know whether they were made and whether
the DPR had approved them. We are waiting for the
reconciliation with the PPPRA. The other part of the
third party financing which were not appropriated
had no documentation or proof.”
Sanusi is ignorant — Yakubu
But taking up Sanusi on his presentations, the Group
Managing Director, NNPC, Andrew Yakubu,
expressed surprise over the CBN governor’s
outburst. More so, as efforts were being made to
reconcile all the differences, even with the
assistance of an audit firm of high repute, saying the
CBN governor was speaking from a point of
ignorance.
Yakubu said: “We have made submissions but this
meeting was not of detailed discussion of the
submission. We came here for the Chairman to brief
us on the programme and agenda on the detailed
reconciliation that we are doing.
“As you were told in the meeting we are reconciling
and are at the point of conclusion on the
reconciliation process with the various agencies. It
is at the end of this that we will submit our detailed
reconciled position which the committee will study
and then commence detailed review. What is
reported is exactly the true position of things.
“As you are aware, the major chunk of the amount
in question – over 80 per cent of it is on subsidy for
both PMS and kerosene.
“The issues that were raised are not new at all. You
see we came out in details because we don’t have
anything to hide and we gave a detailed breakdown
of the so called $49billion and we came out clearly
to state the various streams that are associated
with what he was talking about.
“Now, we also made it clear that NPDC, if we had
anything to hide, we would not have made it clear
that NPDC was part of the stream, because NPDC
which is NNPC’s upstream operation, is a limited
liability company registered by the Companies and
Allied Matters Act (CAMA) to do upstream business
just like any other independent company.
“Now, if you are in your business, will you take
your gross revenue and pass it on? What we simply
said was to account for the streams that the CBN
governor erroneously captured.
“Now let me make this point very clearly: CBN is a
banking outfit, so I really, really understand why
they will not understand some petroleum
engineering issues and they are not also an auditing
outfit.
“Now what they try to do is to audit and I heard
some statements made here that they do not have
this document, they don’t have that document. They
are not the auditors. We have certified bodies and
arms of agencies that are charged with the
responsibility of auditing.
“They are banking right? So what he said was not
really new. We said clearly that we stated an
amount that went to NPDC and that amount was the
gross lifting.
“But there are other streams that go back to
government in terms of taxes just like any other
business player. So we have royalties, we have
Petroleum Profit Tax and so on and so forth.
“Now these are subject of other detailed
discussions and investigations and they are open.
We give access to the Auditor General of the
Federation, we give access to Accountant-General,
and we give access to agencies that have business
to do with auditing of our own business.
“At the Federation Account too, we render this
report as you are told on monthly basis and these
are issues that are subject of reconciliation on
monthly basis.
“So really for issues like this to come to the public
glare again becomes worrisome that we throw
away numbers, we throw away allegations that at
the end of the day we clarify but then the damage
would have been done.”
It will be recalled, that at a press briefing held by the
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the
Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; the Minister of
Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Deziani Allison-
Madueke; the Governor of Central Bank and heads
of DPR and FIRS,the initial figure of $49.8B was
reconciled to $10.8B. On the same day, at the
Senate hearing the CBN gave a figure of $12B
which was corrected by the Coordinating Minister of
the Economy to $10.8B.
While NNPC and other relevant Government
Agencies are in the process of reconciling the
$10.8B as accepted by all parties, we are surprised
by the new $20B figure introduced by the CBN.
According to CBN the $20B is made up of $12B
subsidy claim, $6B NPDC gross revenue and $2B
third party revenue. It is worthy to note that the CBN
accepted NNPC submission with respect to $16B
royalty and PPT payments into the federation
Account through the FIRS. This indicates that the
CBN cherry picks the figures. For example in taking
the entire $6B gross revenue accruable to NPDC
and allocating same to the federation account, CBN
simply multiplied the gross production by the crude
oil price; thereby failing to account for the operating
costs (opex) and amortized capital expenditure that
underpin the production. In other words, the CBN
failed to take into account the cost of production.
We reiterate that NPDC has been remitting the
royalty and petroleum Profit Tax, PPT to the
Federation Account. NPDC as a subsidiary of NNPC
operates a business model similar to other
international companies in Nigeria and abroad and
will continue to be governed by these global best
practices in the execution of these assets.
Regarding the subsidy claim on kerosene, it is
important to note that NNPC as the supplier of last
resort is the only company supplying this product in
Nigeria for the benefit of the citizenry. If kerosene
has been deregulated why are the independent
marketers not supplying this product in line with
what is applicable to diesel (AGO). NNPC owes a
duty to Nigerians to ensurethat there are adequate
products in the country. This mandate has without
question been accomplished in the past four years.
NNPC deserve to be commended rather than
battered, for ensuring adequate supply of kerosene
at regulated price of N50.00k.NNPC cannot be held
responsible for any differential pricing from non
NNPC retailers. This is the basis for NNPC’s claim
on kerosene subsidy.
At the end of the session, the Committee’s
chairman, however, granted one week’s grace
requested by the parties to reconcile all the
differences and then bring all the necessary
documents to back up their claims.
Fire destroys Kara market in Sokoto
Sokoto – Property estimated at hundreds of millions
of naira have been destroyed by fire at the popular
Kara market in Sokoto.
Some of the items sold at the market included
grains, onions, agricultural inputs, wheat offal, kola
nuts, generators and spare parts, among others.
The fire started at about midnight on Tuesday.
It was said to have been ignited by an electrical
spark at a shop opposite the Kofar-Kade gate.
There was, however, no loss of life or injury in the
inferno.
The fire was still raging when NAN visited the scene
at 6.30a.m. on Wednesday.
Some of the traders were able to salvage some of
their wares, while others were seen guarding their
property against thieves.
Some traders told NAN that the spark was caused
by the restoration of power supply.
“There was no light at the market since 6p.m. on
Tuesday. It was restored at about midnight.
“That was believed to be the genesis of the
unfortunate fire incident’’, Alhaji Musa Danhajiya, a
victim, told NAN.
Another victim, Malam Yusuf Labbo, told NAN that:
“we have lost property worth hundreds of millions of
naira and cash.
“The fire was put off by some good Samaritans and
the victims, and we are still guarding our salvaged
items.’’
The Secretary of the Kola Nuts Sellers Association
in Sokoto state, Mr Shina Agboola, told NAN that the
fire had caused tremendous damage at the market.
Agboola said: “my association has over 108
members at the affected market and they had
suffered huge losses.
“We are therefore appealing to the government to
come to the aid of the victims’’, he added.
The Director-General, Sokoto State Fire Service,
Alhaji Harande Chedi, confirmed the incident, saying
no life was lost.
Chedi, however, said the service would investigate
the allegation of restoration of electricity and power
surge to ascertain the cause of the inferno.
On his part, the Director-General of the state
Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Alhaji
Hassan Maccido, also told NAN that the State
Government would set up a committee to unravel
the immediate and remote causes of the fire.
“The state government will also come to the aid of
the victims, but the victims should regard the
incident as an act of God,” he said. (NAN)
Blast wounds six school children in Libya
BENGHAZI (AFP) – A blast rocked a primary school
in Libya’s restive second city Benghazi during
playtime on Wednesday, wounding six children,
security and medical officials said.
The blast was caused by an explosive device
thrown over the exterior wall of the school as the
children were playing, said Fadia al-Barghathi,
spokeswoman for Benghazi’s Al-Jala hospital.
Benghazi, the cradle of the 2011 NATO-backed
uprising that toppled Moamer Kadhafi, has seen
near-daily attacks on security and other targets in
recent months as the weak central government has
tried to rein in former rebel brigades turned militias.
FG , USAID, sign expansion trade MoU
The United States Agency for International
Development on Tuesday signed a Memorandum
of Understanding with the Nigerian Export
Promotion Council on export of Nigeria’s
agricultural produce.
The partnership would involve export development
strategies for priority value chain which includes
transportation of the produce.
At the occasion in Abuja, the Executive Director of
the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr
Olusegun Awolowo, said the partnership would help
curb the informal commercial transaction in the
West Africa sub-region.
“We are talking about a market of 600 million
people, inter-Africa trade, and this project that we
are doing with the support of USAID is the Nigerian
expanded trade and transport programme.
“It is out to get access for our goods all over
Africa.
“With that, we will be able to formalise the informal
trade which is about 12 billion dollars (about N2004
billion), bringing it back into the formal sector,” he
said.
Responding, the USAID Director in Nigeria, Mr
Michael Harvey, said that the understanding was
borne out of the need for Nigeria to diversify its
economy.
YouTube starts auditing video views
The video-sharing website YouTube said it has
started to “audit” the number of views a video has
received.
The move is aimed at preventing users from
artificially inflating view counts which, YouTube
said, mislead people about the popularity of a
video.
There are concerns that some viewers are using
tools like “redirects” or “buying” views to boost
their count.
YouTube said it will now “periodically” validate the
views on videos and remove the fraudulent ones
from the total.
“Some bad actors try to game the system by
artificially inflating view counts. They’re not just
misleading fans about the popularity of a video,
they’re undermining one of YouTube’s most
important and unique qualities,” Google, which
owns YouTube, said in a blogpost.
“While in the past we would scan views for spam
immediately after they occurred, starting today we
will periodically validate the video’s view count.”
However, the firm said that it does not expect the
new approach to affect “more than a minuscule
fraction of videos on YouTube”.
YouTube is the world’s biggest video-sharing
website.
With a large number of users watching videos on
the site, it has also become an attractive
advertising option for firms looking to attract
consumers.
Analysts said the site’s latest move to clamp down
on fraudulent views was also aimed at assuring
firms that their campaigns on the portal were
reaching a genuine audience.
“A firm would look at the number of views a video
is generating and its popularity when it decides to
place its advertisement,” Sanjana Chappalli, Asia-
Pac head of LEWIS Pulse, a firm specialising in
digital marketing, told the BBC.
“But if those views have been fraudulently
generated – then it is likely to miss the target
audience and have little or no return on
investment.”
“A view should be a metric that reflects genuine
interest, not a gauge of how many people
mistakenly or unknowingly ended up watching your
video,” the website has said.
Ms Chappalli added that the growing popularity of
other social media websites such as Facebook
meant that YouTube needed to be even more
careful with any fraudulent views.
“YouTube is just one of the many options on the
social media that companies looking to advertise
have,” she said.
“As a result, it needs to maintain trust among
advertisers for continued revenue growth.”
Access Bank, refund me
On October 28, 2013, I used my Access Bank ATM
verve card on IBTC ATM situated near Mararaba,
New Karu, Nasarawa State. The machine
dispensed N4,000 instead of N20,000 I requested.
I immediately went into the bank to complain and
the officer told me to go to my bank, Access Bank,
which I did fill the necessary form. Efforts made
since then to get my refund of N16,000 have been
fruitless, the officers at my Access branch in
NNPC Towers, Abuja are not helping the situation.
Access Bank plc should please refund my
N16,000. Thanks.
Alonge Olufemi,
Plot 190 Keffi/Abuja Road.
New Karu Nasarawa State.
+2348037816....
FG, Kano train 540 women in fish farming
The Federal Government is facilitating the training
of 540 women, drawn from the 19 northern states
on fish farming, a statement from the Kano State
Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources has
said.
The statement was signed by the Public Relations
Officer in the ministry, Mr Garba Yunusa, and
made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on
Tuesday.
It said that the government was carrying out the
programme in collaboration with the Kano State
Government.
The statement said that the state Commissioner for
Agriculture and Natural Resources, Hajiya Baraka
Sani, launched the programme at the Kano Institute
of Fisheries, Bagauda.
In the statement, Sani said the Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi
Adesina, visited the institute and promised to
collaborate with the Kano Government on the
training of youths from other states at the institute.
Sani further explained that the Federal Government
was already sponsoring 140 women from other 19
northern states while the state government
sponsored 400 women from within the state.
Each of the trainees, the Commissioner said, would
be given a take-off package that would include
juvenile fish, fish feed and drugs as well as other
incentives.
Sani added that more collaboration was under way,
to train youths on poultry and livestock, revealing
that the Kwankwaso administration had established
six capacity building agricultural institutes that
trained youths in different agricultural businesses.
The Director, Gender, Federal Ministry of
Agriculture, Hajiya Karimatu Babangida,
commended Kano State Government for its youth
empowerment programmes.
She noted that Nigeria was spending N90 billion on
fish importation annually to meet the three-million-
tonne requirement, while only 700 tonnes was
being produced in the country.
The director, therefore, enjoined the beneficiaries
to make judicious use of the opportunity, in order
to reduce the import level.
The coordinator of the institute, Prof. Armaya’u
Bichi, in his speech at the occasion, noted the
institute has all the necessary teaching and
learning facilities.
Bichi said that, so far, the institute had trained and
empowered 800 youths and women.
17 South African gold miners trapped underground
South African gold producer Harmony Gold
launched a rescue operation on Wednesday to free
17 miners trapped a mile underground after a fire
gutted its Doornkop mine near Johannesburg.
The company said it had made contact with eight
miners, who had managed to flee to a refuge bay
at a depth 1,700 metres.
The whereabouts of the remaining nine miners was
unknown, a company spokesman said.
Rescue teams had been sent underground but
access to the affected area has been hampered by
smoke and a subsequent rock-fall, the spokesman
added.
South Africa’s gold mines are among the deepest
in the world.
Kano APC urges supporters to register en masse
The APC Registration Supervisory Committee for
Kano State on Wednesday urged supporters of the
party to come out en masse and register at polling
units nearest to them.
The Chairman of the committee, Dr Mustapha
Inuwa, made the call in an interview with the News
Agency of Nigeria in Kano.
Inuwa said there was need for the supporters to
show commitment and love for the party by
coming out to register during the exercise.
“APC should have more people registered in Kano
than anywhere in the country, considering the fact
that Kano is the most populous state in the
country.
“And with the assistance given by Gov. Rabi’u
Kwankwaso, there is no reason the exercise
should fail in the state,” he said.
He, however, urged the people to be orderly, to
ensure the success of the exercise not only in
Kano State but also in the entire country.
The chairman said adequate materials had been
distributed to all the 44 local government areas of
the state for onward distribution to over 8,000
polling units.
“I want to assure everybody that people will be
registered. So, there is no need for any rush or
rowdiness because there is no polling unit which
does not have enough materials to start with.
“Party registration is a continuous or endless
exercise. So, there is no need for anybody to panic
or worry,” he said.
13 killed in Baghdad bomb explosion
Four bombs exploded near Baghdad’s heavily
fortified “Green Zone” and a busy square in the
centre of the capital on Wednesday, killing at least
13 people, security sources said.
The blasts came a day after two rockets were
fired into the Green Zone, home to the prime
minister’s office and Western embassies,
heightening concerns about Iraq’s ability to protect
strategic sites as security deteriorates.
Security sources said on Wednesday that two
parked car bombs were detonated opposite the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, killing five people.
The interior ministry said in a statement that the
attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who
blew himself up as he was being searched.
The other car was driven by a suicide bomber who
blew himself and the vehicle up outside a
restaurant, close to a checkpoint one street away
from the Green Zone, killing four people, the
security sources said.
Another explosion near Khullani Square in central
Baghdad left four others dead.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the
attacks, but Sunni Islamist militants have been
regaining ground in Iraq, particularly in Anbar
province, where they overran two cities on Jan 1.
ECOWAS court to sit in Togo
The ECOWAS Court of Justice will hold a session at
the Supreme Court, Lome, Togo, from Feb. 10 to
14, to determine 18 cases.
This was contained in a statement issued by the
court’s Information Officer, Mr Félicien Hounkanrin,
on Wednesday in Abuja.
“In deciding to hold the court hearing in another
member state, the court enhances effective
administration of justice by opening up
opportunities for the parties to have access to
justice,” it said.
It stated that this activity forms part of the official
work programme of the court, noting that it upheld
Article 26 of Protocol A/P1/7/91 on the court.
The Article provides that: “… where the
circumstances or facts of the case so demand, the
court may decide to sit in the territory of another
member state”.
“Upon an express request by the parties in the five
cases brought by Bourama Sininta and Others
against the Republic of Mali, the lawyers requested
the court to sit in Bamako, Mali.
“Owing to transport costs and distance, the
lawyers also requested that the court could as well
sit in any other member state of ECOWAS.
“The court accepted their request and made an
order to that effect, that an external court session
should be held in Lome, Republic of Togo, to hear
the parties,” it said.
The statement said that this approach gives
practical expression to the court’s desire to bring
justice to the doorstep of the community citizen,
thereby placing a premium on regional integration.
It, however, said that in hosting such external
court sessions, the member states fulfill on their
part a significant role towards the legal and judicial
integration of West Africa.
The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, which
seats in Abuja, organises external court sitting on
annual basis on the request of parties in a case.
At its last sitting on Feb. 2, the court ordered the
Federal Government to free a soldier, Alimu
Akeem, an aide to former Chief of Army Staff, Gen.
Victor Malu, who had been detained since 2006.
The court also ordered the Federal Government to
pay Akeem N5 million as damages for unlawful
detention.