The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • N770/$ official naira rate falls below N757/$ parallel market rate

    N770/$ official naira rate falls below N757/$ parallel market rate

    For the first time in decades, the naira exchange rate at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window- the official market rate- on Monday weakened below the parallel market rate.

    The naira depreciated by N107 to close at N770/$1 at the I&E window, weaker than N757/$ it exchanged at the parallel market rate.

    The local currency, which closed on Friday at N663/$1 at the I&E window struggled to sustain the appreciation tempo after dollar supply to the market shrank and manufacturers struggled to source dollars for items not valid for forex access.

    Read Also: Refinery owners urge Tinubu to accept naira for crude oil

    Analysts also said that Friday’s low closing rate at the I&E window attracted forex buyers interested in getting the greenback at cheaper rates to that segment of the market.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) unified all exchange rates into the I&E window last Wednesday and allowed market forces to determine exchange rate for the naira.

  • Tosin Music Enthralls Crowd at Casper & Gambini

    Tosin Music Enthralls Crowd at Casper & Gambini

    In a night filled with musical magic, popular singer and songwriter, Tosin Music, captivated an enthusiastic audience with a soul-stirring performance at Casper & Gambini in Ikeja City Mall, Lagos.

    Tosin Music performed at the event as part of the highly anticipated Indie Night Live performance series.

    As the sun set over the bustling city, music enthusiasts flocked to the popular venue, eager to witness the melodic prowess of Tosin Music. Known for his mesmerizing vocal range and poignant lyrics, the Nigerian-born artiste has been making waves in the international music scene with his unique blend of Afro-soul and contemporary influences.

    With the stage set and anticipation building, Tosin Music took the spotlight. The first notes resonated through the venue, instantly grabbing the attention of the crowd, who were already buzzing with anticipation.

    Read Also: Tosin Music set to release Bintinlaye

    From the very first song, it was evident that the audience was in for a treat. Tosin Music’s rich and soulful voice filled the room, weaving effortlessly through each verse, carrying heartfelt emotions and captivating stories. His commanding stage presence and undeniable talent left no doubt as to why he has garnered such acclaim in the music industry.

    The setlist featured a blend of both original songs and carefully curated covers, ensuring a diverse and engaging experience for the attendees. The crowd swayed and sang along as Tosin Music delivered powerful renditions of his hit singles, including the chart-topping “Bintin Laye”.

    As the final notes echoed through the venue, a wave of applause erupted, accompanied by heartfelt cheers and standing ovations. It was clear that Tosin Music’s performance had touched the

  • Coalition vows to achieve climate goals with bill

    Coalition vows to achieve climate goals with bill

    A Coalition of Nigerian Banks under the aegis of Nigeria Sustainability Banking Principle, (NSBP), has stressed the need to maximise the full potential of the Nigeria Climate Act legislative bill signed into law in 2021 by the ex-President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    The coalition noted that the move was apt to achieve renewable energy transition, green energy, and environmental sustainability practices in the manufacturing sector and the nation’s economy.

    NSBP in collaboration with financial service experts, and volunteering groups added that the bill would gear up efforts to achieve its climate goals while building up long-term environmental sustainability impact with social and economic resilience.

    Speaking on the sidelines of NSBP’s 10th anniversary and Walk4Nature event at Muri Okunola Park Victoria Island, Lagos, the Sustainability officer at WEMA Bank Plc, Oluwatoyin Adetunji reiterated the need to intensify efforts to bolster environmental awareness while stressing the need to promote the Nigeria Climate Act bill to increase environmental consciousness and drive awareness and sustainability in sectors.

    She added that financial inclusion, environmental sustainability, renewable energy transition, health, and education amongst others are one of the core social investment pillars of the Nigeria Sustainability Banking Principle, noting that this informed WEMA Bank Green Finance Facility for SMEs to have access to financial Facility to cushion the effect on businesses, customers and potential clients with reduced interest rate.

    On greener energy transition, Adetunji said following the energy transition plan, the Nigeria Climate Act bill will address the future sustainability of the Climate Act bill while assuring stakeholders that it will promote environmental consciousness in areas of waste disposal, blue economy, and disposable waste in beaches.

    The Walk for Nature event was aimed at educating Lagos metropolis on the impact of dumping waste inappropriately, she stated”.

    Acknowledging the Walk for Nature event, the sustainability officer said they would need to avoid negative impacts on the environment and communities where possible, and if these impacts are unavoidable, they should be minimized or offset appropriately.

    Read Also: Climate challenges and the Tinubu administration

    She stated that the grave impacts of climate change need conscious effort to tackle it. With Nigeria Energy Transition plan and bold action to limit the impacts of climate change must be undertaken urgently.

    “We believe that adherence to these Principles will provide benefits to our businesses, our clients, our communities, and our environment.

    “The major gospel of today’s event is walking, which is an effective means we have consistently promoted towards combating health and environmental challenges. We must form the habit of walking to distances that are not too far, these actions improve our health as we do so.”

    Highlighting the impact of the sensitization walk for nature, a sustainability officer at Polaris Bank Omoyepe Ajose-Adeogun said this would promote awareness on how people should manage waste. Impact of dumping waste in the environment.

    Outlining measures in line with the group’s initiative, Ajose-Adeogun said that communities need constant sensitization on the proper ways to dispose of waste materials.

    “People need to understand the importance of proper waste disposal and not littering them. The impact of waste on the environment.

    “We, as Bankers, will continue to align our operations with issues of sustainability by focusing on issues that put our environment at risk.”

    She urged Nigerians to imbibe and cultivate good environmental practices for nature and sustainable environmental management.

    Lead Communication at FSDH Group, Babatunde Adenuga highlighted some of the various challenges the environment is facing and concluded that they will continue to prioritize and focus on issues of sustainability essentially, aimed at addressing some of these challenges.

    Adenuga asserted that human demand for natural resources has become unbearably heavy, with ecosystem degradation compromising the well-being of people and a growing tide of pollution. While knowledge and tools exist to deal with this, leadership and cooperation are needed in place to curb it.

    “To a large extent, it behooves us as a people and a nation to form a global partnership to care for the earth. Overcoming the environmental challenges now confronting us requires effective management of our environment through the concerted efforts of all and sundry in order to preserve nature and our natural resources,” he said.

  • A brief note to ADVAN on advertising industry reforms

    A brief note to ADVAN on advertising industry reforms

    • By OLUDELE OKANLAWON

    A little less than two years ago and just when the advertising industry was getting its hopes up that a new dawn was about to break, there began a spirited attempt to drag it back to the dire place it has always been. It is a place no advertising professional wanted, as it was a contributor to the high advertising agency mortality rate.

    To cut to the chase, the attempt to drag advertising back to the dark place was authored by the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), which had reacted badly to the release of the Advertising Industry Standard of Practice (AISOP) by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) which, last year became Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON).

    ADVAN’s reaction to the industry regulator-formulated AISOP was and remains as desperate as that of man trying to fend of late-night pickpockets. Its pique was that AISOP, as formulated, contains provisions aimed at taking ADVAN’s knee off agencies’ throat and make them breathe well, something they have been unable to do for decades.

    AISOP, as a framework, spells, clearly, the way and manner of agency engagement/disengagement, terms and modes of payment, media rates and commission, audience measurement and dispute resolution among other issues. A condensation of what it seeks to do, by common consent, is ground-levelling. AISOP seeks to reform the industry in a way that agencies are no longer treated by clients as something close to vassals.

    With something approaching a nuclear gust of disapproval, ADVAN has been railing against the AISOP provision stipulating a 45-day payment period to agencies to agencies for jobs executed. The provision repealed the payment period of 90- 120 days, in the best case, ADVAN had become accustomed to. The protracted payment period AISOP aims to abolish affected not only the business of the agencies, but also those of their suppliers, including media organizations, which are regularly garroted by agencies’ indebtedness to them.

    In addition, AISOP prescribes a payment of a percentage to agencies as a penalty in the event the payment window is overshot. This was envisaged to help agencies accommodate the default charges of their lenders. The potential loss of unfair privileges it has enjoyed via payment to agencies as its whims dictated is something ADVAN is unwilling to countenance. AISOP, it is important to point out, was not sneaked in on ADVAN, as it had a representative on the committee that brought it to life. It was similarly represented on the Nigerian Advertising Code Review Committee, National Advertising and the Conference Committee as well as on the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP).

    What its reaction indicates, uncomplicatedly, is that it was enjoying-to the max-seeing agencies reduced to the status of mendicants, so as to continue exploiting them.

    ADVAN’s view is that contractual agreements between its members and agencies should not involve a third party and proceeded to accuse the regulator of undue interference. This position, to put it mildly, is the equivalent of willful ignorance because there is no advertising environment globally without a regulator or one in which clients pay agencies for campaigns executed whenever the feeling seizes them. What this says is that there are minimum irreducible standards prescribed in every advertising environment to ensure the protection of all.

    “In saner climes” is a fixture in conversations these days. I take it that ADVAN desires to operate in a saner clime, which would mean it should be happy with the same standards in such environments or similar ones. A few examples will show that clients elsewhere have not been frothing with anger over regulators’ prescription of payment periods. The US has a 35-day payment window. China has a 30-day window. Germany, France and other European markets stipulate a 30-day period. Kenya, South Africa and other African countries have 45-day payment periods, the same as proposed by AISOP.

    With those saner climes insisting on certain standards, ADVAN’s proposal of the retention of indeterminable payment period is no path to a saner environment.

    The surest route to a saner environment is law and order, things the ARCON Act of 2022 was made for, as it relates to the advertising industry. But it was, like AISOP, met with rejection by ADVAN. The ARCON Act effectively abolished the APCON Act, granting ARCON full regulatory powers over the country’s advertising environment. The act, among other things, mandates ARCON to promote local content and entrench international best practices.

    Its provisions, from all indications, have further incensed ADVAN which, earlier this year, came out with an intention to challenge the legality of the ARCON Act. ADVAN intends, as the notice stated, to join in the suit the Attorney-General of the Federation, Senate and House of Representatives, Minister of Information and Culture as well as the Industry, Trade and Investment Minister.

    Particularly irritating to ADVAN is the section in the ARCON Act stipulating the mode of agency disengagement. The section, arising from ARCON’s policy on engagement and disengagement, states that an advertiser terminating a contractual agreement with an agency must carry out financial reconciliation at the point of disengagement and fulfil all outstanding contractual obligations prior to signing on a new agency. This noble policy is, however, being interpreted as interference. It would have been funny if it did not carry a whiff of a desire to treat agencies shabbily. What ADVAN wants is to continue having the freedom to chase away agencies like a flea-ridden dog.

    Another source of irritation is ARCON’s policy

    proscribing the use of foreign voice-over artists as well as models in advertisements for the Nigerian market. A section of the ARCON Act gives muscle to the policy, which aims to grant Nigerians benefits of advertising in the country. ARCON’s local content policy prescribes minimum local content ratio in all advertisements, thereby encouraging advertisers to use Nigerians in their marketing communications campaigns. It envisages that it will stop the financial haemorrhage by Nigerian companies, conservatively estimated at N120 billion annually, as well as loss of jobs.

    What is not to like about this, given that it has the potential to halt loss of jobs and reduce pressure on the local currency?

    Somehow, ADVAN found reasons to be angry about it, as its notice of litigation advertised its intention to challenge the legality of the ARCON Act and the competence of the National Assembly to make the law which, to a large extent, carries the potential to address many of the problems that have blighted the advertising environment for as long as anyone can recall. ADVAN’s intended legal challenge is mystifying, given that it made written and oral submissions at the public hearings conducted by the National Assembly before the law was made. You have to wonder what it thought it was doing if it did not think the federal legislature is competent to make a law regulating advertising.

    Okanlawon writes from Lagos

  • Seven members of PDP Imo SWC resign

    Seven members of PDP Imo SWC resign

    Seven members of the State Working Committee(SWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party in Imo State on Sunday resigned.

    They also announced the withdrawal of their memberships of the party.

    Addressing repoeters at the party’s secretariat in Owerri, the state capital, Collins Opurozor, Imo PDP publicity secretary said fhe November 11 governorship candidate Samuel Anyanwu doesn’t have what it takes to govern the State.

    He said the secretary of party Ray Emeana; the youth leader Greg Nwadike; the deputy Imo PDP chairman Martin Ejiogu; woman leader Maria Mbakwe; State treasurer Josiah Eze and Chibuisi Obido, State Vice Chairman, Orlu Zone, have resigned from their positions and dumped the party.

    All of them who were present at the briefing spoke separately and concurred with Opurozor’s statement.

    He however refused to announce which party they were joining, adding that will be done later.

    Opurozor said: “Since 2020 when this Working Committee took over the administrative cockpit of the PDP in Imo State, we have evolved a tradition of being upfront with you as members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm about all issues that trouble our dear State. We have, through such interactions, inspired faith in a better Imo realized through good governance and democratic norms.

    “Today, unfortunately, is not for such engagements. In unequivocal terms, we announce to you that the PDP in Imo State has now been damaged beyond redemption by the National Secretary, Senator Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu (Samdaddy), and the Party is at last moving irreversibly to its terminus.

    “It is necessary we remind you that in the last three years, this Working Committee has built a very s Ujutrong, formidable and enviable PDP in Imo State. To enable the Party realize its promise of being a truly democratic entity, we envisioned the need to expand the internal democratic space by forming nearly five thousand chapters across all the polling units in the State. We took the Party to the people, and that made us the darling of Imo people. We accomplished this task despite our lean resources as an opposition. No other political party has attained this feat in Nigeria.

    Read Also: PDP chieftain Segelu fecilitates Oyo lawmakers

    “More so, we institutionalized the culture of accountability in party administration, and demonstrated a readiness to govern and reform Imo.

    “But, since Senator Anyanwu became the National Secretary of the Party, he has never relented in deploying the powers of his office to fight members of this Working Committee and intimidate even ordinary members of the Party. Endless strife, mindless wars and erosion of all democratic values and principles have now defined and defiled Imo PDP.

    “Day after day, Senator Anyanwu still sponsors his very few loyalists to cook up puerile petitions against us and flood the National Secretariat of the Party with such inquiries. On the basis of those contrivances, he has continued to threaten to dissolve the Party in Imo State, even after we have defeated him at the Supreme Court. Samdadday has remained unrelenting and unrepentant in his destructive agenda.

    “It is heartbreaking to inform you that some of us in the State Working Committee have severally escaped assassination attempts because of the wicked lies which our National Secretary sold to his violent supporters, that we misappropriated Party funds.

    “Yet, it was he, Senator Anyanwu, that sent his aides from Abuja to steal the materials for last year’s congresses of the Party, thereby creating a stalemate that gulped all our resources through multiple and controversial exercises and the appeasement of multiple stakeholders so as to save the Party from not fielding candidates for the 2023 elections.

    “When Senator Anyanwu eventually succeeded at crowning himself the governorship candidate of the Party, he convened a meeting of all the LGA Youth Leaders at his residence in Owerri and confessed openly that he had lied to them about financial mismanagement in the Party by the State Working Committee.

    “He also apologized to the State Youth Leader for the attacks and elimination attempts he had passed through because of the falsehoods which he (Samdadday) had propagated. He also recanted the lies and repeated the apologies during the only meeting he has had with us as members of the SWC since his emergence as governorship candidate. He said all the falsehoods peddled against us by him were as a result of his fight for survival.

    “All of us in the State Working Committee are reputable people who have made their marks in their various areas of endeavour. How could Senator Anyanwu destroy our reputation, and also destroy the Party we have built, simply because of his fight for individual survival? The implication is that if by mistake he is allowed to govern Imo State, he will further destroy our dear State if only that would guarantee his individual survival!

    “Last Saturday, armed thugs sponsored by Senator Anyanwu invaded the Party Secretariat and unleashed violence on us. They vandalised our building, smashed all the glasses, beat our security men to a pulp, broke into our offices, and looted everything they could find. This latest attack was the most brazen and audacious attempt to eliminate us. It is curious that the so-called function which Senator Anyanwu claims to have brought him and his thugs to the Party Secretariat was totally unknown to us as SWC members.

    “When the State Chairman, Engr. Charles Ugwuh, made efforts to bring the police to investigate the attack, Senator Anyanwu stood against it. Is that not shocking? How can a man who says he wants to make Imo safe again be caught aiding and abetting acts of violence and insecurity even against his own Party members? There is clear danger! There is fire on the mountain! Run! Run!! Run!!! We must now run to stay alive!

    “Despite the electoral vigour, creativity and resources which our Party had put into the 2023 general elections, we made a very poor showing simply because Senator Anyanwu directed his loyalists to mobilize and work against the Party and our candidates at all levels in the State.

    “As a responsible Working Committee, we had overlooked all these provocations and proceeded to set up a reconciliation committee ahead of the governorship election. But our teeming members across the State who felt deeply hurt by the actions of Senator Anyanwu have appeared before the reconciliation committee and declared their position, that allowing Senator Anyanwu to hold the flag of the Party is a reward for impunity and remorseless anti-party activities.

    “This is the reason that, in the aftermath of Senator Anyanwu’s emergence as governorship candidate, hundreds of senior members of the Party have dumped the PDP. Four serving Federal lawmakers also dumped the Party along with thousands of their supporters in a single day. Those who stayed back have completely lost morale, only looking up to us for direction. And the moment has come.

    “How do we explain to generations yet unborn that it was under our watch that one man became the National Secretary and governorship candidate, and also single-handedly chose a deputy governorship candidate for himself? Collegiality, stakeholding and consultations have all taken flight from Imo PDP.

    “We have today opened the floodgate of resignations and defections, and in the next couple of weeks, there will be only Senator Anyanwu left in the Party. “

    Reacting, Anyanwu said their resignation was not a new thing in the party.

    Anyanwu, who spoke through his media aide, Ikenna Onuoha, said that notwithstanding accusation of misappropriation of party’s he had decided to allow them to serve out their tenure which would soon expired.

    He said:” It is not a new thing for people to resign from their positions, but the issue is that before now, members of the National Working Committee had called for their resignation but I prevailed on them to allow them to serve out their tenure despite the allegation against them of embezzlement and misappropriation of the party’s funds. “

  • Husband’s comment: I never compromised my office, says Justice Bulkachuwa

    Husband’s comment: I never compromised my office, says Justice Bulkachuwa

    The immediate past President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, has defended her judicial integrity following a comment by her husband, former Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, that he obtained favours from from her on behalf of his fellow senators.

    Justice Bulkachuwa said she never, in her 40-year judicial career, compromised her oath of office.

    The former PCA bowed out of the Bench in March 2020 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 years.

    But the spotlight was cast on her tenure last Tuesday following the release of a video clip showing her husband making comments many interpreted as evidence of his interference in her performance of her duties as head of the country’s second highest court and possibly influencing her judicial decisions.

    But repudiating the interpretation of judicial compromise on her part, Justice Bulkachuwa, in a statement dated June 17, said such insinuation was far from the truth.

    Read Also: I didn’t influence my wife’s decisions as judge – Bulkachuwa

    The former PCA said: “My attention has been drawn to the trending video of what was said by my husband Senator Adamu M. Bulkachuwa.

    “I want to state categorically that I never at any time compromised my oath of office to favour any party who appeared before me throughout my judicial career spanning 40 years of service to my country.

    “My decisions were always based on the facts, the law and in accordance with my conscience and oath of office.

    “Also, as President of the Court of Appeal, my fellow justices of the court can attest to the fact that I never interfered with the independence of any of the justices of the court in the discharge of their judicial functions.”

    In March 2020, the former PCA told The Nation and other journalists during a valedictory service in her honour in Lagos, that she kept her husband’s politics and political career out of her home.

    She said that helped her to guard against being influenced by politicians.

    Justice Bulkachuwa said: “My husband is a politician, but politics is a no-go area in the house. Even my children are aware of that. No politician is invited to the house. My husband can pursue whatever he wants to pursue as a politician but we hardly discuss politics in the house. All these help to guard against any influence from any politician.”

    Senator Bulkachuwa in an interview with The BBC Hausa Service on June 17, denied using his wife to influence court cases.

    The former lawmaker, who has been facing calls by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), senior lawyers and other stakeholders for his arrest and probe, blamed the then Senate President Ahmed Lawan for not allowing him to complete his comments.

    Ex-Senator Bulkachuwa, in the video clip which surfaced last Tuesday, spoke during the valedictory session of the ninth senate.

    He claimed that he encroached on his wife’s “freedom and independence” in the course of her official duties as head of the second highest judicial office in Nigeria.

    According to him, she did not rebuff him.

    Bulkachuwa said: “Particularly my wife whose freedom and independence were encroached upon when she was in office. She has been tolerant and accepted my encroachment and extended it to my colleagues…”

    But he was interrupted and dissuaded from continuing by outgone Senate President Ahmed Lawan.

    Senator Bulkachuwa was elected to represent Bauchi North in 2019.

  • PSC approves guidelines on deployment of top officers by IGP

    PSC approves guidelines on deployment of top officers by IGP

    The Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved new policy guidelines for deployment of Management and Tactical Commanders in the Nigeria Police Force, (NPF).

    PSC advised the Inspector – General of Police (IGP) Usman Baba to be guided appropriately by the policy guidelines founded on principles of fairness and justice to all members of the NPF.

    The new policy guidelines also involve the imperativeness for gender-senstivity in the deployment of Assistant Inspectors- General of Police and Commissioners of Police to Zonal and state Command Headquarters.

    The Commission considered and approved the policy guidelines at its 21st Plenary Meeting at its Corporate Headquarters in Jabi, Abuja presided over by its Chairman, Dr. Solomon Arase, retired Inspector General of Police.

    The Commission said the Nigeria Police Force should be guided by the principle of Federal Character in both recruitment (at all levels) and deployment of its personnel at Management and Tactical levels to ensure balance, equity and fairness in the system.

    It observed that the current deployment of Commissioners of Police to State Commands leaves much to be desired in reflecting the principle of equity and fairness to all geo-political zones of the country, stressing that the current statistics of such deployments was against the North East and South East geopolitical zones.

    According to a statement on Sunday by the Head, Press and Public Relations, PSC, Ikechukwu Ani: “The Commission observed the disproportional distribution and lopsided deployment of Command Commissioners and noted that it has become extremely important that a fair representation of all geo-political zones is always reflected in these deployments to eschew and address the feeling and sense of marginalisation and injustice by certain zones of the country in the Nigeria Police Force.

    Read Also: IGP redeploys DIG, Mba, Ciroma, Hafiz, 17 AIGs

    “The Commission at Plenary and relying on Section 6(e) and (7) of the Police Service Commission Act which empowers the Commission to ‘formulate and implement policies aimed at the efficiency and discipline in the Nigeria Police Force; and perform such other functions which in the opinion of the Commission are required to ensure the optimal efficiency of the Nigeria Police Force considered and approved the new Policy guidelines”.

    The commission said henceforth request for deployment of Commissioners of Police to State Commands must ensure that the disadvantaged zones are considered first in the proposals to the Commission in order to redress the present imbalance and lopsided deployments skewed against the North-East and South-East regions of the country.

    Arase said: “All geo-political zones of the country must now have at least 15 percent representation in the deployment of Assistant Inspectors-General of Police to Zones, Commissioners of Police to State Commands and posting of Commanding Officers of Police Mobile Force, Counter-Terrorism CTU and Special Protection Unit (SPU).

    “That all Police deployments to zones and Commands at both Management (Deputy Commissioners of Police and Assistant Commissioners of Police and Tactical levels (Commanding Officers of PMF/SPU/CTU, must recognise our heterogeneity and reflect fairness and equity in terms of ethnicity and religion.

    “The policy is also geared towards eliciting trust and confidence of the Nigerian people and taking ownership of their Police in showing greater understanding, cooperation and support to the NPF towards improved community safety and adequate internal security in Nigeria.

    “The Commission on its Policy on Imperativeness of Gender-senstivity in the Deployment of AIGs and CPs noted the continued practice of lopsided deployments of only male Police Officers to Zones and Commands with no fair consideration and representation of female Police Officers who are qualified for such positions. It observed that this will in no time portray the Police as an organisation that is anti-woman empowerment and averse to women inclusivity in governance”.

    PSC also considered and approved that: “at least three state Commands out of the thirty seven Commands must have female Police Officers as their Commissioners of Police and out of the seventeen Zonal Headquarters, at least one Zone must have a female AIG to head the zone”.

    The Commission had also at the Plenary Meeting approved the appointment of two Deputy Inspectors General of Police, approved the promotion of 14 Commissioners of Police to the next rank of Assistant Inspectors General of Police which included CP Adebowale Williams, who was until his promotion, the Commissioner of Police Oyo State Command.

    PSC approved the promotion of 22 Deputy Commissioners of Police to substantive Commissioners of Police and which also included DCP Enyinnaya Inonachi Adiogu, who was formally Deputy Commissioner Special Fraud Unit (SFU) Ikoyi Lagos.

  • 10th NASS will partner Tinubu for favourable business environment

    10th NASS will partner Tinubu for favourable business environment

    Senate President Godswill Akpabio at the weekend assured Nigerians and the international community of the readiness of the 10th National Assembly to work with the President Bola Tinubu to create an enabling business environment and make life worth living for all.

    Akpabio, according to a statement his media office in Abuja, gave the pledge during his remarks at a reception dinner in honour of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, at Transcorp Hotel, Abuja on Saturday.

    He said: “I believe strongly that Nigerians are in for the best of times under this administration.

    Read Also: Tinubu administration leaves everyone breathless

    “Members of the National Assembly will enjoy a lot of cooperation and support from the Executive because for the first time, we are going to have a very serious accord between the Executive and the Legislature. I see good things coming for Nigerians.”

    Akpabio noted that in less than 20 days in office of the present administration, the stock market has gone up allover the world.

    “The world is already applauding Nigeria. I believe strongly that Senator Akume has a hand in most of the policies that are coming out and you are just starting.

    “You can imagine the celebrations that would come again, in the first 100 days of this administration in office. You are indeed a square peg in a square hole.”

    He lauded Akume on the appointment and described him as man of excellence and humility.

  • Media trial over petition against Sule dangerous – Group

    Media trial over petition against Sule dangerous – Group

    A political group, Nasarawa for Peace Initiative (NPI) says the media trial over the petition filed at the state governorship election tribunal by the Nasarawa State PDP against the re-election of Governor Abdullahi Sule is dangerous for our democracy.

    The group expressed disappointment in the state PDP for sponsoring stories concerning the pending case it filed at the tribunal in efforts to influence the outcome of the case, rather than allowing the judiciary to do its work.

    Speaking in a press conference yesterday in Lafia, President of NPI, Abdullareem Anas Abimuku, said that the PDP’s poor assessment of the situation and unrealistic expectations led to its defeats at the March 18 governorship election, noting that it’s petition will not see the light of the day.

    He frowned at the continued resort to media trial by opposition elements in the state to vent their anger over their loss in the last governorship election, describing it as provocative and undemocratic.

    They specifically referred to a story which led the front page of the Nigerian Pilot of June 15, 2023, with the title: “Nasarawa guber manipulated”, attributed to a group under the aegis of the CivicHive.

    Read Also: My support for 11 factional members remains, says Sule

    The story quoted alleged discrepancies in the result of the governorship election uploaded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on its server and those the commission declared.

    According to the initiative, it has no problem with any organisation, sponsored or otherwise, criticising the process and outcome of the last governorship election, but that the timing of the CivicHive intervention and the manner the Nigerian Pilot handled the story was suspect.

    The statement reads in part: “Firstly, where was the so-called CivicHive who claimed to be one of the accredited observers that purportedly monitored elections in Nasarawa State all this while? Why is its report coming many weeks after the declaration of the winner? And more importantly, why did CivicHive wait until the election petition tribunal commenced hearing of the petition filed by the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and its governorship candidate before coming out with its report?…

    “We must state that its combative approach to the matter is capable of undermining the fragile peace the state and its people are currently enjoying. It started from the day of the coalition, where PDP agents almost truncated the announcement of results at the INEC headquarters in Lafia from the moment it discovered that the poll’s outcome was not in its favour.

  • Oil theft: Don’t demoralise military, Olowu warns Dokubo

    Oil theft: Don’t demoralise military, Olowu warns Dokubo

    EX-NIGER Delta militant leader, Mujahid Asari Dokubo has been warned not to demoralise the military with unguarded statements.

    According to a statement by the traditional ruler of Owu Kuta, Osun State, Oba Adekunle Oyelude Makama, Tegbosun III, any attempt to ridicule the Nigerian military because of a few bad elements within the institution would be counterproductive.

    The monarch said it takes a lot of effort to build the country’s military to such a standard that we have in Nigeria, adding that such a sweeping statement that the military was responsible for the oil theft in the Niger Delta is not the best.

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    Olowu, who frowned at such generalization, said inasmuch as the country appreciates the support of Dokubo in the last few months for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his outburst against the military after the visit was unbecoming.

    Olowu said: “The outburst of Dokubo that the military was responsible for the oil theft after his visit to Mr. President is unbecoming. It’s a betrayal of trust. Why should he use the presidential press gallery to make such a statement that is capable of demoralising our military?

    “If he has any information about some unscrupulous elements in the military that are involved in oil theft, he can pass it on to Mr. President without that undue sensationalism.