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  • Minister knocks NIS for asking married women to travel to Abuja for change of name

    Minister knocks NIS for asking married women to travel to Abuja for change of name

    • •Automated passport application process to begin January 8

    Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has berated officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) for always asking people, especially married women, to go to its headquarters in Abuja to change their names on their passports.

    The minister, who described the act as “stupid”, spoke at a dinner with members of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (ABAT) Media Centre and some social media influencers in Abuja.

    Tunji-Ojo said there is nowhere in the world where women are subjected to such inhuman practice on account of marriage.

    The minister queried if NIS personnel in Abuja were special than those in the various passport offices across the federation.

    “There is one stupid thing I have seen and it is that a woman gets married, changes her name and then she has to come to Abuja all the way from, say Kaura Namoda or Enugu, just to effect a change of name in her passport. It is absurd.

    “I can’t just figure it that you want to change just your name and you have to be in Abuja. I have asked the Immigration people: is it that Immigration people in Abuja have more than one head than those in the states?” he queried.

    According to him, passport issue remains the least of his worries, while there are many other issues, like the need to have more secure borders for the country, among others.

    Tunji-Ojo announced that as from March, the new passport reforms he is putting in place would ensure contactless biometrics enrolment in order to allow Nigerians do their enrolments from their comfort zones.

    “With the new reforms, you don’t need to travel to Abuja to change your data. Everything will be done online.

    “From March, once you have ever enrolled for a passport and you are coming to renew, please, don’t come to my office; stay in your house and do it. We have contactless biometrics, and this can be done in five minutes. We don’t need to keep taking your biometrics every five years. Who does that in the world?

    “This is what #RenewedHope is about. It is about positively disrupting the process. By the grace of God, the issue of passport is the least of our worries,” he said.

    Read Also: Why Tinubu govt can’t avoid borrowing, by Osoba

    Announcing plans for a forum to unveil the ministry’s agenda for this year, Tunji-Ojo harped on the need for knowledge transfer and training of officers on passport issues.

    The minister urged Nigerians to keep faith with the Tinubu administration, saying the President is leading the country aright.

    He promised to continue to give his best to make Nigeria better for Nigerians.

    “Any day I think I don’t have the zeal again, I will do what honest men do and go because Nigeria as a country does not deserve 99.9 per cent. It deserves 100 per cent from us. That is what public service demands,” Tunji-Ojo added.

    Also, Tunji-Ojo has announced that the automated system would begin during a review of the NIS facilities in Abuja on January 8.

    The programme intends to give applicants a convenient and secure experience while reducing human interface in the passport application process.

    The minister announced this in Abuja during an inspection of facilities at the NIS in company of the Comptroller General of the service, Mrs. Wura-Ola Adepoju.

    “We’re ready to go live. We are starting training. On January 8, the solution will be live and direct for Nigerians to have a wonderful feeling, a sweet experience based on Mr. President’s Renewed Hope,” he said.

    Tunji-Ojo said the Federal Government remained committed to ending the use of forged documents in passport applications.

    “We have been able to reduce human contact in passport acquisition to the minimum,” he added.

    The minister stressed the essence of the new system in strengthening the country’s security architecture and safeguarding Nigerian residents’ comfort and convenience.

    He added that the NIS had deployed document verification personnel in all local government areas across the country to improve document verification.

    “This action attempts to thoroughly scrutinise passport applications and prevent the submission of fake documents.

    “The automation of the passport application process is consistent with the government’s initiatives to use technology to improve service delivery and security,” Tunji-Ojo added.

  • Security challenges: Ex-CBN director urges Fed Govt to provide jobs for youths

    Security challenges: Ex-CBN director urges Fed Govt to provide jobs for youths

    A former Director of Research Department at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Titus Okunrounmu, has urged the Federal Government to provide more jobs for youths this year to reduce security challenges in the country.

    Okunrounmu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Ota, Ogun State, that insecurity and unemployment were two sides of the same coin.

    The former CBN director noted that an increase in unemployment would automatically lead to a rise in insecurity.

    “An idle hand is the devil’s work shop,” he said.

    Okunrounmu said most of the kidnappings, banditry and herdsmen/farmers crises, among others, were fuelled by the increased unemployment situation in the country.

    Read Also: Full list of blacklisted foreign universities in Nigeria

    “There is the need for the Federal Government to do the needful for the economy to grow and embrace good governance in 2024,” he said.

    The former CBN director also urged the government to leverage agriculture through the fertile lands and modern equipment on massive farming to employ the teeming youths in order to prevent them from engaging in social vices.

    “The country could respond to God’s grace by farming and constant heavy rain to solve some of the current problems in the country.

    “In addition, God has given us all these resources and population so that Nigerians would not suffer,” he said.

  • Nigeria can afford higher minimum wage, says South Africa APC’s ex-Chair Babarinde

    Nigeria can afford higher minimum wage, says South Africa APC’s ex-Chair Babarinde

    A former Chairman of the South Africa chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Bola Babarinde, has said Nigeria can pay a higher minimum wage than it is doing currently, if the country eliminates wastages and corruption in governance.

    Babarinde, who was also the Deputy Director of Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat Campaign Council, Diaspora Directorate, noted that any meaningful minimum wage in present-day Nigeria could be up to N200,000 due to economic realities.

    In a statement yesterday while reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s New Year Day broadcast, the APC chieftain said a living wage would encourage workers to put in their best as well as reduce stealing and other misconducts in public service.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Tinubu had said the Federal Government would implement a new national living wage in 2024.

    The President said the decision made a good economic sense and was morally and politically right.

    “A living wage should reflect intention to improve the welfare of the Nigerian working class,” Babarinde said.

    The APC chieftain said President Tinubu came to power with some measures to reposition the economy and give succour to Nigerians.

    He noted that ordinary Nigerians were suffering because “building can be more difficult to achieve than destroying”.

    Babarinde added: “We should not expect a system that had been damaged for decades to be repaired and turned around in a jiffy.

    “Sustainable development takes time.”

    On President Tinubu’s travels to attract investments, the APC chieftain noted that they were based on his good intensions, but advised that the Federal Government should look inwards.

    Read Also: Why Tinubu govt can’t avoid borrowing, by Osoba

    “This is the time to ask our universities, colleges of technology and technical schools to give us the Nigeria of our dream by helping with ideas on refining homegrown technologies for industrial and economic self-reliance.

    “We must be serious about ease of doing business among our African countries and reduce obstacles in communication and transportation within our countries.

    “Reduction of airfare and cost of telecommunications among ECOWAS nations should boost local trade, which will definitely help economies of those nations,” he said.

    Babarinde urged Nigerian leaders to make sacrifices for the nation, saying financial recklessness must be avoided through fiscal discipline.

    He urged the President to leverage the network, experience and expertise of Nigerians in the Diaspora to actualise his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

  • Aregbesola dishonoured agreement sanctioned by Tinubu, Akande, says APC

    Aregbesola dishonoured agreement sanctioned by Tinubu, Akande, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has tackled former governor Rauf Aregbesola over the claim that his successor, Adegboyega Oyetola, reneged on reconciliatory agreements. 

    APC lambasted Aregbesola, the erstwhile Minister of Interior, for reneging on the 2020 reconciliatory agreement sanctioned by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and pioneer Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande. 

    The Chairman of APC in Osun State, Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement yesterday debunked the claim by Aregbesola that an agreement was reached on August 26 2021, where it was agreed that his faction should be considered in forming the government by giving it one-third of the appointments in the second term of Oyetola’s administration. 

    Lawal said Aregbesola was making a reference to the agreement he reached with the Adeleke dynasty as the APC did not make the 2022 governorship election in Osun, adding that no wonder the Aregbesola faction was accorded one-third of appointments in the current administration led by Senator Ademola Adeleke as governor. 

    He explained that “to the best of my knowledge, the only agreement, endorsed by President Tinubu and Chief Akande happened in December 2020 and Aregbesola reneged on the spirit and letter of the said agreement. 

    Read Also: Full list of blacklisted foreign universities in Nigeria

    “At the end of the meeting, it was Aregbesola who prepared the contents of the resolutions and gave it to our Baba, Chief Bisi Akande, to vet before it was passed on to the leaders of the party. And part of the agreement was that there would be an automatic ticket for Oyetola and that while Oyetola would be allowed to face governance without interference from any quarters, the trio of Chief Bisi Akande, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola would lead, guide, coordinate and administer the party as the apex body.

    “But during the primaries, Aregbesola sponsored Alhaji Moshood Adeoti against Oyetola contrary to the agreement reached. Oyetola won the election. The same Aregbesola went to court with Adeoti to challenge the outcome of the primary. He also sponsored 10 cases in various courts to challenge the nomination of Oyetola as the candidate of the APC. 

    “Before then, he held a parallel congress and pushed unsuccessfully to have a validly elected chairman of the party replaced with his factional chairman.

    “As if that was not enough, Aregbesola went ahead to sponsor three candidates against Oyetola in the governorship election. So, who betrayed each other?”

  • Crisis hits Ondo PDP as chair is removed

    Crisis hits Ondo PDP as chair is removed

    Crisis has hit Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ahead of next month’s by-election for Akoko Northwest/Akoko Northeast Federal Constituency seat.

    The crisis escalated yesterday when the State Working Committee (SWC) sacked the state Chairman of the party, Mr. Fatai Adams.

    In a statement issued at the end of the Ondo PDP SWC meeting and signed by nine members, the SWC said Adams was removed pursuant to Section 58(1b. c, f. h. and i) of the party’s constitution as amended in 2017.

    The statement said Adams was removed for anti-party activities and engaging in activities likely to bring the party to disrepute.

    “He is accordingly advised to appear before the State Disciplinary Committee for further interrogations within the next one week.

    “The party wishes to state that it will deal with any incursion by the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), into its ranks,” it said.

    Adams described the members that signed the statement as jokers.

    Read Also: Full list of blacklisted foreign universities in Nigeria

    He said his removal was null and void, noting that only the National Executive Committee could discipline him.

    Adams said those that signed the statement were sponsored by “elements within and outside the party.”

    It was gathered that trouble started in the Ondo PDP after Adams rejected the report of a 20-man committee to assess aspirants for the February by-election.

    The committee had advised the party to sponsor Olalekan Bada as its consensus candidate for the by-election into Akoko North East/Akoko North West seat in the House of Representatives.

    Sources said Adams was in support of another aspirant that came third in the committee’s ranking.

    A chieftain of the PDP said: “We will not allow Adams lead us to defeat again. He is supposed to be neutral, but he picked sides. What we want is victory at the polls.”

  • NURTW presidency: I’m not paralysed, says Agbede

    NURTW presidency: I’m not paralysed, says Agbede

    Chairman of the defunct National Caretaker Committee of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, has debunked reports that he is paralysed and afflicted with stroke.

    He called on the police to investigate the matter and bring those behind it to book.

    Social media platforms were on Monday flooded with the rumours of Agbede being paralysed and afflicted with stroke.

    Agbede said in a statement that the rumour made many people to call him and his relatives inquiring about his health.

    “I’m hale and hearty,” he said, describing the report as wicked and the handiwork of his detractors, who did not wish him well.

    Read Also: Osun APC blasts Aregbesola, says ex-gov dishonoured agreement by Tinubu, Akande

    Agbede said:  “It is very unfortunate that people can go to that extent of wishing me dead. I want to take this opportunity to inform everybody that has been calling me for updates that I’m very strong and healthy. I’m okay.

    “I want to use this medium to call on men of the Nigeria Police to investigate the matter and bring those behind the deadly rumour to book. This is an indication that I have to beef up security around me. I want to express my sincere appreciation to friends, colleagues and relations for their calls and concern.”

  • Southwest APC mourns Akeredolu

    Southwest APC mourns Akeredolu

    • Adebanjo, Obi, Utomi visit governor’s family 

    All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southwest has expressed sadness about the death of Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu after a protracted illness.

    The caucus, the primary constituency of the deceased, commiserated  with the government and people of Ondo State, the six governors of the Southwest, party leadership and members at the national and state levels, the Progressives Governors Forum, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the loss.

    A statement by the Zonal Publicity Secretary, Ayo Afolabi, said the region would not forget Akeredolu because he left good legacies.

    The statement said: “Governor Akeredolu, who was the chairman of the Southwest Governors Forum, left an indelible mark as a forthright leader and an amiable personality. He showed commitment toward securing the Southwest through the creation and effective policing of the zone with the Amotekun security squad.

    “He would be remembered as a man of good pedigree and panache who, any day, would stand up for human rights and justice. He was a dogged fighter for peace and defender of the defenceless

    “The Southwest Caucus sees his death as a big void, which will be hard to fill and commiserates with the immediate and extended family of the deceased, Kabiyesi, Olowo of Owo and the entire people of Owo and Ondo State on the irreplaceable loss of their illustrious son.

    “The Southwest leadership of the party appeals to the new governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to work hard for the unity of the party in the state and the good of all citizens of Ondo State.

    “The Chairman of the party in the zone, Isaacs Kekemeke, bids the deceased farewell and prays for the repose of his soul.”

    The factional leader of Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Pa. Ayo Adebanjo, yesterday led a delegation of the group to the home of the late Akeredolu.

    Adebanjo with other members of the group condoled with his wife, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, over demise of her husband.

    Speaking with reporters, the elder statement said Afenifere’s visit was not because Akeredolu was a former governor of Ondo State, but because of what he stood for in Nigerian politics and the type of progressive politics he played while alive.

    Read Also: Full list of blacklisted foreign universities in Nigeria

    The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in last year’s general election, Mr. Peter Obi, and a political economist, Prof. Pat. Utomi, have paid a condolence visit to the family of the late Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, in Ibadan.

    Obi, the former Anambra State governor, revealed this via his X handle (formerly Twitter), yesterday, describing Akeredolu as an individual committed to building a better Nigeria. 

    Obi’s tweet read: “Today, together with my very dear elder brother, Prof Pat Utomi, I arrived Ibadan, Oyo State, to commiserate with the bereaved wife of the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, and the entire Akeredolu family, as we all mourn the death of Governor Akeredolu. 

    “While Governor Akeredolu was the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, and subsequently as a governor, he stayed consistent on how to build a better Nigeria where there would be respect for the rule of law, security of lives and property of Nigerians. 

    “He believed in a restructured and productive Nigeria. May God who it pleased to call him home at this time grant him eternal rest and grant his dear wife, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, the entire Akeredolu family, and all of us who mourn him, the fortitude to bear this irreplaceable loss.”

  • New CP declares war on cultism 

    New CP declares war on cultism 

    The new Commissioner of Police (CP) for Edo, Funsho Adeboye, officially assumed duty in Benin yesterday,

    with a warning to cult members disturbing the peace of the state to leave or face the full weight of the law.

    The CP also warned officers and men of the command to stay away from corruption and other infractions while carrying out their duties.

    Adeboye, who was received by top officers of the command, said his administration would be propelled by democratic policing and fear of God.

    He said “cultism is a dangerous trend which we are ready to curb. “The Inspector General of Police has resolved that this menace of cultism should be curbed.”

     without reservation and Gov. Godwin Obaseki is

    on the same page with the police’s resolve on cultism.”

    He added that the command under his watch, would not not fold its arms and allow cult groups to dent the image of this administration.

    “My main priority as commissioner of police in Edo is to put an end to cultism through lawful means,” he said.

    Read Also: Full list of blacklisted foreign universities in Nigeria

    He advised parents and guadians to warn their children and wards to desist from cultism as those disturbing the peace of the public

    were going to be apprehended and diligently prosecuted.

    “I want to also call for the cooperation of the judiciary so that any person arrested for contravening the law would not go unpunished.

    “I also want to call on the public to give useful information to the police to nip the crime in the bud.

    “I want to call on journalists as well, to support the police in the fight against crime and criminality.”

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adeboye took over from CP Muhammed Dankwara, who was posted

    to the National Institute For Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos.

  • Why Fed Govt can’t avoid borrowing, by Osoba

    Why Fed Govt can’t avoid borrowing, by Osoba

    A former Ogun State Governor Olusegun Osoba has said the current administration cannot avoid borrowing, even if it does not want to.

    Osoba spoke yesterday on Arise News Television.

    He said the previous administration left an empty treasury after a series of borrowing, even to pay salaries.

    Although he did not endorse borrowing, Osoba insisted that the Bola Tinubu administration must, out of necessity, resort to it for the time being, if it must deliver on its promises to Nigerians.

    “When the treasury is empty, when the previous administration was borrowing to pay salaries, what else can you do except to borrow for now to fill the gap? That does not mean that the culture of borrowing will go on forever and ever. It’s only serving us for now,” he said.

    Veering into the issue of cash stockpile by Nigerians, which has resulted in the scarcity of the nation’s legal tender, the former Ogun State governor expressed support for President Tinubu’s initiative to tackle the menace.

    Osoba said: “During my discussion with President Tinubu on Christmas Day, he disclosed to me that he was preparing a document to encourage Nigerians to bring out hidden funds that are currently out of the banking system and causing cash scarcity.”

    The former governor also expressed support for the Presidency’s decision to postpone visitation to the victims of the Christmas Eve attack in Plateau State.

    Commenting on the opposition parties’ visits to the impacted communities, he said they were merely acting in their capacity to establish strong, critical engagements that would aid the ruling party in examining their remarks and declarations to determine whether any information uncovered would be useful.

    Read Also: Osun APC blasts Aregbesola, says ex-gov dishonoured agreement by Tinubu, Akande

    Osoba added: “There is no Nigerian who will not cry for what happened in Plateau; the unnecessary killings. We need to have a well-organised broad-based policy to curtail these inter-communal conflicts that are beheading us all over the country. I assure you that Tinubu is very much on top of it.

    “On the issue of token appearance, it is not just a token. He must be ready when he is going to go there. It is to tell them the steps and actions that he is going to take to contain this situation that has been going on.

    “For the opposition parties, that is their role. There must be robust engagements. If they don’t engage us robustly, how would we know some of our shortcomings and challenges? When (Peter) Obi went to Plateau for a token appearance, it was part of the robust engagement.

    “When we were in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN), we robustly engaged (then President) Goodluck Jonathan heavily. So, they are playing the role expected of the opposition.

    “What do you expect of them? We are in government and they throw punches. We would defend the punches and, where necessary, we give a little brushing of their faces too.

    “But I agree that they are within the barns of opposition in a way that they are being critical and we analyse their statements and reactions and see if whatever we find will be useful.”

  • NASU to Fed Govt: prosecute fuel subsidy scammers

    NASU to Fed Govt: prosecute fuel subsidy scammers

    • Union seeks sanction against fraudulent IPPIS officials

    The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to prosecute everyone involved in the “fuel subsidy scam” or immediately revert to the price of petroleum products before his swearing in on May 29, last year.

    NASU said this after its national delegates’ conference in Abuja, where Makolo Hassan and Prince Peters Adeyemi were re-elected as the union’s National President and General Secretary.

    It said both men were returned to office for their “dedicated commitment and sterling performance”.

    NASU said successive governments had argued that the amount paid for petroleum by Nigerians was lower than international benchmarks because the Federal Government was subsidising the product.

    The union expressed disappointment that the immediate past and present Federal Government, which claimed fuel subsidy was a scam, failed to name or prosecute those involved in the scam.

    It said there were several laws for the prosecution of criminals and that the immediate past and current Federal Government had used the laws to prosecute petty criminals but allowed the “known fuel subsidy criminals to walk freely”.

    In a joint communiqué by Hassan and Adeyemi, the union said: “Be it resolved that conference-in-session calls on the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, prosecute all those involved in this economic sabotage against the nation.

    “To restore the price of petroleum product to the pre-29 May, 2023 prices, if it fails to prosecute all those involved in the subsidy scam.

    “To ensure that the money released for the repairs of local refineries do not go down the drain, as was the case of previous attempts, by seeing to it that the refineries work in line with their installed capacities.”

    NASU also urged the Federal Government to begin the prosecution of anyone with pending corruption cases as well as all those involved in the incessant fraudulent activities through the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

    The union noted that the sharp practices by IPPIS officials and workers as well as their lackadaisical attitudes have made a mess of whatever good intentions the government had for introducing the payment system.

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    According to the union, it is important for government to rejig the IPPIS platform towards ensuring transparency in the payment of salaries, allowances and third party deductions.

    NASU flayed what it called “indiscriminate establishment of tertiary institutions by the national and state assemblies in the face of inadequate funding of the institutions.

    The union expressed worry that should the trend persist, the gains of having qualitative tertiary institutions in the country would be eroded.

    It added: “Be it resolved that the conference-in-session calls on the National and State Assemblies to immediately discontinue the passing of Bills for the establishment of tertiary institutions that may not be adequately funded.

    “We call on the Federal and state governments to end indiscriminate establishment of tertiary institutions at the expense of the growth and development of the existing ones.”

    Commenting on renegotiation of the FGN/NASU agreements on tertiary institutions, NASU urged the Federal Government to “reconstitute re-negotiating committees across tertiary institutions where negotiations had remained inconclusive during the tenure of the immediate past administration”.

    It also pleaded with the Federal Government to implement all agreements it entered into with the union across tertiary institutions “to ensure industrial peace and harmony in the sectors”.