The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Abuja

  • NAF to hold second combat sports competition

    The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has said it will conduct the second edition of the  NAF Combat Sports Competition tagged “Jos 2017” in Jos, Plateau state capital from March 25th to 30th, 2017.

    Chairman of the organizing committee, Air Commodore Ayodele Dudusola said in Abuja that the Exercise is to promote participation in sports activities towards improving personnel physical fitness and also foster spirit-de-corps among NAF personnel.

    The event, according to the Chairman, will also serve as an avenue to select athletes that would represent the NAF in future competitions.

    He noted that the combat sport is a symbol of harmony that bonds the competing teams and creates awareness-drive both for the competing teams and the general public.

    Six teams will take part in the event namely; Team HQ NAF, HQ Tactical Air Command, HQ Special Operations Command, HQ Mobility Command, HQ Training Command and HQ Logistics Command.

    The sports event will also feature eight activities including; Boxing, Combat Relay, Combat Swimming, Judo, Obstacle Crossing, Shooting, Taekwando and Tug of War.

    Officials from the Plateau State Sports Council and 3 Division Nigerian Army would officiate in the event while three medical ambulances have been prepared for medical emergencies.

     The first edition of the NAF Combats Sports was in Kaduna in 2016 and based on the interest shown by officers and men of the NAF, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshall Sadiquee Abubakar approved the organisation of the second edition.

  • NAFDAC shuts down fake, unregistered wine shops in Abuja

    The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has shut down some wine shops worth N100 million in Wuse market, Abuja, for selling fake and unregistered products.

    Mr Shaba Mohammed, the Deputy Director, Investigation and Enforcement, NAFDAC, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said this on Friday in Abuja during an operation.

    Mohammed led a team of NAFDAC officials on enforcement to the market in continuation of a renewed global anti-counterfeiting fight against counterfeits.

    He warned that unwholesome food and beverages pose threat to human lives.

    “This operation is being carried out in 60 countries of the world which includes Africa, America, Asia and Middle East.

    “The operation is in continuation of a renewed global anti-counterfeiting fight against counterfeit, substandard, fake and unwholesome food and beverages in collaboration with Interpol and Europol,”Mohammed said.

    He said that the raid was tagged “’Opson VI”.

    Mohammed said that most of the items seized in the operation were mainly 100 per cent ethanol mixed with other additives and contaminants.

    Some of the fake wine found in the market includes Chamdor, Toma, Valdepenas, J and W, and Charmat, among others.

    He further explained that the contaminants cause damages ranging from affecting human brain, communication, inflammation of the liver and cancer.

    He said that suspects arrested would be prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.

    Mohammed advised the general public to be watchful of food and beverages they purchase and consume on daily basis.

    He urged Nigerians to purchase only products that carry NAFDAC registration numbers.

    He also advised Nigerians to insist on obtaining payment receipts for any purchase made and to report any suspicious activities or illegal warehouses found in their vicinity.

  • March 30 deadline for passage of 2017 budget not sacrosanct — Reps

    March 30 deadline for passage of 2017 budget not sacrosanct — Reps

    The House of Representatives says the March 30 deadline set for the passage of 2017 Appropriation Bill by the National Assembly is not sacrosanct.

    Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Rep. Abdulrazak Namdas, made this known on Thursday in Abuja.

    Namdas said that the new software used in the process was slowing down the work of the Appropriation committee.

    “I want to say that the March 30 deadline, just for the purpose of records, may not be actually sacrosanct because of the new development that has risen.

    “We have new budget software and it is different from what we used to have before.

    “It is slowing the process of the appropriation committee down a bit.’’

    He, however, said that there was need for standing committees that had yet to submit their reports to the Appropriation Committee to do so in order to hasten the process.

    “The speaker, Yakubu Dogara just urged the various committees to submit their reports to the Appropriation committee by Friday because it has been realised that most of the committees have not submitted their reports.

    “These are some of the issues slowing the process. But I think from the discussion with some of Chairmen of committees, I am optimistic they will submit their reports by tomorrow (Friday),’’ Namdas added.

     

  • Court judgment on Fanta, Sprite begins investigation – CPC

    Court judgment on Fanta, Sprite begins investigation – CPC

    The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has launched a detailed investigation into the alleged danger of mixing Fanta or Sprite with Vitamin C.

    CPC’s Director-General, Mrs Dupe Atoki, announced this in Abuja on Thursday.

    “The Consumer Protection Council is keenly interested and extremely concerned about the questions that have arisen from and on account of this judgement.

    “As such, the discoveries therein the CPC is launching a broad and detailed investigation as a matter of urgency.

    ‘’Indeed the judgement only serves as a subject of bringing this information to the CPC’s attention. The council would conduct its own investigation separately.’’

    According to her, the CPC was interested because Fanta, Sprite and Coca Cola are the most widely consumed beverages in Nigeria.

    Atoki said that the investigation was also hinged on the fact that vitamin C was one of the most consumed medications for both children and adults in the country.

    She said that the NBC products and vitamin C were routinely consumed in Nigeria with no restrictions to access and availability.

    According to her, the council would ask key questions such as: “Is Sprite and Fanta at the time of production potentially harmful to consumers when consumed with vitamin C?

    “If yes, what is NBC’s obligation to consumers and has NBC fully discharge the obligation?

    According to her, Pursuant to the CPC Act, the council is interested in discovering what steps NBC took after the testing and confiscation of Fanta and Sprite by the UK authorities.

    Atoki said that CPC had written to NBC to provide certain information to enable it conduct its own investigation on the matter not later than Thursday March 23, 2017.

    She said that it was not the duty of NBC to tell Nigerians that their product was okay for consumption.

    A Lagos state High Court has awarded a N2 million cost against NAFDAC for failing Nigerians by certifying Fanta and Sprite fit for human consumption even after the drinks were declared unfit for human consumption in the UK.

    The court also ordered NAFDAC to direct the NBC Plc to include a warning on the bottles of the product that its content cannot be taken with Vitamin C.

     

  • ACBF approves $1.4m for finance capacity-building in West Africa

    The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), an agency of African Union (AU) has approved a grant of $1.4 million for the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management to help it improve the training of financial and economic professionals in Nigeria and West Africa.

    “The grant will help the Institute to train a new cadre of experts locally, thereby saving the amount previously spent on sending them overseas,” ACBF’s Executive Secretary Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie said in Abuja recently.

    The grant will also enable WAIFEM to conduct research in critical areas, including infrastructure and trade financing,” he said.

    The latest assistance brings to $8.4 million the total amount WAIFEM has received from ACBF since 2005, the Executive Secretary said.

    For more than 10 years, ACBF has supported WAIFEM in training more than 1,000 officials from West African central banks, ministries of finance and planning and private sector organisations. It has equally assisted it to establish a video conferencing and training facility to expand access to the Institute’s programmes.

    Based in Lagos, WAIFEM partners with major global bodies such as the World Bank, IMF and other regional organisations to deliver quality education to Nigerians and other West African nationals.

    Established in 1991, ACBF builds human and institutional capacity for good governance and economic development in Africa.

    To date, the foundation has empowered people in governments, parliaments, civil society, private sector and higher education institutions in more than 45 countries and six regional economic communities.

    ACBF supports capacity development with grants, technical assistance and knowledge across Africa. The establishment of ACBF was in response to the severity of Africa’s capacity needs, and the challenges of investing in indigenous human capital and institutions in Africa.

    ACBF interventions are premised on four principles: the centrality of capacity to the development process in Africa; the critical role of a partnership and demand-driven approach in tackling capacity challenges; African ownership and leadership in the capacity development process; and a systematic, sequenced and coordinated approach to the capacity development process.

     

     

  • Man in prison for stealing church property

    A 29-year-old man, Ricab Vondip, was on Thursday sentenced to two months imprisonment by a Karmo Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja, for stealing musical keyboard valued at N400, 000 from a church.

    The convict who was arraigned on a count charge of theft pleaded guilty to the charge.

    He begged the court to have mercy on him and promised not to commit crime again.

    The judge, Mr. Abubakar Sadiq, who convicted Vondip, however, gave the convict an option of N10, 000 fine, and warned him to desist from committing further crime.

    The prosecutor, Dalhatu Zannah, had told the court that Vondip committed the offence on Dec. 24, 2016 at the Salem Church, Utako, Abuja.

    He said that Pastor Joel Madaki of Salem Church Abuja, reported the matter at the Utako Police Station on March 8.

    Zannah said Vondip was invited by his friend James Silas to attend a church service, but he dishonestly stole the church Yamaha keyboard.

    The prosecutor said that the convict was arrested and he confessed to have sold the keyboard at N 24,000.

    Zannah said that the keyboard was yet to be recovered.

    He said the offence contravened Section 287 of the Penal Code.

     

  • Reps eulogize late Adebayo, Ogbemudia,

    Reps eulogize late Adebayo, Ogbemudia,

    The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, showered encomiums on the late former Governors of defunct Western and Midwest regions, Generals Adeyinka Adebayo and Samuel Ogbemudia.

    This was sequel to a motion under matters of urgent public importance moved by two lawmakers, Ayodele Oladimeji  (Ekiti-PDP) and Pally Iriase, Deputy Whip of the House.

    Oladimeji (Ekiti-PDP) while moving his motion said Adebayo as the former Western region Governor brought a lot of development to the defunct region, that now encompasses Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun and Ogun States. 

    General-Adeyinka-Adebayo

    According to him, Adebayo was the embodiment of vision and consistency in terms of the desire to elevate his people to a new level social equality.

    The late General, Oladimeji said, provided qualitative governance that moved the region to great reckoning. 

    In the same vein, Pally Iriase in his motion said as a two-time Governor of the Mid West region and Bendel State Ogbemudia contributed meaningfully to the development of his state and the country at large.

    Ogbemudia
    Ogbemudia

    He said Ogbemudia during his tenure initiated “unforgettable improvements in the area of Sports, Education, Health, Commerce, Industry, Agriculture, Housing, Public Transportation and Rural/Urban transformation through superb infrastructural development”.

    The lawmaker said some of the late statesman’s achievements include the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Games village Afuze, University of Benin, Bendel Line, Bendel Steel structures, Bendel Pharmaceuticals among others.

    Members while supporting his motion spoke glowingly of the late Ogbemudia.

    They include Wole Oke (Osun-PDP), Nicholas Ossai ( Delta- PDP) and Johnson Agbonayinma (Edo-PDP).

    The lawmakers said the late General lived a life worthy of emulation and should be celebrated by all because he exercised good leadership.

    When the motion was put to a voice vote by the Deputy Speaker, Yussuff Lasun, it was unanimously adopted by members.

  • El-Rufai is after my life – Apostle Suleiman

    El-Rufai is after my life – Apostle Suleiman

    • ‘Gov training militia’

    Omega Fire Ministries (OFM) on Tuesday accused Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai of masterminding the recent series of spurious allegations of infidelity against its General Overseer, Apostle Johnson Suleman.

    The spokesman of OFM and Suleman’s Communications Manager, Phrank Shaibu, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, said that facts and available intelligence incontrovertibly point to the Kaduna Governor as the mastermind of the allegations.

    According to him, El-Rufai decided to sponsor the allegations as a strategy to silence Apostle Suleiman and to take revenge for the latter’s famed audacity of standing against the persecution and killing of Christians in Southern Kaduna.

    “It is clear that Mallam Nasir El-Rufai is the mastermind of these allegations. The masquerade has been unveiled and is now dancing naked in the market Square. We don’t need to look any further for the source of the smoke,” he stated.

    •Governor El-Rufai
    •Governor El-Rufai

     

    Shaibu contended that apart from the initial suspicion by the church that the Kaduna Governor may be behind the evil plot, the latest so-called revelation by one Queen Esther, a supposed usher of the Omega Fire Ministries finally uncovered the lid as to who was sponsoring the myriad of allegations against the General Overseer.

    “When Festus Keyamo in his first letter to our pastor made allusion to Fulani herdsmen, we dismissed it as a coincidence. Then intelligence revealed that some persons are lodged in a hotel being trained on how to clone Apostle’s voice and crop videos.

    “The first question that crossed our mind was who was paying the bills, especially the huge media blitz that has trailed the spurious allegations. We did not have to wait for long before El-Rufai exposed himself. Indeed, he could not wait for long before coming out of the closet,” he revealed.

    The spokesman wondered why the said Queen Esther, who allegedly pleaded for the media not to reveal her real identity should give as a condition that the Kaduna State Government must guarantee her safety if the governor had no hand in the plot.

    “Why is the said Queen Esther asking for protection from the Kaduna State government. Is the government now the police or the Department of State Services (DSS)? Why did she not mention any other state? Is it not obvious that she is telling us what her sponsors are willing for Nigerians to know?” he asked.

    Shaibu argued that it was more than a coincidence that these allegations are coming up no soon after the Senior Pastor had an altercation with the same Kaduna State Government over the persecution and killing of Christians in Southern Kaduna.

    He, therefore, urged the security agencies, particularly the DSS to investigate El-Rufai’s involvement in the unfolding saga, particularly the possibility that he may be harbouring a private militia.

  • Atiku to sponsor education of late Daily Times MD’s children

    Atiku to sponsor education of late Daily Times MD’s children

    Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has announced the setting up of an educational trust fund to finance the education of the late former Managing Director of Daily Times, Dr Onukaba Adenoyi- Ojo who died recently.

    Onukaba was Senior Special Assistant to the Atiku as Vice President and was until his death a senior lecturer at the University of Abuja.

    Speaking through the Head of his Media Office, Mazi Paul Ibe at the eight-day Fidau prayer for the late Onukaba Ojo, the fund will take charge of educating the children of the late Onukaba to university level.

    He described Onukaba who contested the APC primary for the Kogi governorship election in 2015 as a man who lived and died serving humanity and appealed to his family, friends and associates to keep his dreams alive.

    Also speaking, Senator Tunde Ogbeha described the late Onukaba as the best governor Kogi never had, while former Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)’ Chief Onyema Ugochukwu describe him as a creative thinker and a resourceful person.

    According to Ugochukwu, Onukaba was a principled man who believed in hard work, pointing out that while he brought his resourceful to bear on his work at the Presidential villa as Media assistance to the then Vice President, he choose to sacrifice his job for his master when the Villa was polarised.

    Also speaking, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu commended the initiatives being made to educate his children, pointing out that such initiatives should be extended to give the family he left behind shelter as Onukaba did not leave behind any house while the rent for his current apartment t had expired.

    In his sermon at the fidau prayer, Sheikh Abdulhamid Musa Imam said everything about his death had already been decreed by God, adding that those who are still living should be conscious of the fact that every soul must die.

    He describes life as a farmland where the crop of man is planted to be harvested on the last day, pointing out that if is very important for his loved ones to keep doing good to all manner of people.

  • Return of ‘park and pay’ policy in FCT, residents react

    Some FCT residents have expressed divergent views over the proposed re-introduction of ‘park and pay’ by the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

    Some of the residents in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja expressed their support while others were against the policy.

    NAN reports that this policy has been in place until it was abolished in 2014, following an FCT High Court ruling describing the policy as illegal.

    However, AMAC had concluded arrangement to re-introduce the banned park and pay policy to augment the shortfall in federal allocation to the council and boost its revenue generation.

    The policy allow residents to park their cars at some designated place and pay a sum depending on the numbers of minutes or hours spent.

    Dr Rowland Adebisi, a Civil Engineer, said the re-introduction of the park and pay policy within the city centre was a welcome development that would generate more revenue for the council.

    He said that the administration should reintroduce the policy, adding that it should be done with some sense of decorum.

    Adebisi said that the funds generated from the policy would go a long way to help in the development of the city.

    “The idea of reintroducing the park and pay is a welcome development, this will also serve as a means of generating revenue for the council to provide more infrastructure, if properly managed’’ he said.

    Mrs. Justina Umeadi, a civil Servant, said that the re-introduction of the policy would assist in reducing traffic congestion in the city.

    She said that with the policy in place it would help to check the indiscriminate parking in the city centre by some car users.

    “Am in support of the reintroduction of this policy; it will help to check the way and manner some people park their vehicles indiscriminately,’’ she said.

    Another resident, Mrs. Stella Adams, said that she was not in support of the policy, saying that it was another form of double taxation.

    “I am not in support of that policy; FCT should look at other means of generating revenue.

    “The government is supposed to provide car parks at strategic places in the city for people to park their cars; you do not expect them to carry their cars on their head.

    “If car parks are provided and people still park their cars in wrong places then you can charge them for illegal parking,’’ she said.

    Also, Mr. Peter Adoyi, a resident, told NAN that the policy was illegal and should not be reintroduced, saying that Nigerians do not need that policy now.

    He said that people are already suffering as a result of the recession in the country and should not be made to suffer more.

    “The government should initiate programmes that will improve the living standard of citizens and not policy that will add to the hardship of citizens,” he said.