The Nation Newspaper

Tag: News Update today

  • Buhari mourns Abba Kyari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has extended his condolences over the passing of the former Military Governor of the defunct North Central State, retired Brig.-Gen. Abba Kyari.

    President Buhari’s condolence message is contained in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Sunday evening.

    The president also condoled with the government and people of Kaduna, Katsina and Borno states over the demise of the elder statesman.

    He said: “We are extremely saddened by the news of Gen. Abba Kyari’s passing away, an officer and a gentleman for whom we have a lot respect.’’

    President Buhari prayed to God to accept his soul, and grant fortitude to the family and friends he left behind to bear the loss.

    (NAN)

  • Minimum Wage: Nigerian workers deserve a better deal—Victor Oye

    Dr Victor Oye, National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) on Wednesday in Awka said Nigerian Workers deserve all that they could get due to their contributions to development of the country.

    Oye, made the assertion in an interview with our reporter, said the economic reality of the country had made workers the “weeping boys” of the system.

    He urged the Federal Government to not only enhance their pay but improve on their working conditions.

    The APGA chairman commended the quality of negotiations between government, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Organised Private Sector that led to aversion of the threatened industrial action.

    Oye commended the Anambra Government for paying salaries on the 25th every month and for being among the first states to offer to pay N30, 000 minimum wage

    “Nigerian workers deserve a better deal considering the harsh economic atmosphere in the country; they have always been at the receiving end.

    “That the Federal Government is able to avert the strike brought a huge relief to Nigerians and averted what would have come with consequences of embarrassing proportion.

    “APGA urges the federal and state governments to take the welfare of workers seriously.

    “They must come up with a programme on how to develop the cognitive and latent talents of workers to make them more productive,” he said.

    Read Also:I’m committed to new minimum wage – Buhari

    On his part, Senator Victor Umeh, representing Anambra Central at the National Assembly, said he considered the N30,000 a meager amount that could not lift any home out if poverty.

    Umeh argued that governors could pay the amount the NLC was asking for if they could appropriate the state resources efficiently and be more innovative.

    “Nigerian workers do not have a living wage; we cannot continue to pretend and say there is no money when a lot of people are living in affluence.

    “They deserve living wage, even the N30, 000 they are demanding is not a living wage, government should know how to manage its resources to enable it pay workers,” he said.

    Umeh thanked workers for suspending the strike that was to begin on Nov. 6 and expressed the hope that all parties would respect the terms reached during the negotiations.

  • Presidential election kicks off in Madagascar

    Madagascar kicked off its first round of the presidential election on Wednesday to select their future leader for the next five years.

    According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Madagascar, over 9.9 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballots at 24,582 polling stations across the country from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time.

    A total of 36 candidates will participate in the election, including two former presidents Marc Ravalomanana and Hery Rajaonarimampianina, as well as the former transitional president Andry Rajoelina.

    Read Also: UN angry over kidnap of students in Cameroon

    They are also considered to be the top three candidates in the election.

    The diplomatic missions and international organisations such as EU have been accredited to observe the presidential poll in the country.

    According to the INEC, the counting of the votes will begin after the close of voting, and the result of the first round will be proclaimed before Nov. 19.

    If no candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the votes, the second round of voting will be held on December 19.

  • Community threatens to withdraw support for PDP

    Residents of ‘Aba Ngwa’ community in Aba North/ South Federal Constituency of Abia have threatened to withdraw their support for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if their grievances emanating from the just- concluded party primaries were not addressed.

    In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday, the President of Aba Ngwa Youth Congress, Mr Greg Obi, said that the community was ready to forfeit rents for tenants to ensure total withdrawal of support for the party.

    Obi alleged that there was a case of over-voting at the primaries conducted for the House of Representatives seat in the constituency as the number of votes counted exceeded the number of accredited voters.

    According to him, the election was rigged in favour of Mr Uzo Azubuike as against the interest of the people and preferred candidate, Dr Blessing Nwagba.

    He said that they had been dominated by non-indigenes over the years as only people from neighboring Local Government Areas occupied the seat.

    The president said the community supported two of its indigenes to contest in the just-concluded PDP primary election but one died mysteriously after purchasing the form.

    According to him, the community then threw its weight behind Nwagba, a serving member of the Abia State House of Assembly to clinch the ticket but that the primaries were rigged.

    “Since 2009, no member of Aba-Ngwa community had been given the opportunity to represent the constituency either at the House of Reps or at the Senate.

    “It is not that we have not been contesting but the results do not always favour us,” he said.

    In a separate interview , Nwagba alleged that she was being marginalised by the party because she is a woman.

    Nwagba said that she had reported the irregularities at the primaries to the appeal panel and to the party’s leadership.

    She said that she had not been invited neither by the members of the appeal panel or party leadership and that the report of the panel had not been made public.

    The aspirant said neither her grievances nor those of Aba-Ngwa community had been addressed by the party and that no explanation whatsoever had been given for the silence.

    Read Also: 2019: ‘Resist violence for Nigeria’s sake’

    The aspirant said women were not meant for the kitchen alone as they were equally endowed to add value to society through good governance.

    Nwagba said if due process was followed, she would have won the election because she worked hard and did all that was required to emerge victorious.

    Responding, the PDP Chairman in Abia, Chief Johnson Onuigbo, told reporter that he was aware of Nwagba’s complaint.

    He said Nwagba submitted her complaint and had met with the appeal panel which was saddled with the responsibility to listen to aggrieved aspirants and resolve issues.

    According to him, Nwagba was interviewed by the panel in the state office of the Deputy Chairman of the party.

    He said that the report submitted by those who conducted the primary showed that the election “was free, fair, credible and verifiable.”

    Onuigbo said unlike in other climes, “people in this part of the world” hardly accept defeat in any competition.

    According to him, if Nwagba has won the election, she would not be protesting and challenging the process.

    The chairman said that it would be very unfair for the residents of Aba-Ngwa community to withdraw their support for the party.

    According to him, the PDP made Nwagba, and that she cannot win everyday.

    He said that Nwagba losing this time did not mean she should turn against the party, “that is not the spirit of sportsmanship”.

    Onuigbo described the plan by the community to forfeit rents for tenants to ensure maximum withdrawal of support for the party as a “strategy to sabotage PDP.”

    Reacting to the issue of Aba-Ngwa indigenous representation at the National Assembly, the chairman said that power was not given based on asking but contested, struggled for and taken.

    He said the PDP preaches free, fair, credible and verifiable primary elections and that the party does not allocate power to anybody or community.

    According to him, while we agree on morals grounds that every community gets an indigenous rep, this is a struggle for power in line with the Constitution.

    He said no law stops anybody from contesting for a seat at the National Assembly as many times as the people allowed him or her to do so.

    “We cannot as a party say it is your turn since no law bars a lawmaker from seeking re-election just because we want power to go round.

    “We have to look at the law, legally speaking, it is unfair to do so, we do not dash it, we cannot say it is your turn, take it.

    “If they do not get it now, next time they may; there is always another chance,” the chairman added.

  • Police arraign man for armed robbery in Makurdi

    The Police in Benue on Tuesday arraigned a 26-year-old man, Ifeanyi Okoro, in a Makurdi Upper Area Court for alleged armed robbery.

    The Prosecutor, Insp. Veronica Shaagee, had told the court that the case was transferred from ‘A’ Division to Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (CIID) on Oct. 25.

    Shaagee said that Peter Dondo of Opposite Iorzua Ayatse St., Logo 1, Makurdi, reported the case to `A’ Division Police Station on Oct 24.

    She said that Dondo, a motorcyclist, was robbed of his motorcycle at gunpoint by two passengers behind Benue Hotel, Makurdi.

    “He conveyed two passengers to Behind Benue Hotel, Makurdi and on reaching the point where they wanted to drop, one of the passengers removed a gun and pointed at him to hand over his motorcycle to them.

    “They robbed him at gunpoint of his Honda Motorcycle with registration number BKB255UF valued N240,000, ’’ she said.

    Read Also: Nasarawa: PDP governorship candidate picks running mate

    The prosecutor, who said that investigation was ongoing prayed for additional time to enable the police complete it.

    Shaagee said the offence contravened Section 6(B) and 1 (1)(2)(a)(b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act 2004.

    However, when the case came up for mention, no plea was taken.

    The Magistrate, Mrs Rose Iyorshee, remanded the accused at Federal Prisons, Makurdi and adjourned the case till Jan.8, 2019, for further mention.

  • Air Peace resumes Kaduna flights

    Air Peace on Monday resumed its Kaduna flight services, pledging that it would continue to observe high operational standards to ensure the safety of its customers, crew and other categories of staff.

    Air Peace suspended its Lagos-Kaduna-Lagos flights on October 21, saying the action was to safeguard the lives of its customers and staff.

    The development was sequel to a 24-hour curfew imposed by Kaduna State government to address security threats in the state.

    A statement signed by the carrier’s Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah said the airline restored its Kaduna flights based on the state government’s assurances that the security situation had improved.

    The airline empathised with members of the flying public who were affected by the suspension of its flights into and out of Kaduna, commending them for their cooperation and understanding while the development lasted.

    In a related development, Air Peace said it would continue to sustain its observance of strict safety standards in its flight operations to safeguard the lives of its customers, crew and other staff.

    The carrier said it had a reputation for grounding its aircraft for simple technical and weather challenges because of the premium it placed on the lives of its customers and staff, saying its pilots were mandated by its standard operating procedure to return to base or divert whenever they were not sure there was a perfect weather condition or there was a technical challenge with the operating aircraft.

    “We are reputed for running a very strict safety and maintenance programme and have sustained this in the four years of our flight operations. In the last four years of our flight services, our operations have been subjected to the scrutiny of reputable corporate and regulatory organisations and we acquitted ourselves creditably. Just within two years of our operations, we secured our International Air Transport Association Organisational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate. Our IOSA certificate was renewed in April 2018 after our operations were subjected to a tougher scrutiny by IATA.

    Read Also: Minimum wage: Bagudu appeals to NLC to shelve strike

    “We quite understand that aircraft are machines and as such can malfunction without warning. Besides, weather is a recurring issue in aviation all over the world. When there is a technical or weather challenge, our practice is never to take any risk however slight the situation may be. We have mandated our pilots to always err on the side of safety and they have continued to display professional discipline in this regard. When our pilots have any doubt with regard to technical or weather issues, the practice is to return to base or divert to the closest airport for checks or to wait till it is safe to operate the flight.

    “Although our pro-safety approach comes with a huge financial burden, we are pleased that its guarantees the lives of our valued guests, crew and other members of the Air Peace family, including our chairman and directors who fly us because they are sure of the depth of maintenance we do,” Air Peace said.