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  • Fayose approves N200m car loan for workers

    Fayose approves N200m car loan for workers

    Gov. Ayo Fayose of Ekiti on Thursday approved the disbursement of over N200 million as car loan to 645 workers in the state’s service.

    The State Commissioner for Finance, Chief Toyin Ojo, said that the loans would be disbursed to beneficiaries in sums ranging from N80,000  to N1.5 million.

    According to Ojo, the amount accruing to each individual depends on their status and grade level.

    “I just want to affirm the commitment of this administration to the welfare of workers.

    “As we speak, since the inception of this administration, N896.8 million has been given out as car loans to 2,942 workers in the state not counting the just disbursed loans.

    “Also, 2,165 workers have received N490,730,000 as housing loans during the same period.

    “It must be noted that government’s gesture is in spite of the paucity of funds in the state occasioned by the general economic downturn and dwindling allocation from the federation account,’’ the commissioner said in a statement.

    Read also: Fayose presents N98b budget

    He advised the loan beneficiaries to make the most use of it, and cautioned them against spending the loan on items that would not add value to their lives.

    Ojo solicited the continued support of workers for government’s efforts to improve their lot and develop the state.

    The commissioner said that the state’s workforce was the engine-room of government.

    He stressed that it would be difficult for the government to achieve its set goals without the workers’ support and dedication to duties.

    NAN

  • Man jailed three months for drug peddling

    Man jailed three months for drug peddling

    A Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday sentenced a 32-year-old man, Shola Adewuyi, to three months imprisonment for dealing in 33.3g of hemp.

    The convict faced a charge of dealing in restricted narcotics, brought against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NDLEA )

    Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo sentenced Adewuyi after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

    Oguntoyinbo held that the accused was guilty as charged.

    “You are hereby sentenced to three months imprisonment, beginning from the date of your arrest,’’she said.

    Earlier, the Prosecutor, Mr Jeremiah Aernan, had told the court that the accused committed the offence on September 22 at Coker Estate, Shasha Egbeda, Lagos.

    He said the accused was caught with about 33.3 g of Cannabis Sativa, popularly known as hemp.

    According to the prosecutor, the offence contravened the provisions of Section 11 (c) of the NDLEA Act, Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation, 2004.

    In his review of the facts of the case, Aernan tendered in evidence a written statement of the accused, the hemp, a request for scientific aid form and a drug analysis form as exhibits.

    The court, accordingly, admitted and marked them as exhibits.

    Before his sentence, the accused had begged the court to temper justice with mercy, promising that he would never commit such crime again if pardoned.

    NAN

  • Guild of Medical Directors in FCT seek review of taxes, levies

    Guild of Medical Directors in FCT seek review of taxes, levies

    The Guild of Medical Directors in FCT on Thursday asked an FCT High Court for judicial review of taxes and levies paid by members to Abuja Municipal Area Council ( AMAC ).

    Mr Akinwale Aderele, counsel to the plaintiff made the plea in an application brought before Justice Charles Angbaza of Jabi court.

    He said the group was seeking judicial review of taxes and levies paid to AMAC so as to reduce the burden on members.

    He added that the application would help to determine whether the demands and the summons served medical directors and private hospitals by AMAC were in line with the law.

    According to him, there is a law that guides the kind of taxes and levies payable to government by operators of any income generating ventures
    in the country.

    “Under the law, local governments can only collect taxes and levies ontenement rates,” he said.

    He explained that there had been cases where members of the guild were
    asked to pay radio and television fees, environmental fees, trade and operating licence fees.

    The counsel said some hospitals were sometimes charged between N500,000 and N1 million as taxes, stressing that it was affecting the capacity of medical doctors to deliver quality services in FCT.

    He noted that Nigerians were being affected because once such hospitals were forced to pay up to N3 million on regulatory fees, they could not buy medical equipment.

    He said the quality of health in the country would suffer considerably, noting that medical directors would have no choice than to increase the price of consultancy.

    He added that “we are in court to ensure that Nigerians get quality healthcare; that doctors can have means to engage in research and
    provide quality health services to citizens.”

    He announced that the FCT had about 411 land plots designated for hospital use, saying that of the 120 doctors that formed the Guild in Abuja, only 10 of them had allotted plots on hospital land.

    He claimed that “people who are not medical practitioners have managed to get plots meant for medical use and they have deprived doctors of those plots.”

    Aderele appealed to the FCT Minister, Alhaji Muhammad Bello, to revoke plots illegally given to non-medical practitioners and give same to genuine doctors.

    He also sought the assistance of the court to enable a representative of the doctors to be listed in court instead of
    all the 112 private hospital owners in the territory.

    The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN ) reports that AMAC, the defendant in the matter was absent in court.

    Justice Angbaza, however, granted the two prayers by the plaintiff and adjourned the matter until Feb. 1, 2018 for hearing.

  • Pope Francis calls for change in ‘The Lord’s Prayer’

    Pope Francis calls for change in ‘The Lord’s Prayer’

    Pope Francis has said the Roman Catholic Church should adopt a better translation of the phrase “lead us not into temptation” in the ‘The Lord’s Prayer,’ the best known prayer in Christianity.

    “That is not a good translation,” the pope said in a television interview on Wednesday night.

    Francis said the Catholic Church in France had decided to use the phrase “do not let us fall into temptation” as an alternative and indicated that it or something similar should be applied worldwide.

    Read also:Pope Francis prays for peace in Nigeria

    The prayer, also called ‘Our Father’, is part of Christian liturgical culture and memorized from childhood by hundreds of millions of Catholics.

    It is a translation from the Latin vulgate, which was translated from ancient Greek, which was in turn translated from Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus.

    Liturgical translations are usually done by local Churches in coordination with the Vatican.

    NAN

  • Otedola’s daughter, nicest thing that happen to me – Mr Eazi

    Otedola’s daughter, nicest thing that happen to me – Mr Eazi

    Mr Eazi, Nigeria’s self-acclaimed pioneer , Banku Sounds, says his relationship with Temi, daughter of popular oil magnate Femi Otedola, is one of the nicest things that happened to him this year.

    The ‘Leg Over’ crooner, real name Oluwatosin Ajibade, described the relationship which has generated public interests as “one of the highlights of my year’’

    “It’s been one of the nicest things to happen to me this year. You know love is sweet. At least I have more inspiration for plenty songs.
    “So don’t be shocked that my new songs are going to be love-based.”

    The two love birds who are not shy about their relationship, frequently share their PDA pictures on their IG

    In a chat with HIPTV, Mr Eazi said he is still love in spite the intense trolling particularly for his claim of pioneering the infusion of Ghanaian lingo in lyrics.

    Eazi, who is also Apple Music’s Up Next artist, said “there is no real hate because if we as Nigerians saw another human being as Tanzanian or Ghanaian, we would still help; we are happy people, it is not that serious.”

    Eazi who is also a songwriter and entrepreneur is a graduate of mechanical engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology ( KNUST ), where he began booking artistes to perform at college parties.

    He parades himself as the pioneer of Banku Music, a fusion sound he describes as the mixture of “Ghanaian bounces, Ghanaian highlife, Nigerian chord progressions, and Nigerian patterns”.

    He showed interest in music after recording a guest verse on “My Life”, a song that gained traction and became a popular record at KNUST.

    Eazi released his debut mixtape, About to Blow, in July 2013.

    He gained an international audience following the release of the 2015 single “Skin Tight”.

    Mr Eazi inked a record deal with Wizkid’s Starboy Entertainment in May 2016.

  • Unemployed man jailed two years for drug trafficking

    Unemployed man jailed two years for drug trafficking

    A Federal High Court in Lagos, on Thursday  sentenced a 30- year-old man, Abubakar Nasir, to  two years imprisonment for drug trafficking.

    The unemployed convict who was arraigned by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on a count charge of dealing in narcotics, had pleaded guilty.

    He begged the court to temper justice with mercy and give him another chance and promised to be a better person in life, if given the opportunity.

    In her judgment, Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, found the defendant guilty as charged and accordingly convicted him.

    Read Also: Ex-convict gets 3-year sentence for drug possession

    She, consequently, sentenced him to two years imprisonment, beginning from the date of his arrest.

    Earlier, the Prosecutor, Jeremiah Aernan, had told the court that the convict committed the offence on Sept. 20.

    Aernan said that the man was arrested at the Yadoya Market in Mile 12 Lagos.

    He said that about 300 grammes of cannabis sativa known as Indian hemp was recovered from the convict and he was arrested and subsequently charged to court.

    He said that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 11 (c) of the NDLEA Act Cap. 30 Laws of the Federation, 2004.

  • Atiku visits Babangida in Minna

    Atiku visits Babangida in Minna

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar visited former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd), at his home in Minna, Niger State, on Thursday.

    Atiku arrived the Minna International Airport at 12:10 p.m. and arrived Babangida’s uphill residence 20 minutes later.

    Read Also: Atiku’s daughter still in PDP

    The duo later went into a close-door meeting in one of the ex-President’s rooms in the villa.

    Those at the meeting included former Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Niger State, Barr. Tanko Beji and other party chieftains in the state.

  • Man jailed two years for drug trafficking

    Man jailed two years for drug trafficking

    A Federal High Court in Lagos, on Thursday  sentenced a 30- year-old man, Abubakar Nasir, to  two years imprisonment for drug trafficking.

    The unemployed convict who was arraigned by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NDLEA ) on a count charge of dealing in narcotics, had pleaded guilty.

    He begged the court to temper justice with mercy and give him another chance and promised to be a better person in life, if given the opportunity.

    In her judgment, Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, found the defendant guilty as charged and accordingly convicted him.

    Read also: Court docked man for N.26m fraud

    She, consequently, sentenced him to two years imprisonment, beginning from the date of his arrest.

    Earlier, the Prosecutor, Jeremiah Aernan, had told the court that the convict committed the offence on Sept. 20.

    Aernan said that the man was arrested at the Yadoya Market in Mile 12 Lagos.

    He said that about 300 grammes of cannabis sativa known as Indian hemp was recovered from the convict and he was arrested and subsequently charged to court.

    He said that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 11 (c) of the NDLEA Act Cap. 30 Laws of the Federation, 2004.

    NAN

  • Egypt ‘s court sentences 13 terrorists to death

    Egypt ‘s court sentences 13 terrorists to death

    Egypt ’s Giza Criminal Court on Thursday ordered that 13 convicts be  executed  for launching terrorist attacks against security forces, official MENA news agency reported.

    The convicts were from a disbanded militant group that referred itself as Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt).

    They were charged with installing explosive devices.

    The explosive devices targeted various venues which included checkpoints, police stations, vital institutions and public properties as well as murdering policemen and citizens.

    On October 8, Giza Criminal Court referred the files of the 13 defendants to the country’s highest religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for his non-binding Islamic legal opinion on their execution.

    The case started in July 2014 and it includes 44 defendants in total.

    The execution verdict comes about two weeks after a terrorist attack against a mosque in North Sinai killed at least 310 Muslim worshippers and wounded over 120 others.

    This is the deadliest terror operation and the first against a Muslim mosque in Egypt’s modern history.

    Egypt has been fighting against a wave of terror activities that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the military toppled former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

    This came as a response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood group.

    Terror attacks in Egypt focused on targeting police and military men in North Sinai before spreading nationwide and targeting the Coptic minority as well, with most of them claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.

    Ajnad Misr pledged allegiance to the IS in 2014, a year before its founder was killed as announced by the Egyptian police in April 2015.

    Meanwhile, the Egyptian military and police have killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects as part of the country’s anti-terror war declared by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi’s removal.

    NAN