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Tag: Nigerian Television Authority

  • Ortom vs Oshiomhole: Court fixes July 11 for ruling

    A Makurdi High Court presided over by Justice Augustine Ityoyiman has fixed July 11 to rule on an application brought before it by counsel to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, in the libel suit filed against the party chairman by Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom.

    When the matter came up on Friday, counsel to the governor, Mr Samuel Irabor, who was in court with two witnesses, said he was ready to go on.

    But he explained that he was served with a motion on notice on Thursday by counsel to the APC National Chairman which he has responded to.

    Oshiomhole’s lawyer Festus Jumbo told the court that his client was praying the court to strike out the suit for failure to join the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Vanguard Media Limited, publishers of the Vanguard, and other print and social media platforms.

    But Irabor told the court that the matter could be decided among the governor, Oshiomhole and APC without joining the NTA, Vanguard Media Limited and social media platforms.

    He said Oshiomhole had owned up to the allegation and said he sourced his information from third parties, which included leaders of Benue State APC and a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

    The names of the APC leaders were not stated.

    The lawyer contended that Oshiomhole had pleaded justification and fair comment, adding that there was no need to bring the NTA and Vanguard Media Limited into the matter.

    ing Judge, Justice Ityonyiman fixed July 11, 2019 for ruling on whether the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA and Vanguard Media Ltd should be joined in the suit, award cost and continuation of the substantive case.

  • ‘Body bag’: PDP calls for El-Rufai’s arrest

    The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ), Prince Uche Secondus, has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to arrest the Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State.

    The call was made in response to the governor’s threat to foreign election observers and members of the international community that they would be sent back to their countries in body bags if they get involved in the upcoming general elections.

    The governor had, during a live programme on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) on Tuesday, threatened that foreign election observers planning to interfere with the polls will leave in Nigeria in body bags.

    But speaking at the party’s presidential campaign ally in Makurdi, the Benue State capital on Friday, the PDP chairman, said that an Atiku Abubakar presidency would put an end to mindless killings in Benue and other states.

    Secondus said, “Yesterday, we went to Katsina, they were killing in eight local governments. That is the President’s home state. The killing is so much in Nigeria.  Poverty and hunger is too much in the land. We will shift the headquarters of poverty to another country. Atiku Abubakar will create jobs for our teeming youths. He has done it before, he will do it again”.

    “We were told that Senator George Akume was inviting military. This is not a military regime, this is democracy. Anyone that sends soldiers to Akume is against democracy. And we will reject such rigged results either in Benue or at the national level. We will never accept any rigged results.

    “You are aware that the Governor of Kaduna State has said that people will be killed and carried in body bags. And we must stand because they cannot kill us. The international community is aware.

    “We call on the Federal Government, headed by President Muhammadu Buhari to set up an inquiry. If he refuses, then the International Criminal Court should arrest El-Rufai immediately for saying that the international community and PDP will be carried in body bags. They are not ready for election. They know that Atiku is winning”.

    The PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, assured the people that he would end the security challenges in the state.

     

  • Dstv adds three NTA channels

    In its content expansion bid, MultiChoice Nigeria has increased its offering on its DStv platform with the introduction of three new channels from the stables of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and a brand-new local entertainment channel starting from January 31, 2019.

    The 24-hour channels include NTA 2, NTA Parliament, NTA News 24 and POP Central TV will air on all DStv packages in Nigeria only.

    NTA News 24 (DStv 419) is an English language general news channel, providing news on current affairs, business, social, economy, sports, entertainment, as well as in-depth discussions and analysis of topical issues from varying perspectives, insightful discussions with experts on current regional and international developments. NTA 2 (DStv 369) is a Free-to-Air general entertainment channel providing movies, music, events, talk shows and much more while NTA Parliament (DStv 370) will focus on providing live coverage of sittings of the Legislative Arms of Government, National Assembly (State and Federal), House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as discussions and analysis of political, economic, social technological and legal issues affecting Nigeria. POP Central TV (DStv 189) is a pop-culture entertainment platform dedicated to culture expressions through diverse content creators across different subcultures, vocations, interests and groups.

    Speaking on the launch of the new channels, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr. John Ugbe said: “With the launch of these channels, we have once again enhanced our local content offering and provided our customers with more options to choose from. The new NTA channels and POP Central TV channel will showcase authentic Nigerian content from news to general entertainment that will keep customers in and out of Nigeria abreast of the happenings within the country”, he said.

    MultiChoice Nigeria has continued to expand the content offering on its DStv platform with even more sports, news, general entertainment and Free-to-Air channels, including Channels TV, Africa Independent Television (AIT), SilverBird Television (STV), Television Continental (TVC), Lagos Television (LTV) and AREWA24.

  • Pro-democracy group hails Buhari’s performance at Town Hall meeting

    A pro-democracy group, Democracy Support Coalition lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for his sterling performance at the Town Hall meeting organized and broadcast by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) tagged ‘The Candidates’.
    President Buhari, who appeared on the programme with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, highlighted some of his achievements since assuming power in 2015.
    The group said Buhari during the programe clearly demonstrated his clear understanding of the issues militating against the progress of Nigeria as he responded to germane queries from Nigerians.
    Rotimi Adeyemi, Esq, Executive Director, noted Buhari in the course of the programme was able to move away from theoretical and textbook posturing to demonstrate with real life project execution what he has done for the country and what he would be able to do when given another four years in office.
    He said in a a statement that “No other debate can be more brutal given the candour with which Nigerians interacted with President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo yet they were able to satisfactorily sell their vision for the country in a way that completely convinced the electorates that voting for the other candidates would amount to wasting ballot papers.
    “All what these other candidates have offered from their other engagements pale in relevance to what the APC candidate has promised.
    “We encourage Nigerians to accept President Buhari as the best choice for the country especially when the short and long term solutions to the problems of the country can only be found in the template he has presented. He has the kind of courage needed to address these problems.
    “Some other candidates might have presented rosy solutions but a deeper assessment of their promises clearly show that they are busy trying to impress their fans even when it is obvious that their proposals are unworkable while they themselves lack the will and experience to implement such assuming their solutions are practical in the first place.

    Read Also:Don’t renew BEDC license, Oba of Benin tells Buhari

    “It is impressive that the President subjugated his candidacy to the needs of the nation as he did not shy from saying the truth in response to the questions of Nigerians during the Town Hall Discussion Program.
    “Other candidates would have, out of desperation to win, lie their way through the entire programme in the hope of deceiving voters. Their lies would have been propelled by their being addicted to manipulating facts to appear saintly when they had never for once in their lifetimes harboured any good intentions towards the country.
    “We congratulate President Buhari for seizing the opportunity provided by the programme to engage with the citizenry, which he has done at all times the chance presents itself to engage with Nigerians. His habit of stating matters the way they are without hiding behind deceptive words is responsible for his ever growing following amongst the masses that form the support base that will hand him another term of four years in office.
    “The contents of the shallow promises being made by other candidates are well known to Nigerians. They range from those that have concluded on how they will sell national assets to their friends to those who want to use Nigeria as the guinea pig in their next economic experiment and to those that want to officially commission the country as a drug hub.
    “President Buhari on the other hand has rendered a satisfactory account of his under four years of stewardship, which gave the assurance that another four years will make the plants he has sowed to begin yielding fruits.
    “We are therefore able to conclude that the results are in already and President Muhammadu Buhari is the winner in the round about convincing citizens on how Nigeria should proceed in the next four years.”

  • Govt. College Ughelli Old Boys reunite

    Former students of the Government College, Ughelli trooped out to honour their colleagues for their service to the school and country.

    The annual dinner party cum President’s night was marked with much celebration as old boys turned out in Niger Delta traditional outfits. With their spouses also in their best, it was like a competition on who turned out best.

    Red carpet and photo shoot preceding the evening held at a posh Abuja hotel began with the arrival of the old students and guests. A three-man live band was in the background churning out old highlife and jazz tunes.  The roll call had Amb. Bagudu Hirse, Engr. Akin Bada, AVM. Sonni Gberevbie (rtd) and former Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Matthew Seyeifa among several others in attendance.     It was an evening of fun; even the usually very serious Major General Ibrahim Haruna (rtd), the chairman of the event, himself a product of Unity school too, drew laughter from the audience while passing the important message of a united Nigeria embedded in the concept of the Unity schools. He recalled how highly regarded students of Federal Government Colleges were, even during and after the civil war irrespective of their religion, tribe or location of their school. To emphasise the importance of Federal Government Colleges to the unity of the country, the former Federal Commissioner for Information and Culture, under whose tenure the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) were established, said no politician should contemplate handing over the running of the schools to state governments. This was in reaction to Atiku Abubakar’s election promise should he be elected as the next President of the country.

    The keynote address by The Nation’s Editorial Board Chairman, Sam Omatseye had the audience swirling when he analysed the deceit of the Nigerian ruling elites and their manipulation of the masses through religion and politics. He said the greatest disservice the elites did on Nigeria was to mix religion and politics to the detriment of the county, “How come religion cannot stay in its place and politics in its as well? After all, the concept of a secular state was borne out of this necessity. In his presentation titled ‘The Mystical Bread: Religion and Politics in Nigeria, Omatseye said,”Thou shall not live by bread alone,” a phrase we borrow from Jesus, is one of the most poetical combustions of history. Yet it comes across as one of the most innocuous. Bread gives life, our much-cherished biological life, the flow (blood) in robust streams over our bones and muscles. It is also an omen, like a sanguinary pie. It sheds blood on the streets. It pits brother against brother; it roils revolutions, maims and makes heroes, it bedevils the just and brings joy to the devil. It turned French streets into fire and fury because of the naivety of a royal vixen. She unwittingly mocked a mob by asking them to choose cake instead of bread.

    This is the bread of the earth. But so powerful is that piece of food that it has its counterpart in the holy of holies. Welcome to the bread of heaven. So, when Jesus said we should not live by bread alone, he had set one bread against another, a militancy of pabulum had been born. The other bread is the word. The word is supposed to feed the mind and spirit as the earthly bread should minister to the interstices of our digestive system. The danger is that when bread the earth meets bread the heaven, hell hath no fury more fiery”. On the way forward and to curb the deceit and manipulations of the ruling elites, Omatseye said Nigerians must fight ignorance and poverty, if an enduring and prosperous democratic society must be built as obtained in other climes.

    The highlight of the night was the award of honour on deserving old boys and others that had served the school well in other capacities which included Sam Omatseye, Christy Naibe, who served the school for 25 years and Onwah among several others. One Ancient Mariner was inducted while the audience soaked in the grandeur of the change of Presidential baton from to John Onwah to Fidelis Ogaga and his executive team. It was all fun throughout the night. The hall was treated to a documentary of various intervention projects by the old boys to bring back the school to life while a raffle draw which saw lucky winners carting home prizes that included home appliances.

    With lots of food and wines to go round, the night was one to remember in the life of the GCUOBA, Abuja Branch.

  • Fed Govt uncovers 130,000 high net worth persons, companies underpaying tax

    Fed Govt uncovers 130,000 high net worth persons, companies underpaying tax

     

    The Federal Government’s data mining efforts has identified a new batch of over 130,000 high net worth individuals and companies that have potential tax underpayments.

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, made this revelation on Tuesday while appearing on the Good Morning Nigeria programme of the Nigerian Television Authority.

    The Minister disclosed that the data was currently being compiled by Project Lighthouse in preparation for the closure of the ongoing Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), which ends on 31st March, 2018.

    Project Lighthouse is a unique project of the Federal Ministry of Finance that combines data from Federal and State agencies and overseas countries.

    According to Adeosun, “data have been received from a number of sources including land registries of the Governments of Lagos, Kaduna, Kano and Ogun States as well as the Federal Capital Territory.”

    “In addition, Nigeria has been able to request data from a number of nations including traditional tax havens. The data have been received from a number of foreign jurisdictions under the exchange of information protocols.

    “Under the exchange of information protocols, this information relates to bank records and financial filings for tax purposes and is obtained from tax havens who are signatories to the information sharing agreements such as British Virgin Islands and Mauritius.”

    She explained that the data received from overseas countries would only be used for taxation purposes in line with the protocols governing the exchange of information

    “The sole interest of the Federal and State Governments in the use of the data is in raising tax revenues. There is absolutely no hidden agenda on the use of the data,” she added.

    Adeosun was however happy at what she called “the unprecedented level of cooperation between the Federal and State Governments”, which she said was a marked change from the past when the various arms of Government did not align their efforts.

    The Minister identified the common violations by non-compliant tax payers to include:

    • Under-declaration of and non-declaration of income earned including income from Government contracts and overseas trading;
    • Collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) which is not duly remitted to FIRS;
    • Charging of non-allowable personal expenses to company accounts particularly with reference to overseas school fees;
    • Inconsistency between income declared for tax purposes and the value of assets owned.

    She advised non-compliant tax payers to seek professional advice and to also consult relevant literature available from the tax authorities on tax rules.

    She underscored the Federal Government’s commitment to raising tax revenues which are considered essential to grow the economy and create jobs for Nigerians.

    She cited the fact that just N1 million could feed over 14,200 primary school children under the Homegrown School Feeding programme as well as creating many jobs in the agricultural sector.

    Read Also: Adeosun to multinationals: evading tax is foreign corrupt practices

    Once again, the finance minister ruled out any possibility of extending the VAIDS programme arguing that sufficient grace period had been given to tax payers to voluntarily and truthfully declare their assets and income which had not been declared previously.

    On the economy, she assured that the country was on the path of growth, noting that Nigeria had exited recession in the second quarter of 2017, recording a growth of 0.72 per cent, further consolidating its recovery in the third and fourth quarters of last year, with growths of 1.40 per cent and 1.92 per cent, respectively.

    Adeosun said, “The Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has laid the foundation for the repositioning of the economy by a series of reforms which are being sequenced to ensure maximum impact and benefits to Nigeria and the citizens.

    “These include huge investments in infrastructure and social welfare across the country, improved revenue mobilisation, rebuilding of foreign reserves and stabilization of exchange rate.”

    She further noted that revenue mobilisation was potentially the master key to unlocking Nigeria’s huge growth potentials and funding the infrastructure programmes.

    In addition, the Minister said the Federal Government would continue to create more fiscal space for reforms to enhance productivity and opportunity in the non-oil sector.

     

  • My kind of ministers – Buhari

    My kind of ministers – Buhari

    [dropcap]P[/dropcap]resident Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said he will pick patriotic, decent and experienced people to serve as ministers in his administration.

    He assured that technocrats and politicians will make the much awaited list of ministerial of nominees.

    Buhari spoke on “Good Morning Nigeria,” a Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) programme on Monday.

    The President said, “From what I have seen so far, we need really patriotic Nigerians. Those that can work very hard, knowledgeable, experienced and committed Nigerians, to be in charge of ministries.

    “A lot of the institutions of Nigeria, the important institutions, were compromised. Everybody was for himself and God for all of us, it’s most unfortunate.

    “We have the people, educated people, experienced people but everybody seemed to be working for himself, thinking of how much he could get as much and as quick as possible.

    “We have to look for technocrats and we have to look for politicians and certainly we have to look for decent people in this class to give them the responsibility of being in charge of ministries and important parastatals (agencies).”

    Buhari said his government will try as much as possible to “avoid appointing hostages.”

    “By this, I mean people who have been in the system but compromised their personal and professional integrity. It is taking so much time because a number of knowledgeable people have been compromised,” he added.

     

  • OAPs recount experiences on YouTube

    OAPs recount experiences on YouTube

    •As platform marks 10 years of video sharing

    It was a night of glamour as YouTube hosted top Nigerian YouTube content creators at a dinner to mark 10 years of its video sharing experiences.

    The event, which took place at the Intercontinental Hotel and Resort on Victoria Island, Lagos, had the likes of Olisa Adibua, Toke Makinwa and Ariyike Akinbobola among others in attendance.

    Speaking at the event, Adibua, a veteran broadcaster recounted how he got inspired while growing up in the United Kingdom and how he got a contract job with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA 5) at the age of 17 when he arrived Nigeria.

    He further noted that he contributed to the success stories of many Nigerian artistes, naming popular musicians like Eldee, StyPlus, D-Banj among those he helped to boost their careers, especially through Big Brother Nigeria.

    The co-founder of Storm Records and one of the brains behind Big Brother Nigeria however, advised younger on-air-personalities (OAP) on how to excel on the job.

    He said: “When you are on radio for instance, you have an instant power. I’ve several times paid fines to the National Broadcasting Commission. But why do I have to pay this much to them, when they are richer than me.

    “I tell young people to read a lot, because not reading wide is their problem. They don’t read. They believe presentation is just all about sitting in front of the camera. If you must succeed in this business especially in the global scale, you have to read about different things going on within your locality and around the world.

    “If you want to interview a person, it is just wise for you to do a background check about the person. So you need to read to be ahead of your interviewee.”

    For Toke Makinwa of TokeMoment, her passion for what she does has been the backbone of her continuity.

    On TokeMoment, she runs a regular monologue on everything from self-improvement to relationship issues in a loose and funny manner.

    “When I started out on YouTube, I was not aware of the financial benefits of using YouTube. I would just upload videos and be happy that they get good number of views. It was much later in 2013 that I got to know that I could monetize my contents to earn money.

    “I find joy when I run into ladies at shopping malls outside the country and they identify me and can easily relate their issues with me. It gives me a lot of joy. You know, usually, people like to talk to someone who does not know them about the issues, TokeMoment has filled that space.

    “Uploading a new video every Wednesday has not been easy for me but I also know that the key thing about YouTube is consistence and I have kept at it. I must confess that YouTube has been a huge source of blessing to my life,” she recounted.

    Meanwhile, for Akinbobola, lawyer and mother of two, YouTube is an avenue for people to gather a lot of experiences and remain loyal to who they are.

    “On YouTube, I talk about relationship dynamics. I have in the past done videos on YouTube on how to spy on your nannies; I have also done videos on parenting,” she said.”But you know what, the views I get on my channel aren’t up to 5, 000. But when I don’t box myself, and do freestyle videos, amazingly, I get over 100,000 views.”

    Akinbobola, who does videos on sex and relationship, further said that her contents had been greeted with stream of criticisms, stressing: “Well, my channel is not for babies, but for adults.

    “Most times when I talk about sex, people tend to look at me as ifý it’s a no-go-area, but as a married woman, this is something I do, even, people who are not married do this. So, why do we shy away discussing it?”

    Speaking on the event, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, West Africa Communication and Public Affairs Manager said the event was aimed at leveraging the 10th anniversary of YouTube to spotlight Nigerians who in spite of all odds are constantly sharing content, and by so doing, are building their own fan bases.

    He said, “There are now more than one million channels earning revenue through the YouTube Partnership Program, in more than 30 countries, and it’s exciting to see more Partners coming on board in Nigeria too. Globally, partner revenue across YouTube has increased by 60% over the past year and partner revenue from mobile ad sales has tripled.”

    It will be recalled that in 2014, YouTube views in Nigeria increased by 78%, while views of Nigerian content increased by 95% – a testament of the role YouTube is playing in the export of Nigerian content.

    The video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States has become the go-to destination for video footage on the web.  The volume of content unites people from all walks of life through video.

    The night tagged: “YouTube & the Stars event” also had YouTube content group creators like Naija’s Craziest and TechCityNG.