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NEWS
Sanctity of Truth
Friday, July 11, 2014
Borno to construct estate for Boko Haram victims Ahmed Miringa
for the internally displaced
MAIDUGURI persons of Bulabulin Nga-
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he Borno State government is to construct 430 two-bedroom flats for those whose houses were destroyed by Boko Haram crisis in Bulabulin Ngarandam ward of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council . Inaugurating an 11 man committee for construction of the Housing estate at the Government House, Maiduguri yesterday, Governor Kashim Shettima said that the state government is compelled to carry out the construction work
naram area of Maiduguri metropolis that were heavily affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, who have been taking refuge at the NYSC Orientation Camp Maiduguri under tight security pending the completion of the estate. Shettima said the Boko Haram insurgency has adversely affected millions of people within and outside the state capital in the past five years in both urban and rural areas, adding many people have been displaced and rendered homeless and jobless.
Pensioners barricade National Assembly entrance Philip Nyam
Abuja
undreds of pensioners Hmajor yesterday blocked the entrance leading
to the National Assembly complex, Abuja, protesting non-provision for the payment of 53.4 per cent pension increment in the 2014 Appropriation Act. The pensioners, who were led by the President, National Union of Pensioners (NUP), Mr. Abel Afolayan carried placards with different inscriptions: “Coordinating minister of the economy, please release funds for pensioners
entitlements”; “FGN- hear the cries of senior citizens so that it will be well with the country”; “53.4% is our rights, pay us”; “Multiple senior citizens are suffering of different ailments”, “pay our pension arrears to enable us settle medical bills”; 'Productive years of pensioners wasted for a country that care less about their welfare, what a pity!' 'SGF, HOS, Ministers of Labour & Productivity, Finance direct payment of 33% pension arrears' and 'Pensioners are dying daily in numbers without enjoying the fruits of their labour.'
APC criticises militarisation of elections Emmanuel Masha
Port Harcourt
or free and fair elections Fdemocracy to be held in 2015 and for to really work,
the All Progressive Congress (APC) has stressed the need for soldiers to stay away from election venues, stressing that the militarization of election works against democracy. The party also said that the non involvement of the military during elections is the only way the people’s votes can count. The APC, which stated this through the Chief of
Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, during the inauguration of the Elders’ Advisory Council of the party in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State said the party has a strong edge in the state due to its nearness to the grassroots. He said that the heavy military presence will discourage the electorate from participating in the electoral process, noting that soldiers were only expected to protect the territorial integrity of the nation.
Court declares judiciary funding by governors illegal Wale Elegbede n Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti has declared unconstitutional, the current appropriation practice, whereby the annual budget estimates of the Judiciary is included in the appropriation bill of state governors. Delivering judgment yesterday on a suit filed by Dr Olisa Agbakoba against the Attorney General of Ekiti state and others, Justice J. O. Adeyeye, said the act was
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unconstitutional and runs contrary to Section 121 of the Constitution which guarantees independent funding of the judiciary. Agbakoba had approached the Court asking for four Orders, namely, one, a declaration that the present practice of funding the judiciary is unconstitutional; secondly, a declaration that any amount standing to the credit of the judiciary ought not to be released to the judiciary in warrants by the executive arm.
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (right) and his Osun State counterpart, Rauf Aregbesola, acknowledging cheers from residents, artisans, market men and women and other stakeholders, during the inauguration of the Osun Micro-Credit Agency at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Oshogbo
Nigeria gets Sept date on aviation audit Wole Shadare igeria will in September 2014 know its fate concerning the success or otherwise of the audit conducted on the country’s aviation industry by the United States highest aviation regulatory body, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on March 31, this year. The body has informed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) that the outcome of the recertification exercise will be communicated to the Authority in September, this year.
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This is to allow the regulatory authority sufficient time to file with the FAA, the evidence of training of some of its safety inspectors, who had been slated for the exercise in Europe between now and August. This was disclosed by the FAA team leader, Andre J. Lamarre, at the NCAA’s office yesterday. Lamarre, who led a three-man team comprising Michael Jennisin and James Plasman, said the most important thing to FAA at this juncture was the sustenance of a robust oversight of the industry and strict enforcement of
Police brutalise protesting poly students in Abuja Mojeed Alabi ore than 50 students of polytechnics, who had assembled at the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja, yesterday, to convey their displeasure with the lingering face-off between their lecturers and the Federal Government, were brutalized by the police, who were said to have heavily descended on them using batons, tear gas and the butts of their guns. According to the Senate President of the National
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Association of Polytechnic Students,NAPS,Salawudeen Lukman, the assembly of the students had commenced on Monday following the expiration of the ultimatum issued the FG by the association last week, but that since the new Education Minister, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau was to resume yesterday, the students had hoped to be addressed by him. “But what we witnessed was the beginningof another round of inhumanity as we were battered with many of us sustaining various degrees of injuries.
World Population Day Appolonia Adeyemi he Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON) has called on the three tiers of government, relevant stakeholders and families to ensure that the age group of 10 to 24 are responsibly developed to enable them make the best decisions
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regarding their sexuality and reproduction. Dr. Fred Achem, president of SOGON, who made the call, said responsible development of this age group will ensure that the adolescents that constitute this group will avoid the waiting scourges of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV.
compliance of safety regulation by NCAA. The team arrived at the Aviation House, Headquarters of the NCAA, ostensibly to conclude the final phase of the Category 1 Recertification which began in March, this year. Lamarre said his job was to verify all corrective actions, the dates, the plans, the completion of trainings, adding that, “We will thereafter make our recommendations based on the verification of items corrected that we have found here. We will look at what is opened and what is closed and commu-
nicate back to Washington on the category”. The Director General of NCAA, Benedict Adeyileka, who welcomed the team to Lagos, said the regulatory authority had closed all the findings from the March audit. According to him, the only area left is the recurrent training and it can be regarded as a closure since the authority had “signed contract for recurrences with various Simulator organizations. Simulator training has commenced in earnest and we have a spreadsheet of confirmed dates.”
Three killed in Bayelsa road accident hree persons were yesTroad terday killed in a fatal crash on the Bayelsa
State axis of the East-West road while eight other sustained serious injuries. It was gathered that the accident, occurred at about 8pm close to the Odi junction on the SagbamaOdi stretch of the EastWest road. The two vehicles involved in road carnage
were a Bayelsa Transport Company truck and a commercial passenger bus belonging to Agofure Motors. Although the cause of the accident could not be ascertained, eyewitnesses told our correspondent that it might have been caused by over speeding and poor visibility. Police brutalise protesting poly students in Abuja.
Judiciary workers begin strike today Tunde Oyesina
ABUJA
he Judiciary Staff Union Tlevels of Nigeria at the state will this morning
begin an indefinite strike action. The Union headquarters had yesterday directed all its members at the state levels across the country to embark on the strike. The union in a statement issued in Abuja said the strike was to press home its demand
for various state governments in the country to comply with court judgments which granted financial autonomy at both the state and federal levels. In the statement, which was issued at the end of the emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee of union, the union also expressed support for the ongoing strike embarked upon by its members in the Rivers State as a result of the current judiciary crisis in the state.