NIGERIAN NOTCH

The House of Representatives has summoned Dangote, BUA and other cement manufactures in the country over what it described as arbitrary increase in the prices of cement in the country. Consequently, the House mandated its Committees on Solid Minerals Development, Commerce, Industry and Special Duties to investigate the increment cement prices by the manufacturers and report back within four weeks for further legislative action. The summon followed the adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Gaza Jonathan Gbefwi (SDP, Nasarawa) and Hon. Ademorin kuye (APC, Lagos) at plenary on Wednesday. Moving the motion Gbefwi noted that the manufacturers of cement have increased the price of their products by up to 50 per cent, leading to sharp hikes in building blocks, the cost of building, and consequently, house rents in the country. He also noted that the raw materials for the manufacturing of cement, which include lime, silica, alumina, iron oxide, and gypsum, are all sourced locally and

By Peter Obi The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, said the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi by the Senate has not addressed vital issues in the allegation of the lawmaker. Obi stated this in a statement via his X handle on Wednesday. According to him, the fuss over the alleged N3 trillion padded into the 2024 budget still rages as the Senate’s reaction of suspending the whistle-blower has not addressed vital issues emanating from the allegation. He said, “The Senator is insisting on his allegation, and the Executive agreed that there was only N1.2 trillion padded, not N3 trillion as alleged by the Senator. Fresh allegations have also cropped up over the indiscriminate and unbalanced allocation of constituency projects by the Senate leadership.  “A civic society group, Budgit, through their officials, has also added their voice to agree with the Senator. They allege that there were no detailed project allocations for about N3.7 trillion in the 2024 App

President Bola Tinubu has directed the opening of Nigeria’s land and air borders with the Republic of Niger and the lifting of other sanctions against the country with immediate effect. According to a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, this is in compliance with the decisions of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at its extraordinary summit on February 24, 2024, in Abuja. Recall that ECOWAS leaders had agreed to lift economic sanctions against the Republic of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea. Among the sanctions imposed on the Republic of Niger that have now been lifted are the closure of land and air borders between Nigeria and Niger Republic, as well as the ECOWAS no-fly zone on all commercial flights to and from Niger Republic. The statement titled ‘Nigeria opens land and air borders with Republic of Niger, lifts other sanctions’ reads: “President Bola Tinubu has directed the opening of Nigeria’s land an

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has cautioned parents, against enrolling minors for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede gave the warning while reacting to a suit, filed by one Mrs. Ifeanyi Eke, against the Board, over alleged inappropriate text messages sent to her 15-year-old daughter during her registration. “How did your girl of 15 years get ready for University now? If she is law-abiding as she claimed. The law today is that you must spend six years before primary school, six years in primary school and six years in secondary school. By that time, you are 18.” “But when you reduce three years, you must have cut corners to make a 15-year-old child ready for University education,” he said Mrs. Eke had filed a N100m suit against JAMB and three others before the Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged unsolicited and inappropriate text messages sent to her 15-year-old daughter. But reacting t

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has inaugurated a 1.2 million-dollar programme to improve export standards of Nigeria’s sesame and cowpea products. The WTO Director-General, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said this at the launch of the seven trade support programmes for Nigeria initiated by the WTO, World Bank, and ITC on Tuesday in Abuja. Okonjo-Iweala said the projects aimed at tackling cases of rejection of Nigeria’s products on the international market. She said the project was inaugurated with the Standards Trade Development Facility (STDF), International Trade Centre (ITC), and the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC). According to her, the project will support international safety and quality certification for sesame and cowpeas in Nigeria. She said Nigeria’s agriculture sector had the potential to be a major driver of export diversification and job creation, but too much of this potential remained unrealized due to barriers. “We all know the story about Nigeria being

The Co-Founder of civic group Budgit, Seun Onigbinde, has said that Senator Abdul Ningi was right that there was no detailed project allocations for about N3.7trn of the N28.78trn 2024 Appropriation Act. Onigbinde, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, however, said claim by the Bauchi Central Senator that Nigeria was running two concurrent budgets wasn’t factual. “There should be a detailed breakdown of the budget. On that point, Senator Ningi is right but to say that we are running two parallel budgets, I don’t think that is factual,” he said.   Ningi, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) resigned as Chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum, even as he was suspended by his colleagues in the red chamber on Tuesday over budget padding allegations. Onigbinde said as the rowdy session by Senate was ongoing, the Budgit team fact-checked claims by Ningi. He said, “As the Senate rowdy session was going on, we were also fact-checking and o

A group, the Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF) has called on the ministries of trade and agriculture to address distortions in the value chain, ensuring fair practices in the country. CADEF also advocates for multi-stakeholder collaboration, empowering authorities like the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to combat anti-competitive practices. Addressing newsmen yesterday in Abuja, CADEF executive director, Prof. Chiso Ndukwe Okafor, emphasised that this initiative aims to safeguard consumer rights and ensure fair and transparent pricing in the food market. Okafor lamented the growing concerns about unfair food pricing that harms consumers, adding that CADEF, a member of Consumers International, has introduced the Fair Food Price (FFP) Monitor in Nigeria. She highlighted that the global effort for fair food prices, supported by Consumers International with over 200-member groups worldwide, underscores the importance of fair tr

Nigeria Port Authority, NPA has said that cargo inflow into the country has increased by 200 per cent to 900,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units, TEUs, from 300,000 TEUs, due to the ongoing port reform. The Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko  Koko disclosed   while speaking at a  breakfast meeting organized by   Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) on the theme: Examining the Challenges   Hindering the Efficiency of e-Call   up System and Solutions. Represented by General Manger, MD’s office, Mr. Ayo Durowaye,  Koko said that port reform was undertaken but many people did not know that there were aspects of institutional reform and infrastructural reform, some of which government is dealing with at the moment. He said, “We have seen positive effect of the reform in terms of expanding the possibilities of the economy as we saw increased cargo inflow into the country. The time we are talking about we were doing between 300,000 to 400,000 Twenty-foot Equiv

The House of Representatives on Tuesday mandated the Central Bank of Nigeria to restrain commercial banks operating in the country from holding reversed funds of customers beyond the timeline stipulated by the apex bank. The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion titled, “Need to restrain commercial banks from holding funds reversal beyond the date prescribed by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” moved by member representing Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State, Mr Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo. The lawmaker recalled that on June 8, 2020, the CBN in a statement announced timelines for reversals and resolution of refund complaints including Failed “On-Us” automated teller machines transactions (when customers use their cards on their bank’s ATMs) “Shall be instantly reversed from the current timeline of three days.” He also noted that  “Where instant reversal fails due to any technical issue or system glitch, the timeline for manual reversal shall not exceed 2

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Enugu State Zonal Command on Tuesday arraigned three former bankers: Ogbu Ibekwem, Nwagbara Chidimma, Uwaezuoke Raymond, and Chidubem Mgbeke before Justice Mohammed Garba of the Federal High Court sitting in Enugu State. They were arraigned on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy and stealing to the tune of N15, 944, 100. 00 (Fifteen Million, Nine Hundred and Forty-four Thousand, One Hundred Naira). This was disclosed in a post via the commission’s X handle on Monday. The tweet reads, One of the counts reads: “That you, Ogbu Kingsley Ibekwe and Chidubem Angela Mgbeke sometimes in January 2023 in Onitsha, Anambra State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit; retaining the sum of N7,996,800.00 (Seven Million, Nine Hundred and Ninety-six Thousand, Eight Hundred Naira) meant for evacuation to the Central Bank of Nigeria and property of Access Bank Plc Nottidge Br