Oil Workers Demand N90,000 Minimum Wage

Following the increase in the price of petrol from N86.50 to N145 per litre, oil workers in the country have called on the federal government to increase the new minimum wage from N18,000 to N90,000.

Rising from their meeting in Calabar, Cross River on Friday, the oil workers under the umbrellas of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association commended the Federal Government for removing subsidy on petrol.

NNPC Distributes 1,194 Trucks Of Petrol Nationwide

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said 1,194 trucks of petrol were loaded nationwide on Tuesday.

This is contained in the corporation’s Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) daily supply nationwide schedule released in Abuja.

According to the statement, twenty one import vessels laden with a total volume of 844.1 million litres have been confirmed to arrive in the month of April for NNPC.

Gov Polls: EFCC Arrests INEC Chiefs For Taking N675m In Bribes

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has found over N675.1m in the bank accounts of different Independent National Electoral Commission officials in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Delta states.

According to the anti-graft agency, the money was received and shared by the officials during the last governorship elections.

Our correspondents gathered that the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the 2015 election in Rivers State, Mrs. Gesila Khan, and other officials of INEC are already in EFCC custody. Khan was quizzed by the Department of State Services in July last year but was never charged.

Direct Line with President Vladimir Putin April 14th 2016

Direct Line with President of Russia Vladimir Putin was broadcast live on Channel One, Rossiya-1 and Rossiya-24 TV channels, and Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii radio stations.

Text only

During the live broadcast that lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes, the President answered 80 questions out of the over 3 million that were received.

* * *

SUBEB uncovers over 200 fake teachers in C’ River

Mudiaga Affe, Calabar
The Cross River State Universal Basic Education Board has uncovered over 200 fake teachers in nine local government areas of the state.
Following the ongoing personal audit of teachers in the state by SUBEB, it was discovered that the bulk of the exposed teachers were in the nine LGAs out of the 18 council areas where the audit of teachers had been completed.
Those found culpable had fake certificates while others were ghost teachers, dead teachers whose salaries were still being drawn on monthly basis, among others.
A top official of SUBEB, who preferred anonymity, confirmed that over 200 fake teachers had been uncovered in the nine LGAs screened.

FG Owes 16 States N580bn On Rehabilitated Roads

The federal government owes 16 states the sum of N580.5 billion for the various rehabilitation works carried out on some federal roads in their territories.

The revelation was made at the public hearing of the joint House of Representatives committees on works and finance chaired by Reps Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu) and Babangida Ibrahim Mahuta (APC, Katsina) yesterday in Abuja.

The public hearing was to ascertain the claims by state governments of expenditures incurred on the rehabilitation of federal roads in their states.

NYSC Member Stabs his Boss in the Arm Over Refusal to Sign Clearance Form

One Godbless Nnaji undergoing the one-year National Youth Service Corps, NYSC scheme in Calabar, Cross Rivers state, has allegedly stabbed his boss for refusing to sign his monthly clearance form.

Explosion Rocks CBN Office In Calabar [PHOTOS]

A gas explosion was on Friday recorded at a section of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, office in Calabar, the Cross River state capital, which is under construction. The CBN spokesman, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, who confirmed this to TheWill, disclosed that no death was recorded from the incident, adding that the resultant fire has been successfully put out. His words, “There is a gas explosion from the construction area of our premises there. There is no fatality yet. A few persons who were injured have been taken to the hospital. The Fire service personnel responded promptly and they have been able to put out the fire.”

Ayade Begging To Join APC — Chieftain

Acting Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State, John Ochala, has said that Governor Ben Ayade has been speaking with key APC stalwarts in the state and at national level to clear way for him to leave the PDP and join them. Speaking with the Daily Trust yesterday at the party’s secretariat in Calabar, Ochala said, “I can confirm authoritatively that Gov. Ayade has spoken with us more than five times about his intention to decamp from PDP to APC.

Budget: South-West Gets Lion’s Share Of Projects

The Southwest geo-political zone has got the largest share of N88.7 billion for major projects in the 2016 proposed budget for the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, a Daily Trust analysis has revealed.
The ministry has N433.4 billion total sum for the capital projects of the ministry and some agencies under it.

The main ministry’s capital budget is N334.3 billion, NREA N15.3 billion, TCN N50 billion and FERMA N25 billion.
Other agencies are Electricity Management Services Limited (EMSL), N19 billion; National Power Training Institute, N1.8 billion and Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Limited, N2 billion.

2.5 million unwanted pregnancies prevented in Nigeria – Report

The Society for Family Health has said that no fewer than 2.5 million unwanted pregnancies were prevented in Nigeria between 2009 and 2014 through an initiative, Enhancing Nigeria’s Response to HIV/AIDS.

The initiative also facilitated the distribution of 1.2 billion male and four million female condoms, as well as an increase in access to condoms in rural areas from 50 per cent in 2007 to 90 per cent in 2014.

The SFH Managing Director, Mr. Bright Ekweremadu, made this known at an ENR programme in Abuja.

Amaechi Sets The Ball In Transport

BY YAKUBU DATI

“leadership courage, within or outside governance , transfers back to, and animates follower, so that when a familiar voice is heard saying “Let us march,” it finds the followers not merely ready, but miles ahead.”



Wole Soyinka

Since assuming office as Minister of Transport, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has left no one in doubt about his quest to surpass his indelible footprints as Rivers State Governor where he earned his place as first among equals in the committee of State Executives.

Melaye Tears PDP Constitution At APC Rally

The Chairman of the Senate ad hoc Committee on Publicity, Senator Dino Melaye, on Tuesday, tore the Peoples Democratic Party membership card of the immediate past commissioner representing Cross River State on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Mr. Paul Adah.
Melaye also tore the party’s constitution as the former NDDC commissioner joined the ranks of eminent PDP stalwarts that have defected to the All Progressives Congress in the state.

S’South Not Part Of Biafra, Kokori Tells MASSOB

Human rights activist and former labour union leader, Chief Frank Kokori, has berated the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra for saying that the South-South is part of the struggle for the creation of a Biafra Republic.

MASSOB had said in a statement on Sunday that “anybody who says that Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa and Cross River states are not part of Biafra is deceiving himself.”
It said the listed states were Biafran territories and that Biafra comprises all the states of the former eastern region, including the Anioma community in Delta State.
“It has been part of the Federal Government’s policy of divide and rule to tell the world that only the Ndigbo want Biafra; but this is false,” MASSOB said in the statement.

Nigeria Not Poor, Says US Ambassador

United States of America Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, has stated that despite declining economy, Nigeria is not a poor nation and requires no handouts but a partnership that works.
Entwistle said Nigeria’s immediate past president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, had in June 2013 performed a groundbreaking ceremony for General Electric, GE’s $1 billion service and manufacturing facility in Calabar, after a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, between the Nigerian government and the firm.

APC Out To Win Rivers, Akwa Ibom –Oyegun

NATIONAL Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie- Oyegun, has said the party will do everything within its powers to win the gov­ernorship seats in Rivers and Akwa-Ibom states.
Oyegun argued, how­ever, that APC has more mathematical chances of winning in Akwa Ibom than Rivers.
He noted that APC’s suc­cesses at the 2015 general elections have changed the political dynamics in the South-South, specifically in Rivers State.

It’s Rape Of Democracy, Says Sylva As INEC Stops Poll,Decision In Order, Say Dickson, PDP.

•Election cancelled in Southern Ijaw Local Govt.
Bayelsa poll Results
Local Govt APC PDP
Brass 21, 755 6,516
Sagbama 5,382 28,934
Yenagoa 14,563 24,258
Kolokuma/ Opokuma 6,896 7,619
Ekeremor 7,918 14,604
Ogbia 9,106 13,051
Nembe 6,974 10,768
Another electoral logjam surfaced yesterday —courtesy of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which failed to conclude a governorship election.
Just as it did in Kogi State last month, the agency threw a spanner in the works, declaring Saturday’s election in Bayelsa State inconclusive.

AFTER ONITSHA MAYHEM: Pro-Biafra Activists In Fresh Mobilisation Leaders bitterly divided

Protesters threaten national security — Defence Headquarters
THE business community of Onitsha, Anambra State has started recovering from the effect of last week’s pro-Biafra violent protests that left nine people dead and property worth millions of naira destroyed. After the Wednesday’s mayhem in the city and the subsequent dismantling of the barricade used by the protesters to block the Bridge Head and other entry points in Onitsha,indication emerged that members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, were regrouping on Thursday to begin another round of violent demonstration.

I Will Discipline, Jail Corrupt Officers – Customs CG

Retired Col. Hameed Ali, the Comptroller -General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Wednesday warned that he would either discipline, dismiss or jail any officer found guilty of corrupt practices.
Ali gave the warning while addressing officers and men of the NCS in Calabar, capital of Cross River.
He said that there was the need for them to be of good conduct and show professionalism while carrying out their duties.

Buhari Proffers Solution To Migrant Crisis In Europe

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Paris asked developed countries to make strong financial commitments to the 14 billion dollars urgently needed to revive the Lake Chad and save communities dependent on the river from extinction, noting that, this will curb migration to Europe.
Addressing a high level meeting on “Climate Change Challenges and Solutions in Africa”, on the sidelines of the on-going UN Climate Change Conference, COP 21, President Buhari said no fewer than five million people living in the Lake Chad Basin countries have been displaced by the depletion of the lake due to climate change.