Senate Confirms Ministerial Nominee Who Collapsed During Screening, 2 Others

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October 4, 2023

The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Balarabe Abbas Lawal (Kaduna), Dr Jamila Bio Ibrahim (Kwara) and Ayodele Olawande (Ondo) as ministers.

Majority of senators supported their confirmation in a voice vote immediately after their screening exercise on Wednesday during plenary.

Mr Balarabe from Kaduna collapsed at the Senate chamber when he appeared before the senators.

Balarabe, who was the second nominee to be screened after Dr Jamila, collapsed more than 15 minutes into his screening exercise.

Standing on the podium, he collapsed when Kaduna South Senator, Sunday Marshall Katung, was speaking about Balarabe’s administrative experience in Kaduna.

After Balarabe had finished reading his profile before the senators, the Kaduna lawmaker, while endorsing Balarabe’s ministerial nomination, said all the three senators from the state have no objection to his nomination. Senator Katung had not finished his remarks when the nominee collapsed, prompting the Senate President Godswill Akpabio to shout, “Give him water, give him water and sugar.”

Akpabio immediately ordered journalists and cameras out of the Senate chamber while the live streaming of the screening was also halted.

A lawmaker, who did not want to be named, later said Balarabe has stabilised.

“The man is okay now,” the senator simply told reporters.

The Senate resumed the ministerial screening almost one hour after the incident. Speaking before calling the last nominee, Olawande from Ondo, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said Balarabe admitted that he was exhausted having over worked for some days before the screening.

“The nominee, Mr Balarabe Abbas Lawal said he was quit exhausted, and that he rushed to Abuja for his ministerial screening,” the Senate President said.

Akpabio said the nominee insisted on going ahead with the screening, saying he was fine. But the Senate president called the last nominee, Olawande for screening.

Neymar Scores First Al Hilal Goal In Asian Champions League Win

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Emenike Agu

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October 4, 2023

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Brazil Star Neymar Opened His Account For Al Hilal On Tuesday, Scoring In His Side’s 3-0 Victory In The Asian Champions League Against Iran’s Nassaji Mazandaran In Tehran.

The Former Paris Saint-Germain Forward, Signed In August For A Reported 90 Million Euros ($94 Million), Grabbed The Second In The Record Asian Champions’ Win At The Azadi Stadium.

The Goal, A Sweeping Left-Footed Finish In 58 Minutes, Represented Neymar’s First For Hilal In Five Matches. Former Fulham Striker Aleksandar Mitrovic Had Opened The Scoring On 18 Minutes With A Header, With Substitute Saleh Al Shehri Securing The Result In Injury Time To Lift The Four-Time Winners, Runners-Up Last Year, Top Of Group D.

Navbahor, 2022 Uzbekistan Super League Runners-Up And Champions League Debutants, Had Earlier On Tuesday Secured A 3-0 Win At Home To India’s Mumbai City In Namangan.

Both Hilal And Nassaji Mazandaran Were Forced To Play The Majority Of The Match In The Iranian Capital With 10 Men After The Saudi Side’s Captain Salman Al Faraj Was Sent Off Alongside Amir Houshmand Seven Minutes Before Half-Time – Both For Violent Conduct.

Hilal Was Playing In Iran Less Than 24 Hours After Compatriots Al Ittihad Had Refused To Enter The Pitch In Their Match Against Sepahan In Isfahan Because A Bust Of The Slain Revolutionary Guards Commander Qasem Soleimani Was On Display At The Entrance. The Game Was Subsequently Called Off.

In Group A, 2003 Winners Al Ain Maintained Their 100 Percent Record With A 4-2 Home Success Against Turkmenistan’s Ahal, While Saudi Side Al Fayha Ran Out 2-0 Winners At Home To Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor. Al Ain Of The UAE Are Top, Three Points Ahead Of Ahal And Fayha.

WAEC Appoints New Office Head

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Nzubechukwu Anodo

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October 4, 2023

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The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has appointed Dr Amos Dangut as new Head of the National Office for Nigeria.

He was, until now, the Deputy Registrar/HNO’s Office and succeeded Mr Patrick Areghan, whose tenure ended on October 1.

Dangut, 56, from Bokkos Local Government, Plateau State, had a bachelor’s degree in Animal Production and a Master of Science in Animal Science from the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State and the University of Ibadan in 1991 and 1994, respectively.

He had a doctorate degree from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, in 2017 and a Master of Education (Administration and Planning) in 2020 from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

Dangut joined the services of WAEC as an Assistant Registrar (AR) II in 1998.

He rose through the ranks to become a Deputy Registrar in April 2018.

He served as an Assistant Registrar/Subject Officer, Test Development Division, WAEC, Lagos (July 1998 – January 2005); Senior Assistant Registrar/Head of Examinations Security and Deputy to the Branch Controller, Uyo Branch Office (January 2005 –January 2008); Senior Assistant Registrar/Head of Examinations Security and Deputy to the Branch Controller, Bauchi Branch Office (January 2008 – December 2011); Senior Assistant Registrar/Branch Controller, Yola Branch office (December 2011–January 2019); Deputy Registrar/Controller, Post Examinations Department (January, 2019 – October, 2020); Deputy Registrar/Zonal Coordinator, Ikeja Zonal Office.

He won the Nigeria Examinations Committee’s (NEC) commendation for transparent conduct of examination between 2000 and 2006, and he’s an active member of the Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN) and the Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM), among others.

Gombe Re-Enrolls 350,000 Children Back To School

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Nzubechukwu Anodo

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October 4, 2023

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Gombe State Government says no fewer than 350,000 out-of-school children have been mopped up in the last four years of the first tenure of the present administration and sent back to school.

The disclosure was made by the State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, in his message to commemorate the 63rd Independence Anniversary of Nigeria as well as the 27th anniversary of the creation of Gombe State by the Military regime of late General Sani Abacha In 1996.

According to the Governor, the independence and anniversary occasion presents a cause for double celebration in Gombe state, adding that over the past twenty-seven years, the state has undergone remarkable transformation and development.

He also stated that the government has made significant strides in education, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, job creation, civil service reforms, water resources, environment and sanitation.

He added that the progress recorded in the state would not have been without the support, dedication and commitment of the people state irrespective of ethno-religious and political differences.

He urged residents and other stakeholders in the state to continue with the collaborative effort in building the state to an enviable status.

The Governor said, “Let us work together to address the pressing issues that affect our people across all facets of development. Let us empower our communities and harness the creative energies of our people in order to build a united, prosperous and all-inclusive Nigeria.

Meanwhile, it was gathered that the BESDA program has provided opportunities for children who were hitherto denied access to education due to poverty, displacement and other factors.

The programme in Gombe State has provided opportunities for the enrollment of over 250,000 children in public schools, with over 100,000 enrolled in Primary and Junior Secondary Schools.

The State Government has also provided training and capacity building for Teachers in order to improve the quality of education just as it further provided the children with a conducive environment for learning.

It also recruited 1000 Teachers through the State’s Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) to address the human resource gap in the education sector.

Recall that, the rate of out-of-school children in Nigeria has been a source of concern for the Government at all levels and stakeholders in the education sector across states in the country.

In response to the menace, the Federal Government launched the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme to improve access to quality education in the country.

BESDA is a World Bank-funded program that aims to reduce the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria and was launched in 2018 and is being implemented in 17 states across the country. Gombe is one of the states that benefited from the BESDA program.

In Gombe State, the BESDA implementation has made significant progress in mopping up out-of-school children.

Tinubu’s Certificate Not Fake – Presidency

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Mana Balagbogbo

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October 4, 2023

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The presidency has dismissed claims that the certificate President Bola Tinubu presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2023 elections was forged. Chicago State University (CSU) had released the academic records of President Bola Tinubu to his political opponent, Atiku Abubakar, on Monday, following the order of a court.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 election, had requested the documents to back his allegation of forgery of CSU certificate against Tinubu.

The allegation of forgery was one of those dismissed by the presidential election court in the suit Atiku filed to challenge the election of Tinubu. Despite the court’s ruling, Atiku continued his case at the US court, hoping to get official documents to back his claim and possibly include them in his appeal at the Supreme Court.

Through his lawyers, Atiku sought these key things – an example of a CSU diploma issued in 1979; Tinubu’s diploma issued in 1979; example of a CSU diploma that “contains the same font, seal, signatures and wording” as Tinubu’s diploma issued in June 1979 and CSU documents certified and produced by Jamar Orr, an associate general counsel at CSU at the time.

Reacting on Wednesday, President Tinubu’s media aide, Temitope Ajayi, argued that CSU affirmed under oath that Tinubu attended and graduated from the institution and that the school does not handle replacements for lost certificates.

He said there was no truth in the forgery claim, adding that no person can forge a certificate he already has.

Taking to his account on the X formerly known as Twitter, the presidential media aide wrote: “We should be clear.

“In the deposition made by the Chicago State University, there was nowhere the University said the certificate presented to INEC by President Tinubu is fake. The University insisted under oath that President Tinubu graduated with honours and even at that, replacements for lost certificates are done by vendors not the University.

“The claim that President Tinubu submitted fake certificate to INEC does not make sense. A man cannot forget the academic records he possesses. You can only forge what you don’t have.”

Public opinions cannot override constitution, says CJN

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Mana Balagbogbo

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October 4, 2023

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The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, has said public opinions no matter how serious or weighty they might be, cannot supersede the provisions of the country’s constitution. He said justices and judges in the country despite attacks, applied constitutional provisions to adjudicate on cases assigned to them. The CJN stated this on Wednesday after administering the oath of office to the newly appointed judges of the Federal High Court of Nigeria.

He said, “Several vitriolic attacks are regularly heaped on the judiciary. It is, however, crystal clear that public opinions, no matter how serious or weighty it might be, cannot override or supersede the Constitution of the country which we apply in deciding each case.”

He stressed that the appointment of the judges is not to amass wealth, warning that any form of wrongdoing would not be condoned. The CJN said the Nigeria Judiciary Commission would wield the big stick against anyone found wanting.

Ariwoola said, “Whatever wrongdoing that emanates from any form of indiscretion and abuse of office, will, in like manner, be used to conscientise, chastise and thoroughly sanitise the same conscience that you may have refused to listen to.

“Appointment to the bench is not an appointment to wealth, vainglory, dishonest disposition or ostentatious lifestyle through corrupt acquaintances.

“The searchlight of the National Judicial Council beams brightly on all judicial officers across the country. The NJC should never, either by omission or commission, be mistaken for a toothless Bulldog.

“It can bark fiercely and as well bite deeply and aggressively, too. Our radar is sophisticated enough to detect every form of corruption and wrongdoing by Judicial officers, and we will not waste a moment in taking the necessary action to fish out the bad eggs.

“The remoteness of your location of adjudication can never blur our sight on you. We have put in place the right machinery to capture and document your conduct.

“So, be careful and take heed, or else, you may end up regretting ever being appointed a judicial officer. Though, we don’t wish you such, anyway!”

The CJN urged the judges to be honest while discharging their duties.

He said, “You must be impartial, fair to all, and apply justice in all your undertakings. The times that we are in, are quite perilous, so we need judicial officers who are calculative, honest, objective and dispassionate in all ramifications.

“Thus, your appointments to the bench at this crucial period of our national history are not by accident but by divine ordination.”

Hollywood Writers Call Off Months long Strike

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Emenike Agu

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October 4, 2023

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The leaders of the Writers Guild of America on Tuesday called off a month’s long strike that has paralyzed Hollywood, accepting a pay deal hammered out with production studios.

The powerful writers’ union’s board of directors “voted unanimously to recommend the agreement,” it said in a statement, adding “the strike ends at 12:01 am” Los Angeles time on Wednesday.

The union’s 11,500 members will have final say on whether or not to accept the offer, with a vote to take place between October 2 and 9.

Details of the deal released by the WGA on Tuesday seemed to show a victory for the writers, who were pushing for more pay amid the upending of the industry via streaming, as well as protections from artificial intelligence.

Bonuses will be in place for writers on a series that is viewed by 20 percent or more of a streamer’s domestic subscribers in the first 90 days of its release, a win for writers who saw their residuals decline in the Internet age.

AI-generated material also can’t be considered “source material,” and thus undercut writers’ pay if they work on a script that used AI.

The WGA also “reserves the right to assert that exploitation of writers’ material to train AI is prohibited,” according to the summary.

Theoretically, the deal can still be rejected by the screenwriters, but most industry experts believe the ratification will be a formality.

Work on stymied TV and film projects can restart while the voting process is being completed.

Late night talk shows are expected to start airing again next month.

Tribunal: Nasarawa APC rejects Sule’s sack

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Mana Balagbogbo

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October 4, 2023

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The Nasarawa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has rejected the sack of Governor Abdullahi Sule by the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in the state.

The tribunal had on Monday sacked Sule and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to withdraw his Certificate of Return and issue the same to the winner of the 2023 governorship election in the state, David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Reacting to the development at the APC secretariat in Lafia on Wednesday, the state Chairman of the party, Aliyu Bello, said the party believes that the tribunal committed a monumental error in declaring the PDP candidate as the winner of the governorship election in the state.

The Nasarawa APC further lamented that the facts and arguments presented by its legal team and that of INEC against the petition filed by Ombugadu and the PDP were overwhelming and incontrovertible, and wondered how the tribunal arrived at its decision.

The party, therefore, expressed its full support for governor Abdullahi Sule’s decision to appeal against the verdict of the tribunal, while assuring him of their complete loyalty throughout the legal processes.

“It is the candid and considered opinion of our great party, the APC that the election tribunal erred in arriving at its decision. Our great party therefore, unequivocally, and categorically rejects the split judgment of the Tribunal of two to one annulling the re-election of His Excellency, Abdullahi Sule, for a second term, as the Executive Governor of Nasarawa state.

“We identify ourselves with the dissenting judgment which is firmly rooted in law, facts and logic. This further strengthened our resolve to pursue the appeal.

“We reassure His Excellency of the party’s support and loyalty. We are very optimistic that the inadvertent decision of the tribunal is only a temporary drawback, which will be redressed at the Appeal Court.

“We also wish to urge His Excellency not to be perturbed by this political blink, but to remain focused, and ever preoccupied with the task of providing good governance to the State, which he has been doing over the past years,” Aliyu Bello added.

While calling on supporters of the party to remain calm in spite of the unfavourable judgement, the state APC Chairman warned members of the PDP not to harass or intimidate any resident of the state under the guise of celebrating their candidate’s victory at the tribunal.

Kenyan Officials Banned From Non-Essential Travel

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faith Jegede

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October 4, 2023

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The Kenyan government has suspended all non-essential travel for government officials.

The move aims to streamline expenses and ensure taxpayer funds are used judiciously.

In a circular issued by Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, the government also announced restrictions on delegations accompanying high-ranking officials, including the President, Deputy President, First Lady, and Prime Cabinet Secretaries during foreign trips.

Non-essential travel that has been suspended includes benchmarking, study visits, training programs, research activities, academic meetings, symposia, conferences, general participation meetings, showcase events, exhibitions, caucus and association meetings, and related events.

Foreign travel will now only be permitted for essential engagements that fulfil Kenya’s state obligations, conduct critical state party engagements, or serve statutory leadership or membership roles that impact the country’s position.

To maintain efficiency and cost-effectiveness, delegations headed by Cabinet Secretaries will be limited to three persons, including the Cabinet Secretary as the Head of Delegation.

For Principal Secretaries, delegations shall not exceed two persons, and at least one delegate must be a specialized technical officer relevant to the subject matter of the engagement.

Delegations involving both Cabinet and Principal Secretaries will be restricted to a three-person limit.

Cabinet and Principal Secretaries within the same ministries are advised not to be on foreign travel simultaneously unless the engagement explicitly requires it.

Delegations led by County Governors will also be limited to three persons, including the Governor as the Head of Delegation.

Travel approvals for officials accompanying the President, First Lady, Deputy President, and Prime Cabinet Secretary will be granted only to those directly involved in scheduled activities/programs of the principals.

The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs has been instructed to reduce the number of accompanying personnel by fifty percent (50%).

In addition, the government has imposed a maximum limit of seven days for official travel, including travel days.

These austerity measures are implemented to prioritize essential operations and activities crucial for serving the citizens, as explained by Head of Public Service Felix Koskei.

These measures demonstrate the government’s commitment to responsible financial management and ensuring that taxpayer money is used efficiently for the benefit of the country

Tinubu’s certificate saga: We don’t have time for frivolous issues – Foreign Affairs minister

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Mana Balagbogbo

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October 4, 2023

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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, , Yusuf Tuggar, says the present administration does not have time to waste on ‘frivolous issues’ following controversy surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s claim of having attended and obtained a certificate from Chicago State University (CSU) in the United States of America.

Speaking in an interview on TV, Tuggar stated that the certificate saga has had no effect on the recent international engagements of President Tinubu, adding that the issue ‘is a distraction’.

His words: “There is a tendency to always try to distract and detain people on such frivolous issues as opposed to facing the major issues of development. We don’t have time to waste on that.

“Nobody is wasting time about certificate qualification for somebody who has been a governor of a state, served two terms, and has been on the national stage as a politician.

“You remember that (former) President Buhari had to go through the same thing, where people were actually questioning whether he went to secondary school or not. Someone who had classmates was the captain; he was a head boy.

“The foreign leaders with whom we’ve been engaging and the international organizations clearly are disinterested in wasting time on such.

Tuggar also stated that Nigerians should be focused on the economic challenges in the country presently and not on the certificate.

“The economic challenges we are facing – we shouldn’t be wasting time about whether some certificate, whether there is a T missing or an I hasn’t been dotted. That shouldn’t be our primary focus at the moment,” he said.