National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) building

By EricJames Ochigbo

The House of Representatives has called for suspension of the proposed recapitlislation of insurance companies and intermediaries in the country.

This followed a unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Benjamin Kalu (APC-Abia) at the plenary on Tuesday.

Kalu said that the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) was established by the National Insurance Commission Act 1997 as the primary regulator for the insurance sector.

He said that the Insurance Act of 2003, (as amended) particularly, Section 9(1) and (4) empowers NAICOM to prescribe minimum paid up share capital for insurance companies and intermediaries.

He recalled that NAICOM had issued a circular No. NAICOM /DPR/CIR/25/2019 dated May 20, 2019 on the minimum paid-up share capital requirement for insurance and reinsurance companies.

The lawmaker said that the circular effectively increased the minimum paid up share capital for insurance and reinsurance companies.

Kalu recalled that the original deadlines were May 29, 2019 for new companies, while, June 30, 2020 was to apply to existing companies.

The changes to the minimum paid up share capital were as follows: Life Insurance N2 billion to N8 billion, General N3 billion to N10 billion, Composite N5 billion to N18 billion and Reinsurance N10 billion to N20 billion. The deadlines to recapitalise were later shifted to December 2020.

As a result of the COVID 19 pandemic, the deadlines were moved by NAICOM via Circular NAICOM/DPR/CIR/25-04/2020 and dated June 3.

In the circular, NAICOM introduced a two phased recapitalisation programmes, wherein 50 per cent of the minimum paid up share capital for insurance companies must be met by December 31, 2020 and 60 per cent for reinsurance companies must be met on the same date.

Total compliance with the total minimum capital requirement must be achieved on or before Sept. 20, 2021, he said.

Kalu said that in addition to the negative economic impact of the COVID 19 pandemic, the Nigerian economy was just announced to be officially in a recession.

According to him, this signifies that there will be significant slowdown in economic activities and the liquidity position of both the government and businesses are seriously impacted albeit, negatively.

In times as this, the best move by the government and regulators is to push more liquidity into the economy in a bid to stimulate economic activities, encourage spending and prevent job losses as well as support the indigenous businesses in the country.

This is pertinent because in addition to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry was also affected by the aftermath of the ENDSARS protests in which several insured properties were affected.

To this effect, most of these insurance companies have tons of liabilities to settle in order to fulfil their obligations so as not to deny the rights of these affected insured persons, he said.

Kalu said it may not be suitable at this time for NAICOM to even proceed with its planned phased recapitalisation programme because of the overall impact on the already fragile economy and the insurance sector.

The rep. said that if NAICOM was allowed to proceed with its programme as planned, it could negatively affect the economy and slow down the recovery process.

The House urged NIACOM to suspend the proposed Dec. 31, 2020 deadline for the first phase for six months from January 2021.

In his ruling, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Rep. Ahmed Wase, mandated the House Committee on Commerce to ensure compliance. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

NSE

By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) market indicators on Tuesday dropped further by 0.09 per cent on sustained profit taking embarked on by some investors.

The market capitalisation, which opened at N18.327 trillion, dipped N17 billion or 0.09 per cent to close at N18.310 trillion.

Also, the All-Share Index lost 30.62 points or 0.09 per cent to close at 35,033.74 compared with 35,064.36 achieved on Monday.

The market downtrend was further driven by losses in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Flour Mills, Zenith Bank, Lafarge Africa, Access Bank and Nigerian Aviation Handling Company.

Market breadth remained negative with 14 gainers in contrast with 18 laggards.

The Initiates led the losers chart in percentage terms by 8.77 per cent to close at 52k per share.

Regency Alliance followed with 8.33 per cent to close at 22k, while Wapic Insurance shed 4.76 per cent to close at 40k per share.

Chams depreciated by 4.55 per cent to close at 21k, while Flour Mills declined by 4.53 per cent to close at N25.30 per share.

Conversely, FTN Cocoa Processors led the gainers chart in percentage terms with 9.68 per cent to close at 34k per share.

Royal Exchange followed with 9.52 per cent to close at 23k, while Mutual Benefits Assurance rose by 9.09 per cent to close at 24k per share.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated rose by 8.33 per cent to close at N5.85, while Lasaco Assurance appreciated by 6.45 per cent to close at 33k per share.

Transactions in the shares of United Bank for Africa topped the activity chart with 142.44 million shares valued at N1.20 billion.

Zenith Bank trailed with 33.86 million shares worth N795.52 million, while FBN Holdings traded 12.63 million shares valued at N89.44 million.

Guaranty Trust Bank sold 9.73 million shares worth N321.88 million, while ETI transacted 9.16 million shares worth N52.36 million.

In all, the volume of shares traded decreased by 5.36 per cent as investors bought and sold 306.92 million shares valued at N3.27 billion in 4,500 deals.

This was against a turnover of 324.32 million shares worth N3.19 billion exchanged in 4,105 deals on Monday. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

WHO

By Cecilia Ologunagba

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa located in Brazzaville, Congo, says there are over 2.2 million confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent.

The UN health agency gave the update on its regional official Twitter account @WHOAFRO.

WHO stated on its dashboard that there were over 2.2 million confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent with more than 1.9 million recoveries and 53,000 deaths cumulatively.

Meanwhile, WHOs Director General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, says as countries plan to roll out COVID-19 vaccines in the coming days, weeks and months, health workers and other at-risk populations should be prioritised for vaccination.

Ghebreyesus who spoke from WHO headquarters in Geneva, said priority should also be given to the elderly and people at high risk of serious disease in administering the COVID-19 vaccine.

People at highest risk of serious disease or death as a result of age are also a high priority group because protecting them will reduce severe disease and death and take the burden off health systems.

As supply increases, the next groups would include those who have higher risk of severe disease because of their underlying conditions, and marginalised groups at higher risk.

The recommendations are based on the so-called Values Framework and Population Prioritisation Roadmap, issued by a WHO advisory group on immunisation.

In the initial stages of rollout, with only a small proportion of a countrys population immunised, its vital that governments, communities and individuals continue using proven public health tools, he said.

According to him, WHO continues to work to better understand how many people on the planet have been exposed to the virus, and how long immunity lasts in those who have been infected.

Hundreds of seroprevalence studies conducted worldwide reveal most of the global population remains susceptible to infection.

Seroprevalence studies look for antibodies in the blood and help in understanding how long immunity from natural infection lasts, said Ghebreyesus, which could inform understanding of vaccination immunity. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

NCDC Coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) update

he 550 cases recorded as of Dec. 9 represent the highestthe country has recorded since Aug. 23, when 601 cases were reported.

Source: NAN News

Marginal Oilfields: 3 Ijaw Leaders ask Court to halt licencing rounds

By Nathan Nwakamma

Three Ijaw leaders have approached the Federal High Court in Yenagoa to halt the process leading to bids for marginal oilfields located in their domains pending the determination of their suit.

The Suit marked No, PHC/YEN/CS/81/2020 slated for hearing on Tuesday was filed by Chief Brown Agu (Opu Agu VIII), Mrs Rosemary John-Oduone President Ijaw Women Connect and Mr Femowei Friend.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that hearing on the suit was, however, stall because of the absence of the presiding judge, Justice Abimbola Awogboro.

The suit by the three plaintiffs, on behalf of Ijaw Ethnic Nationality, is seeking the court to restrain the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Minister of Petroleum Resources and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.

In a Motion on Notice, the plaintiffs are seeking for an order restraining the defendants/Respondents from further advertising or receiving bids in respect of Marginal Fields pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit with No. PHC/YEN/CS/81/2020.

They also want the court to restrain the defendants/ Respondents from issuing or approving any licence in respect of of the Marginal fields listed, pending the hearing and determination of the suit.

NAN recalls that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) had on 6 April, 2020 announced the revocation of 11 of the 13 marginal fields licenses it issued to indigenous oil firms.

Oil Mining Lease (OML) 46 held by Bayelsa government, and located within onshore swamps in Bayelsa, won in 2013 through a bidding process conducted by the DPR was among the licences revoked for being dormant for over five years.

Source: NAN News

APC boycotts Zamfara supplementary election

By Ishaq Zaki

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says it will not feature in the Dec. 9, Bakura state constituency supplementary election in Zamfara.

Alhaji Ibrahim Magaji, Chairman of the State APC Publicity Committee said this at a news conference in Gusau on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the Dec. 5, by-election in the state as inconclusive following cancellation of results in 14 polling units due to over voting.

INEC also fixed Wednesday, Dec. 9, for supplementary election in the 14 polling units that were cancelled.

Magaji said that the APC decided to boycott the election because it has lost confidence in both INEC and security agencies in the state.

Our decision was based on the unfortunate situation that characterised the Dec. 5, Bakura by-election.

The election was marred by intimidation, harrassment and large scale violence that culminated in snatching of ballot boxes, kidnapping of electoral officials and killing of innocent people.

Our representatives attended the stakeholders meeting organised by INEC in Gusau on Monday Dec. 7, to fine tune measures put in place for the smooth conduct of the supplementary election.

The meeting was supposed to be attended by security agencies in the state because of their pivotal role as critical stakeholders in the election, but neither their heads nor their representatives attended the meeting, he said.

Magaji added:The APC as a party, reviewed the issues pertaining the election, especially concerning security of lives and property of the electorate.

After intimating INEC of our fears, we suggested that the election be shifted to a more convenient date, so that all the issues raised from last election will be addressed, but INEC went ahead with the plans to conduct the election on Dec. 9.

We wish to inform the general public that the APC will not participate in the supplementary election.

Source: NAN News

Gov. Okowa tasks media practitioners on fake news

By Ifeanyi Olannye

Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta on Tuesday cautioned social media practitioners to be wary of the destructive effect of fake news to any society.

The governor said this in Asaba at Delta State Strategic Communication Workshop organised for media aides, journalists, social media influencers and bloggers in the state.

The workshop with the theme Effective Communication and Media Crisis Management in Governance: Challenges and Solutions, is designed to enhance the potentials and skills of participants.

Okowa, represented by the State Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, said the theme of the training was apt and would help to reduce the friction between government and social media practitioners.

He said that it was worrisome that the new media lacked ethical standards as in the conventional media, portraying it as a mill for rumour and fake news.

He said that the new media was now vehicle for propaganda and fake news against persons, organisations, institutions and governments.

He charged media practitioners, both in public and private sectors, to go about their duties diligently but with a deep sense of responsibility and patriotism.

The social media has become vibrant and almost competing with the conventional media, except for the fact that there are no gatekeepers in the social media platforms.

The ethical standards in conventional media is also absent in social media platforms and this has portrayed the new media, as a battle ground for all kinds of rumours, fake news, half-truths while propaganda are peddled against persons, organisations, institutions and governments.

There is therefore, the constant need for cross-checking so that social media will earn reasonable reputation like the conventional media, he said.

The governor said that his administration had taken advantage of the social media to communicate with the people of the state especially the young and upwardly mobile people.

I am pleased to be part of this workshop aimed at sensitising, improving and sharpening the knowledge and skills of media aides in this administration, including social media influencers and bloggers.

This is in line with government agenda in the area of human capital development, skills acquisition, vocational training and effective communication through appropriate channels.

The media can be very powerful and play multi-faceted roles in nation-building as the watchdog of the society. Its relevance is buttressed in section 4 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

The theme of this years strategic communication workshop, is apt, because there is need for media practitioners, both in public and private sectors, to go about their duties diligently but with a deep sense of responsibility and patriotism, he said.

He said the workshop provided ample opportunity for those without formal training and trained journalists, to upgrade, refresh and sharpen their skills on how to use their time and data on social media to earn a living.

He noted that his administration had enjoyed tremendous working relationships with members of the press.

Also, David Edevbie, Chief of Staff to the Governor, called for the establishment of development communication policy in the state, describing communication as an essential and integral part of government.

He stressed the need for government information managers to always speak with one voice to avoid multiple reports of government activities.

The Chief Trainer, Prof. Ralph Akinfeleye, said communication and information were catalyst successful governments employ to achieve growth and development.

He added that if not properly managed, it could provoke anyone to act in a manner that could cause crisis in the society.

Akinfeleye said that as government information managers, it was their duty to adopt the gatekeeping theory to ensure that sensible information going out to the public did not cause damage or crisis in the society.

Earlier in an address, Executive Assistant on Communications to the governor, Mr Fred Latimore, thanked the Gov. Okowa for giving the participants the opportunity to learn.

He said that the essence of the programme was to train the social media bloggers to work in line with the ethics of journalism.

He said that instead of enacting more laws to muscle freedom of speech and freedom of the press, Gov. Okowa chose to train media influencers in order to avoid fake news and other tendencies.

Source: NAN News

Scene of a Helicopter crash

A helicopter crashed on Tuesday evening in Savoie, southeast France, killing five persons, French media reported.

The French Air Service (Service Aerien Francais, or SAF) helicopter with six people on board crashed at around 7:00 p.m., from an altitude of 1,800 meters in the town of Bonvillard in Savoie, according to BFM TV.

The pilot of the helicopter who managed to eject himself sent an alert and contact was established with one of the occupants of the aircraft.

More than 40 personnel are engaged in the search and rescue operations, it added.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: To save lives, they take all the risks.

Tonight in Savoie, 3 members of the French Air Rescue (SAF) and 2 CRS Alpes succumbed to a helicopter crash.

Macron added that a wounded person is fighting for life, and expressed condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of these French heroes.

CRS Alpes is a unit of the National Police specialised in mountain rescue in the Alps.

The SAF group is a private company which owns some 40 helicopters covering operations including emergency rescue, passenger transport and aerial work.

Source: NAN News

CSO commends states for providing information on COVID-19 expenditure

By Angela Atabo

A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Connected Development (CODE) on Tuesday commended Kaduna, Kwara, Osun and Oyo governments for providing information on COVID-19 expenditure through the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

Hamzat Lawal, Chief Executive Officer, CODE and founder of Follow the Money made this known at CODEs mega townhall meeting in Abuja.

Lawal said that CODE through its Follow the Money project held the meeting to provide an opportunity for government, CSOs and the media to get information on how the government utilised COVID-19 resources.

He said that the aim was also to know how palliatives were provided to cushion the effect of the pandemic and how government managed resources to ensure physical accountability and transparency.

It is important to acknowledge some state governments that have provided information that the public will need .

Kaduna, Kwara, Osun and Oyo states not only provided Follow the Money detailed expenditure but also provided to the public how they are utilising public resources .

CODE and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project wrote a joint FOI letter to the Accountant-General of the Federation on the expenditure of COVID -19.

In their response, they acknowledged that they mobilised over N35 billion and they have utilised over N30 billion to fight the pandemic, Lawal said.

He said that the two groups wrote a subsequent letter to acknowledge the response and also ask for the breakdown of how they disbursed the money.

Lawal said that so far, CODEs Follow the Money had tracked N96 billion at the federal and state levels for COVID 19.

He said that Follow the Money would undertake a post -pandemic social audit adding that more than 8,000 of its members across Nigeria would be deployed to undertake the process.

Lawal said this was to get feedback from citizens on how they benefited from the governments palliative or other intervention to cushion the effect of COVID-19 during the lcokdown.

Maryam Laushi, Communications Officer, OXFAM said that the private sector and other people contributed huge sums of money towards COVID-19 so it was important for Nigerians to know how the money was spent.

That is why OXFAM in Nigeria is very excited to support CODE in answering this call to ensure that our government is accountable and transparent, Laushi said.

Source: NAN News

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a press statement after a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in Brussels

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will arrive in Brussels for an in-person meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday evening, on the eve of the summit of the leaders of the 27 European Union (EU) member states.

I look forward to welcoming UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tomorrow evening.

We will continue our discussion on the Partnership Agreement, von der Leyen said on Twitter on Tuesday.

The meeting will be widely watched by the world that is eager to see if a deal could be concluded on the future trade relations between the UK and the EU after Brexit.

The negotiators have only three weeks to go before the previously agreed transition period ends on Dec. 31, 2020, and the two partners risk a divorce without a deal.

Also on Tuesday, the EU member states European affairs ministers reaffirmed their commitment to concluding an ambitious agreement for the future relations, although they underlined the need for businesses and countries to prepare for all scenarios.

Source: NAN News

President Buhari sacks NDE boss Argungu

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari has relieved Dr Nasiru Argungu of his position as the Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).

The presidents Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, confirmed this development in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

The presidential aide revealed that the presidents directive on the sacking of Argungu was issued on Friday, but effective from Monday, Dec. 7

Meanwhile, the Minister of State, Labour and Employment, who supervises the agency, has been directed to nominate an acting Director General from amongst the most Senior Directors in the NDE until a substantive holder of the post is appointed by Mr President.

Shehu said the acting Director General should be nominated based on competence and seniority in service.

Source: NAN News

Ruhollah Zam

Iran Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a death sentence against a high-profile dissident journalist who was captured 2019 in what Tehran called an intelligence operation, after years in exile in France.

Ruhollah Zam, whose Amadnews social media feed had more than 1 million followers, was convicted of fomenting violence during anti-government protests in 2017.

Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told a news conference streamed live on a judiciary website yes, the Supreme Court has upheld the sentence passed by the Revolutionary Court in this case. The son of a pro-reform Shiite cleric, Zam fled Iran and was given asylum in France.

In October 2019, Irans Revolutionary Guards said it had trapped Zam in a complex operation using intelligence deception. It did not say where the operation took place.

Iranian officials have accused arch-foe the United States as well as Tehrans regional rival Saudi Arabia and government opponents living in exile of fomenting the unrest, which began in late 2017 as protests about economic hardship and spread nationwide.

Officials said 21 people were killed during the unrest and thousands were arrested.

The unrest was among the worst Iran has seen in decades, and was followed by even deadlier protests in 2019 against fuel price rises.

Zams Amadnews feed was suspended by messaging service Telegram in 2018 for fomenting violence but has reappeared under another name.

Source: NAN News

Musa Kida

By Bayo Olawunmi

The President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Mr Musa Kida, has lamented the legal encumbrances that had held back a robust National Premier League for men in the country.

A statement on Tuesday, made available by Afolabi Oni, Board Member (NBBF) on Media, quoted Kida as saying that for the past three years the federation had been at the centre of a legal tussle.

The President said that a country with huge potentials in basketball like Nigeria should have a highly competitive mens basketball league that would afford players, coaches and officials a chance to develop their skills.

According to him, having acquired a N150 million sponsorship deal from Total Nigeria for the leagues in Divisions One and Two, organising a robust premier league will never have been a problem but for the legal encumbrances.

They handcuffed us and slapped us and we cannot cry. We are legally stopped from having that league. The sad part of this is that the Kwese League Management Board, under Olamide Oyedeji, and Gombe Bulls, took us to court to stop us from running a league.

These are people who, over the years claim to have the interest of developing Nigerias home grown basketball at heart, Kida said .

Kida said pledging their love and promotion of basketball, while stopping thousands of stakeholders from playing basketball at the highest level was hard to reconcile, as the action has stopped clubs from playing and players from earning a living.

To (also) stop coaches from improving themselves and stop many clubs from continental and global representation all in the name of politics, it does not add up, Kida said.

In our quest to ensure that basketball players in the premier league get engaged, Kida said, I, as President, decided to have a champion for Nigeria.

I had proposed continental participation without a sponsor and went ahead to organise what we called President Cup for all the clubs that were in the premier league. This would give them a chance to play, while we try to vacate the injunction in court

We organised the Presidents Cup, some clubs did not come but most of them participated, and I was personally cited for contempt, after these same people who took us to court in the first instance, made a submission to the court that we were trying to circumvent the injunction by doing a Presidents Cup.

Kida also said that he believed Nigeria should have a lot of championships, which should never stop the Premier Basketball from going on. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ibrahim Kado

The National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) in Adamawa trained 80 people in different indigenous languages from January to November.

NICO Director in Adamawa, Mrs Jane Anigala, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Yola that the institute has the mandate of orienting Nigerians on cultural values.

She said that institute also has the mandate to sensitise people to shun harmful cultural practices and embrace those that would promote the image of Nigeria.

For now, we have four languages; Fulfulde, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo and we were able to train 80 people, for free because its part of our mandate.

Some of our languages are going into extinction and we want to encourage people to come and learn them.

We were not able to train more people due to COVID-19 challenge and currently the training is still ongoing at the military barracks apart from the weekend programme, she said.

Anigala encouraged parents to also bring their children and wards during the long vacation to learn more indigenous languages at an early age. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Maina

By Taiye Agbaje

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, rejected another request by Abdulrasheed Maina, former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reformed Task Team (PRTT), for an adjournment to prepare for his defence.

Justice Okon Abang, in a ruling, said though the decision to grant the application was at courts discretion, such plea was a ploy to waste the judicial time of the court.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Maina had through his counsel, Abel Adaji, on Dec. 4, prayed the court for a short adjournment to allow him get a brief from his client to enable him do the needful, and Justice Abang adjourned the trial continuation for today.

At the resumed hearing, the Economics and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)s lawyer, Farouk Abdullah, informed the court that the matter was slated for continuation of the evidence of the ninth prosecution witness (PW9), Rouqquaya Ibrahim, who is an EFCC investigator, in the case.

However,Anayo Adibe, who represented Maina as counsel at the sitting, objected to the call for trial continuation on the grounds that the legal team was just taking over the case and needed adequate time to prepare.

He said though they applied for the court record in a letter to the court registry, they were yet to get it.

However, the judge, who corrected him that the last counsel did not apply for the court record, said he only applied for a short date in order to be briefed by Maina.

Adibe then explained that the next working day after the adjournment, we did the needful.

We apply to the registry of this honourable court for the record of proceedings as at the last date to be made available, he said.

The lawyer further explained that they also applied to the counsel who withdrew his appearance for Maina to oblige them with the copy of the charge sheet and other documents in relation to the trial.

He urged the court to accord Maina the constitutional right to be defended by counsel of his choice and be given adequate time and facility for his defence.

He cited Section 349(3) of Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) to back his argument on allowing Maina reasonable time to engage counsel of his choice.

Abdullah disagreed with Adibe, saying his application was misplaced.

We are surprised the counsel is taking us back from where we took off from, he said.

He said he was aware of the provision of Section 36 of the constitution as it related to the rights of Maina.

According to him, this court has safeguarded this rights, urging the judge to look at record of proceedings from inception of the trial.

The anti-graft agencys lawyer argued that Maina had been given all the rights and facilities that should be made available to him and had always been represented by counsel up to the last day the counsel withdrew.

He said though change of counsel was a right the defendant could enjoy if he wished, such right should not truncate the due administration of criminal justice regime.

He also argued that the provision of Section 349(3) was inapplicable in the case at hand because Maina had legal representation before now.

On Friday (Dec. 4), one lawyer withdrew and another lawyer came into the picture.

It presupposes that Section 349(3) is inapplicable here, he said.

Abdullah, who said the justice of the case was for the matter to proceed, insisted that he was ready to proceed.

In his ruling, Justice Abang noted that since the matter resumed on Sept. 29, Maina had not been appearing in court until a bench warrant was issued against him and he was produced in court on Dec. 4 by security operatives.

The issue before the court has to be properly made not on sentimental basis, he said.

Abang said the issue of fair hearing was not applicable here because Maina was not just coming into the matter for the first time.

He said Maina had participated in the trial but jumped bail.

The 1st defendant (Maina) jumped bail without reason to do so, he held.

The judge also clarified that if Mainas new counsel needed the case file, it was expected that the former counsel would hand over the file to the new lawyer.

And if Joe Gadzama (former counsel) fails, the new counsel knows what to do.

An administrative letter to registrar cannot serve as stay of proceeding.

The new counsel cannot drag us into his own internal affairs.

If the counsel needs CTC (Certified True Copy), he will get it even though the court is a busy court, he said.

Justice Abang, who noted that Maina had been offered adequate opportunity and time for his defence, refused to grant his application.

The judge ordered the witness to continue with her evidence-in-chief and ruled that if Mainas counsel, Adibe, failed to cross examine the PW9 after she completed her testimony, the cross examination would be foreclosed.

NAN reports that Maina (1st defendant) was arraigned before Justice Abang, on Oct. 25, 2019, by the EFCC alongside his firm, Common Input Property and Investment Ltd.

Although he is facing 12-counts bordering on money laundering, he had pleaded not guilty to all the charges. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Femi Ogunshola

A bill for an Act to establish the Nigeria Health Infrastructure Development Bank (NHIDB) has scaled second reading at the House of Representatives.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bill when passed would enhance the healthcare system in Nigeria.

The bill is being co-sponsored by Rep. Mansur Soro and Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House.

The lawmakers, however, allowed the bill to scale second reading through a unanimous voice vote at Tuesdays plenary.

NAN reports that the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) had on Dec. 2 visited the leadership of the House, calling for the enactment of a law to establishthe NHIDB.

According to NMA, the law would further strengthen Nigerias healthcare system for effective service delivery.

Speaking on the development, Gbajabiamila, said that he was fascinated with the idea of a Health Bank.

He said that the House would expedite action on its passage.

We cannot talk of nations building without good healthcare system, we will keep pushing for any bill that will make our healthcare system functional, and we will work with NMA to achieve that, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ikenna Osuoha

The National Population Commission (NPC) says it will commence the second phase of Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) in 95 local government areas across the 36 states of the country on Dec. 9.

The Chairman of the commission, Alhaji Isa Kwarra, said this at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday.

Kwarra added that the exercise was a roadmap to the success of an accurate, reliable and credible census.

He explained that planning for census is anchored on the EAD as the basis for estimating both human and material
resources required for the head count.

In essence, the success of credible and accurate census depends very much on the quality and reliability of the EAD.

The NPC boss said that EAD was not the enumeration of persons living in the country and was not determined by
the population of any locality or state.

Kwarra said there was plan to collaborate with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to digitise maps
of electoral registration areas..

He asserted the technological readiness of the commission for the EAD, saying that NPC had deployed high-resolution satellite imageries as the base map.

We will use the Global Positioning System (GPS) for geo-referencing and the Geographic Information System (GIS) for data management.

The NPC chairman, who assured the commissions determination to deliver to the country a Population and Housing
Census that would stand the test of time, said the commission would continue to avoid mistakes of the past.

He explained that the commission had made adequate logistic arrangements for effective deployment of personnel and materials in all local government areas where the EAD would be conducted.

According to him, necessary measures have also been put in place to ensure that field functionaries are properly kitted and trained to observe all protocols as prescribed by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NPC has already conducted the EAD in 260 local government areas in the country. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

File Photo: Doctors,

By Ummul Idris
The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Tuesday said improvement was needed in the primary healthcare to reduce the surge to general and teaching hospitals by patients.

Dr Roland Aigbovo, President of ARD FCT, said this in Abuja at a press conference to mark the 2020 annual health week with the theme Disease outbreak in Nigeria. Are we ever ready?.

He said that the primary healthcare centres should be the first point of call for patients in the treatment of such common illnesses as malaria and others instead of the tertiary health centres.

Find out why people are coming to general hospital or teaching hospital to treat malaria and you will discover it is all because of the failure of the primary health care.

There are a lot of primary health care in Nigeria but the kind of service they offer is not what we are proud of.

The plan we have on ground is actually to adopt some primary health care Centre so that we can be going there to offer services.

Most times when we do medical mission to those communities to offer advice those that need further service we refer them to our hospitals.

He said as individuals and association, members also offered help to indigent patients in the hospital who do not have fund for medical treatment.

He said the FCT resident doctors would inaugurate a borehole project at Egbu community, Yebu ward, Kwali Abuja; a community of about 500 people.

We appreciate the FCT minister for his show of love for approving over 17 hectares of land at Maitama 2, for ARD FCTA Estate and very soon work will commence, he said.

Source: NAN News

COVID-19 Vaccine Research

British nurses and doctors began administering a coronavirus vaccine by German pharmaceutical company BioNTech and its U.S. partner Pfizer on Tuesday.

Residents in care homes as well as their caretakers are the first to receive the vaccine, which is given in two doses, 21 days apart.

The vaccine, which offers 95-per-cent protection from the virus four weeks after the first dose, is also the first jab using mRNA technology to be approved by a regulatory body.

It draws on the virus genetic code to train the bodys immune system to create antibodies against it.

However, the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine comes with some tough restrictions.

Unlike its counterparts by U.S. company Moderna and Oxford/AstraZeneca, there are strict specifications involved when it comes to storage and shipping.

After being packed up at the Pfizer facility in Belgium, the vaccine doses were placed into temperature-controlled boxes, which can carry 1,000-5,000 doses, and shipped to Britain in lorries and aeroplanes.

A tracker inside the boxes provided minute-by-minute information on the temperature, which must be kept at around minus 70 degrees Celsius.

On arrival at a vaccination centre, each vial was mixed with saline solution before it could be administered, as part of World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

According to BioNTech, which said up to 900 people had been working on the vaccine, more than 20 variants of virus mutations had been tested.

The vaccine was successful at neutralising them, which means they are confident the vaccine would protect people against the current mutations and any new ones which may appear over the next 12 months.

Over the next three to six months, BioNTech would also monitor how well the vaccine prevents people from transmitting the virus to others.

While it is not known how long the vaccine would protect people against the virus, BioNTech said it would continue to observe its volunteers to see how their protection progresses over the next few months. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Newcastle United training ground

Newcastle United players will report for training at the clubs training centre on Tuesday, a week after it was closed because several players and staff tested positive for COVID-19.

The rising number of positive cases forced Newcastle to lodge a request to postpone last Fridays league match at Aston Villa which was approved by the Premier League Board.

Newcastle Uniteds players will train at the training centre today following a temporary closure last week due to a rise in COVID-19 cases, the club said in a statement.

Those who had tested positive will follow relevant protocols before returning.

The match at Villa was the first Premier League fixture postponed because of COVID-19 since last season resumed in June.

Steve Bruces side, 13th in the table, are scheduled to host West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News