The President of the Senate Dr Bukola Saraki is set to lead a delegation of lawmakers to address the Ghanaian parliament as part of activities to mark 25 years of uninterrupted democracy in the country.

Saraki who is set to depart for Ghana on Sunday on a two day official visit, is expected to address the Ghanaian Parliament on how to build a stronger African relationship.

The President of the Senate would be addressing the parliament at a symposium with the theme

Saraki would be accompanied by Deputy Leader of the Senate Bala Ibn Nallah, Chief Whip of the Senate Sen. Olusola Adeyeye, Sen. Phillip Aduda, Sen. Rafiu Ibrahim and Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu.

Speaking with our correspondent on Thursday, Special Assistant to Saraki on Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Bamikole Omishore said that trade relations, from a parliamentary point of view was a major focus of the inter-parliamentary meeting.

Omishore said that available information indicate that it is easier to do business in Europe and America than it is to do in Ghana and other African countries.

Once we can get our relationship with Ghana right, we can improve on ECOWAS and then the entire African Union, he said.

Plans are already underway by the executive and the national assembly to review trade treaties and conventions to made doing business in Nigeria and with other countries easier.

In an earlier interview granted by Omishore, he said that the aim of the review is to domesticate such treaties so that they benefit Nigeria first.

Nigeria has different treaties and partnerships that weve signed with different countries.

We are now going through all those treaties to see how we can domesticate them in Nigeria to make sure that Nigeria is getting the best from every agreement that is signed by different countries.

The executive is taking a lead, ours in the 8Senate is to make sure we provide the legislative framework and the appropriate oversight to make sure the interest of Nigeria is protected at all times.

I remember the executive made mention towards the end of last year that they would be reviewing different treaties because as you rightly said, times are improving and changing.

The executive is taking a look at it but at the national assemblys leadership is also looking to see if some of those things favour us or not.

You also mentioned the illicit financial flows thats going on, thats definitely being looked at as well.

The 8National Assembly is looking to make sure that the illicit transactions are stopped but at the same time, create an environment for businesses to be done with ease.

Over the last few months, you might have noticed the bills on ease of doing business and also the bill on NFIU in Senate, those are part of a wide range of legislative interventions to make sure Nigeria conforms with international best practices, he said.

Source: NAN

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says the National Assembly has assured that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) will be passed by June.

The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, said this at the 2018 Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers in Abuja on Thursday.

Baru, who was represented by the NNPC Chief Operating Officer Upstream, Dr Rabiu Bello, said the Bills must be looked into in order to attract the needed N25 billion year-on-year investments to the industry.

In the area of policy, the popular omnibus single petroleum industry bill has been broken into three parts for quick review and passage by the National Assembly.

As you aware, the first part of the bill, the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill was passed by the House recently.

When the other sections of the bill are finally passed, it will unlock more than10 billion dollars of investment held up due to uncertainty.

The promise we got last week from the National Assembly was that before the end of the second quarter of this year which we see as June 30, they promise the three other bills will also be concluded and passed.

So, hopefully, 2018 will see the end of all the discussions around the PIB which started in year 2000, Baru said.

Baru noted that its planned revamp of four of its refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt, would include an upgrade of their collective refining capacities from their present 445,000 barrels per day (bpd) to one million barrels per day (mbd).

It said once the 650,000 bpd Dangote Refinery in Lagos come on-stream, Nigeria would become a net exporter of refined petroleum products.

Baru said the Federal Government had completed more than 500 km gas pipelines in eight years.

We have embarked on one of the most aggressive gas reforms and implementation.

Accelerated implementation of gas pipeline infrastructure development, with specific focus on critical pipeline infrastructure to power plants being put in place.

Between 2010 and today, almost 500 km of pipelines have been completed, commissioned and now delivering gas, he said.

He listed some of the completed pipelines to include the Oben-Geregu (196km), Escravos-Warri-Oben (110km), Emuren-Itoki (50km), Itoki-Olorunshogo (31km), Imo River-Alaoji (24km), and Ukanafun-Calabar (128km).

In addition, there is ongoing construction of the very strategic East-West OB3 pipeline (127km) scheduled for completion by Q3 2018.

The expansion of the Escravos-Lagos Gas Pipeline System is scheduled for completion by Q1 2018.

Most recently, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the contract award of the 40-inch by 614 Km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline and associated facilities.

This pipeline is expected to supply natural gas to power plants and industries in the northern part of the country.

Once completed, the nationwide backbone gas infrastructure will be in place.

With the effort in infrastructure development, we would have expanded supply capacity, establishing an integrated gas pipeline infrastructure grid across the entire country, he said.

The lecture had the theme: `The Nigerian Oil Industry in a world of Changing Energy Supply: Are we prepared?

It had panelists from across the sector charting the way forward on gas and renewable energy as oil would soon be phased out with the introduction of electric cars in industrialised countries. (NAN)

Source: NAN

The Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) said evacuation of products, turn around maintenance, insecurity were among the major factors affecting the nations refineries from operating optimally.

Dr Rabiu Bello, the NNPC Chief Operating Officer Upstream, made this known while speaking during a question-and-answer session at the 2018 Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum organised by the Society of Engineers.

He admitted that the nations refineries in Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt were not performing optimally but expressed hope that it would be a thing of the past soon.

According to him, once the Dangote Refinery comes on stream and the refineries work at capacity, Nigeria could become an enviable exporter of refined products.

He said: Are the refineries working optimally, the answer is no. There a few reasons hindering their optimal performance.

One is the issue of security. Even if one refinery is working perfectly and there is unrest in the region, the products cannot go in or out.

There was a period one did not work for 28 months but thank God weve gone past that.

Second is the issue of investments and turn around maintenance. We are having series of talks with our investors and we are at the stage of discussing terms.

We are not looking for government money but peoples monies are in there. We want to operate optimally but with efficient partnerships.

He said it was a thing of shame that Nigeria, as the largest producer of crude in Africa and 13th largest in the World, was the largest importer of petrol and the only OPEC country that imports refined products.

This costs so much money. It is shameful that we produce and ship out.

It takes 14 days to ship in refined petroleum products from Europe and about 17 days in all to get that product to Maiduguri.

If the refineries were working perfectly, the products would get to as far as Maiduguri in under 24 hours, Bello said.

The Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, Mr Aliyu Gusau, said what had emerged from all discussions at the lecture was that the world was embracing renewable energy.

The question is are we ready? Whether we are prepared or not, the journey has commenced. We need to move away from digging oil from the ground and exporting to developing human resources.

Are we ready to develop this capacity? That is why we give kudos to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for placing emphasis on these things, he said.

Also speaking, the Principal, Petroleum Training Institute, Prof. Sunny Iyuke, , called on stakeholders in the industry to support the industry to look the way of renewable energy.

The 2018 Lecture had the theme: The Nigerian Oil Industry In a World of Changing Energy Supply: Are we Prepared?(NAN)

Source: NAN

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Kogi on Thursday said that all healthcare facilities in the state would remain shut until all its minimum demands are met.

A communique issued after an Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) of the association in Lokoja, and signed by its Chairman, Dr Godwin Tijani, and the Secretary, Dr Zubair Kabiru, also directed its members in FMC Lokoja, to proceed on sympathy strike on the first three days of every month.

The association said it has allowed,in its magnanimity, some of its members in FMC Lokoja to continue to offer skeletal services, despite declaring an industrial action.

It also said doctors managing the Lassa fever Centre at Kogi State Specialist Hospital Lokoja, were allowed to attend to emergency cases andprivate practitioners in the state rendered healthcare services to the general public without hindrance.

The Congress believes that the Kogi Government has been given ample time and opportunity to resolve the issues at stake.

Congress also noted the unfortunate development where some experienced medical officers were asked to proceed on compulsory retirement for no justifiable reasons, it said.

The association said that the industrial action would be sustained until their minimum demands are met. Among them is the payment of the balance of 40 per cent salary arrears from August to December 2017.

Another is the payment of 100 per cent salaries and arrears for January and February 2018, as well as the implementation of the Revised CONMESS, among others.

Henceforth, all healthcare centres in the state should remain shut until our minimum demands are met.

All private healthcare facilities in the state will subsequently be shut down if there is no response from the Kogi Government in the next few days.

Finally, NMA should not be held responsible for any consequences that may result from this action as the Kogi Government has had adequate time to avert these crises, the statement read in part.

The association expressed gratitude to the medical elders for their counsel, and appreciated all her members especially those who had been going through harrowing experiences, but have strictly complied with the ongoing strike.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the NMA in Kogi on Jan. 7, directed its members to resume a strike they suspended on June 22, 2017. (NAN)

Source: NAN

Israel will for the first time host an official visit by a member of the British royal family when Prince William travels there this summer, it wason Thursday.

The visit is coming Seventy years after David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the independence of the state of Israel and an end to the British Mandate in Palestine.

Prince William, who is second in line to the British throne, will visit Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories in the occupied West Bank.

No specific date was announced. His father and grandfather have traveled to Israel, but not as part of an official royal visit.

The prince will visit at the request of the government of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, Kensington Palace, his royal residence,.

The lack of a formal visit has long been a sore point for many Israelis.

Some had interpreted it as a snub , aof Israel or, perhaps, the result of in Arab countries.

For now the assumption is that the prince will not travel with his family. He and his wife, Kate, are expecting their third child in April.

Read More at :https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/world/middleeast/prince-william-israel-visit.html

Source: NAN

Gov Samuel Ortom has called forurgent measures to address thedeplorable conditions of the camps hosting people displaced by the incessant attacks on Benue rural communities.

The camps are terrible; the living conditions there are nauseating. Something urgent must be done to assist the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Ortom said on Thursday.

Ortom spoke in Makurdi when he received members of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation, led by is chairman, Babangda Aliyu, at the Banquet hall of the Benue Peoples House, Makurdi.

He said that 60 per cent of the IDPs were children who had missed examinations and did not know when to return to school.

The facilities at the camps are inadequate and too deplorable to provide minimum comfort for these children.

The attacks keep going on and more people are fleeing their homes and taking refuge in the camps, making them overcrowded.

In spite of the presence of Exercise Cat Race, herders are still killing and displacing local farmers from their ancestral homes.

The Benue people are law abiding and have refrained from resorting to violence even at the height of provocation, but we cannot continue like this, he said.

He called on members of the foundation to appeal to the federal government to pursue justice for his people.

All we ask of the federal government is justice, the rule of law and an end to impunity. We have suffered too much in the hands of the herders who carry out these attacks against our people with impunity.

Between 2012 and 2018, we have had 47 attacks on Benue communities. Lives and property worth millions have been lost, but in spite of these attacks, we have remained law abiding.

He said it was difficult to revive grazing routes,and called on herdsmen in the state to obey the anti-open grazing law.

Also speaking, Ortoms predecessor and deputy chairman of the foundation, Gabriel Suswam, commended the people for supporting their governor on the law, and assured them that the foundation would relay their message to the government.

He assured Ortom of his support toward achieving peace in the state.

I will work with Gov Ortom towards achieving peace in the state; our party differences will not affect this commitment.

It was the Tor Tiv that ordered me to work with the governor to ensure peace in the state. As someone who has received so much from the state, I have to obey.

Suswam appealed to the federal government to work out modalities toward halting the influx of foreign herders in the country.

The killings in the country seem to get worse everyday. Government must rise to this challenge, he said. (NAN

Source: NAN

Family members of a little girl, her father and brother, reportedly raped her while her mother was away.

In Calabar, Cross River State, a man and his young son have been tied with chains based on an allegation of rape of little daughter.

A Facebook user, Kijiejake Jacob Ochang, made this known in a post.

He explained that the shocking sexual abuse occurred when the girl's mother was away from home. The suspects were apprehended and have been delivered to the police according to Linda Ikeji's Blog (LIB).

Pictures which accompanied the post showed the pair tied by the wrist with chains clipped to truck-sized tyres.

Neighbours who gathered to watch the culprits of the abominable act wore a look of shock - their responses to the distressful event.

The Nigerian troops have lost two soldiers in the ongoing clearance operation in Sambisa Forest.

The troops killed five Boko Haram insurgents in the operation.

Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Operation Lafiya Dole,Nwachukwu, said the soldiers were killed and two others wounded when an insurgents’ Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) laced vehicle hit a military vehicle.

Nwachukwu, said that the troops also cleared various insurgents enclaves.

Nwachukwu disclosed that the troops under Operation DEEP PUNCH II had cleared insurgents ’ s hideouts at Agapulawa; Amuda, Nyawa, and Attagara in Sambisa Forest.

He said that the wounded soldiers were evacuated to a military medical facility for treatment.

He said troops also killed five insurgents at Tchikide and Chinene in the Lake Chad region.

“In continuation of the successful exploits by troops of Operation Dole, under Operation DEEP PUNCH II, to clear Boko Haram insurgents from the Sambisa forest and the Lake Chad Islands,.

“On Tuesday 28, February, 2018; troops successfully cleared and dismantled insurgents’ camps at Agapulawa, Amuda, Nyawa and Attagara in the remaining parts of Sambisa Forest.

“The clearance operations progressed further into other identified insurgents’ camps around Tchikide and Chinene, where the troops ferociously engaged and cleared pockets of resistance by the insurgents and killed five of them,” he said

According to him, the gallant troops had reorganized and resumed operation and assured of the military’s commitments to the successful completion of counter-insurgency operation.

Source: NAN

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the results of the recent Mock Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

JAMB’s Head of Media and Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

According to him, candidates are to check their results on line by visiting [JAMB](www.jamb .org.ng) with their registration numbers.

Benjamin described the conduct of the examination nationwide as hitch-free.

A total of 245,753 candidates registered for the mock examination which took place on Monday.

Mock UTME is optional for UTME candidates.

The main UTME is expected to hold from March 9 to March 17.

Source: NAN

Former Acting Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Calistus Obi, has admitted to diverting N331 million belonging to the agency.
Obi made the revelation on Monday, February 26, 2018, during his cross-examination at his ongoing trial before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of a Federal High Court in Lagos.

He said he used the N331 million to build a hotel.

On April 12, 2016, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Obi, alongside one, Alu Dismas, a former P.A to the immediate past DG of NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi.

They were arraigned before the court on an 8-count charge of converting N331 million belonging to NIMASA to personal use.

During the cross-examination by the EFCC's lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, Obi said he transferred part of the diverted money to a firm known as Seastroke International, which built a hotel for him in Asaba, Delta state.

He, however, added that he has since refunded the money when the EFCC asked him to do so.

Justice Olatoregun adjourned the matter to March 7.

On February 5, 2018, A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had ordered the final forfeiture of the sum of £578,080.00 to the Federal Government.

Justice Saliu Saidu ordered the final forfeiture, saying that the EFCC had proven that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activity.

Other forfeitures secured by EFCC
In December 2017, the anti-graft agency filed an exparte application through its counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, seeking the forfeiture of the funds.

Oyedepo argued that the money sought to be forfeited is reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities of a maritime firm, ZAL Marine Limited.

He also alleged that the money was stolen by the maritime firm through some employees of NIMASA.

The Commission accused one Macfoy Irene, an Assistant Director and Head of Nigerian Seafarers Development Program, to have facilitated the fraudulent transfer of the sum of £1,074,600.00 from NIMASA's Zenith Bank (UK) Account to an offshore account belonging to Swiss Bulk carriers S.A under the false Pretenses of training 54 Nautical Science and Marine Engineering Students on Sea Training on March 16, 2013.

The EFCC said the money was transferred from NIMASA’s Accounts without any parastatal or Ministerial Tender Board Approval or Contract.

Source: Pulse.NG