By Muhyideen Jimoh

Fosla Academy, Abuja, representing North Central zone, will battle Christ Comprehensive College, Kaduna (North West) in the football final of the revived National Principals Cup on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three-day finals holding at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, will end on Tuesday.

Fosla defeated Owerri City College, Imo State (South-East) 1-0 in the first semi-final played at the practice pitch of the stadium on Monday.

Christ Comprehensive College, Kaduna, on the other hand defeated Orile Comprehensive School, Abeokuta (South-West) 3-1 to advance to the final.

The two teams will clash in the final to be played at the practice pitch of the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja, on Tuesday as part of activities to round off the competition.

To reach the final, Fosla Academy worked over Abdulkadir Benisheikh of Borno (North East) on Sunday.

Fosla coach, Gilbert Igwe commended his boys for reaching the finals, but stressed on the need to go all out and win the final match.

We have come a long way and for the boys to reach this stage of the competition is on its own a huge mileage.

However, the job is just half done. It is not yet time for celebrations, he said.

The 2021 National Principals Cup commenced from state preliminary through zonal playoffs to the national final.

NAN reports that six football teams from the zonal finals are participating in the finals in Abuja.

Apart from football, the Abuja finals also have 24 table tennis players and 144 athletes from the six zones slugging it out for honours. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

The final matches (Day 6) in Groups E, F, I, K and L in the qualifiers for the 2022 African Nations Cup (AFCON) take place on Tuesday.

Group E
Morocco vs Burundi
Central African Republic (CAR) vs Mauritania

Group F
Mozambique vs Cape Verde
Cameroon vs Rwanda

Group I
Senegal vs eSwatini
Guinea-Bissau vs Congo

Group K
Madagascar vs Niger
Cote dIvoire vs Ethiopia

Group L
Sierra Leone vs Benin
Nigeria vs Lesotho (PANA/NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Salisu Sani-Idris

The FCTA says it has provided N5 billion counterpart funding in the 2021 budget for the actualisation of Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) in livestock production.

The Chairman, Project Implementation Committee, Prof. Muhammad Usman, said this at stakeholder engagements of Africa Development Bank (AfDB) and IFAD-SAPZ appraisal mission to FCT on Monday in Abuja.

Usman said that measures had been put in place for the immediate take off of the Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) in livestock production in the FCT.

The chairman said that the FCT Administration had developed a strategic implementation plan for the next three years of the administration.

Usman said the project would help in the development of the FCT, noting that SAPZ was one of the strategies to deliver on President Muhammadu Buhari plan to create jobs for the youth.

He said the project would complement government efforts of taking 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next nine years.

Usman said that the SAPZ when fully established would improve modernise livestock production for food nutrition security and making available quality and price competitive beef and dairy products for local and export markets.

Usman stressed that the project would resettle pastoralists, decongest the FCT of roaming cattle and mitigate farmer and herder conflicts.

The SAPZ is essentially one of our strategies to deliver on President Buharis plan to create jobs for the youth and to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty over the next nine years.

We plan to complement this with the production in the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) of the Federal Government while incentivising as many multi-national corporations with interest in livestock and dairy production.

We have constituted a multi-sectoral, inter-agency and multi-disciplinary SAPZ project development team for FCTA.

The team will worked through the COVID-19 lockdown period, to prepare draft project implementation checklists, design layouts, and infrastructure provision cost estimates, he said.

Usman noted that the administration had aligned with the Federal Government policies and programmes on the ease of doing business.

He stressed that the administration had commenced stakeholders engagement to achieve top three sub-national ranking at the end of 2021.

In a presentation, Monde Nyambe, the Task Team Leader of AfDB, said the establishment of SAPZ was one of the plans by the bank to achieve five cardinal objectives.

She listed the five objectives to include power and light up Africa, feed Africa, industrialise Africa, integrate Africa and improve quality of life of Africans by using the small holder farmers.

Nyambe, used the occasion to restate the commitment of the bank toward actualisation of the project. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Shuaib Sadiq

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday in Kaduna opened a three-day workshop for electoral officers responsible for monitoring elections and political parties.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC is being supported by the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) to train the staff on Party Management and Administration ahead of 2023 polls.

Mr Aminu Idris, INECs Director, Election and Party Monitoring said at the opening of the workshop that, the participants were drawn from INEC offices in the 19 Northern states.

Idris said the workshop was to build the capacity of the staffs to effectively monitor political parties to improve the electoral process ahead of 2023 general polls.

He noted that proper monitoring of the activities of political parties, including congresses and primaries, would minimize litigation and internal crisis.

The director said the participants would be introduced to new techniques for monitoring of political parties for a smooth electoral process in 2023.

Mr Sylvestre Somo, ECES Senior Project Officer, in a goodwill message, said that the workshop would improve the skills of INEC staff in monitoring election and political parties, to enhance the electoral process.

He said ECES promotes sustainable democratic development through the provision of advisory services, operational support and management of electoral and democracy processes across Asia, Middle East and Africa.

Somo ECES, through the European Union Support for Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EUSDGN), has been supporting INEC to deliver on its mandate of improving Nigerias electoral process.

The workshop which seeks to improve the skills of the staff of election and party monitoring department of INEC in political management, is another major step towards improving the Nigeria electoral process, he added.

He noted that political parties, being primary stakeholders in the electoral process with the constitutional power to present candidates for elective offices and solicit votes during elections, needed to be monitored and be guided to ensure transparency.

Political parties and candidates are expected to adhere to all the electoral procedures and laws, including the electoral code of conduct in order to reinforce the transparency and integrity of the electoral process.

Hence, the need to effectively monitor the parties and exercise required oversight functions as prescribed in the Constitution and the Electoral Act.

It is therefore a matter of consolation that this workshop has been put together to strengthen the capacity of the EMB staffs in political parties management and administration.

It is our hope that the knowledge to be gained at this workshop will help in repositioning political parties to play effectively their role and contribute to the integrity and fairness of the electoral process, Somo added.

According to him, this will be in fulfillment of visionary statement of Rev. Apollinaire Ma imalu, Co-founder of ECES who said the good collaboration between EMB and political parties can transform the elections into a celebration of choices rather than drama.

Somo said with the wide range of topics slated for presentation at the workshop and the caliber of participants and resource persons, he was confident that the noble objectives of the workshop would be achieved.

I wish to commend INEC for taking this bold initiative of putting in place this workshop especially at the crucial time when preparations for the 2023 elections will begin in earnest.

I also wish to thank the European Union Delegation for consistent support to the activities of ECES in Nigeria within the scope of the EUSDGN, Somo said.

Meanwhile, INEC Acting Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kaduna State, Mr Awwal Mashi assured that the resource persons at the event would bring in new skills for better management of political parties.

Mashi, also the Commissions Administrative Secretary in the state, noted that the objective was to sharpen the skills of staffs in party management, to improve on the achievements recorded during the 2019 general polls. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Naomi Sharang/Kingsley Okoye

The Federal Government has expressed reservation over a Bill for an Act to establish a National Dermatology Hospital in Garkida, Adamawa.

Minister of State for Health Olorunnimbe Mamora made this known at a public hearing in Abuja on Monday on three bills sponsored by Sen. Aishatu Dahiru (APC-Adamawa).

The bills included National Dermatology Hospital, Garkida Adamawa, Establishment Bill 2021, Teaching Hospital for the Modibbo Adama University, Yola and Federal Medical Centre Establishment Bill.

The hearing was organised by the Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary).

According to Mamora, calls for establishment of the dermatology hospital is ill timed given the financial implication and absence of required personnel.

He, therefore, called for the maintaining of existing dermatology units or clinics in various tertiary health institutions in the country.

We observed that most of the federal teaching hospitals and some federal medical centres have that department, called the Department of Dermatology.

It is a specialised department where issues that have to do with the skin can be better managed.

We believe that as much as it is important to pay attention to the issue of dermatology, we also know that establishing a hospital for dermatology condition will affect patients opportunity to be co-managed by other specialists

We also know that inviting other specialists or engaging them on a visiting basis will not be cost effective and it can delay patients management, he said.

Speaking on the bill for establishment of a Teaching Hospital for Modibbo Adama University, Yola, Mamora said it is like putting the cart before the horse.

What we are saying is that proposing a bill to amend the teaching hospitals Act to include the name of a non-existent hospital is like putting the cart before the horse.

This is because existing Federal Medical Centres automatically become teaching hospitals following Presidential approval in states that have Federal Universities without medical schools.

I think this is the most important thing that we need to know, Mamora said.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Sen. Ibrahim Oloriegbe while reacting to the ministers position said the federal medical centres as they were had no enabling laws.

That is why the bill is seeking to set up proper standard criteria as what the FMCs should be.

On the Dermatology Hospital, Oloriegbe said that we have other specialised hospitals; eye hospitals, ear hospitals are there that specialise, why did you create them, why are we not talking of resources.

Earlier, while declaring open the forum, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan said that the proposals were part of efforts at strengthening health institutions from the general aspects to the specialised parts.

He was represented by Senate Deputy Whip, Sen. Sabi Abdullahi. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Naomi Sharang

The Senate Committee on Health has summoned the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Niyi Adebayo over continued importation of syringes into the country at the detriment of local manufacturers.

The Senate committee also invited the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire and the Director-General, National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye.

Chairman of the committee, Sen. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, issued the summon on Monday at a public hearing on The need to regulate the manufacturing, importation and use of syringes and needles to protect the lives and safety of Nigerians as well as the economy of the country.

The committee expressed displeasure over the failure of Ministry of Trade and Investment to implement the Backward Integration Policy (BIP) on local production of syringes five years after it was validated.

It also criticised NAFDAC for licensing companies Indian and Chinese companies to import syringes into the country.

Oloriegbe said You cant keep licensing agents outside Nigeria to import syringes, while local firms are dying. There is no complexity in the production of syringes.

He said that in spite of the capacity of the local firms to meet the market demands, an estimated 1 billion units per annum of syringe and needles were being imported into the country making the country to lose huge foreign exchange.

He, therefore, asked the Minister of Trade and Investment to appear before the committee on April 15 to explain why the BIP, which was validated in 2017, has not been presented to the Federal Executive Council for approval.

The committee mandated NAFDAC to furnish it with the list of companies that have been importing syringes into the country in the last 15 years, the quantity imported, evidence of checks on licensed foreign companies and licensing fees.

The committee directed the Health Minister to explain why public-owned hospitals were not using locally-manufactured syringes.

Meanwhile, the President of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MEDMAN), Akin Oyediran, said all the seven licensed local manufacturers have the potential to produce 2.4 billion units of syringes per annum if provided with favorable business environment.

The syringes needed in Nigeria is between 2 billion to 2.5 billion annually. All the seven local manufacturers have the capacity to produce 1.95 billion a year.

But if we have the support of the government, especially the implementation of BIP, they will scale up to produce all the demands in a matter of months.

The quality is world class. The quality is not questionable, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Imelda Osayande

The Edo Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Benin, has affirmed the victory of Gov. Godwin Obaseki in the Sept. 19, 2021 governorship poll in the state.

The Justice Yunusa Musa-led three-member tribunal on Monday dismissed all the petitions brought before it, challenging victory of Obaseki and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Five political parties filed petitions, seeking a nullification of the declaration of Obaseki as winner of the election.

In a unanimous judgment, the tribunal threw out all the petitions for lack of merit.

It held that the petitioners could not substantiate their claims.

The petitioners have a duty to prove their allegations beyond reasonable doubts.

There is no evidence of testimony that establishes the certificate is forged.

The witnesses called never visited the school to confirm the genuineness of the certificate, the tribunal said.

The tribunal, therefore, affirmed the result by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which declared Obaseki as the winner of the election.

It awarded the sum of N200,000 each to INEC, Obaseki and his Deputy, Philip Shaibu, against one of the petitioners, Allied Peoples Movement (APM).

The petitioners included Action Democratic Party, Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Allied Peoples Movement and Agol Tracy, the governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party.

Some of the petitions were predicated on the controversial degree result allegedly submitted to INEC by the governor.

The AA and APPs petitions were, however, based on the allegations that they were unlawfully excluded from the poll. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

The nations bourse resumed a new trading week on Monday with a growth of N145 billion due to buying interest in MTN Nigeria (MTNN) and 27 other stocks.

Specifically, the market capitalisation which opened the week at N20.518 trillion inched higher by N145 billion or 0.71 per cent to close at N20.663 trillion.

Also, the All-Share rose by 277.17 points or 0.71 per cent to close at 39,493.37 from 39,216.20 achieved on Friday.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; MTNN, Guaranty Trust Bank, Guinness Nigeria, Custodian Investment and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.

Consequently, the market breadth closed positive with 28 stocks, relative to 12 losers.

Courteville Business Solutions and Custodian Investment dominated the gainers chart in percentage terms with 10 per cent each to close at 22k and N6.60 per share.

Linkage Assurance followed with 9.80 per cent to close at 56k per share.

Caverton Offshore Support Group appreciated by 9.52 per cent to close at N2.07, while Jaiz Bank grew by 8.47 per cent to close at 64k per share.

Conversely, Cornerstone Insurance led the losers chart in percentage terms dropping by 9.84 per cent to close at 55k per share.

Oando trailed with a loss of 6.06 per cent to close at N3.10, while Honeywell Flour Mill declined by 4.84 per cent to close at N1.18 per share.

PZ Cussons declined by three per cent to close at N4.85, while FCMB Group shed 2.68 per cent to close at N2.90 per share.

Also, the total volume of shares transacted rose by 108.10 per cent with an exchange of 522.18 million shares valued at N10.65 billion exchanged in 4,566 deals.

This was in contrast with 250.92 million shares valued at N2.79 billion traded in 3,746 deals on Friday.

Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank topped the activity chart with 230.371 million shares valued at N7.387 billion.

Union Bank of Nigeria followed with 79.22 million shares worth N419.84 million, while Wema Bank traded 51.94 million shares valued at N31.70 million.

Transcorp traded 18.69 million shares worth N14.97 million, while Courteville Business Solutions sold 16.85 million shares worth N3.71 million. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ibironke Ariyo

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted illicit drugs worth over N2 billion at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, (MMIA,) Ikeja, Lagos.

The agency also arrested three suspected traffickers in connection with drugs crime.

The Agencys Director Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, announced this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

The statement quoted the Commander, NDLEA MMIAs Special command,Ahmadu Garba as saying that one of the suspects (names withheld) was arrested on Sunday, March 28.

Garba said that the suspect was arrested during the outward clearance of passengers on Air Marroc.

A 7.1 kg of Methamphetamine, carefully concealed in food spices and packed in a Swiss polo suitcase was found in possession of the suspect.

According to the statement, the illicit substance was bound for Spain with a street value of over N2 billion.

Unarguably, the closure of borders occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic is responsible for the surge in the price of these drugs.

For instance, the price of meth in Australia had increased from to per gramme due supply cut, hence the desperation by the traffickers and barons alike, Garba stated.

In a related development, Garba said that the Command equally intercepted a suspect at Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) export shed of the airport with 800 grammes of Cannabis Sativa.

He said that the operatives also seized 19.950 kg of green leaves suspected to be khat, adding that the cannabis, cleverly concealed in foodstuff, was bound for Dubai, UAE.

In a follow-up operation, he said that another suspect was also arrested in connection with the seized 800 grammes of cannabis.

He said that investigations were ongoing with a view to establishing more leads and getting the owner of the khat leaves arrested.

The statement also quoted the Chairman, NDLEA retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa as commending men and officers of the command for the arrests and seizures.

Marwa reiterated the agencys commitment to launching offensive action against the activities of drug barons and traffickers wherever they are across Nigeria. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Philip Yatai

The Kaduna State Residents Registration Agency (KADSRRA) says it is supporting the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to enroll 95 per cent of Kaduna state residents into the National Identity Database (NIDB) by 2022.

The Executive Secretary of the Agency, Dr Zayyad Tsiga made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Monday.

Tsiga explained that the state government had been working closely with NIMC since 2015 to expedite the enrolment of Kaduna state residents into the NIDB.

He said that KADSRRA was established in 2018 to coordinate the collaboration with NIMC with a view to provide the state with the necessary residents data for informed policy and decision making.

This will improve service delivery at all Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), digital economy, e-governance, social and financial inclusion for the benefits of Kaduna state residents.

It will also allow for a proper and transparent allocation of resources to the appropriate sectors of the states economy and social welfare interventions among other benefits, he said.

Tsiga said that so far, about 3.3 million residents, representing 35 per cent of the estimated 9.5 million have been enrolled as of March 15.

He said that the enrolment was 2.8 million when he assumed office in August 2020 and aimed at doubling the figure by December 2021 and achieve 95 per cent coverage by 2022.

He said that the agency would embark on a massive sensitisation campaign to mobilise residents to enroll, adding that plans are under way to establish one registration centre in each of the 255 political wards.

He said that the registration centres would be sited within Primary Healthcare Centres in the 255 wards, in addition to the current 74 registration centres across the state.

Tsiga said that the agency was reaching out to development partners to support the setting up of the additional centres.

We have already secured partnership with USAID, which has supported us with registration equipment for all the political wards in Kajuru and Jemaa Local Government Areas.

He also spoke on the response of residents to the registration exercise.

We were enrolling an average of 40,000 to 60,000 per month before it increased to 140,000 per month, following the Federal Government directive to link GSM numbers with National Identification Number (NIN).

If we succeed in getting the 255 additional enrolment centres, it will raise our average enrolment to 200,000 per month.

This will put us on course to reach over five million by the end of 2021 and the 95 per cent coverage by 2022, he said.

Tsiga disclosed that the agency would soon commence issuance of the Residency Cards with data from the NIDB, adding that the card would serve as a debit card to help increase financial inclusion.

He explained that the state residency card would eliminate the use of multiple Identification Cards such as hospital, university, and employee ID cards.

He disclosed that the State Executive Council had directed MDAs to demand for Kaduna State Residency Cards and NIN from all residents before providing services beginning from May 1.

Tsiga added that all poor and vulnerable in the Social Register would also be enrolled to obtain their residency card and NIN, for easy access to social protection services in the state.

However, only residents with a NIN and a valid Kaduna state address will be issued the state residents card.

Residents who have obtained NIN using an address of another state, and now reside in Kaduna, are required to update their record with the current Kaduna address to get the residents card, Tsiga said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News