Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, confirmed as INEC Chairman for a second term

By Naomi Sharang

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the nomination of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu for re- appointment as Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Yakubus confirmation by the Senate followed the presentation of the report of its Committee on INEC by its Chairman, Sen. Kabiru Gaya, during plenary.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Muhammadu Buhari had on Nov. 25, transmitted to the Senate for confirmation, the nomination of Yakubu for a second term in office.

Presenting the report, Gaya said that the committee, while screening the nominee, found him capable and worthy for reappointment.

The committee found out that there was no petition against him, the nominee displayed a high level of intelligence and he is a man of integrity, Gaya said.

He further said that the confirmation of the nomination of the reappointment of the nominee was made under Section 153(1F) of the Constitution.

Contributing, Deputy President of the Senate, Omo Ovie-Agege, said this is the first time we are having an INEC chairman renominated for a second term.

President Muhammadu Buhari should be commended because he saw what the majority of Nigerians saw in the way and manner Prof. Yakubu conducted the affairs of INEC in the last five years.

He said that the committee by recommending Yakubu for a second term, showed that the committee recognised the limitations placed on INEC by the enabling law, the Electoral Act.

By this, they have come up with creative ideas on how we can sanitise the system by recommending the nominee, he said.

Also, Sen. James Manager (PDP-Delta), described the nominee as a man who had displayed rare courage and impartiality in the conduct of elections during his first term.

I urge the nominee that he should be more cautious of the INEC staff. This is because the name he will make when renominated is more important than his achievements in the past.

He should do the job to leave a legacy that is more than what he had achieved, he said.

Sen. Sandy Onor (PDP-Cross River), who said that Yakubu was an unbiased umpire, added that he was a square peg in a square hole.

The nominee has demonstrated competence, and has shown indeed that he was an unbiased umpire. Today, politicians dont go into elections scared of whether they will be oppressed or not.

Going by his performance in the first term, he will do even better this second term. Im looking forward to a situation where we will digitalise our processes even more.

The upper chamber also confirmed the nomination of Sanusi Garba as Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Also confirmed was Dr Musiliu Olalekan Oseni and Aisha Mahmud as Vice Chairman and Commissioner of NERC, respectively. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

COVID-19 Vaccine Research

By Cecilia Ologunagba

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has appointed a National Task Team on COVID-19 vaccine, tasked with the responsibility to acquire and deploy vaccines in the country.

The information is in a statement signed byDr Adebimpe Adebiyi,the Director of Hospital Services in the ministry on Tuesday in Abuja.

She noted thatmembers of health is the Chairman of the Task Team, while the minister of State for Health, Olorunimbe Mamora, will serve as Alternate Chairman.

The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency will serve as Secretary and the permanent secretary in the ministry will serve as a member.

The ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Budget and National Planning, Science and Technology will also serve as members.

Director Generals of Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control will be members.

Also, development partners such as World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) will be members, among others.

The minister said that COVID-19 was real and enjoined the public to observe all protocols as prescribed by the government.

Ehanire had earlier at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, spoke on the need for a task force on vaccines to come on board.

He said now that vaccines are known to be close at hand, the ministry is taking measures toward vaccine security, for which an 18-man National COVID-19 Vaccine Task Team with seven Terms of Reference (ToR) will be inaugurated.

The ToR will include generating strategies for acquisition, deployment and options for licenced production by Biovaccine Nigeria Ltd.

Our options with WHO/GAVI led Covax facility remains our first line of engagement, he added. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Mr Babatunde Irukera, DG FCCPC

By Kola Adeyemi
The Kogi State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has congratulated Mr Babatunde Irukera on his re-appoinment as the Director-General of the
Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

The council in a statement in Lokoja on Tuesday described the re-appoinment of Irukera as well deserved and a confirmation of his sterling performance in his first term in office.

The state NUJ Council Chairman and Secretary, Mr Adeiza Jimoh and Mr Adamu Seidu signed the statement.

Your re-appointment, no doubt is a reward for diligence, hardwork, patriotism and above all commitment to protecting the rights of the consumers in the country.

It is also a demonstration of the fact that we still have people who are genuinely interested in building a country that will be a pride to generations yet unborn, the statement said.

The NUJ said it was proud to be associated with Irukera and his track records of achievements in FCCPC, urging him to keep the flag flying.

We pray God to continue to give you the wisdom and good health to discharge the responsibilities of your present office, the statement added.

Source: NAN News

President Muhammadu Buhari

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari has unveiled the Natural Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) and Auto-gas initiative with a call on Nigerians to embrace the use of gas as an alternative to Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

Speaking at a virtually held event at the State House, Abuja on Tuesday to unveil National Gas Expansion Programme and National Auto-gas Roll-out Initiative, Buhari said the call had become imperative in view of the nations huge gas reserve.

It is no longer news that the vast natural gas resources, which Nigeria is endowed with has hitherto been used sub-optimally as a result of a dearth of gas processing facilities and infrastructural connectivity for effective and optimal domestic utilisation.

As I mentioned above with a proven reserve of about 203 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) and additional upside of 600 TCF ranking Nigeria as the 9in the world currently, the need for domestic gas expansion and utilisation is apparent.

The president said that the deregulation of the downstream sector had exposed many to price volatilities in the global market, urgingattention to more affordable alternative for energy, especially with Nigerias heavy reserve.

Therefore, the roll-out of the National Gas Expansion Programme, Auto-gas initiative is coming at the right time, especially in light of global crude oil market fluctuations coupled with the full deregulation of the local PMS market.

These developments have made it imperative to focus on gas as an alternative fuel to move Nigeria from the conventional dependence on white products for autos and prime-movers of industrial applications to cleaner, more available, accessible and affordable energy source.

The outcome will not only cushion the effect of the downstream deregulation that this government has to painfully implement but also create new markets and enormous job opportunities for our people, he said.

Buhari expressed optimism that the auto-gas initiative would lead to increased domestic gas utilisation and enrich the trajectory of national economic growth and development.

I therefore encourage everyone to embrace gas in form of LPG, CNG and LNG as an alternative fuel for autos and other prime-movers, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the president used the opportunity to appreciate Nigerians and organised labour for restraint, understanding and patience as the country tackles myriad economic challenges.

He assured that the Federal Government was working hard to ameliorate the situation and directed the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources to commence the process of hand over of mass transit buses to organised labour as part of governments pledge to cushion the negative effects of deregulation of the oil sector.

Let me now express my deep appreciation to Nigerians for their patience and organised labour for its maturity and patriotism as we collectively navigate these global economic and other challenges.

The Minister of State Petroleum Resources is hereby directed to commence the process of hand over of mass transit buses to Organized Labour as part of our governments pledge to continue providing support that will ease the transportation challenges Nigerians are facing at this time, he added.

Earlier in his remarks, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva said the ministry was focusing on development of skills, technology and manpower as well as growth in the utilisation of LPG, CNG and LNG.

He said that the NGEP, which was initiated this year to boost the utilisation of gas in the short and medium term is expected to create two million jobs per annum, promote skills acquisition and enhance technology transfer in addition to growing the nations GDP.

The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari revealed that from 2016 to 2019, the Federal Governmenthad spentover N3 trillion subsidising the pump price of petroleum products particularly PMS.

The NNPC boss insisted that the subsidy regime did not benefit the masses that the president was passionate about, adding that the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic had made it impossible to continue with the onerous subsidy regime. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Policeman arresting an okada rider

By Salisu Sani-Idris

The Special Ministerial Task Force on Transportation and other Public Nuisances says it will start prosecuting commercial motorcycle operators known as Okada and their patronisers in two days from now.

Field Coordinator of the task force, Mr Peter Olumuji, made the disclosure during an inspection exercise on Tuesday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the task force is headed by the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Mr Bala Ciroma.

Olumuji said anyone who patronises the Okada riders would be seen to be aiding and abetting illegality.

He stated that both operators and patronisers assumed to be guilty and liable to prosecution accordingly.

Olumuji explained that residents of Kubwa had been complaining seriously about the recklessness of the riders in the area.

He alleged that most of the Okada riders always go about with knives and at any little provocation, they stab the other person involved, apart from committing other crimes.

We are here to ensure that they are removed from Kubwa as it were, before the EndSARS protest.

They have designated places far away from the city centre where they are allowed to operate, Keke Napep was brought in from town and they have been operating without hitch or constituting nuisances to the community, he said.

Olumuji said that the FCT administration had decided to start the show of force on the first day of December to sensitise the Okada riders and their patronisers on the need to stay off Kubwa.

The Area Commandant, Nigeria Police, Kubwa, ACP Sani Omilori, said before the EndSARS protest, Okada riders had left Kubwa as directed by the FCTA, but after the protest, they came back in full force.

This was why we came out on this show of force for two days to inform them to stay off Kubwa roads as the ban on Okada is still on and by Thursday we start full enforcement.

An alternative means of transportation has been provided for the residents (Keke Napep). We are sensitising the operators as well the patronisers before the enforcement, he said.

Mrs Osho Deborah, Zonal Commandant Zone 1, Directorate of Road Traffic Service (DRTS), said after the two days they would embark on full enforcement and anyone caught would be prosecuted. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture

By Rotimi Ijikanmi
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has refuted social media reports that he said Nigeria is at the mercy of Boko Haram.

At a meeting with online publishers on Tuesday in Lagos, the minister described the reports as social media abuse, sheer fabrication and abuse of platform.

While in Makurdi, Benue State, on an official visit, I was asked by journalists to comment on the killing of farmers in Borno State over the weekend.

I said terrorism is a global problem that requires the collaborative efforts among nations to combat.

I said Nigeria needs the support of global partners, especially in the area of acquisition of effective platforms to deal with the terrorists.

I recalled that some of the platforms ordered and paid for by Nigeria have yet to be supplied till date, thus weakening the war on terror.

How these statements translate to Nigeria being at the mercy of Boko Haram is baffling, and could only have come from warped minds who are more interested in attracting traffic to their websites than upholding the truth, he said.

The minister reiterated his position that something urgent needed to be done to rein in the abuse of social media.

Call it regulation or whatever, we have to do something most urgently, he said.

Mohammed said social media was used to guide arsonists and looters to certain properties, both public and private, during the #EndSARS violence.

He explained that pictures of celebrities and even non-Nigerians who were supposedly killed at Lekki Toll Gate quickly made the rounds on social media only for those celebrities to say they are alive.

Mohammed reiterated the governments concerns about the abuse of social media, adding that the administration would continue to look for ways to ensure a responsible use of the platform.

He solicited the support of the online publishers who rely heavily on the new media in the governments effort to fight the menace.

As online publishers, who rely heavily on the new media, you will also be doing yourselves a great favour by helping to weed out those who are abusing it.

If things get to a level where people can no longer trust anything published online, no one stands to lose more than media practitioners.

Thats why we continue to seek your support on this issue, he said.

The minister, however, reiterated that checking the abuse of social media was not synonymous with stifling press freedom or free speech.

Fake news and disinformation are not the same as free speech.

For the umpteenth time, I want to say that this government has no plan to stifle free speech, neither do we have any intention of shutting down the internet as some have claimed, he said.

The minister said the social media had come to stay and those who use it responsibly had nothing to fear.

Source: NAN News

NAPTIP headquarters Abuja

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Mrs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim as the new Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

Malam Garba Shehu, the Presidents Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, confirmed this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

A holder of BSc (Sociology), Masters of Arts (Management) and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degrees, Mrs Sulaiman-Ibrahim, hails from Nasarawa State.

Until her new appointment, she was a member of the Nasarawa State Economic Advisory Council as well as Special Adviser on Strategic Communication to the Minister of State for Education.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Okeoghene Akubuike

Some stakeholders in the environment sector, on Tuesday, called for more engagements in mitigating the effects of climate change on Nigeria.

The stakeholders spoke at the Post-COP25 National Consultative Workshop, organised by Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet) in Abuja.

The CSDevNet Board of Trustees Chairman, Dr Ibrahim Choji, said that the event was aimed at reviewing the outcome and challenges of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25), held in Madrid, Spain.

Represented by the organisations National Network Coordinator, Atayi Babs, Choji said that it was imperative for Nigeria to commence the process of identifying the solutions before the next COP26.

According to him, the next COP26 is scheduled for November 2021 at Glasgow, United Kingdom.

The network has forged collaborations with like-minded governmental and non-governmental partners, including research institutions, to establish initiatives that will advance their shared vision in regional development discourses.

These collaboration will help, particularly in the implementation of the Paris Agreement, Agenda 2063 of the African Union and the UN Agenda 2030, he said.

Choji expressed optimism that the state actors would provide a clear blueprint for engaging the civil society for the country to achieve its Nationally-Determined Contributions (NDCs) and SDGs.

Hajiya Halima Bawa-Bwari, the acting Director, Department of Climate Change, Federal Ministry of Environment, said that the ministry was preparing for COP26.

She also disclosed that the ministry was already engaging various stakeholders, including MDAs, state and non-state actors as well as development partners.

Represented by Hajiya Aamau Jubril, Bawa-Bwari added that the ministry had also established climate change desks in all the states and the FCT, in partnership with development partners.

We need to know what the people at the local levels are doing to ensure climate resilience. So we have given the desk officers a template to feed in mitigation actions happening in all the states.

The department also engages through regular sensitisation programmes, which include trainings and workshops in the six geo-political zones as well as engaging with the private and public sectors to raise awareness on climate change and the NDCs, she said.

Bawa-Bwari said that the national policy on climate change and NDCs were currently being reviewed, adding that a sectoral plan for its implementation had been developed.

Sean Melbourne, Head of Climate Change and Energy (West Africa) Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office at the British High Commission, Abuja, said that the UK government would engage with stakeholders.

Make no mistake; Africa will help shape the COPs success or failure, and Nigeria, given the size of its economy and growing population and with its regional and international influence and reach, is clearly recognised as a key country on the continent to engage, he said.

Represented by Adesuwa Obasuyi, the Manager of Climate Change Policy in the commission, Sean said that climate action was the concern of everybody, adding that it was, therefore, imperative for all stakeholders to play their parts.

We are engaging through the COP26 campaigns that are relevant to Nigeria and they focus on adaptation and resilience, nature, clean energy transition and finance, he said.

Sean added that his home government was working closely with Nigeria in reviewing the NDCs to strengthen the countrys climate action commitments.

He also disclosed that his home government was supporting the innovative solutions and policy frameworks that would deliver low-carbon and climate-resilient growth through several programmes in Nigeria.

NAN reports that the workshop was organised by CSDevNet in collaboration with ECOWAS, Federal Ministry of Environment, the Nigerian Civil Society Framework on Paris Agreement and SDGs (NCSFPAS) and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).

Source: NAN News

Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi

By Nicholas Obisike

Enugu State Government has announced the commencement of the second phase of verification forpensioners whose pension accounts are domiciled in the Office of the Accountant-General of the state.

A statement signed and issued in Enugu on Tuesday by the Enugu State Head of Service, Ken Chukwuegbo, said that the exercise wouldcommence in the pensioners respective banks from Jan. 4, 2021 and end on March 4.

Chukwuegbo advised pensioners to physically present their pension verification numbers to their bank for verification through the Bank Verification Number (BVN) platform.

He said that the bank would thereafter forward the print-outs containing the BVN and Bio- data of the pensioners to the Office of the Head of Service for further action.

The Head of Service disclosed that the pensioners living outside Enugu State and in the Diaspora are to be verified in their paying banks.

He directed them to thereafter forward the signed and stamped documents by their banks to the Office of the Head of Service through this email:(NAN)

Source: NAN News

Minister of state for Petroleum Resources Chief Timipre Sylva

By Edith Ike-Eboh

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, says that conversion of petrol cars to use Compressed Natural Gas(CNG) will be free for motorists in the country.

Sylva made the disclosure while answering questions from newsmen at the rollout of the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) in Abuja on Tuesday.

CNG is a fuel that can be used in place of gasoline, diesel fuel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). CNG combustion produces fewer undesirable gases than the other fuels.

Conversion is going to begin now and it will be forever and ever. Anybody that owns a car and wants to convert to dual fuel can go to conversion centre and convert his or her car.

It is going to be an ongoing thing and it will be for free at all times, he said.

Commenting on buses that would be handed over to oragnised Labour, the minister said that over a thousand buses would be delivered and that 100 buses would be handed over to the the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) by first quarter of 2021.

We will start in the first quarter in 2021 with over a hundred buses and we will continue to incrementally add buses until we get to that number.

Sylva noted that a million conversion kits would be available for motorists at various conversion centres nationwide, adding that motorists wanting to convert their cars would drive into the centresand get it converted.

On the price of the gas products, he noted that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed that they should work out the price of the product, assuring that the directive would be complied with.

The price has to be cheaper than Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol.

He noted that the inauguration of the NGEP had signaled the beginning of a new era in the industry and the country at large.

This area will create linkages to the economy we need and create jobs we need in the economy but unfortunately, we have not focused in this area the development of natural gas to develop the economy better.

Speaking on the availability of the products across the country, the Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr Sarki Auwalu, disclosed that 9,000 filling stations had been initially selected across the country to dispense auto gas.

The auto gases are Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), CNG and LPG.

He said that out of about 31,000 filling stations across the country, 9,000 were identified as having the capacity to install gas facilities as add-on in their premises.

He noted that going forward, in addition to the 9,000 identified filling stations, it would be made compulsory for other filling stations having capacity to install auto gas facilities in their premises to do so.

This, he said, would be a crucial part of their licensing requirements.

Auwalu added that the DPR was playing a crucial role in the NGEP, especially in the auto gas scheme to ensure safety in the deployment of facilities and utilisation of the commodity. (NAN)

Source: NAN News