Nigerias Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Amb. Tijani Muhammad-Bande, on Tuesday bowed out of office as President of the 74th session of the General Assembly.

He handed over the gavel to Turkish diplomat and politician, Volkan Bozkir, who will be steering the ship of the 75th session of the 193-member lawmaking body.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the change of baton took place during the closing ceremony of the 74th session.

The brief ceremony, held inside the General Assembly Hall at the UN headquarters in New York under strict social-distancing rules, saw UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in attendance.

In his remarks, Guterres said the 74th session was like no other in the 75-year history of the UN, citing the COVID-19 pandemic made the last seven months extremely difficult for the world.

The UN Chief congratulated Muhammad-Bande for his sterling leadership that saw the 74session completing its full programme of work in spite of the enormous challenges.

It has been a privilege to work with the General Assembly, our common platform for international consensus and action, during these difficult days, under the leadership of His Excellency Professor Tijjani Muhammad-Bande.

Professor Muhammad-Bandes capable stewardship saw the General Assembly adopt new working methods to continue its work smoothly.

He made great efforts to ensure business continuity through regular convening of the General Committee and other online briefings.

On a personal note, I would like to thank Professor Muhammad-Bande for his wise, determined and serene approach to those unforeseen challenges, and his excellent judgment under pressure.

I commend the patience and support he has demonstrated during these unprecedented times.

Guterres also thanked representatives of member states for their support and cooperation, urging them to extend same to Bozkir in the 75th session.

In his inaugural speech, the new General Assembly president thanked Muhammad-Bande for his considerate and steady leadership.

Your Excellency, you once described yourself as a perpetual student. Your efforts to navigate the General Assembly through these difficult times proved that you also a fast learner.

Since the start of the pandemic, the office of the President of the General Assembly under your direction has guided the work of the body transparently and effectively.

You have shown a strong leadership; I look forward to continuing to champion the priorities of you term, including poverty eradication and inclusive and equitable education for all.

These Sustainable Development Goals are crucial to the future prosperity and peace of our planet.

On behalf of all member states, I would like to thank you and your team once again and look forward to continuing to work with you as the Nigerian Permanent Representative, Bozkir said.

In his closing statement, Muhammad-Bande thanked the Secretary-General, Presidents of the Security, and Economic and Social Councils, and heads of other organs of the UN for their support.

He expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for nominating him for the post, and the African countries in the UN for their endorsement.

We started this session guided by the hopes and aspirations of the people we serve.

From the beginning, I entreated Member States to give due attention to a number of critical issues.

In particular, I urged them to tackle the root causes of conflict by galvanising multilateral efforts for poverty eradication and zero hunger, quality education, climate action, and inclusion (including gender equality).

As illustrated in the handover report, the General Assembly has made great strides in these areas, he said.

The Nigerian envoy echoed the call for a recommitment to multilateralism and global cooperation to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic and attain the Sustainable Development Goals.

He said the first high-level meeting of the 74th session centred on global health, little did it know that COVID-19 was around the corner.

The pandemic, according to him, underscored the need for deeper multilateral cooperation in the health sector, as in other areas, to build a healthier and better world for all.

It is important that in achieving this, we must continue to deepen cooperation to ensure that despite the challenge posed by COVID-19, we will meet the goals and targets that we set for ourselves by 2030, he said.

Source: NAN News

N40bn probe: Reps Cttee summons Akpabio, NDDC MD, others

The meeting, which held in the office of Mr Olubumi Tunji-Ojo, the Committee Chairman at the National Assembly Complex, began at about 3.30 p.m. and ended at about 7.00 p.m.

Akpabio had earlier visited the acting Clerk of the National Assembly (CNA), Mr Olatunde Ojo to congratulate him on his appointments.

Speaking to journalists earlier, Akpabio said that he was also at the National Assembly to further boost the cordial relation between the Executive and the Legislature.

I am here to congratulate the acting CNA for his elevation and, of course, to solicit the continuous cooperation of the National Assembly toward the development of the Niger Delta region, the minister said.

He said that the National Assembly was supposed to resume today but it had been postponed.

He said as soon as the lawmakers resumed, he would come to the National assembly as part of my effort to support the Presidents decision that there must be cordial relationship between the Executive and the Legislature.

In fact, the president recently set up a tripartite committee made up of the party (APC), the National Assembly and the Executive to ensure oneness because we are running one government and it is important that we remember that in all we do, we want to leave a legacy for Nigeria.

We cannot do that if all the arms of government are not cooperating.

So far, I believe that whatever disagreement that could have occurred between my ministry and the National Assembly must have been as a result of mischief.

And that mischief must be put to rest so that we can work in one accord for the sake of the nation, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the committee on NDDC had probed the activities of the commission and the involvement of the minister.

The committees report on the outcome of the investigation would be submitted to the house for further consideration and recommendations upon resumption.

Source: NAN News

Taekwondo athletes fight for medal

By Emmanuel Afonne

National taekwondo coach John Victor says he is full of hopes that Team Nigeria will present three athletes at the Tokyo Olympics slated for 2021.

Victor told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja that two athletes on the teams substitutes list might join Elizabeth Anyanacho.

Anyanacho has qualified to compete in the Olympics -73kg (welterweight category).

This was after defeating former African champion Urgence Mouega of Gabon 12-5 points in the -67kg womens bout at the 2020 Africa Taekwondo Olympics Qualifiers in Rabat, Morocco.

Benjamin Okuomose (heavyweight category) and Chinaza Nwosu (featherweight category) who were on the Olympics substitutes list can join if things work in their favour, he said.

Victor said no stone would be left unturned to ensure they qualified.

For now, taekwondo has qualified one athlete and two are on Olympics substitutes list.

It means that if things work their way, they will go for the Olympics. But for now, the sure ticket is Elizabeth Anyanacho.

Because of COVID-19, all we do now is video (virtual training) training and because of proximity, we meet occasionally with a few of them that are around.

But those that are too far train on their own.

However, Chika Chukwumerije, the Technical Director of Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF), is the one training Anyanacho one-on-one.

Lucky for us, the Olympics has been moved to 2021 and government is beginning to relax restrictions on sporting activities.

But the thing with preparing for international tournament is that you need other tournaments to practice what you know.

These athletes have lost almost six months of no international event or even a local tournament and it reduces the ability to calculate their progress, Victor said.

According to him, athletes need enough funds to prepare for international competitions especially the Olympics.

He explained that athletes from other countries have an edge over the countrys athletes because of improved training facilities.

Athletes from other countries have been training and we dont have what they have.

Other countries have funds available for training, they have high performance centres where they can be kept especially this time of COVID-19 so that they will be shielded from the outside world.

Other countries also have contingencies procedure that we dont have and they are used to keeping their athletes together for months and years in preparation for a tournament.

But in Nigeria we bring athletes together few months to tournaments.

We brush athletes up for the events and God has been faithful to us in our preparations, he added.

He urged the Federal Government to do everything possible to provide athletes and officials with the necessary tools to prepare for the Olympics to ensure good outing. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Group calls for youth inclusiveness in governance

By Gami Tadanyigbe

The South East Initiative For Good Governance, a youth group, has called on the Federal Government to engage youths in democratic process for the development of the country.

Mr Kingsley Okoronkwo, President of the organisation made the call on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after a Youth Day and new yam festival celebration in Abuja.

Okoronkwo said the government should engage youths in such a way that it would make them achieve and have the desire to help tackle national and global challenges.

Nigerian youths are brilliant in all aspect of life, they are resourceful, genuinely skillful and can handle any task given to them.

But the political leaders are thinking otherwise, they see youths as mere objects of voting instruments for political thugs and errand boys.

In this same Nigeria, we have seen youth become Kings, Ezes, Emirs but it is different in the Nigerian politics, he said.

According to him, youth engagement in governance is a necessary ingredient for transformation, integration, economic, social and environmental development.

He said that young people were good communicators, therefore, the government should provide substantive engagement for youths to ensure sustainable development in the country.

The same constitution that was crafted to stop the young people from aspiring for leadership should also be used for the eligibility to vote politicians.

The youths want to make their marks; they want to make names that will last for a lifetime through serious development and transformation of the country, he said.

Okoronkwo explained that the success of the country depends on the full participation and engagement of youths in the planning, implementation and monitoring of policies.

He, however, called on the youth to fulfill their roles as agents of unity, positive change and sustainable development.

NAN reports that the festival organised by the Igwebuike Igbo Youth Association of Nigeria, FCT Chapter, featured presentation of awards of excellence to Comr. Chukwudubem Nnebedum, the president of Igwebuike association.

Other awardees are HRH Tobias Ochigbo as patron of the festival and as Ikemba Ndi-Igbo Youth Nigeria and Mr Okoronkwo as the Eze Umuokorobia Ndi-Igbo (Nigeria and Diaspora).

Also, Mr Dogo Williams, was awarded the Ogorbuchonye Na Uzu-Ije, the Special Adviser on transport to the Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

U.S. Department of State

By Harrison Arubu

The United States has imposed visa restrictions on some Nigerians involved in the run up to the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states.

The move also targets individuals it accused of working to undermine the November 2019 governorship polls in Kogi and Bayelsa.

Morgan Ortagus, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

Ortagus said those affected were working to undermine the Nigerian democratic process or for organising election-related violence.

The Department of State emphasises that the actions announced today are specific to certain individuals and not directed at the Nigerian people.

This decision reflects the Department of States commitment to working with the Nigerian government to realise its expressed commitment to end corruption and strengthen democracy, accountability, and respect for human rights.

We remain committed to working together to advance democracy and respect for human rights and achieve greater peace and prosperity for both our nations.

We condemn the acts of violence, intimidation, or corruption that harmed Nigerians and undermined the democratic process.

The spokesperson urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, political parties, security services and other stakeholders in the impending Edo and Ondo elections to uphold the tenets of democracy.

She underscored the need for them to facilitate genuinely free and fair elections, conducted in an appropriately transparent and non-violent manner. she said.

She did not provide vital details of Nigerians affected such as their identities, how many they are and how the government arrived at its conclusion.

On enquiry, another spokesperson of the department told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that such information was protected by U.S. privacy laws.

Visa records are confidential under Section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

Therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases, the official said.

In Mondays statement, Ortagus said the latest targets operated with impunity at the expense of the Nigerian people and have undermined democratic principles.

The Edo and Ondo governorship polls are scheduled to hold on Sept. 19 and Oct. 10. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Abubakar-led peace committee with Gov. Obaseki and deputy Philip Shuaibu

By Monday Ajogun

The Chairman of the National Peace Committee, retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, on Monday in Benin said that members of his committee were in the state to assist in ensuring that the Sept. 19 gubernatorial election was conducted peacefully.

Abubakar stated this while addressing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), governorship candidate, Gov. Godwin Obaseki, ahead of the peace pact by all parties involved in the elections.

According to him, the political temperature in the state has been high in some areas for sometime, and the peace committee decided to assist in calming tensions because if there is no peace, there cant be any elections.

So, your excellency, this is why we are here in Benin together with members of the peace committee and Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Bishop Matthew Kukah is here.

Like I wrote you in my letter from the peace committee, tomorrow the signing of the peace pact will take place at 2pm between you, other candidates and their chairmen.

As you know the purpose of this committee is to ensure that all those involved in this election get hold of their supporters and party people to ensure that there is peace in the state, Abubakar said.

In his remarks, Gov. Obaseki welcomed the former head of state saying that his good work across the globe, where he had been seeking peace across trouble zones, spoke for him.

We just finished the stakeholders meeting with the Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Prof. Mahmod Yakubu, and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu, where they informed us about the significance of signing this peace pact.

I just want to assure you that as a government and as an individual we totally align with your cause. Its in our best interest as government to promote peace in our land.

We are committed to ourselves, our monarch, Oba Ewuare II, and our people to do all within our powers to maintain peace.

We are also going to applaud and support you to ensure that we take responsibility to ensure there is peace in this election, Obaseki said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Sen. Orji Kalu

By Naomi Sharang

The South-east caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the National Assembly has passed a vote of confidence on the interim leadership of the party led by Gov. Mai Mala Buni of Yobe.

Chief Whip of the Senate, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu who is the leader of the caucus, made the declaration when he led other lawmakers from the party to the APC secretariat.

Kalu extolled the leadership qualities of the Buni-led committee , saying his leadership will bring about required unity among the various members and chapters of the party.

According to him, peace has been restored in the party under the leadership of Buni.

He, however, on behalf of the caucus, admonished the Buni-led national leadership to instill transparency, fairness and justice across all strata of the party before emergence of substantive executives at the national level .

We need more openness in the party, in order to promote transparency within the party because once the party has transparency in operating in all their activities, things will be easier.

It is easier to win election with popular candidates. It is difficult to win elections when people are imposed. We should avoid imposition of candidates.

You are a very experienced party administrator and governor of the state and you are also very experienced in handling party matters.

The caucus of the South-east APC want to congratulate you; to enjoin other party members and to reassure you that we are going to work with you and infact, pass vote of confidence on this working national executives, he said.

He assured the national leadership of the party of better electoral performances in subsequent elections from the South eastern geo- political zone.

I want to specially congratulate and to tell you that we are solidly behind you and we shall support you in your quest to do everything transparently, he said.

Also speaking, Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Hon. Nkeiru Onyejeohca advocated encouragement and inclusion of women in the partys activities and elective positions.

We are going to embark on constitutional review and I want you to use your office to ensure that you carry everyone along because there is no way we can continue living the way we are living.

Women are helpmates to the men and in politics if we dont have enough women coming up on board, that means we are not doing what God says, she said.

Buni who thereafter reaffirmed the committees willingness to work with the south-east caucus, extolled Kalus efforts and contributions to the partys growth and urged him to continue his good work for the party .

He also called on women to take up the responsibility of contesting in elections rather than waiting to be given such positions on a platter of gold .

I disagree because most times our sisters will come from the position of weakness.

In APC there was a time we decided to give free nomination forms to women, we did that but there was a very superior argument that came up.

Which said that the women should come from the position of strength, because you can pay for the forms just the way a man can also pay.

When we are talking about democracy, democracy is about contests. You have to contest; there are more women that I know that perform more than men, even in the national assembly, you can attest to that, he said.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

PTF on COVID-19

By Abujah Racheal

The Presidential Tasks Force (PTF) on COVID-19 says it will continue to ensure that the countrys responses to the pandemic are based on sound science and data.

The PTF Coordinator, Dr Sani Aliyu, while speaking at the daily briefing on COVID-19 on Monday in Abuja said that the PTF would also borrow from theexperiences of other countries globally, since the world was a global village.

So this is why we have established an online registration portal as part of our risk mitigation measures,following the publication of our travel guidelines for travellers coming to Nigeria and in order to make that experience as smooth as possible for the passenger.

The portal itself is a tool that ensures travellers coming to Nigeria register on the platform and complete all the necessary steps required to comply with the travel guidelines that we issued on the 5th of September, this year.

So what are those steps?

This specifically applies to passengers outside Nigeria, not those who live in Nigeria. If youre outside Nigeria, the first step you need to do when you are coming into the country is to go and have a COVID-19test done, he explained

Aliyu said that the test had to be a Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

We do not accept antigen-antibody serological tests. It needs to be done from a certified laboratory in the country you are in and we already have a list of accredited labs from countries that we initially had issues with their results.

The test needs to be valid for no more than 96 hours, preferably the closer it is to the time of boarding, the better.

Passengers without a valid PCR test or those with the result older than 96 hours will not be allowed to board the flight. Once you have your COVID-19PCR result and its negative, you go onto the photo, which is at nitp.ncdc.gov.ng and you register on the portal, he said.

The coordinator noted that whenpeople registered, they would fill the pre-boarding health declaration form, this was the same form that people used to fill manually in flights or on arrival in Nigeria.

After you fill the form, you will be asked to upload your COVID-19 PCR result thats negative. If you upload a positive COVID-19 PCR result,you will still not be allowed to board; it has to be a negative result.

Once you upload your result, you will then go ahead to fill in where you are arriving to, whether its Abuja or Lagos.

We are making subsequent adjustments to the portal to enable us find out exactly where youll be on day seven after arrival, whether you will be in Maiduguri, Port Harcourt or Calabar, so that you can choose a sample collection center within the city that youll be residing in on day seven.

For the moment,we have laboratories across Abuja and Lagos only but weve made arrangements with these laboratories to make sure that when you pay, wherever you are in the country, they will arrange for a sample to be collected from you, but we are really encouraging private laboratories outside Abuja and Lagos to work withstate governments, in order to get onto the platform and provide improved access to testing for travellers, he explained.

He, however, said that If a person encountered issues with payment, this was a card payment, if they have international card, it would be easier for them to choose the dollar option rather than the Naira option, and there would also be a button for PayPal, for those that were unable to use the normal Nigerian banks for paying.

If you encounter issues with payment, you may still pay at the airport when you arrive, however, just to make it clear, it is much faster for you when you arrive Nigeria if you have already done all these three steps and you have paid, its a very smooth process. If you havent and you have to pay at the airport, then you should be ready to experience significant delays in the process of clearing.

Once you arrive Nigeria, you will have a barcode or a QR code that youll present at the airport. They will be able to download your information,confirm whether or not things have changed since the last time you completed your health declaration form and ask you to proceed to immigration for clearance.

Since starting this process, I am pleased to inform you that travellers arriving in Nigeria have been using the international travel portal and weve actually collected data on how the portal has been used so far, he stated.

Aliyu disclosed that so far, 9409 travellers have registered, where 5,541 persons have made payments through the portal.

Based on technical analysis, It appears 5 per cent faced technical difficulties with payment, about a third of travelers did not register with the portal, we do not know whether these travelers subsequently paid on arrival or were able to get to a bank to pay for it.

And just to make it clear, its mandatory that you have the PCR test done on day seven. So if you arrive in thecountry and for whatever reason you do not have a card that works on the system and youre unable to pay at the airport, you will still have to make arrangements to pay before day seven of your test.

If you do not have a test by day 14, regardless of whether you have paid or not, we have a system for identifying persons with Nigerian passports and restrictions will be placed on these passports for a six-month period, he said.

Aliyu stressed that forthose that werenon-Nigerians that have not had the PCR test done between day-seven to day-14 on their way out of the country,their visas would be revoked.

He, however, saidthat there were clear implications for not following the travel protocol and this was donein the best interest of the public health of the country.

Aliyu noted that the PTF remained committed to transparency and good governance.

None ofthe fundsbeing paid to the laboratories aregoing to either the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) or to the PTF.

A small fraction of that will be going to the state governments where these labs operate for the purpose of administration, logistics and data management and the rest goes to the laboratories, he disclosed.

The coordinator urged laboratories outside Abuja and Lagos to please key into this because the more laboratories the country has in operation, the easier it would be to drive down costs and improve competition.

Its not a procurement process, so you can have as much as a hundred laboratories in Lagos and Abuja providing this service.

The three key requirements,you have to be licensed by the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, you have to have NCDC validation and optimisation in order to function as a molecular laboratory, and then thirdly,you must be accredited by the state government that you are operating in because your test results will feed into the state numbers, he urged.

Aliyu said that the PTFworked day and night with partners, like CACOVID, to ensure that the travel platform operated smoothly.

We know that there are still some issues with the platform that we are resolving but overall at the moment,it appears to be working well for the vast majority.

When we started using the platform in the first few days,90 per cent of all travellers were able to use the platform without any issues.

Nevertheless, we do not want to place undue restrictions on Nigerians coming into the country that genuinely cannot use the platform, which is why we puton hold the requirement for having a QR code or barcode when you are arriving in thecountry.

But, we are working toward making sure that a QR code can still be generated where you have not finished payment,provided as evidence that you have attempted paying so that at least we will have your health questionnaire and you will have your COVID-19 PCR negative result electronically available for us to be able to review and go back to, if theres an issue. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Prof. Akin Abayomi, Lagos State commissioner of Health.

By Oluwafunke Ishola

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, says 438 active cases of COVID-19 in Lagos communities were yet to turn up for treatment in the states COVID-19 care centres.

Abayomi made the disclosure through his Twitter account, @ProfAkinAbayomi, on Tuesday while giving the states COVID-19 update for Sept.12.

He said that 48 new COVID-19 infections were confirmed out of a total of 915 COVID-19 tests conducted in the state on the reported day.

According to him, the new cases bring the total number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Lagos to 18,531.

He added that the total number of COVID-19 tests conducted in the state since inception of the pandemic now stands at 92,206.

Abayomi said: 2,407 of the confirmed cases have since been discharged from #COVID19 Care Centres following full recovery.

Also, 15,422 of the confirmed cases monitored in communities by #COVID19 Lagos Response Team have either fully recovered or positively responding to treatments, the commissioner said.

He said that 59 of the cases were currently under isolation in public and private care centres.

Also, data by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Africa Region, shows that there are 1,338,996 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the continent, with over one million recoveries and 32,354 deaths. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Oba of Benin, Oba Ewaure II

Igbaugba Ehigimetor

Benin Monarch, Omo NOba NEdo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, has called on the Police and other security agencies to ensure a peaceful Governorship election in Edo.

The monarch made the call when the Inspector General of Police (I-G), Mohammed Adamu visited him at his palace on Monday.

Ewuare II expressed worry about the violence that has marred political campaigns in the state, describing the political tension as unprecedented.

I, however, have been praying to God and ancestors for violence-free election, he said.

Earlier, the I-G had told the monarch that 31,000 police officers are expected to take charge of policing and other security issues during the Edo governorship election, billed for Sept 19.

The I-G noted that there is no cause for alarm as the police have mapped out different security strategies to nip in the bud any breakdown of order.

Adamu assured the monarch that peace was not an option in the Edo poll.

The police boss said that the police had met with the two main political gladiators and other contestants for the election on the need for a peaceful election.

He pointed out that the various contestants have assured the police that they would play the game by the rules.

He commended the monarchs effort on the peace pact organised for the main political actors in the state, which doused the rising political tension in the state. (NAN)

Source: NAN News