Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning

By Emmanuel Afonne

Local contractors in the country have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and see to the payment of contracts they executed in various Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of government.

The contractors under the auspices of Local Contractors of Nigeria (LCN) made the appeal in Abuja on Tuesday during a press briefing.

Publicity Secretary of the group Mr Dandy Rowland who addressed the press on behalf of the chairman said that over 5,000 contractors were affected by the delay in payment.

Rowland said the contracts were awarded between 2017 and 2010 in various MDAs, but regretted that payments have not been made even after the projects were completed and inaugurated.

Local contractors borrowed money from banks with interest to execute these contracts, but up till this moment we have not been paid.

Our continuous cry and appeal for payment attracted the attention of Mr President who inaugurated Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) in the Federal Ministry of Finance to verify these contracts.

PICA has since verified these contracts and recommended for settlement of the liabilities in batches beginning with N10 million downwards.

We are reliably aware that President Buhari who has zero tolerance for corruption has since last year approved and release some money to pay our members based on PICAs verification.

We are therefore calling on the president to mandate the Minister of Finance to pay Local contractors since the executed projects have been commissioned as part of achievement of the Federal Government, Rowland said.

Vice Chairperson of the group, Hajiya Fatima Ibrahim, pleaded with the president to save them from hardship as some of their members have died while waiting for the money to be paid.

Ibrahim said some other members of the group were hospitalised but cannot afford their medical bills.

Many local contractors have lost their homes to banks and creditors because they cannot pay back the loans collected, and some of our children have dropped out from school because we cannot afford their school fees, Ibrahim added.

She appealed to the president to come to their aid and save their families from trauma and hardship caused by none payment of their money. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

AGF Abubakar Malami

By Ebere Agozie

The Federal Government says 7,813 inmates have so far been released from the Nigeria Correctional Service Centres across the country since the outbreak of COVID-19 to curb the spread of the virus among inmates.

Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice said this on Tuesday in Abuja, to celebrate the achievement of the Presidential Committee on Correctional Service Reform and Decongestion, since inception in October 2017.

Malami said the measure was taken to reduce risk of inmates contracting the virus.

The Committee, since its inauguration, has visited and appraised about 39 prisons in 18 states and has released a total of 7,813.

It is pertinent to note the inadequacy of Nigerias correctional facilities, which are currently operating at more than 150 per cent of their capacity.

There is an ongoing construction of 3000-capacity maximum security custodial centres in Karshi, Abuja and in Janguza, Kano State, he added.

He said that undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed its own peculiar challenges in light of the worrisome and dilapidated state of the correctional centres nationwide.

As part of measures to decongest the custodial centres nationwide in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the dangers posed to the centres, my office and others agencies were galvanised to develop measures to overcome the challenges.

The others are the Ministry of Interior in collaboration with Presidential Committee on Correctional Service and Decongestion, the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy and State Executives and Other relevant stakeholders

The initiatives we adopted have so far led to the release of the inmates while simultaneously reducing the instances of unnecessary test and we intend to sustain this momentum, he said .

The Chairman of the committee and Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Ishaq Bello said that during the visits to the correctional centres nationwide, carried out inspection exercises where a number of facilities were discovered to be in dire need of urgent rehabilitation.

We made recommendations as a matter of urgency to the relevant authorities for the renovation/construction of these facilities, he noted.

He said the committee, after a review of cases of inmates eligible for Prerogative of Mercy and condemned convicts on death row for over 10 years, has written and keeps writing letters of appeal to several State Government Executives to act on some special cases encountered during the visits.

He added that letters were also written to some states as well as to exercise their powers of clemency in deserving cases or commute to life sentence those condemned to death. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

John Enenche, Director Defence Information

By Sumaila Ogbaje

Troops of Special Army Super Camp 4, Faskari, operating under Exercise Sahel Sanity have eliminated 46 bandits in an encounter at Yar Gamji town in the Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, in a statement on Tuesday said the encounter took place on July 6, following a distress call from the community.

Enenche said the troops conducted the operation shortly after their induction into operation by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, during the 2020 Nigerian Army Day Celebration.

He said the troops engaged the criminals and neutralised 46 bandits in the encounter, while others escaped with gunshot wounds.

According to him, the troops are presently in exploitation phase and have dominated the general area with aggressive patrols.

The general public is enjoined to disregard news making the rounds in some online media giving unsubstantiated and false information on the incident.

The chief of army staff congratulates the troops for their swift response and gallantry, Enenche said. NAN

Source: NAN News

Coronavirus

By Maureen Ojinaka

The Enugu State Government has announced nine new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number to 381.

The states Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ikechukwu Obi, made the announcement in a statement on Tuesday.

Obi stated that the ministry confirmed the nine new cases in the update by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

He added that the number of confirmed cases undergoing treatment was now 170, while 201 had been discharged.

The number of cases on treatment, 170, number of cases discharged,201, and number of confirmed COVID-19 related deaths is 10, he said.

He urged the public to adhere to all the NCDC precautionary measures to stay safe.

If in spite your efforts, however, you develop symptoms or know anyone who may have developed symptoms, please call the following numbers; 08182555550 or 09022333833 or the NCDC number 080097000010, he said.

The commissioner called on the public to be responsible, adding that COVID-19 is real. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Dr Chikwe Ikekweazu NCDC Boss

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), says it is the responsibility of State Governments to evacuate COVID-19 patients to medical facilities for treatment.

Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director-General, said this while fielding questions on Monday at the 49th joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 in Abuja.

According to the director-general, the NCDC cannot forcefully take a patient to the hospital as it is not a law enforcement agency.

Ihekweazu was reacting to a viral video showing a patient being forcefully evacuated.

He said while he could not vouch for any health officers conduct in the country, the evacuation of patients remained the duty of the state governments.

Every state has a responsibility for evacuation; as we start increasing the inclusion of the private sector in care, you would find that more people would start evacuating patients with the private sector services.

So, there is a whole spectrum of possibilities that could have happened.

What we dont do as health workers is to use force to evacuate patients to provide them care. That would be a very unusual reaction.

We are not law enforcement and we are not trained in law enforcement.

We never use force to evacuate patients; if we have difficulty and there are specific circumstances because of public health reasons why an evacuation has to happen, we would invite our friends in the (security) services to support us in that act, Ihekweazu said.

Source: NAN News

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja commiserated with the families of victims of recent boat mishaps on inland water ways in Benue and Lagos States.

Malam Garba Shehu, the Presidents Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, in a statement, quoted Buhari to have described their deaths as sad and unfortunate.

The president also condoled with the governments and people of both affected states.

He called on state authorities and surrounding communities to step up rescue efforts of passengers that were still missing.

Buhari called on the would-be passengers of water transportation to adhere strictly to safety regulations outlined by national and state authorities in order to prevent avoidable accidents and loss of lives and property.

Such a call has become imperative in view of prevailing COVID-19 guidelines against overcrowding and night travels, he added.

The president prayed that God would comfort the bereaved families and grant rest to the departed souls.

Source: NAN News

COVID-19

The regional business and tourism hub on June 24 removed a nationwide curfew in place since mid-March.

It has gradually reopened commercial businesses, public venues and the emirate, or state, of Dubai is set reopen to foreign visitors on Tuesday.

While it is worrying to see a slight increase in cases in the past few days, it is a reminder that we all should be responsible and committed to follow health practices, government spokesperson, Amna al-Shamsi, said late on Monday.

UAE health authorities continue to increase testing capacity for COVID-19, with additional two million tests to be performed in the coming two months, across the country, she said in comments carried on the government Twitter account.

The UAE recorded 528 new cases on Monday, taking its tally to 52,068 with 324 deaths.

The daily infection rate had dropped from a peak of over 900 in late May to average between 300 and 400, but rose over the weekend to 700.

Dubais move to allow foreign visitors has not been implemented on the federal level in the UAE, which does not provide a breakdown of coronavirus cases for each of its seven emirates.

Abu Dhabi, the largest and richest emirate, has restricted movement into the UAE capital, with people residing outside the emirate required to obtain a permit showing a negative COVID-19 test.

Neighbouring Saudi Arabia has the highest count among the six Gulf Arab states at more than 213,700 infections with 1,968 deaths as of Monday. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Adviser
A public relations adviser to the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos has been detained on suspicion of treason, the Russian news agency Interfax reported on Tuesday.

Ivan Safronov, a former journalist at the prominent Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, had become the information policy adviser to Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin just two months ago.

The case could be connected with his previous journalism work and publications about the military, the report said.

Roscosmos said the case was not related to Safronovs position at the space agency.

Treason is punishable in Russia by up to 20 years in prison.

Safronov was forced to leave the Kommersant newspaper 2019 after authoring an article that claimed the speaker of Russias upper house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, would soon leave her post for a sort of pre-retirement job as the head of Russias pension fund.

Eleven other journalists left the newspaper at that time as a protest in solidarity with Safronov and Editor Maxim Ivanov, who had also been dismissed.

Report says Matviyenko remains the upper houses speaker. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

British PM, Boris Johnson

At least three British pubs have closed their doors again after reports of coronavirus infections among customers who visited when they reopened over the weekend, the pubs said on Tuesday.

Police ordered more pubs to close in London and other cities over the weekend after outdoor areas became overcrowded with drinkers, many of whom did not appear to observe social distancing rules.

The government allowed pubs to reopen from Saturday following a three-month lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The Lighthouse in Burnham-on-Sea in southern England posted on Facebook that it had closed due to a customer testing positive to Covid-19.

We are slowly getting through [contacting] our list of customers that were in the pub on Saturday, it said.

In the northern town of Batley, the Fox and Hounds said it closed after a customer phoned to say they had tested positive for coronavirus.

The pub will be fully deep cleaned and when safe to do so we will reopen our doors, the Fox and Hounds said on Facebook.

The Village Home near the southern town of Gosport also said it had closed after a case of coronavirus in the pub which means that some of us are in isolation.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that the government could impose local lockdowns if people failed to follow social distancing rules as pubs, cafes and restaurants reopened.

Johnson said he wanted people to enjoy summer safely [but] its got to be done in a responsible way.

Source: NAN News

kidnap kingpin wadume

By Taiye Agbaje

The court clerk gave counsel in the matter July 13 for continuation of trial.

Hamisu bail along with six others standing trial for kidnapping, possession of firearms and dealing in prohibited firearms, contrary to Section 27 (1)(a)(I) and (1)(b)(iii) of the Firearms Act.

Source: NAN News