The red Chamber

By Naomi Sharang

The Senate on Tuesday called for the renaming of the Ibadan Airport after the late former governor of Oyo state, Sen. Abiola Ajimobi.

This was sequel to a motion on The Demise of Sen. Abiola Ajimobi sponsored by Sen. Buhari Abdulfatai (APC-Oyo) and co-sponsored by Sen. Teslim Folarin during plenary.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Ajimobi, who was also a former senator died on June 25 following COVID-19 complications.

The upper chamber also resolved to send a high powered delegation to commiserate with the family of the late senator, the Oyo State Government and the good people of Oyo.

Moving the motion, Abdulfatai said that in 2003, the Ajimobi became a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He was a Principal Officer in the Senate, serving as the Deputy Minority Leader.

He contested the governorship election under the umbrella of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2007 but lost.

He contested again in 2011 under the All Progressives Congress (APC) and was elected in a keenly contested election.

As the incumbent, he contested for a second term in an election that took place on April 11, 2015 under the APC against two of his predecessors in office.

In the event of his re-election into office as the governor, he achieved a remarkable feat by becoming the first person to occupy the highest seat twice, he said.

Supporting the motion, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun (APC-Ogun) said that Ajimobi was a jovial and hardworking person.

Meanwhile, the upper chamber has passed for first reading five bills.

The bills included the National Institute for Brackish Water Fisheries Research Ngo-Adoni bill sponsored by Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi; National Primary Health Development Agency bill, sponsored by Sen. Degi-Eremienyo Biobarakuma; Federal University, Dutsin-Ma bill, sponsored by Sen. Babba Kaita.

Others were Institute of Information and Communication Technology Uga bill, sponsored by Sen. Ifeanyi Uba and Institute of Risk and Disaster Management bill sponsored by Sen. Umar Suleiman.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

European Union

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the European Unions economy will be even more devastating than initially thought, according to the latest forecast from the European Commission.

In the 19 euro area countries, gross domestic product (GDP) should contract by 8.7 per cent this year, according to the calculations of EU economic experts, significantly deeper than the 7.7-per-cent decline predicted in May.

For the whole 27-country EU, a downturn of 8.3 per cent is expected in 2020.

The summer forecast shows, first of all, that the road to recovery is still paved with uncertainty, EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said as he presented the sobering figures in Brussels on Tuesday.

Moreover, the recovery from the slump will be slightly less robust than modelled in the last forecast from early May, according to a statement from the commission.

Despite a number of policies taken at the EU and national level, the bloc is only expected to return to growth in 2021.

The eurozone can anticipate a return to GDP growth at 6.1 per cent next year, while the whole EU should see a rebound of 5.8.

The forecast updates the grim picture of the blocs economic health following months of Covid-19 containment measures that saw shops, restaurants and hotels shuttered. Many of these measures have been gradually lifted in EU countries.

According to the EUs executive arm, early data for May and June suggest that the worst may have passed.

However, the forecast is predicated on the assumption there is no major second wave of coronavirus infection and is therefore surrounded by great uncertainty, Gentiloni stressed.

The 27 EU leaders are currently trying to strike a deal on a huge multibillion-euro stimulus package to mitigate the worst effects of the recession. So far, nothing concrete has been agreed.

Gentiloni urged EU leaders on Tuesday to reach a swift agreement on the plan. They are to meet in Brussels for a summit focused on the package next week.

The measures taken so far on the EU and national level have helped cushion the blow for citizens, but the state of the blocs economy is still a story of increasing divergence, inequality and insecurity, Gentiloni said in a statement.

France, Italy and Spain are set for sharper downturns, the senior EU official said at the press conference, whereas Germany, the Netherlands and Poland can expect milder contractions.

Source: NAN News

Alhaji Munir Ahmad, new Registrar Fed. Poly, Nasarawa

By Salisu Sani-Idris
The newly appointed Registrar of the Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa, Alhaji Munir Ahmad, has formally assumed duty.

The Rector of the polytechnic, Malam Abdullahi Alhassan, stated this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Nasarawa on Monday.

Alhassan said that the new registrar was the Deputy Registrar, Federal College of Education, Zaria, before his new appointment.

He stated that Ahmad, who was born in 1971 at Kwarbai in Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State,received his primary school education in Zaria from 1977 to 1982.

He added that Ahmad attended Alhudahuda College, Zaria from 1982 to 1988 and then proceeded to the Institute of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, between 1990 and 1992.

The rector added that the new registrar had attended several courses in Management, Administration and Corporate Executives at home and overseas.

Source: NAN News

Access bank Logo

By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

Access Bank Plc says it will reward over 1,000 DiamondXtra customers with various grants and cash prize in the second DiamondXtra quarterly draw of Season 12.

The banks Group Head, Retail Products and Segments, Adaeze Ume, disclosed this in a statement in Lagos on Monday.

Ume said that customers would win Salary-4-Life, business grants, rent advance and cash rewards in the quarterly draw.

She said that the initiative was the banks little way of rewarding its loyal customers as well as creating values for them to meet their needs these trying times.

We are gearing up for the DiamondXtra quarterly draw and we will be rewarding more than 1,000 lucky customers with various cash prizes, business grants, family health insurance, rent advance and other exciting rewards.

It is the banks little way of rewarding its loyal customers and creating more value to meet customer needs during these trying times.

We rewarded 10 customers last month with N1 million each at the monthly draw and we are here again to reward more customers in the quarterly draw.

To join the winning train, all you need to do is keep saving if you have a DiamondXtra account already.

If you dont have an existing account, simply dial 9015# to open a DiamondXtra account with just N5,000 and save in multiples of 5,000 to increase your chances of winning, she stated.

DiamondXtra rewards for the quarterly draw include Salary4Life (N100,000 every month for 20 Years) and rent for a year for 21 lucky customers.

Others are one year family health coverage for seven lucky customers; N1 million business grant for six lucky customers; N500,000 for 15 lucky customers and N100,000 for 45 lucky customers, among others.

DiamondXtra is an interest yielding hybrid account which allows deposit of both cash and third party cheques.

Hybrid means a combination of both savings and current account features.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the DiamondXtra reward scheme was launched in 2008 and has been running till date. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Mr Valentine Chime, as the new Managing Director

By Emmanuel Afonne

The board of Vodacom Business Africa (Nigeria) Limited has appointed Mr Valentine Chime, as the new Managing Director for its operations.

The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that Vodacom Business Nigeria is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Vodacom Group.

A statement by the company on Monday said Chime joins the Company from Aruwa Capital, a private equity company investing across West Africa.

It stated that Chime would drive the Companys vision of becoming Africas leading cloud and digital service provider.

The statement quoted Chime as saying Vodacom Business Africa (Nigeria) Limited is well-known and very respected in the industry, and I look forward to taking up this mission.

Covid-19 has accelerated digital transformation, and we are perfectly positioned to deliver intelligent connectivity through seamless delivery of cloud and digital services and technologies to our clients.

We are about simpler, seamless solutions; I look forward to building on this and growing the business.

It said that Chime had earlier held various C-suite positions in a number of portfolio companies in different sectors. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Chiazo Ogbolu

Mr Hassan Bello, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) says digitisation will ensure efficiency, competitiveness and reduce corruption in the ports.

Bello made this known during a courtesy visit to the councils headquarters in Lagos on Monday by the management of Clarion off-dock Terminal, a bonded terminal.

The management of Clarion was represented by the Vice President, Mrs Ifeoma Eloka and the Legal Representative, Mr Emmanuel Osonwa.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the terminal was sealed by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over alleged illegal activities.

According to Bello, the council is working toward the ports being digitised by March 2021.

Currently the port digitisation stands at 65 per cent. There are certain transactions bill of lading and invoicing that are not done online.

We are meeting with shipping companies, terminal operators and the banks to harmonise the process so that it will be okay and because all these things need to be integrated.

Most terminal and shipping companies are online, like 85 per cent and we need to make things more efficient.

That is why we want to digitise so that one can exit cargo without going to the port.

Digitisation is also against corruption. If one does not physically interact, you pay electronically and reduce corruption, it will be cheaper, more efficient and we will be more competitive, he said.

The NSC boss further said that the councils interest was to ensure the terminal was efficient and contribute to the system.

Bello advised the management of the terminal to ensure that business returned to normal, noting that coronavirus was already a disruption.

He said that COVID-19 presented a dangerous situation in the ports, saying that scanning containers was less dangerous than 100 per cent inspection.

He said that COVID-19 had disrupted the logistics chain which led to people abandoning their cargo in the port.

Bello said that terminals were not storing areas as spaces occupied by cargo led to congestion.

We are working to ensure that goods are cleared because lack of space at the ports is very dangerous. It signals congestion, both at the seaside and on the land side.

There are lots of cargo that are abandoned and need to be auctioned. We suggest to Customs to do on-the-spot auction without even taking them off because some of the goods are expired.

So, there is need to help the terminal operatorsclear the goods so that ships can have better turnaround time; now 50 days which economically is inefficient, Bello said.

He said that to contribute to port efficiency, the council was introducing three modes of transportation- the barges, roads and the rail.

He noted that by the time the ongoing construction is done, the Creek road, Liverpool and the Mile2 Tin -Can which was the major corridor, congestion would disappear.

Bello said that there was also the need for electronic call-up system and was happy that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) was making much effort on this.

No matter the present infrastructure, if there is no modern tracking system, it will be the same because everyone wants to go in at the same time to pick his cargo.

It is not a simple thing because this also needs strategy so we have to streamline the export processes and we want government to make the inland dry ports to be centre, he said.

In her response, the vice president of the bonded terminal, appreciated the executive secretary for timely intervention, saying that the loss incurred due to the closure of terminal could not be quantified.

She also thanked the Customs management for their intervention in ensuring that the terminal was opened for business, saying that they would go back to delivering their services appropriately.

Eloka noted that 100 per cent of all the transfers they did were through barges, connecting from Mile-2to the terminal.

Within six months, we have been able to evacuate up to 4,000 containers with the model we had instituted, she said.

She said that complaints by users of the terminal would be looked into.

Source: NAN News

U.S. President, Donald Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump will hold another large rally in support of his re-election campaign, even though the number of coronavirus infections is on the rise again in several states.

He will speak to supporters at an open air rally at Portsmouth airport in New Hampshire on Saturday (July 11), his campaign said on Sunday, adding that masks would be provided.

All guests must agree at registration that they voluntarily accept all risks that could result from a coronavirus infection and Trumps campaign assumes no liability for this.

The appearance will be Trumps second major campaign event since March.

The first event in a closed stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma about three weeks ago was poorly attended, though Trump had boasted that about one million people had secured free tickets.

Trump had been severely criticised because the number of coronavirus infections in the southern state was rising at the time.

Experts consider large events in closed rooms to be particularly dangerous for spreading infection.

Trump is countering this criticism with the new open-air event.

Additionally, the number of coronavirus cases in New Hampshire, a state on the eastern coast of the U.S. with a population of around 1.35 million, is considered relatively low only around 6,000 infections have been confirmed there since March.

The Democrats accuse Republican Trump of giving up in the fight against the virus.

New infections are currently rising sharply in southern and western states, including Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California.

The U.S. recently reported around 50,000 new infections per day on several days more than ever before.

Around 130,000 people have died in the U.S. in connection with the virus. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Dr Nat Adojutelegan Ondo APC Guber aspirant briefing newsmen

By Ifeanyi Nwoko

Dr. Nat Adojutelegan, one of the aspirants for the Ondo State Governorship election has called on the leadership of the party under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to employ direct primaries in determining its candidate.

Adojutelegan, briefing newsmen in Abuja on Monday after submitting his expression of interest and nomination forms, recalled the 2018 APC Congress in Ondo was fraught with irregularities.

He said that the fallout of the congress which produced parallel executive committees was still pending in court and as such, a repeat should be averted by employing direct primaries.

I cant end this press conference without addressing the raging controversy regarding the mode of election to adopt in the forthcoming primary elections.

In these circumstances 11 of the 12 aspirants contesting in the primary election prefer Direct Primary mode of election.

I respectfully ask the national leadership of the party to adopt direct Primary for the following reasons:

Avoid a deepening inter-crisis; Unify all the members of the party in readiness and preparation for the governorship election; Avoid excluding and disenfranchising a majority of the members of the party.

Create a level playing field for the aspirants; Catalyst to winning the governorship election by enabling emergence of the most popular aspirant as the partys candidate; Avoid the Zamfaras experience, he said.

The governorship candidate assured that his bid was aimed at achieving realistic missions of bringing about an egalitarian state, giving the people a sense of belonging and sustainable livelihoods as well as high living standards.

He assured that he planned to in the short term; change the historical narrative by putting people first and initiating policies for the betterment of the people.

He stressed that apart from people oriented policies, he would focus on enabling people have sensible livelihood, meet the needs at the local level and lead a transparent and accountable government.

On Monday 29th June 2020, I collected the expression of interest and nomination form at the national secretariat of the APC. I have submitted the forms.

My campaign tour will commence fully on the 9th of July 2020 after the screening exercise, I will be visiting wards across the state to solicit support from members of the party.

I will create an enabling environment for industrialisation of the state to create jobs and wealth.

I will enable the youth to acquire relevant skills required to develop our local economy

I will review School fees of tertiary institutions, he added. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

China has begun pulling back troops from its disputed border with India, following a clash between the two countries last months in which 20 Indian forces killed.

China on Monday began pulling back troops from along its disputed border with India, Indian government sources said, following a clash between the two countries last month, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

Troops fought for hours with rods and clubs on the night of June 15, with some falling to their deaths in the freezing waters of the Galwan river in the western Himalayas.

China has yet to confirm whether it suffered casualties. The Indian deaths are the highest along the border in more than five decades, a dramatic escalation that led to weeks of talks between senior military officials on how to ease tensions.

Chinese military was seen on Monday dismantling tents and structures at a site in the Galwan valley, near the scene of the latest clash, said the Indian government sources, who pleaded anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Vehicles were seen withdrawing from the area, as well as at Hotsprings and Gogra two other contested border zones the sources said.

Indias national security advisor Ajit Doval and Wang Yi, one of Chinas top diplomats, had a frank and in-depth exchange of views on Sunday regarding the border, according to briefing notes by both countries released on Monday.

Both sides said they had agreed to a significant disengagement of troops.

Indias note also said both sides had agreed to respect the existing Line of Actual Control (LAC) reflecting positions along the contested section of border.

This reference was not included in Beijings note on the meeting.

In response to a question on whether China had moved back equipment in the Galwan valley, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, said both sides were taking effective measures to disengage and ease the situation on the border.

We hope India will meet China halfway and take concrete measures to carry out what both sides agreed to and continue to closely communicate through diplomatic and military channels, while working together to cool down the situation at the border, Zhao said at a news conference on Monday. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu

Mr Babalola Obilana, the Director-General, LASPEC, said at the unveiling of the portal that the web would be accessible for the retirees regardless of their locations in the world.

Obilana said the portal was a single web interface that access all necessary information and interactions by all retirees in the state.

He said that the portal would assist in attending to personalised complaints and enquiries to the commission.

According to him, the initiative is part of the commissions programmes to enhance and improve its service delivery to all retirees in the state.

The new portal will be useful in checking the progress of documents under processing and also assist retirees to check status of retirement bond certificate processing.

Retirees will also be able to fill forms for issuance of identification cards for health insurance and other social intervention.

The portal will serve as a single portal for classified information for retirees to update their personal records, he said.

Obilana urged the retirees to key into using of the portal to scan and send all their documents to the commission throughor helpin order to eradicate constant visit to the commission.

The director-general said that LASPEC had also redesigned its flagship software application and made it available on cloud.

According to him, this is done to ensure continuous efficient service delivery to the states retirees during the COVID-19 pandemic in compliance with the physical distancing order in the state.

Source: NAN News