No fewer than 1,801 persons have been confirmed killed and 50,212 others displaced in recent attacks in Plateau state.

The Committee on Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), set up by the Plateau Government, made the confirmation on Monday.

AVM Bala Danbaba (retired), Chairman of the committee, presented his report to Gov. Simon Lalong on Monday in Jos.

Danbaba said that the committee identified 115 communities cutting across Jos North, Jos South, Bassa, Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Bokkos Local Government Areas, that were affected by the crises.

He said that the committee, whose one month period was later increased to two months, received 55 memoranda and visited 27 camps where the IDPs were quartered.

The only IDPs camp we did not visit was the one at Lere, in the Dorowa area of Barkin Ladi Local Government. We could not go there because of security reasons.

The committee also visited all the affected communities for an on-the-spot assessment, he stated.

He said the committee had recommended that the IDPs be returned to their ancestral homes, saying that the exercise should be carried out in four phases.

The committee also emphasised the provision of adequate security in the affected areas, he said, adding that the IDPs were willing and anxious to return to their homes, if security was guaranteed.

Danbaba suggested that a victim support programme be initiated to reduce their sufferings.

The committee also called for the establishment of temporary camps within the victims communities, for them to live in, while their houses were being reconstructed.

Lalong, who received the report, commended the committee for a carrying out a good job, and announced that the 7-man committee would be responsible for its implementation.

Lalong reaffirmed his administrations commitment to securing lives and property, and condemned insinuations that the state and Federal Governments were doing nothing to end the crises.

Things might be slow, but in the spirit of slowly, but surely, as well as patience, we have been able to make some phenomenal achievements in ensuring that peace returns and is sustained.

As some of our strategic initiatives in engendering peace and security in the State, this administration attracted the establishment of the 205 Combat and Rescue Units in Kerang.

We also attracted a Mobile Police Squadron in Shendam, as well as the recent approval to establish Mobile Police Barracks in Gashish District of BarkinLadi.

All these are in addition to procurement and distribution of security vehicles, equipped with modern communication gadgets, he stressed.

Lalong also said that he had approved the recruitment and training of neighbourhood watch personnel who had been attached to Operation Rainbow for community policing and intelligence gathering. (NAN)

Source: NAN

Teleology has formally taken over control of Nigerias troubled telecommunication company, 9mobile, by appointing a new board of directors, headed by 54 year-old Nasiru Ado Bayero.

Stephane Beuvelet will serve as the acting managing director, according to a statement by Mohammed Edewor, a new non-executive director of the new 9Mobile.

The appointment of the board followed the exit of the CBN appointed board and the transfer of ownership of the firm to the new investors, Teleology Nigeria Limited.

Other members of the board are: Asega Aliga (Non Executive Director), Adrian Wood (Non Executive Director), Mohammed Edewor (Non Executive Director), Winston Ndubueze Udeh (Non Executive Director) and Abdulrahman Ado (Executive Director)

The new Chairman of the Board, Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero welcomes the appointments.

As we begin this new epochal phase, we wish to thank all the employees who built this viable business. Our debt of gratitude also goes to our subscribers even as we assure them to get ready for real best-in-class additional value for their relationship with the 9mobile brand. Without you, there could not have been a 9mobile business for us to invest in today. We will justify your confidence in our brand by making significant investments that will improve the value you get for using 9mobile.

Mohammed Edewor also thanked the outgoing members of the Board, headed by Dr. Joseph Nnanna for helping to shepherd 9mobile through the critical transition phase it has passed through since July 2017.

The Central Bank of Nigeria in collaboration with the Nigerian Telecommunication Commission(NCC), in July 2017 appointed a Board of Directors chaired by Nnanna, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, to oversee the affairs of the company pending the completion of regulatory due diligence of the bid documents submitted by Teleology and sixteen others for its acquisition.

The bid process was midwifed by Barclays Africa.

9Mobile new chairman Bayero, was a graduate of Mass Communication, from University of Maiduguri.

He is a prince of the Bayero royal family in Kano. He is the Chiroman of Kano and is the district head of Nassarawa in the state.

He is familiar with boardroom politics, being a director of Platform Petroleum Limited, Sahelian Energy

China has postponed the lifting of a ban on the trade of rhino horn and tiger parts for medicine and other uses.

The government said on Monday after a storm of protest from conservation groups over a plan to water down the decades-old prohibition.

In October, the State Council issued a circular replacing a 1993 ban on the trade of tiger bones and rhinoceros horn, opening up exceptions under special circumstances, including medical research.

Environmental groups said lifting of the ban would be disastrous for endangered rhinoceros and tiger populations, even if the animal parts were only sourced from those bred in captivity.

Rhinos and tigers are already under critical pressure from a black market supplying the traditional medicine trade.

The detailed regulations for implementation of the October change had been postponed after study, the official Media reported, citing State Council Executive Deputy Secretary-General Ding Xuedong.

Under the October plan, exceptions to the ban could be made for parts from those animals, bred in captivity, being used for medical and scientific research, education and cultural exchanges.

Ding did not give a reason for postponing the change, or indicate if it would be permanent, but said the old ban remained in force.

The three strict bans will continue to be enforced: strictly ban the import and export of rhinos, tigers and their byproducts.

Strictly banned are the sale, purchase, transport, carrying and mailing of rhinos, tigers and their byproducts.

The use of rhino horns and tiger bones in medicine are strictly banned, Ding said.

China would continue to organise special crackdown campaigns with a focus on addressing the illegal trade of rhinos, tigers and their byproducts.

Illegal acts will be dealt with severely, Ding said.

Conservation groups argue that easing the ban would be devastating for efforts to protect tigers and rhinos.

Such lifting would confuse consumers and authorities as to which products were legal and which not, and expand markets for them.

China banned trade in tiger bones and rhino horns 25 years ago as part of global efforts to save the animals.

Commercial tiger farms are legal in China, and although using tiger bones in medicine was banned, tiger parts from farms often end up in tonics or other medicines, animal rights groups say.

Source: NAN

The Movement for Transparent Elections (MTE), a Civil Society Organisation(CSO) has warned that further delay in release of the budget of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) portends great danger to Nigerias democracy.

MTEs Convener, Abiodun Ajijola, in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, regretted that less than 100 days to the 2019 Nigerian General Elections, INEC had yet to be funded for the elections.

He recalled that the National Assembly received a letter dated July 11 for virement and supplementary budget to fund the 2019 General Elections.

Ajijola said that an initial approval to that was made after three months on Oct. 12 for INEC component while the security component was approved on the Oct. 16.

He said that the National Assembly however approved that the funds should be vired from the funds allocated to the Social Investment Programme(SIP) of the Federal Government which had been budgeted in the 2018 Appropriation Act.

On Nov. 6, four months after the original request for virement and supplementary budget was made, the National Assembly rescinded its decision on funding the elections entirely from the SIP of the Federal Government but rather sourcing 50 per cent from existing MDAs budgets and the other 50 per cent from the SIP while also opening an investigation into the social intervention scheme of the Federal Government.

It should also be remembered that the National Assembly made cuts amounting to 347 billion Naira in the allocations to 4,700 projects submitted to them for consideration and introduced 6,403 projects of their own amounting to N578 billion in the 2018 Appropriation Bill.

The current step by the National Assembly to share the funding for the elections between 30 MDAs and the SIP without making any cut on the increased funding of constituency projects is likely to create an impasse which could have ordinarily been avoided if greater effort was made to balance the source of the funding.

Nigerians need to remember that the National Assembly has already cut the budget of Federal Government projects by N347 billion and cutting the already scarce allocation to MDAs by another N121,122,525,050 would clearly create performance problems for these MDAs especially since they have already budgeted for these activities.

The National Assembly needs to make some concessions in the funding sources proposed to include part of its own 587 billion added to the 2018 budget proposal. The NASS should meet the federal government at least half way at a minimum if it truly is committed to supporting free, fair and credible elections in 2019.

The convener said that the National Assembly sent a version of the Electoral Act amendment Bill 2018 to the President for accent (3rd version) which had only 15 clauses in it devoid particularly of the section that related to smart card readers.

Ajijola said that the much talked about 4th version of the Electoral Act had yet to be transmitted to the president as of Nov. 12, adding that there were reports that there were still differences between the House and Senate versions- just three months to the general elections.

He called on well meaning Nigerians to let their voices be heard because it was clear that there was an attempt to frustrate Nigerias 2019 general elections which would be a threat to Nigerias democracy.

Nigerians will not allow this to happen and it is expected that the National Assembly source the funding for the 2019 general elections urgently from mutually agreeable sources with the executive to ensure smooth conduct of the elections next year.

The National Assembly members should remember that they are representatives of the Nigerian people and that the represented and not the representatives will have the final say.

MTE expects that the entire budget for the 2019 General Elections should be released to INEC on or before Friday Nov. 16 -exactly 3 months to the 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections.

MTE calls on the National Assembly lead by the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara as well as the Presidency lead by President Muhammadu Buhari to work assiduously concertedly to ensure that INEC was funded on time for the task ahead, he said.

Source: NAN

No fewer than 63 Ethiopian senior military and intelligence officers have been arrested for alleged corruption and human-rights abuses.

he Attorney General, Mr. Berhanu Tsegaye, said: Twenty-seven officials have been arrested for alleged corrupt practices, while 36 have been detained for alleged human rights abuses, with a manhunt underway for remaining suspects.

Tsegaye did not name any of the suspects but said some had already been taken to court.

The arrests are a rare move against the countrys powerful security apparatus.

They represent a further flexing of power by reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is seeking to break with Ethiopias authoritarian past, analysts said.

He said the suspected corruption occurred at the military-run Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC).

METEC officials were involved in purchases of $2 billion worth of goods without any bidding process, Berhanu said.

He pointed out that the company had been involved in the construction of Ethiopias immense, signature Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Abiy made an unusual public admission earlier this year that security officials had engaged in abuses and torture with impunity.

On Monday, Berhanu outlined some of the allegations of abuse committed at secret prisons in the capital Addis Ababa and elsewhere.

Detainees were subjected to various abuses including gang rapes, sodomy, prolonged exposure to extreme heat and cold, waterboarding and deprivation of sunlight, he said.

Berhanu also provided a brief update on the case of a grenade explosion at a June rally addressed by Abiy that left two people dead, saying that an unnamed intelligence officer was suspected of involvement.

Source: NAN

Ecobank and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have signed an agreement to work together to empower local communities to cope with disasters more efficiently.

Many innocent lives continue to be lost in Africa simply as a result of insufficient investment in disaster preparedness.

Many of the natural hazards that take place do not need to become major disasters when a population is prepared and able to respond adequately.

We need to address the underlying causes of this vulnerability, including lack of funding to equip communities with required systems and skills, said Dr Fatoumata Nafo-Traor, IFRCs Regional Director for Africa.

The growing gap between funds needed by humanitarian groups and funds available to them is a major cause of communities vulnerability to disasters.

It is on this account that Ecobank is partnering with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Africa to secure resources for their local first aid volunteers.

Ecobank will leverage its innovative technology to fundraise across Africa in an effort to mobilise capital to help narrow the funding gap.

Through our Ecobank Mobile App, we will be able to support the Red Cross and Red Crescents domestic fundraising efforts, said Sam Adjei, Regional Executive, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa (CESA) and Ecobank Kenyas Managing Director.

A first project is already being rolled out in Ghana where Ecobank is launching a digital public fundraising campaign. A unique QR code (a type of bar code used to access information through your mobile phone) has been created and displayed in branches, making donating easy and immediate.

Transforming Africa is the principle on which Ecobank has built its business, added Sam Adjei. Today, we are present in 33 countries across the continent.

That scale is what creates impact and determines how well we take our continent to the next level in a sustainable way.

Training will be another key pillar of the partnership, as IFRC will work with the Ecobank Academy, a pan-African corporate university based in Lom, Togo.

IFRCs staff members will participate in a number of customised programmes to enhance their management skills.

As part of the agreement Ecobank employees will also be given the opportunity to attend First Aid training sessions, enabling them to save lives during every day emergencies and disasters. Ecobank Tanzania will be the first Ecobank affiliate to roll out a first aid training course for its staff.

Supporting Africas most vulnerable by investing in local humanitarian organisations is not only cost-effective but it also ensures long-term and sustainable results.

Local humanitarian actors make a difference every day in their own communities. They respond to crises quickly, providing assistance that is culturally appropriate, said Dr Nafo-Traor.

Source: NAN

TraderMoni is a Federal Governments initiative aimed at providing two million petty traders across the country with collateral-free loans before the end of the year.

Excited crowd thronged and cheered as Osinbajo walked into the markets.

Shouts of TraderMoni, TraderMoni, baba baba, Osinbajo Osinbajo, rented the air, while security operatives had a field day controlling the crowd.

The vice president, who acknowledged the cheers, inspected the markets and had one-on-one interactions with the traders.

Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State accompanied Osinbajo to the markets.

Also in the team was Daddy Showkey, a galala singer, whose presence added fervour to the visits as his fans hailed and surged to exchange banters with him.

TraderMoni is designed to help petty traders expand their trade through the provision of collateral-free loans of N10, 000.

The loans are repayable over a period of six months

Under the scheme, beneficiaries can get access to a higher facility ranging from N15, 000 to N50, 000 when they repaid N10, 000 within the stipulated time period.

Source: NAN

By Chijioke Okoronkwo

Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has restated that he is an advocate of fiscal federalism, stronger state governments and state police.

Osinbajo made this submission while delivering the 40th Anniversary Lecture of the Association of Friends on Monday in Lagos.

The theme of the lecture is Restructuring and the Nigerian Federation.

He reiterated his stance that good governance was what Nigeria needed rather than geographical restructuring.

I have been an advocate, both in court and outside, of fiscal federalism and stronger state governments.

I have argued in favour of state police, for the simple reason that policing is a local function.

You simply cannot effectively police Nigeria from Abuja; only recently, I made a point that stronger, more autonomous states would effectively eradicate poverty.

So, I do not believe that geographical restructuring is an answer to Nigerias socio-economic circumstances.

That would only result in greater administrative costs; but there can be no doubt that we need deeper fiscal federalism and good governance.

He argued that state governments had enormous constitutional powers which they should harness to better their fortunes.

The vice president said that the Supreme Court held that states had a constitutional right to create local governments, pursuant to Section 8 of the Constitution.

He said that the creation remained incomplete until the National Assembly, by resolution, amended the existing list of local governments to capture the newly created councils.

Osinbajo said further that the apex court ruled also that with respect to federal land, the state had exclusive authority to grant authority tofor building or developmental control permits.

He said further that the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Lagos State Government as it struck down many provisions of the law that sought to give the Federal Government control over local government funding.

Osinbajo said that pursuant to the Supreme Court ruling, Lagos State Government created, by State Law, Local Government Council Development Areas(LCDAs) to activate the newly created local government councils, until such a time the National Assembly would complete the process.

He said that the Lagos State Government took the challenge which resulted in the state earning more Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) than 30 Nigerian states put together.

Osinbajo said it was wrong to mix up all the issues of good governance and diversificationof the economy with the argument on corruption.

Good governance involves inter alia, transparency and prudence in public finance.

It involves social justice, investing in the poor, jobs for young people, which explains our School Feeding Programme, providing a meal per day to over nine million pupils in 25 states today.

Our N-Power is now employing 500, 000 graduates; our TraderMoni that will be giving microcredit to two million petty traders; our Conditional Cash Transfers giving monthly grants to over 400,000 of the poorest in Nigeria.

The plan is to cover over a million households.

He said that in arguing for good governance, Nigerias greatest problem was grand corruption.

The vice president described corruption as the unbelievable looting of the treasury by simply making huge cash withdrawals in local and foreign currenciesa travesty which President Muhammadu Buhari stopped.

According to him, the restructuring Nigeria needs is the restructuring of governance in such manner as to eliminate corruption and create an enabling environment for growth and investments in infrastructure, education, nutrition and better sanitation.

Earlier in his address, Alhaji Oluropo Owolabi, said that the topic of the lecture could not have come at a better time.

He said that in recent times, restructuring had dominated the nations political discourse; hence the choice of the vice president, a professor of law for the lecture.

Owolabi said that the association was borne out of a vision of some young men, eight of them who decided in 1978 to concretise their fledging relationship and dominance of social space into a sustainable institution.

Source: NAN

Nigerias 3, 050 Megawatts Mambilla Power Plant will cost US$5.72 billion, the minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has said.

He said arrangements were at an advanced stage to secure the funds from the Chinese government in the form of loans.

Fashola said at a ceremony to mark his three years in office that work on the Mambilla Power Plant, which had suffered several setbacks for over 40 years, is set to commence from early 2019.

According to Fashola, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the project.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to ensuring the urgent commencement of the project, which is expected to be completed within 60 months.

On the level of development of the project, Fashola said, the progress is that for the first time in over 40 years the federal government has now signed an engineering and procurement contract. President Buhari has made that possible.

All the companies that were fighting themselves and going to court when we came are out of court. We have a contract, a joint venture; we created that joint venture; we have a contract with them we have signed. FEC has approved the project; it is going to cost $5.72 billion, he said.

He explained that the choice of the Chinese company, CGCC, to handle the project, was because it built Chinas Gorges Dam which is similar to the Mambilla power plant.

Aside providing the funds, Fashola said: They have the technology; they have done it before; no need to reinvent the wheel. We will take a loan; we are now trying to negotiate the final tranche of the loan.

The Nigerian government is supposed to provide 15 per cent of the total cost of the project as its counterpart funding.

You dont budget all of the money at once and even if the loan was approved today, you wouldnt draw it all down because it is a minimum of 60 months construction time, assuming that there are no hitches. That is where we are.

Source: NAN

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) hasconfirmed that the process for the extraditing former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke from the United Kingdom has begun.

Acting Spokesman of the commission, Mr Tony Orilade, disclosed this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

There have been calls from different quarters for the extradition of the former minister over several allegations of impropriety against her.

According to Orilade, EFCCsOperations Department has made presentation to the Legal Department to commence the process, and that process has commenced.

He, however, said thatthe action had to be processed through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, explaining that it was not something the commission would commence and conclude on its own.

It is ongoing. Within the next few weeks, the extent to which we have gone will be made known to the public.

It is not a fresh case; it is not a fresh petition that is just being looked into; the whole process is a total package.

This extradition is just an aspect of Diezanis investigation and commencement of trial, he said.

In 2017, a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the final forfeiture of N7.6 billion alleged loot recovered from the former minister to the Federal Government.

Justice Abdulazeez Anka granted an application by the EFCC seeking the final forfeiture of the money to the government.

Granting the application, the judge had said: I have read the motion on notice seeking the final forfeiture of the sum of N7.6 billion reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.

I have also gone through the affidavit in support of the application.

In the circumstances, I am of the view that the application has merit and is hereby granted as prayed. Parties have a right of appeal.

In October, 2017, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, had said that Nigeria had no immediate plan to bring Alison -Madueke back home to face trial.

Alison -Madueke, who is being investigated in the UK, had urged the Federal Government to bring her back to the country to face corruption charges against her.

But, Malami said that bringing her back to the country would jeopardise the investigation being carried on her in the UK.

Steps have been taken by the United Kingdom authorities on issues bothering on corrupt practices involving Nigerians.

If Nigeria feels strongly that there is need to bring Mrs Diezani Alison -Madueke here to face charges of corruption, government will not hesitate to do that.

As things stand now, there is no need for that since the UK Government is already investigating her, he had said.

The EFCC spokesman could not, however, say the point at which it became necessary to seek extradition of the former minister.

Source: NAN