News Update

President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke has said most Nigerian universities are on the verge of shutting down over the unbearable cost of electricity. Prof. Osodeke said this during the opening of a two-day national conference convened by ASUU in Abuja with the theme: “Nigeria in a State of General Crisis: The Search for a New Path to Development,” on Thursday.

 President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has submitted four tax reform bills to the House of Representatives for consideration and quick passage. In a letter addressed to the Speaker and read at plenary by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen on Thursday, October 3, the President said the bills were designed in line with the objective of his administration.

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 A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an order barring the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (otherwise known as VIO) from further stopping vehicles on the road, impounding or confiscating vehicles, and imposing fines on motorists.

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 Local divers and officials of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Thursday recovered 20 more bodies from water after a passenger boat conveying Mawlid celebrants capsized at Gbajibo, Mokwa LGA of Niger State. The recovery brought the total number of deaths to 36, according to the agency.

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 The Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Bashir Muhammad Dalhatu, has warned that the current situation of insecurity in the North is not only frightening but also threatening the existence of the northerners. The ACF board chairman gave the warning yesterday in Maiduguri when he led a delegation to visit and sympathise with the people of Borno State over the recent Maiduguri flood disaster.

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 Members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), on Thursday, threatened to lock up all polytechnics across the country after the expiration of a 15-day ultimatum given to the government if it finally fails to address their demands. The polytechnic teachers told journalists at a press briefing shortly after their emergency National Executive Council meeting in Abuja that the 15-day ultimatum to the federal government would commence on Monday.

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Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), in the 2023 election, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said with the current situation of things in the country, Nigerians will push for change in 2027. Kwankwaso said this while receiving a large number of the All Progressives Congress (APC) members who decamped to the NNPP in the state.

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 Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, on Thursday, insisted that the state’s local government election scheduled for Saturday, October 5, will proceed, despite protests from loyalists of his predecessor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. The governor warned against any attempts by groups or individuals to disrupt the electoral process, emphasising that he would not tolerate any action aimed at creating confusion or instability in the state.

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The Anambra State Police Command says it has launched a manhunt for yet-to-be-identified gunmen who killed two police officers in Nnewi North Local Government Area of the state on Thursday. Two police operatives were killed by unidentified gunmen in Uruagu, a community in Nnewi North Local Government Area.

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 A middle-aged man identified as Odogwu Chibuzor was shot while attempting, along with other fleeing suspects, to siphon diesel from heavy-duty trucks at the Dangote Cement plant in the Ibese area of Ogun State. It was learnt on Thursday that three other members of the armed gang fled the scene when security guards swooped on them but Chibuzor was apprehended.

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Some houses have been submerged as a result of flood recorded in Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

 heavy downpour was recorded in some parts of Ogbomoso between Wednesday and Thursday morning.

It was learnt that Ora River, which traverses the eastern part of the city, got its bank overflown, causing the flooding.

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Former Vice President, World Bank’s Africa Region, Dr Oby Ezekwesili has said the manufacturers of the weapons used by terrorists in Nigeria and other African countries can be traced, wondering why they have not been held accountable.

Ezekwesili stated this in Abuja on Thursday at the African Conference organised by the School of Politics, Policy and Governance, SPPG.

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Azubuike Okorie, a witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in the trial of former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika has told a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that under the Procurement Act, it was only the Permanent Secretary of the ministry that has the responsibility of compliance with the Act.

The witness, a retired Director of Procurement in the ministry and a special assistant to the former minister, said this while testifying as the second prosecution witness (PW2) in the corruption charges against the former minister who served under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Sirika was dragged before Justice Suleiman Belgore, sitting at Garki, Abuja by EFCC, alongside his brother, Ahmad Abubakar Sirika and two companies, Enginos Nigeria Limited, said to be owned by the former Minister’s brother and Alburaq Limited.

They are being prosecuted by the EFCC on a 10-count charge bordering on abuse of office, criminal breach of trust and use of position for gratification.

The anti-graft commission alleged that the former minister awarded various contracts to his younger brother to the tune of about N19.4 billion without following due process of law.

from dailypost