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Monday, 16 January 2017 17:19

Enveloping darkness as 1,062mw of electricity is lost in one week

The country’s electricity grid has lost 1,062 megawatts (mw) to various constraints of gas supply shortage and turbine faults, checks on the power sector reveals. The grid which had peak power generation of 4,160mw on January 1, 2017 dropped to 3,432mw last week, and further declined to 3,098mw on Sunday, causing a total loss of 1,062mw. Information obtained from the Nigeria System Operator (NSO) said the lowest generation was around 2,700mw. Some customers in Abuja said power supply has declined as those who use to have about 18 hours supply are now having less than 11 hours supply daily. Sources…

Monday, 16 January 2017 03:19

Stop illegal collection of fees for N-Power, welfare programmes, FG warns states, others

Collection of fees and charges by some state governments and local officials for the federal government’s social investment programmes is illegal and should be stopped forthwith, the presidency has said. PREMIUM TIMES reported how some state governments charged applicants various fees, particularly for the N-Power programme. About 200,000 jobless Nigerians across the country have started benefitting from the first phase of the N-Power programme and are to receive N30,000 stipend monthly to teach in schools or work in the agricultural sector. In Abia, hundreds of applicants on December 6 protested exploitation by state officials who made them pay N500 each…

Monday, 16 January 2017 03:17

NLC to FG: Another fuel price hike? Don't think about it

Nigeria Labour Congress has said Nigerians will not be able to take another fuel price increase in view of the harsh economic situation in the country. General Secretary of NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, told one of our correspondents on the telephone on Sunday that the government should review its policy on subsidy that led to the increase in the fuel pump price from N97 to N145 per litre last year. Sunday PUNCH had reported that the Federal Government had started paying subsidy on fuel as a result of the increase in the landing cost and total cost of fuel from…

Monday, 16 January 2017 03:05

Obey the court, release El-Zakzaky, wife, Amnesty International tells Buhari

Nigerian authorities must immediately comply with a High Court order and release the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife from detention, said Amnesty International. Mr. El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenah Ibraheem, have been in detention without charge for more than a year following a clash between his supporters and the Nigerian military in which soldiers slaughtered hundreds of men, women and children. The authorities claim he is being held in “protective custody”. “The 45 day deadline given for their release expires today. If the government deliberately disregards the orders of its own courts,…

Monday, 16 January 2017 03:04

Buhari’s economic policies lack human face – CAN

Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), on Sunday, condemned the economic policies of President Muhammadu Buhari, including the ban on foreign goods and devaluation of the currency, saying the policies lacked human face. The ban on foreign goods by the Federal Government, CAN said, would lead to smuggling and huge revenue losses, adding that the devaluation of the currency “led to galloping inflation to the extent that the cost of living has risen and makes life unbearable for people.” President of CAN, Dr. Samson Ayokunle, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Adebayo Oladeji, said this in…

Monday, 16 January 2017 03:02

Power supply to households drops to 37% in Q4 2016

Aggregated power poll results released by NOIPolls for the second half of 2016 (July to December 2016), revealed a decline in power supply to Nigerian households in the fourth quarter (Q4) as only an average of 37 per cent reported improvement in power supply. This represented a significant 9-point decline when compared to the third quarter (Q3) of 2016 at 46 per cent. Moreover, the survey showed that Nigerians experienced the highest improvement in power supply in Q3 (46 percent). This, it said was possibly as a result of the adequate water reserves in the nation’s water dams within this…

Monday, 16 January 2017 03:01

Alfred Ilenre, journalist, minority rights activist, dies at 78

It was a packed hall in New York in 2002 when Alfred Ilenre addressed the First Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum For Indigenous Peoples. He spoke as the Secretary-General of the Ethnic Minority and Indigenous Rights Organisation of Africa, a Pan-African organisation dedicated to the prevention of discrimination and protection of the rights of ethnic minorities, indigenous and local communities all over Africa. “It has always been stated that one of the problems Africa faces is that of ethnic and indigenous community pluralism,” Mr. Ilenre told the audience. “Africa nation states are creations of colonial intervention. Different ethnic…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 17:09

Buhari remembers fallen heroes, commends troops for their sacrifice

President Muhammadu Buhari has commended troops for their sacrifice to the nation. He also said those who died in the line of duty would not be forgotten. He spoke at the national arcade in Abuja on Sunday, while performing the wreath laying ceremony for the 2017 Armed Forces Remembrance Day. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives; and Walter Onnoghen, acting chief justice of Nigeria, were among dignitaries at the event. Buhari spoke via video-conference to troops in Sambisa forest, and United Nations Mission In Liberia (UNMIL), and the air force base In Yola, Adamawa state…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 17:08

FG rejects BBOG conditions for joining Chibok Girls’ search mission

The Federal Government has rejected the conditions given by the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group for joining a day search sorties for missing Chibok girls to Sambisa Forest. In a letter addressed to the convener of the group, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, which was made available to the media on Sunday, the government said it was unable to postpone the trip as scheduled. The letter dated Jan. 14 was signed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. ‘’Thank you for your letter, dated Jan. 13, which is in response to ours of Jan. 11, requesting that we…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 17:05

Nigeria needs more private universities – NUC

Executive Secretary of the National University Commission, NUC, Professor Abubakar Rasheed, has said that the number of universities in Nigeria was too small given its population. He charged individuals and organisations to invest in education by establishing private universities. Delivering the convocation lecture of the Fountain University, Osogbo, Rasheed explained that Nigeria has just over a hundred universities for a population of over 180 million people. During the convocation, a total of 198 graduands got first degrees while honourary degrees were conferred on two eminent Nigerians, Sakariyau Babalola and Yusuf Ali. Mr. Babalola who is the Deputy President-General of Nigerian…

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Sunday, 15 January 2017 03:07

Interview: Boko Haram’s resilience baffled us – Buratai

Fresh from recent victory in the Sambisa Forest, Chief of Army Staff LT General Tukur Yusuf Buratai spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday on a wide range of current issues. Excerpts: You look relaxed for a man who is leading a major war? I must feel relaxed because the operation is progressing as planned. By the grace of Almighty God, it is moving the way we planned. That is not to say that I am resting on my oars. We are very much alert and will continue to pursue the fleeing Boko Haram terrorists wherever they are. The capture of…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 03:06

Come search for Chibok girls with us in Sambisa forest, FG invites BBOG

The Federal Government has invited members of the Bring Back Our Girls group to a short trip into Sambisa forest in search of the missing Chibok girls. The invitation extended to members of the BBOG, an advocacy group for the release of the missing school girls from Chibok, Borno, was contained in a letter dated January 11. The letter, signed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, and addressed to Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Convener of the group, was made available to the media on Saturday. In the letter, the government asked the BBOG to nominate three of…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 03:04

N'Delta talks: Osinbajo leads FG delegation to Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers

On Monday the Federal Government will start talks with Niger Delta stakeholders, including militants, who have been bombing oil assets to draw attention to challenges in the oil region. The talks would see Vice President Yemi Osinbajo leading a high powered delegation of the Federal Government to visit some states in the Niger Delta. States to be visited are Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers. Meanwhile, leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, said the visit was not a substitute for dialogue. A statement from the Office of the Vice President, yesterday, stated that government was committed to an…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 03:03

Fresh row over new N7b VP’s residence

With about N6.215billion already spent in eight years on the new official residence of the nation’s Vice President in Abuja, the project remains enmeshed in controversy. While the House of Representatives Committee on FCT is alleging that the job done is not commensurate with the 87 percent of the contract sum paid, no one seems to know when the project will be ready for occupation. The project has been abandoned in the last five years owing to disagreement between the Senate and the Federal Capital Development Authority on the variation of the project. The contract was awarded in 2009 at…

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