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Subsidy removal: Labour too quiet, Nigerians expect more, says ex-Rivers gov candidate, Tonye Princewill 24th Jul 2023  Former Rivers State governorship candidate, Prince Tonye Princewill has criticised the organised labour for being too silent on the removal of the subsidy on Premium Motor Spiritual, otherwise called petrol. He said Nigerians expect to hear more from labour given the pains and hardship occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu. Princewill who contested for Governorship during the 2015 election under the platform of the Labour Party said this during an interactive session with newsmen at his residence in Port Harcourt on Saturday.   He stated that though subsidy removal was not peculiar to Nigeria, but the apex government’s decision to do so without putting the necessary measures in place to cushion its effect on the citizens was unfortunate. Princewill who resigned from the All Progressives Congress before the 2023 elections emphasized t...

School fees hike: ASUU president, others advise FG 24th Jul 2023  The National President, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has urged the Federal Government to review the hike in fees in its schools. He urged the government to do so and find a safe landing for the nation’s future leaders. Osodeke was speaking against the backdrop of the recent hike in fess of Unity Colleges and some first generation public tertiary institutions in the country. He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview on Sunday in Lagos that the hike in fees could be counterproductive. Recall that the University of Lagos was the latest of the public universities to increase its fees from N25,000 to almost N200,000, depending on programme. The university had announced an adjustment in the obligatory fees for both returning and new students of the institution, with effect from Sept 1, for the 2023/2024 academic session. A breakdown of the fees by the institution show...

Hit-and-run driver kills senior police officer on stop-and-check duty 24th Jul 2023  A hit-and-run driver knocked down a senior officer with the Nigeria Police Force, Ondo State Command, on Ifon express road in Ose Local Government Area of the state, on Sunday. It was gathered that the officer, whose real names were yet to be disclosed was on a stop-and-check duty before he was killed. The driver of the vehicle was said to have fled the scene immediately after the accident occurred. Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Ondo state, confirmed the incident in a brief chat with reporters in Akure, the state capital. Odunlami-Omisanya said the deceased, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), was trying to stop the suspected vehicle when the driver swapped off the road and hit him. “The incident occurred when the police were trying to stop him (the driver), but he didn’t stop because his vehicle was suspected. “So, our officers were alerted on the ...

It's Criminal To Pay Workers N30K As Minimum Wage When I Pay My Cleaner N60K - Oshiomhole The senator representing Edo North senatorial district, Adams Oshiomhole, on Sunday, described the N30,000 monthly minimum wage as a “criminal wage”, saying his cleaner gets paid no less than N60,000. What we call minimum wage is a criminal wage,” Oshiomhole said during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics. “If you exchange N30,000 at N800 or N700 to the dollar, what does that translate to? So, the value of that minimum wage when it was N125 – when it was first introduced under, I think, (Shehu) Shagari’s government – is about two times or three times the value many years later, even in the public service.” According to him, the average responsible private-sector employer is a better employer than the Federal Government or state government. [7/24, 6:23 AM] Orbitnews International: “I can tell you what I have decided to pay my cleaner. My cleaner is just a primary school –...

Senate gears up for ministerial screening, awaits list this week With five days to the end of the 60-day constitutional window, the Senate is expected to receive the list of the President’s ministerial nominees this week. The President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Tope Ajayi, in an interview with Newsmen on Sunday said, “Ministers’ List will be out this week. Let’s wait till the names are out.” The 1999 Constitution stipulates that the President and governors must submit the names of persons nominated as ministers or commissioners within 60 days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the Senate or the respective state Houses of Assembly. Tinubu, who was sworn in as President on May 29, has to submit his ministerial list to the Senate before July 29 as mandated by law. The silence over the ministerial list has generated concerns amongst Nigerians. But speaking to Newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, the spokesperson for the Senate, Yemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti Sout...

Obaseki accuses FG of abandoning Edo Reeling from the pain and difficulty of plying the dilapidated Sapele Road in Benin, some residents have circulated a video of Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, stranded at the RCC Junction after a downpour that flooded the road and made it impassable. The video had a background voice taunting the governor in pidgin English “e don de red…everybody don de collect am now” implying Obaseki was also subjected to the fate of ordinary citizens plying the dilapidated road because of his negligence to fix it. “When we told the government to fix the road, they were busy filling the potholes with broken blocks. They think they are suffering Nigerians. Now it is pay back time. The governor is the one inside the vehicle but it has stopped moving. This is his vehicle (pointing at it), he cannot come down, he is ashamed. Everyone (both the poor and the rich) don de collect am now,” the male voice said. Though the convoy later moved away from the flooded road...

Abia AA demands annulment of House Dep. Speaker, Kalu’s election The Action Alliance (AA) in Abia has asked the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Umuahia to annul the election of the House of Representatives Deputy Speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu of APC. The party hinged its demand on the alleged exclusion of its name and logo from the ballot for the February 25 poll. Mohammed Ndalahi (SAN), the Counsel for the party’s candidate, Mr Ifeanyi Igbokwe, made the request during the tribunal’s sitting on Saturday. Speaking under cross-examination by Ndalahi, the deputy speaker, Kalu, and APC witness, Cyril Kwubiri, alleged that Igbokwe was not validly nominated by AA, hence did not participate in the election. Kwubiri, however, admitted that none of the documents he tendered in court to support his claim that Igbokwe was not validly nominated emanated from APC. The three-member panel, led by Justice Samson Gang, adjourned sitting to Aug. 14 for the adoption of the final writ...