The First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, says that proper diagnosis is the bedrock of quality health care delivery to achieve health and wellness for all Nigerians.

Mrs Tinubu said this in Lagos on Thursday at the commissioning of the Diamed Centre of Dr Kessington Adebutu and his daughter, the Chief Executive Officer of the centre, Dr Abiola Olorode in Lekki, Lagos.

The first lady said that collaborations across sectors and borders are necessary to drive innovation, share knowledge, and improve patient outcomes.

She said: “I am here to honour a great man. As we gather in this multi-specialist centre, we are ushering in a new era of advanced medical care and innovation in Nigeria.

“I must say that proper diagnosis is the bedrock of quality health care delivery.

“Therefore, this facility will further strengthen Nigeria’s effort in repositioning the health sector and aid quality healthcare delivery for Nigerians, and this truly gladdens my heart.”

Mrs Tinubu further described the event as a critical one that would advance imaging services to play a pivotal role in timely diagnosis.

“As I was informed, the vision and mission of Diamed Centre, and its positioning to offer comprehensive, evidence-based medical services across various specialities resonates deeply with the healthcare agenda of President Bola Tinubu, under the Renewed Hope Action Plan For A Better Nigeria.

“The administration has implemented reforms and is investing significantly in the health sector to deliver better health outcomes for Nigerians.

“This is in line with the reforms and policy agenda defined by the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

“I have also been informed that this centre occupies a strategic position in the four-point agenda of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

“These are improving governance and leadership; improving population health outcomes; medical industrialisation/unlocking value chains; and health security (enhancing emergency preparedness),” she said.

Adebutu, in his goodwill message, expressed gladness at the completion of the edifice, while acknowledging the efforts that Dr Olorode put in place until their dreams became a reality.

He said that the centre would help Nigerians to have quality diagnosis for healthcare instead of traveling abroad.

“It is a great privilege to be part of this ceremony, this will be medical tourism and strengthen the value of our currency,” he said.

Prof. Akin Abayomi, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, who represented the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the centre was a milestone achievement for the nation.

He said that the Federal Government was doing everything possible to attract foreign investors and bring back the professionals that had fled the country.

Alausa added that the government was also putting policies in place to end quackery in the health sector.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has reverted to status quo on the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions from 18 to 16 years.

This follows the protest from stakeholders at the on-going Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) policy meeting.

Stakeholders argued that 18 years as the minimum age was too high, and the decision comes at the wrong time, giving that candidates below 18 have already written the exams.

Stakeholders including Vice Chancellors and Rectors also kicked against the age enforcement, saying the decision will force students below 18 years to stay at home for two to three years more, since they were not informed earlier of their ineligibility.

Responding, Mamman said the points raised were valid and so the minimum age be reduced from 18 to 16.

However, he said this was just for the 2024 admissions and subsequently, 18 years will be the minimum age.

Furthermore, the minister revealed that the federal government was considering the adoption of 18 years as the entry age for admission into universities and other tertiary institutions of learning in the country.

The minister had in April said that the federal government would look into adopting 18 years as the minimum age for entry into tertiary institutions in the country.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has approved 140 as the cut-off mark for 2024 admission into the nation’s universities and 100 for polytechnics and colleges of education, respectively.

The National Minimum Tolerable UTME Score (NTMUS), popularly known as the cut-off mark, for 2024 admission into tertiary institutions was arrived at on Thursday during the 2024 annual policy meeting on admissions, which was held at the Body Benchers, Headquarters, Abuja.

The meeting was held following the successful conduct of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). A total of 1,989,668 registered candidates for this year’s UTME.

Out of the 1,989,668 registered candidates, 80,810 were absent, while a total of 1,904,189 sat for the UTME within six days of the examination.

The policy meeting was chaired by the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, and decided following recommendations by the heads of institutions.

Registrar of JAMB Registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, who announced the cutoff marks, explained that individual institutions were at liberty to raise their minimum benchmark approved at the policy meeting but could not go below what was approved for various institutions.

Meanwhile, after the protest that greeted his decision to benchmark entry year into tertiary institutions in the country to 18 years, Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has rescinded the decision.

He said his decision that only candidates who have clocked 18 years be offered admissions now takes effect from 2025.

To this effect, the minister said heads of tertiary institutions could be allowed to admit candidates who are 16 years of age.

The minister was forced to succumb, following the argument that students under the age of 18 had already registered, sat, and passed the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, and were awaiting admission.

Leading the motion, Vice Chancellor of Elizade University Prof. Kayode Thadius Ijiadunola who got massive support from other heads, registrar, and admission officers participating in the policy meeting, proposed 16 as the minimum age requirement for admission into tertiary institutions.

He said, “What happens to those who have written this year’s exams and passed their exams? We reject 18 years as the minimum age requirement and are proposing 16 years.”

While the hall erupted in support of 16 years as a minimum requirement, the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, asked where parents and candidates were rushing to.

Oloyede said: “The only point is they have taken examinations and at that time they were not told or aware and therefore if we want to enforce it, it should be from subsequent years.”

The minister in response had said, “I can work with that but I want to remind you of one thing, even that argument cannot stand if we want to go by the law which states 6-3-3-4 as our system of education.

“It won’t stand, but for practical reasons, for this year, I will allow it to stand.”

Reiterating the minister’s decision amidst a resounding applause, Prof Oloyede added, “We thank the minister for conceding but from next year we will enforce it.”

Earlier, the minister while delivering his address as chairman of the 2024 Joint Admissions Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) policy meeting on Education holding on Thursday in Abuja, had called for enforcement of 18 years as the new minimum admission age for admission into tertiary institutions in the country.

Immediately after the Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman made the announcement, the stakeholders who turned out their members from across tertiary institutions in the country, voiced resistance which turned the session into a rowdy one.

The minister who was unable to proceed with his address as a result of the uproar, had asked “Are we together?”

However, the stakeholders responded with a resounding “No!”

The minister who seemed unperturbed with the development, had continued with his address as he tried to give reasons for pegging the new admission benchmark at 18.

It took the intervention of the registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, to restore order to the policy meeting with his plea of “Please pay attention please!”

The policy meeting on education is an annual event. It authorised the commencement of admission into tertiary institutions in the country.

Former National Vice Chairman, Northwest, of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC), Salihu Moh. Lukman has accused the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio of reducing the Nigerian Senate to a parastatal under the President Bola Tinubu APC-led administration.

Lukman’s position is against the backdrop of the sack of the Senate Whip, Mohammed Ndume by the Abdullahi Ganduje-led National Working Committee( NWC) of the party.

In a statement issued Thursday in Abuja and titled “Fanatical Mindset”, the former Director General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum( PGF) said all patriotic Nigerians must wake up to the responsibility of rescuing the country.

Querying how Nigerians can have a democracy that produces leaders who are intolerant to criticisms, Lukman Nigerians should not allow a situation whereby so-called leaders of the ruling party will behave like officials of military tribunals who operate with the fanatical mindset of condemning everyone accused of wrongdoing without the benefit of fair hearing.

“It is quite interesting that Dr. Ganduje and Sen. Basiru could ask Sen. Ndume to ‘honourably resign the membership of APC and join any opposition party of his choice formally’. Already, with non-functioning organs, the APC has basically dismissed all its members.

“Nowhere in the Constitution of APC where the National Chairman, National Secretary, or any official, or even the National Working Committee is given the powers to summarily remove any principal officer of the National Assembly.

“It is a shame that the APC Senate Caucus will permit such an act of illegality. By so doing, they have set a precedence that will further erode the independence of the National Assembly.

“Already, with the way Sen. Godswill Akpabio has been conducting himself almost reducing the Senate Chamber to the status of a parastatal of government, the action of the APC under the leadership of Dr Ganduje to direct removal of principal officers for criticizing President Tinubu’s government highlights the fanatical mindset undermining Nigerian democracy.

“Any democracy that cannot accommodate criticisms is no democracy. A democracy that subverts fair hearing is a dictatorship. A democracy that permits a ruling party to demobilize its organs and inadvertently expels its members is worse than a military government. All patriotic Nigerian political leaders must unite to restore Nigeria’s democracy. Nigerian opposition leaders must unite to build a truly strong political party to rebuild Nigerian democracy. All our opposition leaders and orphaned leaders of APC must come together and unite. Sen. Ndume being the newest APC orphan is welcome to join the efforts of political leaders in the country to restore and rebuild our democracy.

“So long as APC, its leadership and Asiwaju Tinubu’s government have taken the self-destructive path, which is equivalent to a declaration of working to end their tenure in 2027, patriotic Nigerians must help them to ensure their defeat in 2027!”

APC had in a letter to Akpabio alleged that Sen. Ndume “have been making uncouth and rabid outbursts against the government, before the international and before the global community is not only harmful to the government’s image alone but also undermines the party’s unity and cohesion and in addition, undermines the government’s efforts to bring in foreign direct investments to Nigeria”.

The letter referred to a televised interview with Arise Television where Sen. Ndume expressed the concern that the APC government of President Tinubu was going down because according to him the government is being run by kakistocrats, which he explains to mean ‘a government run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens’.

He went further to add that the ‘government is populated by kakistocrats and kleptocrats’, explaining that kleptocratic component refers to people ‘who are in government for what they can make for themselves’.

Accordingly, the letter to the Senate requested Sen. Ndume to ‘honourably resign the membership of APC and join any opposition party of his choice formally instead of hiding behind the veil of crass activism to decimate the hard-earned cohesion and goodwill that …the APC is enjoying within and outside the country.’

However, Lukman said in an ideal democratic setting where the organs of the party are functioning, a competent organ of the party would have been convened to deliberate on the issues raised by Sen. Ndume.

He said if the organs of the party were functioning, instead of raising the issues in a television station, the issue would have been raised at a meeting of a competent organ of the party. Such a competent organ would have been the National Caucus, National Executive Committee (NEC) or National Advisory Council.

“Somehow, the letter directing the removal of Sen. Ndume confirmed the allegations of a government of Kakistocrat. Dr. Ganduje and Sen. Ajibola and perhaps a small group of party leaders who have caged the President usurped the powers of organs of the APC and proceeded to pass judgement on Sen. Ndume. It is very doubtful if members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party are given the benefit of being part of those who took the decision to remove Sen. Ndume as the Chief Whip of the Senate. It is also doubtful if members of the APC Caucus in the Senate were consulted before the decision was taken to both remove Sen. Ndume and appoint Sen. Monguno as his replacement. It is simply an action taken by party leaders with fanatical mindset of blocking any attempt to scrutinize the President and actions being taken either directly by him or by his representatives, in whatever guise.

“Beyond issues of fair hearing, the substantive allegation made by Sen. Ndume is that President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is inaccessible. Those he refers to as Kakistocrats and Kleptocrats have caged the President so much so that even Ministers are not able to access him. These are not new allegations. The way the government is being managed is quite worrisome. Anybody who knows Asiwaju Tinubu and how he has operated throughout his political life, will certainly know that it is unlike Asiwaju Tinubu to be insular. Many of the decisions taken betrays the true Asiwaju Tinubu. For instance, it is doubtful if Asiwaju Tinubu as Governor of Lagos State for eight years has had any instance of reversing any of the decisions he took. But as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the last one year, Nigerians are beginning to lose count of the number of decisions he took and ended up reversing them”, he submitted.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has agreed to pay N70, 000 as the new minimum wage.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris disclosed this at the end of the meeting between the organized labour and the government.

The meeting was attended by Labour leaders, including the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, and that of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo.

The labour leaders who arrived at about 2.15pm in a white 32-seater Coaster bus headed straight to the first floor office of the President where the meeting took place.

The Education Minister Prof Tahir Mamman, has made a U-turn in his earlier statement, where he directed the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, to admit only candidates who have attained 18 years in tertiary institutions.

Mamman on Thursday, in an ongoing policy meeting organised by JAMB, in Abuja, announced that only applicants who were 18 years and above were eligible for admission.

Stakeholders in the meeting kicked against his statement, noting that its illogical for a 16-year-old student to pass WAEC, JAMB and be denied admission.

Reacting to that, the minister later accepted the suggestions of the stakeholders that from 16 years and above should be eligible for this year’s admission, while the law would apply from next year.

Meanwhile, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has approved 140 as the cut-off mark for 2024 admission into the nation’s universities and 100 for polytechnics and colleges of education respectively.

The National Minimum Tolerable UTME Score (NTMUS), popularly known as the cut-off mark, for 2024 admission into tertiary institutions was arrived at on Thursday during the 2024 annual policy meeting on admissions, which was held at the Body Benchers, Headquarters, Abuja.

The meeting was held following the successful conduct of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). A total of 1,989,668 registered candidates for this year’s UTME.

Out of the 1,989,668 registered candidates, 80,810 were absent while a total of 1,904,189 sat for the UTME within the six days of the examination.

The policy meeting was chaired by the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, and decided following recommendations by the heads of institutions.

Registrar of JAMB Registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, who announced the cutoff marks, explained that individual institutions were at liberty to raise their minimum benchmark approved at the policy meeting but could not go below what was approved for various institutions.

The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio has told the people of Ekiti State, through the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, His Royal Majesty, Oba Rufus Adejugbe, of the readiness of the 10th Senate under his leadership to influence development projects to the state.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja when received the Ewi-in-Council in his office, the President of the Senate

noted that the calibre of political office holders from Ekiti State are those who know their onion and can be relied upon at anytime, just as described the state governor, Biodun Oyebanji as a great man, saying,” with people like him, Nigeria has a great future”.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, Senator Akpabio said, “we are happy to receive our father and other traditional council members here today. The 10th Senate has the interest of Ekiti people in mind and that is why the very first appointment that was made by the leadership of the 10th Senate was that of the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, who is one of your very illustrious sons in the Senate.

“Any request from Ekiti is not what should be delayed. Let me assure our revered Kabiyesi that your request has been acceded to particularly on the bad roads, and it is very possible that before the festival, that would be given a facelift to ease transportation to the festival

“We in the 10th Senate and the National Assembly as a whole, are like a family. The Senate collaborates with the House of Representatives in the overall interest of all Nigerians. We accord so much respect and regards from the traditional institution. We hold them in very high esteem because of their roles in the society.

Akpabio described the Ekiti monarch as a man whose names open doors for his people, assuring them that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Tinubu led- administration would get to the door steps of all the people of Ekiti.

Earlier in his remarks, the Ekiti monarch, thanked Senator Akpabio for accepting to receive him even at a very short notice, which is a demonstration of who he is.

Oba Adejugbe who commended Akpabio for running a rancour free Senate and by extension the National Assembly, told him that he was in his office to pray for his success in office and to formally invite him as the Principal Guest of Honor and his colleagues to the 2024 Odun Olorunborun UDIROKO festival.

He said, ” I am here today with my people to pray for your success in office and to formally invite you as the Principal Guest of Honor in our 2024 UDIROKO festival. You are doing a very job as the President of the Senate and Chairman of the National Assembly. You have in the last one year, ran a rancour free Senate and by extension the National Assembly.

” The people of Ekiti can honour anyone no matter where he comes from provided, he is doing the right thing for his people. As the governor of Akwa Ibom State, you did so much for them and it is those uncommon achievements that we want to honour you for in Ekiti. It our prayers that you will physically be with us on that day. No national assignment will take you out on that day. I pray for the success of your leadership.”

From Henrietta Ashikodi/Umuahia

A Professor of soil science at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, (MOUAU), Abia State, Professor Mabel Ifeoma Onwuka

has expressed worry over poor soil texture in the southeast region, advocating for proactive measures to mitigate looming food insecurity.

Onwuka, who disclosed this on Tuesday during a community outreach organized in collaboration with Peri-Urban Agricultural unit of National Roots Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) Umudike, at Umuajata Olokoro, Umuahia South LGA,

She disclosed that so many Nigeria families are facing hunger as prices of food items are in the increase while she calls on Nigerians to begin to grow some of the crops they consume in their homes

Prof. Onwuka identified bush burning, population pressure, climate change, erosion, indiscriminate use of fertilizers, among others as major factors that affect the soil negatively and lead to poor yields.

The professor of soul science, also warned farmers against planting crops at dumpsites, adding that it could lead to cancer.

She revealed that the presence of heavy metals like mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), thallium (Tl), among others would be absorbed by crops and may lead to cancer and other health conditions.

Onwuka used the occasion to demonstrate to the women Biochar Production and how to convert their domestic and agricultural waste into organic fertilizer, urging Abia farmers to take advantage of MOUAU community services outreaches to boost food production.

She however lamented the inability of the rural women to access fertilizers, while noting that the reason of the rural outreach to farmers was to extend new research innovations to them.

Leaders of the organised Labour have confirmed accepting the N70,000 minimum wage President Bola Tinubu approved for Nigerian workers.

Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information, had told State House correspondents that the president announced the offer at a meeting with the labour leaders at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, on Thursday.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Comrade Joe Ajaero, President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said the unions had accepted the offer.

Flanked by Comrade Festus Usifo, President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and other representatives of Nigerian workers, who attended the meeting, Ajaero said the unions agreed to the offer because of other incentives attached.

He said another reason for accepting the offer is because the president promised a review every three years as against what obtained in the past.

As government continues to engage with stakeholders on the economic, social and political challenges of the country, the National Orientation Agency has urged the promoters of the proposed nationwide protests to pursue dialogue instead of its recourse to disorder.

In a statement by Paul Odenyi, the Deputy Director, Press, the NOA stated that its nationwide structure has successfully identified the sponsors of the proposed protest and likely flashpoints saying government will take measures to forestall any violent occurences in the identified locations.

Director General of the Agency, Mallam Lanre Issa Onilu who made it clear that the channels of communication to government and its various arms remain open to dialogue sais it will continue to respects citizens’ right to protest and associate freely in line with democratic principles.

Further the Director General said: “that the identities of many of the brains behind the protest have been known, along with their collaborators who are safely residing abroad and the government is taking necessary actions to stop their subversive plans.

“that the intentions of the elements behind the planned protest are not about governance or state of the economy but a decoy to destabilize the country, cause mayhem and carry out arson, killings, maiming of innocent citizens for narrow political reasons.

“that NOA is intensifying efforts in civil intelligence gathering and sensitization of community leaders, parents and youths across the 774 local governments on the need for vigilance and collective preventive actions.

“that the other objective of the protest is to project to the international community, a picture of an unstable country as part of the grand design to intimidate the government and seek patronage of the bigger sponsors of the planned protest”.

The House of Representatives on Thursday, July 18, resolved to investigate allegations that the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and International Oil Companies operating in the country have colluded to deny Dangote Refinery crude oil supply thereby frustrating its operation.

The House also resolved to investigate the claim by the chairman of Dangote Refinery, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, alleging that Nigeria, through the NNPCL, own only 7 percent shares of the refinery instead of the 20 percent known to Nigerians.

This followed the adopting a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, on an alleged conspiracy by International Oil Companies to frustrate the operation and survival of the Dangote refinery and the actual percentage of holding of the federal government in the refinery.

The House asked the Minister of Petroleum Resources and the NUPRC to support Dangote refinery and ensure its success.

Hon. Chinda noted the successful completion and coming into full operations of Dangote oil Refinery and Petrochemicals which can reduce the importation of petroleum products.

He said even though Nigeria is a major oil-producing and exporting country, she has for several years continued to import refined petroleum products from other countries to the detriment of the economic well-being of the country.

He said Dangote Refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) is said to be Africa’s largest refinery, and the World’s 7% largest by capacity, and its construction was meant to alleviate the petroleum products needs and accompanying pains faced by Nigerians.

He recalled that recently, the management of Dangote Refinery accused International oil companies (IOCs) operating in the country of conspiracy, in an attempt to frustrate the smooth operations of the refinery.

He said further that the alleged conspiracy against the Dangote refinery relates to efforts by the IOCs to deliberately frustrate the refinery to buy local crude oil by manipulating and jerking up the premium price above the market price, thus forcing the refinery to reduce output, as well as import crude oil at very exorbitant cost from other countries, Such as the United States, and thereby increasing the cost of Production locally and increased product price.

He revealed that information from the management of Dangote Refinery indicated that whilst the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) was trying its best to allocate crude to Dangote Refinery, the 1OCs were deliberately frustrating Dangote Refinery’s effort to buy the local crude.

He said: “The management of Dangote Refinery alleged that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) was still granting import licenses, indiscriminately, to marketers to import sub-standard refined petroleum products into the country.

“Whilst the IOCs are keen on exporting raw materials to their home countries and thus create wealth and employment for their countries, thereby adding to their GDP, Nigeria continues to be a dumping ground for refined products, thus making us dependent on imported petroleum products”.

The House of Representatives on Thursday resolved to support the Federal Government with N648 million for six months by cutting down their salaries by 50% to support food sufficiency across the country and to address the high cost of food.

This is also as the lawmakers begged Nigeria’s to exercise more patience with President Ahmed Tinubu’s led administration in addressing challenges and hardships faced by citizens.

The House further mandated it’s Committee on Appropriation, Humanitarian Affairs, Finance and Budget to ensure compliance.

The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion moved on the floor of the House by Hon. Ibrahim Isiaka (APC- Ogun State) during plenary in Abuja.

The Senate has proposed a bill for the establishment of the Local Government Independent Electoral Commission.

The bill, which was sponsored Senator representing Niger East, Sani Musa, was read during plenary on Thursday.

This was coming about a week after the Supreme Court ordered the federal government to stop paying allocations for local governments to state government from the federation account.

The federal government, through the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Egbeyemi (SAN), had filed a suit at the Supreme Court against governors of the 36 states.

The apex court also ordered the federal government to withhold allocations of local government under caretaker committees appointed by governors.

“An order that henceforth no state government should be paid monies standing to the credit of the local government councils.

An order for immediate enforcement and compliance with these orders by the state governments and successive governments henceforth,” the court had held.

The Naira yesterday depreciated to N1, 570 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,550 per dollar on Tuesday.

Similarly, the Naira depreciated to N1, 581.65 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, (NAFEM). Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for NAFEM rose to N1,581.65 per dollar from N1,576.66 per dollar on Tuesday, indicating N4.99 depreciation for the naira.

The volume of dollars (turnover) traded on the window declined by 21.7 percent to $108.16 million from $138.17 million traded on Tuesday.

Consequently, the margin between the parallel market and NAFEM rates narrowed to N11.65 per dollar from N26.66 per dollar on Tuesday.

As the nation waits for a new National Minimum Wage, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has threatened to shut down the country for a month over plans by the National Assembly to deregulate the Minimum Wage.

President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, who spoke on the sideline of the 67th Annual General Meeting, AGM, in Lagos, insisted that minimum wage is a national issue.

Ajaero warned that organised labour would not accept a situation where governors working with the members of the National Assembly would imposed slave wage and poverty on workers and Nigerian citizens.

According to the NLC President: As we are here, a Joint Committee of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Judiciary are meeting. They have decided to remove section 34 from the Exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list so that the state governors can determine what to pay you and so that there will be no minimum wage again. You cannot decide what you should earn.

“The very moment the House of Representatives and the Senate come up with such a law that will not benefit Nigerian workers, they will be their drivers and gatemen, and there will be no movement for one month.

“We cannot accept any situation where the governors and the National Assembly members will foist a slave wage on workers and force poverty on the citizens. Organised Labour will not accept it”, Ajaero stressed.

Nigerias Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has said that the country lost $1.84 billion worth of petroleum products from refineries in nine years.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Ogbonnaya Orji, disclosed this on Monday at the opening ceremony of the 2024 NEITI board retreat/meeting in Lagos.

He explained that 4.2 billion liters of petroleum products were lost from the refineries as a result of oil theft between 2009 and 2018. This was estimated at 140,000 barrels per day.

Worried over the untamed rise of oil theft in Nigeria, Orji said, Figures contained in our 2009 to 2020 audits have put Nigerias losses to crude oil theft over 12 years at 619.7 million barrels valued at $46.16bn or N16.25tn.

Similarly, between 2009 and 2018, the country also lost 4.2 billion liters of petroleum products from refineries valued at $1.84 billion.

The development comes as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited barely three weeks ago recorded 400 oil theft incidents in a week.

In June, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC said Nigerias crude oil production rose slightly to 1.276 million barrels per day amid the countrys 2,000,000 mbpd targets.

The Joint Admission Matriculation Board has disclosed that all the processes for the commencement of admission into tertiary institutions have been put in place.

In the boards weekly news bulletin published on X on Monday, JAMB also revealed that the 2024 edition of the annual policy meeting will be held on Thursday.

According to the bulletin, the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, will chair the 2024 policy meeting, slated for July 18, in Abuja.

The policy meeting will authorise the commencement of this years admission.

This years exercise will also feature the National Tertiary Admissions Performance-Merit Award, NATAP-M Awards, where the overall winner will receive N500 million, and other consolation winners will share N250 million collectively.

The policy meeting, usually attended by vice-chancellors of universities, rectors of polytechnics, mono-technics and innovation enterprise institutes, provosts of colleges of education, and other critical stakeholders, will consider and approve the guidelines for the 2024 admission exercise.

The meeting will review the performance of the 2023 admissions exercise and the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME performance of candidates. The minimum admission scores, an aggregation of individual institutions submissions, will be approved at the meeting, the bulletin reads.

It added, This is not a cut-off mark, as often misconstrued, but a minimum score that no institution should go below. The decisions made at the meeting, chaired by the Minister of Education, form the guiding norms for admission and are a collective decision, not solely that of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.

No institution is expected to commence the admission process until after the policy meeting, as the guidelines regulating the years admission exercise are determined at the meeting with the endorsement of the Minister of Education.

The meeting declares the commencement of the years admission exercise, setting the grand norms, and any institution that violates these collective norms will face sanctions.

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has reminded President Bola Tinubu that the renewed hope he promised Nigerians is speedily turning to a forlorn hope.

The group made the observation more than a year after Tinubu promised Nigerians that the economic hardship that followed the sudden hike in the fuel pump price will soon give way to renewed hope.

HURIWA, in a statement signed by Emmanuel Onwubiko, its coordinator, noted that millions of Nigerians are now without food and are on the verge of imminent death from starvation.

HURIWA said The security of lives and property of the citizenry and ensuring their well-being and welfare are the essential components that constitutionally constitute the primary and basic duty of government even as the Rights group said the President must do everything under the sun to stop the coming mass deaths of Nigerians from persistent starvation created by poor economic policies of his administration and the heightened state of insecurity and instability in Nigeria.

It would be recalled that Tinubu had on Wednesday July 12th, 2023, in Abuja, assured Nigerians that the framework for palliatives to remedy the effects of fuel subsidy removal is being worked out, explaining that the decision to phase out the subsidy was taken in the best interest of the country.

He said the decision would guarantee future prosperity.

HURIWA recalled that the President had said that his government would ensure a full-proof social security structure that will not be compromised, especially in cash-transfer.

HURIWA bemoaned the fact that millions of Nigerians have become desperately poor, deprived and hungry even as the rights group said the government has failed to resolve the troubling trend of alleged corruption and alleged large scale diversion of public funds by some suspended officials of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

It alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) is plotting to sweep under the carpet the accusations against the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation alongside other high profile officials.

Besides, HURIWA carpeted the governors and other high profile Federal Government officials for diverting and stealing the palliatives released by the President for the benefit of starving Nigerians.

It asked the President to direct the Department of State Services, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to track and monitor the distribution of the 20 trailer loads of rice meant for each of the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT because, according to it, substantial percentages of previously released palliatives were stolen by top government officials and politicians.

The Kano government has filed a fresh charge against the former governor of the state, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.

In the charge sheet with case No. K/143c/24, the state government accused Ganduje and erstwhile Commissioner for Justice, Musa Lawan, of criminal conspiracy and misappropriation contrary to Section 308 and punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code (as amended) CAP 105, Vol. 2, the Laws of Kano State of Nigeria.

The offence, the state government said, is punishable under Sections 97 and 315.

The state government accused Ganduje and Lawan of abuse of office.

In the charge sheet, the state government said it intends to present four witnesses.

No date has been fixed for the arraignment.

Our correspondent reports that on April 4, the state government filed a suit against Ganduje, his wife, Hafsat Umar, and six others before a state high court.

The six others include Gandujes son, Umar Abdullahi Umar, Abubakar Bawuro, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Ltd., Safari Textiles Ltd., and Lesage General Enterprises.

The court entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of the defendants and reserved judgement on the preliminary objections filed by their counsel, Nuraini Jimoh, SAN, regarding the charge against his clients

When the case resumed for hearing, Justice Amina Aliyu expressed concern that the defendants had failed to appear in court despite being served with a substituted means of service.

The prosecution counsel, led by Adeola Adediyo, SAN, wanted the court to slam the bench warrant on Ganduje, his wife, and six others.

A High Court sitting at Asaba, the Delta State capital, has sentenced one Onuwa Ijie to death, and Nwanozie Uzor to 14 years imprisonment for murder and conspiracy to commit the murder of twin boys, Chidalu and Chigozie Agwunobi.

The court presided over by Justice Onome Marshal-Umukoro sentenced two convicts over the murder of the seven-year-old boys.

The prosecution conducted by a Deputy Director in the Ministry of Justice, Mrs Paula Akpoguma, in proof of the case called five witnesses.

The court held that the testimony of the five witnesses proved the case against the two defendants beyond reasonable doubt.

The prosecution stated that tragedy struck the family of Olise Agwunobi of Oko-Ogbele Community on March 5, 2020, when their seven-year-old twin boys were lured by the defendants to a bush and they proceeded to cut off their penis, eyes, tongues and hands which they hurriedly took to a native doctor at Aguleri in Anambra State.

One of the defendants had earlier gone to the school of the twin children to take them but was turned down by the school teacher, one Mrs Emelda Ezekwude, she said.

Delivering his judgment, Justice Marshal-Umukoro stated that after carefully evaluating the evidence presented before him, the prosecution had discharged the burden of proof as the first defendant from his confessional statement was the person who sowed the seed of committing human rituals in the mind of the second defendant by giving the phone number of one Chukwudi Edemuzor who was alleged to be searching for twins to kill for money

.The court maintained that the law is settled that the testimony of an investigating police officer was not hearsay evidence, and the court can rely on it.

Speaking with journalists after the judgment on Tuesday, the prosecuting counsel, Akpoguma thanked the court for upholding the cause of justice, reaffirming that the judicial system works.

Courts in Anambra State on Tuesday remained under lock owing to the strike action by members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Anambra State branch.

The strike crippled activities in all the courts in all parts of the state, leaving court premises deserted.

JUSUN had last weekend declared the indefinite strike, following the expiration of a 21-day ultimatum issued by the union.

In a strike notification letter signed by the Assistant Secretary of JUSUN in the state, Nwezi Ugochukwu, the union said the industrial action was due to the Anambra State governments refusal to pay the Consolidated Judiciary Salary Structure (CONJUSS).

When our correspondent visited the state Judiciary complex in Awka, the place was locked with no worker in sight.

Some stakeholders of the justice sector in the state decried the nonchalance of the governor in dealing with the workers.

A judiciary staff who pleaded anonymity said: Now that the courts have been paralyzed, maybe government will now be forced to negotiate with us.

This matter has lingered since 2011 when we had an agreement with government, and again in 2015, but all these have been ignored.

Even the 21-day ultimatum we handed government before embarking on this strike, they ignored it.

Enugu Electricity Distribution has said the Transmission Company of Nigeria has improved electricity network stability and service delivery in the Southeast region.

The Deputy Managing Director of EEDC, Dr Ernest Mupwaya, disclosed this at the second quarter interface meeting between Enugu Disco and TCN.

Mupwaya, who led the EEDC management said the interface meeting has been quite useful as it has helped tremendously in resolving operational challenges and enhancing the quality of supply to customers.

In his remarks, the Assistant General Manager, TCN Enugu Region, Charles Iwuamadi who represented the General Manager, Dr Thomas Inugonum emphasized the importance of interfacing and working together for the overall success of the sector.

Also, the Regional Operations Manager of TCN, Engr. Anthony Akinuli assured their teams commitment and passion to see EEDC succeed and called for enhanced communication between both parties to ensure seamless operations.

“If EEDC grows, part of the credit will come to TCN”, Akinuli said.

The meeting comes amid Nigerias continued power sector challenges.

So far in 2024, the country has witnessed 5 national grid collapses which resulted in blackouts.

This is as Nigerians have continued to groan over the electricity tariff hikes in April and July 2024 for Band customers getting 20-24 hours of power supply.

The Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State, Barrister Kingsley Chuku, has claimed that the controversial appeal filed at the Port Harcourt Division of the Appeal Court with respect to Suit No: PHC/2177/CS/2024 was authorized by the state chapter of the party.

It would be recalled that the national leadership of the party had disowned an appeal challenging the order of the Rivers State High Court which restrained the states Chief Judge and the Clerk of the State House of Assembly from receiving or acting on any resolutions from the Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Assembly.

In a statement issued on Sunday by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Debo Ologunagba, PDP said no individual or organ in the party has the the competence to file or engage external solicitors to file or handle cases on behalf of the party.

Reacting, Chuku, in a statement on Tuesday, claimed that the appeal was authorized by the state chapter of the party. I reiterate that the Rivers State chapter of the party authorized the filing of the appeal, he said.

The lawyer cited a judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja, which, according to him, authorized state legal advisers of the PDP to appoint legal representation for the party in relation to the activities of the party at the state level.

“We want to put it on record that the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, in the case of Ambassador Desmond Akawo v. Peoples Democratic Party & 2 ORS Suit No PHC/ABJ/CS/112/2023 delivered on the 20th day of September, 2023, had interpreted Article 46(1) of the Constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party and declared that the State Legal Adviser of the party is vested with the requisite powers and authority to appoint legal representation for the party in relation to the activities of the party at the State Level.

“It is pertinent to state that the Peoples Democratic Party did not appeal against the said judgment till date”, he added.

The Court of Appeal Abuja, has dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Samuel Anyawu, challenging the decision of the Imo State Tribunal, which affirmed the election of Hope Uzodimma as the authentic governor of the state.

The court held that the appeal lacked merit having resolved all issues formulated against the appellants in the suit.

In the same vein, the appellate court also dismissed the appeal by the Labour Party and its candidate, Achonu Nneji, and that of the Allied Peoples Movement for also lacking in merit.

The appellants who were dissatisfied with the Tribunal Judgment, had approached the Court of Appeal on grounds that the November 11, 2023 election, was invalid because of non-compliance with the provision of the Electoral Act.

The appellants also challenged Uzodimmas qualification with an allegation that his WAEC Certificate of Education result, was forged.

While delivering judgment, the Court of Appeal held that the appellants in their appeal, failed to prove the allegation of non-compliance as alleged.

The three-man panel led by Justice Bitrus Sanga also held that the appellants failed, to prove that the governor submitted a forged certificate.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, on Tuesday said the Federal Government has no plans to sell universities to private investors.

Mamman made the clarification at the Second Quarterly Engagement of the ministry with heads of units and chief executive officers of parastatals and agencies under the ministry.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities had accused the Federal Government of plans to hand over federal universities to investors through public-private partnerships.

“There is no plan to sell off universities to investors, he said, noting that the policy of the government allowed for transnational education”.

According to him, transnational education is a policy on what this government is doing to open up tertiary education by taking people from the rest of the world to come and invest in our tertiary system.

“Some people are carrying information that the Federal Government is selling off to private investors its universities. This is an absolute lie and completely false.

“This government believes in our public institutions. However, as we all know this government has reforms that this country needs.

“The private sector will play a major role in the provision of tertiary education, as there are more private universities in Nigeria than public universities combined.

“What this government has done is to open up the tertiary education level, in particular the universities, for global competitiveness”, he said.

The minister stressed the need to allow those who operate universities at the international level to come into the country and set up institutions either for themselves or in collaboration with our local universities.

He said that this was in no way to sell its institutions, noting that guidelines on transnational education had been in place.

Mamman said the country must take a cue from what is obtainable in other countries to benefit from the advantage of transnational education.

In other parts of the world, like Asia, they have benefited immensely from having international institutions in those countries.

“They have taken standards to those countries and also for the exchange and bringing money to those countries”, he said.

He further said that the engagement with heads of agencies as parastatals was to review the progress, and challenges and reaffirm commitment toward the educational landscape of the country.