News
BBOG Asks Buhari to Negotiate with Boko Haram for Release of Chibok Girls
The Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to hasten the trial of those indicted by the arms procurement probe panel, even as it urged him to negotiate with Boko Haram terrorists for the release of the kidnapped Chibok secondary schoolgirls.
The group, which spoke in Abuja Monday while embarking on a protest to press the president to double his efforts in rescuing the girls, also asked the president to set up a “special desk” to fast track the trial of the suspects in the diversion of arms procurement funds. Thisday
Boko Haram: Shekau ‘Fatally Wounded’ In Air Raid – Nigerian Army
The Nigerian Air Force has killed an undisclosed number of Boko Haram leaders during a raid on the Sambisa Forest hideout of the insurgents.
The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement Tuesday that the leader of the group, ‘Abubakar Shekau’ was seriously wounded on the shoulders during the raid.
Usman listed the killed Boko Haram leaders to include Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman. Punch
PDP Crisis: CJ Moves to Reconcile Contradictory Court Orders
The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Ndahi Auta, may have taken steps to correct inconsistencies in court pronouncements, especially over the leadership tussle in the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, over which the integrity of the judiciary has been challenged.
Our correspondent learned that Justice Auta, who cut short his vacation outside the country and returned to Abuja, has ordered for all case files relating to the matter be brought before him with a view to consolidating issues in the various applications. Vanguard
Fashola: Nigeria Loses 3,000MW of Electricity to Forcados Attack
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has stated that the country is losing about 2,000 megawatts of electricity to the attack on the Forcados subsea pipeline by Niger Delta militants.
Fashola has also decried what he described as the furore about which part of the country gets the lion share of projects, stressing that every road, every bridge, every streetlight, every pipeline is a shared national asset that belongs to each and every single Nigerian.
The Minister told energy reporters at a recent conference they organized in Lagos that not long after the attack on Forcados pipeline, power generation dropped to about 2,000MW from 5,074MW. Thisday
Budget Padding: ‘Dogara, Jibrin, others Guilty’
Members of the Transparency Group in the House of Representatives said on Monday that despite the fact that all 10 principal officers had disowned the former Chairman, Committee on Appropriation, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin, those accused by Jibrin were as guilty as their accuser.
The ex-appropriation chairman had alleged that the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, and three other principal officers ‘padded’ the 2016 budget.
The other three are the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Yussuff Lasun; the Chief Whip, Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa; and the Minority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor. Punch
EFCC Hunts Banks, Developers for N100bn Housing Loan Scam
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has focused its attention on developers and primary mortgage banks that obtained housing loans to the tune of N100bn from the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, but misappropriated the funds.
The Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, promised the FMBN that the anti-graft agency would help the bank to recover the funds when the acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Richard Esin, led his team to the corporate headquarters of the EFCC in Abuja.
The EFCC said on its official Facebook page that Esin applauded Magu for his achievements in the fight against corruption. Punch
States Groan under N3.7tr Debt Burden
The 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory are indebted to the tune of N3.7 trillion, nearly two-third of their 2016 total budgets, making it nearly impossible for them to pay workers’ salaries and execute projects, Daily Trust investigations have shown.
Despite assurances that the public debt stock is within manageable level, official data analyzed by Daily Trust shows that many states lose large chunk of their statutory monthly allocations to debt service deductions, leaving small amounts for fresh projects. DailyTrust
Man Who Named Dog Buhari Sent To Prison
The man who named his dog Buhari, Joachim Iroko, aka Joe, was remanded on Monday at the Ibara Prison following his arraignment at the Ota Magistrate Court 2, Ogun State.
He was charged to court by the police with conduct likely to cause breach of the peace, in a case with suit number MOT/617c/2016.
The prosecutor, Inspector Itaita Ebibomini, said the accused committed the offence on Saturday, August 13, 2016, at the Hausa section of Ketere Market in Sango-Ota in the Ota Magisterial District. Punch
Chibok Girls: Uproar As Buhari Shuns Protesters
There were angry reactions on Monday after President Muhammadu Buhari shunned the #BringBackOurGirls group and the parents of the Chibok schoolgirls who were abducted by the Boko Haram sect 861 days ago.
The BBOG and the some parents of the girls had assembled at the Unity Fountain, Maitama, Abuja, at 10am from where they marched towards the Presidential Villa. Punch
Business News
Communication Tax: Subscribers, Business Leaders Ready for Showdown
The proposed communication tax is one tax too many, and may trigger widespread reactions if the bill is eventually passed into law, writes OZIOMA UBABUKOH
Although the ‘controversial’ Communication Service Tax bill has passed the first reading at the House of Representatives, The PUNCH can reliably state that the major telecommunications companies in the country are all against it, and have vowed to do all they could to resist it.
For the telecoms firms and subscribers, it is seen as a wrong approach to generating revenue amid a sinking economy and an impoverished people. Punch
Ibru Family Dispute, Other Reasons Force Sun Int’l out of Nigeria
The dispute among members of the Ibru family over the ownership of Federal Palace Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, was one of the reasons cited by the South Africa’s hotel and gaming group, Sun International, for pulling out of Nigeria.
Reuters reported Monday that Sun International was the latest South African business to exit Nigeria because of weak economic growth and clashes with regulators and shareholders.
In January, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) launched a probe into Sun International’s initial investment in Tourist Company of Nigeria (TCN), which owns and operates the five-star Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos. Thisday
CBN Directs Banks to Allocate 60% of FX Sales to Manufacturers
Desirous of stimulating economic activities in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Monday directed commercial banks and other authorized dealers in the foreign exchange (FX) market to ensure that they channel 60 per cent of total FX purchases from all sources (interbank inclusive) to end users strictly for the purpose of importation of raw materials, plant and machinery.
The central bank said it took the decision following its review of returns on the disbursement of FX and observed that a negligible proportion of FX sales were being channeled towards the importation of raw materials for the manufacturing sector.
The CBN gave the directive in a circular signed by its acting Director, Trade and Exchange Department, Mr. W.D. Gotring. The letter dated August 22, 2016, was posted on the central bank’s website. Thisday
Investors Gain N56 Billion as Market Sustains Bullish Trend
Trading at the stock market resumed on a positive note Monday as the bulls sustained their hold on the market. Consequently, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 0.58 per cent to close at 27,812.06. Similarly, the market capitalization added N55.5billion to close higher at N9.55 trillion.
The market had rebounded last week on bargaining hunting and reactions to the impressive results declared by Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc for the half year ended June 30, 2016.
And Monday’s bullish session was partly influenced by continued positive sentiments by investors in the banking stocks. The NSE Banking Index appreciated by 1.28 per cent, lifted by gains recorded by Access Bank (+4.6 per cent) and GTBank (+1.58 per cent). Thisday