Author: darelasisi@gmail.com

Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa has denied insinuations by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, that the newly- constructed cargo airport in the state is flooded. Dickson, while conducting newsmen round the airport runway on Friday, attributed the delaying in the commencement of operation at the airport to the alleged delay by the regulatory agencies in giving approval for the use of the facility. He also explained that the amount spent on the acquisition of land, clearing, sand filling and actual construction of the airport was N70 billion as against the N100 billion claimed by…

The world’s richest people became a little ‘poorer’ last year, according to a report by UBS and PwC, as geopolitical turmoil and volatile equity markets reduced the wealth of billionaires for the first time in a decade. Billionaires’ wealth fell by 388 billion dollars globally to 8.539 trillion dollars, the UBS and PwC Billionaires Report found, with a particularly sharp decline in Greater China – the second-biggest home for billionaires after the United States – and the Asia-Pacific region more broadly. Private banks including the world’s largest wealth manager UBS have felt the effects of U.S.-China trade tensions and global…

By Wole Oye, ABUJA – In a move to douse tension and possibly put the record straight, the Presidency has confirmed the sack of some aides of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo but explained the rationale behind it. President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to sack dozens of aides of the Vice President was borne out of the need to cut the cost of administration, Senior Presidential Media Aide, Garba Shehu has said. In a statement on Friday, Shehu confirmed that Mr Osinbajo has more aides that the President, saying there cannot be anyone too powerful for President Buhari to control. Prompt News Online…

By Fatima Mamman Daura “To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.” – Marcus Aurelius Today, I pay tribute to an extraordinarily special man – who is fazed neither by criticism nor by praise; unperturbed by fortune or loss; content with little and unimpressed by wealth, power or position; averse to publicity and showmanship; self effacing; austere and always simply dressed – customarily in white; far from the garish and the gaudy, with disdain for ostentation but neither sanctimonious nor judgmental – Malam Mamman Daura,…

One of the cardinal agenda of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is the war against corruption. In fact, his desire to fight corruption was among the factors that gave him an edge over his co-contestants in the 2011 and 2015 presidential election. Arguably, the administration records some successes in the anti-corruption war, definitely, more still needs to be done to curtail corruption in Nigeria, particularly when the government said corruption was fighting back. For a thorough, genuine and successful anti-corruption battle, the Audit process remains a very useful tool that cannot be left behind. Certainly, public service is about…

By Tony Obiechina, Abuja In continuation of collaborative efforts between the National Social Investment Office NSIO and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ICPC aimed at checkmating corrupt practices in the National Social Investment Programme NSIP, State Operatives of ICPC have been trained on how to use technology to identify, track, apprehend and prosecute persons who abuse the Social Protection Initiative. About 50 ICPC State operatives drawn from fifteen States of the Federation and the FCT Converged on Abuja, for the one-day training program which was also attended by National officials of the anti-graft agency, as well…

It is no longer news that the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) is the platform for payment of salaries of all workers that draw their salary from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF). The IPPIS is one of the public finance reform initiatives designed for the management of personnel payroll system to aid manpower planning, budgeting and to achieve transparency. As of August 2019, the enrollment stood at 768,496 personnel across 569 MDAs; this has led to over N273 billion savings in personnel cost recorded between 2017 and 2018. These savings could have been lost, but are now available for…

ABUJA – The Nigerian Union of Journalists, FCT Council, has expressed outrage over the physical assault suffered by Mr. Abayomi Adeshida, a photojournalist with the Vanguard Newspapers, at the Presidential Villa, Thursday. Adeshida, who was covering an event at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, was brutally assaulted by security aides of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo while he watched. The NUJ FCT in a statement on Thursday described the assault as one of the sad developments that signposts how dangerous it was to be a journalist in Nigeria, especially in the past four years. “The brutal physical assault by…

The Federal Government has paid the sum of N157.35 billion PAYE (Pay As You Earn) tax liabilities owed by Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs to states. Executive, Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and Chairman of the Joint Tax Board, JTB Tunde Fowler who disclosed this in Awka on Thursday, said the amount, represented outstanding liabilities of PAYE by federal MDAs to State Governments from 2002 to 2016. According to a statement by FIRS Head of Communication & Servicom Dept, Wahab Gbadamosi, a total of N23.87 billion of the N157.35 billion went to States in the South-East Geopolitical Zone.…

As the debate on Nigeria’s partial border closure continues, depending on the side of the divide you are, there is an indisputable fact that Nigeria had indeed taken a decision it ought to have taken years back. The Federal Government had said the smuggling activities, particularly of rice and petroleum products, and unwholesome security breaches made it to take the decision. Though many have urged the federal government to reconsider its position, it became apparent that it was not in a hurry to do so as it announced few days ago a January 31, 2020 date for a review of…