NCC Explains Proposal, Reversal Of Plans To Hike Data Price

Posted on November 30, 2016 by Staff Reporter

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The Nigerian Communications Commission on Wednesday announced the immediate suspension of the new minimum pricing template for data services by mobile operators in the country.

The director, Public Affairs at the NCC, Tony Ojobo, said the decision to rescind its earlier directive to telecom operators to commence charging the new floor price rate for data from December 1, was to allow for further consultation with industry interest groups.

“Following concerns that visited the directive to introduce price floor for data segment of the telecommunications sector beginning from December 1, 2016, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has suspended any further action in that direction,” Mr. Ojobo said in a statement.

“The decision to suspend this directive was taken after due consultation with industry stakeholders and the general complaints by consumers across the country.”

Mr. Ojobo said the Commission has already asked all operators to maintain the status quo until the conclusion of study to determine retail prices for broadband and data services in the country.

Prior to the suspension, Nigerians had raised concerns about the impropriety of the decision by government to hike price of data at this time.

Several Nigerians accused the NCC of insensitivity, considering the high cost of living in the face of the current economic recession in the country.

Social media users expressed fears the government planned to limit citizens’ access to the Internet.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/business/business-data/216752-proposed-reversed-plans-hike-data-price-ncc.html

Why I’ll Embark On Another Trek For Buhari, Man Who Trekked From Lagos To Abuja Explains

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Staff Reporter

Abuja- Mr Suleiman Hashimu, who trek from Lagos to Abuja to celebrate the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 general elections, is to embark on another trek for the president.

Hashimu, however, said on Friday that this time around, he would not use his legs but vehicles in touring the 36 states and FCT.

He said he wants to showcase the achievement of the president so far.

“I will be embarking on another trek for President Muhammadu Buhari. This time, my trip is with a vehicle, not my usual trekking. I would tour the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

“This is to showcase achievement recorded by this administration so that they will appreciate the achievements recorded so far. “President Buhari has achieved a lot in security and anti-corruption crusade. People that are untouchable in this country are answerable to the law of the land.

“Another big achievement recorded on Thursday was the rescue of the 21 of the over 200 kidnapped Chibok school girls. This is no doubt a great achievement.

“I will like to tell Nigerians to continue to support President Muhammadu Buhari to achieve all the promises he made during his campaign for the presidency,’’

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/10/will-embarking-another-trek-president-buhari/

Dog Named Buhari, Presidency Explains Why Buhari Didn’t Intervene

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Staff Reporter

President Muhammadu Buhari saw the arrest and prosecution Joachim Iroko, a 41 year old trader arrested by the police in Ogun State for naming his dog ‘Buhari,’ as “a ‘laughable incident”, his spokesman, Garba Shehu, said late Thursday.

In a short reaction posted on his Twitter handle, Mr. Shehu said those criticising Mr. Buhari for failing to act on the matter were “ignorance of the type of person he is.”

“He enjoys cartoons and likes sharing them. The ones he enjoys the most are those that caricature him,” Mr. Shehu said. “People should listen to the real story behind this dog incident and to not waste precious time seeking the hand of the President in a laughable incident!”

Mr. Shehu’s comment was the first time the Buhari administration would comment on the development, which has grabbed the headlines for nearly two weeks and sparked debates about free speech.

It also came a few hours after Mr. Iroko was released from jail, after spending three days behind bars while his family sought funds for his bail bond.

The three days were in addition to the eight days Mr. Iroko spent in a police cell in Sango Otta, Ogun State.

Mr. Iroko was first arrested on August 14 by officers attached to the Sango Otta Division after receiving complaints from a neighbour who said the name he gave his dog was offensive.

Salihu Umar filed complaints against Mr. Iroko with the police, alleging that the ‘Buhari’ name Mr. Iroko gave his dog was the same as his father’s name.

Employment Scam: CBN Explains Targeted Recruitment

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Staff Reporter

The Central Bank of Nigeria has said it opted for a secret process of hiring new staff in the past two years because the bank was doing “targeted recruitment”.
The apex bank is at the centre of a recruitment scandal exposed by two newspapers.
A news report published Wednesday by Daily Trust, said the CBN secretly recruited 909 staff between June 2014 and February 2015, in violation of due process and federal character principles.
The report followed a news story by news website, SaharaReporters, on Tuesday, showing how children and relatives of some influential Nigerians, including a nephew of President Muhammadu Buhari, were dubiously and secretly hired by the CBN.
The CBN’s acting Director of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, said that the bank did nothing illegal or wrong in hiring without advertising.
“In the last two years, we have had cause to recruit specialists, and what the law says is that if we are going for that kind of recruitment we should apply for waiver, so that we can do targeted recruitment,” Mr. Okoroafor said.
He said the bank obtained waiver from the Federal Character Commission.
“The other issue is that there are states that are not well represented (in the CBN), and in this case we focus on those states to recruits people of certain classes that we used to cover the shortfall in those states,” Mr. Okoroafor said.

Mr. Okoroafor however said he was not ready to confirm or deny the names on the list.
“Is there any qualified Nigerian who does not have the right to work in the CBN?” he asked.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Senator Insists Chibok Girls Are “Alive”, Explains How To Rescue Them

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Staff Reporter

The Senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial district, Shehu Sani, has assured that the missing Chibok girls will be found, but counseled that the Federal Government must negotiate with some persons to “extract” the girls from their current danger.

He also said that current events in the country had revealed that the reign of bloodshed by Boko Haram in the last seven years was sustained by the greed of a few who profited from the situation.

Mr. Sani spoke in Akure on Wednesday as a discussant at a symposium held as part of the 40thAnniversary of Ondo State and the seventh anniversary of the Olusegun Mimiko-led administration.

“Something that has bothered some of us here in line with the insurgency is, when will the Chibok girls be freed,” he asked.

“Someone said the Chibok girls will never be free, but I can tell you that they will be free and they are alive.”

Mr. Sani had in the past been named as a contact person through which the Nigerian government sought to negotiate with Boko Haram.

A civil society leader at the time, Mr. Sani later accused the former Goodluck Jonathan government of not showing sufficient commitment to the proposed talks.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Kanye West Explains Why He’s Asking for Money

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Staff Reporter

After what felt like an eternity away from Twitter — approximately 13 hours — Kanye West made a return to the social media platform to throw some light on his finances.

Late last night, he had made a perplexing reference to “53 million dollars in personal debt” before asking Mark Zuckerberg for $1 billion, which had everyone wondering what was actually going on with Kanye, who, it’s safe to say, appears very rich, and at the very least, is married to someone also very rich.

Kanye kicked off his latest Twitter monologue with an observation about how the wealthy behave. “I just feel rich people are always too cool to ask for help trying to impress each other at dinner parties,” he wrote.

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Permanent Secretary Explains State House Medical Centre Budget

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Staff Reporter

The Permanent Secretary of the State House, Mr Jalal Arabi, has reacted to criticisms that the 3.219 billion naira budget for the State House Medical Center is over bloated.

Mr Arabi appeared before the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs and the House Committee on Special Duties, to defend the 2016 budget appropriation to the state house.

Having given a breakdown of some of the key areas of the budget before the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs, the amount allocated to the medical centre attracted most criticism. The same questions he faced at the House of Representatives Committee on Special Duties.

The Permanent Secretary explained that the State House, among others, extends to Marina and the Dordan Barracks in Lagos and most of the infrastructure in the places are calling for attention and need to be made to function optimally, hence the need for increase in budgetary allocation to the State House.

He said that the improvement of the medical center will propel it to serve as a center of excellence and reduce medical tourism.

He added that the medical center does not charge fees for its services and hence does not generate revenue for itself.

Credit: ChannelsTv

NYSC Explains Delayed Corps Members January Allowance

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Staff Reporter

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) on Thursday urged corps members to remain calm over delay in payment of their January allowance.

This is contained in a statement signed by Mrs Bose Aderibigbe, Director Media and Publicity of the corps, and made available to newsmen in Abuja.

It attributed the delay to discrepancies in planning figures for 2016 from the NYSC, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, and the Ministry of Finance, respectively.

The statement said that the management of the scheme regretted the delay.

It assured that it was working to ensure all corps members received their allowance within a week.

Credit: Vanguard

Kylie Jenner Explains Her Relationship With Tyga On Ellen Degeneres Show

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Kylie Jenner’s interview with Ellen Degeneres doesn’t air until Monday, but the show has released a sneak peek and it’s juicy. While Kylie is really there to promote her upcoming lipstick line, Ellen doesn’t let her get away too easy, asking her if she really, actually broke up with Tyga.

“I don’t know what’s going on, all I hear is that you’re with Tyga, you’re not with Tyga?” Ellen asked.

“No. We’re not broken up,” Kylie replied adding that “people have it all wrong.”

“We just honestly…we became best friends before anything happened, so I think that, that’s awesome and we’re just like. I don’t know. Hanging out. Living life. We’re still together.”

So, there you have it! She kind of answered the question, right? See for yourself in the clip, below.

Credit: Seventeen

DSS Explains Siege To Dasuki’s House

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Staff Reporter

The Department of State Security, DSS, has debunked the claim that its operatives invaded the home of the former National Security Adviser in defiance of a court order granting him permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.

The DSS in a statement, explained that the action by its officers is caused by the refusal of Mr. Dasuki to honour an invitation by a committee investigating his alleged involvement in the 2 billion dollars arms procurement process by the past administration.

The statement added that his refusal to appear before the committee compelled the DSS to adopt a legal means to ensure his attendance.

Press Release

The attention of the Department of State Services (DSS) has been brought to the report making rounds that its operatives illegally blocked the residence of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo DASUKI (Col/Rtd), in violation of a subsisting court order granting him a relief to travel oversea for medical services. This is to say the least that such report is not only unfounded and malicious but aimed at tarnishing the good image of the Service.

It may be recalled that SAMBO was initially arrested and charged to court for unlawful possession of firearms and money laundering, for which reason his international passport was seized and on the order of the court, returned to the registrar for custody. What has however brought the seeming standoff between SAMBO and the Service, despite the court-ordered release of his international passport on 4th November, 2015, is his refusal to appear before a Committee undertaking the investigation of an entirely different case.
The public may wish to note that the government set up the Committee to investigate procurement processes relating to a two billion dollar ($2billion) arms transaction by the last administration, under which SAMBO was the NSA. It was on this premise that he was invited by the Committee to shed more light on his involvement in the deal. It, therefore, remains surprising and shocking that SAMBO has refused to honour invitations of the Committee but instead resorts to grandstanding and subtle blackmail of the Service. His refusal to appear before the Committee has left the Service with no option than to adopt legal means to ensure his attendance.
Therefore, without doubt, SAMBO is pulling all strings available to him to evade justice and put the Service in bad light. The simple fact is that the DSS is not persecuting him. Nigerians are therefore enjoined to disregard the impression being created by him. This Service wishes to re-emphasise its commitment to the rule of law and strict adherence to democratic ideals. However, any person or group, no matter how highly placed, that may wish to test the will of the present democratic dispensation, will definitely be checked through the legal provisions of the law.

Tony OPUIYO

Department of State Services,

Abuja.

4th November, 2015

Credit: ChannelsTV

The Problem With Power Sector In Nigeria, PMB Explains

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Staff Reporter

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the problem of power sector in Nigeria was more in the transmission than generation. He, however, pledged his administration’s readiness to rectify the problem to realize steady power supply in the country.

According to him, the realization of steady power supply will launch the country into faster socio-economic development.

The president gave the assurance after taking briefing of the activities of the sector by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, in his office.

President Buhari said that his administration had already identified the critical problems in Nigeria’s power sector and was taking appropriate actions to address them.

“The problems besetting our power sector are not difficult to identify. Therefore, priorities can be easily set in order to tackle them. The problems are more with transmission than generation, and we equally need to secure the power infrastructure round the country. We will address all these issues,” the President assured.

Read More: vanguardngr

Why I Joined ISIS & Left After 3 Days, Former ISIS Militant Explains

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Staff Reporter

A former Islamic State militant recently spoke with NBC news about his experience fighting with the group in Syria — and why he surrendered after just three days on the frontlines.

The man, a 24-year-old single father and college dropout who traveled from New York back to his native Turkey, told NBC what has become a familiar story. Socially isolated and lacking meaning in his life, he was seduced by the jihadis’ promise of a salary, a house, and a wife.

“My life was hard and nobody liked me,” the man, who insisted on anonymity, said while crying. “I didn’t have many friends. I was on the internet a lot and playing games.”

This is a common profile among those recruited by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, who are often young men (and women) seeking purpose and identit y. They are drawn to ISIS’ promise of community, along with the glory of potential martyrdom. ISIS’ inclusive rhetoric, combined with its social-media prowess, has allowed the group to recruit more foreigners to its ranks than any other modern jihadist group.

Firsthand accounts of the militants’ brutality from those who have fought with ISIS, such as the one given by the Turkish-American recruit, are still relatively rare, even though an estimated 20,000 foreign fighters have joined the group.

“They told us, ‘When you capture someone, you will behead them,'” he said. “But as for me, I have never even beheaded a chicken … It is not easy … I can’t do that.”

He said he was also instructed to throw homosexuals off of tall buildings and kill female adulterers. He said he decided to leave ISIS after an airstrike killed six of his fellow fighters in the Syrian border town of Tal Abyad.

“I got scared because in my whole life I hadn’t seen anything like this,” he told NBC. “And since I was scared, I threw my pistol away and my legs couldn’t hold me.”

Read More: YahooNews

Presidency Explains Why PMB Will Not Intervene In NASS Crisis

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Staff Reporter

The Presidency, yesterday, said President Muhammadu Buhari would not intervene in the lingering crisis rocking the National Assembly, citing separation of powers as reason for that.

This came as Sokoto Governor and Chairman, Peace Committee on House of Representatives leadership crisis, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, said that peace process was on going, promising that soon, the crisis would be resolved.

President Buhari had come under pressure from many quarters for his apparent docility amid the lingering face-off in the National Assembly and his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, accusing him of not being assertive.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with in Abuja, yesterday, on the apparent docility of the President amid the lingering crises in the National Assembly and his party, the APC, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari had since chosen to give recourse to the Constitution of the land and the principle of separation of power on which Nigeria bases its federalism.

Adesina said Buhari’s intervention would portray him as a “dictator or a despot” which he said runs at variance with democratic ethos and values.

Read More: vanguardngr

Dangote Explains Why He Wants To Buy Arsenal

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has disclosed his reason for seeking to acquire a stake in English Premier League team, Arsenal.

Few weeks ago, Dangote, 58, attracted widespread criticism from various quarters in Nigeria when he re-iterated his interest in acquiring the Premier League team. Many Nigerians called him out, insisting that his money would be better spent by acquiring a local Nigerian football team and promoting the Nigerian Premier League rather than spending on a foreign club.

But speaking to senior Nigerian journalists in Lagos on Saturday, the Nigerian billionaire explained that he is interested in buying the Premier League team to promote Nigeria internationally.

“The issue is that if I buy all the Nigerian clubs, the Nigerian flags will continue to remain here. But buying Arsenal will take the Nigerian flag worldwide. Just like whenever Abramovich is mentioned, the name of his country, Russia comes up. Everyone knows he’s Russian,” Dangote said.

Read More: forbes

Science Explains Why Hot Women Don’t Always Go for Hot Guys (Vice Versa)

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Staff Reporter

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We’ve all seen couples pass us by on the street where the woman is hot and the guy is, well, not — and vice versa. If we’re truly being honest, we’ve secretly wondered how they got together in the first place.

These types of couples may stand out in our minds is because, in general, research shows we’re more likely to be romantically interested in someone who shares our same level of attractiveness (there’s even a scientific term for it: “assortative mating”).

A new study in the journal Psychological Science sheds some light on these couples with so-called “mismatched” levels of physical attractiveness. The researchers studied 167 couples to find out whether getting to know someone over time can trump the natural bias toward good looks. The study found that oftentimes, the answer is yes.

The researchers found that couples who were similarly physically attractive tended to become romantically involved after a short period of time — in other words, “You’re hot, I’m hot, let’s get together!” — while paramours who paired up and didn’t share the same level of physical attractiveness were more likely to have spent time getting to know each other first. In fact, 40 percent of the pairs in the study started as platonic friends. So time helps level the playing field.

“In our previous work, we found that as people get to know each other better over time, they tend to make more unique evaluations of them,” study researcher Lucy Hunt, of the University of Texas at Austin, tells Yahoo Health.

She points out that if you ask a bunch of strangers to rate your attractiveness on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being very unattractive and 10 being very attractive, the group will likely agree on the same number. But if you ask your friends who’ve known you for a while to rank your physical attractiveness, that number would be higher (or eek, lower) because they’re also factoring in your personality. As Hunt points out: “Getting to know someone will either make you like them more or less.”

Read More: yahoo

CBN Explains Why States Can’t Pay Salaries

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Staff Reporter

The dwindling resources of states and local governments suffered a 30.6 per cent fall from federation account allocation in April 2015 when compared with what the states got in the same period last year.

Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Economic Report for the month of April said that the total statutory allocation to the state governments stood at N153.45 billion in April 2015. This was 30.6 and 22.9 per cent below the 2014 monthly budget estimate and the level in the preceding month, respectively. The dwindling revenue of federal, state and local government is as a result of falling oil prices.

Giving insight into the poor financial status of states which depends on monthly federal allocation, the CBN report for April said: “The breakdown showed that at N119.27 billion or 77.7 per cent of the total, state governments’ receipt from the Federation Account was below both the 2014 monthly budget estimate and the level in the preceding month by 29.7 and 30.3 per cent, respectively.

“At N34.17 billion or 22.3 per cent of the total, receipts from the VAT Pool Account was below the monthly budget estimate by 33.4 per cent, but exceeded the level in the preceding month by 22.2 per cent. Total receipts by the local governments from the Federation Account and VAT Pool Account stood at N88.91 billion at end-April 2015.

“This was lower than both the budget estimate and the level in the preceding month by 33.8 and 19.7 per cent, respectively. Of this amount, receipts from the Federation Account were N64.99 billion (73.1 per cent of the total), while the VAT Pool Account accounted for N23.92 billion (26.9 per cent of the total).

“At N735.07 billion, estimated federally-collected revenue in April 2015, was lower than the monthly budget estimate by 9.8 per cent. It was, however, higher than the receipt in the preceding month by 35.8 per cent. The decline in estimated federally-collected revenue (gross) relative to the monthly budget estimate was attributable, largely, to the shortfall in receipts from oil revenue during the review month

Read More: vanguardngr

Why We Blew Up Oil Facilities In Delta, Urhobo Militant Group Explains

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Aggrieved Urhobo militants, under the aegis of Urhobo Gbagbako, have said that their decision to blow up oil facilities in Ihwrenen and Ejophe communities in Ughelli North and Ughelli South Local Government Areas, Delta State, was informed by what they described as marginalization and neglect of Urhobo nation by the outgoing administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The group, in a statement by its National Chairman, Otega Obire, said: “The Urhobo nation, as the fifth largest ethnic group in the country, has long been marginalized in the presidential amnesty programme and pipeline surveillance jobs and contracts. Even the Delta Steel Company, DSC, Aladja, that is supposed to be the only federal project in Urhoboland, has been grounded for years.”

Warning that the Urhobo hospitality, simplicity and maturity exhibited to ensure the smooth functioning of government at all levels, should not be mistaken for cowardice, the group in the statement, told the incoming government to create a level playing ground for bidding and allocation of contracts in the oil pipeline surveillance with particular reference to the “Urhobos who are the major host communities of oil facilities and gas plants in line with the Local Content Act.”

Calling for the speedy resuscitation of DSC to reduce unemployment and restiveness in their domain, and by extension promote the economic fortunes of the people, the militants, said: “We accepted change before the elections because we strongly believed in the capacity of the president-elect, General Muhamadu Buhari, to correct the wrongs done to us by the outgoing administration.

“We have resolved to prevail and calm all aggrieved Urhobo youths for a ceasefire after due consultation and meetings with our channels of communication with the incoming government, but it has to be quick in order to avoid a return to the dark days of militancy.”

Credit: vanguardngr

Why Gwandu Was Relieved Of Appointment- Presidency

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Staff Reporter

The Presidency, weekend, dismissed claims by a former Executive Commissioner of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Dr. Bashir Gwandu, that his sack was an act of witch-hunt for blowing the whistle on underhand deals in waivers granted some telecom companies.

Gwandu who was fired by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012 had approached the National Industrial Court (NIC) which declared his removal as illegal. Gwandu, through his lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), challenged the propriety of his removal from the NCC by President Goodluck Jonathan.

However, a letter obtained from the Office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation, with reference 6/S.12/C.4/III/653 dated November 26, 2012, signed by Secretary to the Federal Government, Senator Pius Anyim, indicates that the former commissioner was fired for “gross misconduct with effect from November 9, 2012.”

A presidency official said, “There had been heated campaigns in social media and online news portals by a section of the media to undermine the position of the Presidency on the matter. This is rather unfortunate because Gwandu knows the truth, he was given fair hearing and he cannot now turn round to claim he was witch-hunted. If this is how he wants to curry favour from the incoming government, we wish him well but he must not discredit the institution of the Presidency for his personal ambition.”

The source said that contrary to insinuations in the social media and other channels, Dr. Gwandu’s sack was as a result of various acts which amounted to gross misconduct unexpected of a public officer.

The SGF’s letter reads: “Please recall that series of allegations were levelled against you by the Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC. Recall also that the Minister of Communication Technology, on behalf of Mr. President, set up a Disciplinary Committee.

“I am to note that during the course of investigation, you were invited to appear before the committee to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against you for gross misconduct. You may recall that you made both verbal and written submissions to the Committee, in your defence. I am to inform you that based on the recommendation of the Disciplinary Committee, Mr. President has approved your removal from office for gross misconduct with effect from 9th November 2012. By this letter you are to return all the properties of the Commission in your possession and hand over to the Executive Vice Chairman.”