Borno State governor Alhaji Kashim Shettima has challenged both the federal and the state government to join hands to discover the Boko Haram ghosts in order to negotiate with them. The challenge was the highpoint of the address Governor Shettima prese...
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A former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has faulted the federal government’s economic policies, saying the nation is being run on voodoo economic policies. Speaking in Lagos at the formal launch and presentation of a book he ...
Persons believed to be hoodlums operating within Asaba and its environs yesterday allegedly raped housewives around Ogbeke Square in Ogbeosowa Quarters during a house-to-house raid in the area. Victims, who narrated their ordeals to LEADERSHIP, said th...
Following the recent high court ruling upholding the eligibility of President Jonathan to contest election in 2015, former Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Bello Masari, has said that it is better for APC to contest against President Goodluck J...
The National Examination Council has released NECO 2012 external November/December Senior Secondary School Examination SSCE result with 54 percent and 33.8 percent credit pass above in mathematics and English language respectively. The Result released ...
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The Managing Director/CEO of Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM), Mr. Roberts Orya, has met with the top management team of The Crown Agents led by its Chief Executive, Mr. Terence Jagger, at the headquarters of NEXIM Bank in Abuja to explore how the t...
Nigeria's president, visiting the region at the heart of an Islamist insurgency for the first time since he was elected in 2011, on Thursday rebuffed calls for an amnesty deal for the extremists.
President Goodluck Jonathan's visit came amid mounting political pressure for him to travel to the region and followed calls this week from Nigeria's top Islamic figure for an amnesty deal for insurgents.
Jonathan landed in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state and considered the home base of Islamist extremists Boko Haram, and travelled by helicopter to neighbouring Yobe state, also hit by repeated attacks blamed on the group.
Security was tight, with soldiers stationed along roads and movement restricted. He is due to return to Maiduguri later Thursday for a visit that will extend into Friday.
The president said he could not rule out an amnesty deal in the future, but said that it was impossible to negotiate an agreement with Boko Haram because their identities and demands remained unclear.
"You cannot declare amnesty for ghosts," Jonathan told an audience of politicians and dignitaries in the Yobe state capital Damaturu, broadcast live on national television.
Jonathan made reference to a 2009 amnesty deal for militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, where the president is from.
The deal has been credited with greatly reducing unrest in the Niger Delta, but criminality has since flourished, including the theft of crude oil on a massive scale, costing Nigeria an estimated $6 billion per year.
"In the Niger Delta, if you call them, they come and they will tell you their grievances," he said. "But Boko Haram, I don't see anybody who says they are Boko Haram."
The visit came with Jonathan facing political pressure to visit the northeast, wracked by scores of bombings and shootings blamed on Boko Haram. The military has been accused of major abuses in response to the insurgency.
It is also the region where seven members of a French family were believed taken after being kidnapped on February 19 just over the border in Cameroon. They remain held by the abductors and their whereabouts are unknown.
There have been growing calls for Jonathan to visit the area. A group of opposition state governors visited Maiduguri last week, drawing further attention to Jonathan's absence there.
Jonathan earlier in the day held talks with Yobe governor Ibrahim Geidam and was due to help commission a number of government projects.
Violence linked to Boko Haram's insurgency in northern and central Nigeria has left some 3,000 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces.
The group has claimed to be fighting for an Islamic state in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer, though its demands have repeatedly shifted.
It is believed to include various factions with differing aims, in addition to imitators and criminal gangs who carry out violence under the guise of the group.
Nigeria's 160 million population is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south. Jonathan, a southern Christian, has been accused by his opponents of neglecting the northeast.
In this third episode of Gidi up, Tokunbo and Eki make a connection, while Obi and Yvonne share a lot but don't realise how much they have in common, and Folarin gets desperate.
A former Enugu State Governor, Chimaroke Nnamani, was on Thursday re-arraigned before a Federal High Court Lagos for alleged money laundering. Nnamani, his former aide, Sunday Anyaogu, and seven companies, were re-arraigned on an amended 105-count...
Mr Wole Olaniran, the Assistant Corps Marshal in charge of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Zone RS5 in Benin, on Thursday threatened to arrest and sanction reckless motorists in the state.
The zone comprised Edo, Delta and Anambra states.
He issued while fielding questions on efforts to curb reckless driving from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin.
Olaniran specifically warned tipper drivers who convey sand without cover to desist forthwith or risk severe sanctions.
He said that such acts could ``constitute nuisance on the road and eventually lead to crashes’’.
Olaniran also warned tipper drivers who dump sand indiscriminately along the Benin-Sapele Road Bye-pass, saying that the act was constituting hazards to road users.
``After this warning, they (motorists) would henceforth be made to face the full wrath of the law,'' he said.
The FRSC boss also warned those who dump refuse on the high ways to stop forthwith because of the inherent health and environmental hazards associated with such acts.
While describing such acts as unpatriotic, Olaniran liken it to throwing stones in the market place.
He also warned motorists against disobeying traffic laws, saying that officers and men of the corps had been deployed to different black spots with orders to apprehend erring motorists.
``This is to make our roads safe for all users,’’ said Olaniran. (NAN)
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that the gross federally collectible revenue in 2013 budget was projected at N11.34 trillion.
Okonjo-Iweala made this known at a press briefing on the breakdown of the 2013 Budget, on Thursday in Abuja.
She said, ``The gross federally collectible revenue is projected at N11.34 trillion, of which the total revenue available for the Federal Government’s Budget is forecast at N4.1 trillion.''
This she said represented an increase of 15 per cent over the estimate for 2012.
According to the minister, the projection is based on oil production of 2.53 million barrels per day compared to 2.48 million barrels per day in 2012.
``Benchmark oil price of 79 dollars per barrel, up from 72 dollars per barrel in 2012, Projected real GDP growth rate of 6.5 per cent and average exchange rate of N160 per dollar,’’ she said.
The minister said that the non-oil sector was expected to sustain the 2013 budget.
She commended the Federal Inland Revenue Services for attaining 20 per cent growth in non-oil tax revenue between 2007 and 2012.
On the expenditure provision, she said that budget made provision for an aggregate expenditure of N4.987 trillion.
This she said represented a modest increase of 6.2 per cent over the N4.697 trillion appropriated in 2012.
``This is made up of N387.97 billion for statutory transfers; N591.76 billion for debt service; N2.38 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure.
``Of which N1.717 trillion is the provision for personnel cost, while overhead cost is projected at N208.9 billion.
``And a total of N1.62 trillion has been provisioned for capital expenditure,’’ she said.
The minister added that an additional N273.5 billion had been provisioned for the subsidy reinvestment (SURE-P) programme.
Okonjo-Iweala said that with the development, the fiscal deficit was projected to improve to about 1.85 per cent of GDP in the 2013 Budget when compared with the 2.85 per cent in 2012.
She said that N497 billion was marked out for critical infrastructure such as power, works, transport, and aviation.
The minister said that another N705 billion was set aside for human capital development under education, water, agriculture and health sector
``We also allocated over N950 billion for national security purposes, comprised of N320 billion for the police, and N364 billion for the Armed Forces, N115 billion for the Office of the NSA, and N154 billion for the Ministry of the Interior.
``For 2013, the SURE-P programme has a projected allocation of N180 billion, augmented by the 2012 unspent balances of N93.5 billion.
``This amount will be used to make further progress in the provision of social safety net schemes, maternal and child healthcare, youth development and vocational training for Nigerians,’’ she said.
Okonjo-Iweala said that budget had key priorities, which included the reduction in cost of governance, and debt management.
Others are infrastructure investments, job creation and the development of the manufacturing sector.
She said that the recurrent spending in total expenditure had reduced from 74.4 per cent in 2011 to 67.5 per cent in 2013 while capital spending increased from 25.6 per cent in 2011 to 32.5 per cent in 2013.
The minister said that N100 billion was saved for 2013 budget from the implementation of IPPIS.
On debt management, she said that N75 billion of maturing debt obligation payment was made last week and N25 billion had been set aside in a sinking fund to be used for retirement of maturing debt obligations in the future.
The minister said that government had reduced annual domestic borrowing to finance the budget deficit from N852 billion in 2011, to N744 in 2012, and now to N577 billion in 2013.
She said, ``We are also making concerted efforts to defray the debts of our foreign missions.
``We have made a provision of N13 billion in the 2013 budget to help clear accumulated debts as at the cut-off date of June 2012.'' (NAN)