BREAKING: Buhari, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Meet At Aso Rock

President Muhammadu Buhari and former Minister of Finance and Coordinator of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, are meeting right now at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The former minister is one of two final leading contenders for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation.

Okonjo-Iweala and South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee had scaled the hurdles to the final stage on October 7, 2020.

Okonjo-Iweala was cited going to meet with Buhari in company with the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubair Dada.

THE WHISTLER learnt that the visit is most certainly in connection with the WTO election.

Buhari has since backed Okonjo-Iweala, who served under the administrations of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former President Goodluck Jonathan, to clinch the plum job.

She will probably speak with State House Correspondents after ending the session with Buhari

Source: punchng.com

An area of eastern Ghana has declared itself a sovereign state Togoland

 

An area of eastern Ghana has declared itself a sovereign state. The region known as Western Togoland has had secessionist attempts in the past. Armed men demanding the secession of Western Togoland from Ghana blockaded major entry points to the Volta region of Ghana on Friday morning. Local sources say the group are holding three police officers hostage, including a District Commander, and attacked two police stations. Prior to the blockade, the group reportedly broke into an armory and stole weapons. "This is a very serious situation because just few weeks ago we saw [what happened] when they mounted signs along the major roads welcoming people into the Western Togoland State," a local resident told DW. "Blocking the roads with heaps of sand, burning tyres [and ] even holding security personnel hostage." About 12 hours before Friday's dawn operation, the Western Togoland Restoration Front (WTRF) published photos of the graduation ceremony for around 500 personnel who underwent training for months in secret locations, raising questions over the effectiveness of security agencies in the region. Seeking sovereignty Ghana's Western Togoland region is predominately wedged between Lake Volta and the Ghana-Togo border. Currently, a number of splinter groups are demanding the area be recognized as a sovereign state. In a press release, the chairman of the WTRF, Togbe Yesu Kwabla Edudzi I, declared that efforts for consolidating statehoood, which began on 1 September 2020, were being put into practice. The press release also claimed "roadblocks to assert its sovereignty are all over the Southern sector." The movement says it wants to force the Ghanaian government to join United Nations (UN) facilitated negotiations aiming to declare Western Togoland an independent state. Ghanaian police have been ordered to "leave the region in 24 hours" and surrender weapons. Some radio stations appear to have been taken over by members of the WTRF. The group has demanded the release of prisoners currently being held in detention for secessionist activities. Travelers urged to be cautious Meanwhile, on Facebook, Ghanaian police have cautioned travellers to be aware of "security operations" in some communities in the Volta Region. Local media have reported the minister of the affected Volta Region, Archibald Letsa, urged travelers to remain calm and allow security personnel to do their jobs. A tumultuous past The territory of Western Togoland was first colonized by Germany in 1884 and incorporated into the Togoland colony. After Germany's defeat during the First World War, the colony of Togoland was divided between France and Britain as protectorates. The western part of Togoland became part of Britain's Gold Coast colony, which became independent in 1957 to form modern-day Ghana. Togo gained independence from France in 1960. Western Togoland is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO). Four million people live in the region. In terms of language and culture, Western Togoland, especially the Volta region, has more in common with Togo. Locals in the region say they feel underrepresented by Ghanaian authorities. A previous unsuccessful attempt to declare Western Togoland independent from Ghana took place in 2017. In March 2020, around 80 members of the separatist group were detained for protesting the arrest of seven leaders of the Homeland Study Group Foundation. The charges were later dropped. Source: https://www.dw.com/en/ghanas-western-togoland-region-declares-sovereignty/a-55051426

Federal government to setup special court for rape cases

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), said on Thursday that his office had commenced talks over plans to establish special courts for rape and other sexual and gender-based violence cases.
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He also said the Federal Ministry of Justice had started a review of relevant laws aimed at proposing relevant legislative changes to enhance preventive, investigative and counter-measures.
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Malami, represented by the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr Dayo Apata (SAN), said this at a press conference jointly held with the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Mr. Tony Ojukwu.
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The press conference focused on modalities for the eradication of rape and other sexual and gender-based violence in the country.
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Malami said the talks over the establishment of the special courts to hear cases relating to the offences were being held with heads of various courts.
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He said the proposed court would help to ensure expeditious trial of all pending and future rape and gender-based violence cases.
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He said, “To tackle this hydra-headed menace headlong, my office (the Federal Ministry of Justice) is currently engaging with the respective Heads of Courts, for the establishment of specialised courts for the speedy and seamless trial of rape/gender-based violence offences in Nigeria.
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“The aforestated specialised court when established will necessarily create a timely/speedy trial of all pending and incoming rape and other related gender-based cases and facilitate their conclusion within record time."

Professor Obioma appoitmented registrar of NECO

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has gotten a new Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Professor Godswill Obioma.

Professor Obioma’s appointment has been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a letter dated 15th May 2020 with Reference No: FME/PS/396/C1/1/134 and signed by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, the letter stated that the appointment which is for an initial tenure of five years takes effect from 14th May 2020.

In a statement signed by the Head of Information and Public Relations Division, Azeez Sani, the Registrar officially took over the affairs of the Council from the former Acting Registrar, Mallam Abubakar Gana on Friday, 22nd May 2020 at the Council’s headquarters in Minna.

The new NECO Registrar is a Professor of Education Measurement and Evaluation and was a former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council.

Until his appointment as Registrar/CE of NECO, Prof. Obioma was the Ebonyi State Resident Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thenationonlineng.net/just-in-neco-gets-new-registrar/amp/

Man celebrated 100 days consecutive with out flight to another country

A man by name Abdul Aziz Naibi celebrated 100 consecutive days president Buhari didn't travel to foreign countries.

Nigeria finance minister says economy will definitely go recession

The minister said this on Thursday, May 21, 2020, after the National Economic Council meeting.
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She said, “The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has made an assessment. So, it is the NBS assessment that Nigeria will go into a recession measuring at an average of -4.4%.
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“But with the work that the Economic Accessibility Committee is doing; bringing stimulus packages, we believe that we can reduce the impact of that recession.
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“And if we applied all that have been proposed and we are able to implement it, we may end up with a recession that is -0.4 percent. In any case, we will go into recession but what we are trying to do is to make sure that it is shallow so that we will quickly come out of it come 2021.”
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A country’s economy goes into recession when its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reduces for two consecutive quarters.
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In her statement on Thursday, Ahmed suggested that Nigeria would slip into recession in the second quarter of 2020.

court struck out resistance of arrest suit against Dino meleye

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Maitama, Abuja, on Tuesday, struck out charges of resistance to arrest instituted against the former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye.
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Justice Yusuf Halilu struck out the eight counts on the grounds of lack of diligent prosecution.
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The judge made the order following the inability of the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to produce its sole proposed witness to testify on Tuesday.
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Melaye was on January 22, 2019 arraigned before the judge by the Inspector-General on Police, who later handed over the case to the AGF office.
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Melaye was arraigned on charges bordering on alleged conspiracy, resistance to arrest, failure to honour police invitation and intentionally giving false information to the public.
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The police had alleged that the senator conspired with one Silas Omenka on December 28, 2018, to commit an offence of illegal obstruction to a lawful arrest, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 97 of the Penal Code.
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The prosecution alleged that Melaye intentionally resisted lawful arrest, thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 172 of the Penal Code.
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He was also alleged to have intentionally tweeted, with the intention of inciting the public against the police.
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The prosecution also alleged that Melaye tweeted that the Inspector-General of Police planned to arrest and inject him to death, which was false.
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It alleged that this constituted an offence punishable under Section 416 of the Penal Code. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Senate on Tuesday asked the Federal Government to consider a comprehensive review of the power privatisation policy

The Senate on Tuesday asked the Federal Government to consider a comprehensive review of the power privatisation policy with a view to reversing the current arrangement.
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The red chamber said Nigerians would not enjoy stable power supply in the next 10 years if the activities of the distribution companies were not reviewed and restructured.
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The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, stated this on Tuesday after the Senate had considered and approved a motion by Senator Gabriel Suswan on the power sector recovery plan.
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He said, “We gave power to them (power generation and distribution companies) and they still come to the public to ask for funds.
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“I think it’s time for Nigeria to consider reversing the privatisation of the power sector or they should just cancel the entire privatisation process completely.
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“If we leave it, we may not have power for another 10 years.”
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Lawan said, “The privatisation of the power sector has, so far, not been successful. We expected efficiency and effectiveness in the power supply.
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“The Discos have no capacity to supply us power. The Gencos have challenges too.
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“It is not a good commentary that we should continue to give them money. They’re private businesses. We need to review this privatisation.
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“Our committee needs to investigate trillions spent. That’s a lot of money.
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“Try to find out what has happened so far. Government needs to look at this whole thing.
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“Maybe, government is not doing its own part. We need to find out.
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“There is lack of capital, lack of investment. We feel very bad because we have no electricity and the country is suffering.”
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The Senate also urged the Federal Government to suspend the planned electricity tariff increase due to take effect from July given the increased hardship occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.
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The upper chamber also commended the Federal Government for the proactive initiative to establish the N1.7tn Covid-19 crisis intervention fund to cater for critical issues on effective management of the pandemic.
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BREAKING: FG sacks TCN MD, Usman Mohammed

The managing director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Usman Gur Mohammed has been sacked.

This development was announced via a statement issued by the Minister of Power, Mamman Sale, signed by his spokesman, Artimas Aaron on Tuesday evening. His replacement, Sule Abdulaziz, has been ordered to take over immediately.

“As part of continuing measures to reposition and improve the performance of the Power Sector in the country, the Honorable Minister of Power Engr. Sale Mamman hereby announces major changes at the Transmission Company of Nigeria”

“Accordingly, the Managing Director of the TCN, Usman Gur Mohammed has been removed from office with immediate effect. He is being replaced with Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, as Managing Director, in acting capacity.”

It’s unclear the reason for the sack. Before joining TCN, Mohammed was the Principal Power Utility Transformation Specialist in the AfDB’s Nigeria Country Department