Zamfara Assembly abolishes law allowing payment of pension, allowances to former Governors, Speakers, Deputies

The Zamfara State House of Assembly in its sitting on Tuesday, laid to rest the raging controversy over payment of pension and other entitlements for the former governors, speakers and their deputies in the state by repealing the law outrightly.

This was disclosed by the Assembly’s Public Relations Officer, Mustapha Jafaru Kaura, in a statement issued to newsmen.

He said while presenting the bill before the House today, the House Leader, Hon. Faruk Musa Dosara (PDP Maradun 1), urged his collogues to as a matter of urgency consider the complete repeal of the law, which provides the jamboree pay for the former political leaders of the state at the detriment of the retired civil servants, who have not been paid their entitlements over the years.

According to Hon. Dosara, these category of past leaders were collecting over N700,000 million naira annually, which he said the present state economy cannot accommodate for now.

Seconding the motion at the chamber Hon. Tukur Jekada Birnin Tudu (PDP) Bakura Local Government, said the abolition of the law is highly necessary as its detrimental to the socio-economic well being of our people.

Kaura in the statement noted that, after serious deliberations and contributions by the house members, the speaker Right Honourable Nasiru Mu’azu Magarya ordered the Clerk to the house to give the bill first and second reading and later the house went for a committee of the whole in which thereafter the bill went for a third reading and resolved that the bill has now passed into law and will be sent to the governor for his assent.

With this development according to the spokesperson of the State House of Assembly Mustapha Jafaru kaura all past political leaders in Zamfara State will no longer enjoy any entitlements unless those prescribed by national revenue mobilisation allocation and fiscal commission.

The Spokesman noted the House adjourned sitting to tomorrow, Wednesday, 27/11/2019 by 10:00am prompt

Recall that, the former Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari, had forwarded a letter to the state government demanding to be paid ten million naira as monthly upkeep allowances and a pension equivalent to the salary he was receiving while in office.

DAILY POST

From 965 to 1,230 — Nigerian Law School records more exam failure

More law graduates have failed the final bar examinations which are a prerequisite for being called to the Nigerian bar.

Speaking at the 2019 call-to-bar ceremony in Abuja, on Tuesday, Isa Ciroma, director-general of the Nigerian Law School, said 5,689 students sat for the examinations in August out of which 4,455 were successful.

According to him, 147 candidates had first class results, which represents 2.58 percent of the total figure; 741 made second class upper division, 13.03 percent, while 2,247 made second class lower division, 39.50 percent of the total figure.

He said the candidates, who scored pass mark, were 1,321, which represents 23.22 percent of the total figure.

“The screening committee of the distinguished Body of Benchers has perused the records of each aspirant and has found them worthy to be presented for the call to the Nigerian bar,” he said.

“I attest that they are fit and proper persons for call and admission to the Nigerian Bar.”

About 1,230 law graduates failed the exams, which is an increase from April 2019, where 724 failed.

In August, 2018, 965 students were recorded to have failed the examinations, representing 16.51 percent of the number of candidates who took the tests at the time.

In his remarks, Tanko Muhammad, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), congratulated the successful candidates.

He asked the new wigs to pursue justice in accordance with the law. He also asked them to make a difference by using the knowledge and skills they have acquired in making the society better.

“Your priority is to commit yourselves to the pursuit of justice. Where you see justice not being achieved, do all you can within the ambit of the law to ensure that justice is served,” he said.

“Needless to say, if the justice system fails, the confidence of the people in it declines. I urge you all to make a difference by leaving your footprints on the sands of time; you have all been equipped with necessary skills, trainings and the ability to make impact in the society.”

Also, the number of first class graduates dropped from 161 in 2018 to 147 in 2019. The University of Ibadan produced the highest number of first class candidates this year, with 26 graduates.

- THECABLE

Security guard allegedly caught raping 12-year-old stepdaughter in Lagos

An Ogudu Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday remanded a 39-year-old security guard, Ojo Apejua, for allegedly defiling his 12-year-old stepdaughter.

NAN reports that the Magistrate, Mrs Ejiro Kubeinje, who did not take the plea of the defendant, ordered that the case file should be sent to the state director of public prosecutions for advice.

Kubeinje adjourned the case until Jan. 9, 2020, for mention.

The defendant, who resides on Salawe Street, Ikosi, Ketu, Lagos State, is facing a charge of rape.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp. Lucky Ihiehie, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on Oct. 10 at 10:00p.m. at his residence.

Ihiehie said the defendant had been defiling the girl since September and had threatened to kill her if she told anybody.

“On that faithful day, he was caught red-handed in the act by the girl’s mother.

“He left the house since that day but was later arrested by the police,” Ihiehie said.

The offence contravenes Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

- DAILY POST

How UNN students ‘exposed the powers of darkness’ while witchcraft conference was ongoing

After failed attempts to stop a conference on witchcraft from holding, students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) organised a prayer conference to fire back at the organisers.

The two-day conference on witchcraft, which was later renamed “Dimensions of Human Behaviour”, started on Tuesday in the university amid intense opposition.

Despite renaming the conference, the agenda was still on witchcraft. It is being organised by Professor B.I.C Ijomah Centre for Policy and Research at the university.

But on the day the programme began, the student affairs department of the university commenced a parallel “prayer conference” with the theme: “Exposing and destroying the powers of witchcraft”.

It was organised in collaboration with the graduate students fellowship of the university.

TheCable had reported that some members of the university community, mostly students, started online campaigns to register their displeasure over the conference.

Posters were also circulated in protest of the event tagged “gathering of witches.”

Various other groups including the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria had kicked called for the cancellation of the conference and declared similar “prayer warfare” against it.

Egodi Uchendu, director of the centre, had denied the conference had anything to do with witches.

She had said witchcraft is only “the topic of the academic engagement”, and that even Christians would benefit from the programme.

“Church pastors discuss witchcraft regularly and preach against it all the time, drawing from their experiences during their training and in their ministries,” she had said.

“I am sure the information from this conference and the research findings would assist them in their work for the gospel.

- THECABLE

Manchester City’s owner sells stake

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, owner of English Premier League champions, Manchester City and City Football Group, has sold about 10 per cent of the shares to Silver Lake, a private equity investor for about $500 million. 

The deal values City Football Group at US$4.8B post-investment, Gulf News reported on Wednesday.

Apart from its ownership of Manchester City, CFG is the owner of football clubs and related businesses, including New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Club Atletico Torque in Uruguay, Girona FC in Spain and Sichuan Jiuniu FC in China. 

The company has more than 2,000 employees in 12 locations globally, overseeing more than 1,500 players and 2,500 games annually, and delivering a unique global platform to its commercial partners.

The proceeds from the investment will be used by City Football Group to fund international business growth opportunities and develop further CFG technology and infrastructure assets.

No existing CFG shareholders are selling equity as a result of this primary capital investment. Abu Dhabi United Group, the investment vehicle owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, remains the majority CFG shareholder ( about 77%). 

In addition, about 12% of CFG equity remains held by a consortium of Chinese institutional investors led by China’s leading media and entertainment conglomerate CMC Inc.

Pursuant to the agreement, the Board of the City Football Group Holding Company will increase from eight to nine members.

Mr. Egon Durban, a Managing Partner and Managing Director of Silver Lake, will represent Silver Lake as the ninth CFG board member.

“Silver Lake is a global leader in technology investing, and we are delighted by both the validation that their investment in CFG represents, and the opportunities for further growth that their partnership brings. We and Silver Lake share the strong belief in the opportunities being presented by the convergence of entertainment, sports and technology and the resulting ability for CFG to generate long-term growth and new revenue streams globally,” said Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of City Football Group.

Reported by Gulf News

Lagos to register churches, mosques in 2020, give reasons

The Lagos State Government says plans are on to register religious houses in 2020, to ensure sanity in the state.

The Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, made this known on Tuesday in Alausa, Ikeja, during a Stakeholders Meeting with the Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC).

She said that having a database of all religious bodies in the state would enable ease of reference, as well as ensure effective communication.

“We need to know our number, then we can know what we need, we can know where we belong, we can know what we are doing.

“So, we are coming up with the registration forms and we need your cooperation as religious bodies that represent us at the local government level.

“We will ensure that we have it on a platform that will be automated, then you can do it anywhere, it is not compulsory that you come to Alausa for the registration,” the commissioner said.

She said that once the platform was ready, religious bodies would be trained on how to use it for registration and at no cost.

Akinbile-Yussuf explained that the purpose was to have easy access to Churches and Mosques in order for them to benefit from government programmes.

She said that the Ministry of Home Affairs would collaborate with the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources through the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), to eradicate noise pollution emanating from places of worship.

The official noted that Lagos could only be a 21st Century economy if there was a good environment devoid of noise pollution.

“We want to charge NIREC officials to ensure that they promote good environment by addressing all complaints by communities over noise pollution,” she said.

- DAILY POST

Handcuffed Nigerian jumps into Philippine’s river

An unidentified Nigerian, wearing a mysterious handcuff, was rescued by the Philippine Coast Guard Wednesday morning after he jumped into the Pasig River.

More mysteriously, the handcuff he was wearing does not belong to the police

According to a report by Coconuts Manila, village officials in Hulo in Mandaluyong City said they saw the man leap into the water at about 6am, radio station DZMM reports. 

The officials called the Coast Guard, who then fished him out of the river and noticed that he was wearing handcuffs.

The Nigerian told the Coast Guard that before jumping into the river, he had visited a Makati police station but did not explain why. 

He also didn’t say how he ended up in Mandaluyong, according to radio station DZBB.

He was taken by the Coast Guard to a Mandaluyong City police station where they determined that the handcuffs he was wearing did not belong to the Philippine National Police. 

The Nigerian remains at the police station, where he is currently being questioned by the authorities.

- PM NEWS