Curator

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Summon Okonjo-Iweala, Adeosun, Oronsaye, others By Emman Ovuakporie A BUJA — THE House of Representatives Committee on Public Procurement investigating the pre-shipment inspection contract, yesterday, unearthed five ghost companies, which benefitted from N17 billion consultancy fees between 2011 and 2017 . Chairman of the committee, Oluwole Oke, who disclosed this, yesterday, read the riot act to all ministers and accounting officers of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, saying: “The shortest way to Kuje prison is through breach of procurement laws.” Apparently disturbed over the slow pace of the investigative hearing, members vowed to unearth those behind the contract scam and resolved to invite Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Minister of Finance and Jonah Otunla, former Accountant-General of the Federation, AGF, to appear before the House on June 6, 2017 over alleged infractions in the Public Procurement Act, 2007. Those also summoned by the House Com...

http://ift.tt/2sf2woA By Hilllary Okoronkwo A FEW weeks ago, I started exploring the possibility of returning to this column. My yearning was dictated by one personally nagging issue and within a matter of days, it quickly escalated to two or more. Based on my political journal since President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in, I concluded that the former Governor of Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu should have been routinely apologising for all the copious inadequacies of this administration. After all, it was Bola Tinubu who packaged and “sold” this gobbledygook to the people of South West. If things had progressed exceedingly well, his moment of “I told you so” would have arrived. Not one of Bola Tinubu’s APC promises have been kept. In other words, it appears all promises were cancelled or suspended. Tinubu’s silence does not sit well with me. My position on this issue is known as being an adult and taking full responsibilities. Another option available to Bola Tinubu could be to pu...

http://ift.tt/2rgXU4b By Patrick Dele Cole I OFTEN protest vehemently  when Nigeria is characterised as corrupt. I still insist that there are many which are but there are many others that are not. Yet daily, I see and receive reports that shame my protestation. Simple matters seem to cost money to the people who desire the services. Obtaining a JAMB form is a major headache, despite the computerisation of the system. Indeed, the computerisation merely created new bottlenecks which become centres of corruption. The small c refers to everyday corruption at common places. Isobu is a student who attempted to take the JAMB examination. He writes: “I paid for profile N1, 000 then print out N500 which is N1,500 altogether. I later went to Sterling bank where I paid the gateman N1, 000 in order to allow me enter and take my pin. When I got inside to collect my pin, I paid the initial amount that we were told to pay by JAMB which is N5, 500. Now I went to the accreditation cen...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J We’ll resist further onslaught on prominent Igbos— IPOB Raid politically motivated— OZEKHOME By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Chimaobi Nwaiwu, Ugochukwu Alaribe & Dirisu Yakubu A BUJA —THE apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has warned the All Progressives  Congress, APC-led government to stop the alleged persecution and harassment of people of Igbo extraction, describing some actions of the government as a serious threat to democracy. This came as the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, described  the raid by the police  as barbaric and shameful. Ohanaeze Ndigbo claimed that the APC government has not hidden its disdain against the South East geo-political zone and has been doing everything possible to ensure that Senator Ekweremadu who is the highest political office holder from the South East is humiliated and removed as the Deputy Senate President. In a statement yesterday signed by the President of Ohanaeze, Federal Capit...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J THE Unity Bank Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun has advised  students to be focused on achieving their future goals  and avoid  addiction to  forms of  ‘gadgetization’ and social media tools which  can be major distraction and negative influences that may derail their future. Somefun gave the advice when Unity Bank hosted students of the Holy Child College, Ikoyi, as part of the activities to mark the 2017 Children’s day celebration.The high point of the activities was the role play by Miss Stephanie Okafor, who was the One-Day CEO of Unity Bank. “The internet is a good resource for academic work as well as for sharing of information in a cost effective manner and there is no doubt about the values it has brought to the society. However, there is need for caution as excessive exposure/use of the internet and other social media tools could adversely affectchildren in their formative years...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Providence Emmanuel Ahead of the July 31 deadline for the  use of Bank Verification Number (BVN) for customers of Microfinance banks in the country, National Association of Microfinance Banks Lagos State Chapter, NAMBLAG, has said that the subsector is ready. Chairman NAMBLAG, Mr. Omololu Fatunbi, in this interview said  it would be substantially achieved by July 31. Excerpt: H OW prepared is the MfB subsector ahead of the BVN deadline on July 31 We are working on it, there is a committee being set up involving Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)  Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBBS)  and NAMB, as at today we are doing revalidation of existing customers and there and then we are making machine available to complete it and to write to all commercial banks to register our customers without any condition. The memo would be out a few days from now. We expect that compliance will be possible and if there would be hindrances we should be able...