During the meeting, the president praised the women leaders for their support in the course of the campaigns and elections, adding that they all deserve awards for their efforts he also used the opportunity to assure Nigerian women that his administration is committed to ensuring that the country is retrieved from the vested interests that have stifled its growth.
Reactions have trailed the Senate’s approval of a request by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to borrow $800 million dollars from the World Bank to help cushion the impact of the subsidy removal. The loan which had previously been approved by the Government of Former President Muhammadu Buhari, to help scale up the National Social Safety Net Programme had been a subject of controversy.
Tinubu in a letter to the lawmakers said the purpose of the facility is to expand coverage of shock responsive safety net support among poor and vulnerable Nigerians, adding that 12 million poor households will be paid 8,000 naira per month for six months, with a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals.
The House of Representatives, also approved Tinubu’s request to amend the 2022 supplementary budget of N819.5 billion Naira so as to allow the government spend 500 billion naira to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal.
A federal high court in Abuja on Thursday, dismissed a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Nnamdi Kanu against the Department of State Services. The presiding judge, James Omotosho, held that Kanu’s suit lacked merit and ought to be dismissed.
In the suit, Kanu alleged that he was subjected to inhumane treatment and torture by the DSS and also claimed that he is not allowed to wear his Igbo traditional attire popularly called Isi-Agu and that he’s restricted to wearing only one outfit while other detainees are allowed to wear clothes of their choice.
In a counter affidavit the DSS denied the allegations and stated that operatives never tortured Kanu either physically or mentally while in their custody.
The secret police submitted that the facility is not a recreational centre or traditional festival where Kanu and other suspects would be allowed to adorn themselves in their respective native attires.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi on Thursday in a tweet that has now gone viral described the sit-at-home directive in the south east, imposed by a group of Biafra Agitators as the handiwork of a criminal enterprise. Peter Obi called on security agencies to take urgent steps to deal with the heightened insecurity in the region and crime across the country.
He also clarified that the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra have disowned the sit -at-home directive and also commended south-eastern governors for their efforts in curbing criminal activities in the region. One of the reactions to Peter Obi’s tweet was from a self proclaimed prime minister of the Biafra republic government, Simon Ekpa who lives in Finland.
Ekpa in responding to Obi, described him as a spokesperson for the indigenous peoples of Biafra.
The Chairman and Editor in Chief of Thisday and Arise Media Group, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, a pioneer in the media space, and a strong advocate of free speech, clocks 64 years today.
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