NIGERIAN NEWS BLOGGERS

The speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, H.E Sidie Mohamed Tunis on the occasion of the commemoration of ECOWAS DAY convey warm felicitations and best wishes to ECOWAS Citizens across the fifteen Member State on behalf of the Parliament. Speaker Sidie in his message call to mind the creation of the community of the current fifteen West African States, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos on 28th May, 1975, a community whose founding fathers birthed the long-term vision which inspired the establishment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He said the vision of the founding fathers envisioned a regional community geared toward fostering interstate economic and political cooperation along the West African coastal and its landlocked zones, cutting across linguistic, geographic ad colonial barriers. “The revision of the Lagos Treaty in 1993 assigned more mandate to ECOWAS, setting as economic objectives the achievement of a Common market and Custom Union; “ECOWAS then ...

Rivers State Government has warned the owner of the demolished Prodest Hotel, Promise Gogorobari, against blackmailing the state Governor, Nyesom Wike, following his recent claims that the government was planning to kill his hotel Manager, Job Azoroh. The government in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim, also took exemption to Gogorobari’s description of the state’s isolation facility as an illegal detention centre. Nsirim said it was laughable that the hotelier alleged that his convicted Manager, who recently tested positive for Covid-19 amongst 27 others, in a result released by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) was infected by the government. He described all the allegations from the hotelier as spurious, deliberately misleading and intentionally provocative. Nsirim explained that the Port Harcourt Senior Magistrates’ Court convicted Azoro, sentenced him to a fine of N50,000 ordered that the convict should be quara...

THE Federal Government has accused governors of wilfully breaching the protocols designed to guide the country out of Coronavirus spread. Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 control Chairman Boss Mustapha warned on Thursday of the danger in allowing large gatherings. He reiterated that the ban on gatherings of more than 20 people remained banned. Mustapha, who spoke at the daily briefing by the PTF in Abuja, emphasised the “need for states to diligently implement and enforce compliance. Particularly, I underscore the need for the governors to provide personal and strong leadership, carry the policy of community ownership to the grass-roots and create deeper awareness. “Governors are also advised on the decision taken by some of their colleagues to permit large gatherings as such decisions could inadvertently endanger the elderly, the sick and those with underlying factors during such gatherings. The strong advisory from the PTF is that large gatherings beyond 20 persons remain pr...

Share The Federal Government has declared Monday 25 and Tuesday 26 May, 2020 as Public Holidays to mark this year’s EIDUL-FITRI Celebration. The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government, congratulated all Muslim faithful for the successful completion of the Ramadan fast. Aregbesola who called on them to replicate the life of kindness, love, tolerance, peace and good neighbourliness, as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him), also expressed his concern about the spate of ethnic conflicts that has resurfaced in some parts of Northern Nigeria in recent times. He advised Nigerians to see themselves as a single entity and thus learn to tolerate one another despite their ethnic and religious differences. Ogbeni Aregbesola further assured Nigerians that the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is fully committed to battling the scourge of COVID-19 with the cooperation of all Nigerians. While commen...

No Presidential Broadcast Today-Presidency The Presidency has debunked reports that President Muhammadu Buhari would be making a media broadcast today. Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in a tweet picked from his verified Tweeter handle stated this Monday afternoon. He said no presidential broadcast was planned for today, adding that whatever update was available would be passed on by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) during its usual briefings. “No presidential broadcast on COVID-19 updates today. None was planned. Rather, the Presidential Task Force will during its usual media briefings bring the nation up to speed on the next steps”, the tweet read. It would be recalled that reports had been out since evening that the President might be making a national broadcast later today. Source:NND

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to pick up Madagascar’s herbal drug –COVID Organics – from Equatorial Guinea. Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, made this known on Monday. Mustapha said Nigeria’s consignment had been sent to Equatorial G For ease of transportation, African countries were divided into zones leading to the freighting of Nigeria’s consignments to Equatorial Guinea. He also said the products would be subjected to validation process after they had been picked up. Mustapha had on April 28, 2020 said the nation was ready to give Madagascar’s herbal remedy a trial. He said, “I want to assure you that whatever is happening in the world, we are mindful of it and we are keeping a tab. “I was reading of the experiences in Madagascar– of why everybody is drinking some solutions that have been prepared. “This morning I was sharing with my wife and I told her that probably I would request that Mr President allows...

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has announced the temporary lifting of the total lockdown on Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt Local Government Areas fo Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has announced the temporary lifting of the total lockdown on Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt Local Government Areas for two days only, with effect from Tuesday 12th May 2020. Governor Wike made the announcement in a State-Wide broadcast on Sunday night. He said that the total lockdown will be lifted on Tuesday 12th May, 2020 and Wednesday, 13th May, 2020. Governor Wike said that the lockdown will be reinstated on Thursday, 14th May, 2020. He said: “Consequently, we have given due consideration to the propositions on the way forward by well-meaning citizens of the State, and after a cautious review of the situation, decided to implement a partial relaxation of the lockdown measures, to enable residents to have some fresh air and replenish their foodstuffs and medicines. “To this end, I hereby announce the t...

Reps make U-turn on infectious Disease Bill THE House of Representatives on Tuesday made a U-turn on its earlier bid  to pass the contentious Infectious Disease Control  Bill without subjecting it to public hearing. With the turnaround, the bill will now be thrown to the public to make input before it returns to the House for vetting and passage. This is as the Senate  introduced its own version of  the bill titled “National Health Emergency Bill.” The House bill titled “Control of Infection Diseases Bill 2020 sponsored by Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila seeks    to repeal the Quarantine Act and enact the Infectious Diseases Control Act. It  passed first and second  readings in the House   last week but attracted outbursts from  the  Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) which alleged that the  lawmakers had been offered $10million to pass it, Some Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are already mobili...