NIGERIAN NEWS BLOGGERS

The federal government has declared Monday, December 27, Tuesday, December 28, and Monday, January 3, 2022, as public holidays to mark Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day celebrations respectively. The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, who made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government Wednesday, felicitated with Christians and all Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora on this year’s Christmas and New Year celebrations. Mr Aregbesola enjoined Christians to practice the doctrines of Jesus Christ, which include but are not limited to these – faith, hope and love. “We must emulate the life of Jesus Christ in His practice and teachings on Humility, Service, Compassion, Patience, Peace and Righteousness, which His birth signifies. This will be the best way to portray Christ and celebrate his birth” a statement signed by the permanent secretary, interior ministry, Shuaib Belgore, on Wednesday said. Mr Aregbesola said that peace and security are two critical conditio

Prof. Attahiru Jega, Former Chairman, Independent National Election Commission (INEC), Nigeria has said that an overhaul of the electoral system in ECOWAS Member States is critical in achieving credible, free and fair elections in the sub-region. Jega made this known during a Technical Session at the ongoing High-level Parliamentary Seminar of the ECOWAS Parliament on Thursday in Winneba, Ghana. According to him, independence, relative autonomy, integrity of the electoral body with a good legal framework will bring the desired reforms in the electoral process of ECOWAS countries for good governance. Jega said that achieving credible elections also requires the collaboration of all stakeholders, adding that the electoral body alone cannot not succeed in delivering credible elections if other sectors are compromised. “When we examine the conduct of elections in the last two decades in ECOWAS Member States, we can see some progress that has been made but obviously there are lots o

Members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament have called for urgent actions from the Community’s Institutions to stop the trend distortion of democratic rule in Member States. The Members of Parliament made the call on Wednesday during the technical section of the ongoing High-level Parliamentary Seminar in Winneba Ghana. The parliamentary Seminar with the theme “Two Decades of Democratic Elections in ECOWAS Member States: Achievements, Challenges, Challenges and the Way Forward” seeks to proffer solutions to electoral inconsistencies in Member States. Hon. Laadi Ayii Ayamba, a Member of Parliament from Ghana who lamented the situation said ECOWAS has the solutions to the problems but needs to put in political will and affirmative actions. According to Ayamba, the situations in Mali and Guinea could have been averted if ECOWAS was proactive. “To me, it was a shame when ECOWAS went to Guinea for mediation when an action could have been taken w

The Speaker of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Sidie Mohammed Tunis has warned that the community risks being perceived as a body of failed states over rising coups, tenure elongations and undemocratic constitutional amendments. The Speaker said this at his opening address at the high-level parliamentary seminar on 20 years of democratic elections in West Africa in Ghana’s coastal city of Winneba on the theme: Evaluating Two Decades Of Democratic Elections In The ECOWAS Region: Achievements, Challenges And The Way Forward.” Tunis said that while governments in the region condemn coups, it is important that they give serious attention to the new phenomenon of amending the constitution of a state before an election or before the expiration of the tenure of an incumbent President. “Amending a constitution to conform to current realities is not in itself a problem. When the proposed amendments to the constitution protect the governing elite at

The Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has appointed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana to champion its drive to achieve direct election of members into the parliament. The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Mohammed Tunis made the announcement during his opening address at the high-level parliamentary seminar on 20 years of democratic elections in West Africa in Ghana’s coastal city of Winneba on the theme: Evaluating Two Decades Of Democratic Elections In The ECOWAS Region: Achievements, Challenges And The Way Forward.” Tunis said one of the cardinal objectives of the current legislature is to achieve the election of members into the ECOWAS Parliament by direct universal suffrage. He noted that despite restrictions and difficulties associated with executing normal activities, occasioned by the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Parliament was able to kick start the process last year. Article 18 of the Supplementary Act provides that Repres

The Speaker of Ghana Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, has called on the Community Parliament to address concerns regarding mobile roaming services in the sub-region so as to achieve achieve regional development through the use of Information and Communication Telecommunication tools. He note that the sub-region can only achieve regional development by ensuring that the Regulation on Roaming on Public Mobile Communications Networks in the ECOWAS Space, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 16th December 2017 is implemented. Furthermore, the Honouable Speaker of Ghana Parliament strongly observed that most of the ECOWAS nationals who travel to other countries in the sub region have to pay higher premiums on mobile usage, while others have to change their sim cards to have access to the network available in their new destination. He made these observations, today, Tuesday, July 27, 2021 during the opening session of the de-localised meeting of the Jo

With the increase of violent extremism and terrorism, humanitarian crises and global pandemics across ECOWAS member State, The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament Right Honourable sidie Tunis challenged Parliamentarians and government of Member State on the need to harness the merits of the latest technological advancements, innovations and intelligence as viable tools to curb insecurity. The ECOWAS Speaker gave the challenge in his remarks, at the opening ceremony of the de-localised meeting of the Joint Committee on Political Affairs, Peace, Security and African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Legal Affairs and Human Rights and Telecommunications and Information Technology of the ECOWAS Parliament, holding at Winneba, Ghana, from 27 – 30 July, 2021. He argued, evidence shows that societies mired in violent conflict are often characterized by lack of development and shortage of economic opportunities. “So, we must strive for the return of peace in our region as it remains the key com

While presenting a paper titled "Dangers of Cryptocurrencies, how can they be mitigated?"at the delocalised meeting of the Joint Committee on Administration, Finance and Budget, Macroeconomic Policy & Economic Research, Public Account, Trade, Custom & Free Movement in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Mr. Olusegun Akinyelu, a Cryptocurrency writer highlighted the dangers of Cryptocurrencies and how to mitigate them. He revealed that chain analysis, a highly reputable and global blockchain analytics firm, in their 2021 publication, highlighted six dangers of Cryptocurrencies, which include: Money Laundering, Ransomeware, Scams, Stolen Funds, Terrorism, and Extremism Financing. According to Akinyelu, money laundering, the act of concealing transactions to hide the origin of illicit money from authorities is the key to Cryptocurrency hate-crimes. His words: "This is the new haven for cybercriminals who steal Cryptocurrenci

The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Sidie Mohamed Tunis represented by the Second Vice-President of the Ecowas Parliament, Malam Chalbou Boucary has condemned the wave of insurgency, terrorist attacks and kidnappings sweeping the ECOWAS region. He stated this in his address at the opening ceremony of the Delocalised joint meeting of four standing Committees of the Community Parliament, the committee on Administration, Finance and Budget, the committee on Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research, the Committee on Public Accounts and the Committee on Trade, Customs and Free Movement. The theme of the delocalised meeting is "Cryptocurrency as a facilitator of community Trade in West Africa". The Speaker empathise with the people of Burkina Faso who have fallen victim to the wave of insurgency, terrorist attacks and kidnappings sweeping the Ecowas region. Tunis appealed to the perpetrators to cease forthwith, all acts of violence destruction of human lives and

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s (retd.) order on the recovery of grazing routes for herders will top the agenda of today’s meeting of 17 southern governors, The PUNCH has learnt. It was gathered that the meeting, which would hold eight weeks after the governors met in Asaba, the Delta State capital, would further assess decisions taken in Asaba on the open grazing ban, restructuring, fiscal federalism and the call for state police. The governors would be hosted by Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the meeting which would start by 10am today (Monday). Aside from the host governor, others expected at the meeting are Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Emmanuel Udom (Akwa Ibom), Diri Duoye (Bayelsa), Willie Obiano (Anambra), Ben Ayade (Cross Rivers), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), David Umahi (Ebonyi), Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Adegboyega Oyetola (Osun), Oluwasey

A Nigerian House of Representative member, Honourable Linda Chuba Ikpeazu who is also one of the Nigerian delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament has informed Parliamentarians from other West African Countries that Nigeria is still very much in control of its country. Responding to concerns raised after the Nigerian delegations presented her country report at the First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament, meeting in Abuja, Hon. Linda said that though the country is being faced with insecurity challenges, the country is still very much strong and steadfast to solving its’ challenges. “In the sub region there are security challenges in various countries, it depends on the degree. All you need to do is go to google and you will get the true status of the security situations in other countries; “It is important to know that Nigeria remains a stable country and it is relatively peaceful, if it weren’t we won’t even be here sitting, but we do have some security challenges, and it

Speaker of the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) Parliament, Rt. Hon. Sidie Mohamed Tunis has awarded four staff members who have contributed so much to the work of the Parliament, and whose efforts have continued to the actualisation of the ongoing session as he introduces Speaker’s Award Scheme. The awardees are, Mr. John Azumah (Secretary General), Mrs. Rukka Ajana (Ag. Head of Translation), Mrs. Chinwe Adelekan (Head of Library) and Mrs. Fatimah Diop (Head of Conference). Focusing on the Fifth Legislature of the Parliament, Speaker Tunis noted that the efforts of the awardees has contributed earnestly to the possibility of organizing the ongoing First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament.

The vice President of Liberia has challenged the ECOWAS Parliament to push for appropriate implementation of the community protocol on gender and human equality across regional and local governments. Vice President Jewel Taylor made this request while concluding her keynote address presented before the Plenary at the official opening of the First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament seating in Abuja. Jewel stated that Gender equality is a fundamental human right, yet women are underrepresented in power and decision making roles, women around the region do not fully experience equal rights and their potential as economic, social and sustainable change-agents remains untapped. She said “Excellency, special guest, distinguish members of the ECOWAS Parliament, as I close, permit me to say I will be remiss if I remain silent at this august gathering of regional leaders about the perennial issue of the lack of gender inequality in our local and regional body politics;

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has said the deaths of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 other military officers have increased Nigeria’s security challenge. He regretted that the bad incident happened at a time the country is battling security challenges. Buhari spoke, on Monday, when he received a delegation from the Nigeria Governors Forum who came to the presidential villa, Abuja to condole with him on Friday’s air crash that happened in Kaduna. The president said only God knows when it will happen and it happened at a time when the security situation in the country is a fundamental issue. “And to lose choice officers has increased our problem but we know what we are in for and we will continue to work hard and pray hard so that God will give us the power to appreciate and apply ourselves to the problem. “The people who elected us, they know the promises we made within the time…the circumstances which we fin

The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared a total of N681.33 billion as March 2021 federation revenue to the Federal, States and Local Governments Councils and relevant Agencies in the country. In the month of March 2021, N154 billion was transferred to the non oil revenue savings and the balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $ 72.413 million. This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the virtual meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) for April 2021. The gross statutory revenue for the month of March 2021 was N466.687 billion, Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue was N181.712 billion and Exchange Gain was N2.931billion. The sum ofbillion was added as augmentation, bringing the total distributable revenue to N681.330 billion. The communiqué indicated that from the total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received N212.146 billion, the State Governments received N179.242 billion, and the Local Government Counci

Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Sidie Tunis has pledged his commitments and actions of the ECOWAS Parliament to address all issues against women in the ECOWAS Sub-region. Tunis made this known on Thursday during the closing of the delocalized meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament Joint Committee on Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment, Education, Science and Culture, Health in Monrovia, Liberia. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the delocalized meeting with the theme “Empowerment of Women in the West African Region” was held to proffer solutions to factors limiting women in the sub-region. Tunis gave the assurances that the fifth legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament under his leadership will work with all stakeholders to ensure that women issues are addressed to the fullest. “It is gratifying to witness the successful end of this all important meeting of the Joint Committees on Social Affairs, Gender, and Women Empowerment, Education, Science and Culture an

Hon. Laadi Ayamba, Member of the ECOWAS Parliament from Ghana have recommended that Member States should implement and adopt a regional binding law to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and child marriage. Ayamba made this known in an interview with journalists on Thursday at the ongoing ECOWAS Parliament delocalized meeting holding in Monrovia, Liberia. According to Ayamba, Female Genital Mutilation and child marriage are some of the oldest cultural practices that violates the right of a girl child. Ayamba said that Ghana as a country have made FGM a punishable offence under the law but unfortunately, some parents send their children to neighbouring Member States to get the procedure done. This she said can be stopped if all countries of ECOWAS makes FGM a punishable offence under their national laws, explaining that if a defaulting parent is caught in one country they can be arrested in another country. “My constituency is one of the highest place where FGM is practiced an

UN task ECOWAS Parliament on policies to protect women in informal sectors The Deputy Country Representative of the United Nations Mission in Liberia Mrs Sangeeta Thapa, has called on the ECOWAS Parliament to come up with policies that protect and recognize the contributions of women in the informal sectors. Thappa made the call on Wednesday during a Technical Session on “Strategies to Empower Women Working in the Informal Sector” at the ongoing ECOWAS Parliament delocalized meeting in Monrovia, Liberia. According to Thappa, women in the informal sector contribute a lot to the economy of countries in the ECOWAS Region but unfortunately, they are invisible and their contributions are not recognized. Thappa however called on the ECOWAS Parliament not to limit their focus on women in the formal sectors but also push for policies that will protect and recognize women in the informal sector. She said that the UN Women have been doing a lot to support Women Informal Cross Border Tr

UNIABUJA, others offering illegal admission – JAMB The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has mentioned the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA) among Nigerian universities issuing illegal admission to some candidates. The board made this known in a statement by its Head, Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin, on Wednesday in Abuja. JAMB, however, warned candidates that only admission through its Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) was valid and not otherwise. JAMB advised candidates not to accept admissions not processed through CAPS. “The attention of the Board has been drawn to illegitimate admissions purported being conducted by some universities, including the University of Abuja. “These universities have been reported to be issuing admission letters to candidates without recourse to the board. “It is, therefore, pertinent to state that such admissions that have not been processed, approved and accepted on the CAPS are null and void. “As such, as

Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has begun the disbursement of N148 million grants to 1,400 public secondary schools across the state. Ganduje made this known while inaugurating the disbursement at the Coronation Hall, Government House, Kano as part of activities making the state’s Education day. He said that the grants will enhance the free education and Almajiri integration policy of the state. Ganduje added that the free and compulsory education policy introduced by the state can only be sustained through consistent funding. “We are providing cheques to schools for daily maintenance… We are providing Tablet computers to Education Officers across the 44 LGAs for data generation, analysis management and transfer of data such as enrollment, discipline among others to the headquarters without physical appearance. ” “Outside Koranic recitation and Western education, the Almajiris are being thought various skills so that they can also fend for themselves after graduation,” Ga

A Gambian representative to the ECOWAS Parliament, Honorable Fatoumatta Njai has challenged the Community Parliament to reject list of countries that are short of thirty percent women’s representation to the Parliament. Speaking in an exclusive interview at the official Opening Ceremony of the Fifth Legislature’s delocalized meeting of the Joint Committee on Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment / Education, Science and Culture/Health, currently holding in Monrovia, Liberia on the theme, “ Empowerment of Women in the ECOWAS Region.” Njai said that some countries lack female representation in the Conference of Bureau, this according to her is disregarding the ECOWAS Rules of Procedure. “The Rules of Procedures mentioned that each member country should have a female representation at the Conference of Bureau. Each country has three members in the Conference of Bureau, so each country can at least have one female member which will be thirty percent representation. I thin

The First Lady of the Republic of Liberia, Mrs Clar Marie Weah, has called for long lasting and meaningful solutions and actions to end all forms of violence against women and ensure women empowerment across all sectors. Clar made the call on Tuesday at the opening of the ECOWAS Parliament Joint Committee delocalized meeting in Monrovia, Liberia with the theme “Empowerment of Women in the ECOWAS region”. According to Clar, despite the much improved awareness of women’s worth in society, a lot of work remains undone to ensure women across the ECOWAS region are given the proper recognition. She however noted that now is the time when collective efforts needs to be taken to find long lasting solutions to issues that affect all women, and not just women in politics or business but all women in the region. “The theme of Empowerment of Women in the ECOWAS region, speaks of coming together to agree on a common approach. “For ensuring that no girl or woman in our region feels abandon

In order to brighten the prospect of enhanced women participation in the politics of ECOWAS regional Parliament, Speaker Mohamed Sidie Tunis has said a major constitutional overhaul would be required to guarantee Affirmative Action for women. He disclosed this in an interview on Tuesday, after the opening session of the Delocalised meeting underway in Monrovia, Liberia. "it is practically impossible to implement an affirmative action for women without first understaking a holistic overhaul of the national constitutions of Member States and the parliament." According to him, the idea of enhanced women participation through deliberate policy like Affirmative Action is an idea whose time is long overdue. However, he cautioned that the chances of Affirmative Action will fair better, if Direct Election into the Community Parliament is implimented. Sidie explained that the parliament is committed to see Direct Election and Affirmative Action to fruition, insisting that,

The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mohamed Sidie Tunis has reiterated the need for concrete and deliberate actions on Women Empowerment, 25 years after Beijing Declaration, Speaker Tunis, who was on his way to Liberia for the Delocalised meeting on Women’s Empowerment, made this declaration on Monday 12 April, 2021 at the Mano River Bridge, when he was received by a delegation, consisting of ECOWAS staff and journalists. He said there couldn't have been a better venue for the Delocalised meeting than Liberia. This he said is against the backdrop of Liberia’s serial feats of electing women into prominent political positions. "Liberia is the most suitable country to host the Delocalised meeting on Women Empowerment because it was Liberia that blaised the trail in 2015, with the election of Africa's First Female President, Ellen Sirleaf Johnson. "Few years later, another woman was elected Vice President by Liberians." According to the Speaker, this is

Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Tunis has said the ECOWAS Parliament will engage with authorities of Member States to stop the extortion of ECOWAS citizens by Immigrations officials at all border posts. Tunis made this known on Monday while visiting Gbahjakeh Community in Bomi County, Liberia during an oversight visit to some communities across County on entering into Liberia through the Sierra Leonean/Liberian border. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Tunis was on the visit to engage with ECOWAS Citizens in the border community to know their challenges and how the Parliament can address them. The major complains of ECOWAS Citizens in the border town of Gbahjakeh was extortion from immigration officials while trying to cross the borders between Sierra Leone and Liberia to trade. and even in the community. Tunis pledged the intervention of the Parliament as he plans to first of all engage with the relevant authorities in Liberia and other West African countr