Author: Samuel Akpenpuun

Following appeals by stakeholders, the Independent National Electoral Commission has extended the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration in Edo and Ondo states for four days. The electoral body stated that the exercise, scheduled to end tomorrow, Wednesday, has been extended from Thursday, June 6, to Sunday, June 9, 2024, to enable more eligible persons to register. In a statement on Tuesday, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, said the commission took the decision during a meeting on Tuesday in Abuja. The statement added that the registration hours have been extended from 9.00 am…

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Olukayode Egbetokun, says the force will abide by whatever decision the Federal Government will take on the issue of state police. Egbetokun disclosed this on Monday in Lagos State, through the Coordinating Deputy Inspector-General of Police, South-West, Mr Abiodun Alabi, who was on a working visit to the state. He said the force decided to explain its stand in view of many opinions and views the matter had generated. The police chief advised officers and men to continue in their job as stipulated by the Nigerian Constitution. Egbetokun charged the men to be disciplined, hard-working,…

The Trade Union Congress and the Nigeria Labour Congress, forming the Organized Labour, are preparing to initiate a joint extraordinary National Executive Council. Naija News reports that this follows a six-hour discussion on Monday night in Abuja, where the Federal Government affirmed President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to increasing the proposed N60,000 minimum wage. The agreement specifies, “The President of Nigeria, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, is dedicated to establishing a National Minimum Wage exceeding N60,000; and the Tripartite Committee will meet daily over the next week to finalize a suitable National Minimum Wage.” Organized Labour also resolved to “immediately convene…

The Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform Committee has unveiled plans to transition from monthly to daily disbursement of allocations across the three tiers of government. This is in a bid to revamp the Federation Account Allocation Committee disbursement mechanism. The committee’s Chairman, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this while speaking at a public consultation workshop in Abuja on Monday. He emphasied the need to modernise the current system which he likened to antiquated practices dating back to 1814. Under the proposed reform, FAAC will adopt a daily disbursement strategy, a departure from the traditional monthly allocation meetings. “We believe the system…

The Organised Labour has called on its members to remind them that the strike which commenced yesterday will continue today pending the outcome of a meeting with the tripartite committee on the new national minimum wage by 10am. Labour whose leaders had a successful meeting with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, George Akume,  and other government officials on Monday reached a resolution that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to a new minimum wage higher than N60,000. Vanguard had reported how Organised Labour negotiators had walked out of the meeting for a third time, over the…

Organised Labour threw the nation into darkness after shutting down the national grid in the wee hours of yesterday. It was the first day of the indefinite strike it called to protest the stalled talks on minimum wage. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) announced on Friday a “total indefinite strike” over the failure of the Tripartite Committee to agree on a new minimum wage. The government offered N60,000, the Organised Private Sector (OPS) stood at N57,000 while Labour is asking for N494,000. Local flights were prevented from taking off at airports in Lagos and Abuja.…

As the strike action declared by the Nigerian Labour Congress enters its first day, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, has said the ongoing strike action will not affect airlifting of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the 2024 Hajj rites, adding that a total of 37,102 pilgrims have been airlifted to the Holy Land. The remaining 28,000 intending pilgrims will have to be airlifted before June 12, when Arabia is expected to close its borders for the Hajj operation. Out of the number, the private tour operators will airlift about 15,000 through chartered flights. NAHCON, in a statement, said,…

While enforcing the nationwide strike by labour over minimum wage, members of labour union shut down Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in Lagos, after chasing staff out of the Agidingbi, Ikeja, office.

Grammy-winning singer, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, is dedicating his sixth studio album, ‘Morayo,’ to his late mother, Jane Morayo Balogun. The ‘Essence’ hitmaker made this announcement in a video message shared on his social media on Saturday, revealing that the album, named in honour of his mother, will be released “very soon.” Wizkid said: “My album ‘Morayo’, dedicated to my mum, the love of my life, drops very soon. Don’t dull. Don’t sleep.” Recall that Wizkid lost his mother, Mrs Jane Dolapo Balogun, on August 18, 2023, in London after which she was buried in Nigeria. Wizkid…

United States-based lawyer, High Chief Owolabi Salis has pleaded with the Federal Government  to release from detention  the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader,Mazi,Nnamdi Kanu. The Ikorodu-born Lagosian who in 2019,contested for governorship on the platform of Alliance For Democrac (AD), said there is an urgent need to free the IPOB leader, as ‘he has been held in  detention for  too long’. “Remember that the embattled young man had languished in detention since 2015, during which he had been in and out of hospital due to his health, which had been gravely imperiled. Moreover, there had been injunctions from the…