FERMA budgets N55.5bn for road maintenance – Newstrends
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FERMA budgets N55.5bn for road maintenance

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By Dada Jackson

The Managing Director of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Abdulrahman Nurudeen Rafindadi, says the agency has proposed the sum of N55.5 billion for the repair of federal roads spread across the country.

Rafindadi, an engineer, gave the figure while presenting to the federal lawmakers the agency’s budget estimates for the year 2021.

He, however, did not give state-by-state details of projects to be executed, assuring the lawmakers he would do so at a later date.

The FERMA helmsman said that as of now, the agency had N21bn available to tackle emergency road projects, adding that the money was yet to be deployed.

It would be recalled, that since its establishment, FERMA has consistently been underfunded, hence its inability to meet its core mandate of effecting substantial road repairs of failed federal roads across the country.

From the time of its pioneer managing director to the current helmsman, the sing-song of the agency has always been the paucity of funds to execute the maintenance of dilapidated federal roads begging for attention.

The proposed N55.5 billion budgetary expenditure for the year 2021 is considered a ‘drop in the ocean’ considering the state of federal roads across the country.

It would also be recalled that as far back as 2005, the then Managing Director of the agency, Engr Olubunmi Peters, had said that in order for FERMA to be able to fix failed federal roads in the country, it would need not less than N50 billion.

Almost 15 years after, FERMA is proposing to spend N55.5 billion to address the issue of failed federal roads nationwide.

Experts have noted that the consequence of this inadequate funding of the agency is that more federal roads in the country will fail as a result of neglect.

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Naira depreciates again, trades at N1,402/$

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Naira depreciates again, trades at N1,402/$

The Nigerian currency, naira, on Thursday slightly depreciated at the official market, trading at N1,402.67 to the dollar.

Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), showed that the naira lost N11.71

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This represents a 0.84 per cent loss when compared to the previous trading date on Tuesday April 30, when it exchanged at 1,390.96 to a dollar.

However, the total daily turnover increased to 232.84 million dollars on Thursday, up from 225.36 million dollars recorded on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the naira traded between 1,445.00 and N1,299.42 against the dollar.

Naira depreciates again, trades at N1,402/$

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Appeal court takes over NURTW case as NIC withdraws

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Appeal court takes over NURTW case as NIC withdraws

The National Industrial Court has withdrawn from a case involving Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin, Board of Trustees chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), and Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa’s ambition to return as president of the union over lack of jurisdiction.

The industrial court’s decision was made to avoid conflict with the Court of Appeal, where the matter is already being heard.

Before the NIC announced its decision to hands-off the case, the defendants’ counsel, Mr. O.I. Olorundare SAN, had informed the court that the matter is currently before the Court of Appeal, Abuja division, and that the industrial court could not continue to adjudicate on the same matter.

The counsel cited authorities to support his claim, adding that the National Industrial Court does not have concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Appeal.

The presiding judge, O.O. Oyewunmi, struck out the case, stating that the Appeal Court had taken over the matter and that the Industrial Court must respect the hierarchy of courts.

Alhaji Yasin and six others took the case to the Appeal Court, challenging the decision of the industrial court recognising a delegates’ conference held on May 24, 2023, where Baruwa was proclaimed as President of the union for a second term in office.

With the latest NIC judgement, both parties will now proceed to defend their positions at the Court of Appeal and await the final judgement.

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Multichoice shuns court order, proceeds with increase of DSTV, Gotv packages

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Multichoice shuns court order, proceeds with increase of DSTV, Gotv packages

Despite the intervention of the CCPT, Multichoice Limited has proceeded to increase packages price for DSTV and GOTV as announce on Wednesday last week.

Newstrends had earlier reported that the corporation announced that the new rates will go into effect on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in a statement.

Meanwhile, on Monday, MultiChoice Nigeria Limited was ordered by the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal (CCPT) in Abuja to suspend the planned prices and tariffs hike on packages and services.

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The three-member tribunal, presided over by Saratu Shafii, gave the interim order following an ex-parte motion moved by Ejiro Awaritoma, counsel for the applicant, Festus Onifade.

News prices includes: DStv, Premium bouquet, the price moved from N29,500 to N37,000; Compact+ from N19,800 to N25,000; Compact from N12,500 to N15,700; Confam from N7,400 to N9,300, among others.

For GOtv users, Supa+ increased from N12,500 to N15,700; Supa moved from N7,600 to N9,600; Max from N5,700 to N7,200; Jolli, from N3,950 to N4,850, among others.

Multichoice shuns court order, proceeds with increase of DSTV, Gotv packages

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