Striking doctors adamant, accuse govt of insincerity – Newstrends
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Striking doctors adamant, accuse govt of insincerity

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  • FG appeals for end to the strike

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors has vowed not to call off its nationwide strike until it is convinced about the sincerity of the government in meeting its demands.

They embarked on strike from April 1 over alleged poor remuneration and conditions of service. They are also asking for a 50 per cent increase in the N5,000 hazard allowance.

But Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has appealed to the doctors to call off their strike in the interest of patients urgently needing care in the hospital.

Ehanire made the call at a media briefing on Wednesday in Abuja to commemorate World Health Day, celebrated every year on April 7, sponsored by the World Health Organisation and other related organisations.

The association said after its national executive council meeting on Wednesday through a communiqué that “NEC unanimously voted that the ongoing total and indefinite strike that started on the 1st of April 2021 be continued until the federal and state governments of Nigeria meet up with our demands.

“NEC painfully observed that despite all the efforts of by the National Officers Committee (NOC) to ensure that the Federal Government did the needful to prevent the ongoing strike, government has continued in their insincerity of promises hence the current stalemate.”

The association describing as disappointing the statement credited to Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, that he was not aware the doctors were collecting N5,000 as hazard allowance until the coronavirus pandemic started.

It said it had given a two-month ultimatum before declaring the industrial action “when it became apparent that the Ministry of Health was not interested in any form of settlement to avert the avoidable action.”

“NEC also noted that the Memorandum of Action signed was after 12 midnight on 31st of March, 2021 when the ultimatum had elapsed. Without prejudice to the labour laws and other extant laws of the land, the industrial action had already begun before the MOA was signed and as such, not tenable,” it added.

“They noted the admittance of the Hon Minister of state for health who wholeheartedly agreed that all the issues raised by NARD in her communique are germane and legitimate and further admitted that bureaucratic bottlenecks in government led to delay/non-implementation of previous memoranda signed with NARD,” it stated.

After appraising the government’s response to its demands, the association said the industrial action would go even as it expressed commitment to its oath to take care of patients.

It stated, “We want to use this medium to reiterate our commitment to the smooth running of all tertiary institutions in the country and the provision of specialist healthcare to Nigerians but we need to first of all care for our own health and welfare in order to give standard care to our patients.”

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Yahaya Bello govt spending third term in office through Ododo – Clark

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Yahaya Bello, Chief Edwin Clark

Yahaya Bello govt spending third term in office through Ododo – Clark

Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, says the former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, administration was nothing to write home about.

This is even as he asked the embattled former governor to surrender himself to the authorities.

Bello has been in the news for days on end over money laundering and financial impropriety.

He was declared wanted after he evaded the economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC) who had stormed his Abuja residence to apprehend him.

Speaking on Bello’s time as the governor of the middle belt state, Clark, who is the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, stated that state sponsored violence, corruption, civilian repression and political killings were rife when Bello was in office.

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Clark also pointed out that Bello is still running the show in Kogi state as he is currently spending third term in power through the incumbent governor, Ododo, who he planted in office.

“Yahaya Bello is just being stubborn. He has been living very very rough…having a very rough government, corruption, killing of people in the place during elections and so on,” Clark said during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday.

“There’s time for everything and it has come for him to answer questions. He should go to court. He should go to court to answer the substance of the case, where did he get the money from?

“Is it true or not that the money he paid to the American school belongs to him or belongs to the government of Kogi State?

“The behaviour of the new Governor shows Yahaya Bello is in power for the third time. Ahmed Ododo is just running after him.

“I just want to plead with Ododo to do the needful so that the youth in this country will have something to fall upon.”

Yahaya Bello govt spending third term in office through Ododo – Clark

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‘Unfounded accusation’ – Obi slams Umahi over instigation of Igbo against Tinubu claim

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David Umahi, Peter Obi

‘Unfounded accusation’ – Obi slams Umahi over instigation of Igbo against Tinubu claim

Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, says he is not in the business of whipping up ethnic sentiments or amplifying Nigeria’s fault lines to gain socio-political mileage.

Obi said this reaction to comment made by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, at an event on Wednesday on the Lagos-Calabar road project.

Obi has been vocal in his criticism of the road project, calling it a misplaced priority as it is not what Nigeria needs at a time of lean resources and plethora of challenges begging for drastic solution.

Umahi while speaking at the event said Obi’s position on the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project amounted to pitting Nigerians of Eastern extraction, who are majorly Igbos, against the government of President Bola Tinubu.

He also accused Obi of demolishing property without compensating those affected when he was Anambra governor, Obi was inciting South Easterners against the government

“When His Excellency Peter Obi was the governor. He made a statement saying, “Any infrastructure that stands in the way of the road must go. And there would be no compensation paid.” That’s what he said,” Umahi said.

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“And I think he’s inciting some of the South-East people that are not well informed. He is inciting them. And gets them into trouble,” he added

Reacting to Umahi’s allegation of divisiveness and sedition in a statement on Wednesday, Obi opined that he is a preacher of peace and advocate of unity who always wants what is best for the country.

Obi, who described criticisms that he is inciting Igbo against Tinubu’s government as baseless, stated that he won’t wallow in the murky water of divisive ethnic politics like many of his contemporaries and opponents do.

He stated, “My focus is on fostering constructive dialogue and inclusivity, rather than engaging in divisive politics, Claims of incitement are baseless distractions. I have always advocated unity and advancement, refusing to partake in reactionary divisive politics.

“I refuse to be reduced to the level of those who wallow in ethnic politics. Worse still, I have never and can never descend so low as to base my political aspirations on any sectional or ethnic interest.”

The former Anambra governor also said there were no comparisons between the demolition he did when he was governor and what the Tinubu-led government was currently doing.

‘Unfounded accusation’ – Obi slams Umahi over instigation of Igbo against Tinubu claim

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NDIC jacks up deposit insurance cover from N500,000 to N5m

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NDIC jacks up deposit insurance cover from N500,000 to N5m

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has announced a significant increase in the maximum deposit insurance coverage levels for Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other financial institutions, effective immediately.

During a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, NDIC Managing Director Bello Hassan disclosed, “For Deposit Money Banks, the increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage from N500,000 to N5,000,000, would provide full coverage of 98.98% of the total depositors compared with the current cover of 89.20%. In terms of the value of deposit covered, the revised coverage would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 25.37% compared with the current cover of 6.31% of the total value of deposits.”

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Hassan further explained, “The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage for primary mortgage banks from N500,000 to N2,000,000 would provide full coverage of 99.99% of the total number of depositors and would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 43.10% of the total value deposits from the current cover of 40.60%.”

Additionally, Hassan noted, “The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage for subscribers of Mobile Money Operators from N500,000 to N5,000,000 per subscriber.”

NDIC jacks up deposit insurance cover from N500,000 to N5m

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