News
Court remands IPOB leader Kanu in DSS custody till July 26
Rearrested and extradited leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, will be remanded in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) till July 26, a Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled.
The court granted the order on Tuesday when Kanu was re-arraigned on charges bothering on alleged treason.
Presiding judge, Binta Nyako, said Kanu should be remanded in the DSS custody pending the determination of his trial.
Kanu is facing treasonable felony charges in a suit instituted against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja in response to years of campaign for the independent Republic of Biafra through IPOB.
He was granted bail in April 2017 for health reasons but jumped bail after flouting some of the conditions given to him by the court.
He has also been on the run since then after soldiers raided his father’s residence in Abia State.
IPOB was later declared a terrorist group by the defence headquarters and the court after the South-East governors proscribed it.
Despite the court’s insistence on his appearance, the IPOB leader had remained abroad, and once said he jumped bail to pursue the cause of Biafra.
“Their problem is Nnamdi Kanu and the solution to their problem is referendum. They gave me conditional bail to cage me and IPOB but I refused,” he had said during a broadcast.
Owing to his absence in court, Binta Nyako, the judge who granted him bail, revoked it and ordered that he should be arrested.
Kanu, however, dismissed the arrest warrant issued against him and vowed to remain abroad to continue agitating for Biafra.
In Kanu’s absence, IPOB went underground and mobilised resources to launch a militant named the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
The emergence of ESN coincided with a spike in attacks against security and government infrastructure in the South-East.
News
Two million bank accounts closed over BVN, NIN, others
Two million bank accounts closed over BVN, NIN, others
Commercial banks in Nigeria closed 2.021 million bank accounts in the first quarter of 2024, Q1’24, to clean their books of questionable accounts and comply with regulatory orders on the linkage of bank accounts to the National Identity Number, NIN.
This is contained in a report by the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System, NIBSS, which also indicated that the number of inactive bank accounts grew month-on-month, MoM, by four million or 2.0 per cent to 19.7 million in March 2024 from 19.3 million in the previous month, February.
A bank account is classified inactive when it records zero transactions including deposits, withdrawals, transfers or point-of-sale transactions for six months.
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However, details of the “Industry Bank Account Database”, a monthly data reported by banks, and compiled by the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System, NIBSS, also indicated that the number of active bank accounts grew by 6.62 million or 3.0 per cent to 219.64 million from 213.02 million in February.
Recall that in December 2023, the CBN issued a directive to all commercial banks in the country to restrict tier-1 accounts without proper Biometric Verification Number, BVN, and National Identity Number, NIN, that are not linked by Thursday, March 1st, 2024.
According to NIBSS data on BVN enrollment count, 61.6 million Nigerians have BVN as of April 2024.
Two million bank accounts closed over BVN, NIN, others
News
Senate insists on 16 years as requirement for tertiary institution admission in Nigeria
Senate insists on 16 years as requirement for tertiary institution admission in Nigeria
The Nigerian Senate has moved to clarify recent discussions regarding the minimum age requirement for admission into tertiary institutions.
The red chamber assured Nigerians that the current age requirement of 16 years has not been altered and that recent comments suggesting an increase to 18 years were personal opinions.
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Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Adeyemi Adaramodu, emphasised that any changes to the age requirement would require legislative action following due process.
Adaramodu explained in an interview with journalists that comments made by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, about increasing the minimum age limit were not legally binding but rather personal opinions.
The Minister of Education had previously hinted at plans to review and raise the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions to 18 years.
Senate insists on 16 years as requirement for tertiary institution admission in Nigeria
News
Minimum wage: Labour threatens nationwide strike by end of May
Minimum wage: Labour threatens nationwide strike by end of May
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have given President Bola Tinubu until the end of May to finalise the implementation of the new national minimum wage for workers.
NLC president Joe Ajaero made the demand on Wednesday in Abuja at this year’s International Workers Day.
Mr Ajaero said, “All parties in the tripartite process are well represented, and the engagement has been robust. We have placed our demand of N615,000 only before our social partners while we await their offer. If, however, the negotiation of the minimum wage is not concluded by the end of May, the trade union movement in Nigeria will no longer guarantee industrial peace in the country.”
Ajaero also said labour demanded that the new act have a two-year life span and included an agreement for automatic wage adjustments at any time inflation exceeded 7.5 percent.
He said the union further demanded that every employer with up to five workers pay the new minimum wage. Mr Ajaero called for strengthening monitoring and compliance mechanisms to penalise non-complying state governments.
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He said that Nigerian workers deserved to have a national minimum wage that approximated to a living wage.
“Our figures are based on objective realities around the nation and not based on some fantasy but on what confronts us as workers around the nation. We want to be able to buy foodstuff and housing, among others. Any wage that is below this living wage condemns workers to starvation,” the NLC president said.
Ajaero, however, said, “We must not let our guards down but be alert so that together, we can assist government take the right decision and pay workers a living wage as promised by Mr President. We will not allow our interest to sabotage the desire of the president concerning a living wage for workers.”
The NLC president also said the contributory pension scheme needed to be reviewed. He noted that there had been complaints about it, such as the delay or non-transmission of contributed money to the Pension Fund Administration.
Ajaero also called for the reactivation of gratuity to public servants. He further called for the upward review of the retirement age in the entire public service from 60 to 65 years and 35 years to 40 years in service just as was done for teachers and judges.
Minimum wage: Labour threatens nationwide strike by end of May
UTME results not available in paper format – JAMB
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