Tinubu gives new appointment to Minister of State for Petroleum

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, as the co-chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

This is contained in a terse statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, on Thursday.

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It reads: “In line with his avowed commitment to establish a more efficient, targeted, and consistent approval process for unique oil and gas projects in the country, President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr. Ekperikpe Ekpo, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), as the Co-Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

This is also to further ensure effective oversight of the gas aspect of the nation’s assets.

The President remains committed to unlocking Nigeria’s immense gas potential to stimulate industrial development, job creation, and sustainable economic growth.”

Tinubu gives new appointment to Minister of State for Petroleum

Senate okays death penalty for drug traffickers

The Senate on Thursday passed a bill that upgraded the maximum sentence of life imprisonment to the death penalty for drug traffickers in the country amidst controversy over the voice votes.

The death sentence as a penalty for drug traffickers passed through the third reading, the 2024 NDLEA Act (Amendment) Bill.

The proposal was adopted when the Senate dissolved into a committee of the whole for clause-by-clause consideration of a report of the Chairman of the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights & Legal Matters and Drugs & Narcotics National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Senator Tahir Munguno.

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In a review of the penalty provisions of the amendment bill towards strengthening the operations of the agency, a proposed amendment to award a death sentence to drug traffickers rather than just a life sentence was raised by the Senate Chief Whip and Sen. Peter Nwebonyi Under clause 11.

When the matter was put to a voice vote, it appeared the nays had it. However, when the question was put on a second vote, the Deputy Senate President ruled in favor of the i’s. A slight uproar ensued as some lawmakers were displeased.

Senator Adams Oshiomhole expressed his displeasure over what he considered a hasty consideration and passage of the amended clause.

The Deputy Senate President rejected an objection by Senator Oshiomhole to reverse the ruling, insisting that it came late which is against the rules.

Senate okays death penalty for drug traffickers

ASUU rejects N35,000 wage award, insists on new salary

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has insisted on negotiating the salary of its members with the President Bola Tinubu-led administration, thereby, rejecting the N35,000 wage award.

ASUU National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, stated this in Ibadan on Thursday at the inauguration of the secretariat of the University of Ibadan (UI) branch of ASUU.

Osodeke stated that the union had agreed that whatever was legally sent to members’ accounts should be spent but not to be taken as the negotiated salary.

“We told them we should negotiate our wage, but they said we are giving you an award of N35,000; we have told them that it is not our own.

“We are still insisting that there has to be negotiated salary,” he said.

He identified the renegotiation of the existing agreement, payment of withheld salaries, earned academic allowance and release of the Needs Assessment Funds as some of the pending issues with the Federal Government.

While commending the UI ASUU branch for the edifice it built using the expertise of its members, Osodeke decried the use of external or foreign consultants to handle projects in the country.

He said the government should rather hire experts within the country, especially from within Nigerian universities as consultants.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, UI, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, represented by Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnership, Prof. Yemisi Bamgbose, had commended the union.

Adebowale said the secretariat would serve as a hub of intellectual discussion, collaboration and solidarity among the union members “as it continues to strive for a better future for our universities and our nation.”

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The UI ASUU Chairman, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, said the secretariat was built without donations from external people or bodies.

He commended members of the union who gave in cash and kind to see to its completion.

The inauguration had a session, titled, “Challenging NeoLiberal Narrative in Nigeria’s Education Sector: ASUU’s 2022 Strike and Matters Arising”.

Speaking on the theme, Akinwole, said the impact of neoliberalism on education was complex and multifaceted.

He noted that the lecture was appropriate “at this period in our nation’s march toward self-reliance and independence in the right sense of the word.

“Expectedly, the lecture beams light on the way forward in continued relevance for scholars and all concerned leaders of the progressive movement in Nigeria.”

A Professor of Botany, Odoje Biodiversity Centre, Ogbomoso, Prof. Omotoye Olorode, spoke on the foundationality of the neoliberal narrative as expressed in the Nigerian ruling class response to ASUU’s strike.

He said, “ASUU’s struggles arise out of the necessity to build a country in which every citizen shall be free, educated, well fed and healthy.

“We cannot abandon these struggles and yet be worthy of being called ‘intellectuals’.

“This is where we stand. This is where we ought to stand.”

NAN reports that the union’s building at Olajuwon Olayide Extension, Ajibode, University of Ibadan, has a secretariat building, scholars’ chalets as well as other modern facilities.

ASUU rejects N35,000 wage award, insists on new salary