UNDERAGE VOTING INVESTIGATION - INEC TO RELEASE FULL REPORT

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it would soon release the full report of its investigation into alleged under-aged voting in the Kano election report.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this during an interaction with political editors of media organisations on Saturday in Lagos.

He, however, said that based on the demand by some stakeholders, the commission would soon release the report submitted by the committee set up to investigate the allegations. Yakubu, speaking on the clean-up of the voter register, said that the commission would continue to strengthen the register. 

He added that while the commission had been working on the clean-up of the register, no single Nigerian had officially complained to INEC about the inclusion of ineligible persons.

Yakubu said as part of measures to clean up the register, the commission pasted the details of new registrants nationwide as well as given each registered political party a copy of the register for claims and objections.

Yakubu said that when the Kano investigation was conducted, the commission agreed to give the register to civil society organizations and the media.

He said that would be done without infringing on the right of Nigerians to apply for the register once they paid to the commission the relevant fee stipulated by the law.

Yakubu added that one of the innovations INEC had brought into the registration process was that registered voters could now check the status of their registration online. Answering another question on allegation that officers of the commission demanded for money before they register voters, said the registration and collection of cards was free.

He admonished Nigerians to report to the commission if any of its staff demanded for money.

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WHY JUNE SALARIES ARE NOT PAID

State Commissioners of Finance have claimed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) shortchanged the the Federation Account by N20 billion.

The disagreement over NNPC remittances into the account from May revenue led to a deadlock the Federation Account Allocation Committee last week.

The Chairman of the Forum of States Commissioners of Finance, Lagos Mamoud Yunusa, told journalists in Abuja, Saturday night that instead of N 147 billion, NNPC remitted N127 billion.

He added that the N3.5 billion which the corporation claimed to have spent on leaking oil pipelines was another area of contention as the Department of Petroleum Resources claimed ignorance of it.

The logjam has affected prompt payment of June salaries of public servants. No new data has been set for FAAC.

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1 INJURED, SHOPS RAZED BY GAS EXPLOSION IN KADUNA

A gas explosion on Saturday evening burnt down 14 shops and a pharmacy with one person injured.

The incident occurred at  Ibrahim Taiwo Road by Abeokuta Street in Kaduna. 

Residents mobilized to put out the fire before it spread further in the densely populated area. Most of the shops affected by the gas explosion contained kitchen equipment, gas cylinders and refilling facilities.

The residents were said to have chased away fire service personnel from the Kaduna State University who arrived over an hour after the fire started.

One of the shop owners, Mr Ifeanyi Eze said the fire started as a result of electrical surge which led to heavy explosion in one of shops selling gas cylinders.

Meanwhile, according to an eye witness, immediately after the explosion, fire emerged from the shop, adding that the owner was slightly burnt and was rushed to hospital.

Reports coming in shows that the fire has been contained by locals around the vicinity

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2018 WORLD CUP: CAVANI'S DOUBLE SENDS PORTUGAL HOME

Edinson Cavani scored twice as Uruguay shattered Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup dream with a 2-1 victory over Portugal.

The Paris Saint-Germain striker Cavani curled home a superb 62nd-minute winner to settle a thrilling second round duel in Sochi which sends Uruguay into a quarter-final against France next Friday.

Cavani had already put Uruguay in front early on, only for Pepe to head Portugal level in the 55th minute in a thrilling contest that was not the battle of attrition many predicted.

Pepe’s goal was the first time the South Americans’ defence had been breached in this tournament, but they stood firm after that and are beginning to look like genuine contenders moving into the latter stages in Russia.

The only downside for Oscar Tabarez’s side was the sight of Cavani limping off late on, raising a question mark over his fitness for next week’s last eight showdown with the French in Nizhny Novgorod.

Meanwhile, European champions Portugal go home, as Ronaldo and Lionel Messi bow out of the competition on the same day.

In contrast, Uruguay march on with arguably the best defence in international football and one of the best strike pairings anywhere.

Suarez and Cavani combined brilliantly for the seventh-minute opener on Russia’s Black Sea coast.

Cavani picked out Suarez on the left with a cross-field ball, before continuing his run into the penalty area and meeting the Barcelona striker’s return delivery at the back post, the ball smacking off his face and flying in.

Cavani can now look forward to coming up against his Paris Saint-Germain strike partner Kylian Mbappe, so impressive for France against Argentina.

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ADAMAWA, BORNO, YOBE TO BENEFIT FROM VSF’S AGRICULTURAL INPUTS

Not less than 4,000 households in insurgency affected areas of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States are to benefit from Victims Support Fund (VSF) agricultural inputs this cropping season.

The Fund, in a statement in Abuja, noted that its Chairman, Gen. T.Y Danjuma, made this known while flagging off the Rain-Fed Farming Intervention in Gulak, the headquarters of Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

Danjuma disclosed that the intervention aims to administer appropriate support to victims of insurgency and facilitate the restoration of their livelihood through the economic empowerment of households in the North-east.

According to him, “The VSF agro-based intervention provides agricultural inputs which included:

“Improved varieties of seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and sprayer. The rain-fed farming programme will improve household nutrition and also engender financial independence for victims who have returned to their communities.”

Represented at the event by Alhaji Alkasim Abdulkadir, a board member of the fund, Danjuma said the measure was to ensure that those affected bounced back to their normal lives.

Also speaking, the Executive Director of the fund, Prof. Sunday Ochoche, who said the beneficiaries included widows, urged them not to sell the inputs provided them but to use it in building their future.

He cautioned beneficiaries against selling the inputs, adding that they were provided with the best inputs as selling them would amount to selling their future.

Ochoche noted that the beneficiaries were divided into groups of 20 each to be properly monitored and supported on how to properly utilise the inputs for maximum benefit.

In his remarks, the Adamawa State Coordinator of Fadama 111, Alhaji Mohammad Kabiru, said the beneficiaries would be registered for necessary guidance on how to use the inputs and sustain support.

The Chairman of Madagali Local Government, Alhaji Yusuf Mohammed, lauded VSF for its support to the people, adding that the council had constituted a monitoring team involving security agents to arrest and prosecute anyone found selling the inputs.

Governor Muhammadu Bindow of Adamawa represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Ahmadu Waziri, also lauded VSF for the support, saying that the state government would also provide farmers in affected areas of the state with subsidized fertiliser.

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