News

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Doctors, under the auspices of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), have threatened to embark on a nationwide strike if the Federal Government refuses to meet their demands. 

This was disclosed in a letter signed by NARD president, Dr Emeka Innocent Orji, on Monday. The letter, which was addressed to the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Enahire, gave the Federal Government an ultimatum of two weeks to meet the demands of the union. 

Dr Orji said the strike would commence if the issues are not resolved before the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting slated for January 24th to 28th. 

The letter read in part, “Sir, our January 2023 National Executive Council meeting has been scheduled for January 24th to 28th, 2023, and we can confirm very clearly feelers that if these issues are not sorted out before that meeting, our members will likely give us a mandate to immediately kick-start processes that will lead to a nationwide industrial disharmony in the health sector.”

The Daily Reality has observed that Nigeria is witnessing its worst brain drain among doctors recently; the poor working condition is mainly responsible for the situation.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Masterminders of the attack and abduction of not fewer than 31 people from the Tom Ikimi Train Station in Igbueben in Edo State have reached out to some families of the abductees and made demands.

The Executive Director of Esan Youth for Good Governance on Social Justice, Benson Odia, on Monday, disclosed that the kidnappers demanded the sum of 20 million naira from each of the victims.

Odia described the demand as absurd and called on the government to intensify efforts in securing the release of the abductees.

He also disclosed that the Minister of Transportation and the Nigeria Railway Corporation boss visited Igueben to personally assess the situation.

He said, “I can tell you that the kidnappers have demanded N20 million, totalling N620 million. This is absurd and I don’t know where poor people will be able to raise that amount of money.”

 By Muhammadu Sabiu 
 
Ibrahim Shehu, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for governor of Zamfara State, was expelled from the party for allegedly engaging in anti-PDP conduct.
 
Shehu was expelled due to anti-party activities that violated Article 58(1)(a), (b), and (c) of the PDP’s 2017 amended constitution, according to the expulsion letter signed by Hon. Aliyu Hassan, the party’s secretary in Mayana Ward.
 
According to the letter, the party’s Mayana Ward Working Committee made the decision, which would take effect in January 2023.
 
Recall that Ibrahim Shehu was twice in charge of having the party’s governorship primary election annulled.
 
Ibrahim Shehu, who served as a representative in the Federal House from 2011 to 2015, didn’t comment about it yet.
 
The state chapter of the party, meanwhile, claimed to be unaware of the development, noting that it had not been officially alerted by the ward and that any complaints made against Shehu would be thoroughly probed before any action was taken.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Scores of people have been abducted in Edo train station and many were left with bullet wounds on Saturday evening.

Gunmen widely reported to be herdsmen invaded the Egbueben train station in Egbueben Local Government Area of Edo State and kidnapped passengers waiting to board the train to Warri in Delta State.

Many of the travellers reportedly sustained bullet wounds and the police disclosed that an uncertain number of passengers have been kidnapped.

The Edo Police Public Relations Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the incident in a statement.

The statement reads, “This is to inform the gentlemen of the press that today, 7th of January, 2023 at about 1600hrs, unspecified number of herdsmen armed with AK 47 riffles attacked the train station at Igueben, Edo State and kidnapped unspecified number of passengers who were waiting to board the train to Warri.

“The kidnappers who shot sporadically into the air before kidnapping some passengers left some persons with bullet wounds. The Area Commander Irrua, DPO Igueben Division, and men have visited the scene of crime with members of the Edo State Security Network, local vigilantes, and hunters with a view to protecting the lives and property of the remaining passengers.

“Bush combing operations have commenced in order to rescue the victims and arrest the fleeing kidnappers. Further developments will be communicated”, Nwabuzor disclosed.

Train attacks have become prevalent in Nigeria. On March 28, 2022, Abuja-Kaduna train attack led to the death of about 14 passengers and 63 people were declared to be kidnapped after the incident.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

Bishop David Oyedepo has warned young people about the “japa syndrome” (vacating Nigeria for greener pastures).

To rebuild the nation’s lost respect, Oyedepo encouraged the government to invest heavily in its people.

The cleric highlighted that investing more in education is necessary since it is the cornerstone of sustained national development, adding that a conducive atmosphere for youngsters will lessen the rate of Japa.

He was quoted as saying, “Parents need to reorientate their children. We all need to stay in Nigeria to rebuild.

“Everyone has a part to play in the recovery of his nation.”

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Kano State Ministry of Education has announced Sunday, January 8th, 2023, as a resumption day for all boarding public and private primary schools for the commencement of the 2nd term academic session.

A statement by the Director Public Enlightenment Ministry of Education of the state, Aliyu Yusuf, disclosed this on Saturday.

The statement added, “While expressing appreciation for the cooperation and support been [sic] accorded to the ministry, Commissioner Rt. Hon. Ya’u Abdullahi Yan’shana urged Parents/Guardians of Pupils and Students of the schools to ensure compliance with the approved resumption dates.

“The Commissioner who also wished the students and pupils successful commencement of the 2nd term Academic session, however, warned that appropriate disciplinary action would be taken against defaulting students,” the statement added.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo, hosted the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso on Thursday.

Kwankwaso was accompanied by Buba Galadima and other key members of his campaign team to Anambra’s State Government House in Awka. 

Explaining the reason for the visit, Kwankwaso said he was in the state to open the campaign office of his party and decided to pay the governor a courtesy visit. 

Receiving Kwankwaso’s entourage, Soludo commended him for his tenacity and belief in Nigeria. He described Kwankwaso as a man with exemplary public service history, which he called the greatest philanthropy.

Soludo said, “I want to commend your tenacity and belief in the country, your exemplary public service and commitment to our nation. I have always said that those who have something to offer should offer it through public service. Public Service is the biggest philanthropy”

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Presidential Candidate of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has accused his Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) counterpart, Alh. Atiku Abubakar, of being a liar.

Tinubu Tuesday argued that Abubakar was a liar who could not explain the source of his wealth, adding that there were a lot of contradictions in the information he gave.

Addressing the North-West Muslim leaders in Kano, Tinubu said, “They asked one of them. How did you get rich? He said he was doing transportation and motor vehicle business.

“He had forgotten that civil service (sic), you cannot do any other thing if you are a custom officer but farm. Who is lying to who? Who is contradicting who?” 

Tinubu mockingly threw the label against Abubakar to the delight of his supporters, who cheered him on at the event.

However, in 2020, Tinubu was reportedly accused of stealing public funds after Peoples Gazette’s report exposed some documents showing how Tinubu stole to enrich himself.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, was able to retrieve over N13 billion that was earmarked illegally.

The funds are the profits of unauthorised payments made between 2017 and 2021 under the subsidy regime.

Recall that this was reported in a recent paper on the National Inherent Risk Assessment of Money Laundering in the Nigerian Extractive Sector that was obtained from the website of the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, or NFIU.

The document stated: “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the agency responsible for the investigation and prosecution of corrupt subsidies in the oil and gas in Nigeria, recovered N12,998,963,178.29 as proceeds of illegal payment made within the subsidy regime between 2017 and 2021.”

Corruption involving fuel subsidies has raised concerns in Nigeria. For instance, according to the World Bank, increased gasoline subsidies put the Nigerian economy at high risk.

This is because the payments might have a major impact on public finances and raise questions about the sustainability of the country’s debt.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 
 
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced that by using its flagship taxpro max solution, taxpayers may now easily receive their Tax Clearance Certificate.
 
The solution, which consists of a tax administration module unveiled by the top tax authority in June 2021, provides a quick way for activities including taxpayer registration, tax return filing, tax payment, and getting a tax clearance certificate.
 
According to a statement released yesterday and signed by Mr. Johannes Wojuola, Special Assistant to the Executive Chairman, FIRS (Media & Communication), the taxpayer can now generate a Tax Clearance Certificate with just one click, as opposed to the two weeks it previously took to do so.
 
This technical advancement follows extensive technological improvements that the Service undertook in an effort to fully automate its tax administration activities.
 
Commenting on the development, Muhammad Namu, the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, said, “One of our objectives as a service is to build a Customer-Centric institution.
 
“That means an institution that has the customer at the heart of its innovations and solutions. It is for this reason that we have tuned the operations of our TaxPro Max solution to be able to deliver Tax Clearance Certificates in the shortest possible time to taxpayers.
 
“At the click of a button, a taxpayer will get their Tax Clearance Certificates, as long as they have no outstanding liabilities.
 
“This would impact in no small measure on the ease of doing business in Nigeria.”