NEWS FLASH President Goodluck Jonathan Jonathan to senators: Focus on national issues not impeachment– Punch President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday told senators behind the Jonathan-Must-Go impeachment project that there were issues of national importance that needed their attention rather than the plot against him. Jonathan’s advice was contained in a reaction by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, who fired back at the senators said to be compiling signatures and impeachable offences against the President. “It is our view that there are at present, serious fundamental issues of national importance such as winning the war against terrorism and stabilising the economy in the face of dwindling oil revenue which require the full attention, commitment and swift action of distinguished members of the Senate,” Okupe said. Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala FG Reviews Oil Benchmark to $65/bl, Resubmits MTEF - ThisDay • Jonathan reads riot act to revenue generating agencies • Saudi would consider output cut if Russia, others join in Barely two weeks after it revised the 2015 budget oil benchmark price from $78 to $73, the federal government yesterday again resubmitted the 2015-2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) with a revised oil benchmark of $65 a barrel, effectively slashing next year’s budget by another 12 per cent, in the face of dwindling oil prices. Oil prices have fallen more than 30 per cent since June, although Light Brent crude rose 44 cents to $70.98 a barrel in yesterday’s trading, while the US’ West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by 67 cents to $67.55 a barrel. Oil prices had tumbled by about $2 on Tuesday after Iraq announced plans to boost the countrys crude oil exports after striking a deal with the autonomous Kurdish region. L-R Founder, Leadership Group, Sam Nda-Isaiah, Governor Rochas Okorocha, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former head of state, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) displaying their Certificates of Clearance after receiving same from Chairman, Presidential Screening Committee of APC, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu at the APC National Headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday. APC presidential aspirants sign undertaking to remain in party after primaries - Vanguard Five presidential aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday signed a Letter of Commitment which compels them to remain in the party even after losing out in the primary election. The undertaking also mandates them to collapse their individual campaign structures into that of the party for effective campaign of the eventual flag bearer of the party in the 2015 general election. The aspirants who included former Head of State, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, governors of Kano and Imo states, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso and Chief Rochas Okorocha, and the publisher of Leadership Newspaper, Sam Nda-Isaiah were further barred from taking any action that would put inhibitions on the campaign wheels of the party. Chairman of the APC Presidential Screening Committee, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, spoke of the development at a ceremony at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja to present Certificate of Clearance to the aspirants who successfully underwent a screening session on Tuesday. Decisive moments in Lagos as APC picks guber candidate– Business Day As the All Progressives Congress (APC) today chooses its candidates in all the states across the country for the gubernatorial election slated for February 28, 2015, of major concern to the party and to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will be the stature of the person who will emerge in Lagos, BusinessDay can authoritatively report. Analysts say the future of the APC will be greatly determined by the outcome of today’s event. It is also believed that a negative outcome in the APC primaries may bolster the PDP’s chances in the state in 2015. There has been an intense struggle over Lagos. The PDP has over the years, tried to wrest the state from the grip of the opposition. The fight over the control of Lagos, pundits say, is purely for economic reasons. In the last few days, some of the aspirants had expressed concerns about the ability of the party to provide a level playing field at the primaries. Mass exodus hits Yobe capital Damaturu- The Nation Fear-gripped residents were yesterday leaving Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, following Monday’s attack on the town by Boko Haram insurgents. Normalcy is, however, gradually returning to the town after the 24-hour curfew was relaxed to 12 hours by Governor Ibrahim Gaidam. Many residents are also leaving town with their families either to their villages or other safe cities amid rumours of an impending attack. Some travellers were sighted on the Potiskum-Kano road. Other routes, apart from Gujba road, which leads to the stronghold of the insurgents, have been busy with vehicular and human movement. The three major motor parks in Damaturu are full of would-be passengers with travellers heading in various direction. Residents who were almost running out of foodstuff in their homes trooped out to the markets to make purchases before the 6pm curfew. FEC approves N430b for construction, repairs of bridges nationwide– Daily Independent The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved contracts totalling N430 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of 17 strategic roads and bridges across the country under the Roads and Bridges Project of the Federal Ministry of Works. The FEC meeting which was presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan also approved contracts to provide engineering infrastructure in some satellite towns in the nation’s capital, Abuja. The approvals were announced to the press at the Presidential Villa by the Supervising Minister of Information, Nurudeen Mohammed, accompanied by Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen; Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Stephen Oru; and Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Bala Mohammed. The 17 roads slated for construction/rehabilitation are spread across the country including Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Nassarawa, Abia, Niger, Kogi, Cross River, Lagos and Kaduna states. Ekiti: Prison Service recaptures 193 escapees- National Mirror The Nigerian Prisons Service, NPS, yesterday said that 193 inmates who escaped from the Ado-Ekiti prison on Sunday have been recaptured. With 435 prisoners at the facility at the time of the attack, it means 242 prisoners are still on the run. Spokesperson of the Prison Service, Ope Fatinikun, who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday, appealed to Nigerians, especially nearby communities and neighbouring states of Ekiti, Ondo, Edo, Osun, Kogi and Kwara to be vigilant and watch out for suspicious individuals and report them to the nearest prison or police station. Meanwhile, the All Pro- FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA Scores of retired teachers yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital called on National Pension Commission, PENCOM, to mandate their Pension Fund Administrator, PFA, IBTC Pensions, to release their pensions without further delay. The teachers, who addressed journalists yesterday at Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, Kuto, Abeokuta, also called on the federal government and appropriate authorities to intervene on the matter before it is too late. Chokehold protesters: No justice, no peace Protests after N.Y. cop not indicted in chokehold death; feds reviewing case– CNN Protesters poured onto the streets of New York late Wednesday, upset over a grand jurys decision not to indict a police officer in the death of Eric Garner. They marched at the same time U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that federal officials were moving ahead with a civil rights investigation. Garner, an unarmed black man, died in July after a white officer, Daniel Pantaleo, put him in a chokehold. Garners death was later ruled a homicide. This fight aint over. It just begun. Im determined to get justice for my husband because he shouldnt have been killed in that way. He shouldnt have been killed in any way, said Esaw Garner, his widow.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 09:47:46 +0000
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