General
Online Security Reporters Pick Ned Nwoko as Grand Patron
By Ahmed Rahma
A foremost lawyer, philanthropist and entrepreneur, Mr Chinedu Munir Nwoko, popularly known in business, entertainment and political world as Ned Nwoko, has been selected as the grand patron of the National Association of Online Security Reporters (NAOSRE).
A statement from the group explained that Mr Nwoko, in his new role, is expected to play an advisory role in guiding the leadership of NAOSRE in key security information dissemination for a safer Nigeria.
NAOSRE is an association made up of the finest hands in Nigeria’s security reportage. The team is led by Mr Oyewale Femi, a seasoned journalist with many years of experience.
He led the association to the Abuja residence of the former lawmaker from Delta State to confer him with the honour. It was disclosed that this was on Thursday, November 26, 2020.
Mr Nwodo, the husband of the popular actress, Regina Daniels, is a businessman, who turns 60 later this month.
According to his profile on Wikipedia, he was born into a royal family in Idumuje Ugboko kingdom in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State.
He had his early education in Nigeria before moving to the United Kingdom, where he had his first degree in law and history at the University of Keele, Staffordshire and was called to the English bar, at Lincoln’s Inn.
Mr Nwoko is the founder of the tourism destination Mount Delta, one of 21 tourism sites approved by Delta state government comprising a museum, farm, zoo, fishponds, poultry and a 9-hole golf course.
The former member of the House of Representatives is a strong advocate of Malaria eradication in Africa. He is the initiator of the Ned Nwoko Malaria Eradication Foundation and flagged off the Ned Nwoko Malaria Eradication campaign via a symbolic expedition to Antarctica in January 2020.
The foundation is supporting the existing efforts of vaccine development by funding research for the anti-malaria vaccine through a partnership with leading universities in Africa.
Mr Nwoko is reputed to have helped Nigeria for the London and Paris Club loans as he authored the reports that led to Nigeria government’s discontinuation of monthly deductions from states’ allocations and commencement of refunds to states.
Through his law firm, Ned Nwoko Solicitors and his company, he investigated the multinational creditors and discovered discrepancies in loan repayments, and this resulted in the refund of the first tranches of loan during President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
He also charged the federal government to court on behalf of 774 Local governments for the refund of illegal deductions and obtained judgment of $3.2 billion for the local governments and the refund began in line with the court judgment of 2013.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The office of the president-elect has confirmed that Mr Bola Tinubu has jetted out of Nigeria for a rest in the United Kingdom and France ahead of his swearing-in ceremony slated for May 29, 2023.
An online platform on Wednesday reported that the winner of the February 25 presidential election travelled to Europe for urgent medical attention.
But in a statement issued by one of his aides, Mr Tunde Rahman, it was emphasized that the former Governor of Lagos State only left the country to have a rest in London and Paris before going to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj.
It was disclosed that Mr Tinubu travelled out of Nigeria on Tuesday night via the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos.
“After a very exhaustive campaign and election season, President-elect, Asíwájú Bola Tinubu, has travelled abroad to rest and plan his transition programme ahead of May 29, 2023 inauguration.
“The President-elect left the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, for Europe on Tuesday night.
“The President-elect decided to take a break after the hectic campaign and election season to rest in Paris and London, preparatory to going to Saudi Arabia for Umrah (Lesser Hajj) and the Ramadan Fasting that begins Thursday.
“While away, the President-elect will also use the opportunity to plan his transition programme.
“He is expected back in the country soon.
“We enjoin the media to stop publishing rumours and unsubstantiated claims and to always seek clarifications from our office,” the statement said.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The candidate of the Labour Party in the governorship election in Abia State, Mr Alex Otti, has been declared as the winner of the exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The former banker polled a total of 175,467 votes to defeat his closest rival in the poll, Mr Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 88,529 votes.
The Abia State governorship election was earlier declared inconclusive by the electoral umpire due to issues arising from over-voting. The collation centre had to be moved to Abuja from Umuahia, the state capital.
The governor-elect, in a short post via his verified Twitter handle, reacted to the development by saying, “See what the Lord has done.”
Mr Otti left the banking industry a few years ago after serving as the managing director of the defunct Diamond Bank, which merged with Access Bank. He left his office in the bank to pursue his political ambition in 2015, but he failed until he succeeded in 2023.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has directed public sector workers in the country to embark on strike beginning from Wednesday, March 29, 2023.
President of the union, Mr Joe Ajaero, gave this directive at a media briefing at Labour House in Abuja on Wednesday, March 22.
He also directed affiliate unions of the NLC to be on standby for a picketing exercise across all branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) nationwide.
The union leader said the directive became imperative following the expiration of a one-week ultimatum given to the apex bank to make cash available for Nigerians.
The scarcity has heightened with plans by the central bank to mop up the old Naira in circulation. The apex bank recently said it had removed N2.3 trillion from circulation between October 2022 and February 2023 while printing fewer new notes.
Business Post reported that between October last year and February 2023, the cash in circulation dropped to N982.09 billion from N3.29 trillion.
This is one of the factors that has extended the scarcity of the Naira and have also prolonged it into March.
Despite the Supreme Court judgement on March 3, 2023, that the old Naira remain legal until December 31, 2023, new notes have not reached many households with the old notes and new notes difficult to acquire.
With the cash in circulation dropping and the currency in commercial banks’ vaults or that of the CBN rising, Nigerians still find it difficult to access the money deposited in their accounts despite the ruling that the new and old notes should co-exist for 10 months.
