Author: admin@theprimetimes

The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) insists that presidential candidates of political parties must have a clear roadmap for infrastructural development of the country in their manifestos and also engage relevant stakeholders on how to achieve the goal. Speaking at the opening of the National Engineering Conference and yearly general meeting of the NSE in Abuja, the President of the Society, Tasiu Gidari-Wudil, argued that development cannot be achieved without infrastructure. He said: “It is disheartening to note that the political class in Nigeria has failed to realise that ‘there cannot be meaningful development without infrastructural development’ with engineering and…

• Threatens Visa sanctions against promoters of violence • INEC: We’re tracking campaign finances, illicit financial flow • Reiterates use of BVAS, IReV for 2023 elections • APC expresses reservation over BVAS, electronic transmission of results  With 92 days to the first round of 2023 general elections, the international community is stepping up its observatory role of the exercise. Days after the United States threatened visa ban on election riggers, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Cateriona Lang, yesterday, said the United Kingdom (UK) will be watching the elections in Nigeria very closely. According to her, this is because of…

Stakeholders in health and education sectors as well as Civil Society Organisations, have called upon Federal Government to increase allocation to education and health sectors in the proposed 2023 budget. Speaking yesterday at a forum in Abuja, they insisted that improved allocation for the two crucial sectors was imperative towards raising standards in the sectors. The Executive Director, of the Social and Economic Rights Development Centre, Tijani Abdulkareem, stated that governments at all levels are saddled with the responsibility of managing resources through the instrumentality of the annual budget where citizens’ needs were translated into services. He added that analysis…

…Queues resurface Apparently preparing Nigerians for a full deregulation regime, depot owners and some petrol marketers have again put the nation in another panic mode by hoarding available products in a push to ensure prices are adjusted to meet their operating expenses. With products hoarded, fuel queues have emerged, forcing many motorists to engage in panic-buying, just as many retail outlets, especially those owned by independent marketers selling above the regulated price. Long queues were witnessed in many parts of Lagos, yesterday, with the situation apparently worse on Ikorodu road, Maryland, Ikeja, Anthony, Bariga, Ilupeju and Gbagada areas as motorists…

• Says investigation on Kuje prison attack concluded • Plans ongoing to open more passport centres nationwide Federal Government has raised the alarm over what it called an “increasing resort to fake news and disinformation by a section of the media,” warning that this portends a serious threat to the success of the 2023 general elections. Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this, yesterday, during the fourth media briefing series to highlight the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, from 2015 to 2023. The minister noted that fake news and disinformation constitute a major threat to the polls, besides…

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday launched the new Naira banknotes with features that make them difficult to counterfeit, expressing delight that the redesigned currencies are locally produced by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting (NSPM) PLC. Speaking at the launch of the new banknotes, a ceremony that preceded the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in the State House, Abuja, the President explained the basis for his approval to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign the ₦‎200, ₦‎500 and ₦‎1000 banknotes. According to the President, “the new Naira banknotes have been fortified with security features that make them difficult…

The EFCC has opposed a motion filed by Sen. Rochas Okorocha, praying for an order quashing the money laundering charge preferred against him. The EFCC, in a counter affidavit deposed to by Iyabo Daramola, the agency’s senior legal officer, and filed before Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court (FHC) Abuja, prayed the court to dismiss Okorocha’s application. The agency, in its application dated and filed on Nov. 18, said it had seen and read through Okorocha’s motion dated Oct. 28, that “the depositions therein are grossly misleading and untrue particularly paragraphs 3 and 4.” The News Agency of…

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has told the Federal Government that if it insists on a no-work, no-pay policy, lecturers would abandon backlogs of academic activities caused by its over seven months strike. The union argued that the policy should not apply to them because they had picked up from where they left seven months ago, stressing that they were clearing the backlogs of work in a combined two sessions. The union made the demands during a special congress and protest rally in Port Harcourt, Rivers state yesterday. The lecturers, mainly from the University of Port Harcourt (Uniport), after…

• ‘I can’t predict my supporters’ reaction if I lose’ • ‘I didn’t offer Kwankwaso N40b to step down for me’ Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, yesterday, declined comments on the possibility of conceding defeat, if the outcome of next year’s election went contrary to his expectation. He also declared that he was not in a position to predict the reaction of his supporters if he lost the election. The former governor of Anambra State, who spoke at a forum organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in Lagos, urged Nigerians to vote for…

Presidential candidate of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has warned that persons undermining the capability of Governor Nyesom Wike and his Integrity Group do so at their peril. Kwankwaso spoke just as Wike, yesterday, pledged logistics support for his presidential pursuit. They spoke at the inauguration of the Mgbuitanwo internal road in Emohua Council of the state, performed by Kwankwaso. The governor, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, expressed concern that  the  diversity of the country had been  threatened by persons campaigning on ethnic and regional sentiments. According to him, such parochial…