The names of 45 confirmed ministerial nominees have been transmitted by the senate to the Presidency.

This was announced by the Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Abdullahi Gumel, on Tuesday, August 8.

Giving an explanation on why the number of ministerial nominees was increased to 48 as against 42 in the previous administration, Gumel said some of the ministries which were merged will now stand alone namely the Ministry of Works and Housing.

He also praised Senators for suspending their recess to screen and confirm the nominees.

The 45 nominees cleared by the Senate are Festus Keyamo, Mariya Mahmoud, Lola Ade-John, Bosun Tijani, Isiak Salako, Tahir Mamman, Maigari Ahmadu, Zephaniah Jisalo, Shuaibu Audu, Yusuf Sununu, Bello Matawalle, Alkali Saidu, Ahmed Gwarzo, Atiku Bagudu, Simon Lalong, Ibrahim Gaidam, Aliu Abdullahi, Gboyega Oyetola, Heineken Lokpobiri and Tunji Alausa.

Others are Dele Alake, Lateef Fagbemi, Muhammad Idris, Ali Pate, Doris Uzoka, Dave Umahi, Wale Edun, Uche Nnaji, Adebayo Adelabu, Ekperikpe Ekpo, Hannatu Musawa, Musa Dangiwa, Nyesom Wike; Abubakar Kyari, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, Bello Muhammad, Badaru Abubakar, Joseph Utsev, Olubunmi Ojo, Betta Edu, Uju Kennedy Ohaneye, Abubakar Momoh, John Enoh, Iman Suleiman Ibrahim, and Yusuf Tuggar.

Some unknown arsonists have burnt down two houses belonging to the lawmaker representing the Ihiala federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Dr. Paschal Agbodike.

The houses at Mbosi in Ihiala local government area of Anambra state were burnt down at about 1am on Tuesday, August 8, and it caused pandemonium in the community as people ran out of their houses.

The houses consisting of a fully furnished duplex and a bungalow in the same compound, were completely razed down. It was also gathered that properties in the houses were looted.

Agbodike, a former deputy speaker of the state House of Assembly who confirmed the incident, said no life was lost.

The state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga who also confirmed the incident said;

“The area has been condoned and security operatives have been deployed in the area. There are ongoing surveillance efforts by the operatives.”

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, August 8, in Abuja, expressed his resolute commitment to break the vicious cycle of over-reliance on borrowing for public spending, and the resulting burden of debt servicing it places on the management of Nigeria’s limited government revenues.

Inaugurating the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, chaired by Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, the President charged the committee to improve the country’s revenue profile and business environment as the Federal Government moves to achieve an 18% Tax-to-GDP ratio within three years.

A statement released by Ajuri Ngelale, spokesperson to President Tinubu, said the President directed the Committee to achieve its one-year mandate, which is divided into three main areas: fiscal governance, tax reforms, and growth facilitation. He also directed all government ministries and departments to cooperate fully with the committee toward achieving their mandate.

President Tinubu told the Committee members the significance of their assignment, as his administration carries the burden of expectations from citizens who want their government to make their lives better.

''We cannot blame the people for expecting much from us. To whom much is given, much is expected. It is even more so when we campaigned on a promise of a better country anchored on our Renewed Hope Agenda. I have committed myself to use every minute I spend in this office to work to improve the quality of life of our people,'' he declared.

Acknowledging Nigeria's current international standing in the tax sector, the President said the nation is still facing challenges in areas such as ease of tax payment and its Tax-to-GDP ratio, which lags behind even Africa's Continental average.

"Our aim is to transform the tax system to support sustainable development while achieving a minimum of 18% tax-to-GDP ratio within the next three years. Without revenue, government cannot provide adequate social services to the people it is entrusted to serve. The Committee, in the first instance, is expected to deliver a schedule of quick reforms that can be implemented within thirty days. Critical reform measures should be recommended within six months, and full implementation will take place within one calendar year," the President directed

Recounting the President's sterling track record on revenue transformation, the Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, Mr. Zacchaeus Adedeji described the committee members, drawn from the public and private sectors, as accomplished individuals from various sectors.

''Mr. President, you have the pedigree when it comes to revenue transformation. You demonstrated this when you were the Governor of Lagos State over 20 years ago," the Special Adviser said

Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele pledged the total commitment of members to give their best in the interest of the nation.

"Many of our existing laws are outdated, hence they require comprehensive updates to achieve full harmonisation to address the multiplicity of taxes, and to remove the burden on the poor and vulnerable while addressing the concerns of all investors, big and small," he said

As the removal of petrol subsidies bites harder, some factional Labour Party (LP) members have expressed support for President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies.

The decision was announced in a press statement issued on Tuesday by the factional Publicity Secretary, Dr Abayomi Arabambi, and titled “Beyond partisanship, applauds the federal government’s good governance and citizen-centred leadership programme.”

The faction urged Nigerians to work with Tinubu to boost the economy through the packages outlined in his first broadcast.

Dr. Ararambi stated that the president’s announcement of saving N1 trillion from subsidy removal to be deployed in key areas aligned with LP’s welfare and national policy vision.

He further said;

The president said the manufacturing sector would be further empowered to deliver goods and services to the country with an expansive view, and to this end, N75bn would be deployed to that sector between now and March next year. This is an 11-month timeline for implementation, assessment and results, from which a review would be done.

More rewarding and labour-friendly approach is the loan at a single-digit interest rate of nine per cent per annum. In spite of this, the policy extends the repayment period to 60 months.

The United States of America says it may be forced to use brute force and violent means to oust the military junta in Niger Republic.

The US acting Deputy Secretary, Victoria Nuland, in a special briefing on Niger made this known via a teleconference on Tuesday.

She warned the Niger junta that America may be pushed to be involved militarily if the country’s military rulers do not return to constitutional order.

She noted, “…There is still a lot of motion here on many sides with regard to where the governance situation will go.

Only A Legitimate Government Can Cut Ties With Us, France Tells Niger Junta
“So we will be watching that closely and there are a number of regional meetings coming up and consultations with allies and partners that we need to make.

“So we’ll be watching the situation, but we understand our legal responsibilities and I explained those very clearly to the guys (Niger junta) who were responsible for this and that it is not our desire to go there, but they may push us to that point, and we asked them to be prudent in that regard and to hear our offer to try to work with them to solve this diplomatically and return to constitutional order.”

Nuland noted that President Joe Bden has been in constant touch with President Tinubu, the ECOWAS Chairman as well as many other European allies.

“He’s also been in regular touch with President Tinubu of Nigeria, who is currently head of ECOWAS, with AU Chairperson Faki, and with a number of European allies with whom we work in Niger, particularly on counterterrorism.

“And all of this has been rooted in our shared values, including the sense of democracy, which was why it was so difficult, and remains difficult, to see the current challenge to the democratic order which began on July 26,” she stressed

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, on Tuesday, suspended its planned nationwide daily protest after a closed-door meeting with principal officers of the senate.

The President of NARD, Emeka Orji, made this known in a chat with our correspondent.

Orji, however, said there will be a review in the next 72 hours.

“We met with the Senate president, majority and minority leaders and Whip. So, the planned protest slated for Wednesday has been suspended and we will review it again in 72 hours.”

The striking doctors had earlier planned to commence a daily peaceful protest, starting from Wednesday, if the government fails to meet its demands.

The decision followed the directive by the Federal Government to the Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of federal tertiary hospitals to commence the enforcement of the “no work, no pay” policy against the striking doctors.

The doctors embarked on an indefinite industrial action on July 26, following the failure of the government to meet their demands.

The doctors are demanding the implementation of the one-for-one replacement policy for healthcare workers; the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to discontinue the downgrading of the membership certificate issued by the West African Postgraduate Medical and Surgical Colleges; the immediate payment of all salary arrears; the implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure; a new hazard allowance; and the domestication of the Medical Residency Training Act; among others.

The House of Representatives’ ad-hoc committee investigating alleged job racketeering and abuse of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System by Ministries, Department, and Agencies on Tuesday uncovered more shady deals at the Federal Character Commission.

Recall that on Monday, an ex-desk officer at the FCC, Haruna Kolo confessed to having received millions of naira from job seekers on behalf of the FCC chairman, Muheebat Dankaka

At the continuation of the investigations on Tuesday, the duo of Abdulmalik Ahmed and Ali Yero confirmed payment of N3 million for jobs at FCC.

According to Ahmed, they agreed to pay the huge sum of money after getting the assurances that they would be among the first persons to be employed in 2021.

He said, “We learnt that there was recruitment in 2021 and each of the commissioners and directors had candidates. We who were nobodys, ordinary citizens of the country, we came through this process.”

“After having the appointments, Mr. Kolo promised to post us like in two months’ time. That was the reason we were convinced about him. I got to know Kolo through the driver of the Taraba Commissioner at FCC. I transferred a million naira to Kolo’s account on the arrangement, because I was told that, the monthly pay was about N140,000 or N130,000. So, we agreed on N1.5million with the driver first. We bargained with the driver on behalf of Kolo. His name is Yusha’u Gambo.”

On his part, Yero said his two brothers paid N2million in installments to secure the job for him.

He noted that one of them paid N1.5m while the other paid N500,000 as balance.

“My brothers, Nurudeen Yero and Abdulrazak Yero paid the sum of N2m to Badamasi Yaro’s account on August 2, 2022. Badamasi Yaro is working with Haruna Kolo and the money paid into his account was for a job at the FCC.

“Haruna Kolo told me the slot was from the chairperson of the commission. That was why I would be captured under the IPPIS platform. Badamasi brought the employment letter with some documents for me on August 5, 2022, Badamasi took me to Treasury House where Kolo Haruna took me to the IPPIS office and I was captured on the IPPIS platform”.

They added however that their appointment letters were later collected from them by the Human Resources Unit with a promise to regularise them after an investigation.

Although his appointment letter was collected from him, Yero said he was still receiving salaries.

After their submissions, Chairman of the Committee, Yusuf Gagdi, told the witnesses to reach out to the other applicants involved to enable the committee to arrange a meeting with them.

He thereafter directed the Clerk to invite Kolo, the Secretary and driver to the Commissioner representing Taraba in the FCC to appear before Committee on Wednesday to explain their roles as proxies in the alleged job racketeering.

The organised labour on Tuesday rejected the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, as the head of the Federal Government’s team that will negotiate with the labour unions on subsidy removal palliatives.

The National President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, made this known when the leadership of the labour unions visited the Senate.

According to him, the Chief of Staff has been too busy to call for a meeting adding that President Bola Tinubu’s wage award committee has yet to sit almost two months after the fuel subsidy removal.

The labour leaders were in the Senate to meeting with the leadership.

The Senate in a resolution two weeks ago agreed to meet with the labour unions on the subsidy removal palliative.

Ajaero said, “Part of our challenge is the issue of the committee put in place, the committee seems not to be capable, as labour union, we have done negotiation and engagement with the government, from the time of the Secretary to the General of the Federation under ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, Ufot Ekaette, during BabaGana Kingibe, Pius Ayim and Boss Mustapha.

“At no time had the Chief of Staff to the President who is very busy called to negotiate or lead negotiations.

“And that has delayed the issues, even since after our protest; another meeting has not reconvened, although the president promised that he will restructure the mechanism of engagement with government to help things to be treated fast.”

Ajaero added, “We had agreed on wage award, and up till this moment the committee on wage award is yet to sit, “

The NLC President while speaking during the meeting with Senate leadership lamented the plight of Nigerians as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy.

He said the government had yet to put structures on the ground to ameliorate the effect in the country.

He told the lawmakers that while labour leaders were still deliberating on N537 per litre of fuel and Court had ruled for the status quo to remain, the government suddenly decided to increase the fuel to N620 per litre.

NLC president stated, “Nothing is yet to happen on the issue of $800m projected to be borrowed, we have not perfected the list of the people who will benefit from it.

Similarly, his colleague, the Trade Union Congress President, Festus Usifo, lamented the snail-speed with which the Federal Government was treating the issue of the palliative.

The TUC president lamented, “The government said they will create alternatives and palliatives, it’s over two months, and there is no sense of urgency.

“3,000 buses are too small, If the government has saved one trillion in two months why can’t the government channel this money to tackle these alternatives.

Similarly, after the closed-door session, the TUC president, Usifo noted that the Senate leadership had assured them of meeting with the president and getting problems solved in a few days time.

Usifo said, “At the meeting, we put our agenda forward and those things we said to them the last time we came here.

“The Senate has promised to take up the issue with the president. What we want is action and we believe that in a few days, that would be answered. There was no ultimatum given to the Senate. “

In his response, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, appreciated the organised labour for their patience and understanding to assist the government.

He said, “The president told you that he had saved N1tn in two months but did not that tell you the fact that he inherited over N30tn which is running into more when you put together both the local and foreign debts.

“Even when you save money and there is a lot of debt on ground, you’d realise that the money would not be able to take care of so much.”

Akpabio assured the aggrieved Labour Union of partnership and approach the Executive to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians.

Four 'Breaking News' in the last 24 hours inspired this conversation.

One, America's meeting with the Junta in Niger was fruitless. Two Italy told ECOWAS leaders to issue a second ultimatum. What if the second ultimatum is equally ignored, then what happens next?
Three, ECOWAS presidents have fixed their next meeting for Thursday this week in Abuja with a view to taking decisions that will affect the destinies of 441 millions inhabitants of the sub-region.
Four, The world of Statistics in its latest release ranked Nigeria with the highest level of unemployment rate in the world at 33.5% while Niger Republic is listed among the world's best three with unemployment level at 0.5%.

The question that came to mind is : what is the West up to in Nigeria and West Africa?
Africa accounts for about 20% of the world's uranium production with Nambia, Niger and South Africa as the topmost three countries, even uranium has been discovered in 10 states of Nigeria, then there should be more to the impending battle beyond uranium.

Sudan, Africa's largest country is in ruins, Libya, Africa's once richest country is in ruins, Nigeria, Africa;s most populous country cannot afford to go to war with any country based on the sorry state of the economy as illustrated in the World statistics release of yesterday. If the West wants Nigeria and ECOWAS to dance the palongo dance, we must be bold enough to tell them that our dancing shoes are missing
Dante Inferno is everywhere... and still spreading!
This was how Ukraine's President Zelenski was induced to face the Putin's Goliath when his David didn't have a stone to put into his sling.
South Africa, Africa's most technologically advanced country is marked for inferno for her ''unpardonable'' sin of joining BRICS, It is the case of the friend of my enemy is my enemy, and Kenya , Africa's number one tourist destination may not escape the West's hammer for Ruto's ''revolutionary moves and outspokenness''.
The Yoruba idiom that says: when we cry, we can see, is perfectly relevant for this season.of global shift.

The ace columnist, Mr Dare Babarinsa captured it succinctly: There is No Good Road to Niger None. Honest!

There are five distinct roads available for Nigeria and ECOWAS on July 26th 2023, when the coup was announced.

Road A1: DOVE DIPLOMACY: The ECOWAS president could have released his presidential jet for three African Presidents to visit Niamey within 24 hours of the coup broadcast (before ECOWAS issued its strong public condemnation) with a view to negotiating with the Head of the junta and obtain his firm commitment to visit Abuja to meet with the president within one week of the coup to jointly seek for a peaceful resolution of the Niger question and agree on the timeline when Democracy will be back.

Road A2: CHAMELEON/ AMBIGUITY DIPLOMACY: Pull the rug off the feet of the junta by cutting a ‘’sweet corn soup’’, irresistible deal with the WAGNER GROUP. For bad, WAGNER is a factor and a reality in Africa’s stability today and even, tomorrow. A non-state actor controlling several African countries indirectly. What money cannot do, more money will do. Stealthily work for a regime change in partnership with France and America that would return Niger to democracy within 90 days. Multiplying a negative by a negative is always a positive, not only mathematically but even, diplomatically.

Road A3: CASH DOWN DIPLOMACY (CDP): Working out a robust severance package of between $10- $20 million and bullet proof Lexus 570 machines could also have done the magic for the ‘’BIG BOYS in NIAMEY’. We can go to bed with the junta on a ‘’short time’’ basis or into a ‘’marriage’’. Israel, UAE, America and the West are the masters of Cash-at-hand-back-for-bed –diplomacy!

Road A4: HIRE PURCHASE DIPLOMACY(HPD): Our ‘’Boys in Niamey’’ can be assisted to transmute to civilian regime and be on Nigeria’s permanent payroll, the way America, Britain, France and Israel secretly have ‘’PLACEHOLDER PRESIDENTS’’ globally. This is ‘’marriage of convenience’’. There is a book: Our Man in Damascus by Eli Ben-Hanan. It talked about how Israel planted their man inside the Syria government for years There were several precedents in international relations.

Road A5: GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY (GBD): This is the last option, the most expensive and the least desirable. Saudi Arabia went to Yemen, it was a colossal failure, ditto America in Libya, Syria etc. According to Brown university’s Costs of War Project, the US had spent over $2.2 trillion to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as at 2019, besides leading to the death of 7000 American troops and 177,000 military men from the two invaded countries, not to mention the number of American ally’s troops that died and thousands that got wounded for life.
China smartly leapfrogged America in manufacturing and global supply chain during the period America was busy fighting for ''democracy'' all over the world. It was a back-to-back loss for America as democracy remains elusive in those countries including Libya, she lost money and 35,000 liters of blood together with her hegemony. Today, in the Middle East, the opposite of America is China. China is the peace maker, bringing Saudi Arabia and Iran together. America, no doubt, is gnashing her teeth in rage.In a word, war is blind, deaf and dumb. The utility value of the second ultimatum is zero.

Drawing a RED LINE on the sand within 5 minutes of the coup’s announcement is garrulous while a new ultimatum as suggested by Italy, after the first ultimatum fell flat, is preposterous. To remain on the ‘’list of veritable solution providers’’, ECOWAS needs to think different on Thursday
She needs to do her homework or hire competent professionals to help her separate the noises from the sounds in order to get the right signals on which to base her final decision after intense , critical thinking and logical reasoning. Cutting off the supply of electricity to the Niger Republic can be counterproductive and further compound the situation. What if the Niger republic damn the consequences, and dam river Niger with the support of Russia, what then becomes of our Kainji Dam?

River Nile is Africa’s next biggest inferno on the horizon. Ethiopia and Egypt are secretly preparing for a final showdown over the building of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam by the former on River Nile which the latter sees as posing existential threats. No Nile, no Egypt, no River Niger, no Nigeria!

NEXT STEP
By the way how much is the Niger Republic worth? Just a yearly GDP of $15B .*Pere! Our brother, Dangote is richer than this Niger Republic that is sucking all the oxygen in the room right now. Yes, Aliko! So what are we talking about?
Okay someone told me Niger poses existential threat to Nigeria because of Domino Theory effect. The theory is that if it happens in Niger, It can happen in Nigeria, and that an unstable Niger may give birth to a cascading crises in Nigeria. I agree. But the simple solution is a combination of good governance and Technology solutions
In 1975, Deng was having constant nightmares over Japan. Deng didn't start a war, but rather, he embraced Technology. He downsized the military by 20% and at the same time recruited fresh brains from universities. He challenged them to come up with superior technology solutions to what obtained in Japan. It worked.
When Iran government couldn't sleep because of Israel, their leaders recruited fresh brains into the military focusing on 3 core technology areas: Cyber security, Drones Technology and Artificial intelligence. Today, Iran is so good in Drones Technology that it supplies Russia. And Iran is the second strongest county in Cyber security and Cyber attack in the Middle East, after Israel.
With less than $5m , Nigeria can set up: Military ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE UNIVERSITY, (MAIU) under the supervision of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) as the Chancellor.

Within the next three years, Nigeria can provide effective, efficient and inexpensive security cover not only for itself but also to the entire West Africa countries. The CDS should recruit just 1000 fresh and brightest university graduates. This is win -win-win: blood is not wasted, Jobs are created, the cost of future coup becomes stupid and worthless: everyone is a winner.
Qatar is the first country in the world to have a 100% Ai university, DHQ under the capable General Christopher Musa can establish the second Ai university in the world focusing exclusively on developing advanced Drone's and robotics technology and Cyber security.

Investing $5m in building Advanced Ai military university (locally produced Drones, robots and solutions) making use of our brightest young boys and girls ( Ages 18-25), Ages 26 and above are too old for this particular assignment. This will keep ECOWAS presidents secured better than the one million existing conventional military and paramilitary personnel in West Africa.
'How do we keep ECOWAS countries and presidents safe pending when we develop internal capacity from MAIU", I can hear someone soliloquizing. We live in the age of SECURITY AS A SERVICE( SAAS). We can outsource it. Everything is okay save ultimatum that can beget war.

Who shall tell the ECOWAS presidents as they gather in Abuja on Thursday that there are better options than war? But they need to have balls to be able to reject the West's war option. West Africa needs time to solve the Niger question in our traditional African way.

Anything kinetic action can do, peace and serenity can do better

The Director General of the World Trade Organization, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says her meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja on Tuesday was aimed at reducing the economic hardship bedevilling Nigerians.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Okonjo-Iweala stressed that her “quiet visit”, which was not an official WTO mission, focused on how to support Nigerians at such a time of need.

“We all know that things are very difficult for Nigerians outside; everyone is struggling. I’m here myself on a quiet visit.

“So, this was not really an official WTO mission but we were able to engage with Mr President to talk about ‘what are the kinds of programmes that could be put in place to make sure that the suffering of Nigerians are being alleviated?’”

The WTO boss disclosed that she had “a really good conversation” with Tinubu, which considered community and grassroots programmes that could be put in place to create jobs for young people and supported women and children, whom she underscored were the most vulnerable.

She noted that they discussed the importance of long-term investment opportunities that Nigeria could seize, including in the pharmaceutical industry.

“We also talked about what type of support the WTO – the World Trade Organization – can bring,” Okonjo-Iweala said.

“We’re already working in Nigeria with women, in particular, who own small and medium enterprises, to try to help them upgrade the quality of their products., whether it’s in the agricultural area, in textiles, and in other areas so that they can sell more internationally.”

The economic expert also hinted at interventions in the area of digital trade, which she described as the wave of the future.

“So, how do we train, empower, and give Nigerian women and owners of small and medium enterprises support, so that they can trade more and create more jobs? That’s what’s needed now, helping Nigerians to alleviate the difficult conditions that they are in,” she added.