The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo says government officials have not demonstrated cost reduction as they still go about with “endless convoys” despite the effects of fuel subsidy removal on the masses.

“For example, the convoys. You see governors, they are still going about, business as usual. You see the new legislatures, you see their convoys, it’s endless,” Osifo said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

Osifo also decried the cost of governance while drawing attention to the dwindling capital expenditure

“Today, we still import all manner of cars from different parts of the world but you have some cars that are being manufactured in Nigeria. Why can’t you create policies that would encourage the manufacturing sector and also reduce the cost of governance?” he queried.

Osifo said Labour proposed N200,000 as the new minimum wage from N30,000 because it anticipated that the government would float the naira and allow market forces to determine the exchange rate of the national currency.

He argued that the value of N30,000 five years ago when the minimum wage was last reviewed has so far reduced with mounting inflation rates, soaring food prices and transport fares, amongst others.

According to him, the only commodity that was subsidised for the people was taken away. describing the people as the easiest target.

“Nigerians are facing a lot of hardship all across, it is really hard and it is really terrible. You are asking the people to tighten their belts but at the end of the day, what have you brought to the table? What is the contribution of the political class to this economic logjam that we are today as a country?

“What we are saying is that if the Federal Government was not able to fund subsidy, at whose expense? What were the things they were doing with our funds? All the money that they have borrowed, the ways and means that went over 23 trillion naira – what did they do with it?” he asked.

The Labour leader stated that the Federal Government must offer explanations to Nigerians on what the monies borrowed have been used for as well as why the country has a huge debt profile

“They need to also offer explanations to Nigerians, not that at the slightest provocation, they push Nigerians to the streets and they tell them that we must tighten our belt meanwhile they are loosening theirs,” he said.

The TUC boss noted that these issues are the basis of conversations the union is having in the sub-committees to come up with a position that will ameliorate the pains of Nigerians.

The Federal Government had on Monday resumed negotiations with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the TUC on measures to alleviate the impacts of the removal of the petrol subsidy on Nigerians.

On June 5, the labour unions suspended their planned strike to protest the removal of petrol subsidy after a meeting with representatives of the Federal Government.

SOME of the girls, recently rescued from a brothel by security operatives and officials of theAnambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare, have claimed that they pay their madam N40,000 daily to remain in business.

The sex slaves said they were forced to pay the money before they were given out to men to sleep with.

The victims, aged between 15 and 25 years, also claimed that they were mandated to make returns of N10,000 to N15,000 each night, while each man they slept with paid them a paltry N1,000.

One of the girls claimed that she was forced to sleep with 50 men in a week to be able to make enough money for the returns.

According to some of the victims, they were brought to Awka by two women, whose names they gave as Ifeoma and Chika from their places in Izza, Ebonyi State on the promise of securing jobs for them, not knowing that they were being lured into prostitution.

One of the girls said: “The women who brought us to the brothel seized our phones and other belongings before handing us over to another woman called Ezenwannyi, who notified us that before we will be released, we must bring N150,000 or serve her for a period of one year.

“We were able to use a whistleblower’s phone to get across to our families, who in turn, notified the Women Affairs Ministry, which with the help of the police, raided the brothel.”

One of the parents of the victims, Mrs. Uchechi Friday, said immediately her daughter got missing, she lodged a complaint at the Police station in Abakaliki, adding that she was shocked when she received a call from her daughter, which made her to seek help from the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare in Anambra State.

She commended the Anambra State Commissioner, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Obinabo, for her prompt response and urged parents to always be mindful of their children’s welfare and whereabout.

In her reaction, Obinabo spoke of the state government’s resolve to end all forms of child kidnap, trafficking and sexual slavery in the state.

She warned that hotel owners, who use underaged girls in running their businesses would face the law, assuring that the current case of sex slavery in the state was already receiving the attention of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, who has vowed not to treat the matter with levity.

Obinabo said she had since contacted the victims’ family members after taking them to hospital for medical examination and possible treatment.

She also explained that the case had since been transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Awka for comprehensive investigation and possible prosecution.

There are reports that the Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa has been asking questions about his principal, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s earnings and spendings in running the affairs of the state.

The development has been greeted with criticisms by government officials loyal to Akeredolu, Vanguard reports.

Vanguard earlier reported that Akeredolu embarked on medical treatment abroad and transmitted power to his deputy, as he is billed to return to the country on July 6.

But, sources revealed that Aiyedatiwa has reportedly been “Undermining the authority of the governor’s office through his actions and decisions.”

A source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, “We are not concerned about the political turmoil within the government. Our priority is ensuring due process. The governor’s office does not directly instruct us to release funds.

“There are established procedures for financial disbursements in the government, and all approvals must go through the Ministry of Finance.

“Aside from the running grant accruing to the deputy governor’s office monthly, he has also demanded that the governor’s running grant and other emoluments attached to the office of the governor be handed to him as acting Governor.

“In the past week, the deputy governor has summoned and threatened two of our officials. He has inquired about the governor’s spending and demanded to know how funds allocated to the governor’s office are disbursed.

“He believes he is entitled to two streams of funding, insisting that the governor’s office allocation should be included as part of his role as acting governor.

“During the encounters with our officials, they kindly explained that even the governor’s office route its approvals through the Ministry of Finance.

“However, the deputy governor remains obstinate, repeatedly demanding immediate funds. Despite our attempts to educate him on proper financial protocols and the responsible use of public funds, he persists.

“He has been confrontational and demanding. We see this as executive recklessness. While we understand tensions may be high, we would prefer not to be involved in any reckless activities.”

The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has explained why it recommended an upward increase of the basic salary for public office holders by 114 percent.

Naija News reports that there have been a series of controversies following reports that the federal government had approved the increment of salaries of political office-holders, judicial and public office holders by 114 percent.

A Federal Commissioner in the RMAFC, Rakiya Tanko-Ayuba, was quoted to have announced the salary increase while representing the commission’s chairman, Mohammad Shehu, at the presentation of the reports of the reviewed remuneration package to Kebbi State Governor, Nasir Idris, in Birnin Kebbi, on Tuesday.

In a subsequent statement, however, RMAFC Public Relations Officer, Christian Nwachukwu, denied the viral reports stating that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has yet to approve any such increase.

He added that the trending claim of a salary increase for some public office holders did not emanate from him or from the RMAFC Chairman.

Speaking, however, on Thursday while appearing live on Arise TV programme, the Federal Commissioner, RMAFC, Hassan Mohammed Usman, noted that the remuneration review had been due since 2007 but has not been done for specific reasons.

According to him, for 15 years, the salaries for the political, judicial and public office holders have not been reviewed by the government.

Usman added that the review premised on the fact that the consumer price index, from the year 2008 to 2022, has increased scientifically by 371 per cent.

Watch the interview below:

A digital forensic expert, Mr. Hitler Nwala, on Thursday, narrated before the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting in Abuja, how he uncovered that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, wiped off results of the presidential election that held on February 25.

Mr. Nwala mounted the box as the 25th witness of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is challenging the declaration of President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as winner of the presidential election.

Testifying before the Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel, the witness, alleged that the results that were deleted, were contained in the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, machines, that were deployed for the conduct of the elections.

Atiku and his party had insisted that data from the BVAS machines which were used for the accreditation of voters and uploading of polling unit results, would establish their allegation that the presidential election was rigged in Tinubu’s favour.

Meanwhile, led in evidence by lead counsel for the petitioners, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, Mr. Nwala, said he was summoned through a subpoena, to appear as a witness in the case.

He told the court that he specifically inspected and conducted forensic analysis on 110 BVAS that were deployed for the conduct of the presidential election in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

According to him, upon his enquiry, the electoral body maintained that it had to wipe off the information in the BVAS to be able to redeploy them for the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections that held on March 18.

However, during cross-examination of the witness, counsel to INEC, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, faulted report of the witness, stressing that 110 BVAS devices used for the election, was not sufficient to establish that there was any irregularity on the part of the Commission.

Mahmoud, SAN, while contending that the sample size the witness relied on to write his report, was small, noted that a total of 3, 263 BVAS devices, were deployed during the presidential election.

He argued that the sample the witness based his report on, represented only about 3.5 percent of the total device the INEC deployed in FCT and and 0.06 percent of the total BVAS that was used for the presidential election, across the country.

It will be recalled that INEC had disclosed that it needed to “re-configure” all the BVAS machines that were used for the presidential poll so as to be able to use them for the next round of elections.

On their part, both President Tinubu, whose legal team was led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, and APC’s legal team led by Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, urged the court to reject the report of the witness which they said was laced with manifest errors.

Nonetheless, the petitioners’ counsel, Uche, SAN, described the evidence of the witness as very vital to the case of his clients “considering that it was the first that we had a technologically driven election in this country,” he added.

Shortly after the witness was discharged by the court, the petitioners, tendered from the Bar, bundles of certified copies of INEC’s Forms EC8A from 20 Local Government Areas, LGAs, in Ogun state.

The documents were tendered through a member of Atiku’s legal team, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, SAN.

Equally tendered in evidence by the petitioners, were certified copies of polling unit results (Form EC8A series) from 17 LGAs in Ondo state, 27 LGAs in Jigawa as well as from 20 LGAs in Rivers State.

INEC opposed the admissibility of the documents in evidence, saying it would give its reasons in its final written address.

Likewise, the other Respondents- President Tinubu and the APC- equally raised objections to the admittance of the electoral documents in evidence.

Despite the objections, the Justice Tsammani panel accepted the documents in evidence and marked them as Exhibits in the matter.

The court subsequently adjourned its proceedings till Friday to enable the petitioners to close their case, after which the Respondents will open their defence.

Cost of international flights have increased by at least 15 percent following the recent depreciation of the naira on the back of the Federal Government’s convergence policy.

Vice president of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Yinka Folami, told newsmen that the cost of international flights from Nigeria is dependent on what the cost of the dollar is at the I and E window at every given time.

“Some days ago, naira sold for N680 to one dollar and yesterday it sold for over N700. The foreign airlines then fix the prices based on what is available from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“However, despite our repeated plea, foreign airlines have adamantly refused to unblock lower inventories and it is making the cost of tickets very expensive,” he said.

In the past, an economy ticket from Lagos to London used to cost about N400,000 in 2021 but had increased to about N1.2 million in 2022 and 2023.

Also, business class ticket has risen to about N6 million during the same period, depending on the airline and time of booking.

With this development, a N1.2 million economy ticket may rise to N2 million and above, while for the business class, the fares may rise to N7 million or more.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) had few weeks ago warned about the inability of international airlines to repatriate their ticket sales for over a year, saying the blocked funds have contributed to the high airfares on Nigerian routes.

IATA also said that blocked funds belonging to foreign airlines trapped in Nigeria had hit $812.2 million, warning that rapidly rising levels of blocked funds are a threat to airline connectivity in the affected markets.

The industry’s blocked funds have increased by 47 per cent to $2.27 billion in April 2023 from $1.55 billion in April 2022.

The top five countries that account for 68.0 per cent of blocked funds are Nigeria with the highest trapped funds ($812.2 million), Bangladesh ($214.1 million), Algeria ($196.3 million), Pakistan ($188.2 million), Lebanon ($141.2 million)

IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh said, “Airlines cannot continue to offer services in markets where they are unable to repatriate the revenues arising from their commercial activities in those markets. “Governments need to work with industry to resolve this situation so airlines can continue to provide the connectivity that is vital to driving economic activity and job creation.”

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, Thursday, slammed the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) over its proposed 114 per cent raise in the salaries of elected politicians, including the President, vice president, governors, and lawmakers.

RMAFC has come under heavy criticism over its recommendation for an increase in the basic salaries of public office holders in the country.

Chairman of the commission, Muhammadu Shehu, who was represented by RMAFC commissioner from Kebbi State, Mrs Rakiya Tanko-Ayuba, announced the proposal on Tuesday in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, while presenting the reviewed remuneration package of political and judicial office holders to the State Governor, Dr Nasir Idris.

Reacting, Obi in a Twitter post, described the recommendation as “insensitive,” warning that it should not be the priority of a nation still struggling with minimum wage with over 133 million Nigerians currently living in abject poverty.

He tweeted, “I learnt with great reservation, the approval of a 114% increase in the salaries of elected politicians, including the President, vice president, governors, lawmakers as well as judicial and public office holders by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

“This is not the appropriate time for such a salary increment if it is at all necessary. We are living in a time when an average Nigerian is struggling with many harsh economic realities, and with over 130 million Nigerians now living in poverty. This is a moment when recent reform measures by the government have increased living costs astronomically.

“One would expect the leaders and public officeholders to focus on cutting the cost of governance, alleviating the sufferings of Nigerians. This moment calls for creative ways of pulling the majority out of poverty. In the immortal words of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, ‘What touches us ourself shall be last served.’

“The leaders, therefore, should prioritise what affects the masses and those on the lower strata of society over themselves. The sacrifice, at this time in our nation, should be borne by the leaders. The increment should be reversed immediately, and the savings should be devoted to fixing education, healthcare and poverty alleviation especially in the remote rural areas.”

Director of Road Transport in the Ministry of Transportation, Ibrahim Musa, yesterday, disclosed that the Federal Government has approved the re-opening of the Seme border for the importation of vehicles.

Speaking at the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, meeting, organised between officials of Nigeria and Benin, Musa said the development followed complaints by freight forwarders operating at the Seme border.

The director, who spoke at the ECOWAS Monitoring Team’s visit to the Seme-Krake Joint Border Post, said: “I was here with the former Minister of State for Transportation when the Freight Forwarders pleaded that the border should be reactivated for the free movement of goods and services.

“The former minister made us prepare a memo to that effect. It was considered and sent to the government.”

Also speaking, the Customs Area Controller of Seme Border Command, Dera Nnadi said the service has noticed a reduction in its revenue since the importation of vehicles was banned from the land borders.

Nnadi said: “The former Minister of Transportation, responding to some of our requests and from the stakeholders, promised to take them to the Federal Executive Council, FEC, one of them is how to fully open this border.

“The Ministry has informed us that the memo has been written to FEC and it was adopted and that it would be given to the new government, he assured us that all the requests were adopted.”

Vice President Kashim Shettima, the co-Chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, and the Chairman of the Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote, are currently meeting with state governors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The meeting is part of the Gates Foundation’s commitment to working closely with communities and leaders to support innovation that can accelerate progress and improve lives across Africa.

The American billionaire entrepreneur met with President Bola Tinubu on Monday as part of the program to learn from partners who are helping to address polio, anaemia, and other health threats.

They also met with scientists applying research to develop agricultural innovations for food security and climate adaptation, innovators using technology to improve access to financial services, and others working to improve lives in Niger, Nigeria, and throughout the continent.

Gates and his delegation were also scheduled to meet with national and regional leaders to encourage them to make investments and advance policies that promote innovation and provide equitable opportunities, despite challenging economic conditions.

Similarly, he was expected to participate in a conversation with students and young leaders to gather insights and share perspectives on how science and innovation can accelerate positive change and contribute to a brighter outlook for Africa.

Benue House of Assembly has approved the suspension of all the 23 local government (LG) chairmen in the state for financial misappropriation.

The decision to suspend the LG chairmen was taken on Wednesday during plenary following a letter from Gov. Hyacinth Alia, dated June 14, 2023, requesting the house to investigate the incomes and expenditures of the 23 LG chairmen of the state.

In the letter, Gov. Alia informed the house that he had received a report on the incomes and expenditures of the LG chairmen from February to April, 2023, as submitted by themselves and wished the house to investigate it for necessary recommendations.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Speaker of the house, Mr Hyacinth Dajoh, therefore, set up an Ad hoc Committee on June 20, 2023, comprising Mr Peter Ipusu (Katsina-Ala West/APC) as the chairman, Mr Manger Manger (Tarka/APC) and Mr Cyril Ikong (Oju II/APC) as members, to investigate the matter.

The Committee which was directed to investigate and report back to the house within the shortest possible time, expressed worries over the outright disregard of procedure and the crass mismanagement of local government funds by the chairmen during the period under review.

The Committee informed the house that there was the need for a more detailed investigation of the operations of the local government beyond the period under review to cover from June, 2015 to May, 2023.

The Committee, therefore, recommended the immediate suspension of the Chairmen in all the 23 local government councils and also the legislative councils for conniving with the Executive Councils to mismanage public funds put in their trust.

After contributions from members in favour of the report, the house unanimously agreed that the chairmen be suspended in order to enable it do the investigation without any interference.

Ruling, the Speaker directed the chairmen to hand over the affairs of their local government councils, all government properties in their possession, including official vehicles, to the Directors-General, Services and Administration (DGSAs) with immediate effect and proceed on suspension, pending the completion of investigation into their account books and other related matters.

The Speaker further directed that the Governor should proceed and set up caretaker committees in line with the Benue Local Government law.

He also requested the Commissioner of Police to ensure a seamless takeover at the various local government council headquarters without any friction.