The Federal Government has warned that any officer whose records could not be verified on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) will be delisted on Friday.

Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoCSF), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, said this in a statement, on Wednesday.

The statement signed by Mohammed Ahmed, Director, Communications, in her office, said the two-week exercise which will end on Friday, October 27, 2023, was put in place as an act of magnanimity for officers who did not take part in the earlier verifications.

He recalled that the Federal Government commenced the implementation of the IPPIS in 2007 with a view to attaining transparency, accuracy, safety and reliability in the management of Personnel Records, while also curtailing avoidable excesses in personnel costs.

“In 2013, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), being the repository of official records and information on all Public Servants, was saddled with the responsibility of cleansing the record on the Payroll.

“Leveraging on technology, the Office opened a verification portal in April, 2017 and directed all public servants to carry out online update of their records. The office carried out aggressive sensitization and publicity via the official, conventional and social media. An initial period of three months was given for compliance, which was extended to one year, May, 2018, to enable all officers update their records. This was the first phase.

“Sequel to another wide publicity accompanied by numerous pre-verification sensitization visits by IPPIS staff to Ministries, extra-ministerial Departments and Agencies (MDAs), nationwide, the second phase of the exercise, the physical verification, commenced in 2018. In this regard, 500 staff from the OHCSF were trained and deployed, in well communicated and coordinated phases, to the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT between 2018 and 2019 to enable officers carry out the physical verification in their states and save them from traveling to Abuja,” Mohammed said.

He said having committed substantial financial and human resources over a period of seven years to verify the records all civil servants on the IPPIS platform, the office was left with no option than to suspend the salaries of those who failed to participate in the exercise with effect from September, 2023.

He said, “Consequent upon this, some of the erring officers besieged the OHCSF with pleas to be given the last opportunity to comply. The portal was therefore, magnanimously reopened from October 3-13, 2023 for them to update their records.

“The officers were then asked to come to Abuja for the physical verification exercise as the office had already committed and exhausted the budgeted funds and unable to further deploy staff to the states for the exercise.

“Adequate arrangements were put in place for a smooth exercise in designated areas of the FCT, however, the officers’ impatience and lack of orderliness in the first two days made the exercise rowdy. This has been duly addressed and the two-week exercise, scheduled to end on Friday, October 27, 2023, is progressing very well.”

He insisted that the aforementioned officers are the architects of their inconveniences for not being compliant with official directives.

He said, “However, the verification of records of all Civil Servants will be finalized at the end of the ongoing exercise and any officer whose record could not be verified will be delisted from the payroll of government.”

[DailyTrust]

The Nasarawa State University lecturer, Dr Comfort Adokwe, who was abducted on Sunday, has been released.

DAILY POST reports that Adokwe, a lecturer in the Faculty of Administration at the university and a Deputy Director, Gender Studies, of the school, was abducted on Sunday night by gunmen from her residence in Angwan Jaba in Keffi.

Speaking with DAILY POST on phone, Timothy Adokwe, brother to Comfort, confirmed the release.

“Yes, she was released around 8:30,” he said.

He said the kidnappers initially demanded a N100million ransom.

He confirmed that the family paid an undisclosed amount to secure her freedom.

Timothy, however, lauded the military and the Department of State Services, DSS, for their involvement in the release of his sister, saying that though they could not go closer to avoid any harm to Comfort, they monitored via satellite.

“Actually, the police were not there, but the military and the DSS were involved, but at the outskirts because they tried to monitor from their satellite and know the location, but you know, they can’t just enter directly,” he said.

Adokwe said his sister has been taken to an undisclosed hospital for medical checkup, adding that she is okay and has reunited with her husband and daughter.

He urged the government to ensure development reaches some areas dominated by kidnappers.

He said the VC of the university who was kidnapped in the past was rescued from the same location.

[DailyPost]

The Supreme Court has scheduled judgements for Thursday (October 26) in the appeals by Atiku Abubakar/the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi/Labour Party (LP) against the September 6 judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the last presidential election.

It was learnt that the court has sent notices to parties to that effect.

A seven-member panel of the court, headed by Justice John Okoro, heard the appeals on Monday and reserved judgment to a date to be communicated to parties.

[Nation]

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday conceded to the request of Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State for federal intervention on security and infrastructure development crisis in Kaduna State.

President Bola Tinubu at a meeting with Gov. Uba Sani and others at the State House

Governor Sani visited the President at the State House, Abuja. The Kaduna Governor visited President Tinubu with the Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas; and Honorary Adviser, Dr. Yusuf Hamisu.

READ ALSO: Tinubu receives ‘Quick Win Report’ on fiscal policy, tax reforms

The Governor in a statement highlighted:

President Tinubu with Gov Uba Sani and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas

Senator Uba Sani
@ubasanius

President Tinubu, Gov, Sani, Speaker Abbas, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, and Dr. Yusuf Hamisu during the visit at State House

I had the honour of visiting our dear leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR along with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, and Honorary Adviser, Dr. Yusuf Hamisu. We sought the President’s interventions in the critical areas of security and infrastructure in Kaduna State. His response to our requests was positive.

[NationalDaily]

The Senate on Wednesday sworn in Amos Yohanna as the new Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District.

The swearing-in was performed by the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, who presided over the plenary.

Yohanna, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party replaces Abbo, who was sacked by the Appeal Court last week Monday.

The Court of Appeal, Abuja had sacked Abbo, a member of the All Progressives Congress.

Delivering judgment on Monday, the three-member panel presided over by Justice C.E. Nwosu-Iheme, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue a Certificate of Return to Yohanna as the duly elected lawmaker representing the area in the National Assembly.

The appellate vacated the tribunal judgment which had earlier affirmed Abbo of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the senatorial election.

INEC had declared Abbo the winner of the February 25, 2023, parliamentary election.

But aggrieved by the electoral body’s decision, the PDP, Yohanna, went to the tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election.

In its ruling, the tribunal dismissed Yohanna’s petition for lacking in merit.

Not comfortable with the judgment of the tribunal, the PDP candidate, through his counsel Johnson Usman, SAN, approached the Appeal Court.

The Court of Appeal, after hearing arguments from parties, agreed with Usman that based on Section 137 of the Electoral Act, 2022, the results tendered clearly showed that there was no compliance with the Electoral Act.

The court, thereafter, deducted the invalid votes from both parties and found that Yohanna and the PDP won the election by a majority of lawful votes.

In the wake of the judgment, Senator Abbo described it as a coup on democracy but told his supporters to be calm.

Details later…

Following a consultation with the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, the Northern Consensus Movement has withdrawn a 14-day ultimatum it earlier issued to Igbo residents in the North to quit.

NCM, which is an amalgamation of community-based socio-cultural and economically-inclined northern organisations, issued the ulimatum after Otti converted Lokpanta Cattle Market to a daily and non-residential one.

The governor’s decision was viewed as a quit notice to northerners.

The NCM, however, rescinded its order after a meeting the governor had with the leadership of the Umuchieze Cattle Market.

The group’s President,  Awwal  Aliyu, who led the leadership of the Umuchieze cattle dealers to the meeting at the governor’s residence on Tuesday, announced the decision to withdraw the quit notice.

Aliyu said at the meeting with the governor, they realised that there was no tribal sentiment attached to the state government’s decision.

He declared that Otti means well and is interested in the security and safety of the traders at the cattle market contrary to earlier allegation that he had asked northern residents in the state to leave. 

“I’m using this medium to say that we have cancelled that 14-day ultimatum that was given to easterners,” he declared.

He commended the governor for agreeing to assist the vulnerable members of the northern community in renting accommodation outside the market as well as holding periodic meetings with them on issues concerning their wellbeing.

Aliyu advised  northerners  in the state to be law-abiding, respect constituted authorities, and be good ambassadors of the Northern people, wherever they find themselves.

The governor, while receiving his guests, restated that his interest in making the Umuchieze Cattle Market a daily one is to end the killings, kidnappings and other criminal activities going on in the market.

The governor emphasised that he is a detribalized Nigerian, noting that he does not know about segregation and can never be associated with tribalism.

He stated that the government’s earlier directive was misunderstood and pointed out that the aim of making the market a daily one was to secure the place in the overall interest of traders and residents alike.

Otti said that the meeting convened at his instance was to explain the true position of the government, adding that without security, there would be no development.

“Anytime we allow religion and ethnicity to play a role in what we are doing, we are missing the point. What I have come to do in governance is to give service to the people. We want everyone living in Abia State to live in peace and harmony,” he said.

The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a suspect identified as Ridwan Akintoye, who was believed to specialise in stealing mobile phones of patients on admission at the Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta.

Our correspondent further learnt that visitors who had come to see their loved ones in the sick bay were not left out of Akintoye’s theft as reports of multiple phone robberies dominated the medical centre.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the suspect was said to have frequented the hospital from Lagos under the guise of voluntary blood donation while targeting unsuspecting patients and their loved ones.

An eyewitness who did want to be mentioned in the media revealed that the increasing cases of phone theft forced the management of the medical centre to place undercover surveillance on the premises.

The eyewitness told our correspondent that the surveillance was meant to monitor the activities of the visitors on and around the premises.

Meanwhile, unaware that there was undercover surveillance in the area, the 24-year-old was said to have been exposed while stealing the mobile phones of some unsuspecting victims.

Our correspondent further learnt that Akintoye fled the scene after suspecting that he had been exposed.

Speaking, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent on Monday, said the suspect had confessed to having been coming from Lagos State to commit robbery in the facility.

Odutola said, “The phones he stole included the Infinix Hot 9 and Android TCL belonging to Hameed Aderibigbe and Folarin Israel. We arrested him when he was fleeing the premises.”

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has formally launched the GAC Car Assembly Plant in Lagos.

The Governor disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

According to him, the partnership between Lagos State and CIG Motors, represented a pivotal step towards greater industrialisation, more jobs, and technical training for the people of the state.

He said, “This partnership, born in the challenging days of the pandemic, has flourished, not only giving birth to the GAC Motor Nigeria CKD factory but also aiding the growth and expansion of our LAGRIDE project. These initiatives signify our commitment to progress, innovation, and the betterment of Lagos State.

“The opening of this vehicle assembly plant is a glowing emblem of our state’s openness to investments that foster job creation, skill development, wealth creation, and entrepreneurial opportunities.

“The ripple effect of this investment extends far beyond the automotive sector. It has ushered in a new dawn of employment, providing our industrious youths with well-deserved jobs, thereby significantly reducing unemployment in Lagos.”

The Federation Account Allocation Committee says it shared N903.48bn among the three tiers of government for September 2023.

FAAC disclosed this in a communiqué issued at the end of its latest meeting, according to different statements by the Director, Press and Public Relations, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Bawa Mowa, and the Director (Press and Public Relations) of the Ministry of Finance, Stephen Kilebi, on Tuesday.

The total figure shared for September showed a decrease of N196.62bn compared to the N1.1tn shared in August 2023, and this was the first time it decreased since May revenue.

The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Finance and Co-Ordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun.

The statement from the ministry read in part, “From the stated amount inclusive of Gross Statutory Revenue, Value Added Tax, Electronic Money Transfer Levy and Exchange Difference, the Federal Government received N320.54bn, the states received N287.07bn, the Local Government Councils got N210.9bn, while the oil producing states received N84.97bn as derivation, (13 per cent of mineral revenue).”

The statement from the OAGF read, “A communique issued by the FAAC at its October, 2023 meeting indicated that the N903.48bn total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N423.01bn, distributable Value Added Tax revenue of N 282.67bn, Electronic Money Transfer Levy revenue of N10.99bn and Exchange Difference revenue of N 186.81bn.”

It was also disclosed that there was a total revenue of N1.59tn available in September 2023.

However, about N54.43bn was given to the cost of collection, N347.86bn was allocated to Transfers and Refunds, while the sum of N289bn was transferred to Non-Oil Revenue (Savings) for the month of September 2023.

The statement further read, “Gross statutory revenue of N 1014.95bn was received for the month of September 2023. This was higher than the N891.934bn received in the month of August 2023 by N123.019bn.”