Saturday, November 29, 2025
Home Blog Page 234

NIN-SIM Linkage: FG Orders Telcos To Bar Outgoing Calls On Unlinked Lines From Today

By
Ola Akinola
-
0

With effect from today, April 4th, 2022, the Federal Government has ordered all telcommunications companies to prohibit outgoing calls on unlinked lines.

Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and Mr. Kayode Adegoke, Head, Corporate Communications, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), said in a joint statement on Monday that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the policy’s implementation with effect from April 4, 2022.

The statement reads: “Consequently, the Federal Government has directed all Telcos to strictly enforce the Policy on all SIMs issued (existing and new) in Nigeria.

“Outgoing calls will subsequently be barred for telephone lines that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage Policy from the 4th of April, 2022.

“Subscribers of such lines are hereby advised to link their SIMs to their NINs before the Telcos can lift the restriction on their lines.

“Affected individuals are hereby advised to register for their NINs at designated centers and thereafter link the NINs to their SIMs through the channels provided by NIMC and the Telcos, including the NIMC mobile App,” according to the statement.

The statement further commended Nigerians and Legal Residents for their support during the exercise to link the National Identification Number (NIN) to the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM).

“On behalf of the Federal Government, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has commended Nigerians and Legal Residents for their support during the exercise to link the National Identification Number (NIN) to the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM).

“As of date, over 125 Million SIMs have had their NINs submitted for immediate linkage, verification and authentication. Similarly, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued over 78 Million unique NINs till date.

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, gave the directive for the implementation and commencement of the exercise in December 2020, as part of the administration’s security and social policies.

The deadlines for the NIN-SIM linkage has been extended on multiple occasions to allow Nigerians to freely comply with the Policy.

The statement explained that the Federal Government also took into consideration the passionate appeals by several bodies- Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Civil Societies, Professional Bodies and a host of others – for the extension of the deadlines in the past.

“Accordingly, Mr. President graciously approved the many requests to extend deadlines for the NIN-SIM linkage.

“At this point however, Government has determined that the NIN-SIM Policy implementation can proceed, as machinery has already been put in place to ensure compliance by citizens and legal residents.

“The implementation impacts on Government’s strategic planning, particularly in the areas of security and socio-economic projections.

“Professor Pantami specially appreciates President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) for his tremendous support.

“He also commends the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Dambatta, the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engr. Aliyu Abubakar Aziz along with their Management and Staff, as well as other notable bodies whose efforts have seen to the monumental success of the exercise.

“The Minister also extends his thanks to the telecommunication operators for their support towards the success recorded.

“The Minister also emphasized that enrolment for the NIN is a continuous exercise and NIN is a precondition for service in Telcos, banks, Nigerian Immigration Service, and for several other government services,” the statement explained.

The statement therefore, urged Nigerians and legal residents to visit NIN registration centres for the enrollment and issuance of valid NINs.

FCT Taskforce Team Dismantles Criminal’ Camp In Nyanya

By
Toyin Adebayo
-
0

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Ministerial Taskforce Team on City Sanitation destroyed a miscreants and scavengers’ camp at Nyanya, on the outskirts of Abuja.

The tents were dismantled due to several insecurity issues in the area, according to Kaka Bello, the Head, Monitoring and Enforcement, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, who led the demolition squad on Thursday.

He added that the experiment was driven by the need to maintain sanity in the federal capital territory, particularly in the suburbs.

The scavengers were warned to vacate the area a few weeks ago, but they disobeyed the orders, he claims.

Bello, who described the area as a scavenger colony, noted that despite the FCT’s best efforts, the situation has not improved as hoodlums still muster courage to stay.

He, however, regretted the continued illegal activities of the scavengers in most of the suburbs and warned them to steer clear of areas that are not allocated to them.

Bello, therefore, called on some of the residents liaising with scavengers to desist from it, as the situation will give them more courage.

“The exercise is about city cleaning and sanitation, this is a colony of scavengers which we have removed several times, but they still return.

“Weeks ago we came here to tell them the need to vacate this area, or else we will come and carry out an enforcement, and unfortunately while some of them comply others refused to comply, but we won’t be discouraged by the miscreants and scavengers refusal to heed to the taskforce team orders” Bello said.

We Will Not Jeopardize Health Of Nigerians,DG NAFDAC

By
Toyin Adebayo
-
0

…Acquires 73 New Vehicles To Improve Operations

Nigerians’ health, according to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), is sacred and cannot be traded for a bowl of porridge.

While adding that,”Previously, if we wanted to go for an inspection, the company we were inspecting would bring us vehicles, which may endanger the inspection report.”

Adeyeye made the remark during the official introduction of 73 operational cars in Abuja on Thursday, with the goal of improving efficiency and effectiveness.

According to her, ” We don’t want to compromise the health of the citizenry that is why we put money together to procure 73 vehicles. Since my assumption of office , we have been able to procure 143 vehicles to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of our staff.

“We are here to launch one of the tools that earn us Maturity Level Three Regulatory Agency by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“We cannot overemphasized the tools that a regulatory agency needs. You cannot take Okada to go and inspect a place. Before now, we have several seaports in Lagos. Sometimes, our staff will need to go to another port in Tin Can and they take Okada to go there quickly aside from the traffic. We need tools to also ensure safety of our staff. If we are going to shut a company down and you went there with a rickety vehicle and unfortunately, it’s breaks down on the road , if they are mad at us they will over power us.

“We need very dependable tools and vehicles is one of them .
73 vehicles, 40 Hilux, 20 Camry , 6 Hiace and 4 Coaster buses.”, She explained.

Meanwhile, the Chairman , NAFDAC Governing Board, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman said , “Ours is a regulatory agency and the staff needs to be taken care of so that they won’t compromise.

Represented at the occasion by Mr Mufutau Bolaji Yahaya said they have commence the construction of seven new state offices, four is ready for commissioning .

According to him, ” The job the staff does is dangerous, they may have to lock up companies and shops , it is not healthy for them to join public transport because they can easily be identified, hense the need for the vehicles.”

Again, Fire Razes Abuja Market

By
Toyin Adebayo
-
0

…FEMA Says There Aren’t Any Causalities

On Thursday, a popular market in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) known as Karimo was destroyed by a fire that broke out early in the morning.

According to our source, the exact cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

One of the traders, who did not want to be identified, informed our correspondent that the fire started in one shop and spread to the others.

According to reports, this is the fourth time the Karimo market has been destroyed by fire.

According to him, “Traders have started counting their losses and salvaging what was left of their goods”.

He said goods worth millions of naira were destroyed by the fire.

Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at about 12.28am, today, received a distress call from the National Emergency Call Centre ,112 notifying the Agency of a fire outbreak at Karimo Market located in a community in Abuja Municipal Area Council of the FCT.

According to a statement by FEMA PRO, Nkechi Isa, the Director General of FEMA, Alhaji Abbas Idriss stated that the Agency immediately activated the FCT Fire Service, Federal Fire Service and NEMA to join it’s response team.

On noticing that the fire was spreading, FEMA requested additional fire stations from the Mutual Fire Service institutions. With the support of military, the Nigeria Police Force DSS, FRSC and other Security Agency’s
combined efforts, the fire was brought under control at about 4.41am.

Idriss commended the search and rescue team of FEMA,shop owners , security agencies, community leaders and the people of Karimo for efforts to salvage some goods and properties from the inferno.
The DG informed that there were no casaulities during the incident, but goods worth millions of naira were destroyed.

According to Idriss, the loss and accesors team of FEMA ,NEMA,Traders Associations ,Area Council Local Emergency Management Committee as well as security agencies are on the field to get an estimated value of losses incurred by the traders
He further stated that FEMA was working with all relevant agencies to ascetain the proximate cause of the fire and would forward a full report to the administration after the investigations.

He commiserated with traders affected by the inferno on behalf of the Hon Minister of the FCT and his counterpart, the minister of State.

The FEMA boss reiterates the call for the segmentation of markets in the FCT, while also appealing to traders not to reside in markets. The traders are also caution not to cook in the market and where there is electricity, all appliances should be put off to avoid a repeat of such inferno.

FCT- IRS Partners CITN On Taxpayer Enlightenment Campaign In Abuja

By
Toyin Adebayo
-
0

…To Enforce Rental Income Tax, Other Streams

The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) collaborated with the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) on a taxpayer education/enlightenment program to keep residents informed about current tax trends in Abuja.

The goal of the campaign was to improve public awareness of taxation and recent changes in tax administration, as well as to properly communicate the FCT-IRS tax processes and focus to FCT residents.

In his welcome address, Mr. Haruna Abdullahi, Acting Executive Chairman, FCT-IRS, said that as a new tax body, the Service is always open to greater collaboration with stakeholders from the Federal Inland Revenue Service CITN, as well as other critical tax professionals and practitioners, in order to broaden the campaign.

Abdullahi said the programme will be rewarding, and FCT and indeed Nigeria would be better for it, given the calibre of the resource persons that handed critical issues, that would contribute positively to the development of taxation system.

He added that in terms of tax operations and compliance, its focus has been on the personal income aspects of the employee under Pays-As-You-Earn (PAYE) scheme at about 75%, self-employed under direct assessment 10% and others 15% respectively.

His words, in order to surpass its revenue target of 202 billion Naira for the year 2022, the Service is re-strategizing and refocusing on three streams of tax- namely tax on rental income, capital gains tax, and business premises registration fee before the end of the year.

He, however, reiterated that resolve of the Service to sustain aggressive public enlightenment and sensitisation campaign to mobilise prospective taxpayers, with a view to boosting the revenue base of the FCT Administration.

In his keynote address, CITN 15th President, Chief Adesina Adebayo, who was represented by Samuel Agbeluyi, CITN’s Vice President, said the programme is highly commendable, as it’s tended to provide enlightenment on taxation of partnership business in Nigeria and recent changes in tax legislation.

Also speaking at the event, the Vice Chairman,
Senate Committee on FCT
Senator Tolu Odebiyi, hinted that the FCT-IRS as one of the key revenue generators for the FCT have done well, especially in putting together needed institutional frameworks.

He described the event as apt, as it will enable the Service to further set up structures required to widen its revenue base and efficiency in the system

He, therefore, assured that the Senate is doing anything possible to work with the FCT-IRS to not only widens its revenue base, but ensure efficiency and accountability in the system.

Similarly, Member, House Committee on FCT, and Deputy Chairman House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Igariwey Iduma Enwo, said it was a very laudable and deliberate collaborative effort towards improving the tax system in the FCT .

According to him, “Taxes area at the core of the relationship between the govt and citizens as a civic duty, which enables the provision of critical infrastructure and services to the citizens

“We stand ready and committed to amending or enacting laws to enhance a robust tax system in the FCT”, he stressed.

WHO Approves NAFDAC As Maturity Level Three (3) Regulatory Agencies

By
Toyin Adebayo
-
0

…Can Now Produce Vaccine

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has been recognised as a maturity three regulatory agency by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Nigeria is the third African country to achieve this rank, and one of the few in the world.

The NAFDAC Director General, Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, made the announcement at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday. With this, we will be able to manufacture our own vaccines, and the process has already begun with the construction of a vaccine laboratory in Oshodi, Lagos.

She stated that none of this would have been possible without President Muhammadu Buhari’s outstanding support, who generously donated 736 million to equip our laboratories.

Her words,” When I came on board, 70 to 80 per cent of our laboratories equipment were not working and President Buhari intervened and gave us seven hundred and thirty six million (736 million) to equip our laboratories.

” President Buhari also gave us four billion to buy more equipments and build vaccine laboratory which is almost completed. it is the tools that earn us this, and I thanks president Muhammadu Buhari for his kind gestures.

“We are already working on Maturity Level four which will enable any products we approved as a regulatory agency to be traded globally.
Since we don’t produce, the pharmacistical companies that produce will have a larger market

” There is no fear on our side getting certification for maturity four because we have our template and we have have been recertified by WHO since 2019, once we get recertified by November this year, we start self auditing, which is going to keep us on our toes. This has to be sustained because they will be coming every three years”, she said.

Meanwhile, the Chairman , NAFDAC Governing Board, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman said this feat cannot be possible without the support of the government and the hard work of the DG and staff of NAFDAC.

According to him, “The certification to Maturity level 3 by WHO is an indication that NAFDAC is well functioning and global agency.

“We gave ourself target, to cross the last huddle , I made a commitment that the DG see us through maturity level four , once we get to this level, everything we approved will get global acceptability”, he hinted.

Abuja-Kaduna Attack: Amaechi Visits Blast Scene, Decries Delay in Approving Security Apparatus

By
Ekaette Ibuot
-
0

.

The Minister of Transportation, Honourable Rotimi Amaechi has decried the continuous delay of procurement process in acquiring the necessary security apparatus that would ensure adequate security within the railway lines across the country.
The Minister bore his mind, during an inspection tour to the scene of the Monday night terrorist attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train.
Amaechi who was obviously devastated over the sad incident said that his ministry has taken the necessary measures to make train services across the country a safe heaven, but lamented that the procurement process that will lead to the purchase of security equipment is taking so long.
He added that the cameras in the train is not capable of picking what is outside the train. He said the security gadget needed, is the type that can detect security bridge 100 meters away.

The Minister confirmed that eight persons lost their lives, while twenty five who sustained various degree of injuries during the attack were in the hospitals receiving treatment.

The Minister admitted that proper account on the figures of missing persons, kidnapped and those injured could not be ascertain at the moment, as
some of the victims who are either staff of NRC or cleaning agencies, were not captured on the manifest.
He said the total number of passengers on the train were three Hundred and ninety eight.

“We have not been able to install the security sensors because the procurement process is a bit difficult.
To shorten the process and save lives like this but because the process is tedious, the approval is also tedious, we have not been able to get that approval that will lead to purchase those items.
If those items were here, drones alone will tell you that there are people around the rail tracks because there are drones, there are equipment pick sensors if you touch the track but unfortunately the process has not been able to get us that approval for us to import those items”.

“The cameras in the train cannot pick what is happening outside. What you need is a camera that shows 100 metres away from the train, there are unknown things carrying gun. Then, we can take precaution but we have done all we need to do in the ministry of transport and we have forward to them for approval but we have not gotten approval.

The patrol vehicles are available but they cannot reach everywhere. For the areas the patrol can patrol, it will forestall.
We are thinking about the possibility of employing natives until we get those equipment. We also need helicopters, beyond the drones, we need helicopters”, he said.

“What we need is technology that will lets you know that there are human activities or foreign activities on the track, that way, you can secure the locomotive and secure lives and i had warned earlier that it is important they get us this approval because human lives would be involved. Since that warning till today, we have had two incidences”.

“Even if they get us approval, it will take some months to acquire them from overseas to install them. We need to do that to enable us see from Kaduna-Abuja, Itakpe-Warri and from Lagos-Ibadan what is going on so that we don’t continue to lose lives because lives are important. If we don’t do that, more persons will die. The cost was about N3billion and the damage here is more than N3billion. So, if we had gotten the approval, we would have saved the N3billion and saved lives”, he added.

The Minister was in company of the Minister of State Senator Gbemisola Saraki, Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Maigari, MD Railway Engr. Fidet Okhiria and Chairman NRC Engr. Ibrahim Alhassan.

Terrorists Launch Attack on Abuja-Kaduna Train

By
Ekaette Ibuot
-
0

On Monday, a Kaduna-bound train was attacked by unidentified gunmen, forcing the locomotive to stop and over 900 passengers on board to be apprehended.

According to reports, the suspected terrorists detonated an explosive device on the railtrack between the stations of Katari and Rijana.

According to one of the passengers who confirmed the incident to a national daily, the attackers also surrounded the train and shot sporadically after it was demobilized.

The attack on Monday comes less than two weeks after residents of communities along the corridor met with railway operators, not to mention the federal government’s deployment of six surveillance vehicles along the same corridor.

The managing director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Fidet Okhiria has confirmed the incident to a television but says he is still gathering details on the incident.

APC Convention: We Were Beaten, Our Phones Stolen Says Foreign Delegates

By
Ola Akinola
-
0

Some foreign delegates have expressed dissatisfaction with the treatment they have received at the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) national convention, which is currently taking place at Eagles Square in Abuja.

A foreign delegate from Canada stated in a video circulated by correspondent that they arrived at the convention venue as early as 7 a.m. but were denied admission until 1 p.m.

He claimed that they were asked to wait in line but were beaten, and that some of them had their phones stolen.

“They sent us e-mail that we should come by 7’o clock in the morning. We were there at 7am. Later, they sent another e-mail that we should come at 9am. They gave us a tag, took us on a bus. We went round all this place for almost one hour. They couldn’t let us in”.

“They finally told us to form a line. We got on the line. They started beating us, stealing our phones. As I am talking to you, we are still standing outside. Just look at what they are doing to foreign delegates. This is very unacceptable and the government has to know this.

Saying, I came all the way from Canada and this is what we are getting”.

Jonathan Strategizes Defection, Recruits Loyal Kinsmen for APC Presidential Ticket

By
Roland Edet
-
0

Former President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to shock Nigerians by defecting from the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and then running on the party’s sole ticket as a consensus candidate in the 2023 presidential election.

As a result, the former President has begun to rally his kin in Bayelsa State’s Ogbia Local Government Area in order to make this dream a reality.

Part of this strategy was to persuade some of his relatives and political associates to support his ambitions in the PDP in the upcoming general election.

Jonathan was said to have carried out an audit of all aspirants in his council and decided to support persons he believed would easily defect with him to the APC at the appropriate time.

Sources close to the former President said he was preparing his kinsmen for his new ambition having been promised a return to Aso Rock by a cabal at the Presidency working for a northern agenda.

“Jonathan is working for his new ambition to return to Aso Rock as a President in 2023. He is using his position in Ogbia to call the shots of who will get the PDP’s electoral tickets for various positions in Ogbia. 

“His intention is to select people, who will easily and willingly defect with him to the APC at the appropriate time. So, he is working against loyal PDP members, who are determined to win and remain in the party.

“But Governor Douye Diri is playing into his hands. If Diri allows Jonathan to have his way, he will be the greatest loser because he will be alone to fight for his second term”, the source, who craved anonymity said.

The source said that Jonathan had settled for Prof. Edmund Allison-Oguru as his choice to fly the flag of PDP for the Ogbia Federal Constituency seat in the National Assembly. 

He bypassed aspirants, who initially indicated interest for the Constituency’s ticket only to ask Oguru, who was not even in the picture to go and pick the expression of interest and nomination forms to contest the primary of the PDP schedule for May.

To keep his ambition alive, Jonathan was said to have settled for Allison-Oguru ahead of the current occupant of the position, Fred Obua; Local Government Chairman, Ebinyo Turner; a member of the House of Assembly, Chief Mietema Obodor and a former Commissioner, Daniel Iworiso-Markson.

Another close source said Jonathan believed he could only entrust his ambition on Allison-Oguru because of his long-standing relationship with him.

“This is the reason he is not even considering Iworiso-Markson. He believes that Iworiso-Markson will never defect with him to the APC. He knows that Iworiso-Markson will remain in PDP and that will be a big let down for him.

“The former President has been thinking of the direction to take until recently when he was convinced by some stakeholders to choose Prof. Edmund Allison-Oguru. If you recall, it was Jonathan who nominated him as Secretary to the State Government in the first tenure of Senator Seriake Dickson’s administration. 

“He also recently nominated him to be among the members of the governing board of the University of Africa, Toru-Orua in Sagbama. So it is him that he has chosen”.

Some of the stakeholders were concerned that if the PDP picked Allison-Oguru as its candidate, the party would lose the main election because of his unpopularity.

“We will lose to any party if Allison-Oguru is our candidate. It is a huge joke for the former President to be insisting that we endorse him as our candidate. I mean this is why people like me are against it. Jonathan is blindfolded by his ambition. The earlier the governor knows this the better for him and for the PDP.

“The man is not popular and we shouldn’t make that kind of huge mistake. This is an election and not comedy. We need our very best and those on parade are worth winning electi

1...233234235...406Page 234 of 406

EDITOR PICKS

POPULAR POSTS

POPULAR CATEGORY

ABOUT US

Newsfocus is your news, sports,politics, entertainment, music fashion website. We offer you the latest breaking news and videos straight from the sports and entertainment industry across the world.

Contact us: [email protected]

FOLLOW US

© 2020 Focus Media . All Rights Reserved