| Dora Akunyili applauded for supporting hand over of power to Vice-President |
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•Information Minister, Dora Akunyili applauded for supporting hand over of power to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan. •Borno Assembly throws out bill on new emirate. •Somali pirates hijack Libyan cargo ship. •British MPs ordered to repay over 1.1 million pounds. Strong indications has emerged that Minister of Information and Communications, Dora Akunyili, wants President Umaru Yar’Adua to hand over power to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan until his return from Saudi Arabia. Our correspondents reliably gathered that Akunyili presented a memo containing her request to the Federal Executive Council at its meeting in Abuja. The council, which by the provision of Section 144 of the 1999 Constitution, is empowered to initiate the hand over process, however, rejected the memo. Meanwhile, a socio-critic, Labourous Oshoma has applauded the heroic attempt of the Information Minister, Dora Akunyili, for urging members of the Federal Executive Council, to take a concrete position, concerning ailing President, Umaru Yar’Adua. Barr Oshoma, in a telephone chat with Georges Adebajo, said Prof. Akunyili deserved praise for summing up courage to discuss the President’s prolonged absence even when she knew the issue was being avoided like a plaque. However, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties has hailed the call by the Information Minister, Dora Akunyili, for the transfer of power to Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan. Speaking to correspondent Ogechi Iwu, CNPP chairman, Balarabe Musa described Akunyili’s action as the authentic thing to do in the situation. He said Prof Akunyili’s purported action has rekindled the faith of Nigerians in her and called for the Federal Executive Council to fully support her call for an orderly transition. Report says 3 vessels are grounded at the sea shore between Lekki and Ikate Beach, with over 20 crew on board. The ship were reportedly from Apapa Wolf, loaded with diesel. The vessels and its crew are said to have being on the sea shore for two days. Sources say the owners of the ship have been contacted and they are working towards rescuing it and the crew on board. F.C.T Directorate of Road Traffic Services says it would begin the enforcement of the encoding of vehicle and driver’s licence electronically by March 31. Senior Road Traffic Officer, FCT Vehicle Inspectorate Office under the DRTS, Okereke Alex, made this known. Mr. Alex advised the public to take advantage of the remaining time to ensure that their vehicles were coded electronically. Borno State House of Assembly has thrown out an executive bill to amend the State Local Government Amendment Bill. Governor Ali Modu Sheriff in January sent the bill, which seeks to give him powers to create new emirates and chiefdoms in the state. House Leader, Idrrisa Jidda, said it was aimed at allowing the governor to take care of the increase in population by creating more districts, emirates and chiefdoms. But Ibrahim Audu, representing Biu constituency, said the amendment would amount to the ``erosion'' of legislative powers. House of Representatives has expressed displeasure over the state of various public enterprises privatized by the Federal Government, through Bureau of Public Enterprises. The law makers have in the meantime vowed to bring to book some Nigerian investors for allegedly stalling the process for the take-over of the Jos Rolling Steel Mill by the core investor from Ukraine. Meanwhile, House members also directed the Bureau of Public Enterprises, to recover the 120 million dollars contract money for the dredging of the Imo River. Members of the House Committee on Privatization and Commercialization announced the decision during a 2-day investigative public hearing. The Committee also ordered that the interest accrued for over 3 years be paid immediately into the Federation account. Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has said his mission to broker peace between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo has ended, as peace returns to the two central African countries. Speaking in Addis Ababa, Chief Obasanjo said the situation compelled UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon to appoint him a special envoy to the area. He said the AU and the Great Lakes Region also appointed him and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa as co-facilitators of the peace mission to the area. A Kenya-based maritime group has says Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden have hijacked a Libyan-owned cargo ship carrying 17 seafarers from Romania and Libya. Ecoterra, which monitors shipping off Somalia, said the 4,800-tonne MV Rim was seized in the strategic channel south of the Yemen coast. It said it was flying a North Korean flag, but is owned by White Sea Shipping of Tripoli. A U.S. army spokesman has said three crew members were killed when a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter crashed in southwestern Germany yesterday. However, spokesman for U.S. Army Europe in Heidelberg, who declining to give further details, could not confirm local media reports that the helicopter went up in flames on hitting the ground. British Members of Parliament have been ordered to repay more than 1.1 million pounds in allowances following a review prompted by last year's expenses scandal. Thomas Legg, who carried out the review of expenses relating to MPs' second homes, said the system was deeply flawed. Legg also uncovered a small number of cases where MPs used their allowances for transactions involving a relative, business associate or employee. BUSINESS The Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Christopher Anyawu has said the list of Nigerians, who have sabotaged the privatisation process, and who are core shareholders in most of the government privatised companies will be recommended for prosecution by the BPE The BPE’s position followed the discovery that one Innocent Zuma, an investor in the Jos Steel Rolling Mills had consistently shut out the Ukrainian majority share holder, Olehsiy Petrov. The House Committee directed the said Dr. Ezuma to forward a letter of apology to the BPE within 72 hours, for shutting out its officials when they visited the company in Jos, Plateau State on facility inspection. On the floor of the Nigerian stock market today, investors bought a total of 463.2 million shares, valued at 3.625 billion Naira, in 7,980 deals. Market capitalization stood at N5.742 trillion, with all share index of 23, 846.03 points. AP and UACN led the gainers with N1.10, WAPCO followed, picking up N1.05k. On the other hand, Guinness led the losers, shedding N4.19, Flour Mill followed with 1.55 while Con oil lost 90k. EXCHANGE RATE 1 US Dollar = 154 Naira 1 British Pound = 245 Naira 1 Euro = 214 Naira ENTERTAINMENT A life-size bronze sculpture of a man by Alberto Giacometti has been sold at auction in London for the world record price of £65,001,250. It took just eight minutes for bidders to reach the hammer price after L'Homme Qui Marche I opened at £12m at Sotheby's auction house. Sotheby's said it was the most expensive work ever sold at auction. An anonymous phone bidder bought the work for £58m. The £65m price tag includes the buyer's premium. The sculpture is considered to be one of the most important by the 20th Century Swiss artist. SPORTS The National Sports Commission has been urged to treat all sports equally as its preferential treatment for football was affecting the development of other sports. Handball coach, Baba Aliyu, expressed regret that while all issues concerning football were accorded priority, other sports were not treated with equal dispatch. He said as popular as football was in Brazil, the country was also equally strong in other sports like basketball, volleyball and beach volleyball. •Information Minister, Dora Akunyili applauded for supporting hand over of power to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan. •Borno Assembly has thrown out bill on new emirate. •Somali pirates have hijacked Libyan cargo ship. •British MPs have been ordered to repay over 1.1 million pounds. ODD SIDE OF THE NEWS A tourist lost in the dark on a frozen sea in northern Germany has been rescued after flashes from his camera were spotted on a beach webcam. Police in the North Sea area said the man, who has not been named, had become lost after walking onto ice off St Peter-Ording to photograph a sunset. A woman watching the sunset via webcam hundreds of kilometres away in southern Germany noticed the flashes. She alerted police who were able to guide the man to safety. Police said the photographer, a German tourist in his 40s, could have frozen to death or fallen through the ice. |