Lagos gives 15% salary bonus to workers

The Lagos State Government will pay its workers 15 per cent bonus in the December salary as an end of the year gift, the State Head of Service, Mrs Oluseyi Williams, said on Friday.

Williams spoke at the end of the year get together and appreciation party for principals and directors in the Ministry of Education.

She said that the bonus would be paid along with the December salary any moment from now.

According to her, the bonus is to show that the government is committed to the welfare of workers.

Williams said, “Some states are owing their workers up to four months salary but that is not the case in Lagos.

“I was discussing with some HOS and they told me they are looking for money to pay their workers salaries.

“Our workers will receive their December salary any moment from now and I am happy to say it that it will come with 15 per cent bonus.

Heavy security as Aregbesola, Osinbajo appear before tribunal

Security was beefed up around the Osun State High Court premises on Friday as Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the All Progressives Congress vice-presidential candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, appeared before the election petitions tribunal hearing matters arising from the August 9 governorship election in the state.

There were more armed security agents at the court and around the court premises on Friday than at the previous sittings. The police as usual closed the road in front of the court to commercial vehicles and motorcycles while private cars with verifiable missions around the area were allowed to move on the road.

Operatives of the Department of State for Security and Explosives Ordinance Department were present to ensure that there was no security breach.

Fayose only gave us N200,000 each for fuel, we never took bribe from him –Omirin

In this interview with the embattled Speaker of the Ekiti House of Assembly, Adewale Omirin, talks about his face-off with the governor, Ayodele Fayose

The factional speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dele Olugbemi, said your impeachment was constitutional because the House had the number of people required to impeach you, which was 10. What do you say to that?

I’m disappointed in him because it shows he is not a legislator. He doesn’t know what the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria says. The constitution says the speaker of the assembly could only be impeached by two-thirds of the members of the entire house. In a house of 26, it will take 18 members of the assembly to impeach the speaker. So it was an illegal impeachment in the first instance because they did not form a quorum. You need at least nine members to form a quorum in a house of 26 and they were just seven. So the sitting was illegal let alone the actions that were carried out.

Fresh trouble in Ekiti: 19 APC lawmakers set up new assembly

The 19 All Progressives Congress members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly on Friday formed a parallel assembly at a secret location and suspended factional Speaker Dele Olugbemi and the six lawmakers loyal to him.
The APC lawmakers accused the seven Peoples Democratic Party lawmakers of violating Section 96 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.
Those suspended apart from Olugbemi are Mrs. Abeni Olayinka , Adeyinka Adeloye, Alexander Adeojo, Mr. Olowo Ajiboye, Mr. Dele Ajibola and Mrs. Ayo Olajide-Fatunbi
Olugbemi and the six lawmakers had purportedly “impeached” the state House of Assembly Speaker, Dr. Adewale Omirin, and his deputy, Taiwo Orisalade, on November 20, 2014.
At the plenary held at a secret location in Ado-Ekiti and presided over by Omirin, the APC lawmakers also nullified all legislative actions purportedly carried out by the Olugbemi-led Assembly.

Job losses loom as Naira sells 194 to dollar

The continuous fall in the price of crude oil in the international market and the recent devaluation of the nation’s currency, the naira, are putting serious pressure on the economy, with the currency experiencing a free fall.
The naira exchanged for between 192 and 194 to the United States dollar at the parallel or street market on Friday. Earlier in the week, it sold for N188 against the dollar at the same market.
Our correspondents similarly gathered that the pound and euro sold for between N294 and N296, and N236 to N238, respectively on the streets of Lagos on Friday.
The continued fall in crude oil price had forced the Central Bank of Nigeria to use a huge chunk of the nation’s external reserves to defend the naira.

We asked for better weapons, got death sentence – Condemned soldier

 

One of the 54 soldiers sentenced to death by a Nigerian Army court martial for mutiny and conspiracy to commit mutiny has taken to the social media to express his frustration.

The soldier, who bears the name Fahat Fahat, posted on his Facebook page on Friday that all the soldiers asked for were better weapons.

“Hello ladies and gentlemen. I am soldier and I am sentence to death by the Nigeria army (sic) (be)cause we did not go to fight Boko Haram without equipment. We ask for weapon instead dem gave death sentence (sic),” he posted in a chilling message that gives a firsthand insight into the likely state of mind of the soldiers.

Life of struggle: Tales of children who survive on firewood

For the about 200 children living in Igbon, a small community in Osun State, theirs is a life of difficulty due to extreme hunger. To survive, they trek long distances in the search of firewood to sell – seeking to help their parents put food on the table. In this report, 

As early as 5:30am when she rises from the shabby mat that lies on the bare floor in her parents’ rented one-room apartment, she hurriedly dashes to the well in front of the house to fetch some water for bathing and cooking, and then she heads to the bush – miles away from her home – where she fetches firewood, just before she goes to school. Oftentimes, she gets to the school very late, worn out and flaky.

Deborah Kehinde is only 12 years old, but she, like many other children in Igbon, a small community in Ejigbo Local Government Area, Osun State, has been made to understand early that “life is not a bed of roses.”

Another 419 On The Igbo Nation By Obinna Akukwe

The construction of 2nd Niger Bridge through a Public Private Partnership involving Julius Berger -NSIA Consortium and tolling the Igbo people for 25 years thereafter is another 419 on the Biafran Igbo citizens of South East Nigeria. According to the terms of this fraudulent business, the project is a Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Transfer (DFBOT) model to cost N117 Billion naira with the Federal Government contributing a paltry N30 billion naira while the consortium will raise the rest of the funds and thereafter hold the Igbo people to ransom by collecting a 25 year toll tax for raising the rest of the funds offshore.

Full Album Of AGN president Ibinabo Fiberesima's traditional wedding

Actor Giuld Oh Nigeria President Ibinabo Fiberesima is now married to her longtime partner, Uche Egbuka.
The joyous bride had earlier shared some photos of herself earlier yesterday, December 18, 2014, hours before the traditional marriage ceremony took place in her hometown in Okrika, Rivers state.
As expected, families and friends of the couples were present to celebrate their own with them.
Ibinabo's children were also on hand to celebrate with their mother and their new dad.
Here, we have some official photos from the colourful event below.

I get contradictory advice on issues, says Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday disclosed that for every issue he had to take a decision on, multiple suggestions that were most times contradictory were given to him.

He said it was therefore important for Nigerians to continue to pray to God to give him wisdom to take right decisions that would not bring suffering to the people.

Jonathan spoke at the 2014 Christmas Carol organised by the Aso Villa Chapel, at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.