The Federal Government is targeting over 160,000 poor and vulnerable rural women to benefit from the N20,000 cash grant to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouk.
She made the disclosure at the launch of the grant on Wednesday, in Katsina, where 6,800 rural women would benefit.
“We are targeting over 160,000 poor and vulnerable rural women in Nigeria for the N20,000 grant to uplift their economic status. Our rural women with disability will also be included.
“It is my hope that the beneficiaries will use this opportunity to increase their income; enhance their food security and contribute toward improving their families. The N20,000 will go a long way in supporting any serious woman to start a business. What is most important is how judiciously you utilise the money.”
Further, the minister said that over N9.5 billion was received by Katsina State under the Conditional Cash Transfer programme, from inception of this administration to date. She stated that the grants had impacted on the lives of over 142,474 vulnerable households in the state; as 12 local governments were currently benefitting from the programme. The minister listed the benefitting local governments to include, Bakori, Batagarawa, Baure, Bindawa and Dandume.
Others are Ingawa, Kaita, Kankara, Mani, Musawa, Rimi and Danmusa.
In addition, she revealed that the Federal Government, in partnership with the World Bank, had designed a Safety Net programme; adding that this included cash transfer, as well as a COVID-19 rapid response register.
“The President has approved one million beneficiaries in the country to be given another N5,000 for the next six months; to cushion the effects of COVID-19. This time around, we are going to target the urban poor and the artisans who lost their small businesses as a result of the pandemic.’’
On Wednesday, The US House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump, and sent its impeachment resolution to the Senate to convict him.
The resolution holds Mr Trump responsible for the Jan 6 mob attack on the Capitol building; that led to the death of at least five people and desecrated the temple of American democracy.
The move also makes him the first US president to be impeached twice.
“President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system; interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government,” the impeachment resolution said.
“He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.”
“We know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country. He must go. He is a clear; and present danger to the nation,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while opening the debate.
“Since the presidential election in November, an election that the president lost, he has repeatedly lied about the outcome. Sowed self-serving doubts about democracy; and unconstitutionally sought to influence state officials to repeal reality,” she added.
Remembering the Jan 6 mob attack, Speaker Pelosi said: “And then came that day of fire we all experienced. The president must be impeached; and I believe the president must be convicted by the Senate.”
Impeaching and convicting the president, she said, would be a constitutional remedy that “will ensure; that the republic will be safe from this man who is so resolutely determined to tear down the things that we hold dear and that hold us together.”
Congressman Dan Newhouse from the state of Washington was the first Republican to say he would vote for impeachment.
“Last week, there was a domestic threat at the door of the Capitol, and he did nothing to stop it. That’s why with a heavy heart and clear resolve; I will vote ‘yes’ on these articles of impeachment,” he said.
The announcement earned a thunderous applause from the Democrats.
Another Republican from the same state, Jaime Beutler; said she too would vote for impeachment even though she feared she would be targeted by Trump supporters for doing so.
“My vote to impeach a sitting president is not a fear-based decision. I am not choosing a side.
I am choosing truth. It’s the only way to defeat fear,” she said.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who leads the Republicans in the House, acknowledged that President Trump; was “not free of fault” as “he failed to take action” when needed. He noted that Mr Trump’s “rhetoric that Joe Biden is not the elected president” was not helpful either.
But he said he was voting against impeachment because it would further divide the nation; and the trial would not even begin before Mr Biden takes oath on Jan 20.
As the debate began, the US media reported that more than a dozen Republicans in the House and Senate might support the impeachment article.
‘High crimes’
The impeachment article blames President Trump for “engaging in high crimes; and misdemeanours by inciting violence against the Government of the United States”. To support the argument; the article cites Trump’s false claims of election fraud in the months leading up to the Jan 6 attack and a phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, urging him to “find” votes to overturn the results there.
The impeachment article notes that during an address to supporters on Wednesday, Trump “willfully made statements; [that] encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — lawless action at the Capitol, such as: ‘If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a county anymore’.”
On Tuesday night, the House voted 223 to 205, asking Vice President Pence to invoke section four of the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump.
Pence, however, has refused to do so.
Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the chairperson of the House Republican Conference, joined those demanding impeachment.
“There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office; and his oath to the constitution,” she said.
Ms Cheney holds the third-highest position in the House Republican leadership; and as the daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney she is admired by the conservatives as well.
Also on Tuesday, six House Republicans introduced a resolution to censure President Trump over his role in stoking last week’s violent riots; arguing that this was the best move as the impeachment would never get enough votes in the Senate to pass.
But after Mr Pence’s announcement that he was not going to remove Mr Trump, political observers in Washington say; that it would be difficult to oust the president before Jan 20. They point out that the Senate is scheduled to meet on Jan 19; and Democrats do not have enough votes in the Senate to call an early session.
President-elect Biden too has said that his first preference was to ensure a peaceful transition on Jan 20; but he would not interfere in congressional proceedings.
Observers see these as preventive measures, aimed at stopping Donald Trump from making another irrational move like the crowd attack on Congress.
In a letter to House Speaker Pelosi on Tuesday, Mr Pence wrote: “I do not believe that such a course of action (removing the president); is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution.”
He said the 25th amendment was “not a means of punishment or usurpation”, and that invoking it would “set a terrible precedent”.
Pence, who has been praised by both Republicans and Democrats for refusing to follow his boss’s advice to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election; assured the nation that the Donald Trump administration was committed to ensuring a smooth transition in its final days and that “now is the time to heal”.
Pence has promised to attend Mr Biden’s inauguration on Jan 20 as well, unlike Donald Trump who has opted out.
Australian singer, Sai comes through with a brand new jam titled “Hey Boy” featuring Burna boy.
Determined to break into the ranks as one of the prominent artists in the world, she teamed up with Nigeria’s highly gifted music artist Burna boy, on a brand new mind-blowing song tagged Hey Boy (Remix).
Check out this amazing song and drop your view via our comment box.
Nigerian digital strategist identified as Dele Bandele, who was declared missing by his friends and family on Tuesday, January 12, has been found dead.
The young man, Dele Bandele, an advertising agent; was last seen at Omole Phase 2 and his last location was the 3rd Mainland Bridge.
Sadly, his body has been found.
Hours before his disappearance, Bandele left an apparent suicide note on his Instagram page in which he detailed his struggles with depression.
Bandele stated that he had battled with depression for seven years and was about to go find peace. He asked for forgiveness from anyone whom he might have offended.
He asked for everyone to pray for him to find rest and peace.
Read his post below;
The issue of suicide is fast becoming a trend in Nigeria among youths.
There have been reports of many young people turning to suicide as an end to depression or other ills.
In a related development, a student of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU has reportedly taken his own life. The OAU student identified as Oboh Emmanuel took his own life due to his poor academic performance. According to information shared by a friend, Thompson on Facebook, the OAU student died as a result of academic depression.Thompson said Oboh drank otapiapia (local rat poison) which led to his death. He wrote: “Emmanuel took his life out of depression (Academics). I use to envy dis (sic) young man in Secondary schools. Rest in Peace, Oboh Emmanuel.”
The governor disclosed this at an engagement with Plateau State Stakeholders on Second Wave of Covid-19 and security issues which was held at the Victoria Gowon Hall, New Government House, Little Rayfield in Jos, Plateau State.
However, Lalong has disclosed that he is really worried as many citizens no longer pay attention to Covid-19 Protocols.
According to the Governor, the cases of Corona Virus has been on the increase on the state as both the highly placed citizens and low are dying in the state and nationwide, however, citizens also behave carelessly to observing the Covid-19 Protocols.
He said:
“As you may be aware, we are experiencing the second wave of the corona virus pandemic where there is a resurgence of cases across the nation including here on the Plateau.”
The Governor also disclosed that the state is seeing results of Covid-19 that it has never seen before.
“As a result of this, we are recording more daily cases in the State than previously. Sadly, we are also recording increasing number of deaths that is very worrisome. In the past weeks, we have seen some prominent persons in Plateau State and indeed across Nigeria die from COVID-19,” He said.
He further said;
“Mostly we hear of the big names but do not get to hear of the others involving people that are less prominent. This should give us serious concern because it means that the situation is bigger than what we seem to know.
Later on, I will allow the Commissioner of Health and representatives of the team of medical practitioners at the theater of COVID-19 response in JUTH and other treatment centers to share with us their experiences at the treatment centers and bring us the reality.
The most worrisome point here is that despite this situation, most citizens appear to be careless and reluctant to observe the COVID-19 protocols. In fact, many have abandoned and refused to observe simple protocols of wearing face masks, maintaining social distance and washing hands regularly.
This worries me a lot because this recklessness is further exposing more people to the virus and then increasing the casualty figures. While we have no intention of imposing another lockdown to avoid further damage to the economy, some members of the public are not helping us.”
Plateau State Police Command, on Monday confirmed the arrest of one Abdulhamid Sale who was accused of raping seven teenagers in Bukuru community of Jos South LGA of Plateau State.
The confirmation was made by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Ubah Ogaba in Jos, the State Capital.
Ogaba said, “The Command is aware of the matter. The suspect was arrested.
“As I speak, he has been transferred to the SCID for discrete investigation, please,” he explained.
Meanwhile, a youth leader in the area where the incident occurred, Aliyu Hassan EL-Yakubu had earlier informed newsmen about the incident, saying the suspect was arrested last weekend and handed over to the Bukuru ‘B’ Division Police Station.
Narrating the incident, El-Yakub said, “the arrest of the suspect came after a report by a mother to one of the victims to the vigilante group in the area that she saw her daughter with a phone and felt that something was wrong. He called for an investigation into the matter.
According to him, “After a thorough investigation, we found out that the phone was given to the girl by the said Abdulhamid Sale, and further checks revealed that he raped seven girls, mostly 13 years old.
“They all claimed that he slept with them and gave them money”, he explained.
“We arrested him and handed him over to Bukuru ‘B’ Divisional Police Station and later taken to the state police headquarters, Jos.”
Expressing his dismay over the incident, the youth leader called on parents to put eyes on their kids, saying there are bad eggs in the society who would always be there to spoil teenagers for their surreptitious objectives
Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), an internal military task force in Plateau State, has denied the report linking it to the death of two youths in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The youths identified as Jerry Bitrus, 28, and Joseph Davou, 32, respectively, were reportedly killed last Sunday, by gunmen in the area.
A media report had quoted locals accusing personnel of OPSH of complicity in the act which has drawn condemnations from citizens and politicians alike in the state.
But reacting to the allegation, the military outfit insisted that it has nothing to do with the death of the youths, explaining that rather, its personnel on patrol were drafted to the area on receipt of a distress call about the incident.
To this end, it has advised the general public to disregard the allegation which it described as baseless in its entirety.
The OPSH, while exonerating itself of the development, accused some mischievous persons from the area of trying to discredit the military outfit.
In the response contained in a statement, titled:”Re:Condemnations Trail Killing of Two Youths in Riyom By Gunmen “,signed by its Media Officer, Major Ibrahim Shittu, the OPSH maintained that:”These concocted lies were intended by the authors to set the public, especially citizens of the state against OPSH which has worked assiduously with other stakeholders to ensure peace and security in the state especially during the Yuletide season despite several threats of attacks.
The statement read in full:”The attention of the Operation SAFE HAVEN (OPSH) has been drawn to a report on news medium, alleging killing of two youths by gunmen in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.
“The report which claimed that more facts have emerged on how the gunmen killed the two young men on Sunday around 7.09pm, quoted some locals accusing men of Operation Safe Haven of been responsible for the attack and killing of the victims, identified as Jerry Bitrus, 28, and Joseph Davou, 32, respectively.
“Having gone through this report and allegations made, we wish to dissociate our men from this act in its entirety. This allegation is not only false, mischievous and baseless but also aimed at discrediting the operation.
“These concocted lies were intended by the authors to set the public, especially citizens of the state against OPSH which has worked with other stakeholders to ensure peace and security in the state.
“To set the records straight, we wish to state that on Sunday,January 10,2021, the Commander Sector 6 of Riyom General Area was called by the youth leader of Ghoss to inform him that two (2) persons were shot by unknown gunmen. Following the information, he swiftly mobilized his troops in conjunction with the Police Riyom Division to the scene. On their arrival, they met the two victims who were incapacitated and bleeding profusely. A close examination by the team showed that one was already dead while the other one was evacuated to K Vom Christian Hospital in company of some youths; unfortunately, he later gave up the ghost.
It is pertinent to state that the Riyom Police Division in the area were duly informed of the development and they recovered the corpses of the victims.
“The Member of the Plateau State House of Assembly representing Riyom Constituency, Hon Timothy Datong, having heard of the development, called the Commander Sector 6 where the incident happened and he was briefed accordingly.
“It is however sad that some mischievous persons are accusing personnel of OPSH of the killings.
” You will recall that based on the threats to that general area during the Yuletide season, OPSH increased its deployment which served as deterrence to those planning to attack the area.
” Troops have also continued to maintain security even after the New Year celebrations. This was appreciated by community leaders and stakeholders. One wonders why same troops will kill anyone who is not a threat to the security of law abiding citizens.
“We wish to say that these baseless allegations will not deter the troops from carrying out their duties. They will continue to be diligent and professional while carrying out their assignments.
“OPSH will continue to operate professionally within its mandate in Plateau State and across its Joint Operational Area.
“Members of the general public are therefore, advised to discountenance the false and baseless allegations in its entirety.”
Garba in a tweet on Monday 11th January, 2021 said the purpose of taking the Twitter founder to court had been achieved hence the withdrawal of the lawsuit.
Adamu Garba, a former presidential aspirant has withdrawn the lawsuit filed against Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey during the #EndSARS protests in the country.
Garba had filed the suit against Dorsey before a Federal High Court in Abuja over his alleged sponsorship of the recent #EndSARS protests in parts of the country.
The motion on notice was brought pursuant to order II Rules 1, 2, 3 of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009 and Sections 34(1), 35(1) and 41(1) and 43 of the 1999 Constitution.
But Garba in a tweet on Monday said the purpose of taking the Twitter founder to court had been achieved.
Adamu Garba, a businessman, had, on October 20, through his lawyer, Abbas Ajiya, filed the suit, praying the court to direct Dorsey to stop the operation of Twitter International Company in any part of Nigeria.
Garba, who is the CEO of IPI Group Limited, said the suit was filed to enforce his fundamental rights pursuant to Provisions of Order II Rules 1, 2, and 3 of the Fundamental Rights Rules 2009, Sections 34(1), 35(1), 41(1), 43 and 46(1) and 2 of the 1999 Constitution and Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 12(1) of the African Charter on Human and People’s’ Rights Act CAP. A9, LFN 2004.
Also joined as respondents are Attorney-General of the Federation, National Security Adviser, Inspector-General of Police, Director General of Department of State Service, the Commandant General, Nigeria Security, and Civil Defense Corps; Nigeria Communication Commission, Twitter International Company, and the #ENDSARS Protesters.
The matter, which came up on November 25 before Justice Giwa-Ogunbanjo, was adjourned until April 22, 2021, for the continuation of the hearing.
He tweeted, “I think the action has served its purpose. I’ve written to our lawyers to withdraw the case from court. I also tendered my sincere apologies to Nigerians who are pained by my #EndSARS actions. Nigeria shall rise.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Sunday, January 10, stated that the amendment of the Electoral Act without due consultation and commitment from stakeholders is no guarantee for the conduct of free and fair elections.
This was contained in a statement by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
Yakubu further noted that the Constitution and the Electoral Act can only be effective through the action and inaction of the critical stakeholders in the electoral process.
He made this disclosure via a statement issued on his behalf by the INEC National Commissioner in charge of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye.
This was at a three-day retreat of the Joint Technical Committee on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2020.
The INEC Chairman said that other electoral actors, including; security agencies, the media and civil society organisations, need to effectively play their roles to enhance electoral processes.
According to the INEC boss, Nigeria’s democracy and electoral processes will become more robust if critical stakeholders in the process resolve to restore sovereignty to the people as the true determinant of the outcome.
Yakubu said; “It must be borne in mind that amending the electoral legal framework will not automatically guarantee or lead to an improvement in the management and conduct of elections.
“The Constitution and the Electoral Act can only be effective through the action and inaction of the critical stakeholders in the electoral process.
“The Constitution and Electoral Act can enhance the electoral process if the electoral management body, political parties and the electoral actors, the security agencies, the media, and civil society organisations, effectively play their roles.
“Nigeria’s democracy and electoral processes will become more robust if critical stakeholders in the process resolve to restore sovereignty to the people as the true determinant of the outcome.
“This renewed drive is timely and must be sustained and approached with a sense of history and urgency.
“The reform must be impactful and should be concluded by the first quarter of 2021,’’ he added.
