Sabinews Daily Morning News Update for January 27, 2015
National News
53 Insurgents Killed as Jonathan Promises More Equipment for Troops This Week
Determined to win the war against Islamist terror group, Boko Haram, President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said the Nigerian Armed Forces would take delivery of more military hardware this week.
This is just as the continuing coordinated ground and air mop-up operations by the military in Maiduguri and Kodunga in Borno State led to the killing of more Boko Haram terrorists. Read more
5,000 IDPs Registered in Maiduguri after Capture of Monguno
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Monday said 5,000 persons displaced as a result of the capture of Monguno by Boko Haram have been registered at a newly established camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Maiduguri.
Speaking to our correspondent on phone in Maiduguri, AbdulKadir Ibrahim, the information officer of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Northeast Zonal office, said an almost completed housing estate has been donated by Borno state government to house the IDPs. Read more
Troops launch battle to retake Monguno
Following continued ground battle and air strikes, troops killed 53 more Boko Haram insurgents on Monday in Konduga and Maiduguri parts of Borno State.
The figure came from the battle between troops and the insurgents from Sunday night till the early hours of Monday. Read more
PDP attacks Soludo
Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Charles Soludo came under fire yesterday from President Goodluck Jonathan’s Campaign Group for his submission on the management of the economy under the President.
Soludo, in an article published by The Nation yesterday, rated the performance of the government low. Read more
NCC: Why We Shut Down APC’s Fundraising Platform
The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr. Eugene Juwah, on Monday said the commission banned the All Progressives Congress (APC) from using telecommunications service providers’ networks to raise monetary contributions to the campaign of its presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammed Buhari, because APC flouted the commission’s laid down rules and regulations. Read more
NACCIMA Lauds FG for Petrol Price Reduction
The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has commended the federal government for its decision to reduce the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), noting that the reduction would ease part of the burden being faced by the private sector operators on the cost of doing business in the country. Read more
Lull at Lagos Fed High Court as JUSUN resumes
Activities did not commence fully on Monday at Federal High Court in Lagos, following the suspension of the three-week- old strike by Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN.
JUSUN embarked on nationwide industrial action on January 2, to press for obedience of a court order that affirmed financial autonomy of states’ judiciary. Read more
Establishment of Safety Matches Production Business
With the current dwindling price of oil in the international market, which declined from about $112 per barrel in June, 2014 to below $50 per barrel in early January 2015,there is serious concern that there will be economic problem and hardship amongst the Nigerian populace in the year 2015.
The Federal Government, in reaction to this situation, is proposing some austerity measures to cushion the effect of the declining oil prices. Already, the value of the naira has depreciated against other major currencies. Read more
Richbon, Anambra sign $400m MoU on agric equipment, auto plant
The Federal Government’s agricultural transformation agenda recently received a fresh impetus with the signing of a $400 million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for agricultural machinery and automobile manufacturing assembly plant to be sited around the Onitsha axis of Anambra State. Read more
Economy
NDIC takes over 21 Primary Mortgage Banks
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has taken over 21 Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) that fell short of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulatory guidelines.
NDIC Managing Director, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim who disclosed this at a workshop on ‘Credit Underwriting Standards for NDIC Examiners’ held in Lagos, said available records showed that the PMBs Portfolio At Risk averaged 45.70 per cent, which is more than the prescribed five per cent threshold. Read more
Nigeria is largest cassava producer in the world —FAO
Nigerian cassava production is by far the largest in the world; a third more than production in Brazil and almost double the production of Indonesia and Thailand. Cassava production in other African countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda appears small in comparison to Nigeria’s substantial output. Read more
Oil and Gas
Falling Oil Price Will Not Reduce Nigerian Content Scope in Projects, Says Nwapa
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Ernest Nwapa, has rejected the request by some oil companies to reduce the Nigerian Content scope in oil and gas projects because of the falling price of crude oil.
Speaking at the just-concluded 19th edition of Offshore West Africa in Lagos, Nwapa said it would be inappropriate to reduce the local content scope during this period and urged the operators not to panic but to be innovative so as to surmount the challenges. Read more
Nigerian banks can’t fund oil, gas exploration
The Director of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Mr. George Osahan, has said that the banking sector is not capable of financing exploration in the oil and gas industry.
According to him, the banks have very low capital to be able to finance exploration in the country. Read more
World News
Obama Leading a High-Powered Delegation to Saudi Arabia
President Obama will take a bipartisan delegation of prominent current and former officials with him when he flies to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to offer his condolences on the death of King Abdullah, the White House announced. Read more
Castro ends silence on Cuba-US thaw
Former president Fidel Castro has broken his silence over Cuba and the United States’ move to restore full diplomatic relations, saying that although he does not trust Washington’s politics, differences between the nations should be resolved through co-operation.
Mr Castro, 88, made the comments in a statement sent to a student federation and read at the University of Havana. Read more
Parts of north-east US shut down as ‘potentially historic’ blizzard nears
New York City and other parts of the north-east US have shut down ahead of a massive blizzard which could affect more than 60 million people.
The “potentially historic” storm has led to states of emergency being declared in New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire and New York. Read more
U.S. to include offshore Atlantic in new drilling plan – WSJ
The Obama administration will propose a new five-year plan for offshore oil and gas drilling as soon as Tuesday that will include areas of the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Interior Department’s offshore drilling proposal for 2017 to 2022 is expected to include opening up federally-owned waters off Virginia and North and South Carolina, the report said citing people familiar with the plan. Read more
Power
Nigeria Signs Pact with US Firm to Build 250MW Power Plant
Again, the federal government has signed an agreement with American firm, Missouri American Energy, for the construction of a 250-megawatt (MW) power plant in Nigeria.
Signing the agreement in Abuja, Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo said the government was optimistic about the quick completion of the project due to its relatively small capacity. Read more
Abuja business owners protest high electricity tariff
Abuja business owners, under the aegis of Cooperative Business Society of Abuja (CBSA), have protested the recent hike in electricity tariff in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The group, in a letter signed by 25 heads and managers of business entities that formed the cooperative group, described the hike as a flagrant disregard to the Multi-Year Tariffs Order as contained in the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) guideline, and a setback to business growth, especially at a time the global economy is facing turbulent times. Read more
Sports
Nigerian tennis coaches train in Dubai
As part of its contribution to carrying out a holistic development of Nigerian tennis, the International Tennis Academy, (ITA) has sent four Nigerian coaches to the Clarke Francis Tennis Academy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to update their coaching knowledge.
The coaches who have been at the Clarke Francis Tennis Academy in Dubai since last year are Bolaji Olawepo, Kehinde Alade, Ambrose Ajoga and Samuel Omoile. Read more
Quadri remains unbeaten as singles event serves off
To confirm his global rating, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri remains the only player that has not tasted defeat at the ongoing International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Senior Championship holding in Cairo, Egypt.
Against the two best players in Africa – Egypt’s Omar Assar and El-Sayed Lashin – Quadri showed his quality as well as underlined the progress he has made globally in the last six months. Like a fighter, he ensured that his records are not halted as he rounded off Assar and Lashin beating them 3-1 each in the team event final to win two matches for Nigeria in the 3-2 defeat the West Africans suffered against the North Africans. Read more
Baseball association to inaugurate technical team
The Nigerian Baseball and Softball Association will on Saturday inaugurate its technical commission comprising technical officials of the body from four zones across the country.
The 31-member technical commission will be inaugurated in the boardroom of the Nigerian Olympic Committee, National Stadium, Lagos after a two-day workshop, which starts on Friday, January 30. Read more
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