Author: Drum Africa Correspondent
The Sokoto State Government, under the leadership of Governor Ahmed Aliyu, has announced the immediate implementation of the new N70,000 national minimum wage for all state civil servants, local government employees, and the Local Government Education Authority. The policy takes effect on Monday. In a statement issued by the governor’s Press Secretary, Abubakar Bawa, Aliyu described the implementation of the revised minimum wage as a demonstration of his administration’s commitment to improving workers’ welfare. He urged civil servants to reciprocate the gesture with greater dedication and professionalism. “With the commencement of the payment of this new national minimum wage, we…
Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed has asked the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike to resign from the Peoples Democratic Party over alleged anti-party activities. Bala Mohammed, who accused the FCT Minister of already serving the ruling party, All Progressives Congress’s interests, said it’s better for him to join the APC officially. He labeled Wike’s attempts to tarnish his reputation as desperate and ineffective, stating that Nigerians can see through the minister’s alleged facade. Drum Africa recalls that the Bauchi governor, on Thursday slammed Wike, calling him a “transactional politician” whose loyalty shifts with his personal…
US President Donald Trump floated a plan on Saturday to “just clean out” Gaza, and said he wants Egypt and Jordan to take Palestinians from the territory in a bid to create Middle East peace. Describing Gaza as a “demolition site” after the Israel-Hamas war, Trump said he had spoken to Jordan’s King Abdullah II about the issue and expected to talk to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday. “I’d like Egypt to take people. And I’d like Jordan to take people,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “You’re talking about probably a million and half people, and…
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has put a hold on all access gate fees at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. A statement by its management on Saturday said the move was to alleviate the traffic burden on airport road users. The suspension will take effect from January 24 2025 to February 7, 2025. It said “The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) wishes to inform the general public that, all access gates at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport are suspended to alleviate the traffic burden on our airport road users “We deeply emphasise for the inconvenience caused by…
President Bola Tinubu will depart Abuja on Sunday for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to participate in the Africa Heads of State Energy Summit on January 27-28, 2025. Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed this in a statement signed Saturday titled, ‘President Tinubu to attend Africa Heads Of State Energy Summit in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania The summit, hosted by the government of Tanzania in collaboration with the African Development Bank Group and the World Bank, aims to advance ‘‘Mission 300,’’ an initiative to provide electricity access to 300 million people in Africa by 2030, Onanuga stated.…
The Association of Resident Doctors in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has called off its warning strike after the intervention of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike. The President of the Association, Dr. George Ebong, in a statement on Friday, said the FCTA under Wike has met their demands. On Wednesday, the doctors grounded all FCTA-owned hospitals in Abuja over unpaid arrears and other demands. However, in an update on Friday, Dr Ebong revealed that its members have started receiving alerts of the 6-month salary arrears. He also said Wike has approved and ordered immediate payment of the accoutrement allowance that…
The Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has approved the suspension of the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of Edo State Flood, Erosion and Watershed Management Agency (FEWMA), Mr Ahmed Musa Momoh. A statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, stated that the suspension takes effect immediately. The statement, which did not say why Momoh was suspended, instructed him to hand over all government properties in his possession to the most senior public servant in the agency and proceed on immediate leave of absence. The statement says, “Executive Governor of Edo State, His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo has…
The Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, has declared that any member of the Lakurawa terrorists seen by Nigerian troops is as good as dead. Musa was reacting to the court order that designated Lakurawa as a terrorist organization. Drum Africa had reported that the Federal High Court in Abuja proscribed the Lakurawa sect and other similar groups in any part of Nigeria. Justice James Omotosho, in a ruling on the ex-parte filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, declared the group as a terrorist organisation. Reacting, Musa said the Nigerian…
The Senate has alleged that some retired military generals might be responsible for illegal mining activities across Nigeria, which continue to undermine the country’s efforts to diversify its economy. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, made this allegation during the budget presentation by Senator Sampson Ekong, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals Development, to the Senate Committee on Appropriation. Oshiomhole expressed frustration over the Federal Government’s inaction, urging President Bola Tinubu’s administration to address the illegal mining crisis decisively. He compared the situation to the government’s robust measures against illegal oil bunkering in…
Hundreds of illegal immigrants have been deported from the United States following a directive from President Donald Trump to crack down on illegal immigration. Trump had on his first day in office signed a series of executive orders aimed at tackling illegal immigration. He also declared the situation at the United States and Mexico border as a national emergency, just as he designated criminal cartels as terrorist organisations. The US president stopped the practice of granting automatic citizenship to children born in the US to undocumented immigrants. Trump also signed an order suspending the US refugee resettlement programme for four…