advertise with us
Home Blog Page 383

EFCC Operatives barricade Okorocha’s Abuja residence

By
Editor
-
0

…as Okorocha laments, says he’s being held hostage

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday stormed the residence of former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha.

The anti-graft agency team stormed the residence of the former governor in the Maitama area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to arrest him.

In a video obtained by Nigerian Newssphere, the EFCC operatives were seen within the premises of the former governor.

They insisted that Okorocha, who is seeking to contest the presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), should submit himself for arrest or honour a long-standing invitation to their office.

On arrival at the residence, the media discovered that the EFCC operatives had barricaded the residence of the presidential aspirant.

According to them, none of the members of Okorocha’s family would be allowed to leave the compound until they produce the former governor.

The operatives, who were later seen screening people going out and coming into the premises, also warned the mobile policemen attached to Okorocha to withdraw from the residence

Reacting to the attempt to arrest him, the former governor journalists that he was being held hostage by the EFCC operatives.

He condemned the action of the team that has come to arrest him and vowed to remain indoors until he sees a warrant of arrest.

“I am (being) held hostage here, I would say,” Okorocha lamented. “I have enquired if they have an arrest warrant or not and I am supposed to be getting ready for screening.

“I don’t know what is really happening; it is unfortunate that this is happening here. I will be here until I know what they want, I want to see a warrant of arrest or court order.”

On January 31, the EFCC slammed Okorocha, who presently represents Imo West senatorial district, with a fresh set of corruption charges to the tune of N2.9 billion.

The anti-graft agency had filed the charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja about the same time the lawmaker declared his intention to run for the office of president in 2023.

He was accused of conspiring with others, including a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and five companies to steal from public coffers.

But the former governor has since denied any wrongdoing, stressing that it was not the first time he would be facing such action from the agency which he said was politically motivated.

According to him, the anti-graft agency has continued to disobey court orders relating to the alleged abuse of his fundamental human rights.

Ikorocha, however, advised the EFCC not to allow itself to be a tool for politicians but investigate allegations and get real facts before taking action.

APC Primaries: Anxiety in ruling party as NWC readjusts elections timetable again

By
Editor
-
0

Activities in the ruling party has raised more anxiety as the All  Progressives Congress (APC) has further issued a revised timetable of activities for its governorship, State House of Assembly, Senate and House of Representatives primary elections for third consecutive time in 2-weeks.

Recall that Nigerian Newssphere had reported speculations and fear over the All Progressives Party (APC) election mode to determine who will flag the party’s emblem in the forthcoming 2023 elections had become rife and heated, the party, thus, announced the postponement of its Presidential screening exercise, which was initially scheduled to hold today, indefinitely.

But in early hours of yesterday, the party revealed a new date for the primary, only to further revise the timetable hours later.

Although the party’s national publicity secretary, Barr. Felix Morka, in a statement on Monday night, said the presidential primaries earlier slated for May 29/30 remained unchanged, but he disclosed that the State House of Assembly for local government delegates would hold on the same date.

The Senate will be held on Friday, 27th of May, while the House of Representatives will be on Saturday, 28th of May, 2022.

The statement read, “The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, 23rd of May, 2022, approved a revised Timetable/Schedule of Activities for the Governorship, State House of Assembly, Senate and House of Representatives Primary Elections as follows:
“Thursday, 26th of May, 2022
Governorship – (State Delegates)
State House of Assembly – (LGA Delegates)
“Friday, 27th of May, 2022
Senate – (LGA Delegates)
“Saturday, 28th of May, 2022
House of Representatives – (LGA Delegates)
“Please note that the Special Convention for the Presidential Primary will be held as scheduled on Sunday, 29th – Monday, 30th of May, 2022.”

The news for further adjustments came as a shock to Senate and House of Representatives aspirants who had been spending time and resources on party members after the party had earlier jettisoned the idea of delegates’ election.

NCC partners Attorney General Alliance Africa to reduce cyber crimes

By
Editor
-
0
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is collaborating with the Attorney General Alliance Africa (AGA Africa) to create a standardised cyber insurance policy on Internet governance to cut down on cyber crimes in the country.
NCC Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Prof Umar Danbatta disclosed this at the two-day Symposium on Internet Governance and Safeguarding the Cyberspace held in Abuja on Monday.
Danbatta said the Internet with all its opportunities has created a complex and dynamic cyberspace. He said there was therefore the need to prevent malicious actors and to reinforce protective facilities curb threats to cybersecurity.
He expressed hopes that at the end, the Symposium would deliver how robust cybersecurity strategies, policies and laws
can strengthen security and operational resilience for government and for businesses in the struggle for digital transformation in the country.
According to him, “The common adoption and use of internet protocols has unified the world of Information and Communications like never before as we watched millions of digital devices and massive amounts of data, software applications, and electronic services become compatible and interoperable. By this development, the Internet has created a new environment, a complex and dynamic cyberspace. As we learn to live our lives in this cyberspace, there is the concomitant need to avert malicious actors and tobolster defensive capabilities that ward off threats to cybersecurity.
“This calls for holistic engagement of all stakeholders including government and regulators, law enforcement agents and advocacy groups, the private sector and individual members of the public.Any country looking for growth and a competitive edge must use digital technologies, in multiple areas to drive efficiency. But the key to success is having a strategic approach. Risk management, security and good project management of any investment in digitalization/digital transformation must be properly considered if the benefits are to be realized.
Speaking further, the NCC boss said “Effective digitalization isn’t just about changing systems. We must change the culture and working habits of all relevant personnel. They must understand that these new processes bring different ways of working, new training requirements, and crucially, new risks.
“Distinguished participants, colleagues, resource persons here present, Nigeria awaits the outcome of this symposium especially towards interrogating our cybersecurity and internet governance strategy. We desire to fortify security and operational resilience for government and for businesses as they move forward in this digital transformation. Quite simply, we believe that robust cybersecurity strategies, policies and laws will make Nigeria more resilient and we rely on you to formulate the “how”.
Also speaking, AGA Chief Executive Officer (CEO),  David Blake outlined the guidelines needed to accelerate institutional capacity to combat cybercrime, as well as providing effective justice delivery.
Blake, who was represented by Anthony Idigbe, said it was expected that the outcome of the two- day workshop will provide effective strategies to curb transnational crime using necessary legal instruments.
“I wish to say that discussions, training and conversations on cyber security can never be too much. Technology is now at the center of operations in commerce, trade, healthcare, transport, Communications and life itself. AGA Africa can testify to it. When the lockdown occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, AGA quickly leveraged and used Cyberspace and the internet to continue to provide services. All its programs became virtual. We are happy that today, we are having this particular training in person. Cyber insecurity is no respecter of borders. It is something that goes across borders and therefore, the need for collaboration such as the one we are having today. So we need to continue to examine and re-examine the role of internet governance against the cyber security challenges in creating a safe cyberspace”, he stated.

Progress Chukwuyem beats Zadok to win Nigerian Idol Season 7

By
Editor
-
0

…wins N100m worth grand prize

…Progress, Zadok perform ‘I got my answer’ song written by D’banj

21-year-old Progress Chukwuyem has emerged winner of Nigerian Idol Season 7.

The Delta-state born singer, songwriter, performer and music minister beat his strongest rival, Zadok Aghalengbe, to the top prize.

Esther Temiwunmi known as Banty, was last week eliminated from the show, leaving Zadok and Progress to battle for the grand prize.

After weeks of watching the top 12 contestants sing their hearts out on the live shows to earn fan votes, the show ended on Sunday night with Progress earning the title of ‘Nigerian Idol’.

Among other things, Progress clinched the cash prize of N30 million, a new SUV, a Bigi branded refrigerator and a year’s supply of Bigi drinks.

He will also get to record an EP and a music video, a weekend getaway from TravelBeta, and a DStv Explora fully installed with a 12 months premium subscription.

The evening kicked off with a joint performance from the host, judges, and top 12 Nigerian idols.

Zadok performed Whitney Houston’s hit song, ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody‘, which sent the audience screaming for more. This was followed by D’Banj’s performance, a medley of some of his biggest hits like “I’m on top of the world” and “Emergency”.

Progress’ electrifying delivery of Ariana Grande’s ‘Bang Bang’ was next, followed by Simi, who performed her hit single “Dudukuke”.

The evicted 10 of the top 12 again mounted the stage with the Season 6 winner, Kingdom Krose, to perform his new song ‘Father’s Got It All’.

Pheelz performed his viral song, ‘Finesse’.

The duo of Progress and Zadok again mounted the stage to perform a song originally written by D’Banj.

Shortly before the performance, D’banj told the audience that he wrote the song at a trying time in his life, and he wanted the top two Idols to tap into the song title ‘The song is titled ‘I Got My Answer’.

Tussle: APC postpones presidential screening exercise indefinitely

By
Editor
-
0

Following speculations, fear over the All Progressives Party (APC) election mode to determine one out of twenty-five presidential aspirants who will flag the party’s emblem in the forthcoming 2023 elections have become heated, the party has announced the postponement of its Presidential screening exercise, which was initially scheduled to hold today, indefinitely.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Barr. Felix Morka, announced the postponement in a statement issued yesterday.

Although neither a new date was announced nor reasons for the postponement was explained, Nigerian NewsDirect reports that this was the second time that the APC National Working Committee would shift the date of the presidential screening after it failed to hold last weekend.

Morka, in the statement yesterday, announced that a new date for the screening exercise would be communicated to the public with no specific date.

The Statement read, “The Screening Exercise for Presidential Aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) earlier scheduled to be held on Monday, May 23rd, 2022, is hereby postponed.

“A new date for the exercise will be announced shortly. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted.”

Nigerian Newssphere also reports that the aspirants expected to participate in the presidential screening exercise include the Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu, ex-Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Niger Delta Development, Sen. Godswill Akpabio.

Others are Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, his Ebonyi State counterpart, Gov. Dave Umahi, Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; ex-Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba and former Senate President, Sen. Ken Nnamani.

Similarly, Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, his Jigawa State counterpart, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, ex-Zamfara State governor, Sen. Ahmed Yerima, former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, former Imo State Governor, Sen. Rochas Okorocha and former Ogun State Governor, Sen. Ibikunle Amosu are also not left out.

Borno’s delegates will vote for Buhari’s choice, their convictions — Zulum

The Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will play a role in who flies the party’s flag in the 2023 presidential election.

The Governor said this in Maiduguri while hosting the campaign team of Rotimi Ameachi in company of his campaign’s Director General, Ali Ndume, and members of the campaign team during a meeting with delegates and members of the APC in Borno State.

Zulum explained that the Delegates in the State will vote for a credible candidate based on the choice of the president and their convictions.

He said, “Borno State delegates will vote based on their conscience. But again, our leader, General Muhammadu Buhari, is very important in this political equation. We are still waiting for him to tell us what to do and we will follow. His advice is very important, so we have to wait for his advice.

“Nigerians should pray for a good candidate to emerge irrespective of tribe, region or ethnic background but a candidate that will ensure the APC forms the central government come 2023.”

APC Professionals meet Omisore, to organise retreat for party’s aspirants

Meanwhile, the APC Professionals Forum met with the Party’s National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore in Abuja, declaring the Forum’s readiness to organise retreat and symposia for the aspirants in the party.

A delegation led by the acting Chairman of its Board of Trustees, Dr. Nkem Okeke which met with the National Secretary of the party, Senator Iyiola Omisore, was emphatic that the party has an untapped pool of professionals that could easily add value to the party’s operations at all levels.

While expressing the Forum’s quest for professionals and technocrats in the party to be given more roles to the leadership of the party, he said, “The narrative has to change to include this untapped pool of party members who have shown more than a passing interest in politics and governance in the country.

“We have quite a number, not only in our midst but also within the rank and file, that are prepared for responsibilities, so we crave the indulgence of the National Working Committee (NWC) to also look in the direction of professionals who are registered APC members.

“As a registered think-tank in the party, it falls within our mandate to contribute our quota to strengthen APC. We have therefore been holding consultations with registered professional bodies in order to woo interested professionals into the party as well as to synergise with them in order to enhance professionalism in governance.

“And while the party is in the midst of electing candidates that will fly our flag in the various elections in 2023, we are hoping to organize conferences, retreats and symposia in partnership with the new APC leadership as part of preparations for the next general elections.”

Welcoming the idea behind the formation of the Forum, Senator Omisore promised to support its initiatives.

He said, “We are prepared to work with you and have no problem including professionals in the activities of the party ahead of the next election.”

FG introduces new GSM tax to fund NHIS

By
Editor
-
0
The Federal Government has introduced new tax on phone calls in Nigeria to fund free healthcare for the Vulnerable Group in Nigeria.
Nigerian Newssphere learnt in a section contained in the National Health Insurance Authority Bill 2021 signed by the President Muhammadu Buhari recently.
This is despite recent calls by telecommunication companies to increase the price of their services as a result of an unfavourable operating climate.
The act includes a provision under Section 26 subsection 1c which states that the source of money for the Vulnerable Group Fund includes telecommunications tax, not less than one kobo per second of GSM calls.
The Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Taiwo Oyedele, said, “S.26 of this new law imposes a telecommunications tax of not less than 1kobo per second on GSM calls. With call rates at about 11kobo per second, this translates to a 9 per cent tax on GSM calls.
“The tax is one of the sources of money to the Vulnerable Group Fund to subsidise the provision of healthcare to the group defined to include children under five, pregnant women, the aged, physically and mentally challenged, and the indigent as may be defined from time to time.”
According to the act, the Vulnerable Group Fund is money budgeted to pay for healthcare services for vulnerable Nigerians who cannot pay for health insurance in a bid to subsidise the cost of provision of health care services to vulnerable people in the country.
For funding, the act provides several options such as basic health care provision fund to the authority; health insurance levy; telecommunications tax, not less than one kobo per second of GSM calls; money that may be allocated to the Vulnerable Group Fund by the Government; motley that accrues to the Vulnerable Group Fund from investments made by the Council: and grants, donations, gifts, and any other voluntary contributions made to the Vulnerable Group Fund.
According to the new act, every resident in Nigeria is expected to obtain health insurance.
Recently, telecom companies wrote to the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Communications Commission, on the conditions of the industry.
Recall that telecoms operators under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria proposed a 40 per cent increase in the cost of calls, SMS, and data as a result of the rising cost of operating in the nation. However, Nigerian Communications in reaction to the call by Moblile Network Operators on price increase, expressedd that ‘no price increase will be implemented by the MNOs without empirical study’.

ManCity wins 2021/2022 English Premier League

By
Editor
-
0
Continue

NCC advises on automatic updates of Antiviruses to avoid vulnerabilities

By
Editor
-
0

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has advised telecom consumers and other Information and Communications Technology (ICT) end users on the need to always enable automatic update features for AVAST and AVG antiviruses to prevent potential cyber vulnerabilities.

This was contained in a new advisory released by the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), the cybersecurity centre for the telecom sector established by the Commission, in continuation of its resolve to always keep Nigerians safe in the cyber space.

The advisory noted that cyber vulnerability in AVAST and AVG Antiviruses can lead to attacks on millions of devices with high impact in terms of consequences to the ICT user. The threat types as a result of this vulnerability are Bypass Authentication, Remote Code Execution and Unauthorised Access while consequences range from Privilege Escalation, Bypass Security Products, Overwrite System Components and corrupting the Operating System.

According to CSIRT, researchers at SentinelOne security firm have discovered two potentially damaging vulnerabilities in AVAST and AVG antivirus products that allow attackers to escalate privileges enabling them to disable security products, overwrite system components, corrupt the operating system, or perform malicious operations unimpeded.

“Two vulnerabilities identified as CVE-2022-26522 and CVE-2022-26523 targeted the “Anti Rootkit” driver of Avast antivirus (also used by AVG) allowing an attacker with limited privileges on the targeted system to execute code in system mode (kernel mode) and take complete control of the device. Moreover, the vulnerabilities allow complete take-over of a device, even without privileges, due to the ability to execute code in kernel mode,” the CSIRT said in the advisory.

However, the cybersecurity centre has offered a tripartite measures that should be taken by Internet/ICT users to prevent being vulnerable to the cyber threats. They include enabling automatic update feature for AVAST and AVG antiviruses, upgrading AVAST and AVG antiviruses to version 22.1.2504, as well as carrying out regular patch management.

Angry youths set houses, shops ablaze over alleged blasphemy in Bauchi state

By
Editor
-
0

Just few weeks after a female student Deborah Samuel killing in Sokoto, mob in Warji Local Government Area of Bauchi State have set houses and shops ablaze, injuring people over what they say is a blasphemous message.

Spokesperson of the Bauchi Police Command, SP Ahmed Mohammed Wakil, said in a statement on Saturday that the youths “set six houses and seven shops ablaze, while some scores of persons were injured as a result of a blasphemous message posted on social media”.

According to him, the message was posted by one Rhoda Jatau a 40-year-old staff of the Medical Department of Warji Local Government.
In reaction to the violence which he said happened at about 5:45 pm on Friday,

Mohammed said, “The Police have since deployed all Tactical Teams, Mobile Police Force and Rapid Response Squad (RRS) whose joint efforts brought the situation under control.
“The area is calm for now, while visibility Patrols are ongoing to keep the peace.”

The incident has led to tension in the state, but the police urged people to be calm.

The Police Commissioner in the state appealed to the general public to be calm and go about their lawful business without fear of intimidation as normalcy has been restored to the affected area.

“The Command would like to use this medium to reiterate the need for parents and guardians to maintain strict vigilance over the activities of their wards, particularly youths,” Mohammed said.

“The Commissioner of Police also urged Religious Leaders, Community Leaders, and Elders generally to always speak to youths to desist from anything that could temper with the security of their areas.”

NITDA launches first free Fabrication Laboratory for tech innovation

By
Editor
-
0

..Says equipment open for free to Nigerians

In efforts to facilitate implementation of National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), the federal government through National Information Technology Development Agency(NITDA) on Friday launched the first Fabrication Laboratory(FABLAB 1.0) in Nigeria.

This is coming as NITDA disclosed that equipment can be freely accessed by all Nigerians who want to innovate.

The FabLab is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment that include Printed Circuit Board (PCB) production equipment, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) mahcines, 3D printers, servers, GPUs, etc.

While commissioning the FABLAB 1.0 on Friday in Abuja, The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi, said the FABLAB was part of the agency’s effort to make Nigeria an innovation hub.

Abdullahi added that the FABLAB would encourage all digital innovators and makers to drive their ideas from inception to impact.

“The FABLAB maintains an open access policy to allow the FabLab to serve as a digital innovation accelerator for all innovators and makers.

“It allows open-production and public access to aid innovation and entrepreneurship activities,” he said.

Abdullahi revealed that the centre is open for free to all Nigerians who desire to innovate, create ideas beneficial to Nigeria’s digital economy.

He added that the center engages in hands-on digital fabrication skills training and capacity building for both in-house staff and external participants in line with the it’s policies.

According to him, to further boost digital innovation awareness among Nigerian youths, visitation and tour of the lab facility by schools, universities, and research centers is encouraged.

Nigerian Newssphere gathered that digital fabrication laboratory (FABLAB) is the engine of implementation and serves all the entities within an ecosystem.

The Project is managed by the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics(NCAIR), a subsidiary of NITDA.

1...382383384...392Page 383 of 392

ABOUT US

Your trusted source for breaking news, politics, business, entertainment, sports, technology, and trending stories from Nigeria and around the world.

FOLLOW US

© Nigerian News Sphere