Connect with us

News

Akpabio, Abass dragged to court over plan to purchase N110B bulletproof cars

Published

on

 

Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas have been taken to court over “the unlawful plan to spend N40 billion on 465 exotic and bulletproof cars for members and principal officials, and N70 billion as ‘palliatives’ for new members.”

The suit, filed by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) comes on the heels of the statement by Akpabio that the Clerk of the National Assembly had sent “holiday allowances” into the “various bank accounts of senators”.

Public outrage followed the reckless announcement on live TV as some 137 million Nigerians face extreme poverty.

In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1606/2023 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Lagos, SERAP seeks “an order of mandamus to direct and compel Mr Akpabio and Mr Abbas to review and reduce the N40 billion budgeted to buy 465 Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and bulletproof cars for members and principal officials.”

READ  Cut 'outrageous' N228.1 billion National Assembly budget, SERAP threatens Lawan, Gbajabiamila with suit

It also seeks “an order restraining Mr Akpabio and Mr Abbas from demanding or receiving the N40 billion to buy 465 SUVs and bulletproof cars for members and principal officials until an assessment of the socio-economic impact of the spending on the 137 million poor Nigerians is carried out in the public interest.”

The rights group wants “an order of mandamus to direct and compel Mr Akpabio and Mr Abbas to repeal the Supplementary Appropriation Act 2022 to reduce the budget for the National Assembly by N110bn to reflect the current economic realities in the country.”

“Nigerians have a right to honest and faithful performance by their public officials including lawmakers, as public officials owe a fiduciary duty to the general citizenry,” SERAP argues in the suit.

“Unless the reliefs sought are granted, the lawmakers will spend the N110bn, and the travesty, and apparent conflicts of interest and self-dealing by members of the National Assembly would continue.”

READ  Wigwe: Rain, wintry weather responsible for crash — US authorities

“It a fundamental breach of their fiduciary duties for members of the National Assembly to arbitrarily increase their own budget and to use the budget as a tool to satisfy the lifestyle of lawmakers,” SERAP says.

According to SERAP, “While N70 billion ‘support allowance’ is budgeted for 306 new lawmakers, only N500 billion worth of palliatives is budgeted for 12 million poor Nigerians. N40 billion is also allocated to buy 465 SUVs and bulletproof cars for members and principal officials.”

The suit was filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Ms Blessing Ogwuche.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

News

Tribunal stops MultiChoice from increasing DStv, Gotv subscription rates

Published

on

By

 

A competition and consumer protection tribunal (CCPT) in Abuja has stopped Multi-Choice Nigeria Limited from increasing its tariffs and cost of products and services scheduled to begin on May 1.

 

A three-member tribunal led by Saratu Shafii gave the interim order following an ex-parte motion moved by Ejiro Awaritoma, counsel to Festus Onifade, the applicant.

 

The tribunal, in the ruling, restrained Multi-Choice from going ahead with the impending price increase pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed before it.

 

“The 1st defendant is hereby restrained from taking any step(s) that may negatively affect the rights of the claimant and other consumers in respect of the suit pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice,” Shafii ruled.

Shafii also directed all parties in the suit to appear before the tribunal at 10 a.m. on May 7 for the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

 

READ 

Onifade, a legal practitioner, filed the suit marked CCPT/OP/2/2024, against Multi-Choice Nigeria Ltd and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on Monday.

 

On April 24, Multichoice Nigeria announced an increase in the cost of subscriptions for its DStv and GOtv packages.

The pay-TV firm cited the rise in the cost of business operations as the rationale behind the price increase.

Continue Reading

News

How to check 2024 JAMB UTME results

Published

on

By

 

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released modalities for the checking of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results via SMS.

For candidates who took part in the 2024 UTME organised by JAMB, the examination body said the results of the exercise can be checked following some simple steps.

 

“Candidates are advised to use the phone numbers they used to register to text UTMERESULT to 55019/66019. There is no need to approach any CBT centre or cybercafé to check results,” JAMB said.

 

“The following are the responses to be expected hence, a candidate with a result will receive the message: ‘Dear ‘Candidate X’, your result is as follows (and the details will be provided).’”

READ  Publish sources of your campaign funding, SERAP tells Tinubu, Atiku, Obi, others
Continue Reading

News

JAMB releases 2024 UTME results, 8,401 score 300 and above

Published

on

By

 

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results.

 

JAMB’s Registrar Ishaq Oloyede announced the release of the UTME results in a press conference held at the board’s headquarters in Bwari on the outskirts of Abuja.

 

According to Oloyede, over 1.94 million candidates registered and sat for the examination in 118 towns and over 700 centres across the country.

 

The examination which began on Friday the 19th of April ended on Monday the 29th of April. Out of the 1,989,668 registered candidates, 80, 810 were absent. A total of 1, 904, 189 sat the UTME within the six days of the examination.

“Out of the 1,842,464 released results, a paltry 0.4% scored above 300 while 24% scored 50% (200/400) and above,” the JAMB chief said.

 

He said 1,1,402,490, which is 76 per cent of the candidates got below 200. JAMB, however, re-echoed its resolve not to publish the name of the highest-scoring candidate.

READ  God has not spoken to me about 2023 polls – Adeboye

 

“It is common knowledge that the Board has, at various fora, restated its unwillingness to publish the names of its best-performing candidates, as it considers its UTME as only a ranking examination on account of the other parameters that would constitute what would later be considered the minimum admissible score for candidates seeking admission to tertiary institutions,” Oloyede noted.

 

More Female Enrolees
A further breakdown of the number of candidates who sat for the examination showed that the females were more than males.

The JAMB registrar said 982,393 males representing 49.4 per cent enrolled for the 2024 UTME as against 1,007,275 females which is 50.6 per cent.

 

Oloyede said “it is evident that there is a significant improvement in the enrolment of females, with over one million girls registering for the examination.

 

“This is the first time in three years that the number of females will be more than that of their male counterparts.

READ  Group asks court to stop lawmakers from taking delivery of N57.6bn SUVs

 

“Out of the total registration, 3,164 were persons living with disabilities.”

 

“There is a 36.2% increase in the enrolment of PLWDs as compared to the last year,” the JAMB boss told the gathering.

 

 

Continue Reading

Trending News