NEWS
Nasarawa Gov’t Ready to Pay N70,000 Minimum Wage – Official
Nasarawa Government says that it is ready to pay the new N70,000 minimum wage to civil servants in the state.Mr Peter Ahemba, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Gov. Abdullahi Sule on Public Affairs, state this on Tuesday in Lafia when visited the office of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Nasarawa State.
He said that the payment of the new minimum wage to civil servants would not only improve on their welfare but would also boost their productivity. “The issue of N70,000 minimum wage is no longer news. President Ahmed Bola Tinubu had approved the payment of the said amount to workers.“Gov. Abdullahi Sule administration is also ready to pay the N70,000 to civil servants in the state.“The governor had made it clear that he is willing to pay the new minimum wage to civil servants in the state,” he said.On the nationwide protest, the governor’s aide appealed to the people to end the protest and toe the path of dialogues peace giving the fact that some of their grievances were already being addressed by the government.“The constitution has provided for citizens to exercise their feelings through peaceful protests. However, government will not allow any form of criminality – looting of property in the guise of protest,” he said.Ahemba noted that there was no massive protest in Nasarawa State as a result of Gov. Sule’s laudable policies and programmes geared towards addressing the hardship being faced by the people of the state.He emphasised that dialogue remained the best means of resolving grievances not protest.The SSA also said that Sule’s administration would continue to support efforts at provision of adequate power supply in the state in order boost its industrialisation drive as well as socio-economic activities of the people.He said that the state government had made giant stride in the development of infrastructure, adding that the ongoing construction of flyover and underpass in Lafia would ease traffic congestion the metropolis and add to the aesthetics of the state capital.( NAN)NEWS
Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday. According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)NEWS
APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads
The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.
He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka. Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora. ”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NANNEWS
Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)