NEWS
Reps Panel Invite UNIZIK VC over Alleged Poor project Execution
The House of Representatives Committee on University Education has invited Prof. Carol Arinze-Umobi, the acting Vice Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) Awka, Anambra over alleged poor projects execution.
Rep. Abubakar Fulata, the Chairman of the Committee made this known in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
The invitation followed the committee’s earlier visit to UNIZIK in Awka, adding that the invitation was not to a witch-hunt on the VC.
He said the committee would not fold their arms and allow certain things that would halt the expected progress in the nation’s universities persist.
The committee observed that the data presented in the documents submitted by the VC did not align with the reality on ground in terms of projects execution.
Fulata wondered how the management of the university would claim to have generated N1.5 billion in a preceding year but said it spent about N3 billion from the same internally generated revenue.
Fulata said spending money without appropriation by the parliament was a gross violation of the constitution.
He said that presentation of cooked figure undermines the integrity of the entire management team of the university.
The committee said the oversight visit became necessary due to the calls and concerns raised by many Nigerians that several MDAs would do better if legislators carry out their roles as expected.
The committee said there would be no justification to approve funds for any government organisation if what has been earlier approved was haphazardly utilized.
The committee said it observed several discrepancies and infractions in the documents presented, urging the VC to appear before them in the National Assembly with relevant documents for further legislative actions.
The committee noted that one of the areas of concern is 100 per cent payment for a project that was less than 40 per cent completion by the school management.
This according to the committee is against financial regulations.(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)