Gridlock Grounds Lekki As ‘Obidients’ Rally At Lekki Toll-Gate (Photo)

 

The ‘Obidients’ as they are fondly called, gathered on Saturday morning at the toll-gate despite heavy police presence on the ground.The many supporters of Peter Obi, the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, have stormed the streets of Lekki in Lagos for a rally.

They have now grounded traffic activities in Lekki, as they defied police orders and campaigned at Lekki toll-gate.

The ‘Obidients’ as they are fondly called, gathered on Saturday morning at the toll-gate despite heavy police presence on the ground.

Our correspondent noticed private and commercial bus drivers finding alternative routes out of the traffic on the Lekki-Epe Expressway, as the traffic was almost at a stand still.

Speaking with a commercial driver, who opted for all his passengers to get another bus, he said, “Obidient people are campaigning at the toll gate, I have been in this traffic for too long, I’m going to turn back at Jakande roundabout. I wouldn’t be heading to Lekki Phase 1 again.”

PDP Presidential Ticket: Fellow southern govs betrayed us — Wike

Governor Nyesom Wike

Rivers State governor and presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Nyesom Wike, who came second at Saturday’s primaries, has accused Southern governors of betraying the power shift agreement.

Wike, who has vowed to remain in the party and support its 2023 presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, disclosed that he almost scuttled the PDP primaries at a stage when the rule was breached but had to maintain his calmness

The governor spoke at a reception in his honour at the Government House in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, following his return from the presidential primary in Abuja.Also, commendations continued to flow for Atiku on his emergence as PDP standard bearer, yesterday, as the apex Igbo Socio-Cultural Organisation, Ohanaeze denied saying that it would work against Atiku, adding that it has not taken a position on the issues.

Nigeria now depends on IMF, World Bank to pay salaries of workers – Prof Tomori

 A professor of Virology, Oyewale Tomori has said Nigeria is now depending on international agencies such as International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to pay workers salaries.

Tomori spoke on Thursday while delivering a lecture on the topic “Science, Scientist and Society” at the 79th Interdisciplinary Research Discourse of the Postgraduate College, University of Ibadan.

Professor Tomori who is a member of the World Health Organisation Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 vaccine composition, also disclosed that Nigeria has become a beggar for COVID-19 vaccines.

He regretted that the country has failed to consistently invest in education, science and technology despite the vast number of natural resources.

He said while other countries are enjoying a return on investments, Nigeria is reaping a return on iniquity and immorality.

He said this is the main reason the country depends on loans from international donor agencies such as IMF and World Bank to pay salaries of workers.

The University Don lamented that the current democratic system in the country is full of corruption and immorality.

“While other countries are getting sumptuous results on their investments, we are wallowing in our own return on iniquity and on return on immorality.

“That is why we have 10.5 million of our children out of school, 4.5 million under-vaccinated, we become the poverty capital of the world.

“We are investing hugely in corruption and disdain for science and technology.

“And we now depend on IMF loans and world bank to pay our workers’ salaries, to import food which we should be producing.”

Just In : Vessel Goes Up In Flame Around Escravos Delta State, Nigeria

A Floating Production, Storage and Offloading, FPSO, has exploded in Escravos, Delta State.

The explosion of the FPSO, known as Trinity Spirit, which occurred in the afternoon of Wednesday,  February 2, 2022, caused fire and panic in the Escravos area of Warri South-West Local Government Area of the State.

BREAKING: CBN again keeps interest rate at 11%, expresses hope price of food will drop

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has voted to retain the monetary policy rate (MPR), which measures interest rate, at 11.5 percent.

The monetary policy rate (MPR) is the baseline interest rate in an economy, every other interest rate used within an economy is built on the MPR.

Addressing journalists on Tuesday after the committee’s two-day meeting at the CBN  headquarters in Abuja, Godwin Emefiele, governor of the apex bank, said the committee members unanimously retained key rates.

According to Emefiele, the committee voted to maintain the key lending rate at 11.5 percent, with the asymmetric corridor of +100 and -700 basis points around the MPR and liquidity ratio at 30 percent.

CBN said the decision to keep the interest rate was to keep the ongoing growth in the economy.

COVID-19: Nigeria records 18,000 cases among travellers, insists on protocols

The Nigerian government says more than 18,000 cases of coronavirus have been recorded from inbound travellers to the country as of January 16, 2022.

It blamed the development on the failure of travellers to strictly adhere to the travel protocols put in place by Nigeria.

The director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ifedayo Adetifa, disclosed this in a statement issued on its website on Friday.

Mr Adetifa said the decision to make repeat tests mandatory in Nigeria was based on the review of COVID-19 test positivity data among returnees to the country during the first and subsequent waves of the pandemic.

He explained that this was necessary to ensure a balance between the mandate to protect the health of Nigerians from infections and supporting the restart of the economy.

“As of 16th January 2022, over 18,000 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded from inbound travellers to Nigeria. Therefore, the associated risk of disease transmission is not trivial,” he said.

So far, Nigeria has recorded 251,684 cases of COVID-19 and 3,123 persons have died from complications caused by the virus.

Inbound, outbound travellers

Mr Adetifa said there have been complaints and enquiries on the use of the Nigeria International Travel Portal (NITP).

He said since the resumption of international flights post-COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria, NITP remains an effective means of preventing the importation of the virus via air travel.

“Since its launch, the NITP has been updated frequently over time and more recently, there was an upgrade in October 2021, to enable a more user-friendly experience for travellers, laboratories, and other users.

“We are aware of reports of travellers to Nigeria who have experienced delays at the airport for not meeting all the travel requirements as stated on the NITP,” he said.

He urged the public to adhere strictly to the guidance on the travel portal to ensure its seamless use.

NCDC also recommends the use of card payments over bank transfers when using the portal.

The director-general added; “Registration on the travel portal prior to departure should be done immediately after your negative COVID-19 test result is obtained, preferably 24 hours before your travel date.

“Card payments are recommended over bank transfers especially if the registration on the portal is done less than 24 hours before departure.

“Travellers who do not receive their QR code despite making payment should download the Permit to Travel/QR Code using the “Get Permit to Travel” button visible on the top right corner of the portal. A link to print the Permit-To-Travel is also sent to the email address of registered travellers.”

Mr Adetifa said the agency recognised the technical challenges that might occur from time to time and will continue to make improvements to optimise the functionality of the travel portal.

He said the agency and the Federal Ministry of Health remain committed to strengthening Nigeria’s response to COVID-19 and controlling this and other outbreaks.