Why WAEC charged NGO N1.85m for best students data

The West African Examination Council, WAEC, has declared that it has a standard practice of charging a fee for the production of data requested by individuals or organisations.

Mr Demianus Ojijeogu, Public Affairs Officer, WAEC said on Thursday that  the council does grant waivers to non-profit and non-governmental organisations for altruistic purposes.

Ojijeogu however noted that a Lagos based NGO, Edubox that was charged N1.85m for the production of the list of the best students in all states of the country did not indicate that it was a registered NGO with the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC.

“It’s a fact that Edubox as can be seen from their letter, did not request for the said data as a registered NGO with the CAC and may have requested the data for intentions that are far from encouraging scholarship and therefore, could not have been granted a waiver.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Council remains the foremost champion for the reward of academic excellence," he said.

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3 in DSS net over alleged plot to blackmail Director General.

The Department of State Services, DSS has arrested three suspects for allegedly plotting to blackmail the Director-General of the service, Alhaji Lawal Daura.

Parading the suspects before newsmen in Abuja on Friday, Abdullahi Garba of the DSS said that they were apprehended on Feb. 17 in Kaduna and Abuja.

According to Garba the suspects had been claiming that the Director-General had collected N4 billion from the PDP governors of Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Abia and Taraba, to influence Supreme Court judgments in their favour.

He added that the suspects had planned to misinform President Muhammadu Buhari and the general public that the Director-General had acquired choice property in Maitama and Asokoro areas of Abuja.

"The overall objective was to scare the director-general and put him under pressure just for the group to extort money from him to serve their pecuniary interest."

News Agency of Nigeria, NAN reports that the suspects who hail from Kaduna, Borno and Katsina have denied the allegation.

NAN

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3 in DSS net over alleged plot to blackmail Director General.

The Department of State Services, DSS has arrested three suspects for allegedly plotting to blackmail the Director-General of the service, Alhaji Lawal Daura.

Parading the suspects before newsmen in Abuja on Friday, Abdullahi Garba of the DSS said that they were apprehended on Feb. 17 in Kaduna and Abuja.

According to Garba the suspects had been claiming that the Director-General had collected N4 billion from the PDP governors of Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Abia and Taraba, to influence Supreme Court judgments in their favour.

He added that the suspects had planned to misinform President Muhammadu Buhari and the general public that the Director-General had acquired choice property in Maitama and Asokoro areas of Abuja.

"The overall objective was to scare the director-general and put him under pressure just for the group to extort money from him to serve their pecuniary interest."

News Agency of Nigeria, NAN reports that the suspects who hail from Kaduna, Borno and Katsina have denied the allegation.

NAN

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Abuja voters to get PVCs from March 4 to March 10 - INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC will distribute Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs to eligible voters in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja from the 4th of March to 10th of March.

This Friday's issue of the commission’s daily bulletin indicated that the exercise would take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

The bulletin explained that the exercise would enable eligible voters to collect their PVCs ahead of the forthcoming FCT Area Council elections billed for March 19, 2016.

“The PVCs will be distributed at the Polling Units (PUs) for the first three days of the exercise- March 4 to March 6.

“Thereafter, the distribution will be done at the Ward level for the last four days, March 7 to March 10.’’

It also said that after the seven-day exercise, distribution of PVCs would continue at the various Area Councils from March 14 to March 16.

The bulletin stated that collection of PVCs must be in person, not by proxy.

“A registrant shall present himself/herself to the Distribution Officer (DO) who checks the Distribution List to ensure that his/her name is on the list.

“The DO shall check the stack of PVCs to ensure the card is available.

“The DO shall retrieve the Temporary Voter Card (TVC) and handover the PVC to the registrant who shall be requested to thumbprint and sign the appropriate portion of the Distribution List.”

The Electoral Officers are mandated to supervise the exercise at the various local government areas.

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Supreme Court upholds Reverend King's death sentence

The Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the lower courts sentencing Pastor Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, aka Reverend King to death for grievous crimes against some members of his church.

The verdict was read by Justice Ngwuta who said that the facts of the case could have been taken from a horror movie.

The apex court resolved all the 12 issues raised by the convict against him.

“This appeal has no merit. The judgement of the court of appeal is hereby affirmed. The prison sentence that was earlier handed to the appellant is no longer relevant in view of the death sentence passed on him," the Supreme Court held.

Reverend King was convicted and sentenced to death on January 11, 2011 for the murder of Ann Uzoh and the attempted murder of 6 other members of his church by pouring petrol on them and setting them on fire.

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Nigeria coach Sunday Oliseh resigns

Sunday Oliseh has announced his resignation as Head Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

The action is believed to be a fallout of his running battles with the officials of the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF.

Oliseh announced his resignation on Twitter on Friday morning.

Top Tweet
Sunday Oliseh
@SundayOOliseh 7h
Due to Contract violations ,lack of Support,Unpaid wages,Benefits to my players,Asst.Coaches & myself, I resign as Super Eagles Chief Coach
View details ·

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FRSC gives Dangote, others till March 31 to evacuate abandoned vehicles.

Abuja
The Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, has given March 31 as deadline for Dangote Group and other owners of abandoned vehicles across the country to evacuate them.

Speaking during an interactive session with the management of Dangote Group in Abuja on Thursday, the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi said that the abandoned vehicles constituted security risks to the society.

"Dangote Group has one of the largest fleets of vehicles in the country and same way it has the highest number of abandoned vehicles on the highways.

"We have been given directive by our supervisor, Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government, to clear the roads of the wrecks before end of March.

"Also, from recent report of the Directorate of State Services (DSS), we have been mandated to clear abandoned vehicles to reduce miscreants on the roads.

"I am highly delighted to have the delegation of Dangote Group here today and I am assuring them of FRSC's assistance so that they can meet the deadline.

"All other owners of abandoned vehicles are thereby expected to evacuate their vehicles before the deadline of March 31 , in order to avoid penalties", he said.

The Corps Marshal advised large fleet operators like Dangote Group to ensure continuous training and retraining of their drivers in order not to compromise safety on the roads.

"Heavy duty vehicle drivers are expected to be professional drivers, who value lives and worth of their vehicles and goods, which should make them to be more careful on the roads.

"Having about 6,000 trucks, tankers and trailers, each costing about N60 million, apart from goods, operators like Dangote are expected to establish their own driving schools for periodic training of drivers.

The company is also expected to have weigh bridges in their plants and other loading points so that they will not engage in Axle load violation," he added.

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