N700m Job Levies: EFCC Grills Abba Moro For 8 Hours

Former Interior Minister, Mr Abba Moro was the guest of EFCC for eight hours on Tuesday.

Operatives of the anti graft agency questioned him over the management of the 700 million naira collected from candidates who applied for recruitment into Nigeria Immigration Service in 2014.

Moro's interrogation is expected to continue on Thursday.

The EFCC had earlier quizzed former Comptroller-General of Immigration Service, Mr. David Parradang and the Secretary to the Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prison Service Board, Mr. Sylvanus Tapgun on the same subject matter.

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How FG Revived 14 Vehicle Assembly Plants

The Federal Government has revived the 14 vehicle assembly plants which operated before the National Automotive Policy.

This was disclosed in Lagos on Tuesday by the Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr Aminu Jalal during a stakeholders meeting of the Committee on implementation of the National Automotive Policy.

He said that the new entrants into the automobile manufacturing business were equally doing well.

He disclosed that government was in talks with a bank over a vehicle financing scheme to help Nigerians purchase made in Nigeria cars without hassles.

He said that government had to break the operations of the assembly plants into three because of the huge investments needed to set them up.

His words ;
“The reason why we break the assembly operations into three is that a new vehicle assembly plant is quite expensive to set up.

“If you are setting it up, the minimum you can do will cost you over $50 million (N11 billion)for about 10,000 units per year.

“After about a year, they start with SKD 2 (Semi-Knocked Down), which is a painted body, bringing in the internal and external fittings.

“Then you move to SKD1 where you have a body that is not painted, you have to paint it and so on.

“Then you move to CKD 1 (Completely- Knocked-Down) when you have to weld all the pieces together, paint and do the assembly.

“That is a transition in 12 months to the next phase."

Jalal added that while Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company and Ashok-Leyland have achieved CKD status, other assembly plants were at different levels of development.

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Mrs Buhari Advises Women On Healthcare

Mrs Aisha Buhari, wife of the President has advised Nigerian women, especially expectant and nursing mothers to avail themselves of proper medical attention to avoid exposure to unnecessary health hazards.

Mrs Buhari spoke through a speech delivered by the wife of Enugu State Governor, Mrs Monica Ugwuanyi at the Oji River General Hospital during her advocacy and community sensitization visit there.

She expressed sadness over the rate of maternal mortality during pregnancy and child delivery and stressed the need for precautionary measures to remedy the situation.

She advised all pregnant women to avail themselves of antenatal services for the good of themselves and their unborn children.

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Mrs Buhari Advises Women On Healthcare

Mrs Aisha Buhari, wife of the President has advised Nigerian women, especially expectant and nursing mothers to avail themselves of proper medical attention to avoid exposure to unnecessary health hazards.

Mrs Buhari spoke through a speech delivered by the wife of Enugu State Governor, Mrs Monica Ugwuanyi at the Oji River General Hospital during her advocacy and community sensitization visit there.

She expressed sadness over the rate of maternal mortality during pregnancy and child delivery and stressed the need for precautionary measures to remedy the situation.

She advised all pregnant women to avail themselves of antenatal services for the good of themselves and their unborn children.

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World Bank Regrets Delay In Disclosing Abacha Loot Disbursement

The World Bank has asked for more time to provide details on how it disbursed the assets recovered from late maximum ruler, Gen Sani Abacha and how same was used by Nigerian authorities.

The bank made the disclosure following a request by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)  for information on the handling of assets recovered from the late Head of State.

In a letter dated October 15, 2015, the World Bank through Ann May of its Access to Information Team, AIT wrote:

“In response to your request under AI3982, we would like to inform you that we are still considering your request and need additional time to provide you with a more comprehensive response.

“In most cases, we will be able to respond within twenty (20) working days from receipt of a request for information. However, we may need additional time in special circumstances, for example, if the request is complex or voluminous or if it requires further review by or consultation with internal World Bank units, external parties, the Access to Information Committee, or the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors.

“We regret any inconvenience that a delay may cause you and, if one does occur, will aim to minimize it as much as possible. We will notify you promptly of any updates to the status of your request. Thank you for your interest in the World Bank."

Tokunbo Mumuni, SERAP's Executive Director welcomed the decision of the World Bank to do a thorough job on their request. He said ;

“We welcome the Bank’s decision to thoroughly consider the request. This thorough process shows the seriousness the Bank attaches to the request, and will hopefully contribute to a positive outcome that will serve the interest of justice and millions of Nigerians who want to know about disbursement of Abacha loot.”

SERAP had pursuant to the World Bank’s Access to Information Policy approved by the Board on June 30, 2005, sent an access to information request on 21 September 2015 to Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank Group urging him to “exercise the Bank’s prerogative to release documents relating to spending of recovered assets stolen by Late General Sani Abacha”.

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UN Lauds Buhari Over Fight Against Boko Haram

The United Nations has commended the government of President Muhammadu Buhari for its achievement in the fight against terrorism.

The message was conveyed by Mr. Weixiong Chen of the UN Counter Terrorism Centre who led a delegation to the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Prisons Service, Dr Peter Ekpendu.

Mr Chen praised the government and the Nigeria Prisons Service for the
“appreciable success that has been recorded in the counter-terrorism, reformation and rehabilitation drive of the prisons service through the support of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), European Union and other development partners."

He pledged to seek logistical and infrastructural support from international donors for the prison service so as to sustain the gains so far made.

The Comptroller General thanked the UN team for their effort in helping Nigeria to combat violent extremism which he said has redefined the country's security architecture.

He also thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for his support for the de-radicalization of terrorists in prison custody.

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Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Offers Cars To Low Income Earners

Peugeot Automobile Nigeria, PAN has designed a scheme to help medium and low income earners purchase Peugeot cars and pay in installments.

To give effect to the scheme, PAN, last week signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on auto loan alliance with the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) in Abuja.

The alliance between PAN and FCMB offers Nigerians who wish to own brand new Peugeot cars the opportunity to do so with a monthly payment plan spread out over five years.

Stressing comfort, safety, quality and reliability of Peugeot cars as attested to by users over the last 30 years, the Managing Director of PAN, Mr Ibrahim Boyi said that the alliance with FCMB is aimed at enabling low and medium income earners to own brand new cars.

His words ;
“You can’t take Peugeot off the roads. Some cars produced 30 years ago still ply the roads in Nigeria. This is the quality; this is the heritage we are preaching.

“We offer yet another opportunity with the FCMB for our prospective customers to relive the legacy, heritage and experience of Peugeot cars.

“Our cars today are better. They are modern to meet the developments in the markets.”

The Group Managing Director of the FCMB, who also doubles as the Regional Director, Abuja and North, Mr Olajire Awofisibe, said that the scheme offers Nigerians the opportunity to own brand new cars instead of buying used cars from Europe.

He said that the alliance with Peugeot Automobile is yet another move from the bank which has empowered over 400,000 Nigerians with loans to help more Nigerians own brand new cars.

“Instead of buying fairly used motor vehicles, why don’t you go for new ones at even a better price?’’ he said.

According to Awofisibe, repayment plans depend on model of vehicles chosen and the cash flow of the customer.

He said that the package covers free vehicle registration, free tracking, three years free maintenance service and discounted free insurance premium.

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