The National Population Commission, NPC plans to engage over one million officers to conduct the proposed 2017 population census.
Chairman of the Commission, Chief Eze Duruiheoma disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja.
He said that "... a total of 1.1million enumerators, 50,500 supervisors and 5,050 field coordinators will be recruited and trained for the actual census."
He also said that the commission has been engaged in pre-census activities including the acquisition of necessary equipment for the exercise.
“We have acquired High Resolution Imageries, required for the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) for the census.
“ We have demarcated and produced Satellite Image Enumeration area maps for Akoko South-East LGA in Ondo State in December 2014, as a pilot exercise for the EAD project. The first phase of the EAD covering seven LGAs in each of the six geo political zones and the FCT is currently ongoing and training for the second phase of the EAD is ongoing in 29 LGAs in 29 states among others,” he said.
According to President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerians calling for the identities of ex-government officials who have been returning looted funds may have to wait for a while.
Buhari who gave the keynote address at this year’s edition of the annual Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Lecture in Abuja said that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN would publish the names of looters and amounts returned after much bigger recoveries have been made.
“It is yet early days for government to make the names public as doing so might jeopardize the possibility of bigger recoveries,” he said.
He stressed that his fight against corruption is not about him, but “about building a country where our children, and the forthcoming generations can live in peace and prosperity.”
The president called on Nigerians to “hate corruption with a passion, and collectively determine to root it out of our body polity.
“Any effort to try to deal with corruption without a convinced populace will end as spasmodic, ephemeral exercise, lacking the appropriate social impact. When we are talking about corruption conventionally, it is a manifestation of the human mindset. It is the human beings that manifest corruption.
“To win the war on corruption, therefore, begins with the people accepting that there is an error to be corrected in their lives, that there is a need to refocus and re-orientate the values that we cherish and hold dear. It requires change of mindset, change of attitude and change of conduct,” he said.
One of the people said to have benefited from the misappropriated $2.1b meant for the procurement of arms for the military, Mr Nduka Obaigbena, publisher of ThisDay Newspapers has denied illegally receiving money from former National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki.
In a recent letter to Mr Ibrahim Magu, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Obaigbena admitted receiving 550 million naira from the former NSA as compensation for damages to his Kaduna and Abuja offices which were attacked by Boko Haram suicide bombers on 26 April 2012.
Speaking on his company's losses in the suicide attacks, Obaigbena said ;
". . . our buildings (were) destroyed and we lost full colour Goss printing towers and three pre-press computer-to-plate and auxiliary equipment and other (in)valuable property valued at over N2.5 billion.
“This is aside from daily costs to pay third party printers of over N1 billion, having lost our printing facility to terrorists due to inadequate protection by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The bombing of ThisDay offices followed the Abuja United Nations Building bombing for which the Federal Government has so far spent N3 billion for reconstruction and much more earmarked for furnishing.
“I had to confront President Jonathan on the issue when I learnt of approvals for the reconstruction of the Abuja United Nations Building, since we were the second major organisation to be attacked by Boko Haram after the UN attack.
“He therefore directed me to meet the National Security Adviser who processed the payment in question.”
Under a Memorandum of Understanding, signed with the Federal Government on Thursday, Chinese technology company, Huawei will train 2000 Nigerians on ICT in 2016.
The MoU which was signed on behalf of Nigeria by the Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige and that of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu was witnessed by the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Gu Xiaojie and Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
Speaking on the Chinese gesture which is covered under
“Huawei’s Seeds for the Future program,” Osinbajo said that
“ICT is one of the quickest ways people can get decent jobs, so we think this is absolutely important.
“In the change agenda, how to grow the economy is important, and we want to create ICT hubs and support existing ones. We thank Huawei for this initiative of advancing technology in Nigeria, apart from the job creation itself."
Mr. Richard Cao, Vice President of Huawei West Africa signed the MoU for the Chinese Information Communication and technology firm.
The 2000 ICT trainees are expected to be selected and supervised by the Ministry of Labour and Employment in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications.
The former Director of Finance in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Mr. Shuaibu Salisu, who took $47million withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria in11 suit cases to former NSA, Col Sambo Dasuki says that he did not benefit from the money, but merely carried out orders as a civil servant.
In his Statement of Witness/Accused which EFCC attached to the charges filed against him before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Salisu said as follows;
“I could remember on the 20/11/2014 , I was directed by the NSA, M.S. Dasuki to go to the CBN and collect the sum of $47m in cash and the balance in Euro and the directive was obeyed and the monies were delivered to the NSA in about 11 suit cases.
“I acknowledged the receipt of the money from the CBN which was handed over to M.S. Dasuki.
“I think the monies were meant for PDP. After delivery, I left. I did not see or know when the money was distributed.
“I did not benefit even one cent. The request for the funds was tagged Special Services signed by the NSA, M.S. Dasuki, addressed to the Governor of CBN.
“I did not know the source of the money into our CBN Account. The foreign currencies that I collected from the CBN were delivered to the NSA in his house, No. 13, John Kadiya Street, Asokoro.”
The Federal Government on Thursday told a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that the founding Chairman of Daar Communications Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi is being investigated for another fraud involving N8b.
The prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs SAN told Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja that the Federal Government was about rounding off investigations into a fresh allegation of N8.4 billion Chief Dokpesi collected from the Goodluck Jonathan administration for the broadcast of the FIFA U17 championship which Nigeria hosted in January 2012.
While arguing the government’s counter-affidavit to Dokpesi’s bail application, Jacobs alleged that even though the broadcast right was given to Dokpesi's company, DAAR Communications Plc , by FIFA without the Federal Government being a party to the contract, Dokpesi fraudulently collected N8b from the government for the execution of the contract.
Having listened to the defense and prosecution counsels, Justice Gabriel Kolawole adjourned the case till 14 December 2015 for ruling even as he remanded the accused in EFCC custody.
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