VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

Category: News

  • Presidency Fires Obi Over Comments on VP’s Residence

    Presidency Fires Obi Over Comments on VP’s Residence

    The Presidency has lashed out at the Labour Party (LP) candidate in this year’s presidential election, Mr. Peter Obi, for attempting to whip up public sentiments against the Bola Tinubu administration over the budgetary provision for the completion of the Vice President’s residence.

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) had, in the 2024 budget proposal, earmarked N15.5 billion for the renovation of  the Vice President’s official residence, a development that Obi, in a couple of tweets on his verified X handle, described as shocking and disheartening.

    Reacting to Obi’s comments in a statement yesterday in Abuja by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity in the Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency said the quest to give the Vice President a befitting residence started in 2007.

    It said this was with similar targets for the residences of the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

  • Northern Leaders Demand Compensation for Kaduna Massacre

    Northern Leaders Demand Compensation for Kaduna Massacre

    Community and religious leaders from the Northern part of the country on Tuesday frowned at Sunday’s killing of over 90 innocent villagers by military drones at Tudun Biri in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

    While calling for a full-scale investigation into the incident, they also demanded compensation for survivors and families of the deceased.

    VOP News gathered that the victims, among them women and children, were struck dead as they celebrated Maulud while over 60 others were left injured.

    The Defence Headquarters earlier on Tuesday said the drone attack on the community was based on information about untoward activities of terrorists in the area.

    This was contained in a statement by the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba on Tuesday in Abuja.

    But while appearing on a TV programme last night, Senator Shehu Sani, who is from Kaduna State, described the military’s statement as highly insensitive.

    He said the language used in the statement was unfair to hundreds of families affected by the tragedy as it appeared that the military attempted to justify its action of dropping the bombs to punish many innocent people because of the crime of a few criminals, it there were any among the deaths.

    Senator Sani called for a thorough investigation by the National Assembly saying similar injustices were brushed over in the past.

  • FG Budgets N138m to Tackle Fake News, Print Calendars

    FG Budgets N138m to Tackle Fake News, Print Calendars

    The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, plans to spend N138 million to combat fake news and print calendars.

    Part of the sum will also be used to facilitate media appearances for ministers and organise engagement with social media influencers among others.

    This is contained in the details of the 2024 Appropriation Bill currently before the National Assembly.

    A former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, initiated an advocacy against fake news under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Muhammed, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in 2021, stated that Nigeria had graduated from ordinary fake news to “deep” fake news, which according to him, was being used to wage war against the government and its officials.

    He had also said that at the beginning, purveyors of deep fake news were largely unknown online publications, adding that it was, however, unfortunate that otherwise reputable publications and some mainstream media had joined the bandwagon while adding that citizens found guilty would be sanctioned.

    In the 2024  budget, N24.5m has been allocated for a “special enlightenment campaign on government’s programmes and policies, testimonial series to gauge the impact of government policies on the citizenry.

    “Advocacy against fake news, hate speech, farmers-herders clashes, banditry, rape, etc.”

    The details also showed that the government would spend  N40m to produce calendars; N30m was voted for external publicity and engagement with foreign media; N20.7m was voted for media interactions by ministers, influencers, and analysts on print and social media.

    The government also said it would spend N21.7m on the development of social media platforms and networking with other platforms.

  • Naira Gains 9%, Closes N837/$ at Official Market

    Naira Gains 9%, Closes N837/$ at Official Market

    The naira saw an appreciation, reaching N837.77 against the dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the official exchange rate platform in Nigeria.

    This new rate marks a 9.64 per cent increase from the previous rate of N927.19 per dollar, recorded last Friday.

    According to data from FMDQ Securities Exchange, which manages the official foreign exchange trading in Nigeria, the naira experienced a fluctuating day, hitting an intra-day high of N1,021 and a low of N701.

    The opening rate for the day was N814.50, closing at N837.77 against the dollar.

    At the parallel market, the naira traded for N1,170, against the dollar.

    Currency traders, also known as Bureau De Change operators (BDCs), quoted the buying rate of the greenback at N1,160 and the selling price at N1,170 — leaving a profit margin of N10.

    This leaves a gap of N332.23 between the official and parallel markets’ exchange rates.

    President Bola Tinubu and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have taken steps to unify the exchange rates in the official window and the parallel market.

    CBN collapsed the multiple exchange rates in the official market to NAFEM, formerly known as the investors and exporters window, to unify the parallel and official market rates.

    This resulted in a temporary convergence, however, the gap has since widened, with Monday’s closing rate revealing an exchange rate difference of N332.23 between the official and parallel markets.

    Yemi Cardoso, CBN governor, assured the apex bank is committed to achieving monetary and price stability in the country.

  • Demand for Sales Professionals Rises 16% Amid Economic Woes

    Demand for Sales Professionals Rises 16% Amid Economic Woes

    The demand for sales/marketing professionals from Nigerian firms has risen by 15.9 percent in January-October 2023 from 13.4 percent in the same period of last year.

    The report by MyJobMag, a recruitment agency in Nigeria which analysed 62,729 jobs advertised on its platform, said sales/marketing, finance, engineering, and ICT tops the chart for the fields with the most hiring in 2023, with sales/marketing having over 15 percent.

    The rising need for sales professionals may stem from organisations seeking to boost their revenue in response to the country’s current economic conditions,” the report said.

    It added that the growth of new small and medium-scale enterprises requires sales professionals to help them establish and expand their businesses.

    “While others like human resources, driving, media, and administration have experienced a decline from 2022 to 2023.”

    A breakdown of the report showed that sales executives, sales representatives, sales managers, medical sales representatives and sales officers were the most in-demand roles in sales. “These roles had the highest number of job listings in the sales sector for 2023.”

    According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the country’s inflation rate, a measure of the general price level, rose to 27.33 percent in October from 26.72 percent in the previous month.

  • Cash Shortage Hits Banks, Customers Rush for BVN/NIN Revalidation

    Cash Shortage Hits Banks, Customers Rush for BVN/NIN Revalidation

    Huge crowds besieged banking halls on Monday, as customers moved to link their Bank Verification Numbers and National Identity Numbers to their bank accounts.

    This followed the new directive of the banking regulator to the banks on Friday, to bar customers who were yet to link their BVN and NIN from having access to their accounts.

    CBN said in its new directive that existing customers must, “Ensure all operated accounts/wallets created through agents, are fully profiled in the NIBSS ICAD and tagged with valid and correct BVN and/or NIN.”

    It added that, “Effective immediately, any unfunded account/wallet shall be placed on ‘Post no debit or credit’ until the new process is satisfied Effective March 1, 2024.

    Post no debit is a term used to describe a restriction imposed by banks on specific accounts, preventing customers from making withdrawals, transfers, or debits from their accounts.

    Latest Data obtained from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System showed that over 75 million bank accounts could be restricted or outrightly blocked as only 59 million BVN was registered as of October 9, 2023.

  • FG Plans to Revoke Unused Oil Licences

    FG Plans to Revoke Unused Oil Licences

    The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum and Regulatory Commission says the Federal Government is planning to revoke unused oil exploration leases that companies were granted but have not been able to carry out any exploration activities on them.

    The Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe told Reuters on Monday that only companies with viable technical and financial backup would get to keep their leases

    He noted that based on the Petroleum Industry Act, the commission is focused on delivering value for the nation so only firms that are technically and financially viable will keep their leases,” Komolafe said.

    Komolafe said the commission would initiate reviews of these leases and awards of new leases would be “subject to specific terms and conditions.”

    According to latest data from the NUPRC, although about 53 exploration leases were issued from 2003 till date; over 60 per cent of the prospecting licenses issued to local and foreign oil firms had expired.

    Out of the 53 licences, 33 have since expired and not renewed, including four which are held down by contract disputes. The leases have not been automatically revoked, but the regulator is no longer willing to let the companies hold on to leases indefinitely.

    The PIA enacted in 2021 empowered the regulator to review the technical and financial capabilities of companies holding oil exploration leases.

    Investments in oil exploration in the country have been few and far between as oil majors exit onshore and shallow water assets due to rising insecurity and sabotage of oil infrastructure and legal disputes with communities in the Niger Delta.

    The sector has since been bogged down by low investments in exploration activities, coupled with low crude oil production as a result of theft from pipeline vandalism

  • UK Announces Stricter Visa Measures to Reduce Migration

    UK Announces Stricter Visa Measures to Reduce Migration

    The UK has announced it would raise the minimum salary threshold for a skilled worker visa and prevent overseas health and social care staff from bringing family dependents to Britain.

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office trumpeted the proposals as “the biggest clampdown on legal migration ever”.

    But critics said it would damage the state-run National Health Service (NHS), which faces staff shortages.

    Immigration is set to be a key issue in nationwide elections that must be held by January 2025 at the latest, and which the main opposition Labour party is currently favoured to win.

    Sunak has pledged to reduce new arrivals and has been under pressure ever since statistics released last month showed that net migration to Britain hit a high in 2022.

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of people who arrived in Britain last year was 745,000 more than the number who left.

    Interior minister James Cleverly said his plan would result in 300,000 fewer people coming to the UK in the coming years.