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Reps Committee Probe Non-Remittance of Pension Contributions By FCT Area Councils

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By Gloria Ikibah

The House of Representatives Copmmittee on the Federal Capital Territory Area Councils and Ancillary Matters has decided to investigate the failure of the six area councils to remit pension contributions to the Area Council Staff Pension Board.

This decision came after a motion was adopted during a session where the Board Director, Suleman Abdulrahman, appeared before the Committee on Wednesday.

The meeting was part of the Committee’s review of budget performance for 2024 in preparation for the 2025 budget cycle. During the session, Abdulrahman informed lawmakers that remittances had been inconsistent.

“By law and according to the pension reform act, each deduction from salaries in respect to pension is supposed to be remitted seven days after payment of salary, but unfortunately at the area councils that’s not what is happening. Sometimes they owe two to three months before remittance.
“The staff pay their employee contribution which is the 8 percent and 10 percent for the employer. It is remitted to their PFA accordingly from the area councils,” he said.
The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Fred Agbedi demanded that the agency furnish it with the records pertaining to the matter.
“Furnish us with the details so we can know why the area councils are defaulting in their remittance.
“Let someone move a motion for us to investigate the discrepancies and delay in area councils remitting because salaries are paid monthly.
“The Committee should investigate the failure of the remittance from the area councils to the pension account,” Agbedi said.
The Chairman directed the Clerk to write to all six area councils, requesting detailed records of up-to-date pension contribution remittances for their employees.

The Committee also questioned Abdulrahman on why the Board received more funds than were allocated in the 2024 budget.

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Documents submitted by the Board indicated that while the total appropriation for pensioner costs was ₦131,148,262, the Board received ₦151,137,417.

In response, Abdulrahman explained that the excess in salary variations was due to increase in the minimum wage.

“The personnel cost of all FCT staff is centralised with the treasury department and you are aware of the recent salary adjustments as a result of minimum wage which increased the total receipt. We are in touch with the treasury department to get us the supplementary approval so that we can update our records.
“Principally what we do is that we superintend over pension matters in all the six area councils and LEA. Payment of monthly pensions and other benefits that accrue to our prospective retirees.
“Our summary of the budget performance for 2024 was we had a total of N1.1 billion which was the ceiling, which consists of the recurrent, the personnel and overheard.
“The personnel cost, we have 115 percent budget performance. The overhead, we have 40 percent performance, we don’t have capital projects. It’s just a service organisation on change of monthly pensions,” he said.
Agbedi said the Committee would embark on budget oversight to all the agencies.

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Rivers traditional ruler narrowly escapes assassin’s bullets as hoodlums shoot at his palace

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The Amadabo of Finima in Bonny local government area of Rivers State, HRH Aseme Alabo Dagogo Lambert Brown in the early hours of today, August 22, 2026 narroy escaped an assassination attempt on his life.

However, the Amadabo was not at home when the blood thirsty hoodlums fired sporadically at the building housing the living rooms of the monarch and other households.

Unfortunately, some members were seriously injured and rushed to hospitals for emergency medical attention.

Condemning the heinous crime, Aseme Alabo Dagogo Lambert Brown stated that they had received intelligence reports of importation of hoodlums into the community.

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He blamed the Bonny Traditional Authorities of sponsoring a faction of Tobin House to cause mayhem.

He called on law enforcement agencies to urgently investigate the matter and bring perpetrators.

Transcript of the attached voice.

“It is very painful and regretful of what I see today in Finima.

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We have envisaged this. We live in the community, we have the intelligence, information is coming here and there, and we communicated same intelligence to the security agencies that we are having mercenaries imported into Finima for the sake of a strange event that wants to happen.

Must all of us die because one faction of the Tobin house in Finima, being sponsored by the Bonny Traditional Authorities, wants to perform things that are strange in Finima?

God will never allow that to happen. God will never allow—we saw it. All this happening is to intimidate me and my people for saying this is not how we are living as a people. We live as one people. All the cultural institutions are in full participation by the chieftaincy houses in Finima. There’s no separation.

Why? Because we want to avoid any rivalry group or things that will cause disunity in Finima. That is how our upgrowing—that’s how we’ve grown up in Finima.

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And these are one of the outcomes, very regretful. I want to appeal to the law enforcement agencies today that people behind this heinous act are culprits—people, culprits to this heinous act—are arrested and prosecuted.

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Photos: 15 years after, Apo-Karshi Road for inauguration in December – Wike

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Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, says the long-delayed Apo-Karshi road will finally be completed and handed over by November, putting an end to a 15-year wait for residents in the axis.

Wike gave the assurance in Abuja on Saturday, after inspecting the progress of the project as well as the 14-kilometre Bwari Kubwa Road.

He explained that the 13.5-kilometer road, originally awarded in 2011 under previous administrations, has been a major point of frustration for motorists experiencing daily traffic congestion between satellite communities and the Abuja city center.

He explained that the current administration was forced to revoke the original contract due to persistent delays and re-award it to construction firm SCC Nigeria Ltd.

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“The Apo-Karshi road has been a topical issue. It was awarded in 2010, one of those projects President Bola Tinubu inherited.

“Because of its importance and the complaints by residents, we had to terminate the contract and award it to SCC, which we know has the capacity to complete the job.

“Residents who have been crying for years can now see that this government has come to their aid,” he said.

The minister praised the contractor for maintaining progress on-site regardless of funding cycles, reaffirming the government’s commitment to honoring its financial obligations.

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The minister also inspected the ongoing construction of the 14-kilometre Bwari-Kubwa road, stressing that the contractor had promised to deliver the critical road in December.

He emphasised that the tangible delivery of infrastructure projects serves as the strongest argument for the administration’s governance model, downplaying traditional political campaigning in favor of visible results.

“When people ask me about campaigns, I say, ‘What is campaign? See the campaign. Campaign is about what you have done for the people and what the government has to show.

“It is not about promises; it is about taking action that positively impacts lives,” he said.

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With multiple road networks approaching completion across the FCT, the minister expressed confidence that the administration would surpass its initial 10 projects target for inauguration between December and January 2027.

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BREAKING: 38 year former world champion boxer, Zolani Tete shot dead in South Africa

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Ex-world champion boxer Zolani Tete has been shot dead outside his home in South Africa at the age of 38.

This ugly development happened in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, as Zolani Tete arrived at his residence and waited for the gate to open.

According to the police, two armed men wearing balaclavas stepped out of a vehicle and opened fire on the boxer.

A 27-year-old woman who was travelling with Tete was also shot several times and taken to hospital for treatment.

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South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, confirmed Tete’s death on Friday.

McKenzie expressed caution over speculation about the motive behind the attack, saying “I will not speculate about who did this or why.”

Police have launched an investigation, but no motive has been established and no details about possible suspects have been released.

Zolani Tete , who was nicknamed “Last Born”, became widely known in boxing for his remarkable 11-second knockout of fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in Belfast in November 2017.

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The knockout remains one of the fastest stoppages in a world title fight.

Tete achieved it while defending his WBO bantamweight title, which he had won earlier that year and held until 2019.

The southpaw boxer had previously captured the IBF junior-bantamweight title in 2014 after defeating Japan’s Teiru Kinoshita in Kobe.

Earlier in his career, Tete had also held the minor WBF flyweight title.

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Zolani Tete’s death came only weeks after he completed a four-year ban from boxing following a positive test for the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol after his 2022 bout against Jason Cunningham.

His suspension ended on July 29, and he had been preparing to make a return to professional boxing before his death.

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