News
Coalition Reacts To Jackson Ude, Sahara Reporters False Allegations On NEMA
…Says Ude’s allegations, baseless, unfounded, malicious and highly misleading
…Commends Tinubu on Steve Oronsaye’s report
The Civil Society Groups for Good Governance (CSGGG) and Integrity Advocacy for Development Initiative (IADI), has reacted to reports emanating from the twitter handle of controversial journalist, Jackson Ude, where he alleged that the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), looted 3 billion naira via contract racketeering in one month.
Reacting to this allegation during a press briefing, at the weekend in Abuja, the coalition led by Comrade Ogakwu Dominic, and Chris Ofomhi, described the allegations as another attempt on blackmail, campaign of calumny.
While providing detailed explanation to the issue, they said one had to have a deeper understanding of how NEMA operates, adding that “NEMA is an interventionist organization whose major mandate is to address issues that require urgent and prompt responses and in doing so, the agency most times carries out emergency procurement in line with the stipulations of the Public Procurement Act 2007 and other extant regulations.”
They,however, said the DG should be commended for initiatives he had brought to reshape the agency.
They said: “The allegations that the DG of NEMA looted over N3 billion between January and February is baseless, unfounded, malicious and highly misleading.
“Mustapha Habib Ahmed’s tenure as the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has been a tenure marked by a series of commendable achievements, commitment, leadership showmanship, dedication, strategic and sterling vision in handling emergency response and disaster management in Nigeria.
“Overtime, he has played a pivotal role in raising public awareness about disaster preparedness and mitigation whilst through commitment to innovation and collaboration, positioned NEMA as a key player in disaster management not only within Nigeria but on the global stage.
“The DG deserves much better than to be placed on twitter if not a social media grill. Under his leadership, the Agency developed solutions to emerging challenges that will enable performance of its functions in line with international humanitarian standards.
“In a world where integrity and sincerity can, at times, be scarce, it is crucial to note that the expository in question lacked detailed facts and credibility, as it heavily relied on hearsay and not absolute fact.
“It therefore poses on the readers and digesters of such cancerous reportage to pose crucial questions before accepting false information as infallible truth.”
In a related development, the coalition also frowned at a recent publication on one of the online news outlets on calls to probe NEMA over alleged failure to refund $4.8 minion unspent after Nigerians’ evacuation from Ukraine.
“What is unknown to them is that NEMA actually refunded unspent balance of the approved fund to the tune of $648,600 USD in two batches of $450,300 and $198,300 respectively to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“From the above finding, it is obvious that the allegation is frivolous and baseless. Instead of the frivolous allegations, the National Emergency Management Agency deserved to be commended for being diligent in carrying out the national assignment of safely bringing stranded compatriots back home, and also being prudent in the application and expending of the allocated fund for the project”.
The coalition also in same vein, commended the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda which came with gratifying reforms, one of which is the implementation of the Steve Oronsaye Report, an action scheduled to restructure and rationalize federal government agencies and parastatals to reduce costs of governance, streamline operations, and improve efficiency.
The National Examinations Council (NECO) has given accreditation to more foreign schools to write the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The Acting Director, Information and Public Relations, Mr. Azeez Sani, disclosed this in a statement.
The newly accredited schools are in Niger Republic and Equatorial Guinea.
“NECO Accreditation Team visited the Schools to assess their readiness to write the SSCE and BECE.
“The Accreditation Team inspected classrooms, laboratories, libraries, computer laboratories, workshops, examination halls and sport facilities to determine their adequacy and suitability for NECO Examinations.
“After a thorough evaluation and comprehensive assessment, the schools were granted full SSCE and full BECE accreditation status,” the statement said.
The statement added that the accreditation of additional foreign schools is a testament to NECO’s commitment to providing quality education and assessment beyond the shores of Nigeria.
“With its expanding global presence, NECO is poised to become a leading examination body in Africa, offering opportunities for students worldwide to benefits from its expertise, thus contributing to the advancement of education in Africa and beyond.”
In another development, the statement disclosed that candidates are participating in the on-going NECO SSCE External in Diffa, Niger Republic.
“The UNHCR School, Diffa, Niger Republic is the first NECO SSCE External Centre outside Nigeria.”
NECO examinations are now written by candidates in Benin Republic, Togo, Cote’ d’Ivoire, Niger Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Saudi Arabia.
Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, suffered the worst defeat of his managerial career as they lost 4-0 to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday night.
The Premier League champions were already on a run of four consecutive defeats ahead of the visit of the North London side.
James Maddison scored twice in the first half to set Spurs on their way to a sensational win.
Pedro Porro drilled in a third, before Brennan Johnson got on the scoresheet late in the game.
The result leaves City in second place with 23 points. They could go eight points behind Liverpool by the end of this Game Week.
Guardiola takes his men to Anfield next weekend.
News
FUOYE Re-Marks Exam Papers of Student Failed By Lecturer Over Sex-for-Grade Scandal, Secures Justice
The Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State, has cleared a female student, Ramota Olahanloye, to graduate following the re-marking of her final-year examination scripts.
Olahanloye had alleged that a lecturer, Dr. Anthony Agbegbedia, demanded sexual favours from her, and when she declined, he deliberately failed her in two final-year courses.
In a statement issued on Friday by the Special Adviser on Media to the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Wole Balogun, the university confirmed that Olahanloye’s allegations were investigated, and her scripts were re-marked.
“The young lady’s scripts were re-marked, and she performed fairly better than the scores initially awarded by Dr. Anthony Agbegbedia,” the statement read.
According to Balogun, the university management approved Olahanloye’s revised results, which qualified her for graduation.
“The university management has given executive approval for her results to be processed. She has since commenced her final clearance from relevant units of the university,” the statement added.
Balogun also disclosed that Agbegbedia had been sanctioned by the institution for his misconduct.
Olahanloye expressed her joy over the resolution of the case, saying, “I am happy that I have gotten justice, and I really appreciate the university Vice-Chancellor for setting up the committee that investigated the matter.
“I was shown my entire results, including the graduation list with my name on it. I have started my clearance as a graduating student of the university, and I am truly happy.”
Her father, Rasaki Olahanloye, also lauded the university for its commitment to justice.
“I can confirm to the world that FUOYE has served justice to my daughter. I was shown her upgraded results after her scripts were re-marked, and it is clear that she passed.
“The university fulfilled its promise to ensure fairness, and I appreciate the VC, Prof. Sunday Fasina, and the committee members for ensuring my daughter gets justice,” he said.
School principal suspended in Akwa Ibom over poor feeding of students
NECO accredits more foreign schools for SSCE, BECE
Guardiola suffers worst defeat of career as Tottenham hammer Man City 4-0
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