President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima will start paying tollgate fees whenever they use airports in Nigeria.

This followed the decision by the Federal Executive Council, FEC, approval that there should be no more exemption granted to users of the airports from paying tollgate fees.

The approval was made following a memorandum presented to the council by the minister of aviation, Festus Keyamo, who argued that the government was losing over 82% of the revenue it should have earned from the e-tags that provide access to the tollgates.

He explained that the memoranda had initially prescribed an exemption for only the president and the vice president before Tinubu overruled and directed that both of them should be included among those that must pay.

Keyamo, who disclosed this at the post-FEC media briefing, regretted that wealthy Very Important Persons, VIPs, who should pay are those that have not been paying.

The minister said only poor people had been charged for using the tollgates, a situation that must stop.

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has revealed that the state is heavily in debt and that his administration inherited a huge debt profile from the previous administration of Nyesom Wike.

Governor Fubara stated this on Tuesday during the commissioning of the Aleto-Ogale-Ebubu-Eteo Road, (also known as Old Bori Road in Eleme Local Government Area of the state.

The governor and Wike, who is the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, have been at loggerheads over control of the political sphere in the state.

Despite intervention from President Bola Tinubu, the duo have continued their cold war.
Wike had on several occasions claimed he was leaving the state debt-free.

But speaking at the commissioning ground at Eleme, Governor Fubara said most projects commissioned by the previous administration were not paid in full, adding that the contractors of the projects not fully funded are returning for outstanding payments.

The Governor, who did not give an estimate of the state’s debt, said he is now compelled to speak out after being pushed by his detractors.

He said: “My story as a person will not be complete if Eleme is not mentioned, that is the truth. Maybe, if I have not started from Eleme, I will not get to Level 14.

“At least I started here before I got to Level 14.

“And for the records, this contract was awarded to CCECC on the 14th of August 2023 not by “I” but by this administration and as we go further, we will be going with a White Paper showing the record and amounts this project was awarded.

“This project was awarded at N6.7bn and I can say boldly no kobo is remaining, we have paid the contractor completely without owing. The purpose of this is to let the world know that if there is one problem this administration has it is debts.

“Most of the projects commissioned (by the last administration), the contractors are still coming for their balance payments running into millions and billions. I have said I don’t want to talk because I am part of that system but when they keep pushing me, I will say it so that we will see the nyansh of the fowl.

“But let us leave that one until when they are ready, we will also be ready. The small one we are doing now, they are not sleeping, I wonder what will happen when we do the big one.

“The Problem we have is accumulated debts from the past government.”
Governor Fubara also said he invited his Abia State counterpart, Alex Otti to commission the project, stating that he is committed to aligning with progressive figures.

Otti, on his part, described Fubara’s style of governance as true leadership, adding that true leadership is service to the people, and not to a few interests.

In his summation, Otti believes Governor Fubara cannot be distracted by the political crisis in Rivers State.

A total of 32 passengers on Saturday escaped death following a multiple road accident on the Iju bridge along Ota-Idiroko road in Ogun State.

The accident involved four vehicles with registration numbers AAA729YC Mazda, LND85YA TOYOTA HIACE, TTN58ND BAJAJ and a SINO TRUCK with no registration number.

DAILY POST reports that the crash which occurred at about 8:55am involved 12 male and 20 female adults, with 17 of them injured.

The Spokesperson of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Ogun, Florence Okpe ascribed the cause of the crash to excessive speed on the part of the Sino truck which tried to negotiate a bend at Iju bridge on a high-speed, lost control and crashed into two vehicles.

She stated that the injured victims were taken to Ota General Hospital for medical attention and advised motorists to shun speed and consider other road users

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has sealed two unregistered factories in Lafia and Obi Local Government Areas of Nasarawa state.

NAFDAC Coordinator in the state, Mr Matthew Adeoye, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lafia.

He said the sealed facilities are an agrochemical factory in Lafia and a table water producing factory in Obi, adding that regulatory officers of the Agency had on May 9, raided the factories and discovered that their products were falsified and substandard.

Adeoye said, “The companies specialized in the manufacturing of falsified and adulterated agrochemicals and unapproved packaged water.

“The activities of these illegal manufacturers of falsified, adulterated agrochemicals have a serious negative effect on farm produce.

“Both companies were found operating without any approval, which is a violation of NAFDAC Act CAP. F.33 LFN 2004.

“Adulterated products from manufacturers like this, when used, do not produce the desired result and cause economic losses, loss of livestock and resultant effects on humans.

“The packaged water facility was also operating in an unhygienic environment without adhering to the water treatment procedures outlined by NAFDAC.”

According to him, the Agency confiscated equipment from the factories, stressing that the facilities would remain sealed until further notice.

He called on manufacturing companies to ensure that they register with relevant regulatory agencies to avoid sanctions.

Gombe State High Court has convicted and sentenced the duo of Abdulwahab Magaji and Salihu Musa to nine years imprisonment for employment fraud and intent to defraud.

Magaji faced a one-count charge of employment scam while Musa was arraigned on two-count charges of intent to defraud and conspiracy by the Gombe Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The charge against Magaji reads: “That you Abdulwahab Adamu Magaji and Adamu Usman between January and December 2023 within the jurisdiction of this honourable court obtained the aggregate sum of Seven million and eight hundred thousand Naira, N7,800,000, only from one Hajia Hauwa Ali which you claimed was payment for the offer of an employment at the Ministry of Health in Gombe, Gombe State and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 320 of the Penal Code Law and Punishable under Section 322 of the same Law.”

One of the charges against Musa reads: “That you Salihu Musa sometime in January 2023 at Gombe, Gombe State within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, with intent to defraud, made false documents, to wit: Bank of America ATM card with card No 4658656032040012, Australia New Zealand Bank Debit card, etc, which you knew to be false document and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 362 of the penal code law and punishable under Section 364 of the same law.”

The EFCC in a statement on its official X handle said the defendants pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them, prompting prosecution counsel S.E Okemini to pray the court to convict and sentence them accordingly, while defence counsel, I.S Gadah and U.M Mojaji pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, stating that the defendants were first-time offenders.

Delivering the judgement Justice Abdulhamid Yakubu convicted and sentenced Musa to six years imprisonment with an option to pay a N60,000 fine.

He also forfeited an iPhone S6 being the tool of his crime to the federal government while Magaji bagged three years imprisonment or a fine of N30,000.

The judge also ordered Magaji to pay N7,800,000 (Seven Million, Eight Hundred Thousand Naira, the proceeds of his crime to his victim within three months, beginning from May 2024.

A large billboard which collapsed due to raging thunderstorms in Mumbai has killed no fewer than 14 people and injured 75 others.

A rescue operation was launched on Tuesday morning and authorities told the Press Trust of India news agency that 89 people had been rescued since the incident occurred on Monday evening.

It was gathered that the rains, accompanied by high winds, caused the 30-metre, 100-foot-tall billboard to fall onto a gas station in the suburb of Ghatkopar.

Videos on social media and television showed the billboard shaking amid heavy winds before giving way and then collapsing onto several cars parked in the gas station, flattening and crushing them to the ground.

On Monday night, rescuers were rummaging through the wreckage to look for bodies as they used heavy equipment to cut through the metal girders attached to the billboard.

Rescue workers continued to clear the area on Tuesday, which still had mangled cars and debris.

A city official told Press Trust of India that more than 125 rescuers were on site, including glass cutter teams, using cranes to clear the wreckage, adding that the police are investigating the incident and say the billboard was illegally installed, officials told PTI.

According to the official, 32 of the injured people had been discharged from the hospital.

Six more kidnapped students of the Confluence University of Science and Technology, CUSTECH, Osara have been released from their abductors.

The Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

This brings the number of kidnapped students rescued to 20 according to the Commissioner.

Fanwo noted that data available to the State Government shows that there are four students yet to be found.

The statement reads in part “The fierce gun battle between security agents and the kidnappers forced the kidnappers to succumb to superior firepower and abandon the kidnapped students. Some of the kidnappers escaped with severe injuries.

“Nine students had been rescued first while five others were found the following morning. The families of the six students just rescued have confirmed that the students have arrived home.

“The Executive Governor of Kogi State, His Excellency Alh Ahmed Usman Ododo has expressed deep appreciation to the Joint Forces that carried out the operations, urging them to continue the search until the last student is found.

“We wish to assure the public that the security architecture around our schools has been recalibrated for efficiency and early warning alarm to prevent future occurrence”.

DAILY POST recalls that the Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, SP William Ovye Aya in a statement on Monday announced the release of 14 students who were kidnapped by gunmen in Osara last week.

The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Alfred Adewale Martins, has charged civil society and other Nigerians with demanding that lower tiers of government (state and local) account for the allocations they receive.

Mr Martins gave the charge in an interview in Lagos. He said searchlights should be beamed on the local and state governments as they collected the larger budgetary allocations.

He said the subsisting approach of always focusing on the federal government for virtually everything was misleading and mostly ended in open-ended probes.

According to the cleric, the local and state governments receive votes from the centre for varying projects and services, which, if accomplished, will benefit the people.

Mr Martins said, “But sadly, these projects and services are mostly not carried out or executed. If we continue to concentrate attention only on the centre, it will give the public officials at the lower levels room to continue to swindle and loot public treasuries.

“But when stakeholders ask questions on how resources are being expended, it will make the managers sit up and execute programmes and services as required.

“They are our leaders and representatives, so the conventional terms of the social contract reached with the leaders during electioneering should be seen to be upheld.”

The cleric urged the numerous civil groups in the society to lead in this call for others to follow. He noted that focusing only on Abuja had been the practice with no significant outcome.

He also decried the economic challenges people faced due to unpopular policy drives and called on civil society organisations to change their tactics and demand stewardship from local council leadership.

The cleric frowned upon the level of disconnect between the people and the government, adding that the best place to start to demand good governance and accountability was for the government to be closer to the people.

The U.S. Embassy in Tanzania on Sunday announced a two day shutdown of activities and rescheduled consular appointments to a later date.

The embassy explained that the cancellation of activities which will be on Tuesday and Wednesday is due to an internet outage being experienced in the country as well as in Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda since Sunday.

It however later noted on Monday that the consular section would be open only for visa pick up and emergency cases involving American citizens.

Making the announcement in a post on its official X handle, the embassy wrote, “Due to degraded network service nationwide, the embassy will remain closed to the public. All consular appointments on May 14 & 15 will be cancelled and rescheduled to a later date. The consular section will be open as scheduled for visa pick up and for emergency American citizen cases.” (https://twitter.com/usembassytz/status/1789997408945910215?t=Z9H-acMUyiPFU7Y6xG4UgA&s=19)

Also, in an earlier post on Sunday, the embassy said, “Due to the current state of the internet in country, all consular appointments for tomorrow are cancelled. We will reschedule for a later date. The consular section will be open only for emergency services tomorrow.” (https://twitter.com/usembassytz/status/1789746833138368777?t=AxMp8SS0xcAKt9FMRDFvAg&s=19)

Speaking to the BBC, industry expert, Ben Roberts, blamed the outage on faults in the under-sea cables connecting the region to the rest of the world through South Africa.

According to metrics shared by internet monitoring group NetBlocks on Monday, Tanzania Tanzania is worst hit by the outage.

Telecom providers in these East African countries, also on Monday, reported that they were still experiencing slow internet connection.