Yar�Adua to Workers
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua advised Nigerians to do away with past negative practices and work positively towards building a better future for the country. The President’s call came just as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) urged him not to allow his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and elements of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s model of politics within his government to sabotage the mandate the people of Edo State gave to Adams Oshiomhole. Speaking at the Workers’ Day celebration at the Eagle Square, Abuja, the President, represented by the Minister of Labour, Dr. Hassan Mohammed Lawal, admonished organised labour to support his administration’s seven-point economic agenda.
Nyako Wins
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the re-run Adamawa State governorship election, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd), coasted home to victory as he defeated his rival, Alhaji Ibrahim Bapetel, of the Action Congress (AC). Dr. Abdul Bulama, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, who was also the Returning Officer, declared that PDP won in all the 21 local governments of the state. Nyako beat other 11 contestants by polling 361,729 votes. His closest rival, Bapetel, scored 201,767. Joel Madaki of the Labour Party (LP) came third with 7,360 votes. Nyako was removed by the Court of Appeal which upheld the decision of governorship election tribunal, which nullified his election on the basis of Bapetel being unlawfully excluded from April 14, 2007 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Electricity Subsidy
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua took a major step towards attracting investment for the development of Nigeria’s power supply sector with the approval of the implementation of a new Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) with effect from July 1, 2008. Under the MYTO, electricity tariffs would be determined by market dynamics, but to protect low-income earners from having to pay exorbitant bills, the Federal Government has budgeted N177 billion as what can be termed “electricity subsidy” for the next three years. Special Adviser to the President on Communications, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, said the introduction of the MYTO is expected to boost the confidence of lenders and investors alike in Nigeria’s power sector.
Rice Importation
At the end of an emergency meeting with the 36 states governors and relevant ministries related to food security, President Umaru Yar’Adua approved the immediate release of N80 billion from the Natural Resources Development Fund (NRDF) for the importation of 500,000 metric tonnes of rice from Thailand to cushion the effects of the global food crisis. Addressing State House Correspondents at the end of the three-and-a-half hour meeting, the Governors of Ondo State, Chief Olusegun Agagu, Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau and Akwa Ibom State, Obong Godswill Akpabio, as well as the Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Mallam Sayyadi Abba Ruma, said the meeting also approved the immediate release of about 11,000 metric tonnes of grains from the Federal Government Strategic Reserve as additional measure to augment an earlier release of over 40 million metric tonnes.
Soludo on AFC
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, told the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency that the bank invested $462 million in the African Finance Corporation (AFC), maintaining that no law was breached in the process. Soludo was speaking against the backdrop of the controversy over the actual amount of money the Federal Government invested in AFC and if the bank followed due process in the establishment of the financial institution. However, the police committee investigating CBN’s investment in the corporation has frozen its accounts in the United States, in what analysts see as a confidence-damaging move for intending foreign investors in the Nigerian economy.