NewsReports

The Federal Government would soon begin monitoring the implementation of the National Minimum Wage Act 2019, which increased the minimum wage for Nigerian workers from N18,000 to N30,000. The Chairman/CEO of National Salaries, Incomes and wages Commission, Ekpo Nta, at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday, said that it would be an interagency collaboration meant to gather evidence of compliance …

*As Okowa urges Itsekiri to work with new monarch The Olu of Warri, His Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse III, yesterday, pledged his commitment to peace and shared prosperity with the Ijaws, Urhobos and other ethnic groups in the state. The monarch, who was on a thank-you-visit to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in Asaba, said: “Following my coronation on August 21, this year, …

Wireless operators want a reduction in the reserve price the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has fixed for licensing at an upcoming key auction expected to set in motion the launch of 5G technology in Nigeria. The price, which is in the neighbourhood of N75 billion ($197.4 million), will be adopted for the bid round, said Oluwatoyin Asaju, director of NCC’s spectrum administration …

*Security operatives kill suspected kidnapper in Ekiti *As abductors of Edo school pupils demand N100m ransom Four persons, including a Customs Officer, his wife, a woman Assistant Superintendent of Police and another woman, were, yesterday, kidnapped by gunmen in Kwamba, Suleja Local Government Area of Niger State. It was gathered that the armed men stormed the residence of the Customs …

The Federal Government has announced its decision to review the propriety or otherwise of agencies created since 2014, after a White Paper was released on the report of the Committee on the Restructuring and Rationalization of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies. As part of measures to reduce the cost of governance, the Committee on the Restructuring and Rationalization of …

Members of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Land and Marine Transport have questioned the federal government’s plan to construct a standard gauge rail line from Kano-Maradi, Niger Republic, while it plans to construct narrow rail lines for other rail projects in South-east, South-south and North-east. The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, was grilled by the panel when he appeared for …

The corpses of the Managing Director, Fourscore Heights Limited, Mr Femi Osibona, and his friend, a United States of America-based Nigerian businessman, Wale Bob-Oseni, have been recovered from the 21-storey building that collapsed on Gerrard Road in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State. PUNCH Metro learnt that their bodies were found on Thursday by responders during the recovery operation at the …

Some residents of Awka in Anambra and environ have said that they were ready to exercise their franchise in the Saturday Governorship election in the state. The electorate in the state told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Friday that they were in high spirit to vote for their preferred candidate on the Nov. 6 election. They …

Amid the brewed mix of fear and optimism ahead tomorrow’s governorship election in Anambra State, the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) last night cancelled the one-week sit-at-home order it issued across the Southeast. IPOB said it called off the order after consultations with elders, traditional and religious leaders from the region. The group’s Director of Media and Publicity, Emma …

French farmers were ordered Friday to keep their poultry indoors due to the heightened risk of bird flu being spread by migratory birds. The order published in the French official journal follows a similar measure adopted in the Netherlands last week after a case of the highly-contagious H5 strain of bird flu was discovered on a poultry farm and 36,000 …