Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former minister of finance, says she is yet to be declared director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The final shortlist for the office of the WTO DG was released by the trade body on Thursday.
Okonjo-Iweala and Yoo Myung-hee, former South Korean minister of trade, are the two final candidates for the top position in WTO.
Whoever emerges between the duo will become the first female WTO DG since the organisation was set up 25 years ago.
Following the announcement of Okonjo-Iweala as a final contestant for the role, information has been spreading on several platforms across social media that she has been declared winner.
But in a statement, Paul Nwabuikwu, Okonjo-Iweala’s media adviser, said the ex-minister has not been declared winner.
Nwabuikwu said the race is ongoing, adding that a winner will be announced in two to three weeks.
“The race for the WTO director-general is still very much on. Contrary to inaccurate information released online by an unidentified source, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has not yet been declared winner,” the statement reads.
“As announced by WTO, the former managing director of the World Bank and South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee are the final two contestants left in the race.
“The winner should be announced in two to three weeks. That remains the correct position.
“Dr Okonjo-Iweala is appreciative and energised by the enthusiastic support of Nigerians. And she is urging all to keep praying until the final whistle.”
A driver of one of the ride-hailing services, Kingsley Amaechi, has accused an officer of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos State Command, of extorting him after he escaped from suspected kidnappers.
It was gathered that the suspected kidnappers, who pretended to be passengers, ordered a ride from the Eleganza area of Lekki around 9pm on Wednesday, September 23, 2020, for the Oshodi area of the state.
PUNCH Metro learnt that one of the suspected kidnappers told Amaechi that he would alight at the Law School area of the state.
Amaechi told our correspondent that when he parked for one of the passengers to alight, the remaining two dragged him from the front seat to the back seat, held his throat and used a hammer to hit his body, and the third suspects drove the car.
He stated, “I picked up these kidnappers, who pretended to be passengers. They told me that they were going to Oshodi and I was ready to take them there, because it is my job. I was driving when one of them told me that they would like to alight at the Law School and I obliged. After we got to the Law School, one of them alighted and the other two at the back held me and started pressing my throat.
“They took me to the back seat and started hitting my knees, shoulders and elbows with a hammer. I was so weak and in pains but had to endure. The man who alighted was the one driving. He stopped the car and said that the fuel had finished.
“They used my T-shirt to cover my face as they drove into a filling station, where I shouted to alert people, but they drove off and someone at the filling station followed the car, but they ran him off the road.
“After we left the filling station, they tortured me even more. One of them bit my nose till it started bleeding, while the other squeezed my throat and I couldn’t breathe. They raised the volume of the radio and wound up the glasses. I begged them to let me go and told them that I had N45,000 in my wallet and a piggy bank in my boot and they should please take it and let me go, but they refused.
“They told me that they couldn’t let me go because they needed my heart and manhood for rituals. One of the kidnappers told the others to just cut me open to take out my heart and manhood, and dispose of my body, because I was attracting a lot of attention, but their leader told him to wait till we get to Ibadan. I was so weak due to the torture.
‘’When I saw some people outside, I began to scream for help and that was how some area boys chased after the car till the driver crashed it. The area boys caught the two suspects sitting at the back while the one driving escaped.
Amaechi added that the suspects were later taken away by policemen from the Makoko Police Station before the case was transferred to SARS.
He added that the Investigating Police Officer in charge of the matter extorted N20,000 from him before he commenced an investigation into the matter.
“The case has been transferred from Makoko to SARS Ikeja and the IPO in charge of the case said I had to pay N20,000 before they could begin the investigation. I have paid him the money and he is still treating me anyhow. He told me that if I called his phone again, he would curse me. I want justice; my car is still with the police and nothing has been done concerning the matter,” he stated.
When PUNCH Metro contacted the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Muyiwa Adejobi, he asked the victim to contact him so that investigation could commence.
“Kindly advice the victim to contact me so that investigation can commence,” he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari has increased the allocation for the National Assembly in the 2021 budget by N3 billion when compared to previous years.
The president allocated N128 billion – a rise on the N125 billion budgetary allocation in past years.
This was contained in the 2021 budget estimates presented to a joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday.
The total proposed expenditure is put at N13.08 trillion with a crude oil benchmark price of $40 per barrel and daily oil production estimate of 1.86 million barrels (inclusive of condensates of 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day).
This also includes N1.35 trillion spending by government-owned enterprises, and grants and aid-funded expenditures of N354.85 billion.
In order to enhance national security and human capital development, a major part of the 2021 recurrent cost estimate is allocated to paying salaries and overheads in MDAs providing these critical public services.
The 2021 budget for the Ministry of Defence was put at N840.56 billion against N878.4 billion budgeted for 2020 with N121 billion earmarked for capital projects.
A total of N227.02 billion has been budgeted for the Ministry of Interior while N441.39 billion for the Ministry of Police Affairs.
The ministries of education and health get N545.10 and N380.21 billion respectively.
Other allocations include N29.7 billion for the North East Development Commission, N110 billion for the Nigerian Judicial Council, N70.05 billion for Universal Basic Education Commission, and N40 billion for the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Others are the Public Complaints Commission – N5.20 billion; Human Rights Commission – N3.00 billion; and Basic Health Care Provision Fund – N35.03 billion.
Capital projects
Key capital spending allocations in the 2021 budget include:
a. Power – N198 billion (inclusive of N150 billion for the Power Sector Recovery Plan).
b. Works and Housing – N404 billion.
c. Transportation – N256 billion.
d. Defence – N121 billion.
e. Agriculture and Rural Development – N110 billion.
f. Water Resources – N153 billion.
g. Industry, Trade and Investment – N51 billion.
h. Education – N127 billion.
i. Universal Basic Education Commission – N70 billion.
j. Health – N132 billion.
k. Zonal Intervention Projects – N100 billion.
l. Niger Delta Development Commission – N64 billion.
The lawmakers are expected to receive the finance bill which will contain details of the budget for consideration and passage.
President Muhammadu Buhari says only federal workers that have been captured by the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) platform will continue to receive salaries.
Buhari said this when he presented the 2021 budget of N13.08trillion to the joint session of the National Assembly in Abuja on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), currently on industrial action, has vowed never to key into the IPPIS platform, as demanded by the government.
NAN reports that ASUU had since claimed to have developed an alternative salary platform for University workers.
ASUU National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, said that the union’s ongoing strike would continue in spite of the government’s decision to reopen schools shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We started our industrial action before the outbreak of coronavirus disease in the country.
“All the issues we raised are yet to be addressed. The government is free to open its schools, just like our members are also entitled to their dues.
“As we speak, our members are being owed between three to six months of salaries. The government’s so-called fund saving platform, the Integrated Personnel, and Payroll Information System is a colossal failure.
“Apart from that, the government is yet to take any step to revitalise the education sector among others,” he said.
However, Buhari, who insisted that all federal workers must enroll in the IPPIS platform, said the directive was meant to check fraud including payment of salaries to non-existent personnel as well unauthorised allowances.
Buhari also directed all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure that they obtain necessary approvals before embarking on fresh recruitment.
He warned that any breach of the directive would be severely sanctioned.
Buhari said that the Ministry of Education’s capital allocation had been increased by 65 per cent to improve the education of Nigerian children.
The president revealed that funds had been provided for the provision of scholarships to Nigerian students at home and abroad.
“We have provided funds for the upgrade of security and other infrastructure facilities in our Unity Colleges nationwide.
“To improve access to education, we have made provision for the establishment of five new Federal Science and Technical Colleges.
“We have also provided for the payment of allowances to 5,000 teachers under the Federal Teachers Scheme,’’ he added.
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the temporary freezing of three accounts belonging to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa.
The order was pursuant to a motion ex parte filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which is investigating the Speaker for alleged fraud.
According to the court papers obtained by Sahara Reporters marked FHC/L/CS/1069/2020, Obasa’s three accounts with Standard Chartered Bank are under restriction pending the conclusion of the substantive probe.
They include: a United States Dollar account marked 001852963; a current account with number 0018552956 and a savings account with number – 5002349821.
The order which was signed by the court’s registrar, Adebimpe Oni, was made on September 15, 2020.
The anti-graft agency said it filed the matter “Pursuant to section 44 (2) (K) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and section 26, 29, and 34 (1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004, and under the inherent jurisdiction of this honourable court.”
Obasa has been in the custody of the EFCC responding to allegations of fraud.
The Spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, told our correspondent that Obasa was invited and he honoured the invitation on Thursday.
“He was invited, not arrested. He is responding to questions,” Uwujaren said.
Obasa, who is a two-time Speaker of the House, has been facing several allegations of corruption.
The Speaker had some months ago appeared before the House panel of enquiry on the corruption allegations levelled against him.
While Obasa denied most of the allegations, he admitted that N80m as estacode was approved for the training of the wives of 20 lawmakers in Dubai.
“We gave N4m to each of the participants for air tickets, hotels, feedings and local travel. Air ticket to Dubai alone costs about N2m. Some of these allegations were raised for a crusade to get the Speaker out of office.
“The House of Assembly is above common standard of excellence and we have to train people, and this comes at a cost. Learning is not cheap and I have never collected N80m for estacode at a go before,” he said.
The House committee subsequently cleared him which sparked protests among several anti-corruption groups.
Another heavy explosion has hit a gas station in Lagos. The exact number of victims is yet to be ascertained.
According to National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman, Ibrahim Farinloye, the explosion occurred around 6.am at Best Roof Gas Station located at Unity Bus Stop, Fatade area of Baruwa in Alimoso Local Government Area of the State.
The fire is still raging in the area while officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), NEMA and Fire Service are now on the ground.
According to the spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency ( NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, “LPG Dispensing Plant explosion ongoing at Baruwa Inside, one State Fire tanker on ground more have been requested to turn in.”
Immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has decried the removal of his cap by thugs at the Peoples Democratic Party rally in Ondo State on Wednesday.
Fayose warned that what happened to the late Bola Ige must not happen to him after the incident.
It was reported that Ige’s cap was removed at the Palace of the Ooni of Ife shortly before his killers struck and shot him dead at his Bodija residence in Ibadan on December 23, 2001.
In a video that surfaced online, Fayose was making his way to the podium at the campaign ground when some hoodlums moved towards him and removed his cap.
Fayose said he would “make a formal report of the incidence to the security agencies and the party relevant authorities”, noting that “it was not something to be handled with levity as security agencies will have to unravel all the thugs brought to the event and their sponsors”.
In a statement by his Media Aide, Lere Olayinka, the former governor accused a governor and a former Deputy National Chairman of PDP of masterminding the assault on him at the party’s campaign rally for the Ondo State governorship election in Ondo town.
Fayose said despite “the shameful act”, he “won’t stop saying the truth concerning the running of the party in the South-West zone and those who have failed to produce any result in Lagos State since 1999 will be made to retire.”
While warning that nothing must happen to him, Fayose said, “That’s how late Chief Bola Ige’s cap was removed in Ile-Ife, Osun State then and we all know what happened later.
“So this one will not be ignored and treated as one of those things.
“The masterminds had it all planned and they followed it up by celebrating what they saw as the success of their plot. They even capped it up by circulating the video.
“So it was not an accident, it was planned. But those who planned it only succeeded in advertising their political myopism because the popularity of the brand Ayo Fayose, Osokomole cannot be rubbished by such a childish act.
“That they must have seen in the reaction of the people at the rally and I am sure they know that they can’t get such loud ovation even if they spend all the money in this world.
“As for me, I am unperturbed and I must say it clearly that those newcomers to the PDP and their old allies, who won’t mind soiling the image of the party to achieve their aims will not be allowed to succeed.”
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State has announced Alhaji Ahmed Bamali as the new Emir of Zazzau to succeed the late Shehu Idris.
The announcement put paid to speculations that Zazzau Emirate might be split into three. The conjecture followed the delay in announcing a new monarch.
The appointment of Bamali was, however, greeted by uneasy calm as Zaria was palpably devoid of jubilation and fanfare that usually followed such declaration.
A Government House statement signed by the Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Ja’afaru Sani, yesterday confirmed the appointment of Bamali.
The statement read: “The Governor of Kaduna State, El-Rufai, has approved the appointment of Alhaji Ahmed Nuhu Bamali as the 19th Emir of Zazzau. He succeeds Alhaji Shehu Idris, who died on Sunday, September 20, 2020 after reigning for 45 years.
“Bamali is the first emir from the Mallawa Ruling House in 100 years, following the demise in 1920 of his grandfather, Emir Dan Sidi. Until his appointment as Emir of Zazzau, Bamali held the title of Magajin Garin Zazzau and served as Nigeria’s ambassador to Thailand, with concurrent accreditation to Myanmar.”
THE statement noted that the new emir had been a permanent commissioner in the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission.
Bamali was also an executive director of a bank and later acting managing director of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Corporation (NSPMC).
“He was an employee of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Agency before becoming the head of Human Resources at MTel, the mobile communications arm of the old Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL),” the statement added.
Born in 1966, Bamali studied Law at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, and holds a master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy and a diploma in Organisational Leadership from Oxford University.
He is also a fellow on Conflict Resolution of the University of York, United Kingdom (UK).
El-Rufai congratulated the new emir and wished him a successful and peaceful reign.
SIMILARLY, a former governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi, has hailed the appointment of Bamali and urged the people to support him.
In a statement, Makarfi said he believed the new emir would deploy his wealth of experience to provide purposeful leadership to both the Zazzau emirate and the state’s Council of Chiefs.
“ I am confident the new emir will be a roof large enough to accommodate all shades in the Zazzau Emirate and beyond. I earnestly pray to Allah to grant the emir the energy, good health, perseverance and wisdom to discharge this onerous responsibility. I also pray for Allah’s continued guidance and protection for the emir,” Makarfi said.
In his reaction, a contender and crown prince (Yeriman Zauzau), Alhaji Munir Ja’afaru, appealed for calm and support for the new emir.
Ja’afaru, in a statement, said: “May Allah make it the best. I am impressed with you, the new king of Zauzau, may Allah make you a blessing to the people.”
Ja’afaru was the crown prince to the throne when the late emir, Shehu Idris, died. He waited for 45 years, after been declared too young as emir at the age of 19.
Recall that Bamali’s name was not included in the first kingmakers’ list of three candidates submitted to the governor, from among whom he was expected to approve one as new emir. El-Rufai, however, rejected the list and directed the kingmakers to include all contenders in a new list.
The kingmakers complied and presented a fresh list of 11 candidates to the governor.
The three candidates earlier nominated by the kingmakers were the Yariman Zazzau, Munir Jaafaru, from the Bari Bari Ruling House; the Iyan Zazzau, Bashir Aminu, from Katsina Ruling House; and the eldest son of the immediate past emir, the Turakin Zazzau, Aminu Idris, also from Katsina Ruling House.
On the uneasy calm that followed the announcement by El-Rufai, some observers in Kaduna metropolis said the delay in the pronouncement and controversies over the successor might have killed the excitement and jubilation that usually characterised such declaration.
Nigerian rapper, Olawale Hassan also known as Goldie 1, has been sentenced to jail in the United Kingdom for raping a woman.
According to BirminghamMail, Hassan made advances to the woman at a venue in Southend in February 2017.
The 34-year-old said he would get her home safely but instead drove her to a car park where he overpowered her and ignored her requests for him to stop.
Hassan was found guilty at Basildon Crown Court of three counts of rape and one of sexual assault, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
The defendant, of Grays in Essex, was jailed on Tuesday, October 6, for 10 years and two months, the CPS said.
Former Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has advanced to the final round in the race to lead the World Trade Organization.
Members of the Geneva-based trade body also selected South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee.
The PUNCH reports the final two were selected from a list of five candidates.
The initial pool of eight candidates to replace Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down as WTO director-general in August – a year ahead of schedule, was narrowed down to five last month.
The three eliminated during the second round of “confessionals” – in which all member states confidentially voice their preferences – were Liam Fox of Britain, Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri of Saudi Arabia, and Amina Mohamed of Kenya.
Jesus Saede Kuri of Mexico, Tudor Ulianovschi of Moldova and Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh of Egypt were cut during the first round.
The WTO will likely have the first female director-general in its 25-year history as no woman has ever headed the global trade body.
The PUNCH gathered that the official announcement of the two candidates left standing is expected tomorrow (Thursday).
But several sources familiar with the member states’ decision told AFP that “Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria had made it”, while one source said “Yoo Myung-hee of South Korea had also made the cut”.
Okonjo-Iweala and Yoo’s candidacies received a boost earlier this week when EU member states officially threw their weight behind them.
A third and final round of consultations will begin later this month and is scheduled to run until November 6, when the WTO aims to agree by consensus on the next director-general.
Okonjo-Iweala, 66, served as Nigeria’s first female finance and foreign minister, and has a 25-year career behind her as a development economist at the World Bank, eventually becoming its number two.
She is also on the Twitter board of directors and is a special envoy for the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 fight.
If she emerges triumphant from the final elimination round, she would not only be the first woman, but also the first African to lead the global trade body.
Yoo, 53, is meanwhile currently serving as her country’s first female trade minister, following a career in trade diplomacy and foreign affairs.
