The entitlement to 14 days of paternity leave for male governmental workers has been authorized by the federal government.

Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, the Federation’s Head of Service, made the announcement today while briefing State House media following a virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

This, she explained, is to allow for healthy bonding between a father and a newborn kid, whether natural-born or adopted, especially during the early stages of the child’s life.

Mrs. Yemi-Esan said that dads of adopted children under the age of four months will benefit from the gesture authorized for government employees.

Details will be provided later…

The meeting is being presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, while the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, has not made a public appearance since his aides announced his departure from New York, where he had attended the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Buhari “returned” on September 26, 2021, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, but no photographs of the President arriving at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja were posted on social media by his media handlers, as has been the norm.

Rather, his last public photographs were posted on Saturday, September 25, by social media aide Buhari Sallau via his Facebook page, announcing the President’s departure “for Abuja.”

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Except for a report by the government-owned News Agency of Nigeria titled ‘UNGA-76: Buhari returns with special assignment from World body,’ there has been no statement from the Presidency regarding the retired General’s return to the country.

Meanwhile, his aides have continued to post congratulatory messages and birthday wishes on the President’s behalf, as well as the activities of members of his cabinet, such as Federal Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, among others.

The Gombe State Government in Northern Nigeria claims to have saved 57.68 million Naira from civil servant suspensions in September by implementing the State Integrated Payroll Payment Gateway and Human Resource Management Information System Programme.

In a press conference in Gombe in September 2021, the Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development, Mr. Muhammad Magaji, stated that the total number of staff suspended and those to be investigated was 901, with salaries totaling 77 million 340 thousand 484 naira 19 kobo.

He stated that 170 of them, with salaries of 19.66 million Naira, would be investigated, but that their salaries for September would be paid to them.

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According to him, civil servants who had previously been suspended but had presented their complaints and proof that they had been wrongfully suspended had their issues resolved and reabsorbed into the system.

According to the Gombe State Commissioner of Finance, the government has completed biometric enrolment in ten of the state’s eleven local government areas, with Funakaye Local Government Staff now being enrolled.

He stated that after the Funakaye enrolment was completed, the government would hold a mop-up enrolment to allow those who had not yet enrolled to do so; otherwise, enrolment would be closed and those who had not yet enrolled would have to wait until the Gombe State Civil Service decided to hire new staff.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Gombe State Civil Service, Mr Bappayo Yahaya, has advised civil servants to adhere to the system’s set guidelines by reporting on duty on time and closing at the specified time to avoid being negatively affected by the government’s strict measures.

Mr. Bappayo stated that the Biometric Attendance System was here to stay because a team from the company in charge of the supply and installation of the biometric machines was in the process of checking the condition of the machines and, if necessary, taking note of faults and improving on them for improved service delivery.

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It will be remembered that the Gombe State Government implemented the Biometric Attendance Programme in order to checkmate the excesses of the state’s civil servants, some of whom enjoy abandoning their duties posts or not even appearing at all, but always collecting salaries at the end of the month.

The initiative, according to the government, will ensure that governments at both the state and local levels take stock of civil servants through the installed machines, which register staff daily, verify their fingerprints and facial descriptions, and finally authenticate their attendance.

According to the government, the goal of the biometric attendance program is to reduce and eventually eliminate payroll fraud.

The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, believes the advisory in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) pamphlet demonstrates President Muhammadu Buhari’s inability to provide security on Nigeria’s highways.

The NYSC security tips included a ransom payment, which prompted the parliament to launch an investigation.

This followed the passage of a motion by Mr Elumelu on the House floor on Tuesday in Abuja.

Picture evidence of a provision under section 65(e) of the NYSC security tips pamphlet had surfaced, according to reports.

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The section advised corps members to notify their families in case they are kidnapped on the road.

Mr Elumelu, who was disturbed by the kidnap warning in the NYSC pamphlet, observed that the government appeared to have surrendered to kidnappers and bandits.

As a result, the House decided to charge the Committee on Youth Development with investigating the inclusion of item 65(e) in the NYSC Security Awareness and Education Handbook.