Television Nigerian

For the Yuletide season, the government of President Bola Tinubu announced on Thursday that interstate transportation fares would be cut by 50%.
For Nigerians traveling to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s, the Federal Government decided to lower travel costs.

Olujimi Oyetomi, the Ministry of Transportation’s Director of Press and Public Relations, said this in a statement.

According to the statement, “Patronages will board buses to their destinations for only 50% of fares, as declared by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to commence the 2024 Yuletide road transportation.”

A larger plan to provide transportation palliatives for Nigerians enjoying Christmas and New Year’s Eve was announced by President Bola Tinubu.

Adeleye Adeoye, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, represented Senator Said Alkali, the Minister of Transportation, who presided over the signing event.

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The Federal Government inked an MOU with important transportation stakeholders, such as God is Good Motors, the Association of Luxurious Bus Owners of Nigeria, the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, and the National Union of Road Transport Workers.

Passengers will only pay half the regular ticket when they depart from Abuja and Lagos (Oshodi) to various places throughout the nation under the arrangement.

In advance of the local government elections scheduled for February 22, 2025, the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, or OSSIEC, has revealed plans to hire more than 8,000 ad hoc employees.

The action is a component of the commission’s endeavors to guarantee smooth elections across the state.

Members of the Osun State House of Assembly Committee on Local Government, headed by Olujimi Asagade, visited Osogbo on Thursday, where OSSIEC Chairman Hashim Abioye gave a speech.

He emphasized that the polling preparations were almost finished.

He gave stakeholders his word that the commission was prepared to hold free and fair elections.

He emphasized the Commission’s independence while pointing out that there was no outside intervention, especially from the state’s administrative branch and state governor Ademola Adeleke.

Additionally, he emphasized his dedication to upholding neutrality during the election process.

“I can assure you that we are completely prepared for the elections,” he remarked. In order to guarantee a more effective method, we are utilizing technology to hire ad hoc workers.

“A throng would have crowded our premises if we hadn’t taken that action. For the elections, we will require more than 8,000 ad hoc employees.

Abioye stated that the Commission’s facilities had been upgraded and that a functional portal had been set up for hiring and other preparation tasks.

“The commission has put technologies in place to monitor actions at polling places, even though the voting process won’t be entirely electronic.

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Although the results won’t be sent electronically, we can keep an eye on events in each polling station thanks to the facilities we have on site. To do that, we have digital equipment,” he continued.

“I can tell you most sincerely that Governor Ademola Adeleke is not interfering with our duties,” Abioye said, restating OSSIEC’s independence. In order to foster trust, we are also including the Inter-Party Advisory Council into all of our endeavors.

“We are grateful to the House for providing us with a sound statute to work within. Other states are now using Osun’s local government election law as a model.

Asagade said that the Assembly was prepared to assist the commission in holding an election that would be acceptable to all parties involved and commended the OSSIEC Chairman for providing a solid basis for the commission.

Former Minister of Aviation, Fani-Kayode, has again lambasted the leader of the British Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, for her criticism of Nigeria.

It was remembered that Badenoch, a Nigerian born British citizen, has persistently insulted Nigeria and her institutions.

In a recent interview with a British journalist, she accused police officers back home of snatching her brother’s wristwatch and shoes in defence of the UK police.

Reacting to her statements against Nigeria, Vice President Kashim Shettima recently ordered her to remove ‘Kemi’ from her name if she was not proud of her Nigerian ancestry.

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However, Fani-Kayode while answering to Badenoch in a tweet from his official X handle on Thursday, said the conservative party leader cannot claim for police protection for her mother in Lagos from the police she attacked

“She says she trusts the British police and claims that Nigerian policemen stole her brother’s watch and shoes.

“But she refuses to acknowledge the fact that the British police are amongst the most institutionally racist and corrupt in the world.

“That many black people, including Nigerians, have been framed, persecuted, tortured, illegally incarcerated, maliciously prosecuted and killed over the years including thousands of Nigerians who are butchered yearly on the streets of the UK in violent knife crimes.

“The British police turned a blind eye to all of these simply because most of the victims are black.

“Given her views about our policemen, one wonders why she insists on her mother having police protection in Lagos”, Fani-Kayode noted.

Rivers State Governor Sim Fubara has promised to resolve disputes and defeat troublemakers by utilizing artificial intelligence and peace.

Regardless matter the degree of provocation, Fubara promised never to use force to settle disagreements.

He said this on Thursday at the official opening of Eze Oha Apara Palace in Rumuigbo, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, for Eze Worlu-Wodo, the Paramount Ruler of Ekinigbo, and Eze Oha Apara IV.

“As they have stated, I would not be interested if it were in other cases,” he remarked. No, no, no. That’s not how I play politics. Our chairman is from Rivers State, and anything we do is funded by state resources rather than my money.

“Try to keep your temper in check, regardless of how provoked you are. We don’t settle disputes by fighting. To get rid of troublemakers, you use peace, do it properly, and use artificial intelligence.

Rivers State’s political system has been a point of contention between Fubara and Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

Due to lawmakers grouping themselves along allegiance lines, their rift has caused fractures inside the State House of Assembly.

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Amid the ongoing hostility between the two leaders, the gathering was bombed earlier this year.

The cold war between the governor and the minister continues in spite of President Bola Tinubu’s attempts at mediation.

Dr. Grace Adagba, the chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board, or SUBEB, has been asked by the Benue House of Assembly to immediately resign from her position.

During its plenary session on Thursday, the House decided to permit an inquiry into the board’s hiring process.

Peter Ipusu (APC, Katsina-Ala West), the Chief Whip, made the motion that led to the resolution.

Ipusu said that in order to allow for an examination into the issues surrounding the exercise, the House had previously passed a resolution ordering the board chairman to halt the current hiring of primary school teachers. But the order was disregarded.

He emphasized that the chairman issued a statement the day after the resolution was delivered, stating that different local governments had been given revised cut-off marks according to their performance on the Computer-Based Test, or CBT.

The Chief Whip added that other names were later shortlisted by the board for in-person screening.

In addition to being reactionary, he voiced worry that the SUBEB statement was demeaning to the Assembly’s honor and its resolutions.

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The motion’s seconder, Alfred Berger (APC, Makurdi North), said the SUBEB chairman lacked the moral character to continue directing the board’s operations. Berger further emphasized that the process was decentralized and that the board’s Department of Quality Assurance solely oversaw it, noting that the law creating the board gave the Local Government Education Authorities, or LGEAs, the authority to hire instructors.

Majority Leader Saater Tiseer, meanwhile, urged his colleagues to listen to the chairman fairly.

As ordered, Tiseer arrived at the assembly by 10 am on the day she was supposed to appear before the House.

He urged his colleagues to behave in accordance with the Constitution and cautioned them against making decisions based on bias.

Anthony Agom (PDP, Okpokwu) seconded the counter-motion, which said the chairman ought to be given the opportunity to defend herself.

Speaker Hyacinth Dajo then gave John Hwande, the clerk, instructions to divide the House. Five members supported the counter-move, while 21 members supported the original motion.

Dajo stated that the chairman should step aside and hand over to the board’s permanent member 1 to allow the House to carry out its investigation.

He further constituted a seven-member committee to investigate the exercise and report to the House within seven days.