Five things to know to start your Friday

Momodu advice Wike’s camp against support for another party

Dele Momodu, PDP presidential aspirant, CEO and Publisher of Ovation International magazine, has waded into the matter surrounding Governor Nyesom Wike and his loyalists’ withholding their support for the party’s presidential candidate.

Speaking from Bekane, Morocco to Arise TV, the publisher advised against any move by Governor Wike and his loyalists to decamp to another party. He argued that despite having the right to leave the campaign train of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the party, Wike and co should not support the presidential candidates of other parties.

He also  advised them of the implications of defecting to another party ahead of the 2023 general election.

“If I thought they were wasting their time, I wouldn’t be here speaking to you. I believe that I needed to talk to you so that I could publicly appeal to them again,” he said. “If they decide to go, it is within their right. Nobody can stop any grown man from taking a decision.”

Momodu advised them to shun the idea of supporting any presidential candidate outside of the PDP.

“If their decision is to throw their weight behind a presidential candidate of another party, it would be political suicide. Because they have so much at stake, so during the presidential, Governor Makinde will say don’t go to my party— the PDP —and then a week after you say now vote for me. It doesn’t work that way.”

In a repeat of what happened in the past when the governors in the Alliance of Democracy (AD) supported Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP in the presidential election of 2003, he advised the governors, especially Makinde of the PDP, to tread carefully. “Look, the truth of the matter is that, for an illustration, if you beat a child, they would say, ‘Oh yes, it is good to discipline a child. However, if you kill your child, nobody is going to do business with you.”

Read also: Wike hits Atiku, but gives hope to PDP

ASUU Strike: Rep summon Ngige, DG budget office, SGF, others

Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday, invited Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, the Director General of the Budget Office and several others to appear before the lawmakers next Thursday.

The lawmakers have been pleaded upon to do everything possible to resolve this lingering strike. Gbajabiamila, at the resumed fact-finding meeting on the strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Universities (ASUU), also invited the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan; the Accountant General of the Federation; the Director General, Salaries, Income, and Wages Commission; and the Director General Budget Office, among others.

According to Arise TV, this move by the House of Representative leadership is seen as part of the push to resolve the lingering ASUU strike. Gbajabiamila, alongside his deputy, Ahmed Idris Wase, and other leaders of the House, on Thursday met with the Head of Service of the Federation (HoS), the chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, Ekpo Nta, among other government officials.

Thursday’s meeting was a sequel to an earlier one the Speaker held with ASUU officials on Tuesday, where issues related to the strike were discussed.

Nigeria is ready to be a major supply chain partner to global economies like US — Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari believes that Nigeria can take advantage of the current crisis in the global supply chain and become a major international supply chain partner to global economies like the United States.

The president made this declaration on Thursday while speaking to ambassadors and foreign investors on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

Buhari also used the opportunity to announce tax-free incentives to encourage investment in Nigeria.

He told captains of industry, ambassadors, foreign investors, and others at the Forum that his administration had facilitated fiscal investment, including three to five years of tax holidays for enterprises in pioneer industries, tax-free operations, and no restrictions on expatriate quotas in Nigeria’s free trade zones.

Among other things, the administration has made provisions for capital allowances in agriculture, manufacturing, and engineering, as well as a 5 percent VAT-free regime.

UK railway workers plan nationwide strike October 8

British rail workers will go on a nationwide strike next month due to an ongoing dispute over pay, jobs, and work conditions, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) said on Thursday.

According to The RMT said that on Oct. 8, 40,000 of its members at Network Rail and 15 train operators will take part in another round of industrial action.

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch welcomed that new transport secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, met with the union, but insisted they still had no choice.

“However, as no new offer has been tabled, our members have no choice but to continue this strike action,” Lynch said. “We will continue to negotiate in good faith, but the employers and government need to understand our industrial campaign will continue for as long as it takes.”

A separate rail union has announced strike action on October 1 and October 5.

Britain has faced a series of strikes in recent months, with the transport sector being particularly restive, due to surging inflation and an escalating cost-of-living crisis.

UK in recession, says Bank of England as it raises interest rates to 2.25%

Britain’s economy is now in recession, the Bank of England has said, as it raised interest rates to tackle the worst bout of inflation for 40 years.

According to Reuters, a majority of the Bank’s nine-member monetary policy committee (MPC) voted to increase the key base rate by 0.5 percentage points to 2.25% – its highest level since 2008 – judging that the risks of inflationary pressures becoming entrenched outweighed the short-term dangers to the economy.

With soaring energy bills and the rising cost of a weekly shop forcing households to rein in their spending, Threadneedle Street said the economy was heading for a second consecutive quarter of falling output.

After a 0.1 percent drop in gross domestic product in the three months to June as the economy slumped into reverse, the Bank said a further 0.1 percent decline could now be expected in the third quarter amid a slump in consumer spending and weaker activity for manufacturing and construction.

It said the fall also reflected a smaller-than-expected bounce back from the additional bank holiday for the Queen’s platinum jubilee, as well as the impact from businesses closing their doors in a mark of respect for the state funeral this week.