Reps plead for leniency for Ekweremadu
Members of the House of Representatives have appealed to the UK government to apply leniency over the sentencing of former deputy senate president Ike Ekweremadu for organ harvesting.
This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance by Rep. Toby Okechukwu (PDP-Enugu) at plenary in Abuja on Tuesday titled “Need for Clemency for Sen. Ike Ekweremadu”.
Presenting the motion, Okechukwu said Ekweremadu acted based on his limited knowledge of UK laws, stressing that he must have learned the bitter lessons.
“Ekweremadu acted within his limited knowledge of the UK laws and did write to the UK High Commission to support the medical visa application for the potential donor and did declare the purpose of the trip.
“Ekweremadu and his wife acted under the natural instincts of parents to save an ailing daughter, not for commercial purposes,” he said.
Read also: Sudan crisis: Reps to probe Egypts reluctance to grant fleeing Nigerians access into territory
Anambra Govt urges petroleum marketers to pay their levies
Tony Ifeanya, the Commissioner for the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, said that the Anambra State Government has commenced recovery of the 2022 consolidated petroleum product levies owed the state government by petroleum product marketers across the state.
Ifeanya made this known in Awka on Tuesday after the Joint Petroleum Enforcement Team monitored some petrol stations in the state.
He said that the enforcement was tagged “Operation Show Evidence of Your Payment 2022 and 2023 Consolidated Petroleum Product Levy”.
According to the commissioner, the exercise is to ensure that the marketers are aware of their civic responsibilities.
“Aside from recovering the 2022 fees, we have also commenced issuing a demand notice for payment of the same levy for the year 2023. The payment of the levy would help the state government serve them better.
“During the monitoring, the enforcement team caught some of the marketers selling adulterated petroleum products, while others were underdispensing the products with adjusted metres at very high prices.
“The team also discovered that some filling stations hoard petroleum products to create artificial scarcity in some areas,” he said.
Shipowners urge Reps to stop NIMASA from disbursing $700m cabotage fund
Shipowners, through the House of Representatives, have called on the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to put a halt on its plan to disburse the sum of $700 million from the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund.
Members at the plenary on Tuesday agreed to direct the Committee on Local Content to “immediately commence investigations of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund to determine all monies that have accrued to the Fund since its establishment in the year 2003 and report to the House within 14 days.”
The lawmakers also resolved to “direct NIMASA to immediately stop the planned disbursement of $700 million to Nigerian citizens and companies,” telling the agency to lay before the House an audited statement of account “showing all monies that have accrued to the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund not later than seven days from the date of this resolution.”
Africa Prudential shareholders laud consistent growth, approve 2022 dividend
Africa Prudential Plc shareholders have approved a dividend of 50k per share declared by the company for the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2022.
The shareholders gave the approval at the 10th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company on Tuesday in Abuja.
Speaking at the meeting, Olatunji Okelana, a shareholder, commended the company for its 10 years of consistent listing on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Ltd.
Okelana attributed the company’s success in the nation’s capital market to the hard work of the board members.
He also commended the company for consistency in dividend payment in spite of the challenging environment.
He, however, called for more training of the company’s staff to meet up with the current technological trend. (NAN)
Musk threatens to reassign NPR Twitter account, says NPR
Twitter chief Elon Musk has “threatened” to reassign National Public Radio’s Twitter account to another company, the U.S.-based broadcaster said on Tuesday.
Musk suggested that he would reassign the network’s main account, under the @NPR handle, to another organization or person, NPR said.
NPR stopped posting content to its 52 official Twitter feeds last month in protest against a Twitter designation that implied government involvement in its editorial content.
Musk, in an email to an NPR reporter, asked about its engagement with Twitter, the public broadcaster said.
“So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?” NPR quoted Musk as saying.
“Our policy is to recycle handles that are definitively dormant,” he said in another email. “Same policy applies to all accounts. No special treatment for NPR.” (Reuters)
