RayTec Trust Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari returned to Abuja Nigeria Sunday evening after his ten-day vacation in London, the United Kingdom.   Buhari, who was in London to treat a persistent ear infection, arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at about 5.35pm.   President Buhari inspected a guard of honour and later spoke briefly to State House correspondents.    Asked about his health status, President said that he was okay.   "You have seen me. You saw me when I was going. You can do the assessment yourself.   "I am okay. You can see me inspecting the guard of honour. You can see I am taller than you. Do you want to wrestle with me, you can do so," Buhari said.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has taken the former acting governor of Adamawa state, James Bala Ngilari, to the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe for medical treatment.    A source in the commission told our correspondent that Ngilari was taken to the hospital in an ambulance on Friday around 6pm after he complained of ill health.   Mr. Ngilari was detain at the Gombe zonal office of the commission on Thursday in connection with the on going investigation of N450 million campaign fund sent to Adamawa state from Peoples Democratic Party  (PDP) headquarters.    A source at the hospital told Daily Trust that the former acting governor was admitted at the emergency ward and was quickly attended by two medical doctors.     It was learnt that the former governor had problems with blood pressure that had shot up yesterday after he was grilled by the anti-graft detectives.    The doctors battled to reduce the pressure to normal level, stabilize it and watch his response t...

The Senate yesterday amended the Public Procurement Act, 2007, to mandate government establishments to consider local producers first in all government procurements. Under the amended Public Procurement Act, government agencies including military and para military organizations are expected to patronize local producers in their purchases. The amendment of the Act was sequel to the report of the Senate Committee on Public Procurement Chaired by Sen. Joshua Dariye (PDP Plateau Central) on two bills that seek the amendment of the Public Procurement Act 2007. Dariye said the amendments were done to stimulate local industries and ensure speedy completion of projects. “The committee has sustained the amendments of section 34(1,2) sought by the bill for the purpose of patronizing made in Nigeria goods: this will go a long way to encourage our Nigerian manufacturers. In his remarks, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki said the amendment would help stimulate the nation’s economy.

The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said on Saturday, in Ibadan, that the present economic hardship in the country “is inflicting on everybody”, but expressed optimism that with the way President Muhammadu Buhari was tackling the situation, “the future is very, very bright.” Oyegun spoke at the University of Ibadan, while receiving the prestigious award of ‘The Alumnus of the Year’, bestowed on him by the university’s alumni association. Fifty-seven other eminent Nigerians including Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Alhaji Muritala Adebayo Adetunji, Dr. Amechi Adibua Obiora of Eko Hospital, and Chief Olu Falae, among others, received various awards at the occasion.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, yesterday urged the federal government to employ the same strategy used in fighting Boko Haram insurgency to fight poverty in the country. Delivering a speech to mark the first session of the eighth Senate, he said while the government had made progress in the fight against Boko Haram and corruption, the fight against mass poverty remained a daunting challenge. “Rising cost of living, increased cases of retrenchment and corresponding rise in unemployment, inability of state governors to pay salaries and upsurge in ethnic-based agitation potentially deny government the full credit of the great strides it has made in other areas “The same energy that has been invested in fighting corruption and Boko Haram must be invested in taking care of the people, in making life easier and better for them. We need to begin to assure Nigerians that the sacrifice that they make today will not be in vain. We need to begin to show them that there would be light ...

President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated 47 people as ambassador designate, all of them career officers. Senate President Bukola Saraki read the names of the nominees during yesterday’s session. The president’s letter dated June 6, 2016 requested the Senate to give the confirmation hearing “the usual prompt attention.” The nominees’ curriculum vitae were attacked to the letter. The nominees are Obinna Chukwuemeka Agbugba (Abia), Salisu Umaru (Adamawa), Paragalda Ilyasu Audu (Adamawa), Inyan Udo-Inyang (Akwa Ibom), Okeke Vivian Nwunaku (Anambra), Nonye Udo (Anambra), Liman Munir (Bauchi), Ndem Jane The selection criteria It was gathered that the selection criteria for nomination of career diplomat was not different from what was done in the past. The nominees, our report learnt, are deputy directors and directors who are on level 15 and above. Of the 47 nominees from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seven are deputy directors, while others are directors. A source from the mi...

Alhaji Suleiman Muhammed Argungu is the Chief of Staff to Kebbi State Governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu. The former Deputy Governor, in this interview, spoke on a range of issues about President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, his anti-corruption posture and criticisms against him among others. President Muhammadu Buhari is being criticized over the nation’s economy. What is your take on this? Those criticizing President Muhammadu Buhari for the current economic situation in the country are judging his administration wrongly. We should thank God for sending him to us at this particular period of our national life. Everybody knew that the economy was at the verge of collapse before he came in. The insurgency in North-East was out of control, kidnapping, cattle rustling and above all corruption was becoming a way of live before former President Goodluck Jonathan handed over to him. Imagine the case of those high ranking Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), personalities that are involve...

The Nigerian Army yesterday said troops on Operation Lafiya Dole in the North-east killed 19 Boko Haram members including an Ameer at Chukungudu in Borno State. Army spokesman, Colonel Sani Usman, said a carefully planned and deliberate attack comprising troops of 22 Brigade Garrison, and 153 Task Force Battalion of 7 Division and 8 Task Force Division as well as Nigeria Air Force Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) and some Civilian JTF, was carried out on Boko Haram stronghold and camp at Chukungudu on Friday 3rd May 2016. He added that while advancing the location, the troops encountered Boko Haram militants ambush positions at Muskari, Gilam and Hausasi before descending on their main objective at Chukungudu. Usman said during the encounter at the camp, the troops killed 19 Boko Haram terrorists including their leader in the area called Ameer Abubakar Gana. He said they also discovered and destroyed the terrorists Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) making factory,...

The Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar  has called on Muslims across the country to look for the new moon of Ramadan today, June 5. Secretary-General of NSCIA, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said in a statement yesterday that the National Moon Sighting Committee (NMSC) of the NSCIA, under the leadership of Mallam Hafiz Wali and Prof. Usman El-Nafaty, and Muhammad Yaseen Qamarud-Deen, advises the Sultan on the commencement of every lunar month and that the Sultan, as advised, always makes monthly declaration of the commencement of every lunar month. “The NMSC had advised the President General that the crescent of Ramadan should be searched for on Sunday, June 5, 2016 equivalent to 29th Sha’ban 1437 AH. If the crescent is actually sighted by informed persons on Sunday night and His Eminence is so advised by the experts, he would declare Monday, June 6, 2016 as the first day of Ramadan. If, however, t...

United Bank for Africa has rewarded 50 of its customers in the second season of the ‘UBA Remittance Awoof Promo.’ At the draw held recently, 10 customers won a three day all expenses paid trip to the Safari in Kenya. Also won were 10 Beats by Dre headphones, 10 Bose Speakers, 10 Home Theatre sets and 10 DSTV decoders with one year subscription. Seventy-eight customers who qualified for the draw did international money transfers through Western Union and Money Gram from January 25 to April 30. Speaking at the draw, the Group Head, Consumer and Digital Banking, Mr. Anant Rao said the bank was going through a transformation phase from people, processes and technology to align with customers’ needs. He explained that the whole idea was to encourage customers to patronise UBA, which in essence would boost their chance of winning. The star prize winners for the Money Gram category were Adenugba Emmanuel, Egwuaniku Collins, Amaka Favour Egbo, Ridge Koripamo and Adu Tosin, while those who...

The Nigerian Army yesterday said troops on Operation Lafiya Dole in the North-east killed 19 Boko Haram members including an Ameer at Chukungudu in Borno State. Army spokesman, Colonel Sani Usman, said a carefully planned and deliberate attack comprising troops of 22 Brigade Garrison, and 153 Task Force Battalion of 7 Division and 8 Task Force  Division as well as Nigeria Air Force Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR)  and some Civilian JTF, was carried out on Boko Haram  stronghold  and camp at Chukungudu on Friday 3rd May 2016. He added that while advancing the location, the troops encountered  Boko Haram militants ambush positions at Muskari, Gilam and Hausasi before descending on their main objective at Chukungudu. Usman said during the encounter at the camp, the troops killed 19  Boko Haram terrorists including their leader in the area called Ameer Abubakar Gana. He said they also discovered and destroyed the terrorists Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) making factory,...

The Federal Government yesterday made public the much awaited list of cash recoveries from looters within the last one year. The money, which was in local and hard currencies, totalled over N115billion. The government did not, however, reveal the names of the individuals the funds were recovered from. President Muhammadu Buhari had last month promised to release details of the funds recovered by various government agencies on May 29, when he would be one year in office, but he instead assigned the task to the Ministry of Information. Giving the breakdown of the N115bn, the Federal Government in a statement by the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the recovered loot comprised N78.3bn, $185.1m, £3.3m and €11,250. Also made public were the recoveries of N126.5bn, $9.0bn, £2.4m and €303,399.17 under Interim Forfeiture, comprising both cash and assets. According to the statement, which is based on the interim report on the financial and assets recoveries made by the various...

Welcome to Rayyanu Z Usman's blog: OgoniLand clean-up.......

The people of Ogoni in Rivers on Friday thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the launch of the clean-up of their environment and other oil impacted communities in the Niger Delta. King Godwin Giniwa, Chairman, Supreme Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers, said his people were happy that President Buhari kept his promise of implementing the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report. Giniwa said the time Ogonis were mourning was over with the launch of the implementation of UNEP Report. He said the failure of former President Goodluck Jonathan to clean-up Ogoniland was a mistake. "I was very disappointed. I want politicians to keep to their words as President Buhari has done," he said. The traditional ruler urged the President to ensure that the Bonny-Bodo road was constructed and the Ogonis axis of the East-West road completed. He also urged the president to appoint of Ogoni people into positions of trust. Ginwa thanked the Minister of Transportation, Mr Chibuike Ama...

The Nigerian army on Wednesday said 77 Boko Haram militants have surrendered to troops of 122 task force battalion on Operation Lafiya Dole in Borno State. Army spokesman, Colonel Sani Usman, said the Boko Haram militants comprise 17 men, 16 women, 16 male children and 28 female children. He explained that the surrendered Boko Haram members have been moved to Yamteke by combined team of 26 Task Force Brigade for preliminary investigation and screening. Usman said troops have also arrested a deserter soldier, Corporal Musa Titima of 117 Task Force Battalion, attached to 114 Task Force Battalion, who absconded from duty while on Operation Crackdown at Bitta. The soldier was also allegedly involved in a fracas with Mr Salisu Ngatha at Kabang Ward on 30th May 2016 that led to the death of the civilian. He said following tip off by well meaning Nigerians, troops of 7 Division Garrison, conducted clearance patrol at some villages which include: Abachari, Asanari, Mediari, Toluwari, Chuwnari,...