NEWS
FG approves contract jobs for retired doctors
The Federal Government has authorized the appointment of doctors, nurses, and other clinical healthcare workers as contract staff after attaining their compulsory retirement age or years.
This is contained in a circular obtained by newsmen, dated October 5, 2023, by the Federal Ministry of Health, directed the Chief Executive Agencies, Chief Medical Directors, Medical Directors, and Heads of Regulatory Bodies and Schools to ensure compliance with the circular earlier issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to all staff in their institutions.
The government said the appointed contract staff would be on the same salary scale level that they retired on if they desire and deserve it.
Olukoyede Appointed as EFCC Chairman
Mr. Ola Olukoyede has been appointed by President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, to serve as the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for a renewable term of four years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.
This comes nearly four months after the erstwhile anti-graft agency chief, Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa, was suspended by President Bola Tinubu.
Olukoyede is a lawyer with over 22 years of experience as a regulatory compliance consultant and specialist in fraud management and corporate intelligence.
He has extensive experience in the operations of the EFCC, having previously served as Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman (2016-2018) and Secretary to the Commission (2018-2023). As such, he fulfills the statutory requirement for appointment as Chairman of the EFCC.
President Tinubu also approved the appointment of Mr. Muhammad Hammajoda to serve as the Secretary of the EFCC for a renewable term of five years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.
Oil Marketers insist fuel subsidy is back
Petroleum marketers, on Tuesday, insisted that the current pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, should not be less than N800/litre if there was no subsidy on the commodity.
This comes after the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, on Monday denied the reintroduction of petrol subsidy and claimed that the pockets of queues by motorists observed in petrol stations across the country stemmed from hiccups in products’ distribution from the South to the North and not a lack of supply.
He had made the claim barely 48 hours after the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria confirmed the return of fuel subsidy.
Also, oil marketers had earlier stated repeatedly that fuel subsidy had returned, as they explained that the landing cost of petrol as of last week was N720/litre.
On Tuesday, they lambasted the NNPCL boss for coming out to state that the government was not subsidising PMS, as they explained why subsidy on PMS had returned.
HEALTH
Diptheria: About 600 dead in 19 states, NPHCDA recommends face mask
The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, on Wednesday, said 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory have recorded over 14,000 suspected cases of diphtheria so far.
Shuaib, however, disclosed that over 10,000 of the cases occurred in Kano State, which is the epicentre of the outbreak.
He noted that 97 per cent of the cases were recorded in Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Borno, Kaduna and Bauchi states with over 600 deaths.
The NPHCDA boss disclosed this at the quarterly review meeting of the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee in Abuja.
According to him, 73 per cent of the reported diphtheria cases occur in children aged one to 14 years, while 80 per cent of those affected have not received any vaccination.
He said the update underscores the dire need for the NTLC and stakeholders to intensify community mobilisation, awakening public awareness and fostering acceptance of vaccination services.
POLITICS
Tinubu’s Chicago University certificates not forged – BBC Report
The BBC’s Global Disinformation Team reports have stated, that there is no evidence that the Chicago State University’s academic certificates of President Bola Tinubu, submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2023 presidential election were forged.
The University had released Tinubu’s academic records, which went viral on social media but were tagged as fake by some opposition party leaders and members, especially his main rivals, Labour Party’s Peter Obi and the People’s Democratic Party Atiku Abubakar.
The quest to release Tinubu’s academic documents led to the case filed by Atiku at the US court, where he accused him of falsifying the CSU diploma of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration awarded in 1979 that he submitted to INEC.
But Tinubu’s lawyers insisted that the documents would not be relevant in Atiku’s appeal against Tinubu at the Supreme Court.
The magistrate, Jeffrey Gilbert, however ordered the CSU to provide all relevant and non-privileged documents to Atiku’s legal team within two days.
The released documents raised questions about Tinubu’s birth date and his secondary school. One of the documents stated that Tinubu attended Government College Lagos in 1970. However, information available on the school website states that it was only founded in 1974.
Westberg, during cross-examination of the report responded that the discrepancies could have been due to a human error.
‘Mr Tinubu should tell the nation his true name’ – Obi
The Labour Party’s Presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has urged President Bola Tinubu to tell Nigerians his true name and everything related to his educational career.
The former governor of Anambra State said this on Tuesday in a press conference in Abuja and asked Tinubu to provide clear details about the schools he attended, whether he participated in the National Youth Service Corps, and if he changed his name at any point.
Obi added that Tinubu needs to introduce himself to Nigerians and the world so as to further avoid doubts and international embarrassment.
The call comes after a United States of America court ordered Chicago State University to release Tinubu’s academic records at the request of the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.
According to Obi, the controversy surrounding Tinubu’s identity has worsened Nigeria’s image internationally, portraying every Nigerian as a fraudster, certificate forger, or identity thief.
