The Presidency on Monday unveiled its Citizens’ Delivery Tracker to provide a “strong feedback loop between citizens and government” on the eight priority areas of the Bola Tinubu administration. The President’s Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala-Usman, disclosed this at the Go-Live event of the CDT holding in Abuja on Monday. “The platform is available as a web link (app.cdcu.gov.ng) and will be available as an app for download in the next few months,” said Bala-Usman. Bala-Usman said Monday’s unveiling is the culmination of a months-long process since Tinubu announced plans for ministerial assessment at the Cabinet Retreat for ministers and heads of government agencies last November. In reaching the key performance indicators, the presidential aide explained, “The CDCU held numerous bilateral meetings with Ministries, Departments and Agencies within six weeks.” The eight priority areas are: Reform the economy to deliver sustained inclusive growth, strengthen national security for peace and prosperity, boost agriculture to achieve food security, and unlock energy and natural resources for sustainable development. Others are to enhance infrastructure and transportation as enablers of growth, focus on education, health, and social investment as essential pillars of development, accelerate diversification through industrialisation, digitisation, creative arts, manufacturing & innovation and Improve governance for effective service delivery. In an interview on TVC last October, Bala-Usman revealed that the FG would prioritise citizen engagement to ensure that Nigerians are part of the ministerial assessment. “We’re going to deploy an application, a software where citizens are able to report back on project-based deliverables that the federal government has committed to doing within the period to 2024,” she explained.   Detailing the process at the time, she said, “We sat with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. We have worked effectively to define exactly the deliverables for each ministry. “And those deliverables are also deliverables that I mentioned cascade to the agencies of government. So, for example, you have the sectoral deliverables for a sector in health, and everything that is contained within the value chain or the ecosystem within that sector will be contained within the deliverables. “Those deliverables are translated into key performance indicators for the respective ministries. Once you have your key performance indicators, you’re able to clearly understand what your deliverables are over the period of the four years of the administration.” In late January, no fewer than 140 officials were drafted to track and assess the performance of federal ministries, departments, and agencies ahead of the first assessment exercise at the end of this month. The officials joined the third technical retreat for delivery desk officers of federal ministries on the implementation of presidential priorities and ministerial deliverables in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, which began on Wednesday, the 24th of that month. They were drawn from 35 federal government ministries, departments, and agencies. “It will involve a permanent secretary and directors of planning and other officials, four each from 35 ministries. “They are considering the modalities of the assessment, the key performance indicators and the reporting mechanisms, and all of those,” an official at the CDCU told our correspondent. Details shortly…

  The federal government says the 700 megawatts Zungeru hydropower plant is now at the testing stage, ahead of the evaluation of electricity from the facility to the national grid. Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, disclosed this while responding to industry questions in a document released on Sunday by Bolaji Tunji, his special adviser, strategic communication and media relations. The Zungeru power complex, located on the upper and middle reaches of the River Kaduna in Niger state, is said to be Nigeria’s largest hydroelectric project. The facility is expected to generate 2.64 billion kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity annually, accounting for approximately 10 percent of Nigeria’s total domestic energy consumption. Responding to enquiries on the project, Adelabu said the $1.3 billion project, located in Niger state, has been connected to the national grid, contrary to claims in some quarters that the plant has not been linked. The minister said the facility had been completed and its concession process concluded. “The payments by the concessionaire have been made and the official handing over of this plant has been done to the concessionaire, which is mainstream energy limited, who are the current operators of Kainji and Jabba hydroelectric power plants,” he said. “The stage we are now in is technical handing over by the Chinese consultants that built the Zungeru hydroelectric power plant to the concessionaire. “This is because there is a one-year defect liability, where these contractors need to be on the project site to ensure that whatever problem occurs within one year, they can fix it. “They are working earnestly with the concessionaire and the ministry of power, together with the Bureau for Public Enterprise to ensure that we conclude the technical handover of the plant. “I can tell you that the testing stage started yesterday, that the power generation at the plant started yesterday, and that it will last about one or two weeks, after which total production will start. And I can tell you with good authority that the Zungeru power plant can evacuate power. “Therefore, it is complete disinformation to say it is not connected to the national grid.” On February 23, 2023, the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) approved the appointment of Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited (MESL) as the preferred bidder for the concession of the Zungeru power plant. Mainstream Energy Solutions was part of the three companies prequalified for the deal. The rest are Africa Plus Partners Nigeria Limited Consortium (APPNLC), and North-South Power Consortium (NSP). The federal government, 0n February 21, officially transferred the operations of the power plant to Penstock Limited — a subsidiary of MESL.

  A makeshift ferry boat has sunk off the north coast of Mozambique killing 96 people, including children, authorities said Monday, raising an earlier death toll. The converted fishing boat, carrying about 130 people, ran into trouble late on Sunday as it was trying to reach an island off Nampula province, officials said. Most of those on board were trying to escape the mainland because of a panic caused by disinformation about cholera, according to Nampula’s secretary of state Jaime Neto.   On Sunday, authorities said the boat was believed to have sunk as it was overcrowded and unsuited to carrying passengers. “Five more (bodies) have been found in the last few hours, therefore we are talking about 96 deaths,” Silverio Nauaito, the island’s administrator, told AFP. Three of the five were children, he added. Rescuers have found 11 survivors and search operations are continuing, the official said. Earlier, officials had said 91 people lost their lives. The southern African country, one of the world’s poorest, has recorded almost 15,000 cases of cholera and 32 deaths since October, according to government data. Nampula is the worst affected region, accounting for a third of all cases. In recent months, the province has also received a large influx of people fleeing a wave of jihadist attacks in its northern neighbour of Cabo Delgado. – Missing at sea – The boat was headed to the Island of Mozambique, a small coral islet that used to serve as the capital of Portuguese East Africa and gave its name to the country. Unverified footage circulating online appeared to show dozens of bodies covered by blankets lying on a beach. Nauaito said it was not clear how many people were missing at sea as authorities were yet to determine the exact number of passengers. A trading-post on the route to India, initially used by Arab merchants, the Island of Mozambique was claimed for Portugal by famed explorer Vasco da Gama. Hosting a fortified city and linked to the mainland by a bridge built in the 1960s, the island is listed as a World Heritage Site by the UN’s culture agency, UNESCO. Mozambique, which has a long Indian Ocean coastline, was a Portuguese colony until independence in 1975. Home to more than 30 million people, it is regularly hit by destructive cyclones. In March, at least one person died as an illegal fishing vessel foundered near a southern beach. With almost two thirds of the population living in poverty, Mozambique has set high hopes on vast natural gas deposits discovered in Cabo Delgado in 2010. But an insurgency since 2017 waged by militants linked to the Islamic State group has stalled progress. More than 5,000 people have been killed and almost a million forced to flee their homes since fighting began.

  The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Monday, remanded a top official of Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan, in Kuje prison. Trial Justice Emeka Nwite remanded the defendant after he pleaded not guilty to a money laundering charge that was preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.   The court held that he should remain in prison till April 18, when his bail application will be determined, even as it slated May 2 for the commencement of hearing on the substantive charge against him. It will be recalled that the Federal Government had arrested and detained Gambaryan and his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, over alleged involvement of their firm, Binance Holdings Limited, in money laundering and terrorism financing. However, Anjarwalla, who is the Africa Regional Manager of Binance, escaped from custody and fled the country, with the government initiating the process to arrest and extradite him back for trial. Despite the development, both the EFCC and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, slammed separate criminal charges against the duo and the company. Whereas the anti-graft agency is prosecuting the defendants over their alleged complicity in money laundering, the FIRS accused them of engaging in tax fraud.

  A man, Alhaji Mashood of Olorunsogo area, Bode Saadu, Moro local Government Area of Kwara State, has been dragged to the Upper Àrea Court in the town by her daughter for allegedly having sexual intercourse with her. The complainant, Simbiat Moshood, in a direct complaint, alleged that the accused had been having sexual intercourse with her with a threat to jail or kill her if she exposed it to anybody. “The act has become my father’s habit, I am his only daughter and that is why my mother has refused to return home after they divorced,” the complaint said. “My father’s second wife had once caught us in the act and do make jest of me and alleging ritualistic activity,” the sheet added. Counsel to the accused, Barrister Toyin Onaolapo, prayed the court to grant his client bail. Magistrate Abdul Yekeen in his ruling on the matter, granted the accused bail and adjourned the case to April 15, 2024.

  The Ikeja High Court in Lagos State has ordered the remand of a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He is to be remanded till the next adjourned date, Thursday, April 11 when the court will give its ruling on bail. Justice Rahman Oshodi also ordered the remand of Emefiele’s co-defendant Henry Omoile at the Ikoyi Prison pending the court’s ruling on his bail on Thursday. The court ordered the remand of both men after listening to the bail applications filed by their counsel AbdulHakeem Labi-Lawal. In asking for Emefiele’s bail, the counsel has told the court to grant Emefiele bail on self recognizance pending the hearing and determination of the case or on the most liberal bail terms. The counsel also asked the court to grant the second defendant bail on the most liberal terms. The EFCC counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Rotimi Oyedepo in his response, did not oppose the request for bail. He asked the court to exercise its discretion in the grant of bail.