At least 21 people have lost their lives in a motor accident which occurred along the Kaduna- Abuja highway between the border of Kaduna and Niger States on Thursday. The accident was learnt involved a truck and a passenger commercial bus heading to Kano from Abuja and Katsina State. A source from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Kaduna state, said the accident occurred close to a Traffic diversion around Niger State, which forced all vehicles coming from the opposite directions to drive on a single lane due to the ongoing reconstruction of the Kaduna- Abuja highway that has taken a long time to complete. According to the FRSC official, the driver of the truck immediately fled the scene of the accident, thereby leading to heavy traffic that built up on the busy highway for several hours. Three surviving passengers were rushed to the Umaru Musa Memorial Hospital in Sabon-Wuse town, close to the border between Kaduna and Niger States for medical attention, while the remains of the victims were deposited at the hospital’s mortuary.

Friday 13 September 2024 Edo gov poll: Opposition fears violence as PDP shuns peace accord NNPC, Dangote eye crude-sale, product buy-back deal Recapitalisation: Manufacturers, SMEs struggle as banks take over capital market Pro-Wike Assembly tackles Fubara over new investment agency Climate change threatening water, sanitation facilities – FG 30 Dead, Over 400,000 Households Displaced By Maiduguri Flood Three Gallant Soldiers, Four Cops Killed In Zamfara Bandit Ambush CBN Directs Service Providers To Commence PoS Transaction Tracking  FG Signs Cape Town Treaty For Aircraft Leasing Aviation Workers Plan Protest Sept 18, Reject 50% Revenue Deductions  Over 28 Terrorists Killed In Air Force Strikes In Niger State IGP Promises Level Playing Field For All Parties In Edo Poll FG Seeks Information On Diaspora Assets Of Corrupt Politicians Forfeiture suit: No one has claimed $2.04m linked to Emefiele, EFCC tells court Fuel scarcity: Hawkers sell cheaper than filling stations — Investigation How security agents arrested top IPoB commander, eliminated Boko Haram terrorists, others Delta Police arrest suspects in beating, burning of 20-year-old boy Bandits Raid Katsina Hospital, Abduct Women How My Committee Saved Labour Party From Being De-Registered – Nenadi Lawmaker’s Wife Under Fire For ‘Empowering’ Youths With Sugarcane Reps quiz Deposit Banks over unremitted VAT on Remita transactions Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), has been dragged before the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Abuja Division over alleged violations of some provisions of its constitution 2023 (as amended). The claimant who is a bona fide member of the Union, Mr. Abdulwaheed Olayinka Adubi, averred that the NUJ National Executive Council meeting held on the 9th of August 2024, lacked the power to extend the tenure of the members of the Central Working Committee whose tenure is expected to terminate on October 6, 2024. The claimant heavily relied on Article 5(a)(3) of NUJ Constitution which states: “The Triennial National Delegates’ Conference shall be held every three (3) years at venues to be decided by the NEC for the purposes of: (a). Receiving and reviewing reports and accounts; (b). Revising the Constitution if and when necessary; (c). Deciding on questions of general policy raised upon notice by any member, Chapel or Council to the National Executive Council through the National Secretariat of the Union; (d). Electing National Officers of the Union. The Chris Isiguzo-led Central Working Committee members were elected on the 7th October, 2021 with the mandate of a three year tenure which lapses on 6th October, 2024. The claimant affirmed that the tenure elongation orchestrated by Chris Isiguzo, who is also a respondent in the matter was a gross abuse of the Constitution of the NUJ. In the averments filed by the counsel to the claimant, Mr. Ibrahim Bawa, (SAN), posited that tenure elongation was strange to the NUJ Constitution and a self induced constitutional crisis by Chris Isiguzo-led CWC members to perpetuate themselves in office. The claimant who is also a practicing journalist based in Kaduna, is praying the court to dissolve the CWC of the NUJ in the overall interest of the Union. The tenure of the members of the Central Working Committee of the NUJ according to the extant Constitution of the Union ends on the 6th of October, 2024. In the court processes filed on 10th of September, 2024 and made available to newsmen in Abuja, the claimant argued that the leadership of the Union deliberately violated the NUJ Constitution by not putting in place the Credentials Committee three months before the expiration of its tenure as provided for in the Constitution. On this averment, the claimant is relying on Article 5(9) (a) of the NUJ Constitution which states: “There shall be a Credentials Committee, which shall be put in place three months before the expiration of the tenure of the subsisting Central Working Committee (CWC) to examine the good financial standing of each registered delegate before the conference and the name of any delegate not in good financial standing shall be withdrawn from the list of delegates.” Whereas, the leadership of the Union was abreast of the provisions of the Constitution but, deliberately failed to put in place the Credentials Committee on the 6th July, 2024. The claimant is praying the court to dissolve the Credentials Committee over non-compliance with the provisions of the NUJ Constitution for gross abuse of the Union’s body of laws. The power of the Credentials Committee to impose humongous amount of three hundred and fifty thousand naira on nomination form for the office of the President and other intending CWC aspirants is also being challenged. The claimant is also praying the court to allow Chairmen and Secretaries of Councils to take over the affairs of the Union as from the 6th of October, 2024 and put in place machinery for the conduct of the election within three months as provided for in the Constitution. If this prayer is granted, the claimant believes strongly that a level plain field will be provided for all members of the Union who intend to aspire for elective positions in the Union.

Bandits have attacked Kurfi General Hospital in Kurfi local government area of Katsina state, shooting a watchman and abducting four women, including the wife of one of the health officials on duty. A reliable source from the area told our reporter that three of the bandits who entered the hospital around 10:45am unarmed, later engaged the guardsman who intercepted them to inquire about their mission at the hospital. “Whey they started arguing, the watchman quickly went and locked the hospital gate, unknown to him that other armed members of the attackers were outside. “They jumped over the wall fence and shot the watch man in the stomach. It was thought that he had died but was later given first aid and rushed to a hospital in Katsina” the source said. Daily Trust gathered that the attackers had wanted to abduct one Mustapha Hamza who is a casual staff of the hospital on duty at the time, but he luckily escaped but unfortunately his wife, who accompanied him to the hospital, was abducted in the process. “Mustapha is an anastasia nurse and he was on call at the time to attend to a woman who would undergo a surgery. “Usually, his wife would follow him when ever he is called because she would not be comfortable staying back home alone. And that was how she fell victim in the attack,” a source who craved anonymity said. Kurfi was hitherto more or less a fortified town as bandits hardly gained access due to activities of local vigilante group supported by some well-to-do members of the community. However, that fortification was broken with the collapse of the vigilante group, with some residents blaming it on political differences of some highly-placed individuals in the area. Not long ago, a nursing mother was abducted with her twin children and the third one who is not more than four years old. A resident of Kurfi told Daily Trust that the mother and twin children were released by their captors after the payment of N3.5m. However, the young boy, fondly called AK, is still in captivity as the bandits have asked for an additional N1.5m for his release. Another resident of Kurfi blamed some of the recent attacks on informants who migrated to the town when it was safer. Though there is no official statement from security agencies, the Kurfi council chairman, Mannir Shehu Wurma, confirmed the attack, assuring that the council is on top of the situation.

The federal government has officially signed the Cape Town Convention (CTC) practice direction to enable domestic airline operators to access aircraft on dry lease. The signing, which took place on Thursday at the presidential villa in Abuja, was presided over by Vice-President Kashim Shettima and witnessed by aviation stakeholders, including Allen Onyema, Air Peace chairman. The milestone, which comes 20 years after the treaty’s inception, was signed by John Tsoho, chief judge of the federal high court, during a stakeholders’ meeting of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) chaired by Shettima. The Cape Town accord aims to enhance asset-based financing and leasing of aviation equipment, including aircraft, thereby expanding funding opportunities and reducing costs for airlines. With the agreement, Nigerian airline operators are expected to gain access to aircraft on dry lease, which could lead to lower flight rates for passengers. Dry lease is an arrangement which involves hiring an aircraft without a flight crew. The hiring entity (the lessee) takes on operational responsibilities, such as crew members and maintenance.In a statement on the development, Stanley Nkwocha, vice-president’s media aide, said the treaty would resolve the problem of obtaining certain and opposable rights to high-value aviation assets such as airframes, aircraft engines, and helicopters which have no fixed location. “The signing of the CTC Practice Direction will ensure the Cape Town Convention becomes fully operational in Nigeria, thereby reducing the cost of insurance for airlines, restoring investors’ confidence in the Nigerian aviation sector, and reducing the cost of doing business in the nation’s aviation sector,” he posted. On April 8, Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, had said the federal government was working on a practice direction that would enable domestic airline operators to hire aircraft on dry lease. According to Keyamo some local operators had, in the past, breached the CTC which regulates aircraft leasing across the world. This, he said, had forced the Aviation Working Group, co-chaired by Airbus and Boeing, to blacklist Nigeria until it implements a law that would prevent such occurrences. “Why we cannot compete with big international airlines is because we don’t have access to aircraft on the same terms as they have,” the minister had said. People don’t know that the best airlines in the world run their fleet 100 percent based on actual purchase of aircraft.” Keyamo said recent studies showed that 70 percent of the fleet across the world is on dry leases. Also, on August 17, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), had said the federal government was working to make the acquisition of aircraft easier for local airlines. Chris Najomo, the acting director-general (DG) of NCAA, said the minister had been in discussions with companies like Boeing and Embraer to facilitate dry leasing for Nigerian airlines.