President Buhari to declare Tech Expo open

•  President Mohammadu Buhari will on Monday (today) declare the 2021 edition of the annual Technology Expo open at Eagles Square, Abuja.

• The event which is the 5th edition in the series is expected to attract over 2000 exhibitors at the area, comprising mainly researchers, inventors, innovators and investors.
• Addressing the press at Eagles Square, Abuja when he led minister of state, with other Management staff of the Ministry on a facility tour of the EXPO venue over the weekend in preparation for the one week Expo, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu said President Mohammadu Buhari will declare the event open with lots of innovation introduced to make the event unique from the previous editions.
• With over 2000 exhibitors expected to participate in the Expo, Onu said the event is to be beamed live on YouTube, Instagram and other social media platforms. He said the event would also be screened live on a website www.techexpo.gov.ng to enable all interested persons participate in the epoch making event, especially Nigerians in Diaspora and prospective investors.

Another strike inevitable, ASUU threatens FG

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Federal Government of breaching a “no victimization a clause” agreed upon during the dialogue that led to the suspension of the strike they had embarked on.

Specifically, the union, through the Chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan, Professor Ayo Akinwole alleged that the Federal Government and the Accountant General of the Federation are victimizing its members by refusing to pay them “salaries running between two to 10 months despite suspending the strike”.

The alleged refusal, according to ASUU, could lead to another strike in future.

ASUU stated that while members are back to their duty posts, the harsh economy being experienced due to unpaid salaries and non-refund of deducted check-off dues will affect productivity.

Reps to make B.SC, HND minimum qualifications for offices of president, governors

• For purposes of proper governance, the House of Representatives is on the verge of enacting a law that would make first degrees in the form of Bachelors of Science/Art, B.SC/B.A or Higher National Diploma, HND minimum qualifications for election into the offices of Nigeria’s President and Governors.

• The House is also seeking to make a law that would make justiciable lack of social infrastructure such as health facilities, good roads, water, schools among others enshrined in Chapter two of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) so that citizens can have the right to take the government to take in breach of the laws.
• To this end, two bills are currently before the House waiting for a debate on the issues soon having been respectively read for the first time.
• Sources say that both bills are being sponsored by Hon. Ben Rollands Igbakpa representing Ethiope Federal Constituency of Delta State.

Gunmen kill family of 6 in Osun, one other in Ekiti

• No fewer than seven persons were killed, weekend, in Osun and Ekiti states by gunmen suspected to be bandits.

• Among the victims was a family of six reportedly killed when the gunmen stormed a farming settlement in Wasinmi village, Irewole local government area of Osun State, while the other was a passenger hit by stray bullets, as the gunmen fired at a moving commercial vehicle in Ekiti State.
• Policemen, men of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, and Hunters Group of Nigeria were said to have been deployed in the bush in the area to fish out the killers.

• Confirming the Osun attack, yesterday, in Osogbo, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Olawale Olokode, who spoke through his Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Yemisi Opalola, said the incident happened late Saturday night.
• Olokode, who noted that police had commenced investigation into the incident, said the perpetrators of the evil act would be brought to justice.

Petrol subsidy to gulp N102.96bn in March

• The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation may spend N102.96bn on petrol subsidy this month going by the recent pricing template for the commodity.
• A Federal Government agency, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, on Thursday published the expected new lower and upper prices for petrol at retail outlets in March 2021, putting the rates at N209.61/liter and N212.61/liter respectively.
• It also put the ex-depot price of petrol for the month at N206.42/liter and pegged the expected landing cost at N189.61/liter.
• Nigeria consumes about 57.44 million liters of petrol daily, going by the most recent daily consumption figure released by the NNPC in its financial and operations report.