Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, has approved a N70,000 minimum wage for workers in the state civil service.

According to him, the payment of the new wage will take effect from December 1, 2024.

The Director-General, Press and Media Affairs, Mamman Mohammed said on Friday in Damaturu: “The minimum wage committee recommended a reconciliation of Local Government Finances.”

Mohammed added that this will ensure a hitch-free transition process for the 17 local councils from the existing salary structure to the new wage.

“The reconciliation process is expected to be concluded for approvals and eventual enrolment of council employees into the minimum wage.”

Buni, therefore, expects civil servants in the state to reciprocate the government’s gesture by ensuring effective and efficient service delivery to the people.

Islamic morality police in the northern Nigerian city of Kano are to resume their crackdown on betting shops after a Supreme Court ruling on gambling.

The Nigerian Supreme Court quashed a 2005 law Friday that established a national lottery commission and legalised sports betting and gambling.

The court ruled gambling regulation is a matter for state governments.

Kano State is one of 12 predominantly Muslim Nigerian states in which Islamic sharia is used alongside federal law.

“We will resume our clampdown on betting shops with renewed determination since betting is illegal under Kano state sharia law,” Abba Sufi, director general of the Kano Hisbah, told AFP.

The Hisbah is a state unit that polices Sharia law in Kano, northern Nigeria’s biggest city.

Last month, Hisbah operatives raided and closed dozens of football betting shops across the city, which they said were promoting gambling, which is prohibited under sharia.

Raids were halted after the National Lottery Commission protested that betting on football was legal under Nigerian federal law under the 2005 Lottery Act, Sufi said.

“With this verdict, the controversy on who should be in charge of lottery legislation between the federal government and state governments has been settled,” Sufi added.

“We in Kano have frowned at the lottery law… because it gave legal backing to gambling, which is clearly prohibited in Islam.”

There are around 200 betting shops across the city with television screens where customers watch international soccer matches and horse races and place bets, Sydney Emeafu, head of the National Union of Gaming and Lottery Workers (NUGLOW) in Kano, told AFP.

According to Sufi, the raids followed repeated complaints by parents of children whose love of football teams had led them into gambling.

“And the harsh economic climate is pushing more people into this football gambling, hoping to make easy money and becoming hooked to the vice,” Sufi argued.

The Lagos State Environmental and Special Offence Taskforce on Thursday arrested nine persons for illegal street trading in Ikotun.

The Lagos State Commissioner, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab announced their arrest on Friday morning in a post he shared on his official X account.

“The taskforce on Thursday monitored compliance and carried out enforcement at the Ikotun BRT bus station, which has been taken over illegally by street vendors for commercial purposes,” Wahab said.

“Nine suspects were apprehended during the exercise and they will all be charged to court accordingly.”

He explained that all items and wares displayed at the unauthorised location were seized.

Wahab added that the bus station and its surroundings were sanitized of menace caused by the activities of vendors who have converted the bus station and the public road for commercial purposes.

Hafizu Inuwa, Chairman of the Jigawa Tanker Explosion Investigation Panel, has said that 209 lives were lost and 99 others injured in the accident.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that on Oct. 14, a fuel tanker exploded in Majiya town killing hundreds and injuring several others.

Sequel to this, Gov. Umar Namadi constituted a 25-member investigative panel to unravel the causes of the accident and recommend measures to avert future occurrences.

Inuwa said this during the presentation of the committee’s report on Wednesday in Dutse.

He said the accident claimed 209 lives, 38 injued persons were still on hospital admission and 61 others discharged while 167 families affected.

“It was further discovered that the inferno resulted in the destruction of properties worth millions of Naira,” he said.

Inuwa attributed the accident to a number of factors, including damaged speed-breaker and potholes located near the scene.

He said the committee also identified night driving and speeding as contributory factors to the inferno.

“The inferno was possibly ignited by combined factors, including but not limited to friction of metallic containers with hard surface or other containers, as victims were scooping the spilled fuel”.

The committee, he said, recommended regular inspection and enforcement of safety protocols by petroleum transporters and other articulated vehicles.

Others include upgrade of emergency response centres, establishment of a trauma and burns units in health facilities, as well as establishment of a road traffic control agency.

“Where the victims or their relatives are seemingly old and vulnerable, government should provide them with social protection and enroll the most vulnerable victims and their relatives into the Danmodi Care Programme,” he said.

The chairman further lauded the state government for its empathy, moral and psychological support to the affected community as well as the timely response to the disaster.

Responding, Namadi promised to implement the recommendations of the committee, to ensure safety and welfare of the citizens.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has uncovered a warehouse in Oke-Afa, Okota, Lagos State, stocked with unregistered and expired supermarket items.

NAFDAC made this disclosure on Wednesday night in a statement it shared on its official X account.

“Acting on intelligence, a NAFDAC team raided the facility, apprehending operators offloading a 20ft container filled with unregistered carbonated drinks,” the statement read.

“A further inspection revealed over 14 rooms packed with unregistered and expired products, some of which were contaminated by rats, indicating poor storage conditions.

“The facility was placed on hold, with all operations suspended pending further investigation.”

The agency said it has invited the management to provide sourcing evidence including the Global Listing for Supermarket Items (GLSI) certificate.

It also warned of the risks posed by unregulated products, particularly as the festive season approaches.

NAFDAC has further urged consumers to remain vigilant by verifying product sources and reporting suspicious activities to its nearest office.

The Akwa Ibom State Executive Council on Wednesday in a meeting presided over by Governor Umo Eno approved a draft budget estimate of N955 billion for the 2025 fiscal year.

A breakdown of the estimate shows that while N300b is for recurrent expenditure, N655 billion is for capital projects.

The recurrent expenditure represented a 14 percent decrease from that of 2024 while the capital expenditure of N655b reflects a 13 percent increase compared to 2024.

The commissioner for Information, Comrade Ini Ememobong, made this known in a statement he signed.

Ememobong said the council also approved a supplementary budget of N89b for 2024 being “an augmentation of the N82.4b incorporated into the 2025 appropriation bill.”

“The meeting, chaired by the Governor, Pastor Umo Eno started with the presentation of the 2024 supplementary estimates and the draft recurrent and capital budgets for 2025 by the Honourable Commissioner for Finance,” Ememobong said.

“The supplementary budget reflects savings of N8,922,513,000 and an augmentation of N82,414,029,890, incorporated into the 2024 Appropriation Bill.

“For the 2025 draft estimates, the proposed recurrent expenditure is N300,000,000,000, representing a 14% decrease from last year, while the capital expenditure is pegged at N655,000,000,000, reflecting a 13% increase compared to 2024.”

According to the commissioner, the projected Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is N80,000,000,000, a 28% rise over the 2024 figure, adding that the council approved both estimates and directed their submission to the State House of Assembly for legislative review and further action.

He said the Commissioner for Works and Fire Service, Prof. Eno Ibanga, presented a report on pothole assessment and repairs, assuring that the state was on course to achieve a “no pothole” status.

In a major policy review, the council also approved the implementation of a 65-year retirement age for non-academic staff of state-owned tertiary institutions, effective 1st January 2025.

The council also approved the award of road projects across three senatorial districts in the state.

The projects included the construction of a 12.5km road spanning Ibesit-Ikot Oto-Ikot Ekpenyong-Ikot Akama-Itung-Ediene Attai-Ikot Ebak in Oruk Anam and Mkpat Enin LGAs.

Others were the construction of a 2.7km road from Nto Obio Akpan-Ikot Obong-Urua Akpan in Essien Udim LGA, and a 2km road from Ikot Uso-Udo Atan-Nto Obodem Mbiaso in Ikot Ekpene LGA.

Similarly, the construction of a 10.9km road with two 40m-span bridges spanning NSAID’s Use-Use Ikot Amama-Ibiaku Ikot Erica-Itong Nkwot Edem Edet in Ibiono Ibom and Ikono LGAs was also approved.

“Re-award of the 21.5km Ikot Ayan Ediene-Ikot Nita-Urua Naira-Ikot Nseyen-Nkwot-Nnung Ukim road, including a 45m-span bridge, in Ikono LGA,” Ememobong said.

“Construction of a 2km access road to the School of Health Technology in Etinan LGA. Construction of a 7.7km road, including State Housing Road with spur, Ikot Obiokpon/Ibong Road with spur, and Mount Zion Road with spurs in Ikot Ekpene LGA.”