Suspected multi-billion fraud in NTA/Startimes satelite Deal

Nigeria's government owned television station, NTA appears to be in deep waters as Nigerian Senate uncovers a suspected multi-billion Naira fraud in the Joint Venture operations between the State-owned television and a Chinese Satellite Pay TV, StarTimes.

The allegation surfaced as Senate through its Joint Committee on Finance and National Planning which is currently considering the details of the

2021-2023 MTEF & FSP documents; scrutinizes the spending and expenditure of the Nigerian Television Authority for 2021.

The Senate Panel was surprised to find out that the multi-billion naira deal with StarTime was not included anywhere in the documents submitted to it and presented by the Director-General, Mallam Mohammed Yakubu.

Trouble started for NTA after the Chairman of the Senate Panel, Solomon Olamilekan asked why NTA was blocking StarTime from being registered with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

In response, Yakubu denied the allegation; stressing that NTA couldn't have blocked StarTime as it was currently in a Joint Venture Agreement with company.

The DG's statement was enough however to prompt further questions from the Senate Panel; askin to know how much NTA had earned from the JV with StarTime over the years.

But even more curious to the Senate Panel was that the JV was not stated anywhere in the documents NTA submitted for Senate perusal.

The Senate Panel had grown quite suspicious at this point; demanding to see records of what NTA generates from production, adverts and documentaries.

It also asked that NTA should return on Monday with its debt profile containing the names of its debtors, the date, amount incurred as well as the name of the official who authorized it for publication. 

The NTA entered the Joint Venture with StarTime in 2010 with a sharing ratio of 70-30 in favour of the Beijing based company.

Irked by NTA's outing; the Senate Panel ordered that henceforth all revenue generating agencies of government should remit all their earnings into the Consolidated Revenue Funds out of which their cost of collection will be given to them.

The panel believed that this arrangement will not only shore up revenue for government but also block wastages in the system.

Covid-19: JOHESU Suspends Local Strike, Plans Bigger showdown with Government from Tuesday

 

Just when the National body of the joint Health sector unions, JOHESU is calling for an emergency meeting on tuesday over planned strike, the  University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Chapter has suspended its ongoing 7-day warning strike.

While the National body is unhappy over errors and ommissions in the payment of three months COVID-19 hazard allowances, the UITH chapter is cheerful for the supply of adequate personal protective equipment, PPEs, which was responsible for the 7 days down tool.

Information obtained from AIT Crawl News Bar indicates JOHESU National body is meeting in Abuja on August 25, 2020 with a bag full of issues, some of which the National Chairman and president of the medical and health workers union, Biobelemoye Josiah has struggled to explain in several fora

JOHESU Chairman UITH, Olutunde Oluwawumi told newsmen shortly after several hours of meeting with executive members at the University of Ilorin Teaching hospital that the health workers were forced to embark on the action also because of non-payment of promotion arrears smong others demands.

The UITH JOHESU insists that the warning strike is being suspended because some of their demands have now been met partially by the management of UITH.

Oluwawumi however implored the Chief Medical Director of UITH, Professor Abdullahi Yusuf to wtite his name in gold by keeping to all the promise he made to the workers.

ASUU'S MEDIA BRIEFING LEADS PRESIDENT BUHARI TO CONSTITUTE VISITATION PANEL FOR UNILAG, SUSPENDS BABALAKIN AND OGUNDIPE, SACKS ACTING VICE-CHANCELLOR

 

Barely three days after the academic staff union of universities, ASUU at a media briefing called for an immediate solution into UNILAG  crisis, President Muhammadu Buhari, as Visitor to the University of Lagos has constituted a Visitation Panel to look into the remote and ommediate causes of the  crisis in the university. 

According to a statement signed by  ministry of Education spokesman, Ben Goong on Friday August 21, 2020, the President took the following additional decisions:

1. The Panel is to submit its report within two weeks.

2. The Pro-Chancellor, Dr Wale Babalakin, SAN and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, have been suspended from office as they are both to recuse themselves from performing their functions in office during the period of the Visitation.

3. The Senate is to convene urgently and appoint an Acting Vice-Chancellor for the university.

With this decision, the President has sacked the Acting Vice-Chancellor purportedly appointed by the Babalakin-led Council.