TrueTalk

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday swore-in the remaining seven permanent Secretaries out of the 22 appointed earlier in the year. The inauguration preceded the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting and had the cabinet members and serving permanent secretaries as well as some guests of the new officials in attendance. The President did not deliver any inauguration address after the signing of the inauguration register as the FEC meeting progressed afterwards. Those sworn in are: Mr Mustapha Suleiman (Kano); Mr Adekunle Adeyemi (Oyo); Mrs Comfort Ekaro (Rivers) Mr Adebayo Akpata (Ekiti). Others are Dr Abdulkadir Muazu (Kaduna); Mr Marcelinus Osuji (Imo) and Mr Bitrus Nabasu (Plateau). The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 15 of the newly appointed permanent Secretaries had taken their oath of office in August. (NAN)

Ondo State police have arrested two suspects suspected of attacking the Igbokoda monarch in a government area in the Oba Afolabi Odidiomo area in Ondo State On Thursday, the Oba was attacked by a mob in his community with a machete. The traditional ruler sustain several cut on his head, and was left by the assailant to stay in a pool of blood. Fermi Joseph, a spokesman for the National Police Command, confirmed the arrest of a suspect in the television-radio news-gathering in Akure and also announced the leader of a thug who was wanted by a policeman Iván Tan. Police image maker also revealed that a 40-year-old man was arrested in the Okitipupa local government to kill a 70-year-old man.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approved the registration of 21 new political parties, bringing the number of registered parties in the country to 67. The approval, according to a statement signed by Mrs May Agbmuche-Mbu, INEC National Commissioner and Member, Information and Voter Education Committee, was given at the commission's weekly meeting in Abuja. The commission also approved immediate and compulsory retirement of a member of staff and the dismissal of two others in Kogi office over act of gross misconduct. It said that the action was taken on the three members of staff over their involvement alleged double registration of Gov. Yahaya Bello in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

The Department of Petroleum Resources has sanctioned ten petrol filling stations in Zamfara for selling fuel above the official pump price     Acting Controller of the department in Gusau, Saleh Audu, says DPR had visited 35 filling stations across the state in the past one week and discovered ten out of the stations were selling above N145 per liter. Audu says three other stations were penalized for violating rules and regulations of the department.   He advised motorists to support the department to enable it carry out its duty effectively.

The Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna will hear a lawsuit filed on January 15, 2018 by Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, former Chair of the Retired Working Group on Reform, requesting the repeal of the 2004 EFCC Act on the ground that the act was unlawful, it is invalid. He also asked the court to limit the commission or any other security agency in arresting his allegations of corruption. Maina was declared wanted by EFCC in connection with the transfer of recovered pensions and was also chaired by the pension reform working group. Among the four respondents to the lawsuit were EFCC, AGF, Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara. However, at Thursday's resumed hearing, AGF's lawyers filed a preliminary objection that the High Court of the Kaduna Federation does not have jurisdiction to deal with the matter. According to him, the plaintiff filed the same suit in a court of the same jurisdiction in the domestic capital, Abuja.

The Senate Committee on Power condemned the Rural Electrification Agency's plan as a half-bureau of the Ministry of Electric Power that has invested $ 10 billion in solar power projects at nine universities in six geopolitical districts of the country. Members of the Committee expressed concern about the project with the managing direct Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi, at the 2018 budget defense meeting on Thursday. Lawmakers reviewed the documents submitted by the agency, arguing that the funds should be transferred to electrification projects in villages and communities in rural electrification. Senator Enyinaya Abaribe, chairman of the Commission, also expressed dissatisfaction with this development. He accused the Minister of Power, Engineering and Housing, Babatunde Fasholar, of not fully preparing to defend the Ministry of Electric Power's 2018 budget

Acting President Ibrahim Magu of EFCC; Ambassador Mohamed Daoud, Acting Director-General of the National Service (DSS) and National Intelligence Agency (NIA)  Held a closed-door meeting with the Senate special committee on Thursday. The committee was formed to investigate the recent dispute among the three security agencies, Ita Ekpenyong, the former Director General who had previously tried to arrest the DSS. The Senate special committee chaired by Sen. Francis Alimikhena aims to address last month's divisions between the DSS, EFCC and NIA in Maitama, Abuja. Before the start of the exercise, the director general of DSS appealed to the media to give up and listen to the closed-door meeting, which the Committee agreed. Prior to his retirement, however, Magu said there was no street fight between EFCC and other security agencies at Eckpenyong's home. He said his staff were there to execute a search warrant, but they were stopped by DSS and NIA, leaving them out of the...