FORMER Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, weekend, threw his weight behind recommendations of the Steve Oronsaye’s Committee and charged President Goodluck Jonathan to reduce Federal Government expenditure at the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs.

ABUJA—AHEAD of the proposed National Political Summit by Professor Ben Nwabueze in Uyo, the Nigerian National Summit Group, NNSG, yesterday, disowned and dissociated itself from it, saying the said summit was not capable of achieving the yearnings of Nigerians for a Sovereign National Conference.

Only one out of ten Nigerians have any form of insurance cover, a recent poll has shown. According to a poll results released by NOI Polls, it was revealed that almost nine in 10 Nigerians, which represents 86 percent, do not have any form of insurance cover.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, weekend, said it paid N6.82 billion to 528,212 insured depositors of closed banks as at December, 2012.

Managing Director/ Chief Executive, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Rewane Bismarck, has called for the restructuring of the nation’s banking industry to facilitate economic development.

…As Anambra CPC pulls out of APC, joins PDM…
THE Anambra State All Progressives Congress (APC), weekend, held its state congress in Awka and promised to conduct hitch-free primaries today for the nomination of its governorship candidate for the November 16 election.

The challenge of inadequate manpower in the banking industry will be addressed in the next phase of reforms, said Mr. Kingsley Moghalu, Deputy Governor, Financial Sector Stability, Central Bank of Nigeria.

*Age group festival cancelled
*Community leaders, youths speak…
AGENEBODE — IVIUKWE community is one of the communities in Agenebode clan, headquarters of the Wepa Wano Kingdom of Estako East Local Government Area of Edo State. It is an agrarian rural community with majority of its inhabitants being peasant farmers.

Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) has warned block makers to desist from producing substandard products. Director General, SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, who gave this warning at a one day sensitisation workshop on Sandcrete blocks manufacturing organised by the agency, said it would soon begin to prosecute offenders.

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, while inspecting a cold rolling mill facility in Ilorin last week was reported to have said that the current regime of interest rates in the country was too high for the productive sector of the economy. She described the 20 percent lending rate being charged by commercial banks on loans obtained by industries as outrageous.

The United States Coast Guard has declared that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, is on the right path to the successful implementation of the International Ships and Ports Facility Security, ISPS, Code in Nigeria.

When Segun Toriola started his electrifying strokes in Table Tennis which made him one of Africa’s most decorated Ping-Pongers, Egyptian Omar Assar was not yet born.

… Gross earnings hit N194.9bn in 6 months
Shareholders of First Bank of Nigeria, FBN, Holdings Plc and stockbrokers have tasked its Board of Directors to ensure that the company’s overall performance for the financial year 2013 is enhanced in order to bring higher return for stakeholders.

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA, has appointed Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and UBS as asset managers for its Stabilisation Fund.

DESPITE the clear directives of the Nigerian Bar Association at its Pre-NEC meeting of Sunday, August, 25, 2013 that all lawyers should refrain from comments in the press regarding the issue of the appointment of acting Chief Judge of River State, my attention has been drawn to a newspaper publication in the Vanguard of August 27, 2013, at page 11 (eleven) thereof issued by Chief O.C.J. Okocha, MFR, SAN, JP, and captioned as above, stating false and misleading facts against my person.