Awka—The senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and former national chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh, yesterday, testified before the first Anambra National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Awka, saying that the declaration of his opponent, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife as the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was improper.

IT was Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the former Central Bank Governor (now Emir of Kano) who in January 2014 enriched our political lexicon with the coinage of the term Vested Interests. At a youth summit geared towards national rebirth and renewal, Mallam Sanusi declared that Nigeria can only become great when as a people we “overcome the fear of vested interests.”

Over 300 former members of the All Progressives Congress, APC and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, including the executive members of Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, Akoko-Edo chapter led by its chairman, Mr. Adebayo Joseph, have dumped their political parties for the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in Edo State.

ABUJA—The strategic plan by the Senator Bukola Saraki-led Senate leadership to curb dissent came to light, yesterday, after he proclaimed a 12-member Ethics and Privileges Committee, which will among others enforce discipline among senators.

The former Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, Dr Femi Thomas has described as false and malicious, allegations of fraud in the purchase of a parcel of land at the Scheme’s office in Abuja. Dr Thomas was accused of conniving with others to inflate the cost of the property from N300 million to N990 million.

Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Alhassan Yakmut has described his recent invitation by the anti- graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (ECCC) last week as a result of a petition written by some people who were not happy with his appointment.

Will the Lagos State Judicial Service Commission, LSJSC, be dissolved when the members’ tenure has not expired? This is the question on the lips of observers. It was learned that the tenure of the current members took effect from February 27 and will end on February 26, 2020 following their re-appointment by former Governor Babatunde Fashola, SAN.

To a very large extent, we have been able to fulfil our mandate. The primary mandate of the Commission is enforcement and prosecution of copyright offenders, and in those two key mandates we have done significantly well. We have had a very good working relationship with the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), which has led to the seizure of over 20 containers and this is unprecedented in the history of this Commission. The collaboration between the NCS and NCC has yielded very fruitful results in the last four years.

THe rank of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) will swell with admission of 21 new silks to the Inner Bar. On September 21, the SANs will be sworn in as part of activities to mark the beginning of the new legal year. The Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) received 124 applications this year and it was pruned down to 50, out of which 21 were selected.

NATIONAL Leader of Urhobo Nationality Council, UNC, Olorogun Jaro Egbo, yesterday, said that the appointment of Brig. Gen. P.T. Boroh as Coordinator of the Amnesty office would strengthen and eliminate all suspected inherent weaknesses and corruption that had weighed down the effective operation of the amnesty programme.

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to America to see President Barack Obama was quite obviously the most controversial foreign trip taken by a Nigerian leader in recent history. It was famous for its jamboree atmospherics, though he came back with a $2.1 billion World Bank loan to fix our embattled North East even when Boko Haram is far from being subdued.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, stated yesterday that the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries are expected to contribute about 8.5 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, per day to the country’s fuel supply, in the next couple of days.

One of the secrets to business success is knowing how to set the best prices for your products. If you set your prices too high, you may scare away customers and favour your competition. If your prices are too low, you may be losing profits and running your business at a loss. The best price for your product or service is one that is low enough to attract customers but high enough to make you a good profit.

THE Warri Zone of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas, NUPENG, covering Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Kogi and Ondo states, yesterday, warned of a major workers strike in the zone over alleged failure by Chevron Nigeria Limited to pay severance entitlements and pension to displaced contract staff.

In an effort to boost capital market across West African countries, Phase 1 of the West African Capital Market Integration Programme, has kicked off with the successful completion of its first trade.