The office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) says it is upgrading the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) to ensure payment of December salary before Christmas.

UYO—THE economic downward spiral in the country has drastically hit underprivileged widows and youths at the oil-bearing Akwa Ibom State, who, nowadays hang about the offices and residences of political office holders and roam the streets of Uyo, the state capital, begging for money to eat the proverbial one meal a day.

Akwa Ibom State Elders have called for probe into what they called contradictory judgements in the election petitions.

PORT HARCOURT—A non-governmental organisation, Watch Elections, has dismissed allegations in some quarters that five persons lost their lives in the recent governorship election in Bayelsa State.

Well, it is good when you listen to perception; know what people think because action of government is to reflect what people want. When I was NBA President, I always do what I call sweeping. I will make sweeping calls to about 10 Chair persons to know what lawyers are thinking. Perception is very important. It is for the President to pay more attention to the way people feel and that is why we need a communication strategy, such as having a Director of Communication. You find different people say different things about the President.

Saraki, who is the Senate President, is facing 13 counts of false assets declaration before the CCT. The wide media coverage the case has received has focused public attention on legal questions usually covered in the courtroom or the classroom rather than by the newsroom.

UMBRELLA body of Christians in Nigeria, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, last night protested the attempt by the current All Progressives Congress, APC, government to subtly enlist Nigeria among Arab nations to fight ISIS.

ABUJA — The Senate, yesterday, approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, and Fiscal Strategy Paper, FSP, 2016-18 submitted by the Federal Government, basing the financial estimates on oil revenue at benchmark of $38 per barrel and exchange rate at N197/ $1. MTEF and FSP are the three-year fiscal plan from where the annual budget is extracted.

THE Vice Chancellor of Mountain Top University, MTU, Ibafo, Ogun State, Prof. Elijah Ayolabi, has said the newly established varsity is a dynamic center of academic excellence for the production of top-rate morally sound graduates of distinction who will be globally competitive for outstanding impact on local and global development.

NIGERIA Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday, said it was unacceptable for Nigeria Army to declare war of attrition against unarmed citizens and threw its weight behind the probe of the clash between the Nigerian army and the Shiíte Islamic Movement of Nigeria, MIN, led by Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, in Zaria, which claimed 10 lives.