Imo State governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has summarily sacked over 3,000 workers in 19 parastatals, agencies and departments, as he stopped their salaries with effect from January 4, 2016.

Abakaliki—Ebonyi State’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. Orji Uchenna, has confirmed the detection of the first case of Avian Influenza (bird flu) infection in the state.

About 150 contractors have threatened to drag the Ogun State Government before the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission, ICPC, over a N3.5 billion debt.

PORT HARCOURT—Navy has handed over a vessel and wooden boats conveying 10,000 litres of illegal diesel, to the Economic and financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in Port Harcourt.

SUSPENDED Chairman of Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State, Mr. Osaro Obazee, has dragged the state governor, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, to court, arguing that the governor has no power to suspend him as the democratically elected chairman of the council over allegations of diversion and misappropriation of public funds without giving him a fair hearing in accordance with Section 36(1) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, as amended.

—All Progressives Congress, APC, in Delta Dtate has vowed to pursue its petition challenging the last governorship election in the state to a logical end.

LAGOS —MTN Nigeria has expressed readiness to settle dispute with the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, over the N1.04 trillion fine incurred for non deactivation of some improperly registered subscribers on its network.

Former Interim National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Adebisi Akande has advised striking doctors, lecturers and other labour unions in Osun State to be wary of their agitations, saying the economy of the state cannot meet all the demands of the civil servants.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, weekend, installed the new Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdu-Rasheed Akanbi, charging the new monarch to rule with wisdom and the fear of God.

The agricultural sector is dominated by oil palm producing companies, which are experiencing a recovery in earnings growth after a period of slowdown. The earnings prospects for the operators here usually change with changes in product yields – which is a weather dependent factor. This tends to create an unstable pattern of growth in revenue and profit.

All Progressives Congress, APC has said that the financial recklessness exhibited by the previous government of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was responsible for the fall of Naira and dwindling economy.

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema, has said that the outstanding federal government N2.2 trillion budget deficits could be effectively financed through the instruments in the capital market. He stated this while appraising the performance of the stock market in 2015 and making projections for 2016, saying: “The capital market has an opportunity to effectively finance the FGN’s proposed budget deficit for 2016 and the implementation of its Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).”

Commercial banks in the country are flouting the directive of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the e-dividend iportal nitiative. While SEC directed that registration on the portal will be free for investors in the first 90 days, investigations reveal that some banks are charging investors as high as N3,150 to register on the portal. Financial Vanguard investigations reveal that some banks as at Friday, charged investors as high as N3,150 for verification and stamp on mandate form.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has released the deposit insurance guidelines for mobile payments systems. Mobile payment refers to the use of mobile telephone technology for payment and financial transactions. In a statement announcing the guidelines, NDIC said that deposit insurance for mobile payment system is known as “Pass-Through Deposit Insurance scheme.”

Last week in this column I said in there was no need to continue the sale of foreign exchange by the Central Bank of Nigeria to Bureau De Change in the country as it was no longer tenable. Little did I know then that the CBN was going to act fast on it. But before that evening press conference by the CBN Governor, I received several calls, some accusing me of working for some vested interest, while others were threats of possible reprisals. The curious thing is that some of the calls were from politicians who have been beneficiaries of the scam. The truth is that these are self serving individuals whose only interest is their pockets and stomachs.