Latest Afternoon NEWS Today 2nd Of November, 2020

WAEC withholds SSCE results of 215,149 candidates



The West African Examinations Council, on Monday, announced that it withheld the results of 215,149 candidates who sat for the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination in Nigeria.

The Council said the results of the candidates representing 13.98% of the total number of candidates who wrote the examination are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice.

The Head of WAEC Nigeria, Patrick Areghan, made this know at a briefing in Lagos while announcing the official release of the results of this year’s WASSCE.

He said, “The cases are being investigated and reports of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate Committee of the Council for determination in due course. The Committee’s decisions will be communicated to the affected candidates through their various schools.”

“81,718 candidates, representing 5.31% have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some errors on the part of the candidates. Efforts are, however, being made to speedily complete the processing to enable all the affected candidates get their results fully processed and released, subsequently,” Areghan added.

He further explained that “the analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates in the examination shows that out of the 1,538,445 candidates that sat the examination, 1,338,348 candidates, representing 86.99%, obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects (i.e with or without English Language and/ or Mathematics.

End SARS: Buhari surrounded himself with criminals, who lie to him – Fr Mbaka

Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of surrounding himself with criminals and hooligans.

Mbaka alleged that the criminals and hooligans have continuously fed Buhari with lies.

The clergyman made the claims while delivering a message, entitled “Impure Heart” during the 2020 All Saints Day Holy Mass at Adoration ground, yesterday.

Mbaka alleged that the bodies of End SARS protesters killed by security operatives in Enugu State were dumped in the Onyeama valleys.

He noted that Buhari has failed to salvage the situation because he had surrounded himself with the wrong people.

He said: “(President) Buhari, who could have been a solution to this, succeeded in encircling himself with criminals and hooligans, people who do not just tell him lies, but rather, they magnify lies – lies with NAFDAC number – and feed him!

“We are celebrating the All Saints Day today. When we talk about the Saints, the contrast becomes the living, we who are still on earth.

Our leaders seem to be reaping the seeds that they had planted o. When somebody that you had not given jobs to come out to say that he is hungry and angry, it was you that attracted such protest, in the first place. Do you know how many youths that have died due to hunger?”

Oyigbo massacre: CUPP drags Buhari to international community over killings by soldiers



The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), has lamented the ongoing massacre in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State.

CUPP blamed President Muhammadu Buhari for the killings being perpetrated by men of the Nigerian army.

This is despite some residents of the LGA blaming Governor Nyesom Wike for the killings.

Recall that a resident of the area, Ndu Amaike told DAILY POST on Sunday that the alleged killing started since Governor Wike signed the executive order, declaring a total ban on the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB in all parts of the State.

Amaike said the essence of the military action is extra judicial, adding that, “I have personally lost two people that are close to me. The army just shoots at will and bullets will just touch people.

The soldiers mounted roadblocks on the major roads, but we now hear that they are about to move into the streets. So, those that have gates have started to lock their gates. People are just scared really.”

However, CUPP urged Buhari to call off his ongoing use of brutal military action in Oyigbo, adding that it has petitioned international human right bodies to start criminal trials of those who participated in the extra judicial killings.

CUPP said it has found it extremely important to raise its voice against what it described as the ongoing brutal military onslaught against residents of Oyigbo.

The political parties noted that the massacre, which is being carried out under the guise of peace keeping, is coming after the same military was unleashed on peaceful protesters in Lekki area of Lagos State.

“It is indeed worrisome that despite the negative reactions the Lekki incident attracted both from local and international scenes, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari still deployed troops to Oyigbo,” CUPP said in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere and made available to DAILY POST on Monday.

CUPP said it was wondering the rationale behind Buhari administration’s “easy way of shedding innocent blood without blinking an eye.”

“We are hereby calling on the president to immediately call off the ongoing use of brutal force by soldiers in Oyigbo.

“We are also calling on international human right bodies to start criminal trials of those who participated in the extra judicial killings of defenseless people in Oyigbo and other parts of the country.

“This nation is in a democracy, and we therefore condemn any attempt to militarize the country under any guise.”

ASUU insists on UTAS payment system

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has insisted on having the Federal Government adopt it recently invented payment system for Universities with the name University Transparency and Accountability Solution UTAS as the option against the federal government Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

ASUU also argues that the Federal government payment system IPPIS, which is made compulsory to university workers, including ASUU members is against the law of the land that granted autonomy to Universities.

Besides, “the IPPIS is not temper-proof as presented, adding to the fact that it has national security risk being that the server is hosted from outside the country by an American company.”

The Coordinator, ASUU Calabar Zone, Comrade Aniekan Brown PhD covering 7 Universities within four states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Ebonyi states, told journalist in Calabar on Monday that “we consider the IPPIS which is a payment system offer by the federal government as uncongenial with the modus operandi of the university system, given the peculiarities of universities. Government has made it a front burner; but we consider it a distraction.”

“Kindly note that our Union has been rejecting the IPPIS since 2013; Government challenged us to produce an alternative to IPPIS. The Union took up the challenge, and has produced one. This is called the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, UTAS. Presentations have been made to the appreciation of some quarters.”

“The Union has been ready for the final stage presentation to NITDA. Sadly, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGoF) is of the position that our members migrate first (during the intervening period) after which if UTAS is approved, we would be re-migrated to UTAS. We argue that it is a case of economic waste.”

The ASUU zonal chief maintained that in the interim, their members have not been paid variously for periods ranging from four to nine months. “We are still in the trenches. And we will not return to the classes with empty stomach.”

He debunked the figures pandered in some quarters by the government that over 50,000 members of ASUU have voluntarily joined the IPPIS platform in obedience to the federal government directive as against about 14,000 yet to comply.

His words, “That is just a divisive and blackmail tactics. We don’t have such number of academic staff members in the country even if you put together both federal and states’ universities. May be there are counting other unions’ members within the university.”

He further insisted that “the university system is peculiar in its modus-operandi. The mode of employment, retirement age, sabbatical leave, adjunct engagements, part-time engagements, contract engagements, etc. are concepts that are unique to the university, and obviously alien to IPPIS. The OAGF has told a lot lies about addressing these peculiarities. Unfortunately, our Union had a number of meetings with the OAGF and, for all that the meetings are worth, they were opportunities to convince ASUU that the IPPIS is capable of addressing the concerns of our Union. This did not happen!”

ASUU as they put it, is pained that the federal Government has continue to pay deaf ears to the revitalization of Public Universities and as it concerns the proliferation and funding of State Universities; “ASUU insist that Visitors to State Universities should stand up to their responsibilities. And State government should not establish universities they cannot fund. Visitation Panels to universities have not been realized in the last ten (10) years, it responsibilities nor purpose for which the idea of having the panel in place.”

Comrade Brown concluded with an appeal saying, “We seek the cooperation and understanding of the good people of Nigeria, and the general public on ASUU’s stance on the afore-stated outstanding issues and the IPPIS. ASUU has courted for itself an enviable pedigree of integrity, credibility and accountability. Our members would not return to the classes with empty stomachs.”

[BREAKING] COVID-19: FG approves N5bn bailout for aviation sector

The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, said on Monday that the Federal Government would soon start the disbursement of the N5bn bailout it approved for the operators of the Aviation sector.

Sirika stated this at the opening of a three-day public hearing on the six executive bills meant to reorganise the civil aviation agencies in the country.

He said the airline operators would get N4bn while other businesses in the Aviation sector would be given N1bn

The Senate has, however, said the money would not be enough to keep the airline operators in business..