President Buhari Arrives Saudi Arabia

President Muhammadu Buhari is in Riyadh, ahead. of the crucial bilateral talks on oil price stability with King Salman Bin AbdulAziz Al Saud and other senior officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

State House Correspondent Adamu Sambo reports that the President who arrived the Royal Terminal of Riyadh International Airport at about 8 o’clock in the evening local time was received by a high powered Saudi Government delegation led by the Governor of Riyadh, Prince Faisal Bandar bin AbdulAziz Al-Saud.


Also at the Airport include Nigeria’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Some members of the Federal Executive Council, Governors and other key personalities in both  Public and Private sectors.


Apart from the high level discussions with the Saudi Monarch on ways to achieve greater stability in the price of crude oil in the global market, President Buhari is also expected to meet with the Saudi business community as part of efforts to revamp Nigeria’s economy.


Areas of focus include Mining, Agriculture, Power supply, Transportation and the development of Infrastructure.
While in Saudi Arabia the President is scheduled to visit the two Holy Mosques to pray for peace, stability, unity and sustainable development of Nigeria.

President Buhari Appoints A Blind Man as Special Assistant

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a visually impaired man, DR. SAMUEL INALEGWU ODE ANKELI as his Senior Special Assistant with responsibility for his dealings with persons living with disability.

Dr. Ankeli headed the  Directorate of Persons With Disability at the Buhari/Osinbajo APC presidential campaign headquarters, the first of any such department in a political party in Nigeria.

He led a team that successfully mobilized a large number of the more that 24 million disabled persons in the country to support the APC candidate and his running mate in the 2015 presidential election campaign.

Dr Ankeli hails from Benue State. He went to school in Giwa, near Zaria and Kaduna before reading veterinary medicine at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

He worked with the Benue State government before quitting to give time to his activist role in the promotion of the wellbeing of the blind and people with all kinds of disability. He leads a very active religious and sporting life.

He is married and has children.

Report Cases Of Illegal Charges By Banks - CBN Tell Nigerians

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has asked banks’ customers to report cases of excessive and in some cases illegal charges by Deposit Money Banks.

In a statement on Saturday by the CBN’s spokesman, Ibrahim Mu’azu, the apex bank said it had received series of complaints from customers of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) alleging excessive charges from their respective banks, Channel News reported.

The bank reiterated that the Revised Guide to Bank Charges clearly specified allowable charges for all banking services, warning that it would not in any way condone the fleecing of banking customers under any guise.

“It was in the quest to provide a strong voice to banks’ customers and moderate the arbitrary charges that the CBN in 2012, established its Consumer Protection Department,” the statement read.

The apex bank said it had investigated over 6,000 complaints relating to unauthorised bank charges brought to its notice and that banks had been compelled to refund over 6.2 billion Naira to affected customers in 2015 alone.

It expressed its resolve to continuously enforce the provision of the Revised Guide to Bank Charges and urged members of the public to report cases of infringement to enable it investigate and apply sanctions on any erring Deposit Money Bank (DMB), in the report.

Bank Customers are urged to forward their complaints to the Director, Consumer Protection Department through an email the apex bank provided – cpd@cbn.gov.ng

We are Committed to Global Peace – CDS

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin has re-emphasised Nigeria’s commitment to global peace and security.  He reiterated that Nigeria has been maintaining steady deployment of troops to hot spots around the world to maintain and enforce peace. General Olonisakin made this disclosure at Defence Headquarters Abuja when the Deputy Military Adviser, United Nations Peace Keeping Operations, Major General Adrian Foster, paid him a courtesy call.

The CDS pointed out that Nigeria had been actively involved in peace keeping operations around the world before her independence and has kept the tempo, ever since then despite its security challenges. For instance, the CDS revealed that Nigerian troops are presently on UN missions in Guinea Bissau, Mali, Dafur, Liberia and many other countries across the globe. For this commitment and unalloyed loyalty to UN missions and obligations, Nigeria, he said, deserved more support and recognition from the world body. Hence, General Olonisakin solicited for Nigeria, quality and reputable representations in the area of UN positions and appointments.

The CDS thanked the UN for the confidence reposed in the Nigerian contingents to its mission areas which justified their retention, especially in Dafur and promised that Nigeria would continue to be a key player in world’s politics and diplomacy as well as maintenance of peace and security. He used the occasion to call the attention of the world body that the challenge of insurgency in Nigeria is a regional threat that deserves the UN active collaboration and support to end the menace as soon as possible.

Earlier in his remark, the guest, Major General Foster stated that he was in Nigeria to thank the Armed Forces for its contributions towards the world peace through its active participation in the United Nations Peace Keeping Operations around the world. General Foster further stated that he was in the country to access the situation regarding its war against insurgents in order to recommend to the UN to rally support for the country to overcome its multiple security challenges for the overall benefit of the mankind.

EU Chamber Of Commerce Warns China Over Industrial Overcapacity

China Steel Market (Photo: AFP/RFA)

The European Union (EU) Chamber of Commerce has expressed concern over China’s industrial overcapacity, particularly in the steel sector, saying it pose an increasing threat to European economies.

EU Chamber Head, Joerg Wuttke, disclosed this on Monday in Beijing ahead of the release of a study on the China’s capacity. He said study has shown that China has been accumulating machinery and manpower faster than demand has been growing in recent years.

The official said the report showed that the overcapacity in China’s steel sector rose from 132 million tons in 2008 to 327 million tons in 2014.

Wuttke said the excess led to China offloading its steel at dumping prices on the international market.

He stressed that Chinese authorities need to address the problem more urgently and the protectionism of local employment and business needs to be broken down.

The European Commission this month announced provisional anti-dumping duties on cold-rolled flat steel from China and Russia, and an investigation into the imports of seamless pipes, heavy plates and hot-rolled flat steel from China.

The EU earlier imposed a slew of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Chinese products ranging from solar panels to ceramic tiles and ironing boards.

The bloc applies measures to China on the basis of it not being a market economy.

It was due to review that status by the end of the year, potentially changing the way it calculates whether Chinese imports are fairly priced.