Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State, has inaugurated a committee for the resettlement of displaced persons following bandit attacks in the state.

At the inaugural ceremony, Uba was represented by his deputy, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, who also doubled as Chairman of the Committee.

He explained that resettling the displaced persons rested on the collective conscience of all stakeholders in the state, saying this entails facilitation of so many initiatives.

Governor Sani urged the committee to leverage the expertise and available resources, within the government and through partnerships with relevant stakeholders.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, has assured magistrates, judges of lower courts, and their staff of improved welfare.

The plight of magistrates and judges in lower courts, grappling with poor working conditions and inadequate welfare has become a concern, prompting calls for improvement.

Speaking at the refresher course for magistrates and judges of the lower courts, the CJN stated that he is aware of the challenges confronting them, noting that efforts are being made to improve their welfare and alleviate the challenges they face.

Ariwoola also urged them to display transparency, openness, and integrity.

The Administrator, National Judicial Institute, Justice Salisu Abdullahi, said the programme was organised to bring participants’ attention to crucial elements of substantive and procedural law.

Former Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, is challenging the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to hear the alleged fraud preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC had on January 24 arraigned the former governor on nine charges bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of 4 billion naira.

At the proceedings, counsel for the EFCC, Sylvanus Tahir, told the court he was ready for the commencement of trial and had three witnesses to present in court.

But counsel for the defendant, Onyechi Ikpeazu, told the court that he had filed a motion challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter.

He urged the court to exercise its discretion to determine his motion first before the commencement of trial.

The trial Judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, subsequently adjourned the matter to March 7, 2024, for a hearing of the motion.

A former Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, has stated that the Federal Government still pays subsidy on petroleum products.

In his inaugural speech last year, President Bola Tinubu announced that fuel subsidy is gone, adding that the 2023 Budget made no provision for fuel subsidy and more so, subsidy payments were no longer justifiable.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in one of its reports last month also advised Nigeria to completely phase out costly fuel and electricity subsidies as part of measures to address its economic challenges.

Speaking on a monitored programme, Yuguda said if the IMF says we are paying subsidy, then we are.

He, however, said the subsidy that was removed was the one that was going into private pockets.

The former Bauchi Governor equally said with more monies accruable to the subnational governments as a result of subsidy removal, they should do more to better the lot of their subjects.