FG to privatise roads, ports

The Federal Government has initiated four bills; the National Transport Commission Bill (2014); Nigeria Railway Bill (2014); Nigerian Ports and Harbour Authority Bill (2014); and National Inland Waterways Authority Bill (2014) as part of its plan to privatise the transport sector.

Minister of Information, Labaran Maku told state House correspondents after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting that the move is aimed at  opening  up the transport sector to the public for private participation.

Jonathan to name Abati as Minister of Information

The Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, is in strong contention to become a minister, News Express can report this morning.

“He has been penciled down to replace Labaran Maku as Minister of Information when the President reconstitutes his cabinet,” a reliable source at the Presidency informed News Express.

The source said that Abati had been lobbying for the position, including using the President’s mother, Madam Eunice Ayi Jonathan, to reach the heart of Dr. Jonathan.

The source did not, however, say if Maku, who has had a lackluster tenure as Information Minister, would be reassigned or dropped from the cabinet. Maku is presently doubling as Supervising Minister of the Ministry of Defence.

President Jonathan is in the process of replacing 10 ministers dropped over the past one month. While Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir was sacked as Minister of Youth Development on August 26, nine others were relieved of their appointments on September 11. They are Prof. Ita Okon Bassey Ewa (Science and Technology); Ambassador Gbenga Ashiru (Foreign Affairs); Dr. Shamshudeen Usman (National Planning); Professor Ruquayattu Rufa’i (Education); Ms Amma Pepple (Housing and Urban Development); Hajia Hadiza Malaifia (Environment). Three ministers of state were also affected – Ms. Zainab Kuchi, Minister of State for Power; Olusola Obada, Minister of State for Defence; and Bukar Tijani, Minister of State for Agriculture.













Information from News Express was used in this report.

FG orders 53 gold-plated iPhones worth N649m

The Federal Government has ordered 53 custom made goldplated iPhones from a United Kingdom-based company, Gold and Co, to commemorate the country’s 53rd independence anniversary on October 1.
A Bristol-born businessman based in Dubai, Mr. Amjad Ali, who runs the luxury goods firm, disclosed this in an interview with The Independent of London.
He said Nigeria had joined his growing list of clients which include royal families, governments and minted customers across Russia, China and the Middle East who have ordered the gold-plated devices that cost up to £50,000 (N12.2m); meaning that the potential bill for Nigeria could be up to N649m.
According to him, basic models in gold or rose gold cost from £3,000. The iPhones ordered
by the Federal Government will carry the national emblem.
“We will engrave them with the coat of arms, a shield and two horses,” he said.
The 42-year-old entrepreneur, who grew up in Glasgow, has pre-ordered hundreds of new iPhones. His team at Gold and Co. will set to work the day after launch before delivering the devices to luxury retailers.
“We strip the units down and then plate them in copper, nickel and then pure gold,” he told The Independent. “We have limited units per region and each is numbered and placed in a handmade wooden box with a certificate of authenticity and wax seal.”
Ali typically delivers 50 devices a month, including Blackberries and iPads, but orders rose to more than 300 a month when the iPhone 5 was launched last year. The firm expects greater demand still for the sixth-generation device, announced yesterday.
Gold and Co.’s customers have included the Saudi royal family, which, Ali says, ordered a gold iPhone studded with hundreds of diamonds, including a giant piece that served as the device’s “home” button. The bill: £50,000.
The company has also supplied an engraved gold iPad to each of the rooms at the luxury “six-star” Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.
For the new iPhone, Ali has added a platinum option to the gold and rose gold currently offered. “Muslim men are not supposed to wear gold,” he explains. “We had government departments for example cancelling orders, so now we’re launching platinum to tap into a huge market. Most importantly, it’s a third colour. Everyone wants to be different.”
The orders come at a time government is complaining of shortage of funds to pay off striking university lecturers who have refused to work for two month now due to the failure of government to pay outstanding allowances.
In a swift reaction however, the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, denied that the Federal Government had placed such an order.
Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Joseph Mutah, Maku said: “We have never heard anything like that. The story is utterly false and mischievous, there is no order like that at least by this government”, he told National Mirror last night.

Information from National Mirror newspaper was used in this report.