innosreport

(Nigeria) The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has assured newly registered voters in Kogi and Bayelsa that they would get their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) before upcoming elections in both states. Deputy Director, Publicity, of the commission, Mr Nick Dazang, said in Abuja that the commission was working to ensure that the voters would participate in the exercise. INEC has scheduled governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa on November 21 and December 5, respectively. Dazang said that the commission was already running automated finger identification on the data of the registered voters in the two states. ``The ICT department is working seriously to make sure they remove multiple registration information after which they will produce the PVCs which will be distributed before the elections. `` So, voters in Kogi and Bayelsa should be assured that those who registered and those who have not collected their PVCs would collect them before the elections. ``Our sta

(Nigeria) Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has decried the sharp drop in revenue generation from N18 billion in 2012 to N6 billion in 2015 and its adverse effect on government finances. Dickson made the observation at the swearing in ceremony of Mrs. Atonye Pekene as Permanent Secretary in the state civil service in Yenagoa on Wednesday. He said the administration was grappling with serious economic challenges in 2015 and called on the people to exercise some patience, as the state had no alternative source of revenue than the Federation Account. “We live in times when states find it difficult to meet their basic obligations of paying monthly salaries and obligations to civil servants; it is not deliberate. “From the revenue base that I inherited in 2012 which stood at about N18 billion and now my last receipt for last month stood at about N6.2 billion. So, that will tell you the enormity of the challenge we are facing. “But because of the values and systems we have put i

The Contact Group’s political subgroup continued talks in the Belarusian capital on Wednesday on resolving the crisis in Ukraine’s south-east, the press service of Donetsk negotiator Denis Pushilin has said. "The subgroup on political issues resumed talks in Minsk," a spokesperson said, reports Tass. The key issue on the agenda is an agreement to extend a pull-back of weapons in east Ukraine’s Donbas region to include tanks and smaller weapons systems. On Tuesday, the group focused on discussing the date for local elections in Donbas, the OSCE’s representative at the Contact Group talks, Martin Sajdik said. "The discussion was mostly devoted to local elections, which should be held on February 21 next year. It turned out that despite the proposal, the elections will still be held on October 18 [in DPR] and November 1 [in LPR]," he said. The diplomat said this is not in line with the Minsk peace agreements. During the talks, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luan

Coup leaders and loyalists in Burkina Faso signed a truce Tuesday night, ending a week of hostilities, a news report said. The presidential guards that staged the coup agreed to remain confined to barracks, while the loyalists said they would retreat to 50 kilometres from the capital, French broadcaster RFI reported online, reports dpa . The deal does not disarm the guards as the loyalists had hoped, but should avoid any outbreaks of violence during the visit of four heads of state from the Economic Community of West African States. The leaders are set to participate in a second round of mediation talks on Wednesday, the report said. Gilbert Diendere, the brigadier general leading the coup, said that interim President Michel Kafando would be "back in the saddle" as early as Wednesday. Diendere had said earlier in the day that he was committed to negotiations, as the army mobilized on the streets of Ouagadougou. "We will hand over power to a civilian authority, whic

Yemeni President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi on Tuesday returned to the loyalist-held southern city of Aden six months after fleeing the advancing Houthi rebels, his government's official news agency reported. Local newspaper Aden al-Ghad reported that Hadi arrived on a Saudi military plane and was driven towards a hotel in the city, accompanied by Yemeni guards and troops from the Saudi-led coalition that is backing his government, reports dpa. Local fighters, reportedly backed by troops from the United Arab Emirates, drove the mainly Shiite Houthis from Aden in July. The coalition and Hadi's government have been embarrassed by lawlessness and reported jihadist activity in the city since then. Fierce fighting is continuing in central Yemen and in Marib province, east of the Houthi-held capital Sana'a, accompanied by intense airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition. The coalition of mainly Gulf states backing Hadi has been building up forces and training loyalist troops in Mari

No fewer than 38 Islamic State fighters were killed over the last 24 hours as Syrian jets continued to pound the extremist group's strongholds in the ancient city of Palmyra, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday. A Syrian military source, who declined to be named, said that newly supplied Russian aircraft flown by Syrian pilots had been used in the attacks, reports dpa . Russia has reportedly stepped up its military assistance to the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which is under growing pressure from Islamic State and from mainly Islamist Turkish- and Gulf-backed rebels. The US Defence Department said last week that it was monitoring a Russian military buildup at an airport near the port city of Latakia in al-Assad's coastal heartland. US Defence Secretary Ash Carter on Friday discussed the situation in Syria in a telephone call with his Russian counterpart. Russia has acknowledged that it is sending military equipment to Syria, sayin

Gilbert Diendere, the brigadier general at the head of Burkina Faso's coup, on Tuesday refused to surrender power in the face of mobilization by the army on the streets of Ouagadougou. Diendere told a press conference he remained president of the military council created by the presidential guard when it seized power last week and that the council "remains valid" as the organ governing the country, reports dpa. He pledged to continue negotiating with the army, but insisted the presidential guard would defend itself if attacked, he was quoted by local media as saying at the press conference. "We do not want to fight. That is not a solution. We will seek dialogue," Diendere told Germany's international Deutsche Welle broadcaster. "We will hand over power to a civilian authority which will still be determined. We have no intention to hold onto power," he added. Diendere was holding urgent talks with army chief Pingrenoma Zagre to avoid bloodshed,