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Popular Nigerian singer/songwriter, Oluwabankole Wellington, a.k.a Banky W, and actress Adesua Etomi’s wedding dominated the internet search engine Google this week.
Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Anglophone West Africa, made this known in a dispatch to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.
He said that the Anambra state governorship election also top the chat of the search engine.
“The highly anticipated wedding of Nigeria’s favourite couple, R&B singer, Bankole Wellington and Nollywood actress, Adesua Etomi was held on Sunday.
“The couple, who announced their engagement shortly after co-starring in the Wedding Party movie, also held their court wedding on Monday.
“The video of the court wedding went viral as soon as it was posted on social media by the happy couple.
“Fans and friends have since taken to Google to search for more photos from the couple’s traditional wedding,’’ Kola-Ogunlade said.
The Google manager said that Governor Willie Obiano, this week, was declared the winner of the Gubernatorial Election held in Anambra State.
IPAC, Buhari Congratulates Obiano
He added that in his acceptance speech, Obiano thanked the citizens of Anambra State for voting despite several instances of election manipulation and over-voting cited by the election officers.
Kola-Ogunlade said that this led to the cancellation of results in several units.
Well-wishers also raced to Google to search for more details about the election results.
Also, the reported death of the former Vice President Alex Ekwueme who died in the early hours of Sunday in a London clinic became a trending topic.
“The sad news was confirmed by his family in a statement. This followed his family debunking news of his death two weeks earlier.
“Fans and well wishers raced to Google to confirm the sad news,’’ he said.
Kola-Ogunlade said that the news of the resignation of the Zimbabwean leader, Robert Mugabe also trended on google.
“Mid last-week, in what was referred to as a “bloodless transition”, Mugabe was removed from office and placed under house arrest.
“After almost a week of uncertainty, the 93-year old dictator resigned on Tuesday after nearly four decades in power.
“His resignation letter was read out at a joint session of the Zimbabwean Parliament in Harare and as celebration continues in Zimbabwe, Nigerians took to Google to confirm Mugabe’s resignation,’’ he said.
Early this week, news broke of Cyntoia Brown, a 29-year-old victim of sex trafficking, who had been sentenced to life in prison in Nashville, Tennessee,’’ the Google manager said.
He added that she was sentenced for shooting her abuser after being forced into prostitution at the age of 16.
“Brown, who has already served nearly 13 years in prison, will be eligible for parole after serving 51 years behind bars.
“This sentence has drawn outrage from celebrities such as Kim Kardashian West and Rihanna, who has began a social media protest with the Free Cyntoia Brown.
“Nigerians raced to Google to read more about Brown’s story, making her name a top trending search term,’’ he said.
NAN reports that Google Trends launched in May, 2006, allows one to see how popular, search terms and its demography have been over time on Google.
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The Federal Government has obtained the names of 500 Nigerians implicated in various cases of tax fraud across the country.
Mr Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President (Office of the Vice President) disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), held in Abuja on Thursday.
The meeting was presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
Akande told the correspondents that the Minister of Finance informed the Council the affected individuals were found to have under declared their assets.
He, however, stated that the Federal Government had plan to provide amnesty to those repentant tax defaulters in the country.
“On the Voluntary Aid Assets and Income Declaration Scheme, the minister said there was progress and the list of 500 Nigerians who were believed to have under declared their assets has already been obtained.
“She said the scheme would offer an amnesty opportunity for all tax defaulters,’’ he added.
“The Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) was formally inaugurated on June 29, by the federal government.
“VAIDS is an initiative designed to encourage voluntary disclosure of previously undisclosed assets and income for the purpose of payment of all outstanding tax liabilities.”
On Value Added Tax, Akande said the minister also informed the Council that the highest amount of N89 billion was generated in the month of October.
“She also added that the target was N120 billion monthly.
The presidential aide also disclosed that an Ad-Hoc Committee had reported back to the Council that a number of revenue-generating agencies might have significantly under remitted returns to the Federation Account.
The Council had ordered a  forensic audit to review of remittances of the agencies covering 2010 to May 2015. (NAN)
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Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola
Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja
The Federal Government has directed the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to reinstate the regulation that allows power consumers to purchase meters from approved vendors.
NERC had in September last year directed the 11 electricity distribution companies operating in the country to formally wind down the alternative meter financing scheme on or before November 1, 2016. The scheme was initiated by NERC in 2013.
The commission had stated that the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation, which allowed electricity consumers to self-finance meter acquisition and installation given that Discos were unable to promptly deploy meters to them, would cease to exist from November 1, 2016.
But on Thursday, the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, stated that both the federal and state governments recently resolved that NERC should reinstate the regulation that permits power consumers to purchase meters, especially where the Discos could not provide the facility.
The ministry said the resolution was reached at the recent third edition of the National Council on Power. The communique issued at the end of the meeting was made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Thursday.
It was gathered that the council was presided over by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, and supported by the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Suleiman Hassan. Council members from 27 states of the federation attended the meeting.
The communique read in part, “Council considered issues, observations and recommendations made by the working/technical committees as contained in the reports laid before it, and took key decisions as well as gave directives for implementation with time lines as outlined below.
“NERC to reinstate regulations permitting willing customers to purchase meters from approved meter vendors as approved by the distribution companies and the Nigeria Electricity Management Services Agency with a framework to reimburse such customers in cash, or energy.
“NERC to issue a regulation that enables third-party meter providers to install and manage customers’ meters, provided that such third parties are certified by NEMSA and approved by the Discos based on available metering standards. NERC to provide a framework for compensating the investment made by meter service providers in cash or shares in the Discos.”
The council also stated that NERC should commence an aggressive multi-platform public awareness programme that would reach as many customers as possible and explain all policies and regulations and obligations related to metering.
It directed NERC to enforce on the Discos the policy directive that any unmetered customer was obligated to pay only the last undisputed bill, adding that if the customer remained unmetered, the last undisputed bill should be discounted by 15 per cent in each subsequent year that the customer remained unmetered provided that the failure to meter the customer was the fault of the Disco.
The council noted that in areas where distribution infrastructure was non-existent, NERC should franchise the opportunity to provide services to interested investors, including states and local governments through regulations such as the mini-grid regulations.
The council stated, “In areas where customers are dissatisfied with the services they are currently enjoying, NERC regulations should give customers the option of contracting better services from service providers and generation companies through policies like the eligible customers regulation and mini-grids using varieties of generation technologies; obtaining better services by compelling Discos to appoint retail agents; and obtaining better services by compelling the Discos to relinquish their franchise to capable investors/service providers.”
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A human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), on Wednesday accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation  of failing to remit over $21.7bn and N376bn since 1999.
The human rights activist said instead of piling up external loans, the Federal Government should be compelled by the Nigerian people to “embark on the immediate recovery and repatriation of hundreds of billions of dollars from the NNPC.”
Falana spoke  in Lagos at a National Seminar on Promoting Transparency and Accountability in the Recovery of Stolen Asset in Nigeria: Agenda for Reform.
The event was organised by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project in collaboration with the Ford Foundation, United States of America.
A statement issued SERAP’s Deputy Director, Mr. Timothy Adewale, quoted Falana as saying at the event, that he had cause to petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over, among other cases, the failure of the NNPC to remit the sum of $21.7bn to the Federal Government since 1999.
He said, “Convinced that the Federal Government was chasing the shadow in the fight against corruption, I have had cause to petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to open the allegations of corruption which border on crimes against humanity. In the said petition I alleged as follows:
 “From five cycles of independent audit reports covering 1999-2012 the National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative revealed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, some oil companies and certain agencies of the Federal Government have withheld $20.2bn from the Federation Account. In the 2016 audit report released by NEITI in March 2017 the figure was said to have jumped to $21.7bn and N376bn.
“In 2006, the Central Bank of Nigeria removed $7bn from the nation’s external reserves and placed same as deposit in 14 Nigerian banks. In 2008, the Bank gave a bailout of N600bn ($4bn) to the same banks. Up till now the CBN has failed to recover the said sum of $11bn from the banks.
 “On September 6, 2016 the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation announced that arrangements had been concluded to recover the sum of $9.6bn in over-deducted tax benefits from joint venture partners on major capital projects and oil swap contracts.. The NNPC is said to have recovered the said sum of $9.6 bn but has not same remitted same into the Federation Account.”
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A unit of Dangote Flour Mills, Dangote Noodles Limited, has sold two production lines to rival pasta maker, De United Foods Industries, for N3.75bn ($12.26m), the company said on yesterday.
De United said it had signed an agreement with the firm to buy plants at its Ikorodu and Calabar factories. It will also buy stock worth N383.94m, according to a statement from the company.
The deal comes after Dangote sold a small stake in its cement business to foreign investors in a one-off stock market deal valued at N27bn.
The company, majority owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, had said it wanted to quit the noodles business to focus on flour and pasta production.
Nigeria’s noodle market is fiercely competitive and De United, with a market share of around 70 per cent, is seeking to consolidate the sector.
Privately-held Dangote Industries Limited, with interests in agriculture, real estate and truck assembly, bought back the flour unit it had sold to South Africa’s Tiger Brand for $1 in 2015 after it posted losses.
Shares in Dangote Flour Mills have more than doubled so far this year after rising by 276 per cent last year. The stock price was down by 3.17 per cent on Tuesday at N9.20 naira.
Dufil Prima Foods, the parent of De United Foods, is a privately held company set up over two decades ago, which has grown to become the largest pasta maker in West Africa.
De United said the transaction had been approved by both companies and the regulators.
It was learnt that De United would continue to produce noodles under the Dangote brand for two years after the acquisition.
In July Dufil Prima Foods said it would raise N40billion in the local debt market to broaden its funding base.
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The Federal Government has generated $64.6 million revenue from sale of electricity to neighbouring Benin and Niger republics, Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has said.
Fashola gave the figure in an address presented at the 21st meeting of the Power Sector Stakeholders Conference in Asaba.
The minister said that the government had made efforts to recover the huge debt owed by its international customers to reduce liquidity challenges in the power sector.
“Only recently, the federal government received the sum of $64.630.65 million from the republics of Benin and Niger for electricity power supplied to these two nations.
“It is our belief that our effort at recovering some of these debts owed by our international customers will help towards the reducing liquidity challenges we face in the power sector,” Fashola said.
Fashola said the monthly stakeholders’ conference was an avenue to assess and evaluate the progress of collective efforts at boosting power supply in the country.
He listed some of the major challenges facing the sector to include estimated billing and inadequate prepaid meters for customers.
The minister also used the occasion to inaugurate the New Asaba Injection Substation, a 215 MVA substation expected to boost power supply to parts of Delta.
Fashola said: “With today’s commissioning of the New Asaba 215 MVA  interjection substation, there will now be more electricity for the people of Bonsac, Akwuebulu, Oduke and all other surrounding areas.”
The stressed that the federal government was working assiduously towards connecting rural areas to the national grid and appealed to people in rural areas to be patient.
“To those communities that electricity power has not reached across the country, I implore you to be patient, because we have certainly not forgotten you.
“I want to assure you that one by one, we will get to you so that every community in Nigeria can enjoy electricity supply,” he said.
Earlier in an address, Mrs. Funke Osibodu, the Managing Director, Benin Electricity Distribution Company ( BEDC ), lauded the initiators of the monthly stakeholders conference.
She said that the meeting allowed stakeholders to critically analyse their challenges and efforts towards achieving a common goal for the development of the sector.
“This forum affords all of us an avenue to interact, understand each other and evaluate our common efforts and challenges towards achieving the goal of equitable power distribution to our people.
“Here at the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, we have started making progress in the area of load management and we have also improved our billing system,” Osibodu said.
The BEDC boss stated that the company, with franchise area covering Edo, Delta and Ondo states, had energised several communities that have been without electricity for years.
She listed Ibusa and Ogwashi-Uku communities in Delta as some of the communities that BEDC has successfully energised.
In his address, Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta, lauded BEDC for the inauguration and official switch-on of the New Asaba Interjection Substation, saying it would boost power supply in the area.
Okowa, represented by the state Commissioner for Energy, Mr. Newworld Sufugha, expressed urged BEDC to focus on providing prepaid meters to its customers.

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Feyisayo Popoola
Latest Gionee X-series smartphone, Gionee X1s, has been launched into the Nigerian market, ahead of the Black Friday sales on November 24.
The smartphone, which was unveiled by the Chief Executive Officer of Gionee, Mr. Chen Lei, in Lagos, was presented to Gionee’s Brand Ambassador, Oluseyi Joshua, popularly known as ‘Seyi Shay’.
According to the Marketing Director, Gionee Nigeria, Mr. Somoye Habeeb, Gionee always tries to move ahead of time, which was what prompted the launch of the smartphone, ahead of the Christmas Black Friday sales.
He stated that the smartphone was introduced to bridge the gap between the high-end and the low-end people.
Habeeb described the smartphone as a ‘mid-range gadget’ because its price was relatively low as compared to other devices, which possessed the same features with the smartphone.
READ: Online forex: ARA’s trading technique
The major highlight of the device is the 16-megapixel ‘selfie’ camera with front flash and its 4000mAh battery capacity.
The device also comes with features such as the rear mounted fingerprint shutter, 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, Android 7.0 operating system, Amigo 4.0, 5.20-inch touchscreen display and 16GB internal memory and 3GB RAM.
The X1s combines IR remote and flash together, which is able to control devices at home.
Speaking at the event, the Managing Director, Gionee Nigeria, Mr. Ben Ekechukwu, said Gionee was partnering online gadget stores for Black Friday’s freebies.
He said the product launch was Gionee’s way of offering perks to consumers for the fast approaching Black Friday and beyond.
According to him, the Black Friday period should be taken advantage of, as it will afford people the opportunity of purchasing the phone at a give-away price.
He gave other benefits that came with purchasing the device as a 15-month warranty and the after-sales service rendered to customers.
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Maureen Ihua-Maduenyi
The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja will before the end of this week get safety and security certification from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, a source close to the regulatory organisation has said.
According to the source, the airport, which began operations about 15 years ago, recently got a pass mark in security, safety and equipment from the NCAA, adding that the certification process began in 2014.
The NCAA was said to be satisfied with the several manuals submitted to its inspectors by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, operator of the airport.

The source added, “There are five stages involved in airport certification. The fifth stage is the presentation of certificate to the management of FAAN, which is slated for this week.
“With the successful certification, Abuja will now be the second airport in the country to be certified by the authority. The Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos was the first to be certified by the NCAA in September.”
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