SPOTLIGHT MEDIA

 In spite of criticisms against the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of President Mohammadu Buhari by some senators, especially those in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Senate yesterday rejected a call that the President should reverse the TSA policy, as well as the call by the Senate President for the government to sell off national assets to raise capital. This is just as the upper chamber yesterday admitted two newly elected senators in its fold, including senator Isaac Alfah, who represents Kogi East senatorial District on the PDP platform , and Benjamin Uwajumogu, who represents Imo north on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC). Recall that during the two day Senate debate on the economic recession in the country, some of the lawmakers had blamed the massive job loss in the country and poor liquidity in the financial system of the country on the controversial TSA policy of the government, calling for reversal.

Somehow it seems the MTN Group just can’t catch a break in Nigeria. It’s like a one step forward , two steps back thing. First, it was the brouhaha with the Nigerian Communications Commission , then there’s that N16 billion copyright law suit that was filed by the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON). And now? Now, the Nigerian Senate is investigating the allegation that MTN illegally transferred $12 billion dollars out of Nigeria over a 10-year period.

A nontraditional fact checker was on social media during and after the presidential debate Monday night. Ford Motor Company and its employees took to Twitter and Facebook to defend themselves against Republican candidate Donald Trump’s opening comments about the company's investments and production plans in Mexico. Throughout his campaign, Mr. Trump has brought up Ford’s investments in Mexico to deride the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and highlight the decline of US manufacturing. Only recently has Ford started to jab back.   But the argument isn't as black-and-white as either side has depicted it. Ford’s move of its small-car production to Mexico is part of a larger trend of American automakers sending some of their production across the southern border, as labor forces in the Northeast and Midwest shrink and age. Trump brought up Ford and Mexico in his opening comments to start the debate against his Democrat opponent, Hillary Clinton.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, says Nigeria’s foreign reserves have reduced from $26.51 billion in t he second quarter of 2016 to $24.74 billion in September. Udoma on Tuesday said this at the 57th annual conference of Nigerian Economic Society with the theme “the developmental state and diversification of the Nigerian economy”. He said Nigeria had revenue and foreign currency concentration problems, adding that diversification was the only solution. The minister said due to four strategic pipeline terminals that were blown up, Nigeria had been unable to achieve its 2016 Budget production target of 2.2 million barrels a day.

About two weeks ago, Nigerians woke up to a rude shock when popular comedian, Bovi, posted on his Instagram page that his colleague and friend, Basketmouth, got robbed. Many of his fans were quick to sympathise with him while others were apprehensive as nothing was heard about the humour merchant.   Ever since the incident occurred, the ace comedian had not spoken about the encounter he had with the men of the underworld till Saturday Beats reached out to him. Responding to a mail the comedian thanked Nigerians for their concern but also begged them to put the incident in the past where it belongs. Like any doting father, he thanked God that his children were unaware of the robbery incident because they were asleep all through the encounter. Basketmouth said, “I will rather not talk about the robbery incident because it is in the past now. I just thank God nobody was hurt. My kids were asleep throughout the incident so that is something to really thank God for as the trauma...

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday held a secret meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Tambuwal, who is a former Speaker of the House, came with Dogara in one vehicle to the forecourt of the Presidential Villa where they spent about an hour in the President’s office. When they were approached by journalists after the meeting, they declined to speak on the purpose of the meeting.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump bickered and traded insults in a fiery US presidential debate Monday, as they aggressively pitched their case to tens of millions of American voters. With the White House rivals in a dead heat six weeks before election day, Clinton from the get-go painted her Republican rival as out of touch and having a tenuous relationship with the truth, willing to say “crazy things” to get elected. “You live in your own reality” said the 68-year old Democrat, who accused Trump of launching his political career on a “racist lie” — the birther conspiracy theory that questioned President Barack Obama’s citizenship. Trump, who faces tough questions about his suitability for the Oval Office, started out with a more restrained tone — he even ditched his red power tie for a more statesmanlike blue.

President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday adjourned plenary of the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly to Thursday.   The adjournment, it was learnt, was not connected with the trial of Saraki; Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and two others for alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Rules. Both Saraki, Ekweremadu and two officials of the Senate had been arraigned before a Federal High Court, while the last adjournment of the case was to Wednesday. The alleged forged rules were used for the elections of Saraki, Ekweremadu and other principal officers of the 8th Senate

Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB) Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyode said yesterday the board would abolish scratch cards to register for and check results, with effect from 2017. Oloyode, who spoke at the National Executive Council meeting of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) in Abuja, said students would generate JAMB PIN number for themselves from their phone or computers before registering for examinations. He said the JAMB would not support a situation where banks and vendors hoard the cards, only to sell them at a higher price. The JAMB registrar challenged NASU to get involved in the ownership of Computer-Based Testing Centres, saying those who own the centres are businessmen merely exploiting students. He added that if academic-based stakeholders, such as NASU, own CBT centres, the board will be confident  the examinations will be conducted without hitch. Credit: Nation newspaper.