President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday received the report of the Technical Advisory Committee on the implementation of the new National Minimum Wage, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Buhari had on January 9 inaugurated the advisory committee chaired by an economist and financial expert, Mr Bismarck Rewane, where he reiterated his commitment to an upward review of the minimum wage, NAN reports. The President had on Dec. 19, 2018, while presenting the 2019 Appropriation Bill at the joint session of the National Assembly, announced his intention to constitute the committee. He said the committee would recommend “modalities for the implementation of the new minimum wage in such a manner as to minimise its inflationary impact as well as ensure that its introduction does not lead to job losses”. NAN reports that the two chambers of the National Assembly have already deliberated and approved the bill on N30,000 as the new national minimum wage.

Senator representing Kogi Central in the National Assembly, Ahmed Ogembe has tasked the INEC to ensure that the logistics issues that necessitated the postponement of elections last Saturday were fully sorted out. “We cannot to fail again; the entire world is watching Nigeria. We cannot afford a second failure,” Ogembe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in a telephone interview on Tuesday. He urged stakeholders to work hard toward conducting free, fair and transparent elections that all parties would accept. Ogembe expressed confidence in INEC’s determination to conduct a credible election, but reminded Nigerians that the commission needed everyone’s support to succeed. The senator advised security agencies to conduct a random check on sensitive election materials to ensure that they were complete and in safe hands before Feb. 23, the rescheduled date. He cautioned Nigerians against selling their votes, and urged voters to be guided by their conscience....

INEC Releases Colours of Ballot Papers, Boxes🗳 for Saturday’s Elections The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has released the colours of the ballot papers and boxes for the Presidential and National Assembly Elections on Feb. 16. Mr Leo Nkedife, INEC Head of Voter Education and Publicity in Anambra, made the release available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Thursday. According to the release, different colours of boxes and ballot papers will be used for the Presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives ballots at the polling stations. The release stated that a red ballot paper and red box would be for the presidential election. It also indicated that a black ballot paper and black box would be for senatorial elections.