2027: Strip executive power to appoint INEC chairman, Prof. Akhaine urges @NGE Jakande Lecture - ITREALMS

To safeguard Nigeria's fragile democracy ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Federal Government has been urged to overhaul the electoral framework by stripping the Executive arm of its powers to appoint the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), reports ITREALMS.

This call was made by Prof. Sylvester Odion Akhaine while delivering the keynote address at the 4th Annual Lateef Jakande Lecture, organized by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) on July 23, 2026, at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

Gavi names Senator Nishtar next Chief Executive Officer - ITREALMS

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The board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has approved the appointment of Dr Sania Nishtar as its next Chief Executive Officer (CEO), reports ITREALMS.

Dr Nishtar, ITREALMS gathered, is currently a member of the Pakistan Senate, will assume the role on 18 March 2024.

'I'm best recipe creator' says Executive Pastry Chef, Kola - ITREALMS

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The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bakewell Consult & Culinary Academy, Lagos, Mr. Kolawole Olagunju Isaac, declared to ITREALMS' GBEMI OMOTOSO, that he is best known for creating recipes for bakers.

Excerpts:

Why do fellow bakers call you Chef K?

Its just an acronym for Chef Kola as you know I'm meant to be addressed based on what I do is just the same way we address Doctors as well.

Chat with our Executives debuts @Konga - ITREALMS

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Konga, Nigeria's leading composite e-commerce giant, has pioneered another exciting initiative, bringing together customers and senior company executives for a virtual interactive session – Chat with our Executive Management – to be held monthly.

The maiden edition of the innovative interactive meeting holds on Thursday, August 25, 2022 by 1pm.

Soludo explains 'Executive Slap' @ his inauguration - ITREALMS

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The newly sworn-in Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, has given reasons for the fight which observers have since tagged 'executive slap' between Mrs. Ebelechukwu, the wife of his immediate past governor, Chief Willie Obiano, and Mrs Bianca Ojukwu which evidently resulted in a breach of protocol at his inauguration earlier today, Thursday, March 17, 2022.

Mrs. Ebele Obiano and Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu

Soludo in a press statement available to ITREALMS and signed by the Head of his media team, Joe C. Anatune gave two reasons for the show of shame: Communication gap and lingering differences between the two powerful women.

ALTON demands Executive Order on telecom infrastructure

ITREALMS:

The Association of Licensed Telecom Operations of Nigeria (ALTON) is demanding expressly for an Executive Order by President Muhammad Buhari on telecom, as critical national security and economic infrastructure, reports ITRealms.

Making this demand, ALTON through its chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, at the weekend, told ITRealms, that the call has become imperative because telecom services are critical to national security and economic infrastructure of the country and supports several economic sectors.

“Our industry supports many other economic sectors of the economy. We are also the first layer of critical infrastructure for socio economic development and security.

“It is pertinent to state that unless telecoms facilities have first level of protection by government, it will be difficult to provide uninterrupted services to the citizenry,” ALTON warned.

According to ALTON chairman, “we respectfully requests for an Executive Order to be issued designating ‘Telecom Infrastructure as Critical National Security and Economic Infrastructure’ as prescribed in the Cybercrime Act, 2015.” 

In addition, ALTON commended the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for being in the forefront of making sure that the ease of doing business is achieved by all stakeholders in the industry.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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CKN wins US-Nigeria Legislative & Executive Leadership Media Outstanding Award in USA

ITREALMS:

 

The publisher of CKN News, Mr. Chris Kehinde Nwandu, has won the United States-Nigeria Legislative and Executive Leadership Media Outstanding Award, reports ITRealms.

Affirming this to ITRealms, Nwandu popularly known as CKN, said in Washington DC, "The final crown came with this at an epoch event at America's seat of power ,Washington DC, when I was awarded the Most Outstanding Media Personality Award.

The award was presented at the US-Nigeria Legislative and Executive Leadership Forum for promoting social awareness in Nigeria through the media.

“I came out top of several media personalities,” he declared.

CKN, who also is the President, Guild of Professional Bloggers of Nigeria (GPBN) also delivered a lecture on “The Role of Media On The Social Economic Development of Nigeria” at the

According to the organizers "We believe that your contributions and leadership is unparalleled in creating awareness to enhance US-Nigeria relations".

In his response, CKN asserted on his Facebook timeline, “Oh my God, I've not slept all through the night. From the dungeon of Ikoyi Prison to the highest Point in World's largest democracy. It could only be God.”

He went on to dedicate the award to all his fans across the world, “You made it happen, and to my lovely family who believed in me even when I was considered down and out and to my creator, the maker of all things, the one that pulls us up even at our lowest ebb. God bless you all."

ITRealms also gathered that some dignitaries at the award and lecture include Lt. Governor (Deputy Governor) of the State of Maryland, Mr. Boyd Kevin Ruthford and many other from the United States of America and Nigeria.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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Zinox chairman, Ekeh applauds FG over local content executive order

ITRealms:

The chairman of Zinox Group, Dr. Leo-Stan Ekeh has applauded the Federal Government (FG) on the recent signing of an Executive Order compelling its agencies to buy Made-in-Nigeria goods and services, reports ITRealms.

This move, Ekeh noted, would go a long way in boosting indigenous businesses and the local content drive in the country.

Speaking on this at the weekend in Lagos, Ekeh said that the order, signed by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo last Thursday dwelt mostly on the preference for indigenous goods and services as well as the removal of bureaucracies which stall businesses. 

ITRealms recalls that the stipulated Executive Order, as detailed in a document presented by Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, stated that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government shall grant preference to local manufacturers of goods and service providers in their procurement processes for a number of items including food and beverages, motor vehicles, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, furniture and fittings, among others.

Thus reacting, Ekeh commended the FG’s move as a step in the right direction and a potential game-changer for many quality-minded local businesses in Nigeria.

“This announcement alone would have excited an army of 21^st Century young Nigerian entrepreneurs who have been facing depression based on rejection of their certified products by government agencies and parastatals. It is a great development in our new Nigeria and I pray the Federal Government demonstrates the will to implement this to the letter in order to activate real and progressive development in the country. As you know, this policy direction will potentially result in massive job creation for our youths.

“Granting preference to local manufacturers is a sure way of igniting the spirit of indigenous entrepreneurship. This is the standard the world over. Nigeria boasts a number of world-class companies whose products can compete favourably with those of their foreign counterparts. The problem has always been the right form of support from the government.

“Zinox, for instance, is patronized by a number of multinationals. Apart from Chevron Nigeria who remain one of our most regular customers, we have also enjoyed consistent patronage from other multinationals such as Total and Shell. Some of these companies – Chevron, Shell, Total have been patronizing Zinox for over 14 years and this is based purely on service quality as we all know the high standards these companies aspire to.

“I must commend the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo for this bold move which will certainly go a long way in strengthening our local industries, provide more employment for our youths and boost our local currency,” Ekeh declared.

Recollecting that Osinbajo had signed three Executive Orders giving specific instructions on a number of policy issues. They include the promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment designed to facilitate the ease of doing business in the country; timely submission of annual budgetary estimates by all statutory and non-statutory agencies, including companies owned by the Federal Government and the support for local contents in public procurement by the Federal Government.

“Any document issued by any MDA of government for the solicitation of offers, bids, proposals or quotations for the supply or provision of goods and services shall expressly indicate preference to be granted to domestic manufacturers, contractors and service providers and the information required to establish the eligibility of a bid for such preference.

“All solicitation documents shall require bidders or potential manufacturers, suppliers, contractors and consultants to provide a verifiable statement on the local content of the goods and services to be provided.

“Made in Nigeria shall be given overwhelming preference or at least 40% of the procurement spend on locally manufactured goods and services providers. Some priority items include: uniforms and footwear, food and beverages, motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, Information and Communication Technology, furniture and fittings and stationery.

“Within 90 days of this order, the heads of MDAs shall assess the monitoring, enforcement, implementation and compliance with this Executive Order and Local Content stipulations in the Public Procurement Act, or any relevant act within their agencies,” the document had stated.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Broadband Forum gets 13-man Executive Advisory Council

ITRealms:

An international non-profit industry organization with focus on engineering smarter and faster broadband networks, the Broadband Forum, has created a 13-man Executive Advisory Council (EAC) made up of industry leaders to help ensure that the Forum delivers direction to the broadband industry in a fast-changing environment, reports ITRealms.

The chief executive officer, Broadband Forum, Mr. Robin Mersh said the creation of the Advisory Council originated in discussions at the Forum’s Special Meeting, held in Atlanta last year, which saw the development of a new operational model and immediate actions to leverage new technology and approaches to serve the business requirements of the stakeholders in the broadband market.

The idea of the Advisory Council, Mersh said, came from the recent changes in the industry with a paradigm shift both in terms of technology and methodology, stressing that this raises the question of what sort of deliverables are needed and, in any organization, it is always important to ensure the question of business value is central to the forum’s activity.

“This is what our new Advisory Council aims to do. Now more than ever, any work the Forum undertakes needs to have a strong business case and the expertise and experience of our new panel will help ensure this,” the CEO said.

ITRealms gathered from Mersh that the initial list of executives on the Broadband Forum’s new Advisory Council includes Robert Balsamo, VP Advanced Technology at Calix; Didier Boivin, Marketing Vice President, Corporate Board Member, at Metanoia Communications; Don Clarke, Principal Architect, Network Technologies, at CableLabs; Jim Crammond, Senior Director, Connected Home Division, at Intel; Michael Dargue, Principal Consultant at Cartesian; David Eckard, Fixed Networks CTO at Nokia and Heather Kirksey, Director of the OPNFV.

Others are Guru Paralkar, Executive Director of ON.Lab and CORD Project board member; Robert Qi, Chief Strategy Officer, Network Solutions, at Huawei; Kevin Schneider, CTO at ADTRAN; Xiongyan Tang, Chief Technologist of China Unicom; Bill Walker, Director of Network Architecture – SDN, NFV, and Cloud at CenturyLink; and Gavin Young, Head of Fixed Access at Vodafone

“I am looking forward to discussing the many strategic questions facing the industry with this illustrious group. This team has a lot of knowledge and experience and we will continue to add to it in the near future,” he said.

ITRealms  further gathered that following its meeting in Atlanta and subsequent evolution, the Broadband Forum is putting an increasing focus on software and working with open source projects.

This, the forum noted, is helping to deliver on the Broadband Forum’s Broadband 20/20 vision, which focuses on specific new broadband home and business opportunities that leverage Software Defined Networking (SDN), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), the Internet of Things (IoT) and ultra-fast technologies, pointing out that initial discussions with the Advisory Council will address this new direction as a priority.

Chuks Egbune/GEE 

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Budget impasse: Buhari in crucial meeting with Osinbajo, Udoma

ITRealms:

In effort to resolve the budget impasse between the Executive and Legislature in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, Tuesday summoned his Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udo Udoma to the State house, Abuja, reports ITRealms.

President Buhari, ITRealms recalls had been away in China on a state visit for the past one week.

Whereas Presidency was trading blame with the National Assembly for the delay in assenting to the 2016 budget, the National Assembly on the other hand said they have done their best as far as the 2016 appropriation bill is concerned, insisting the ball is in the Executive court.

Development experts have also warned that with the continuous of blame between NASS and the executive arm of government, the Federal Government and indeed, Nigeria may shut down in June due to the delays in assenting to the budget.

Meanwhile the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked presidency and NASs to resolve whatever issues they have because Nigerians are the ones suffering while the two elephants fight.

Also, Senator Udoma had earlier met with Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki ahead of this meeting with Mr. President.

It is expected that the meeting between the trio of President, his vice president and Udo Udoma is to fashion a way forward.

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N60bn railway project tears APC apart

ITRealms:

The current budget controversy between the Executive and National Assembly (NASS) may linger than expected as N60 billion coastal railway project, is tearing the All Progressive Congress (APC)-led federal government apart, investigations revealed, reports ITRealms.

President Muhammadu Buhari was reportedly last Thursday, April 7, 2016 received details of the budget on demand as passed by the National Assembly, which he within 24 hours fingered another reason for delaying assent to the 2016 Appropriation Bill shortly before departing for China.

ITRealms gathered that President Buhari on this development, behest all the Ministers to ensure they reviewed the provisions cum appropriations of their respective ministries to align what was eventually passed by NASS.

A close hint available to ITRealms showed that further delay on the ‘budget of controversy’ may linger as this was the core reasons behind the refusal of President Buhari to assent to the 2016 budget as passed by the National Assembly (NASS) a fortnight ago before the request for budget details came to the fore.

But reliable source at the Presidency, affirmed to ITRealms that the budget could not be assented to when a critical part of APC proposed project is missing as passed.

This, ITRealms gathered was confirmed and formed part of the Presidential visit China at the weekend, but was disappointed.

The two rail projects, ITRealms further gathered include the Northern and Eastern Lines, which are the Lagos-Kano and Calabar – Lagos lines respectively. While the Lagos-Kano proposed line was intact, the Calabar – Lagos line was reportedly deleted from the budget.

ITRealms  recalled that the projects are to be jointly funded by the Peoples Republic of China and the Federal Government of Nigeria.

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Pix: Vice President, Yemi Osibanjo and head of Economic Team of Buhari administration.

Corporate executives, cultivate healthy lifestyle – Obaro

ITRealms:

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer SystemSpecs, John Obaro, has called on corporate executives to cultivate a healthy lifestyle through active participation in sports, ITRealms reports.

Obaro in a press release made available to ITRealms, said the Remita Corporate Championship this year would focus on sports as a powerful social force to promote the health and wellbeing of professionals in corporate Nigeria in an atmosphere of fun and excitement.

He further stressed that Remita, a product of SystemsSpecs, is an electronic platform designed to make it very easy for organizations and individuals to receive and make payments through many channels such as website, internet banking, local and international cards, PoS, mobile devices, bank branches and electronic wallets.

Stating that the championship which continues to attract giants of corporate Nigeria has the 2015 finalists as MTN, UBA, Leadway Assurance, Nestle, Swipha Nigeria, Etisalat, Ecobank and Unilever represents one of the company’s social responsibility initiatives.

The eight participating organizations ITRealms learnt are champions and runners-up from the banking, telecommunications, insurance and fast moving consumer goods [FMCG] industries and are battling for supremacy from May 10 to 24 at the Campos Stadium, Lagos to determine the king of corporate football in Nigeria that will lift the 2015 RC3 cup.

Daniel Nsolibe/GEE

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NIRA elects new president, changes to Registry Administrators

ITRealms

Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA) has elected Mr. Sunday Folayan as its 3^rd Executive President at the 7th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association, as it adopts a change of status from an Internet Registration Association to Internet Registry Administrators, ITRealms reports.   

Folayan, who was handed over the mantle of leadership by consensus of NIRA registrars and financial members, ran for the office unopposed, with three other members, Muhammed Rudman, Sunday Olutayo and Segun Akano, elected into the board.

Highlighting most of her achievements, out-going

president, Mrs. Mary Uduma, said the association has fared well under her leadership. “Most importantly”, she said, “is the purchase and renovation of 

the NIRA Office Complex, where most Committee and Executive Board of Directors meetings are now been held.”  

Mrs. Uduma also noted that her regime recorded a growth in registered domain names. She said, “Newly registered domain names in the year stood at 18,870, with a marginal growth from 16,911 in 2013”.

The New President is also the Chief Executive Officer of General Data Engineering Services, SKANNET. In his acceptance speech, he promised to use his wealth of experience in the industry to ginger effective participation of entrepreneurs and registered businesses in Nigerian.

“We would first create the need and the demand, we would ensure that people have their own personal domains, either in the name space or .ng space; and also ensure we work with appropriate authorities to empower more businesses to be able to run their own domain names.”  He said.

Similarly, the association in line with its mission to be the administrator for the Nigeria Country Code Top Level Domain (.ng ccTLD), unanimously adopted a proposal to change its status as Nigeria Internet Registration Association to the Nigeria Internet Registry Administrators.

The reason for the change, according to the association, is central to the understanding of the word ‘association’, which to them reflects an entity without a long life span. Stating that an association is an organization that can be here today and be born elsewhere tomorrow.

ITRealms learnt that the newly elected President is the immediate past Vice President, Executive Board of Directors, and the Chairman of the Africa Network Information Centre (AfriNIC), also a member of the Board National Information Technology development Agency (NITDA) and Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN).

Nsolibe Daniel/Ed, Ops.

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