Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, on Tuesday inaugurated the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Steering Committee for the full implementation of the initiative in the state.

The Nigerian government is targeting about 5.5 million pupils by the end of 2017. Figures released by the Office of the Vice President showed that about 2,918,842 schoolchildren from 19,881 schools in the 14 pilot states of the federation have so far benefitted from the school feeding programme.

Two of the five men charged with illegally importing 661 pump-action rifles into the country in a 40-ft container, on Monday asked to change their initial no guilty plea and instead enter into a plea bargain with the prosecution.

The Kano State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Shandong Ruyi Technology Group of China for the establishment of a $600 million Textile Industrial Park in the state. The planned multi-million dollar investment in Kano will be the biggest in Africa upon completion. Kano state Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje says the state has put in place facilities for textile clusters across its 44 local government areas and urged the group to incorporate them into the Textile Industrial Park.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) has ordered immediate dismantling of all road blocks across the country, particularly those erected along the Lagos-Ibadan, Shagamu-Benin and Benin-Onitsha roads. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Jimoh Moshood who issued the directive on Monday on behalf of the IGP listed other roads to include Okene-Abuja, Kaduna-Kano, Katsina – Kano, Otukpo – Enugu, Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressways.

The Lagos State Government on Monday donated 120 power generating sets to the state police command for its 107 divisions and 13 areas commands to enhance security operations.