Kano State Government is poised to revolutionise payroll management in its 44 local councils with the imminent launch of a cutting-edge Staff and Payroll Software.

This innovative system is designed to tackle longstanding inefficiencies and sanitise salary operations, ensuring a more transparent and accountable governance framework.

The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Tajo Othman, disclosed this at the closing of a 4-day Capacity Building Training Session aimed at equipping relevant personnel from SPHCMB, SUBEB, and the Ministry for Local Government on the new Human Resource and Payroll software.

The training was designed to equip participants with the necessary skills to maximise the system’s benefits.

By integrating biometric data and streamlining payroll management, the initiative aims to eliminate ghost workers, ensure timely payments, and enhance accountability across the 44 local councils.

The Commissioner emphasized that the new software underscores the administration’s commitment to harnessing technology for good governance and citizen welfare.

The new system also enhance transparency, accuracy, and efficiency, the system is poised to significantly improve the overall quality of service delivery in the LGAs.

The Commissioner further disclosed that the new payroll system is designed to automatically notify civil servants of their retirement three months prior to the date, ensuring a seamless transition.

Moreover, the Ministry will engage retirees in entrepreneurship skill training programs, equipping them with the necessary skills to become self-reliant and thrive in their post-retirement lives.

The Commissioner urged the participants to pay adequate attention and familiarise themselves with the new system, emphasizing the importance of computer literacy in ensuring the successful implementation of the project.

He expressed confidence that the carefully selected participants would ensure sustainability and maximise the benefits of the training.

Preventive, a Silicon Valley startup backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong is pursuing research that some fear could lead to the birth of a genetically engineered baby — a step that’s illegal under US law and banned in most countries, a report said.

The company, said its goal is to end hereditary disease by editing human embryos before birth, a claim that has ignited fierce debate over safety, ethics and the specter of designer children, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Preventive, founded earlier this year by Lucas Harrington, gene-editing scientist, has raised $30 million and set up headquarters in San Francisco, where it is conducting research on modifying embryos to prevent hereditary disease.

The company says its mission is to prove the technology can be made safe and transparent before any attempt to create a baby is made.

Altman and Armstrong are among the firm’s early investors, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Oliver Mulherin, Altman’s husband, said he led their investment, calling it an effort to help families avoid genetic illness.

Armstrong, who has publicly promoted embryo editing, posted that he was “excited” to back Preventive and argued it is far easier to correct a genetic defect in an embryo than to treat disease later in life.

But federal law prohibits the Food and Drug Administration from considering applications for human trials involving genetically edited embryos used to start pregnancies.

Harrington, who earned his doctorate under CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna, denied that Preventive is preparing to implant an edited embryo or working with a couple to do so.

He said the company’s focus is preclinical research on whether editing embryos can be done safely.

“We are not trying to rush things,” Harrington told the Journal.

“We are committed to transparency in our research and will publish our findings, whether positive or negative.”

People familiar with Preventive’s operations told the Journal that the company had explored foreign jurisdictions, including the United Arab Emirates, where embryo editing might be permitted.

Harrington said work outside the US was being considered only because of regulatory restrictions, not to evade oversight.

The company has recruited advisers from reproductive medicine and genetics.

Preventive’s website describes it as a public-benefit corporation, meaning it can legally prioritize social good alongside profit.

Preventive, said its goal is to end hereditary disease by editing human embryos before birth.

Its charter defines that purpose as the “responsible advancement of genome editing technologies applied before birth to benefit humanity.”

The effort echoes the 2018 scandal in which He Jiankui, Chinese scientist,  created the world’s first gene-edited babies, twins whose embryos had been altered to resist HIV.

He served three years in prison for illegal medical practices.

Scientists say it remains unclear how the edits affected the children, who have not been publicly identified.

The Senate on Friday night halted the confirmation of Mr Abdullah Garba Ramat, as chief executive, Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC), following allegations that the leadership of the 10th Senate, took a bribe of $10 million bribe.

The allegation came from Alwan Hassan, former special adviser to former Vice President, Yemi Osibanjo.

Hassan, had alleged  that the leadership of the 10th Senate, took a bribe of $10 million to stop the confirmation of the nominee as  chairman of NERC.

But  Senator Yemi Adaramodu, spokesman of the Senate, in a statement dismissed the allegation as unfounded.

Adaramodu said the stance of the Red Chamber to step down the screening and confirmation of Ramat, for the office of Chairman of NERC,was informed by what he called “a baggage of public and private complaints against his nomination.”

He recalled instances when  “many nominees have been stepped down due to such public outcry,” and urged the public not to be persuaded by the allegations of bribery.

The Senate further vowed to sue Hassan, to provide Nigerians with the proof of his allegations.

The statement reads in part: “The attention of the Senate has been drawn to the uncoordinated cacophony of one innocuous Alwan Hassan, who is a hand-tool to one Mr Abdullah Garba Ramat.

“Refreshing the memories of Nigerians, Mr. Ramat is the yet to be confirmed Chief Executive of the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission.

“Mr Alwan has ludicrously alleged that the Senate was compromised by yet to be disclosed ghosts to reject the nomination and confirmation of Mr Ramat.

“For the unsuspecting public not to be persuaded by the satanic verses of this political feckless mercenary, the Senate wishes to state that Mr Garba Ramat has a baggage of public and private complaints against his nomination. The Senate is bound statutorily to halt actions on him or on whoever is under such public questioning. Many nominees have been stepped down due to such public outcry.

“The case of Mr Ramat is not an exemption. No-one can drag the institution of the National Assembly into public opprobrium with unfathomable allegations, in order to arm twist the legislature.

” Nigerians would like to have appointees who go through watertight screening processes, rather than those who bully their ways through blackmail.

” The Senate would definitely engage Mr Alwan at the court, to provide Nigerians with the proof of his assertions.

“The Senate is an institution of noble Nigerians, that respect the views, opinions, complaints and compliments of the citizens through Legislative oversight and other constitutional functions.

‘We don’t know and had no prior encounter with Mr Ramat, until his nomination came for screening and the Senate is bound to listen and consider any issues raised against him by the people, who he was nominated to serve.”