Simplest method of writing 'Cheque'

You probably don’t write a cheque everyday (or maybe you’ve never done it before). It’s easy to do.

An online report on by www.thebalance.com explains easy steps to writing a cheque.

Current date: Write this near the top right-hand corner. In most cases, you will use today’s date. You can also post-date the cheque, but that does not always work the way you think it will.

Payee: On the line that says “Pay to the order of”, write the name of the person or organisation you’re paying. You may have to ask “Who do I make the cheque out to?” if you’re not sure what to write. Avoid writing cheques payable to cash – it’s convenient, but risky.

Amount (in numeric form): Write the amount of your payment in the small box. You should start as far over to the left as possible. If your payment is for N8.15, the “8” should be right up against the left-hand border of the naira box to prevent fraud.

Amount (in words): Write out the amount using words to avoid fraud and confusion. This will be the official amount of your payment. If that amount is different from the numeric form that you entered in the previous step, the amount you wrote with words will legally be the amount of your check. If you’re not sure what to write, see how to write out numbers using words. Use all capital letters, which are harder to alter.

Signature: Sign the cheque legibly on the line in the bottom-right corner. Use the same name and signature on file at your bank. This is one of the most important steps – a cheque will not be valid without a signature.

Memo (or “For”) line: Include a note, if you like – this is an optional step. This is a good place to add a reminder about why you wrote the cheque. This may also be the place to write information required to process your payment (and find your account if the cheque gets misplaced). For example, you could write an account number for utility payments.

Senators at deficit over Buhari’s Emergency Powers Bill

Senators are at a deficit on what’s contained in the proposed Emergency Economic Stabilisation Power Bill 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari and are refusing to be committed to its passage until it is officially introduced on the floor of the Senate.

However, the spokesman of the House of Representatives, Abdulrasak Namdas, on behalf of his colleagues, expressed support for any move that would bring back the economy from the brinks of collapse.

Most senators contacted by Independent denied knowledge of the content of the emergency power bill said to have been conceptualised by the presidency to give sweeping powers to the president to source money and stimulate the country’s ailing economy.

Majority of the senators declined any comments at all on the issue while a few that opted to talk about it merely said it was not the appropriate time to speak.

Ali Ndume, the Senate leader, when contacted for his comments said it is not right to comment on a subject he does not have a good grasp of yet.

“I cannot comment on what is not with us here in the Senate and by extension, the National Assembly yet”, he said.

Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, a PDP member representing Abia North Senatorial zone, also said that he was not yet privy to the report on the president’s proposed bill.

“To be sincere, I am not aware of what you are saying. However, I plead that you give me some time to go through the papers that pick the report before making comment,” he said.

Senator Sunday Ogbuoji, another PDP member representing Ebonyi Central Senatorial zone, said he could only react to the proposed bill after going through the report, asking the reporter to avail him more time to source for the information before making comment.

“Well, I have not read the document and so, I am not very competent to comment on it for now.

“I think that for now, there’s no need for reaction because as far as I’m concerned, it’s still a mere speculation. I will be competent to make my contribution on that issue when I see the document,” he said.

President Muhammadu Buhari is seeking emergency power from the National Assembly to push his planned stimulus for the economy.

The objectives of the action-plan on the economy, which is in recession, according to the report, included shoring up the value of the naira, creation of more jobs, boosting of foreign reserves, reviving the manufacturing sector and improving power.

However, even as some members of the Houses of Representatives admitted that they have not seen the Bill or known the specifics it will seek to achieve, they nonetheless said they will support it if found worthy.

Speaking to Independent, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrasak Namdas, said that the House will do whatever is necessary to support the president with a view to repositioning the economy, provided it is in the interest of the country.

“Anything that will come from the president will come before the House as a communication that will be read on the floor of the House to the hearing of every member. So by the time the House resumes, I’m sure the president will communicate his intention and we will all look at it, but for now, it still remains a rumour”.

Asked if he as an individual lawmaker would support such a bill that would give emergency power to the president to take certain actions without recourse to the National Assembly, Namdas said, “I’m sure what they are calling emergency powers is ?nothing more than a framework that can enable the government get a firm grip of the economy. However, anything that will come before the National Assembly from the presidency will be in the best interest of the whole nation.

“When we resume and the proposal is brought before the House, the House will look at it and make its inputs in such a way that everybody will be satisfied with regards to our national interest at the end of the day.”

“So we will certainly do what’s expected of us as a House -should the proposal be brought, but in any case, I want to believe that the president has the same interest as we do in making this economy work for everybody”, he said.

Also responding to the same question, chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions, Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, threw his weight behind the proposed move.

Abonta said the 8th House will support the proposed Economic Stabilisation Bill if sent by President Muhammadu Buhari provided it will help grow back the Nigerian economy.

Nkem-Abonta, who represents Ukwa East/West federal constituency of Abia State in the House, said, “Anything that will help move Nigeria forward will be given adequate attention by the House”.

“The point I’m making here is that any executive bill or a private member bill that will get us out of this our present economic debacle will enjoy our support”.

LASSA FEVER INCREASES: Quarantine List Rises To 40 In Delta

Asaba – Determined to halt the spread of Lassa fever in Delta State, another eight persons who had contact with the medical doctor who died of the disease in Anambra State have been quarantined in Delta State.

It brings the figure to 40 persons quarantined by the state government.

Patrick Ukah, the state Commissioner for Information, told journalists in Asaba on Tuesday that the figure shot up to 40 as everybody who had contact with the deceased doctor’s private hospital in Asaba where he resided had been placed under surveillance.

Ukah, however, added that the late physician’s wife was among those placed under watch as the government does not want to take chances.

He said, “As at now, 40 persons are under watch. It was 32 yesterday (Monday) but now eight more people have been included, bringing the figure of those under watch to 40.”

Ukah said that the Delta State Ministry of Health was in touch with its counterpart in neighbouring Anambra State to eradicate the scourge.

The information commissioner said that the doctor who died last Thursday would be buried in Anambra State this weekend, according to the specifications of the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

Nicholas Azinge, Commissioner for Health, had disclosed on Monday that those put on surveillance included 11 persons from the immediate family of the deceased, 18 persons at the private hospital where the patient was first admitted and three other persons.

Besides, Azinge said that the government had shut and fumigated both his private hospital at Umuaji and the hospital where he was treated at Bonsaac, all in Asaba.

The medical practitioner, a resident of Asaba whose identity is yet to be revealed, hails from Anambra State and died on Thursday, August 18, 2016.

He was first admitted at a private hospital in the state and was later referred to Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH),  Nnewi, Anambra State.

Azinge said that the late physician wife’s blood sample was taken and tested and it came out negative at the Institute of Lassa Fever, Irrua, Edo State.

The health commissioner remarked that two Disease Surveillance Officers in Oshimili South and Oshimili North Local Councils are actively involved as part of the state response team and had been monitoring the temperature of those under surveillance, and this would be done for a period of 21 days.

Protesting Zimbabweans ‘speaks with unity'

Zimbabwe’s anti-riot policemen look on as a protester holds flowers during a peaceful demonstration which later turned violent after police dispersed about 100 people protesting against central bank plans to re-introduce local banknotes in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare

Zimbabweans are finally “speaking with one voice”, a leading human rights activist said Tuesday, as the country has been rocked by a wave of anti-government protests.

“Zimbabweans are saying enough is enough,” said Jestina Mukoko, who heads the non-profit Zimbabwe Peace Project in Harare.

In the past protests were limited to one part of society, each one “angered at different levels at different times,” she said.

“But what we have a now is that the deepening poverty has kind of united Zimbabweans and somehow people are speaking with one voice.”

Zimbabwe has seen a spike in the number and frequency of protests against the administration of President Robert Mugabe since June. Mugabe has ruled the country since independence in 1980.

“The bout of protests increasingly show that citizens have claimed their constitutional rights to demand accountability and response to their demands,” Mukoko said at an international human rights conference in Johannesburg.

But Mukoko warned that the mounting protests — spawned by a weak economy, rampant corruption and deepening poverty — could trigger chaos if they succeeded in dislodging Mugabe.

“We still have long way to go. In ZANU-PF at the moment there is factional fighting, so even if he (Mugabe) was to step down today there will still be that wrestle for power and that might actually be more bloody than what we are seeing at the moment.”

Zimbabweans have taken to Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag “ThisFlag” to share the hardships of living under the 92-year-old Mugabe’s rule and to organise protests.

– ‘Citizens are not afraid’ –
“What we are seeing is that citizens are not afraid to go on the streets… we haven’t seen this in a long time,” Mukoko told AFP on the sidelines of the conference, organised by the International Federation for Human Rights.

The government’s planned introduction of a token currency — equivalent in value to the US dollar — has triggered memories of the country’s devastating 2008 economic collapse, prompting people to take to their concerns to the streets.

Zimbabwean authorities have responded to protests by deploying police to violently put down the demonstrations, and at a government event earlier this month Mugabe warned that protests “don’t pay”.

“Things like protests don’t pay because usually they end up being violent protests,” the long-ruling president said.

“What does it help to go in the streets with the intention to show that you are able to throw stones?”

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for 36 years.

“We see a government that is desperate and also using desperate measures (by blocking social media). We expect to see a lot of that because mobilisation has been going on the social media,” said Mukoko.

“The heavy-handedness that we see the police demonstrating now is what they have used, and they repressed, brutalised those with dissenting voices. They have used those images to instil fear in other citizens and for (a) long time people did not want to cross the line… but I suppose Zimbabweans are saying it’s all dying — whether we remain quiet or we talk about it.”

Mukoko was abducted by Zimbabwean state security agents and tortured in 2008.

At Oyo Assembly "Balogun replaces slain legislator"

The candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Lukman Balogun, has emerged winner of the Oyo State House of Assembly by-election conducted to replace late Gideon Aremu, the lawmaker representing Oorelope State Constituency.
Aremu was shot dead in front of his home at Alakia, Ibadan, on July 1 by some assailants currently facing trial at the court for his murder.

Balogun, a former caretaker chairman of the Oorelope Local Government Area, won the by-election after polling 6,122 votes.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Mr Jimoh Gbadamosi, polled 4,148 votes, while the Accord Party candidate, Mr Solomon Olabisi, polled 2,123 votes during the election held on Saturday.  
The election was adjudged peaceful by stakeholders and monitors.
Speaking shortly after he was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Balogun hailed the conduct of the election and gave kudos to the electorate.