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See list as Governor Lalong inaugurates transition planning committee

Published

3 years ago

April 4, 2023

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Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong has inaugurated the Central Planning Committee for the Handing Over and Swearing-in of the incoming Government which will take over from his Rescue Administration on 29th May 2023.

This was contained in a statement signed by Macham Makut his director of press and public affairs and made available to newsmen in Jos.

While performing the ceremony at the Victoria Gowon Hall, new Government House Little Rayfield Jos, the Governor assured that he will hand over to his successor in a seamless and rancour-free manner.

While thanking the citizens of Plateau State for their active participation in the political process and conducting themselves responsibly, the Governor said the Central Planning Committee whose membership is drawn from the out-going Rescue Administration is expected to be joined by members to be nominated from the incoming Government to work out details of programmes for the Handing and Taking Over of the affairs of the State in an orderly, smooth and coordinated manner.

He said “the Committee is expected to work painstakingly, cooperatively and in one accord for the success of the transition programme. As always, the work of the Committee should result in the staging of a transition programme that will be one of the best in the country. This will in effect give the incoming Government an opportunity to start on the right footing and with fewer challenges. The SGS is further directed to liaise with the Governor elect to nominate members from his side to join the committee to carry out the assignment”.

The Governor also directed the Secretary to the Government of the State to ensure that all MDAs give total support to the Committee in ensuring that it carries out the task before it. He urged the Committee members to work together without allowing personal or political sentiments to becloud their sense of judgment and contributions during the exercise.

The Governor appealed to the citizens to continue to be law abiding and shun all acts that will cause a breach of peace.

“We should all realise that the elections are over and the business of governance is about to end for the Rescue Administration and to commence for the incoming government. Therefore, there is no need for over-heating the polity with political statements, unsubstantiated speculations, insinuations and rhetoric that appear to cast aspersions on the Government, civil servants and other appointees”.

Lalong also warned politicians to refrain from going about making bogus claims that are misleading and capable of creating tension in the State. He assured that at the right time, his administration shall put its record on the table for posterity to judge because it has nothing to hide.

“May I also use this opportunity to remind all civil servants and appointees that we have up till the 29th of May 2023 to complete our mandate as stipulated by our constitution. As such, we shall not tolerate any act of sabotage, disregard to directives and flagrant violation of government guidelines and regulations. Anyone found to be involved in such acts will not be spared and should blame himself for whatever consequences that might follow” he warned civil servants and appointees.

Chairman of the Committee and Secretary to the Government of the State Prof. Danladi Abok Atu assured that the Committee will work hard together with the nominees from the incoming Government to carry out the assignment to the best of their ability.

The Committee members are:

1. Prof. Danladi Atu SGS – Chairman

2. Hon. Noel Donjur COS – Member

3. Engr. Sunday Hyat mni HOS – Member

4. Hon. Brian Dadi COMM. HOUSING- Member

5. Hon. Chrysanthus Ahmadu – COMM. JUSTICE

6. Dr. Mrs Regina Soemlat – COMM. FINANCE

7. Hon. Sylvanus Tapgun – COMM. LG & CA

8. Hon. Dashe Arlat Dasogot – Chairman PSIRS

9. Prof. John W. Wade mni -DG Research

10. Engr. Jaafaru Wuyep – PMRDO

11. Mr. Paul Sheku – DG Debt Management

12. Mr. Joel Dimka – DOP

13. Mr. Peter Wuyep -PS Policy – Secretary

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Business

Lasaco Assurance’s ₦18.47bn Rights Issue Closes May 13

Published

16 minutes ago

April 21, 2026

Preport

BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—Lasaco Assurance Plc has announced that v will officially close on May 13, 2026, marking the end date for eligible shareholders to participate in the capital raising exercise.

The offer is part of the company’s strategy to strengthen its financial base, boost underwriting capacity, and support its expansion plans within Nigeria’s insurance sector.

The offer comprises 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each, priced at ₦2.00 per share, on the basis of five (5) new shares for every six (6) existing shares held. The Rights Issue is open to shareholders whose names appeared on the Company’s register as at the close of business on February 20, 2026.

The exercise is expected to raise approximately ₦18.47 billion, which will be strategically deployed to strengthen the Company’s capital base, enhance underwriting capacity, and support the expansion of its market presence within Nigeria’s competitive insurance landscape.

Meristem Capital Limited is acting as Lead Issuing House, while PAC Capital serves as Joint Issuing House on the transaction.

Commenting on the development, the Managing Director of Lasaco Assurance Plc, Ademoye Shobo, reaffirmed the Company’s commitment to maintaining a robust capital position to meet its obligations and deliver sustained value to policyholders and stakeholders.

This initiative aligns with broader efforts across the Nigerian insurance industry to meet evolving regulatory capital requirements, strengthen balance sheets, and position operators to underwrite larger and more complex risks across key sectors of the economy.

The post Lasaco Assurance’s ₦18.47bn Rights Issue Closes May 13 appeared first on Business Today NG.

News

AI research lab NeoCognition lands $40M seed to build agents that learn like humans

Published

1 hour ago

April 21, 2026

Preport

Investors are aggressively courting AI researchers to build startups that can make AI more reliable and efficient.

Yu Su, an Ohio State professor leading an AI agent lab, said he initially resisted the pressure from VCs to commercialize his work. He finally took the leap last year and spun out his work into a startup when he saw that foundational model advances could make agents truly personalized.

NeoCognition, a startup Su describes as a research lab developing self-learning AI agents, has just emerged from stealth with $40 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Cambium Capital and Walden Catalyst Ventures, with participation from Vista Equity Partners and angels, including Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan and Databricks co-founder Ion Stoica.

“Today’s agents are generalists,” Su (pictured left) told TechCrunch. “Every time you ask them to do a task, you take a leap of faith.”

According to Su, the issue lies in a lack of consistency. Current agents, whether from Claude Code, OpenClaw or Perplexity’s computer tools, successfully complete tasks as intended only about 50% of the time, he said.

Since agents are still so unreliable, they are not ready to be trusted, independent workers, Su told TechCrunch. NeoCognition intends to change that by developing an agent system that can self-learn to become an expert in any domain, similar to how humans learn.

Su argues that while human intelligence is broad, its real power is our ability to specialize. When we enter a new environment or profession, we can rapidly master its unique rules, relationships, and consequences.

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NeoCognition is building agents to mirror this exact approach.

“For humans, our continued learning process is essentially the process of building a world model for any profession, any environment,” Su said. “We believe for agents to become experts, they need to learn autonomously to build a model of any given micro world.”

Su views this capacity for rapid specialization as the critical missing link to getting AI to work reliably on its own.

While it is possible to train agents for autonomous tasks, they must be custom-engineered for a specific vertical. NeoCognition is different because it’s building agents that are generalists capable of self-learning and specializing in any domain.

NeoCognition intends to sell its agent systems primarily to enterprises, including established SaaS companies, which can use them to build agent-workers or to enhance existing product offerings.

Su highlighted that an investment from Vista Equity Partners is especially valuable for this reason. As one of the largest private equity firms in the software space, Vista can provide NeoCognition with direct access to a vast portfolio of companies looking to modernize their products with AI.

NeoCognition currently has about 15 employees, the majority of whom hold PhDs.

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