Author: Adejuyigbe Francis

President Bola Tinubu has authorised a 50 per cent reduction in the fares that commercial buses charge on interstate routes during the Yuletide season. The Minister of Solid Minerals, Mr. Dele Alake, announced the cut on Wednesday. According to him, the effort is a presidential intervention aimed at offering relief to the poor during the holiday season. He said, “President Bola Tinubu, in another demonstration of his love for Nigerians, has approved that the Federal Government should intervene to bring down the cost of public transport to allow our compatriots who want to travel to visit their loved ones and…

The Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, has withdrawn his case against the Rivers State House of Assembly led by Martins Amaewhule at the State High Court sitting in Isiokpo in Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state. This comes days after Fubara met with President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and other Rivers Stakeholders in Aso Villa. The meeting, which was fixed to end the political crisis in the state, saw Wike, Fubara, and some others sign an agreement to end the feud. Among the agreement was for Governor Fubara to withdraw legal cases…

The Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, has officially approved the 2024 appropriation bill of N314.8 billion for the state. The budget announced on Wednesday morning surpasses the previous year’s budget of N149.9 billion by N164.9 billion. The “Budget of New Beginnings” allocates N162.3 billion for recurrent expenditure and N152.5 billion for capital expenditure. In his remark during the presentation, Governor Mutfwang expressed his commitment to transforming Plateau into a remarkable state, stating that the budget reflects his administration’s vision for a brighter future. He said: “We encountered a state of neglect in critical sectors and we are determined to lay a new…

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led government has directed trailers and tankers packed in Cele bus stop, inward Tincan Port axis, to vacate the area immediately. Articulated vehicles are often parked on the routes along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway while obstructing the free flow of traffic. The special adviser on transportation to the Lagos State Governor, Sola Giwa, announced the directive in a statement on Wednesday. The statement read, “The Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, said the directive underscores the commitment of the state government to ensuring the smooth flow of traffic and minimising disruptions caused by the persistent presence of these…

A shipment of 25,000 tons of Ukrainian grain is now being prepared for transit from the Turkish port of Samsun to Nigeria as part of the Grain from Ukraine program. This information was provided in a statement by Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar. He stated that the grain is currently being stored in Turkey under the aegis of the United Nations World Food Program. The envoy also examined the port and the Fuat Sezgin vessel, which will convey the cargo to Nigeria as part of the Grain from Ukraine program. The ambassador emphasized preparations to deliver another 60 ships…

The Federal government has raised the alarm over the spread of fake online platforms for palliative distribution in the country. The Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, disclosed this in a notice through her X handle on Monday. According to the Minister, different unauthorized online platforms claim associations with the Presidential Palliative Programmes and charge people for palliative distribution. She urged Nigerians to ignore such platforms, noting that the only verified platform for the palliative initiative is the one with the government’s endorsement. “It has come to my notice that unauthorized platforms falsely claim association with the Presidential…

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC Ltd.) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TotalEnergies for the adoption and deployment of a methane detection technology known as Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Application (AUSEA) in all its upstream operations. With the agreement, which is a direct benefit from the Company’s participation at the recently concluded United Nations Climate Change Conference (also known as COP28) in Dubai, UAE, NNPC Ltd. will be able to deploy the TotalEnergies AUSEA technology on its upstream operations sites to ascertain the level of methane emissions from them, with a view to working out…

The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, reserved judgments in appeals filed by the Governorship candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and his counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Azeez Adediran, against the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Sanwo-Olu contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the governorship election held in March 2023. The appeals by Rhodes-Vivour and Adeniran are against the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal in Lagos, which affirmed the two decisions of the election tribunal. The election tribunal had dismissed their petition, challenging Sanwo-Olu’s victory in the last governorship election. A…

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced the shutdown of Nigeria’s largest thermal generating station, Egbin Power Station. The development has resulted in electricity outages in certain parts of the country, as the generating set is said to be Nigeria’s largest thermal generating station. In a statement dated Monday, December 18, the TCN said the power station was shut down for maintenance. It said the shutdown was necessary to address a gas pipeline leak. As a result, there will be a decrease of 676MW of power supplied to the national grid for a duration of 72 hours. “This is to…

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, has assured the public that the report on investigation into the Kaduna bombing will be out very soon and made public.  Speaking on Channels TV on Tuesday, the CDS acknowledged the public’s concern and emphasized the government’s commitment to uncovering the truth behind the tragic incident. “The Federal Government has set up a committee to look into it,” he stated. “We know at the end of it, the truth will come out and everybody will understand that it was definitely a mistake.” About 100 people were killed by the Nigerian Army airstrikes…

President Bola Tinubu yesterday vowed to uphold the freedom of the media as well as respect divergent views, assuring that his administration would look into extant policies affecting the newspaper industry with a view to reworking them. Speaking at State House, Abuja, during a meeting with members of Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Tinubu assured that he would carefully consider the association’s request for a review of policies affecting the newspaper industry. He acknowledged concerns about existing regulations hindering local access to newsprint. According to a statement issued by the president’s media adviser, Ajuri Ngelale, Tinubu said his administration…

A Presidential aide, Bayo Onanuga, has reacted to President Bola Tinubu’s intervention in the lingering political crisis in Rivers State. The president resolved the crisis during a meeting with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, former governor Peter Odili, and some other stakeholders, held at the State House in Abuja. After the meeting held in the State House in Abuja, which lasted for about three hours, eight resolutions were reached to solve the political tension in the South-South state. Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Oma Ordu; Wike; the National Security Adviser (NSA),…