Author: Adejuyigbe Francis

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has awarded contracts for the construction of three roads in the oil-producing communities of Ukwa West Local Government Area (LGA) of Abia. Chief Dimgba Eruba, the Commissioner representing Abia in the Board of the NDDC, disclosed this at a civic reception organised in his honour at Ogwe Central School. Chief Eruba revealed that the three roads which the NDDC had awarded contracts to be constructed include the Ngwaiyiekwe-Ogwe Road, Owaza-Imo River Road, and Ozuaku-144 Battalion Barracks Road, all in Ukwa West LGA, the oil-rich communities in the State. The Abia NDDC Board representative also…

The Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT on Wednesday handed over 187 bags of cannabis sativa to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in a display of inter-agency collaboration. The commander of the ship, Commodore Kolawole Oguntuga, handed over the substance to officials of the NDLEA at NNS BEECROFT, Apapa, Lagos. Oguntuga said that the principle of burden sharing toward curbing crime and criminality in the maritime environment was a key priority of Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ogalla. He added that the substances were confiscated from Badagry Creek and Eleko Beach in Lekki. “We have…

The Inspector General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, has said he has secured the approval of President Bola Tinubu for the recruitment of 30,000 policemen yearly. Egbetokun made this known during a working visit to Adamawa State on Tuesday. The previous administration headed by former President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the recruitment of 10,000 policemen yearly. The new approval will triple the number of cops recruited in the country each year. The IGP explained that complaints that police officers are overworked will become a thing of the past once the new approval is effected. The police boss said, “I know…

Gov Ademola Adeleke of Osun has approved the payment of wage award to civil servants and pensioners in the state to mitigate the impact of subsidy removal. Adeleke made this known in a statement by his spokesperson,Mr Olawale Rasheed, and made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Osogbo. He said the action was in continuation of his avowed commitment to workers’ welfare and fulfilment of a pledge for the gradual rollout of palliative measures to cushion the effect of subsidy removal. “On the first day of my second year in office, I unveiled this wage award and reaffirmed our five-point…

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajuddeen, says budgets have not met expectations of improved service delivery and development. He stated this on Wednesday in his speech after the presentation of the N27.5 trillion 2024 budget by President Bola Tinubu. Tajudeen said: “Although the government budget is an important tool for economic management and promoting growth and development, it has generally not met the expectations of improved service delivery and development. This has largely been due to challenges relating to budget enactment, budget implementation and budget oversight. “The well-known gaps in the various stages of the budget process underscore…

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday presented the 2024 budget to the National Assembly’s joint session. It is President Tinubu’s first full-year budget since he assumed office in May. READ FULL SPEECH HERE “In furtherance of my sacred duties and obligations as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is my honour to be here today to present my administration’s 2024 Budget Proposal to this Joint Session of the 10th National Assembly. This moment is especially profound and significant to me because it is my first annual budgetary presentation to the National Assembly. Distinguished Senators and Honourable Members of…

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that the old N200, N500, N1000 notes should continue to co-exist with the new notes till further notice. The apex court ruled that both old and new notes should continue to remain legal tender until the Federal Government put a process in place for its replacement or redesign after due consultation with relevant stakeholders. The seven-man panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro gave the ruling following an application by the Federal Government seeking asking the court to grant an extension of time for old naira notes to remain in circulation as a legal tender.…

The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, says the construction of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project which aims to link European market is expected to begin in 2024. Under this project, Gas is expected to be transported through the participating countries, including Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco. Mr Ekpo, while receiving a delegation of envoys from the Kingdom of Morocco led by its Ambassador to Nigeria, Moha Ou Ali Tagma on Monday in Abuja, said Nigeria was ready and interested in the project. the delegation visited…

Manchester City produced a superb second-half performance to recover from being from two goals down and beat RB Leipzig to secure top spot in Champions League Group G. After a lacklustre start, the introduction of Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku early in the second half changed everything. Phil Foden set up a goal for Erling Haaland before an adroit finish of his own pulled the game level. After more good work by Foden it was Alvarez that settled the match with three minutes of the game left, as City maintained their perfect record in this year’s competition with a fifth…

Kylian Mbappe fired home a controversial penalty deep into stoppage time as PSG rescued a 1-1 draw and denied Newcastle United a famous win at the Parc des Princes. Luis Enrique’s side were keen to try and avenge the 4-1 drubbing they suffered at St James’ Park earlier in the campaign and made a lightning start with Fabian Ruiz and Mbappe going close. However, The Magpies rode out the initial storm and then silenced the boisterous home support on 24 minutes when Alexander Isak tucked in the rebound after Gianluigi Donnarumma spilled Miguel Almiron’s 20-yard shot. PSG were left frustrated…

Borussia Dortmund reached the last 16 of the Champions League with a win over AC Milan at the San Siro. Marco Reus turned home from the penalty spot to open Dortmund’s account just four minutes after Milan’s Olivier Giroud had an early penalty saved. Super Eagles Winger Samuel Chukwueze levelled the scoring with his first goal for Milan – after a €28m move in the summer transfer window –  before half-time. But 19-year-old Englishman Jamie Bynoe-Gittens restored the German side’s advantage in the second half before Karim Adeyemi scored to seal the win. Dortmund sit three points ahead of Paris…

President Bola Tinubu has urged the Senate to consider and approve his request to obtain a loan of $8,699,168,559 and €100 million as part of the federal government’s 2022 – 2024 external borrowing plan. Tinubu’s letter of request was read in plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Tuesday. The president noted that the World Bank and African Development Bank had pledged interest to support the loan with $1 billion and N1.5 billion, respectively. According to the President, the loan will be used for infrastructure, agriculture, health, roads, security and employment. “The project cuts across all sectors, with specific emphasis…