Author: Adejuyigbe Francis

The House of Representatives has removed the controversial N5 billion presidential yacht from the 2023 supplementary budget. The budget was passed on Tuesday by the House after adopting the report submitted by the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Abubakar Bichi from Kano State. The Committee of Supply considered the recommendations of the Appropriations Committee and passed the bill. Bichi, after the passage of the budget, spoke with journalists and announced that the controversial presidential yacht was removed by the committee. He stated that the N5 billion was moved to the Student Loans, increasing the allocation for student loans to 10bn…

The National Assembly, on Thursday, approved the N2.176 trillion 2023 supplementary budget transmitted to the parliament by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday. At the Senate, the budget was approved following the adoption of a report by the Appropriations Committee, presented by the chairman, Senator Adeola Olamilekan (Ogun West) during plenary. President Tinubu had, in a letter read in both chambers, asked the federal lawmakers to approved the proposal, the second of such this year after N819.5 billion was approved to provide palliatives for poor Nigerians. The president, in his letter, said it has become necessary to make further provision…

Just as expected, Real Madrid have announced Rodrygo Goes’ contract extension. Rodrygo’s new deal expires in 2028 and he has a release clause of €1,000,000 the usual amount for Madrid’s star players. Rodrygo’s previous deal was set to expire in the summer of 2025 so this extension was coming. The Brazilian attacker has struggled so far this season but the club still values his potential and contribution, that’s why they ultimately decided to give Rodrygo that new deal and show faith in his skill set. Real Madrid and Rodrygo had reached an agreement about this extension months ago, but both parts…

President George Weah of Liberia and his contender, Joseph Boakai are still deadlocked with nearly all ballots counted, indicating a runoff election is imminent. According to preliminary data, President Weah presently has 43.8% of the vote, while Boakai has 43.5%. To be proclaimed the victor, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote. After ballots were counted in over 98% of polling places, the election commission revealed the most recent results, which gave Mr. Weah a narrow lead of 5,456 votes. Due to ballot tampering by unidentified individuals, the commission announced that several areas of Sinoe, Nimba, and…

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has advised Pilots and Airline Operators to exercise caution over hazardous weather as the dry season approaches. This warning was contained in a release by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) on weather alerting the public on the possibility of deterioration in visibility as a result of observed dust haze propagated into the country from the source region. NiMet through its General Manager, Public Relations, Muntari Yusuf Ibrahim had issued an advisory earlier. NiMet said, “Winds over 10m and 925hPha are favorable for Dust-Haze propagations into the Northern parts of the country. Stations in the…

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kaduna State University (KASU) chapter, has lamented months of power outage in the institution, calling for prompt restoration. The Chairman of the chapter, Peter Adamu, made the call in a statement issued to newsmen on Thursday in Kaduna. Adamu said KASU was currently experiencing a total system collapse due to the prolonged power outage running into months. He decried that the situation had gone from intermittent and epileptic power supply to a total blackout, ranging from seven months for the Kafanchan campus and to about one month at the main campus. “This precarious situation…

The Senate has sworn in Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the senator representing Kogi Central senatorial district. Natasha is now the first female Senator from Kogi State and the fourth female Senator in the 10th Upper Legislative Chamber Senate President Godswill Akpabio directed the clerk of the senate to administer the oath to her on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Thursday. This followed her presentation with the Certificate of Return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the duly elected Senator for Kogi Central. The Court of Appeal had on Tuesday affirmed…

Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) this week approved the engagement of a German firm, GeoScan GmbH, for the search and location of the estimated $700 billion solid minerals deposit in the country.  GeoScan GmBH is reputed to possess cutting-edge technology capable of exploring mineral deposits up to 10,000 meters below the surface, which is a remarkable advancement in the field of mineral exploration. Their “proprietary technology”, is said to be 80% cheaper than current/ traditional exploration processes and three times faster in locating underground deposits. it is also environment- friendly. This deal also comes with “ZERO” financial commitment on the…

The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar by 3.6 per cent or N29.30 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, November 1, despite a continued liquidity crisis. Data showed that the exchange rate of the local currency in the official market closed at N786.02/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N815.32/$1. The supply of forex into the spot market improved during the midweek session by 41.8 per cent or $31.25 million, as the FX trades stood at $105.98 million versus the $74.73 million achieved a day earlier, according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange. Last week, the…

Akpabio, 13 senators are earning over N5.6 billion ex-govs’ pension, benefits’. “Besides the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), other beneficiaries of ex-governors’ pensions are: Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Ibrahim-Hassan Dankwambo (Gombe), Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto), Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia), Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Adamu Aliero (Kebbi), Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe), Danjuma Goje (Gombe) and Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger),”. Former governor and serving senator (Gombe North), Ibrahim Dankwambo, has asked the Gombe State government to stop payment of his pension and allowance. Dankwambo follows in the steps of former governor of Ogun State and current…

Amid ongoing economic hardship, Pay TV firm MultiChoice Nigeria has announced an upward review in the bouquet prices of DStv and GOtv for the third time in 2023. Sources at MultiChoice who pleaded anonymity confirmed the development to Naija News. The source said that the new bouquet price will take effect from November 6. The latest increase is which is another 17% increase will have GOtv subscriber pay N12,500 for the Supa+ package the highest subscription price as against the N10,500 which it initially cost. DStv subscribers will also be made to pay N29,500 as against the N24,500 it earlier charged…

Newcastle travel to Chelsea and Liverpool host West Ham in the pick of the quarter-final fixtures in the Carabao Cup. After his side comprehensively beat Manchester United 3-0, Eddie Howe said he hoped for a kinder last-eight draw but faces a trip to Stamford Bridge after Chelsea beat Blackburn Rovers. Elsewhere, Liverpool, who beat Bournemouth 2-1, welcome West Ham. David Moyes’ side brushed aside the challenge of Arsenal 3-1 at the London Stadium on Declan Rice’s return to his former club. Everton sealed their progress into the quarters with a 3-0 home win against Burnley and will play Fulham in the next…