News

Friday, 20 January 2017 02:52

Gambia: Senate accuses Buhari of constitutional breach

Senators have faulted deployment of troops to the Gambia without recourse to the Senate. Raising a constitutional point of order yesterday, Senator Chukuwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu) said the executive violated sections of the 1999 Constitution by deploying troops without approval of the Senate. Quoting section 5 (4) of the Constitution, Utazi said, “Going on a warfare in another country without a recourse to this constitutional provisions is affront to 1999 Constitution and it is a breach of the Constitution.” Supporting Utazi’s point of order, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu said the president needed the approval of the Senate before deploying…

Friday, 20 January 2017 02:49

Benue govt. cedes land in Agatu for cattle grazing

Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue has provided land in Agatu Local Government Area of the state for use as cattle routes. This is contained in a communique issued at the end of a two-day meeting between Mr. Ortom, the Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura, Chief of Agatu, Godwin Onah, and Fulani Agatu, Ardo Boderi Tuja in Makurdi on Thursday. The communiqué, which was signed by community representatives, said that both parties had agreed to give peace a chance and forgive one another. Reading the communiqué, Mr. Ortom said both parties agreed to designate Oguto Adanyi-Ogumagbo-Bagana as cattle routes in Agatu…

Friday, 20 January 2017 02:47

Police bow to pressure, release detained Premium Times journalists

Police in Abuja have released the two Premium Times journalists arrested Thursday afternoon. Dapo Olorunyomi, publisher of the newspaper, was arrested alongside judiciary correspondent, Evelyn Okakwu, at around 5:00 p.m. They were released on bail and instructed to report at the FCT Police Command Headquarters by 8:00 a.m. Friday morning. But a highly-placed police source said the invitation could be a ploy to detain the journalists for an extended period. The police source said there are chances that the two could be taken before a Magistrate’s Court. “From what I understand, if they report tomorrow morning, they will be taken…

Friday, 20 January 2017 02:42

Images show Nigeria refugee camp hit multiple times: Group

Human Rights Watch says satellite imagery supports witness accounts that Nigeria's air force struck a refugee camp with "multiple air-dropped munitions," even though tents should have been easily visible. The New York-based group on Thursday again called for a thorough investigation of Tuesday's bombing of the camp, which one Nigerian official said killed more than 100 refugees and aid workers. The Red Cross says at least 70 people were killed. Nigeria's military has called the bombing accidental, saying it was trying to target Boko Haram Islamic extremists. The camp's thousands of inhabitants had been displaced by the insurgency, which has…

Friday, 20 January 2017 02:36

Reps propose bill to jail Ministers, others who defy them

A bill that could see officials of the executive arm of government thrown into prison if they fail to honour a summon by the legislature has passed second reading in the House of Representatives. The bill also recommended an alternative fine of up to N1 million for any official found guilty of contempt of the National Assembly. Sponsor of the bill, Sunday Karim, said during plenary on Thursday that lawmakers were frustrated by frequent refusal of members of the executive arm of government, especially ministers and directors-general, to honour invitations of investigative committees in both the Senate and the House.…

Thursday, 19 January 2017 17:17

Buhari leaves for Britain until Feb. 6 for medical checkups

The Presidency says President Muhammadu Buhari is taking leave for more than two weeks in Britain for medical checkups. A statement Thursday from Buhari's special adviser Femi Adesina calls the medical checks "routine" and says the leave is part of Buhari's annual vacation. Buhari, who is in his 70s, was leaving Thursday and is expected to return on Feb. 6. Like many Africans, Nigerians have pointed out the irony of leaders going overseas for medical issues while ordinary citizens struggle to get adequate care from local health systems. AP

Thursday, 19 January 2017 17:12

MMM participants lose patience, attack each other, guiders

The cracks within the MMM community in Nigeria have continued to widen with many of the three million participants in the Ponzi scheme losing patience and trading accusations due to their inability to get their money out of the scheme after waiting for more than a month. After being mocked Nigerians opposed to the scheme and fed excuses by those behind it for over a month, confidence in the scheme is declining with participants questioning its mode of operation and faulting explanations offered by guiders. The discontent with MMM became evident this week after all payment (Get Help) requests by…

Thursday, 19 January 2017 03:20

Garri N10k, rice N17k, kerosene N450… Nigerians groan as cost of living soars

“If not for her, I would have left this country,” Moses Chukwudi, a foodstuff trader at Mile 12 Market, Lagos, says of his new marital status as he discusses the economic downturn in Nigeria. Chukwudi got married in November 2016 and planned to lavish his income – made from selling rice, beans, garri, palm oil, vegetable oil – on his bride, but in just two months, he wished he held back on that plan. He is not making money anymore. He said his business had deteriorated so much that he could have left the country if he were not married…

Thursday, 19 January 2017 03:19

FG's efforts to secure international loans hit deadlock - sources

Nigeria's efforts to secure funds from international lenders to help haul it out of recession have stalled because it has not submitted the required economic reform plans, according to one of the banks and sources close to the matter. The government has been in loan talks with the World Bank for a year. It had told the lender it would present its proposed reforms to make the economy more resilient and attractive to investment by the end of December, according to Western diplomats and a Nigerian official who declined to be named as they are not authorized to speak publicly.…

Thursday, 19 January 2017 03:18

FG: We’ll use pension fund for infrastructure

The Federal Government is working on how to tap into the huge pension fund to finance infrastructure in the country, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said yesterday. He said at the World Economic Forum holding in Davos, Switzerland that "To do this, we have to first de-risk such financing models for infrastructure.” His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, in a statement, quoted him as saying beyond welfare of Nigerians, their empowerment was at the heart of the N500 billion Social Investment Programme. He told the panel that “It is about investment in people, in their skills, in…

More...

Thursday, 19 January 2017 03:14

Fuel scarcity looms as marketers stop fuel importation over forex, debt

Marketers of petroleum products in Nigeria have placed embargo on importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol, leaving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as the sole importer of the product. Nigeria consumes over 35 million litres of fuel daily. Investigations by New Telegraph showed that the development, which was made formal yesterday, has also led depot owners and marketers to begin the sale of petrol above N133.28 per litre ex-depot price. The pricing template by marketers, seen by this newspaper, showed that some depot owners have disregarded the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA’s) ex depot…

Thursday, 19 January 2017 03:11

Nigerian air force deploys to Senegal as Gambia deadline nears

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has deployed to Senegal in case of the need to enforce Gambia's election mandate, it said on Wednesday. As part of a regional response, Senegal's forces are at the Gambian border and will enter the country if veteran Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who lost a Dec. 1 election, does not step down when his official mandate ends at midnight. "The NAF today moved a contingent of 200 men and air assets comprising fighter jets, transport aircraft, light utility helicopter as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to Dakar from where it is expected to…

Wednesday, 18 January 2017 15:36

Senate approves Buhari’s fiscal plans it once rejected as ’empty’

The Senate has approved the 2017-2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the Fiscal Strategy Paper, MTEF/FSP, submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari last December, in readiness for the consideration of the 2017 budget. The Senate on Wednesday adopted almost all the proposals sent by the president, contradicting its earlier ruling in December, when it dismissed the documents as “empty”. Its decision followed the recommendations of its committees on Appropriations, Finance and National Planning. It adopted the oil production projection of 2.2 mbpd for the 2017 Budget, which it said is achievable, “though dependent on the ability of the Federal Government to…

Wednesday, 18 January 2017 15:31

46 'severely injured' people remain at bombed IDP camp

At least 46 "severely injured" people remain in a refugee camp that Nigeria's military says it mistakenly bombed and they need urgent evacuation, the International Committee for the Red Cross said Wednesday. "Patients are attended to in an open-air space in a precarious environment," the aid group's statement said, raising the possibility that the death toll could significantly rise. A government official has told The Associated Press that more than 100 refugees and aid workers were killed in Tuesday's bombing in a remote northeast region near the border with Cameroon. Nigeria's military said it had been trying to target Boko…

Page 802 of 826

News

More...

Search

Most Read

Editorial

News

Business

Politics

Opinion

Features

Strangely

Crime

Wars

SCIENCE & TECH

SPECIAL REPORTS

Sports

VIDEOS