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Friday, 02 August 2024 04:43

#EndBadGovernance protests: Day 1 summary across Nigeria

FCT Abuja: The protests in Abuja were marked by roadblocks on major roads, particularly the Zuba-Kubwa expressway, where protesters restricted access except for vehicles with leaves. Security forces struggled to disperse the groups, which kept regrouping. In Asokoro, protesters defied gunshots and teargas, marching towards the seat of power and causing significant disruptions. A PREMIUM TIMES journalist was attacked and injured by police while covering the protests. Lagos State: Protests in Lagos saw police dispersing crowds with teargas at the Lekki tollgate, a site of significance from the 2020 anti-police brutality protests. Demonstrations occurred in Ikeja, Ojota, and Lekki despite…

Friday, 02 August 2024 04:41

Currency in circulation crosses the N4trn mark as cash transactions surge - Report

Recent data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has unveiled a striking milestone in the nation’s financial landscape. As of June 2024, the currency in circulation (CIC) reached an unprecedented N4.05 trillion, marking a dramatic 56 per cent increase from N2.6 trillion in the same month the previous year. This figure represents the highest level of CIC ever recorded in Nigeria. The CIC encompasses both the currency held outside the banking system and the vault cash maintained by banks. Notably, this surge represents a 2 per cent month-on-month growth from May 2024, when the CIC was N3.65 trillion. The…

Thursday, 01 August 2024 04:57

Opposition reps walk out of plenary over bill to further raise ways and means advances to FG

There was chaos at the house of representatives on Wednesday over a bill seeking to raise the ways and means advances from 5 percent to 10 percent of the previous year’s revenue of the federal government. Ways and means is a loan facility through which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) finances the federal government’s budget shortfalls. The CBN law stipulates advances by the apex bank must not exceed 5 percent of the previous year’s revenue of the federal government — but this has been observed in breach over the years. During the plenary, opposition parties staged a walk out…

Thursday, 01 August 2024 04:56

‘You can protest, but we’ll be eating’, Akpabio mocks Nigerians protesting hunger

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has mocked Nigerians who plan to take part in the nationwide protest against economic hardship, saying he and other members of the National Assembly would be “eating” while they (Nigerians) protest. Akpabio stated this on Tuesday at the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities, Youths and Women Group Sensitisation Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The event, organised by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), was broadcast live on Arise TV. A video clip of Akpabio making the remark has also gone viral on social media. Akpabio’s remark During the event, the Managing Director of the NDDC,…

Wednesday, 31 July 2024 04:52

#EndBadGovernanceInNigeria: We’ll not be confined to designated areas, protest leaders tell IGP

Organisers of the planned August 1 nationwide protests have rejected the proposal by Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector-general of police (IGP), that the demonstration should be conducted in confined spaces. The organisers insisted that the protest would be a public march across the country. On Tuesday, there was a meeting between the IGP, Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer, and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, the lawyer representing the Take-It-Back Movement. The meeting was convened following a letter from Adegboruwa on behalf of the Take-It-Back Movement to the IGP seeking police protection during the protest. During the meeting, which was conducted via Zoom, Egbetokun…

Wednesday, 31 July 2024 04:51

Music icon, Onyeka Onwenu, slumped, died after musical performance in Lagos

Legendary Nigerian singer and actress, Onyeka Onwenu has reportedly died at the age of 72. She was said to have died on Tuesday night at the Reddington Hospital in Lagos after slumping at the birthday party of Mrs Stella Okoli. TheNiche reported that an eyewitness who was at the party confirmed the news. “It is very sad. Onyeka Onwenu just performed at the birthday of Mrs. Stella Okoli today (Tuesday, July 30, 2024), and after performing, she slumped. “She was taken to Reddington Hospital and she couldn’t make it,” the eyewitness said. However, the deceased’s family has yet to announce…

Tuesday, 30 July 2024 04:59

FG mandates NNPC to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery, others in Naira

The federal executive council (FEC) has approved a proposal by President Bola Tinubu directing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to sell crude oil to Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other refineries in naira. In a statement on X, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to the president, said the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and other settlement banks in Nigeria will facilitate the trade between Dangote and NNPC. FEC approved the proposal on Monday during a meeting presided over by Tinubu. “To ensure the stability of the pump price of refined fuel and the dollar-Naira exchange rate, the…

Tuesday, 30 July 2024 04:56

NCC orders SIM restoration as angry subscribers besiege telco offices

The Nigerian Communications Commission on Monday directed telecommunication companies to immediately restore all the telephone lines of subscribers that were blocked after thousands of customers stormed the offices of the firms in protest. Subscribers whose telephone lines were blocked due to the non-linkage of their National Identification Numbers to SIM cards besieged the offices of the companies less than 24 hours after the incident. An impeccable source told our correspondent that the affected telephone lines from different mobile operators in the country were estimated to be around three million. “It might be a bit difficult to say the exact number…

Monday, 29 July 2024 12:24

Hardship: Protest breaks out ahead of Aug 1 schedule as angry Nigerians block Abuja-Kaduna highway

Protesters have blocked Kaduna Road, a highway in Niger State linking Kaduna to Abuja. This comes three days before the planned 10-day nationwide protest by some groups to demand an improvement in Nigeria’s economic situation. The protesters carried placards with several inscriptions such as ‘We Are Not Slaves’, ‘Enough is Enough’; ‘Stop Anti-Masses Policies’, ‘Hardship Is Unbearable’ and ‘Fuel Subsidy Must Be Back.’ Monday’s protesters appeared unwilling to wait till Thursday as they chanted anti-government slogans. The organisers of the nationwide protests want an improvement in the cost of living and a reversal of some government policies, particularly the removal…

Monday, 29 July 2024 04:53

Nigeria’s oil sector received zero foreign investment in Q1 2024 - NBS

Despite efforts by the government to attract more foreign investors into the oil and gas sector, the nation’s foreign capital investments in the industry nosedived from $720m in 2016 to $3.64m in the entire 2023. The country also recorded no foreign capital investment in the first quarter of 2024, a report by the National Bureau of Statistics showed. The report indicated that out of the $3.38bn capital importation into Nigeria in the first three months of 2024, the petroleum industry got nothing. Capital importation is the inflow of foreign capital into a country, typically in the form of investments, loans,…

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Monday, 29 July 2024 04:50

Petrol sells for N1,500/litre as scarcity bites harder nationwide

Many depots for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, are currently dry, leading to fuel scarcity and attendant queues in Lagos, Ogun, parts of Abuja, Niger, and some other states across the country. Black marketers have taken advantage of the situation, selling as high as N1,300 per litre and N1,500 per litre in parts of Lagos and Ogun states. Long queues started building up at fuel stations in Abuja and Lagos on Friday and have persisted. On Saturday, while reacting to the long queues and scarcity in some parts of the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited said the…

Sunday, 28 July 2024 05:01

Youths nationwide remain resolute to protest against worsening hardship. These are the measures FG is taking to stop them

Days before a nationwide protest over bad governance and a high cost of living, the federal government is offering its young people jobs in the state-oil company and billions of naira worth of grants among other incentives to discourage the action. Nigerian activists have been looking to emulate youth-led protests elsewhere in Africa which have rocked the government in Kenya and prompted a tough security response in Uganda. Nigeria's state oil firm, which seven years ago warned job seekers against falling prey to fraudulent messages about job placements in the company, published on Friday nationwide job vacancies in a post…

Sunday, 28 July 2024 05:00

Protests: Security tightened at Nigeria’s borders

The Federal Government has tightened security across all the nations borders ahead of the planned nationwide protests scheduled for August 1. Kemi Nandap, Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS) said this in a statement issued by the Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO), Kenneth Udo, on Saturday in Abuja. Nandap directed all Zonal Heads, State Command Comptrollers and Divisional Immigration Officers (DIOS) of the Service across the country to be extra vigilant. She said officers and men of the service should intensify surveillance in view of the planned protest by some groups. She also said that the directive was to ensure…

Saturday, 27 July 2024 04:54

Reported at 1.25m barrels per day 2 weeks earlier, FG says oil production now 1.61mbpd

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, has disclosed that the country’s average daily production was 1.61 million barrels per day as of July 23. Komolafe revealed that at the House of Representatives Special Committee’s two-day public/investigative hearing on oil theft/losses. “As of July 23, 2024, Nigeria’s average daily production stands at 1.61mbpd,” he disclosed. This is coming barely two weeks after the commission announced that the average daily oil production for June was 1.25mbpd. According to Komolafe, Nigeria had continued to dominate as Africa’s largest producer of crude oil, boasting proven reserves of 37.50…

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