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Tuesday, 27 September 2022 06:41

Nationwide blackout as electricity grid collapses yet again

Nigeria's national electricity grid collapsed on Monday leaving many parts of the country without power, electricity distribution companies said. The grid has collapsed at least seven times this year, which authorities blame on technical problems. Last month workers from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) went on strike and temporarily shut the grid. Electricity distribution firms, known as Discos, said the outage happened earlier on Monday and they were working with TCN to restore supplies. They did not state the cause of the outage. Nigeria has installed capacity of 12,500 megawatts but produces about a quarter of that, leaving many…

Tuesday, 27 September 2022 06:40

FG issues - no! - withdraws circular directing VCs to reopen universities

Hours after issuing a directive asking vice-chancellors to reopen universities for the resumption of lectures, the federal government has withdrawn the circular. According to the Punch, the latest decision was contained in a circular signed by Sam Onazi, director of finance and account of the National Universities Commission (NUC). “I have been directed to withdraw the NUC Circular Ref: NUC/ES/138/Vol.64/135, and dated September 23, 2022 on the abovesubject,” the circular reportedly reads. “Consequently, the said circular stands withdrawn. All pro-chancellors and chairmen of governing councils, as well as vice-chancellors of federal universities are to please note. “Further development and information…

Tuesday, 27 September 2022 06:39

Retired military officers, widows of soldiers killed by Boko Haram block Defence Hq over unpaid allowances

Some retired military officers on Monday defied early morning downpour to stage the third phase of their protest at the headquarters of Ministry of Defence, Abuja. The protesters lamented non-payment of their Security Debarment Allowance, among others. The aggrieved protesters, joined by some relatives of the deceased personnel, blocked access road to the Ministry located at Ship House on Olusegun Obasanjo Way in the Federal Capital Territory. The military veterans under the aegis of the Retired Members of Nigerian Armed Forces and the Coalition of Concerned Veterans, accused Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, of being insensitive to their plight. Addressing…

Tuesday, 27 September 2022 06:35

What to know after Day 216 of Russia-Ukraine war

Ukrainian and Russian forces were locked in heavy fighting in different parts of Ukraine on Tuesday as Russian-organised referendums in four regions Moscow hopes to annex drew to a close. REFERENDUMS * President Vladimir Putin is preparing to formally annex around 15% of Ukrainian territory after referendums on joining Russia in areas controlled by Russian forces or Russian-backed separatists. * Britain announced a new package of sanctions linked to what it described as Moscow's "sham" referendums. RUSSIAN MOBILISATION * Ukrainians in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol fear they will be called up by Moscow after some residents said they were…

Monday, 26 September 2022 06:18

MPC meets today to tackle double whammy of high inflation, rapidly falling Naira

As the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meets today and tomorrow, there are posers over a relief for the weakening naira or the speedy inflationary rise, which has prevailed despite a $38.7 billion external reserve. Just at the weekend, the naira crashed to N720 per the United States Dollar (USD) on the black market being the lowest so far while it also fell on the official Import and Export (I&E) market to N436.33/$. Based on the exchange rate at the parallel market, which many say is a window for the price discovery of the local currency, the Naira has lost about…

Monday, 26 September 2022 06:12

What to know after Day 215 of Russia-Ukraine war

The United States warned of "catastrophic consequences" if Moscow were to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, after Russia's Foreign Minister said regions holding widely-criticised referendums would get full protection if annexed by Moscow. REFERENDUMS * Russia launched the referendums on Friday aimed at annexing four occupied regions, drawing condemnation from Kyiv and Western nations who dismissed the votes as a sham and pledged not to recognise their results. * The Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, may debate bills incorporating the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine into Russia on Sept. 29, the state-run TASS news agency said on Saturday, citing an…

Sunday, 25 September 2022 06:47

FAAC: FG, States, LGs share N673.1bn for August

Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), has shared N673.137 billion to the three tiers of government as federation allocation for August. This is contained in a statement issued by Phil Abiamuwe-Mowete, Director (Information/Press) on Friday. The Federal Government received N259.641 billion, the states received N222.949 billion, and the Local Government Councils got N164.247 billion. The N673.137 billion was inclusive of Gross Statutory Revenue, Value Added Tax (VAT), and an Augmentation of Non Oil Excess Revenue. The communiqué issued at the end of the meeting indicated that the Gross Revenue available from the VAT for August was N215.266 billion. The amount was…

Sunday, 25 September 2022 06:46

LASTMA lacks power to impose fine, tow traffic offenders’ vehicles, Court rules

An Ikeja High Court in Lagos has held that it is unconstitutional for the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) to impose fines and tow vehicles of an alleged traffic offender without a valid court order. Olalekan Oresanya, the trial judge, also awarded damages of N750,000 against LASTMA and in favour of a motorist, in a watershed judgment on the powers of the agency over motorists suspected to have committed traffic offences. Oresanya gave the judgment on Thursday in a suit instituted by the motorist, Lawal Aliyu against LASTMA, Lagos State Government, and the state’s Attorney General. Aliyu, a lawyer,…

Sunday, 25 September 2022 06:44

What to know after Day 214 of Russia-Ukraine war

Shelling hit southern Ukraine late on Saturday while Russia sought to defend its seven-month old war at the United Nations even as it moves to escalate the conflict. REFERENDUMS * Russia launched referendums on Friday aimed at annexing four occupied regions of Ukraine, drawing condemnation from Kyiv and Western nations who dismissed the votes as a sham and pledged not to recognise their results. * Ukrainian officials said people were banned from leaving some occupied areas until the four-day vote was over, armed groups were going to homes to force people to cast ballots, and employees were threatened with the…

Saturday, 24 September 2022 06:56

Petrol subsidy consumed 100% of amount NNPC was meant to contribute to FAAC from January to date - Report

Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it deducted N525.71 billion as a shortfall for the importation of petrol (subsidy) in August 2022. Subsidy or under-recovery is the underpriced sales of premium motor spirit (PMS), better known as petrol. The national oil company said this in its monthly presentation to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting on Friday, September 23. The FAAC document showed that due to the subsidy payment, the oil company failed to remit any funds to the federation account for the eighth consecutive time. Analysis by TheCable Index showed that NNPC had spent N2.565 trillion on…

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Saturday, 24 September 2022 06:51

Four dead, one rescued, from collapsed building in Lagos

Four persons were brought out dead from the collapsed buidling at Oyesonuga Street on Isolo Road in Mushin area of Lagos. The four persons, it was learnt, were among the five people reportedly trapped in the building while one was rescued. National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was on ground carrying out operations at the site. Commenting on the incident, Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, Permanent Secretary at LASEMA, said: ”On arrival of LRT at the scene of incident, it was discovered that a 3 storey building had collapsed at aforementioned address. “Further investigation revealed that the collapsed building was an adjoining building…

Saturday, 24 September 2022 06:49

What to know after Day 213 of Russia-Ukraine war

Russia launched referendums on Friday aimed at annexing four occupied regions of Ukraine, drawing condemnation from Kyiv and Western nations who dismissed the votes as a sham and pledged not to recognise their results. Ukrainian officials said people were banned from leaving some occupied areas until the four-day vote was over, armed groups were going into homes, and employees were threatened with the sack if they did not participate. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a nightly address that the votes would be "unequivocally condemned" by the world, along with the mobilisation Russia began this week, including in Crimea and…

Friday, 23 September 2022 06:15

15.8m passengers passed through Nigeria’s airports in one year - FAAN

Airports in Nigeria had 15.8 million passengers passing through them in 2021, a 69 per cent rise in air passenger rate, according to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). Managing Director of FAAN, Rabiu Yadudu who spoke at the 2022 Airline and Airport Business Summit, said the growth of air transport statistics has improved rapidly after the Covid-19 pandemic, disclosing that the passenger figure rose from 9.3 million in 2020 to 15.8m in 2021, showing an increase of 69% while aircraft movement increased by over 46% after the Covid-19. On cargo movement, Yadudu said 191,000 tons of cargo were…

Friday, 23 September 2022 06:12

FIRS warns ministries, depts, agencies of FG against using consultants to collect taxes

Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has asked Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government (MDAs) to stop appointing consultants and concessionaires as tax collectors. According to the organization, the practice was illegal, saying that FIRS remained the sole agency of government saddled with the responsibility of tax collection. In a Public Notice it issued by Executive Chairman, Muhammad Nami, FIRS accused some MDAs of including functions of assessment, collection, accounting and enforcement of taxes and levies in their agreements with concessionaires and consultants. “It has come to the notice of the Federal Inland Revenue Service that some Ministries, Departments and Agencies…

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