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Monday, 28 October 2024 04:49

Residents count loses as Northern Nigeria enters 8th day without electricity

Residents, business owners, hospital administrators, and others in Northern Nigeria have expressed concern as the region marks its eighth consecutive days without electricity, leading to significant disruptions in essential services and economic activities. The outage, which began last Monday, was triggered by the tripping off of the 330kV circuit transmission line between Benue and Enugu, as well as the one between Shiroro and Kaduna, thereby severely impacting numerous Northern states. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said the 330kV DC Ugwaji-Apir double circuit tripped due to a fault, plunging the Northeast, Northwest, and parts of Northcentral Nigeria into darkness. Hospitals…

Monday, 28 October 2024 04:47

Public universities shut down nationwide today due to workers strike

The Joint Action Committee of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities has vowed to indefinitely shut down all activities in universities across the country from Monday (today) when they embark on an indefinite strike. A statement issued on Sunday and signed by National President, SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim, General Secretary, NASU, Peters Adeyemi, said the ultimatum it gave the Federal Government over its withheld salaries expired Sunday midnight. The unions are demanding, among others, the payment of the four-month withheld salaries, improved remuneration, earned allowances and implementation of the 2009…

Sunday, 27 October 2024 04:40

Nigerians under 18 can’t buy but can use SIM cards, NCC says

The Nigerian telecommunication regulator, NCC, has disqualified Nigerians below the age of 18 from getting a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card. Sources at the commission said that this policy is aimed to “protect minors” from the liabilities that arise from the usage of such SIMs. One source, a senior official of the commission, told our correspondent that parents and guardians can acquire SIMs in their names on behalf of their children and wards and assume any responsibilities or liabilities that may arise from the use of such SIMs. The overall intent, according to sources, is to protect minors and strengthen…

Friday, 25 October 2024 05:02

NNPC announces details about crashed helicopter

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says the helicopter that crashed in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, was heading to its floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility. In a statement by Oluwafemi Soneye, NNPC spokesperson, on Thursday, the national oil company said it engaged the helicopter operated by East Winds Aviation. NNPC said at about 11:22am, the company lost contact with the helicopter – register number: 5NBQG — after taking off from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) base in Port Harcourt. Earlier, the ministry of aviation and aerospace development, said three persons died in the helicopter crash. According to…

Friday, 25 October 2024 05:01

Difference between official and parallel markets rates widens as Naira weakens further

The Naira yesterday depreciated to N1,739 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,735 per dollar on Wednesday. However, the Naira appreciated to N1,601.2 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, NAFEM. Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for NAFEM fell to N1,601.2 per dollar from N1,654.09 per dollar on Wednesday, indicating N52.89 appreciation for the naira. The volume of dollars traded (turnover) in the official market increased by 69 percent to $230.99 million from $136.68 million traded on Wednesday. Consequently, the margin between the parallel market and NAFEM rate widened to N137.8 per dollar…

Friday, 25 October 2024 05:00

US reacts as detained Binance chief departs Nigeria after 8 months

Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, has left Nigeria after eight months of detention in the country. In a statement, yesterday, the family disclosed, “Today, American citizen, Gambaryan, left Nigeria and returned home to his family after eight months of unlawful detention.” The United States National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, also confirmed Gambaryan’s release on humanitarian grounds. He expressed gratitude to Nigerian officials and diplomatic partners who worked to ensure Gambaryan’s return to the U.S. “As soon as we secured Gambaryan’s release, I called his wife to share this good news,” Sullivan said. Gambaryan’s wife, Yuki, had publicly campaigned for her husband’s…

Wednesday, 23 October 2024 04:52

While global economic growth will generally improve, Nigeria’s economy will decline further, IMF projects

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the global economic growth rate will stabilise at 3.2 percent in 2024 and 2025, forecasting a slowdown in Nigeria. Speaking on Tuesday at the launch of the World Economic Outlook report in Washington DC, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the economic counsellor and director of the research department of the IMF, said while inflation came down, the global economy remained resilient. Gourinchas said the United States is “expected to cool down”, while other advanced economies will rebound. “Performance in emerging Asia remains robust, despite a slight downward revision for China to 4.8% in 2024. Low-income countries have…

Wednesday, 23 October 2024 04:50

‘Poverty is high and rising in Nigeria’ - World Bank

The World Bank says more than half of Nigeria’s population lives in poverty. In its latest Nigeria Development Update (NDU) report titled ‘Staying the course: Progress amid pressing challenges,’ World Bank said about 129 million Nigerians are living in poverty. The Washington-based institution also said the country needs to create productive jobs to reduce poverty. “Without jobs, poor Nigerians will not be able to escape poverty. Poverty is high and rising in Nigeria,” the World Bank said. “More than half of the population lives in poverty. This partly reflects the modest overall pace of economic growth, which is insufficient to…

Wednesday, 23 October 2024 04:49

FG bans cooking gas export after price increased 114%

The Federal Government has stopped the export of locally produced Liquefied Petroleum Gas, also known as cooking gas, to prioritise domestic supply. The measure announced by the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, on Tuesday, will begin November 1, 2024, and is to tackle the high gas price in Nigeria. This was contained in a statement by the spokesman of minister, Louis Ibah, in Abuja. Ibah said the decision was reached after the minister convened a high-level meeting in Abuja with stakeholders to address the skyrocketing price and its attendant hardship on Nigerians. The price of cooking gas…

Tuesday, 22 October 2024 04:58

FG halts Shell asset sale, approves Exxon-Seplat deal

The federal government has blocked Shell's sale of its entire onshore and shallow-water oil operations, but approved a similar deal by Exxon Mobil, the upstream oil regulator said on Monday. Shell's asset sale for up to $2.4 billion to Renaissance consortium, comprising five companies, was first announced in January. Exxon's deal with Seplat Energy has awaited regulatory approval for more than two years since a $1.28 billion fee was announced in February 2022. In a speech at an event in the capital Abuja, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) CEO Gbenga Komolafe said the Shell deal "could not scale (the)…

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Monday, 21 October 2024 04:46

Nigerian asylum seekers deported from UK in highest ever single flight

The United Kingdom has deported 44 Nigerian and Ghanaian asylum seekers. According to UK Guardian, the number is the highest ever in a single flight. The move comes barely 48 hours after Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, agreed a deal to deport migrants arriving in the Chagos Islands in small boats to St Helena, a British island territory more than 5,000 miles away in the Atlantic Ocean. The Home Office told the UK Guardian on Friday that the deportations were part of a “major surge” in immigration enforcement and returns. Since Starmer came to power in July, 3,600 people have…

Sunday, 20 October 2024 04:58

National grid collapses again for the third time in one week. Here’s what to know

Nigeria faced yet another nationwide blackout on Saturday following the collapse of the national electricity grid. This marks the third collapse within a week, and the eighth recorded in 2024. Data from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal showed that the grid recorded zero megawatts (MW) as of 9:10 AM on October 19, disrupting electricity supply across the country. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) explained that the collapse was triggered by an explosion at the bus section of a current transformer at the 330-kilovolt (kV) Jebba transmission substation in Niger State. According to a statement by Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General…

Saturday, 19 October 2024 04:28

Naira’s fall continues, reaches new low at parallel market

The Naira yesterday depreciated to N1,725 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,710 per dollar on Thursday. However, the Naira appreciated to N1,600.78 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, NAFEM. Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for NAFEM fell to N1,600.78 per dollar from N1,660.49 per dollar on Thursday, indicating N59.71 appreciation for the naira. The volume of dollars traded (turnover) in the official market grew by 6.2 per cent to $350.72 million from $330.18 million traded on Thursday. Vanguard

Friday, 18 October 2024 05:05

FAAC: FG, states, and LGs share N1.3trn for Sept

The Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has distributed N1.298 trillion to the federal government, states, and local government councils (LGCs) for September, 2024. This was disclosed in a communiqué issued after the FAAC’s October meeting, held in Abuja. Bawa Mokwa, the Director of Press and Public Relations at the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAGF), shared the details with journalists. According to the communiqué, the total distributable revenue of N1.298 trillion included N124.716 billion from statutory revenue and N543.518 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT). Additional sources of the distributable revenue were N18.445 billion from the Electronic Money…

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