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Wednesday, 26 January 2022 06:06

Burkina Faso crowds play live music, blow horns, dance in celebration of West Africa's latest coup

More than 1,000 people gathered in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou on Tuesday in support of a military coup that a day earlier ousted President Roch Kabore, dissolved the government and suspended the constitution. The fifth coup in West and Central Africa this decade comes amid an increasingly bloody Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands and displaced millions across the Sahel region, eroding faith in democratic leaders to combat the problem. On Monday, soldiers announced they had overthrown Kabore, who came to power in 2015, a move condemned internationally but welcomed by some at home tired of widespread insecurity, alleged corruption…

Tuesday, 25 January 2022 06:03

FG suspends petrol subsidy removal, says timing not good

Federal government has postponed the planned petrol subsidy removal till further notice due to “high inflation and economic hardship”. Subsidy or under-recovery is the underpriced sales of premium motor spirit (PMS), better known as petrol. The government had planned to stop subsidy payments on petroleum products from July this year. Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget, national planning, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a meeting with Senate President Ahmad Lawan. The meeting had Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources; representatives of oil companies, among others, in attendance. Last week, Lawal had said Buhari did not direct…

Tuesday, 25 January 2022 06:01

Burkina Faso army takes over government in West Africa's latest coup

Burkina Faso's army said on Monday it had ousted President Roch Kabore, suspended the constitution, dissolved the government and the national assembly, and closed the country's borders. The announcement cited the deterioration of the security situation and what the army described as Kabore's inability to unite the West African nation and effectively respond to challenges, which include an Islamist insurgency. Signed by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and read by another officer on state television, the announcement said the takeover had been carried out without violence and that those detained were at a secure location. The statement was made in…

Monday, 24 January 2022 06:22

FG grants power to Ministries to award contracts up to N1.499bn without statutory checks by BPP

Federal government has approved a prior review of the thresholds service-wide application for procurements in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). Ministerial tenders board can now award a contract of N30 million and above — but less than N1.5 billion — for works. This represents a 200 percent increase from the initial approval of N10 million and above — but less than N500 million. The board can also award N20 million and above (but less than N300 million) for goods, while the threshold for services is N20 million and above (but less than N300 million). Before now, it could only approve…

Monday, 24 January 2022 06:19

FG, states, LGs share N699bn for December as FAAC revenues improve by N23bn

Federation accounts allocation committee (FAAC) says it shared N699.824 billion among the three tiers of government for December 2021. This represents an increase of N23.878 compared to N675.946 disbursed in the previous month. This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a virtual meeting of FAAC for January 2022. According to the statement, out of the N699.824 billion shared, federal government received N279.457 billion, state governments got N221.190 billion, and local government councils received N163.879 billion. N35.297 billion was shared to the oil-producing states as 13 percent derivation revenue. The total distributable revenue of N699.824 billion comprised…

Monday, 24 January 2022 06:17

International Council of Nurses expresses concern over the ‘raid’ of health workers from Nigeria, other poorer countries by US, UK, Canada

The Omicron-fuelled wave of Covid-19 infections has led wealthy countries to intensify their recruitment of nurses from poorer parts of the world, worsening dire staffing shortages in overstretched workforces there, the International Council of Nurses said. Sickness, burnout and staff departures amid surging Omicron cases have driven absentee rates to levels not yet seen during the two-year pandemic, said Howard Catton, CEO of the Geneva-based group that represents 27 million nurses and 130 national organisations. To plug the gap, Western countries have responded by hiring army personnel as well as volunteers and retirees but many have also stepped up international…

Sunday, 23 January 2022 06:24

Nigeria lost N75.5bn last December due to loss in crude oil production capacity - Report

A new monthly report of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has shown a plunge in Nigeria’s crude oil production in December 2021, triggering a loss of about N74.51bn in oil earnings. According to OPEC data, Nigeria produced an average of 1.19 million barrels per day in December, down from 1.26 million bpd in November, based on direct communication. This means an average daily loss of 78,000 barrels was recorded in December, translating to a total loss of 2.42 million barrels in the month. In December, the average price of Brent, the international benchmark against which Nigeria’s oil is priced,…

Friday, 21 January 2022 06:19

FG’s January bond issuance oversubscribed by N139bn - DMO

Debt Management Office (DMO) says the country’s January bond issuance valued at N214.05 billion ended with an oversubscription of N139 billion. The debt office disclosed this in the FGN bond result released on Wednesday. It said the auction, which ended on January 19, has a settlement date of January 22, 2022. The agency offered two tranches of bonds worth N75 billion each. According to DMO, it offered a reopened 10-year bond at 12.50 percent and a newly-issued 20-year bond at 13.00 percent. Both issuances have a maturity date of January 22, 2026, and January 21, 2042, respectively. It also said…

Friday, 21 January 2022 06:17

FG to prioritise taxes from digital non-resident firms in 2022 - FIRS

Nigeria will prioritise tax collection from its digital economy in 2022 and focus on non-resident firms with significant economic presence that generate turnover in the West African country, the country's tax chief said on Thursday. Nigeria plans to tax digital non-resident companies that sell products to local customers at 6% of turnover, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed said this month, as part of fiscal reforms to boost revenues and diversify the oil-dependent economy. At around 4.5% of GDP, Nigeria has one of the lowest tax rates in the world, and has struggled to increase tax collection from its non-oil sector. The…

Friday, 21 January 2022 06:15

Benue amends anti-open grazing law, imposes stiffer penalties

Benue State Government has reviewed its Anti-Open Grazing, Ranching and Prohibition Law 2017. The amended law recommended stiffer penalties for offenders. The state governor, Samuel Ortom, who signed the amended law on Thursday, said there was a lacuna in the law that needed to be addressed. He added that the amendment was done to meet the dynamics of the times. The governor said, “We thought the bandits will respect the law of the land. We gave a moderate charge of N2,000 for any cattle impounded. A cow is sold for over N200,000. We discovered that the charges for other states…

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Wednesday, 19 January 2022 14:07

Jubilation in Southeast as court awards Nnamdi Kanu N1bn damages for FG’s violation of the IPOB leader’s rights

A State High Court in Umuahia, Nigeria’s Southeast, has ruled that the federal government violated the fundamental human rights of detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, when the military invaded his home in Abia state in September 2017. The court handed down the ruling, Wednesday, in a fundamental human rights suit filed by Kanu through his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor. The court said the invasion was a violation of Kanu’s right to life, dignity of his human person, his personal liberty and his privacy. The court, which rejected the government’s objection to the suit, said the government should pay N1 billion as…

Wednesday, 19 January 2022 06:14

Bandits killed 220 Niger state residents within 17 days - Gov

Governor of Niger State, Sani Bello has that 220 citizens comprising 165 civilians, 25 security personnel and 30 local vigilantes were killed by bandits in the last 17 days. He declared that the bandits were taking citizens on a merry-go-round and only a robust deployment of modern technology would tame their activities. He spoke with State House Correspondents after he met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to update him on the insecurity situation in the area including kidnapping and cattle rustling among others. According to him, even though respite was underway but cannot completely eradicate the…

Wednesday, 19 January 2022 06:12

Tinubu, Alpha Beta ex-MD discuss out-of-court settlement of N20bn dispute

A former Managing Director of Alpha Beta Consulting, Dapo Apara, the All Progressives Congress leader, Bola Tinubu; and the current Managing Director of the company, Akin Doherty, have begun discussions on a possible out-of-court settlement following allegations that Tinubu ordered the transfer of over N20bn from Alpha Beta to some private business accounts. Lawyer to the plaintiff, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, said this before the High Court of Lagos State sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square on Tuesday. During the proceedings, Adegboruwa informed the court that the order made on November 2, 2021, for substituted service of all court processes on Tinubu…

Wednesday, 19 January 2022 06:10

IPOB’s sit-at-home order grounds Southeast states

Hoodlums, suspected to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, on Tuesday, stormed St Theresa Catholic Church, Calcutta Parish, Awada, near the Ukaegbu junction, Onitsha, in a bid to enforce the sit-at-home directive. The young men in their large numbers were said to be heavily armed with machetes and kegs of fuel and caused a stampede in the church as members, who had gathered for a service, ran helter-skelter. The hoodlums were said to have approached the altar, where the priest, identified simply as Rev Fr Joseph, was conducting the 5.30am mass, and interrogated him on why he was…

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