News

Thursday, 17 February 2022 06:32

Russia's military build-up near Ukraine growing, not shrinking, warns West

There is a growing Russian military presence at Ukraine's borders, Western countries warned on Wednesday, as Estonia said battle groups were moving ahead of a likely attack to occupy "key terrain," contradicting Moscow's insistence of a pullback. More armored vehicles, helicopters and a field hospital have been spotted, Britain's defense intelligence chief said in rare public comments. Up to 7,000 more troops have moved to the border in recent days, including some arriving on Wednesday, a senior official in U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said, without providing evidence. World powers are engaged in one of the deepest crises in East-West…

Wednesday, 16 February 2022 06:31

Buhari sends N2.56trn supplementary budget to N’Assembly to fund fuel subsidy, others

President Muhammadu Buhari has forwarded a proposal for the amendment of the 2022 Appropriation Act to the National Assembly. In a letter to the Senate and House of Representatives, he sought an additional N2.557 trillion to fund the subsidy of Premium Motor Spirit in the 2022 fiscal year. The president said the supplementary budget had become necessary, as there was need to restore provisions for key projects, which was slashed by the National Assembly. Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who disclosed this during plenary, yesterday, said the request was contained in a letter dated February 10, 2022. Buhari in the letter…

Wednesday, 16 February 2022 06:29

Buhari seals Hadiza Usman’s fate as NPA MD, appoints substantive replacement

President Muhammadu Buhari has confirmed the appointment of Mohammed Bello-Koko as the managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). The confirmation was announced in a release signed by a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation, Eric Ojiekwe. The appointment is to take effect immediately. Bello-Koko was first appointed acting MD of the agency in May 2021 after the previous managing director, Hadiza Usman, was suspended. Buhari approved Usman’s suspension after the transport minister, Chibuike Amaechi, accused her of “insubordination” and “refusal to take or carry out lawful instruction from superior officers/higher authorities”. The government said the suspension would allow…

Wednesday, 16 February 2022 06:28

Petrol sells for N600/litre in Abuja

Commuters and motorists are lamenting as the scarcity of petrol bites harder across the country. Findings reveal that a litre is sold for as high as N600 at the parallel or ‘black’ market in Abuja instead of between N162 and N165. In Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt, it costs between N250 and N400 even as many passengers were stranded as commercial transporters increased fares by up to 150 per cent. Queues at filling stations got worse since last week when the news of adulterated fuel spread across the nation. It was learnt that about 100 million litres of adulterated Premium…

Wednesday, 16 February 2022 06:23

Buhari off to Belgium for EU-AU summit

PRESS RELEASE President Muhammadu Buhari departed Abuja Tuesday, to join European and other African leaders as well as heads of multilateral organisations at the 6th European Union-African Union Summit in Brussels, Belgium. The Summit which holds February 17 – 18, 2022, will have the participants deliberate on themes currently affecting the world. Such areas of discussion include: Financing for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth; Climate Change and Energy Transition, Digital and Transport (Connectivity and Infrastructure); Peace, Security and Governance; and Private Sector Support and Economic Integration. Others are: Education, Culture and Vocational Training, Migration and Mobility; Agriculture and Sustainable Development and…

Wednesday, 16 February 2022 06:19

Ukraine hit by cyber attack as US questions Russian troop pullback

Kyiv appeared to blame Russia for a cyber attack on Tuesday as U.S. President Joe Biden warned that more than 150,000 Russian troops were still amassed near Ukraine's borders after Moscow's announcement of a partial pullback was met with scepticism. World powers are engaged in one of the deepest crises in East-West relations for decades, jostling over post-Cold War influence and energy supplies as Moscow wants to stop the former Soviet neighbour ever joining the NATO military alliance. Western nations have suggested arms control and confidence-building steps to defuse the standoff, which has prompted them to urge their citizens to…

Tuesday, 15 February 2022 06:16

Despite measures taken by FG, rice prices increased nearly 100 percent within 6 years - Report

The price of a 50kg bag of locally produced rice rose by about 92 per cent between January 2016 and December 2021 despite the various measures taken by the Federal Government to drive down the cost of the staple, findings have shown. A survey of markets across Abuja and Lagos states reveals that the current average cost of a 50kg bag of rice is N25,000, against N13,000, the price in 2016. This means that within a six-year period, the price of rice rose by about N12,000 or 92.3 per cent. This increase came amid interventions of the government through the…

Tuesday, 15 February 2022 06:13

Everything in place for massive Russian attack on Ukraine, France says

France's foreign minister said on Monday that everything was in place for Russian forces to invade quickly in Ukraine, adding that Europe was ready to impose massive sanctions if it happened. "If the question is are there elements in place so that there is a major offensive by Russian forces in Ukraine, then yes it's true. It's possible and quickly," Jean-Yves Le Drian told France 5 TV. He said the assessment was shared by Paris and its allies, although he said nothing indicated that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made that decision. "It's blowing hot and cold," he said, suggesting…

Monday, 14 February 2022 12:47

ASUU resolves to go on one-month ‘warning strike’ – Premium Times

A reliable source at the just concluded National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has confided in PREMIUM TIMES that the union resolved to embark on one-month “comprehensive and total” strike to compel the Nigerian government to acede its requests. According to the source, who was part of the meeting, the union took the decision “reluctantly” despite interventions by many prominent Nigerians. He said the decision was to save Nigeria’s university system considering what he described as the deteriorating state of Nigerian universities. He said government’s alleged recalcitrance made the position unavoidable. “The definite…

Monday, 14 February 2022 12:45

WAEC releases 2021 GCE results

West African Examination Council has released the results of the 2021 second series West African Senior School Certificate Examination for private candidates. Speaking on Monday at WAEC Lagos office, Head of the National Office, Patrick Areghan, said the examination was conducted at the same time throughout the five-member countries, including Nigeria. He said, “A total of 52,973 candidates registered for the examination. The conduct of the examination took place from Friday, November 12, 2021 to Wednesday, December 22, 2021.” Punch

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Monday, 14 February 2022 06:12

Death toll rises to 5 as rescue operations continue at Lagos collapsed building site

The body of a student on industrial training was, on Sunday evening, recovered from the collapsed three-storey building at Yaba area of Lagos, thus raising the death toll to five. Zonal Coordinator, South-west of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the development to journalists in Lagos. Relatives of the IT student, simply identified as Damola, told the emergency rescue team that their son reported to duty the day the building collapsed and had yet to be found. Farinloye said the mother of Damola fainted when one of his relatives identified the body to be his. A three-storey building…

Monday, 14 February 2022 06:11

Airlines halt flights to Ukraine as fear of Russia invasion heightens

Some airlines have canceled or diverted flights to Ukraine amid heightened fears that an invasion by Russia is imminent despite intensive weekend talks between the Kremlin and the West. In an hourlong Saturday call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Joe Biden said that invading Ukraine would cause “widespread human suffering” and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but “equally prepared for other scenarios,” the White House said. It offered no suggestion that the call diminished the threat of an imminent war in Europe. The two presidents spoke a day after Biden’s national security adviser,…

Sunday, 13 February 2022 06:34

FG announces issuance date for fresh N150bn bonds

Debt Management Office (DMO) says it will auction N150 billion federal government bonds to investors on Wednesday, February 16, 2022. DMO announced this in a circular recently published on its website. A bond is a fixed income instrument that represents a loan made by an investor to a borrower — typically corporate or government. According to the circular, the bond issuance will be in two tranches valued at N75 billion each. The first tranche is the 10-year, 12.5 percent FGN Jan 2026 re-opening bond, while the second is the 20-year, 13 percent FGN 2042 reopening bond. It said the bonds…

Sunday, 13 February 2022 06:26

Two dead so far as building under construction collapses in Lagos

Two bodies have been recovered, while two persons were rescued from the rubble of a three-storey building which collapsed in Yaba, Lagos, on Saturday. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, director-general of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), confirmed the development in a statement. Earlier on Saturday, an official of LASEMA had said some construction workers were in the building when it collapsed. “Upon arrival of LASEMA response team at the incident scene, a three-storey building under construction was discovered to have collapsed,” the official had said. “Further investigation revealed that the construction workers numbering about five were on site when the structure…

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