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Thursday, 19 March 2020 05:55

FG slashes budget by N1.5tn, sets new oil benchmark

Federal Government on Wednesday announced a slash in the 2020 budget by N1.5 trillion as part of measures to respond to the impact of coronavirus on the economy. Included in the N1.5tn is over N457bn the government spends on fuel importation under the name of “under-recovery.” A government’s panel set up to assess the impact of coronavirus on the economy made the recommendation, already approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Buhari last week set up an inter ministerial committee to work on reviewing downward the budget. The committee is chaired by Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab…

Thursday, 19 March 2020 05:53

FAAC meeting deadlocked over revenue shortfall

Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting convened to consider statutory revenue for February ended in a stalemate on Wednesday. The meeting which would have enabled the committee to allocate revenue to the three tiers of government came to an abrupt end after about three hours of deliberations. The meeting, held at headquarters of ministry of finance started at 5pm and ended around 8.37pm. It was presided over by Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, and attended by commissioners of finance from the 36 states of the federation. It also had in attendance Accountant General of the Federation,…

Thursday, 19 March 2020 05:51

First Coronavirus death in Nigeria as American dies in Ekiti

Ekiti State government, yesterday, confirmed the death of an American by Coronavirus. It also disclosed the positive case of the virus in a patient in the State. The American, 27 years old, was visiting Nigeria from Richmond, Virginia, USA, in the company of his caregiver, a Nigerian female age 31, of Ekiti origin. Ekiti State Taskforce on Covid-19 said the state recorded an incidence of a Nigerian male, 38 years old, of Ekiti origin, who tested positive to Covid-19. Minister of Health, Mr Osagie Ehanire, had disclosed a positive case of Coronavirus in a patient in Ekiti State. In a…

Thursday, 19 March 2020 05:50

Nigeria bans entry to arrivals from China, US, 11 other countries to combat coronavirus

Nigeria will from Saturday ban entry to arrivals from 13 of the countries worst affected by the coronavirus epidemic, minister of interior said on Wednesday. All the countries on the list, which includes the United States, Britain, Germany, China, Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan, have reported more than 1,000 coronavirus cases. “Federal government has placed a complete travel ban on 13 countries. We have also suspended issuance of visas to citizens of these countries and have also cancelled all visas earlier issued to them,” said Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola. The minister, who addressed reporters in the capital Abuja…

Thursday, 19 March 2020 05:49

U.S. suspends visa services worldwide

The United States is suspending all routine visa services as of Wednesday in most countries worldwide due to the coronavirus outbreak, a spokeswoman for the State Department said, an unprecedented move that will potentially impact hundreds of thousands of people. The Department did not say which or how many countries are halting services but U.S. missions in more than half a dozen countries including South Korea, South Africa, Nigeria, Germany and Spain on their web sites announced that they were either stopping or significantly reducing services. “Embassies and consulates in these countries will cancel all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa…

Thursday, 19 March 2020 05:48

Schools to close in Northwest, Niger states over Coronavirus

To check Coronavirus pandemic from Northwest geo-political zone, governors rose from a one-day meeting, iin Kaduna, yesterday and agreed to shutdown schools in their states for 30 days. The meeting also reviewed security approaches in tackling the challenges of banditry, kidnapping and other crimes. Chairman of the forum and Katsina governor, Mr Bello Masari, who read the communique said the decision to shut down the schools became necessary in order to prevent the spread of the diease in the zone. He said the closure would take effect from Monday next week, adding that, the governors will meet with examination boards…

Thursday, 19 March 2020 05:47

Coronavirus: Lagos bans religious gathering of over 50 worshippers

As part of measures to contain spread of the Coronavirus outbreak, Lagos State Government has banned all religious gathering of over 50 people within the state. According to a statement on Wednesday, the decision was arrived at after a meeting of Lagos State Government with religious bodies in the state, which included Christian Association of Nigeria and Muslim leaders. Commissioner for Home Affairs, Mr Anofiu Elegushi, said the meeting agreed that “all large religious gathering of over 50 people should be suspended immediately”. He said the suspension would last for four weeks with a review carried out if necessary. He…

Thursday, 19 March 2020 05:46

NYSC closes orientation camps as WAEC suspends meeting

West African Examination Council (WAEC) has suspended its 68th Annual Council Meeting scheduled to hold in Monrovia, Liberia from March 23 to 27, 2020 over fear of Covid-19. Registrar of the Council, Mr. Pateh Bah disclosed this in his goodwill message on the occasion of the 68th WAEC Day Celebration. Also, Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr Shuaibu Ibrahim, a brigadier general, said yesterday that orientation camp exercise was suspended as a precautionary measure to avoid the spread of Covid-19. NYSC had on March 12, performed the swearing-in ceremony for the 2020 Batch A, Stream 1…

Wednesday, 18 March 2020 05:47

FG bars public, civil servants from traveling abroad over Coronavirus fears

Federal Government has banned all government officials, including public and civil servants, from traveling abroad. Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 announced the decision after a closed-door meeting in Abuja on Tuesday. Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the committee, Mr Boss Mustapha, while briefing journalists, said the ban took immediate effect and affected all trips earlier approved. He said, “After due consideration and the trend of the spread of the novel Coronavirus, and subsequent declaration of the outbreak as a pandemic by World Health Organisation, the committee has decided that we upscale our health emergency system…

Wednesday, 18 March 2020 05:46

Third case of coronavirus confirmed in Lagos

Lagos State Ministry of Health has confirmed that there is yet another case of the ravaging coronavirus in Lagos, Nigeria. The patient is said to be an independent case not connected with the index case. The carrier, a 30-year-old Nigerian female who returned from United Kingdom on Friday, 13 March 2020, observed self-isolation, developed symptoms and has been tested positive. She is now receiving care in Mainland General Hospital. A tweet from the verified Twitter account of Lagos State Ministry of Health has confirmed the case. Vanguard

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Wednesday, 18 March 2020 05:43

Abuja doctors begin strike over non-payment of salaries

Abuja chapter of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD-FCTA) on Tuesday began an indefinite strike to press home their demand for timely and adequate payment of their salaries, among other demands. The strike is coming at a very critical time when the Federal Government has just announced a third confirmed case of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Lagos State. ARD-FCTA is the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) chapter of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, comprising doctors practising in the 14 districts and general hospitals, departments of public health and primary health care development boards under the federal capital territory administration (FCTA),…

Wednesday, 18 March 2020 05:42

Yoruba World Congress calls for investigations into serial fire outbreaks in Yorubaland

PRESS RELEASE Prominent Yoruba leader, Mr Adebanji Akintoye, who is also a retired professor of history, has called on Federal Government and state governments to conduct investigations into the unusual spate of fire incidents in Nigeria and particularly in Yoruba land. Akintoye made this call after he paid a visit to the site of the recent explosion in Abule Ado area of Lagos state which claimed many lives and destroyed buildings and other properties worth billions of Naira. Akintoye who is also the International President of Yoruba World Congress expressed concern over the questionable silence of relevant authorities on the…

Wednesday, 18 March 2020 05:41

Disruption frenzy: Nations try to slow virus, aid economies

Mass disruptions shuddered across the globe Tuesday as governments struggled to slow the spread of the coronavirus while trying to keep their economies afloat. The chaos included border traffic jams in Lithuania, the deaths of 17 elderly residents in one Madrid nursing home and a bus service halt in Detroit when drivers didn’t show up for work. European Union leaders agreed to shut down the bloc’s external borders for 30 days. And in the U.S., West Virginia became the last state to report a case of infection, confirming the virus has spread nationwide. The administration of President Donald Trump was…

Tuesday, 17 March 2020 05:56

FG suspends plans to borrow $22.7bn

Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, Monday, disclosed that the Federal Government has suspended its $22.7 billion external borrowing plans due to current realities in the global economic landscape. Speaking in Abuja at the 2020 International Conference on Nigerian Commodities Market, organized by Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Ahmed stated that government would not go ahead with the borrowing programme even if it secures the approval of the National Assembly. The finance minister explained that the decision of the government to suspend the borrowing was because “market indices do not support external borrowings at the moment”. She said, “The parliament…

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