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Wednesday, 15 November 2017 04:15

Nigeria’s debt increases 64.8 percent in two years

Nigeria’s total debt stock rose by N8tn between September 2015 and September 2017, according to statistics provided by Debt Management Office. DMO said the country’s total debt stock as of the end of September this year stood at N20.37tn, while the figure at the same period in 2015 stood at N12.36tn. This means that within a period of two years, the country’s total debt exposure rose by N8.1tn. In terms of percentage increase, the country’s total debt rose by 64.81 in the period. DMO did not give a breakdown of the federal and state governments’ components of the total debt…

Wednesday, 15 November 2017 04:14

Senate approves Buhari’s request of $5.5bn foreign loan

The Senate Tuesday approved the request by President Muhammadu Buhari to raise $3 billion from the international capital market (ICM) through a Eurobond or Diaspora Bond issue or a combination of both to refinance maturing domestic debts, and raise another $2.5 billion from multilateral donor institutions to fund the capital component of the 2017 budget. The approval coincided with the latest data released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) Tuesday showing that Nigeria’s debt stock hit N20 trillion as of September 30, 2017, with the foreign component accounting for 23.04 per cent or N4.694 trillion ($15.40 billion) of the total…

Wednesday, 15 November 2017 04:12

2017 Budget: N4.24 trillion recurrent, N450 billion capital expenditures released - FG

Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udoma, said recurrent releases to Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) under 2017 budget had reached N4.24 trillion. Udoma said this on Wednesday in Abuja while giving an overview of the 2018 Budget Proposal tagged “Budget of Consolidation”. He gave a breakdown on recurrent and capital releases to MDAs from January to September under the 2017 Appropriation Act. A breakdown of the non-debt recurrent expenditure showed that personnel costs including pension and gratuities had so far gulped N1.85 trillion, while N138 billion had been released to MDAs to cover their overhead costs.…

Wednesday, 15 November 2017 04:10

Malami to Senate: ‘Yes, I met with Maina in Dubai’

A clearer picture of Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami’s role in the reinstatement of fugitive civil servant Mr Abdulrasheed Maina emerged yesterday. The minister admitted before a Senate ad hoc panel probing Maina’s reinstatement into the civil service and promotion to acting director that he met with Maina in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year. He also said he wrote letters to Federal Civil Service Commission (FRSC) on the sacked chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team. Maina was in 2015 accused of over N2billion pension fraud and declared wanted by Economic…

Wednesday, 15 November 2017 04:08

We’ll deal with Niger Delta Avengers – Navy chief

Chief of Naval Staff, Mr Ibok-Ete Ibas, has warned Niger Delta Avengers against threat to resume destruction of oil facilities in Niger Delta. The militant group had recently announced plans to resume hostilities, claiming that the federal government had not fulfilled its promise to redress situations in the region. Speaking to journalists on Tuesday at headquarters of Eastern Naval Command in Calabar, Ibas said no group had the strength to threaten the peace and unity of Nigeria. The CNS, who had an extensive interaction with officers and ratings across all formations under the Eastern Naval Command, said that the navy…

Wednesday, 15 November 2017 04:06

11 killed, 17 missing in mass evictions by Lagos govt – Amnesty International

Nigerian authorities must halt a violent, unlawful campaign of demolitions and forced evictions of waterfront communities in Lagos State which has so far left more than 30,000 people homeless and 11 dead, Amnesty International said today on Tuesday. A new report, ‘The Human Cost of a Megacity: Forced Evictions of the Urban Poor in Lagos’, details repeated forced evictions of the Otodo-Gbame and Ilubirin communities carried out since March 2016 without any consultation, adequate notice, compensation or alternative housing being offered to those affected. Some evictees drowned as they fled police gunfire, while at least one was shot dead. “These…

Wednesday, 15 November 2017 04:05

Military now in Zimbabwe's capital after army chief's threat

At least three explosions were heard in Zimbabwe's capital early Wednesday and military vehicles were seen in the streets after the army commander threatened to "step in" to calm political tensions over 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe's possible successor. The ruling party accused the commander of "treasonable conduct." The U.S. Embassy closed to the public and encouraged citizens to shelter in place, citing "the ongoing political uncertainty through the night." For the first time, this southern African nation is seeing an open rift between the military and Mugabe, the world's oldest head of state who has ruled since independence from white…

Tuesday, 14 November 2017 03:50

Buhari begins two-day visit to southeast today

President Muhammadu Buhari is to visit southeast Nigeria this week, his spokesman said on Monday, his first trip since taking office to a region formerly known as Biafra. Calls for secession have become increasingly loud in the last few months in parts of the southeast, where the president is deeply unpopular, prompting Buhari to say he will not allow Nigeria to be divided by separatist groups. A million people died in a 1967-70 civil war over the short-lived Republic of Biafra. Buhari, a 74-year-old former military ruler who took office in May 2015, fought in the war as a young…

Tuesday, 14 November 2017 03:49

Buhari sides with El-Rufai in plan to sack 22,000 teachers

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, gave his backing to plans by Kaduna State Governor, Mr Nasir El-Rufai, to sack 21,780 teachers, who failed the competency test conducted by the state government. The President’s support for the governor came as leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, warned El-Rufai to wait for what it described as ‘mother of all protests’ over the sack bid. Also, Director-General of APC Governors Forum, Mr Salihu Lukman, warned against politicizing the issue, saying any attempt to do so would mean toying with the future of the nation’s children. Mr Buhari, in a speech read at Presidential retreat…

Tuesday, 14 November 2017 03:43

Supreme Court adjourns appeal against Jokolo’s reinstatement as Emir of Gwandu

Supreme Court on Monday adjourned until April 28 to hear an appeal filed against the reinstatement of Mr Mustapha Jokolo as Emir of Gwandu. Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, leading a five-member panel of justices held that two motions listed for hearing were not yet before the court. “In the light of this, the appeal would not be heard today. It is hereby adjourned until April 28. “Parties are therefore, required to ensure that all motions are properly filed and placed before the court before the next adjourned date,” he said. Court of Appeal in Sokoto, on April 14, 2016 reaffirmed the…

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Tuesday, 14 November 2017 03:41

Police, students injured in violent clash in Ibadan

Several police officers and students were on Monday injured as the police sought to forcefully disperse a protest by the students. The students who were of the Federal College of Agriculture, Moore Plantation, Ibadan, were said to be protesting against the management of the institution. In the early hours of the day, they marched to the Ibadan – Abeokuta expressway, thereby inhibiting the flow of traffic. Provost of the college, Mr Babajide Adenikan, called in the police when the protests went out of control and headed away from the campus towards the town. Footage on twitter apparently captured by one…

Tuesday, 14 November 2017 03:37

Iran-Iraq quake death toll reaches 445

The Latest on a powerful earthquake near the Iran-Iraq border that has killed more than 400 people (all times local): 10:45 p.m.Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency is reporting that 445 people were killed and 7,370 injured in the Sunday earthquake along the Iran-Iraq border. Official reports had put death toll at 407. There was no elaboration on the discrepancy in Tasnim's report, though double-counting is common in the aftermath of such emergency situations in Iran. More than half of the casualties are from Kurdish-majority town of Sarpol-e Zahab in Kermansh province. The only hospital in the town was heavily damaged…

Monday, 13 November 2017 04:38

FG unfolds fresh plans for N’Delta devt

In view of recent threat by Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to resume attacks on oil installations, the federal government at the weekend released plans for the development of the volatile oil-rich Niger Delta region. Nigeria depends on its oil for almost 90 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings and 70 per cent of total earnings. Sustained attacks on oil installations by Avengers in 2016 contributed to halving Nigeria’s oil output and plunging the country into its first recession in 25 years. But with the temporary end to hostilities secured by the government late last year, Nigeria has been able…

Monday, 13 November 2017 04:34

Ekwueme departs for medical treatment abroad

Second Republic Vice-President, Mr Alex Ekwueme, was on Sunday airlifted abroad for further medical treatment. Ekwueme was hospitalised at Memfys Hospital of Neurosurgery, Enugu, for chest infection on October 29. The elder statesman departed Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday in a white air ambulance with registration number N605AJ. However, Memfys Hospital ‎and family sources did not disclose the country where the former vice president would be receiving treatment. Some family members accompanied Ekwueme on the medical trip, while others came to bid him farewell. President Muhammadu Buhari had last week approved that Ekwueme be flown…

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