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CISLAC raises concerns over Nigeria’s debt profile, coronavirus accountability
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), has expressed concerns over $2.18 billion foreign loan request to the Nigerian Senate to fund the 2021 Appropriations Act, by President Muhammadu Buhari. It has therefore urged the National Assembly to insist on an analysis of debt repayment strategy to be in place as its key priority to approvals. In a statement by Executive Director, CISLAC and Head of Transparency International – Nigeria, Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, he said national public finance management regime is meant to save the nation’s economic system from collapse: rescuing jobs, supporting livelihoods and bailing out many businesses on the brink. He warned the government to avoid the catastrophe that the international finance institutions forced on Greece: destroying ...
APC chieftain asks President Buhari to declare state of emergency on security
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Otunba Olusegun Agbalajobi, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently declare a state of emergency on security in the country. This, he said has become a child of necessity following the rising waves of kidnappings, killings, banditry, insurgency and other manifestations of insecurity bedeviling the country. Agbalajobi, in a statement titled, ‘Nigeria and its preponderance of insecurity’ issued in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday, said declaring emergency on security would help to stem the rising waves of security challenges that are fast pushing Nigeria to precipice. He stressed that the worsening security situation in the country requires desperate and decisive measure in the best interest of Nigerians, hence, the need to ...
European Super League shelved as more clubs withdraw
The European Super League collapsed on Wednesday as eight of the 12 founding members from England, Italy and Spain abandoned the breakaway project. The project collapsed after it came under massive pressure from fans, politicians, football officials and even the British royals. Founder and Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli told Reuters he was reluctantly calling time on the new league. This was after six English clubs withdrew on Tuesday, with Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid following suit and AC Milan indicating they would too. “The voices and the concerns of fans around the world have clearly been expressed about the Super League, and AC Milan must be sensitive to the voice of those who love this wonderful sport,” the Italian club said in a statement. Agnelli said he still believed in the...
2023: PDP panel throws presidential tickets open
File Photo Amidst thinking from many stakeholders that North-East and South-East geo-political zones that have had the shortest stints at the Presidency, should be given special consideration, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) panel has thrown open the 2023 presidential ticket. The governor of Bauchi state and Chairman, PDP 2019 election review committee, Bala Mohammed, gave this recommendation on Wednesday while submitting the report of the committee to the party leadership. The Governor said: “In line with certain unwritten conventions of the nation’s history, many people think that, for fairness and equity, the North East and South East geo-political zones that have had the shortest stints at the Presidency, should be given special consideration, in choosing the presidential flagbearer...
President Buhari directs security chiefs to recover areas being occupied by criminals
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the nation’s security chiefs to recover all areas being occupied by insurgents, bandits and kidnappers across the country. The National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, told State House correspondents that the president gave the order during the just concluded meeting of the National Security Council. The meeting was presided by Buhari at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday. According to him, no sovereign nation will allow a group of non-state actors to bring it down to its knees and render the state in state of panic, apprehension, mistrust and disorder. “Therefore, both the defence and intelligence organisations have been charged that while we look forward to having a peaceful, non-kinetic reso...
Victor Osimhen likens his unconscious 30 minutes to a brain reset
Super Eagles and Napoli forward Victor Osimhen has said his 30 minutes of unconsciousness Sunday, ‘felt like a brain reset’ Osimhen was discharged to return to Naples on Monday after spending the night under observation at a hospital in Bergamo following an alarming collapse towards the end of the club’s 4-2 Serie A defeat by Atalanta on Sunday. Osimhen was knocked unconscious in a scary incident during the final minutes of the game after a challenge with Cristian Romero; he was stretchered off the pitch and taken directly to hospital. A close adviser to the player told ESPN that a disoriented Osimhen was shocked when he saw the video of the incident. “He could not believe it when they showed him the video from the incident,” the adviser said. “He said it felt like a brain reset.” Multiple...
Sudan announces new cabinet with ex-rebels as ministers
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced Monday a new cabinet bringing in seven ex-rebel chiefs as ministers, following a peace deal in October aimed to end decades of war. Veteran rebel leader and economist Gibril Ibrahim, of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) – which played a major role in the Darfur conflict – was appointed as Sudan’s new finance minister. “We have reached consensus on over 25 ministries,” Hamdok said, during a press conference in Khartoum. “This line up aims to preserve this country from collapse… we know there will be challenges but we are certain that we will move forward.” Hamdok dissolved the previous cabinet on Sunday to make way for a more inclusive line up in government. Two ministers were selected from the military, with the remaining coming from th...
PDP asks US, others to prevail on President Buhari to protect Nigerians
Ahead of its proposed conference on security, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has called on the United States of America and other members of the international community to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to take decisive steps to protect Nigerians and curb escalated violence, terrorism and banditry ravaging many parts of the country. The party also tasked President Buhari to respond to a widespread cry for credible elections in the land by making a personal commitment towards an accelerated amendment to the Electoral Act, to among other things, “give statutory force to simultaneous electronic transmission of results and use of card readers in elections.” PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, presented made this known at a crucial meeting with the political officer with the...
Coronavirus: UAE restricts Nigerian passengers to Dubai airport
The United Arab Emirate, UAE, says passengers from Nigeria can no longer travel through other countries or airports to Dubai. This was made known in a notice by Dubai Airports, the operators of Dubai International Airport. The regulations restricted Nigerian passengers from transiting through other airports. The move comes as the United Kingdom on Friday suspended direct flights between the UAE and the UK as part of measures to curb the spread of the raging coronavirus disease. In a notice sent to travel partners, Dubai Airports said amongst other things, passengers from Nigeria can no longer travel through other countries or airports to Dubai. The notice was titled, ‘Dubai Travel Protocol Update–Travel From Nigeria’. It read, “Kindly be advised that effective from 01 February 2021, the fo...
Coronavirus takes toll on federal roads’ construction in Lagos
The ravaging effect of Coronavirus (COVID-19) was, perhaps, the biggest challenge faced by stakeholders in the road sub sector of the construction industry in 2020. As the virus gained ground, several contractors soon abandoned work and shut their operations, consequently, many hitherto gainfully employed Nigerians were thrown into the labour market. Even when the government later introduced partial lockdown measures, the number of workers on site was scaled down by many contractors in line with COVID-19 protocols, which slowed down progress of work. Virtually all road projects in Lagos State suffered the effect of the pandemic, with every project having its own peculiar challenge. The reconstruction of 46km Agbara-Seme section of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway project awarded to CGC Nigeria...
World Bank predicts 4% global economic growth, 1.1% for Nigeria in 2021
ABS-CBN The World Bank says global economy is expected to grow by 4 per cent in 2021, assuming an initial COVID-19 vaccine rollout becomes widespread throughout the year. It said this in a statement issued in Washington D.C. on Tuesday at the presentation of the January 2021 Global Economic Prospects. It added that the said recovery would likely be subdued unless policy makers moved decisively to tame the pandemic and implement investment-enhancing reforms. The bank also said that growth in Sub-Saharan Africa was forecast to rebound moderately to 2.7 per cent in 2021, while Nigeria’s growth was expected to resume at 1.1 per cent. For the region, it said that while the recovery in private consumption and investment was forecast to be slower than previously envisioned, export growth was expe...
Air passengers decry upsurge in fares, seek urgent attention to roads, railway
Nigerians, who travel by air, have decried the “sudden” upsurge in air fares and urged the Federal Government to intervene to avoid poor patronage that could dwindle the fortunes of the aviation industry. Newsmen report that the air fares shot up by about 100 per cent in the last one week, with some airline operators even raising their fares by as much as 120 per cent or more. At Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the fare from Abuja to Lagos, which was N35,300 (Economy Class), rose to between N70,000 and N75,000. Newsmen found that Business Class travellers were charged between N100,000 and N120,000, depending on the airline. Our correspondents, who visited other airports across the country, found that the rise in airfares was the same, a situation that forced some passengers to...
