Author: Chief Editor

All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has said it will formally commence the national campaign for the 2023 general elections on January 14, 2023 at Awka in Anambra State. According to the National Organising Secretary of APGA, Ifeanyi Mbaeri, the campaign flag-off will be performed by the Anambra state governor, Prof. Charles Soludo at the Ekwueme Square, Awka. “I have been directed by the National Chairman of our great party, Ozonkpu Victor Ike Oye, to invite APGA members, party stakeholders and well-wishers to the formal launch cum flag off of APGA national campaign on Saturday, January 14, in Anambra State,” he said. The party said…

Beijing’s sudden pivot away from containing Covid-19 has caused jitters around the world, with the United States saying it may restrict travel from China following its decision to end mandatory quarantine for overseas arrivals. China late Monday scrapped quarantine for inbound travellers from January 8 onwards, dismantling the last remaining piece of its stringent zero-Covid policy and ending some of the world’s harshest border restrictions. The move was greeted with jubilation by Chinese citizens, who rushed to book international flights, triggering a surge in ticket prices. Hospitals and crematoriums across China continue to be overwhelmed by an influx of mostly…

Telecom subscribers have expressed dissatisfaction at the insistence of the Federal Government to impose excise duty on telecommunications services. As such, the users, under the aegis of National Association of Telecoms Subscribers of Nigeria (NATCOMS), said they would be going to court in the first week of 2023 to challenge the plan. President of NATCOMS, Deolu Ogunbanjo, who spoke with The Guardian, yesterday, confirmed this. He stressed that the matter had been put on hold before the Federal Government came up to reactivate the plan to impose the tax on consumers. Ogunbajo said there are other areas where the Federal…

A group, Vanguard for Judicial Independence, has faulted prosecuting agencies’ verification of sureties for bail, describing the practice was unconstitutional. In a statement by its Convener, Douglas Ogbankwa, the group maintained that it was unconstitutional for court to direct law enforcement agencies such as the police and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to verify sureties. The organisation observed: “It offends the principle of ‘pacta sunt servanda’ (no man shall be judge in his own cause) for prosecutors to be asked to verify sureties of defendants in a criminal prosecution. “What it means is that a court that asks the EFCC…

Vice presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Kashim Shettima, has faulted the opinion poll released by a national newspaper, which ranked Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of APC’s Bola Tinubu. Speaking to journalists in Kano, yesterday, Shettima rebuked what he considered as “deliberate bias” by the organisation to discredit Tinubu, insisting that APC is fully grounded with the reality of Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election. The former governor of Borno State said: “We know the ground reality and by God’s grace we are going to win next year’s election. We are completely indifferent…

The House of Representatives says the authorities are not under any obligation to pay the salaries of members of the Academic staff union of universities (ASUU) for the duration they were on strike. Spokesperson of the House, Mr Benjamin Kalu in a statement contended that the decision was in tandem with laid down rules and regulations. “This is a settled matter in law. See S. 43(1)(a) Trade Disputes Act, Cap T8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN). The Executive decision not to pay salaries to lecturers for the time spent on strike is warranted by the government’s legitimate interest…

•Seeks to partner India on technical education, manpower devt, technology, others Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said his administration is working closely with the new management of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to improve electricity supply across the state. In a statement, Obaseki, said the state had the capacity to generate about 1,000 megawatts of electricity daily, expressing confidence that with the partnership with BEDC, Edo State would witness increased power supply by next year. The governor said, “We are very optimistic that by this time next year, electricity supply would have improved across Edo State. We are…

•Data show country barely drilled 60% of 1.88 million bpd budget benchmark •$30bn Brass, Olokola LNG projects suffer 19 years delay despite lucrative gas market •IOCs spent over $1bn on projects without FID, says NCDMB With a projected 1.88 million barrels per day crude oil production in the 2022 federal budget, Nigeria under-produced to the tune of 263 million barrels of the commodity between January and November, a THISDAY analysis of industry data has shown. Also, Nigeria’s inability to deliver two major Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) projects -the $20 billion and $9.8 billion Brass and Olokola LNG projects, respectively, after…

•Atiku has 21 states sure of 25%, Tinubu has 20 states he’s sure of 25% With the changing realities in next year’s electoral permutations, there is an increasing likelihood that the first ballot at the February 25 presidential election may not produce a clear winner. By implication, there may be a run-off in the presidential bout before a clear winner is returned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Although, with their current standing, the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, can still boast 21 states, where he is certain to get 25 per cent, while his…

Arsenal opened up a seven-point lead with a 3-1 win over West Ham as the Premier League returned on Monday, while Newcastle climbed up to second thanks to an impressive 3-0 victory at Leicester. Liverpool also made a winning return from the World Cup break by beating Aston Villa 3-1 and Harry Kane bounced back from his heartbreak in Qatar by scoring in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw at Brentford. Arsenal’s momentum towards a first league title since 2004 could have been disturbed by the six-week mid-season break. But Mikel Arteta’s men passed another test of their resolve after going in 1-0…