Author: Chief Editor

The immediate past Chairman of the Niger State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Mathias Echioda, has tasked Nigerian Christians to ensure they obtain their Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) and also cast their ballots for candidates of the political party of their choice in all next general election. Echioda gave the admonition in Minna, the state capital, last Sunday while exchanging views with journalists after delivering the sermon at the Special Service organised by the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church headquarters to mark this year Father’s Day celebration. Echioda said Christians should stop the idea of showing…

To hold that Nigeria is in a dire strait economically and that its next president has an unenviable task to fix it, is an understatement. Besides the electorate expecting an end to challenges of insecurity, they expect a leader with a magic wand to upturn fortunes of the economy, effectively deal with fuel subsidy dilemma, its seemingly intractable power debacle, weak Naira and restore hope, among others. Unfortunately, the next president shall not enjoy the luxury of time to impress; nor the public patience erstwhile accorded to his predecessors. Are the contestants ready for this herculean task? Are they equipped for…

Nigerians are now paying more for petrol despite the official price still fixed at N162.50 and N165 per litre. Independent marketers, who started implementing a new price regime of between N170 to N190 at the weekend, insisted yesterday that it would be difficult for them to sell at the official pump price. Besides, scarcity of the product resurfaced in Lagos, Akure, Ado-Ekiti, Abeokuta, Jos, among other towns in the Southwest. The situation in Abuja worsened at the weekend with long queues at the filling stations where petrol is sold. In Lagos yesterday, many independent stations were shut, the few that were…

Ekiti State Governor-elect Biodun Oyebanji yesterday disputed the allegation of vote buying during weekend election. He said his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), was not involved in any unruly behaviour. Oyebanji spoke with State House Correspondents after he was presented to President Muhammadu Buhari by APC National Chairman Abdullahi Adamu. Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Chief Segun Oni alleged vote buying in the election and vowed to challenge the outcome at the tribunal. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) also said they arrested some politicians trying to pay for votes during the election. Also yesterday, the British…

The Presidency yesterday allayed fears on the health of former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. Gen. Abdulsami was flown abroad for medical reasons, fuelling anxiety that he was critically ill. But the Presidency said the one-time leader was stable and recuperating in a private apartment in the UK after treatment. Gen. Abdulsalami, 80, was head of state between 1998 and 1999 when he handed over power to President Olusegun Obasanjo. The update on his health was provided by President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Mallam Garba Shehu. In a series of tweets @GarShehu yesterday, he tweeted “there…

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and business leader and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu, led other real estate stakeholders over the weekend in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Falomo Towers development in Ikoyi, Lagos. The project is being developed by joint venture partners, Afriland Properties Plc, investee company of the Heirs Holdings Group, and the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC). The Special Guest of Honour, Sanwo-Olu, in his address, commended the joint venture (JV) partners for their commitment to the Nigerian real estate sector and their vision in redeveloping the iconic Lagos landmark. In a statement, he praised both…

About 450 ex-agitators have been sent to facilities in the Niger Delta to learn the business of oil spill response, clean-up and remediation in line with the Train, Employ and Mentor (TEM) scheme introduced by Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) Col. Milland Dikio (retd). The development came a few days after the scheme sent 400 ex-agitators to various farms in the region to learn agro-based skills, increasing  the number of beneficiaries deployed for training within two weeks to 850. Apart from the training on oil spill cleanup, others were sent to acquire skills in solar engineering, plumbing, electrical…

For the establishment of an impact investment wholesaler fund in Nigeria, sources to be harnessed for the project include recovered government funds, dormant investment, financial institutions and philanthropy. Others are institutional investors, development financial institutions, pension funds, financial institutions sovereign health fund, unclaimed dividends and government spending. The head of project, NICOP, Ana Vinambres, said the investment fund is intended to be both an impact market builder dedicated to achieving measurable positive impact on people and the environment by providing workable financing to fund other intermediaries. Speaking at the validation workshop to establish wholesale impact investment fund in Nigeria, she…

In every electoral season, politics and discussions about political parties and candidates that will take over governance at the federal, state and local levels usually trump every other discussion. Political discussions are so pervasive and dominate print, electronic, digital and social media. Since politics to a great extent determines the trajectory of every other facet of governance, it is imperative to infuse political discourse with practical issues and challenges in the economic, social and other relevant sectors. This discourse focuses attention on the economy with a specific interrogation of the level of Nigeria’s public debt. The Debt Management Office indicates…

It’s a new dawn in Ekiti, Governor-elect Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji declared yesterday while accepting the result of Saturday’s election. The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate trounced ex-Governor Segun Oni and Mr. Bisi Kolawole, candidates of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) respectively. He won in 15 of the 16 local government areas. The PDP candidate won in one but Oni who scored the second highest number of votes did not win in any local government area. Oyebanji, who is due to take office in October, had his first activities as governor-elect by receiving a delegation…