Author: Chief Editor

When the announcement was made on Monday (September 6) of the constitution of a presidential committee on Health Sector Reform which would develop and implement a reform programme, what first hit me was the membership. The people nominated to serve on a body most times indicate how serious the nominator is about the task at hand. Apart from Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) who chairs the committee, the choice of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar of the University College, London’s Institute for Global Health, and many other professionals in the sector, including a traditional ruler,…

The Katsina Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said it has commenced investigation into the alleged shooting of the state Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftency Affairs, Hon. Umar Ya’u Gwajo-gwajo’s convoy by its personnel. The command’s acting Comptroller, DC Dalha Wada Chedi, made this revelation while briefing journalists Wednesday on the achievements recorded by the command in its war against smuggling. He said the command has inaugurated an investigative committee to unravel the circumstances that led to the incident. Gwajo-gwajo’s convoy was said to have been shot at by the operatives of the NCS while moving…

Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi has expressed the state government’s appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari recognizing it as one of the Oil-producing states. This is contained in a statement by Mr Onogwu Muhammed, Chief Press Secretary to Bello on Wednesday.” Gov. Bello conveyed his thank you message to Mr President during his visit to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday. ”Kogi was listed among Nigeria’s oil-producing States by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC),” he said. Bello said that he briefed President Buhari on the need to resuscitate the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, in Kogi. ”The aim of my…

With the continuous voter registration (CVR) still ongoing at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Local Government area centres, Yiaga Africa has raised alarm over poor deployment of security personnel to the registration centres. Yiaga programme manager, Cynthia Mbamalu who stated this in Abuja, maintained that the body’s observers also reported the near absence of political parties or their agents during the continuous voter’s registration exercise. Mbamalu noted that due to security threats in Gusau, Anka, Shinkafi, Zurmi, and Bungudu LGAs in Zamfara state, citizens turnout to register was low. She regretted that, in Anambra and other states in the…

South Africa recorded a fourth consecutive quarter of economic growth between April and June, the national statistics agency said Tuesday, while warning the current quarter could be less rosy because of violent looting in July. The continent’s most industrialised country saw its gross domestic product (GDP) rise by 1.2 percent in the second quarter of 2021, following a 1 percent increase in the first quarter over the October to December 2020 period. “Despite the gains made… the economy is 1.4 percent smaller” than before the coronavirus pandemic, Statistics South Africa announced in a statement. GDP plunged when authorities implemented a…

Power grabs in West Africa over the past year – in Chad, Mali and most recently Guinea – are enjoying newfound impunity, leaving citizens angry and distressed. “What’s the use of constitutions, the Economic Community of West African States, and international diplomacy if after all, anything goes?” asked Ahmed Sankare, a mobile telephone vendor in the Malian capital Bamako. ECOWAS and many voices in the international community condemned the Guinea coup, as they did a year ago and again in May for Mali. The words have been the same: restore constitutional order, free detainees, set a timeline for elections. But…

President Muhammadu Buhari is presiding over the National Security Council (NSC) meeting at the State House, Abuja. The crucial meeting is attended by some ministers and operators of the nation’s security architecture, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. THISDAY learnt that the NSC meeting is meant to provide updates on recent security operations in different parts of the nation to the president by security and intelligence chiefs. Those attending the meeting holding at the conference hall of the First Lady’s office include the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd); Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (rtd); Chief…

•Says PDP lost 2019 polls to ruling party’s fraud, eyes 2023 •Former VP is nation’s messiah, says Adamawa governor Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar says the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 general election was Nigeria’s biggest mistake. Atiku stated this on Saturday in Yola at an event, where prominent APC stalwarts defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He urged Nigerians to reject APC in subsequent elections. Atiku also alleged that PDP lost in 2019 because APC perpetrated massive fraud at the polls. Nevertheless, the former vice president intensified consultations for his 2023 presidential bid. Adamawa…

The Presidency yesterday listed policies, legislations, and projects completed by President Muhammadu Buhari since he came into power in 2015 to include signing of 15 bills into law and completion of 17 major projects across the country. Buhari’s media adviser, Femi Adesina, in a statement, titled, “Jinxes broken by Buhari,” listed the Petroleum Industry Bill, signed into law in 2021 after almost two decades in the works, as one of the major feats of the president. According to the statement, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) also recently announced its first profit in its 44-year history under Buhari, who doubles…

•Delta, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Oyo vulnerable to APC take over •Party still weak in most Northern, Middlebelt states, unlikely to make appreciable gains There is a high possibility that the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) might pick its presidential candidate for the 2023 general election from the North, as stakeholders are set to zone the chairmanship position of the party to the South in a matter of weeks. This, however, appears contrary to the survey by the THISDAY Economic Intelligence Group (EIG), which gleaned from the field that the decision could cost PDP the elections in practically all the…