Author: Chief Editor

The federal government has expressed the need to ensure that increased allocation to the health sector actually translates to improved outcome in the healthcare delivery system. It reaffirmed its determination to improve healthcare delivery as one of the priorities of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who stated this, observed that to underscore the importance attached to health, the federal government has continued to increase allocations to the sector. Speaking at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria, where a Medical Resonance Imaging (MRI) facility was inaugurated, she said:…

The federal government has fixed a meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Thursday to consider the progress made in the implementation of agreements reached to suspend the nine-month strike. A statement signed by the Deputy Director Press in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr Charles Akpan, said the Minister, Senator Chris Ngige, will be meeting with the ASUU leadership. In the agreement reached with ASUU, government had accepted among others, the union’s demand to pay lecturers’ salaries withheld during their nine-month strike. It also approved the release of N40 billion as earned allowances to university…

The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, has said the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation is frustrating members of the group because they discredited the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System. Ogunyemi, in an interview with The PUNCH, urged the OAGF not to cause another crisis in Nigerian universities. In a recent report in The PUNCH, the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said any person conceiving a strike after about one year of downing tools would be doing a disservice to students. However, Ogunyemi maintained that the Federal Government…

• Stop inflammatory statements, Benue governor advises Nigerians • With full-scale banditry, nobody will think of 2023 elections –Akeredolu The Benue State Governor, Mr Samuel Ortom, on Tuesday visited the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, three days after he was attacked by herdsmen. At the end of the meeting held behind closed doors, the governor told State House correspondents that with the current level of insecurity in the country, nobody would think of 2023 elections. Also on Tuesday, the Ondo State Governor and Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum, Rotimi Akeredolu, in an interview…

Nigerians to travel by boat on Friday Players and officials of the Super Eagles believe they can get outright victory against the Squirrels of Benin Republic from Saturday’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier in Porto Novo. The match will take place at the Stade Charles de Gaulle. The Super Eagles currently lead the group on eight points, one more than second-placed Squirrels of Benin Republic. A win for the Eagles will see Nigeria through to Cameroun 2021 AFCON even with a match in hand against the Crocodiles of Lesotho in Lagos next week. On their part, a victory for…

The Chief Whip of the Senate, Sen. Orji Kalu, says he is grateful to God for allowing him to go to prison and come back. Kalu stated this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Tuesday, adding that going to prison was a good experience for him. Kalu was sentenced to Kuje Correctional Centre for 12 years on December 5, 2019, for allegedly misappropriating about N7.1 billion, while serving as Abia governor between 1999 and 2007. However, the Supreme Court on May 8, 2020, upturned his trial and conviction by Justice Muhammed…

Jang, Gyany urge pardon for Dariye, Nyamme Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has ruled out impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari by the National Assembly over insecurity in the country, saying such action would not solve the problem. He made the comment during finals of the first Plateau North Peace, Unity and Reconciliation football tournament organised by Istifanus Gyang, representing Plateau North District in the Senate. Lawan, who was represented by Senator representing Benue North-East District, Gabriel Suswan, said: “Impeaching President Buhari is not the focus of the National Assembly as that may not solve the problem of insecurity in the country.…

As agitation for secession spreads, prominent Nigerians have called on the Federal Government to jettison the idea of using brute force to silence agitators. Rather than force, they say government can only stop the agitation by entrenching justice in place of nepotism. They spoke with The Guardian in reaction to the latest clamour for secession by some people of Yoruba extraction. A Yoruba rights activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as ‘Sunday Igboho’, had on Wednesday, argued that the solution to challenges and crisis in Yoruba land, is secession from the Nigerian nation. His declaration heightened ongoing clamour in some…

Gareth Bale said Tuesday that he plans to resume his Real Madrid career once his loan at Tottenham expires at the end of this season. Wales forward Bale returned for a second spell with Tottenham in September after being frozen out by Real manager Zinedine Zidane. He has endured a difficult time back in the Premier League, plagued by fitness issues, inconsistent form and a dispute with Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho over his readiness for an FA Cup tie at Everton. The 31-year-old’s Madrid contract runs until the end of the 2021-22 season and he revealed he will head back…

UK publisher HarperCollins vowed on Tuesday to “robustly defend” a defamation lawsuit filed by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich over a book that claims he took over Chelsea Football Club at the Kremlin’s behest. Abramovich said he was suing HarperCollins and journalist Catherine Belton over her 2020 book “Putin’s People”, which alleges that President Vladimir Putin has overseen a vast exodus of ill-gotten money to spread Russian influence abroad. Putin personally instructed Abramovich to buy Chelsea in 2003 as part of the influence operation, according to the book. Under Abramovich’s free-spending chairmanship, the club has been transformed from one of England’s…