Author: Chief Editor

•Evaluates 68 proposals, approves five on merit •Mustapha, Mamora hail Emefiele The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday disbursed a total sum of N253.54 million grant to five health researchers under the CBN’s Healthcare Sector Research and Development Intervention Scheme (HSRDIS) to aid the development of vaccines and drugs to combat communicable and non-communicable diseases, including COVID-19. The scheme is part of the apex bank’s policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic to spur the development of vaccines and drugs. CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said in Abuja during the award of grants to successful applicants that so far, 68…

•Lagos, FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna, seven others confirm receipt Twenty-six states were last night waiting for the delivery of their COVID-19 vaccine allocations from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), THISDAY’s investigation has revealed. It was gathered yesterday that only 10 states– Lagos, Kaduna, Akwa-Ibom, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Nasarawa, Benue and Bauchi as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – had confirmed receipt of their allocations of the AstraZeneca vaccine with Ogun State taking delivery of its allocation on Monday. It was, however, gathered that the consignment for Osun, Ondo and Ekiti States was delivered yesterday through…

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus crashed out of the Champions League in the last 16 for the second year running on Tuesday, losing to 10-man Porto on away goals despite winning the second leg 3-2 in Turin. Sergio Oliveira’s extra-time free-kick sent twice former winners Porto through to the quarter-finals as the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate. Leading 2-1 from the first leg in Portugal, Oliveira’s first-half penalty increased Porto’s advantage but Juventus levelled the tie through two goals from Federico Chiesa, which came either side of Porto striker Mehdi Taremi’s red card. Oliveira then rifled home a low free-kick on 115…

• Malami: Fund will be used to complete second Niger Bridge • Delta govt: Money does not belong to Federal Government • Sagay: Money must be returned to Delta State • British High Commissioner: Ill-gotten money not welcome in UK • CISLAC, lawyers want money spent on victims of looted funds Just as the 2012 conviction of former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, by a court in the United Kingdom elicited mixed reactions, the British Government’s resolve yesterday to return to Nigeria £4.2million (about N2.2 billion) funds recovered from friends and family members of the former governor has stirred up debate pitting…

Germany’s World Cup-winning head coach Joachim Loew will step down after the European championships this July, the German FA said on Tuesday. Loew will step down with a year left on his contract having signed up until the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar. In a statement, Loew said he was “full of pride and enormous gratitude” after nearly 15 years as national coach and that he was “motivated” for his swansong at the rearranged European championships from June 11-July 11. The 61-year-old nicknamed “Jogi” has been in charge of Germany since 2006 and lifted the 2014 World Cup in…

Neymar will not be available for Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League decider with Barcelona after failing to shake off a thigh injury, the French champions said on Tuesday. In a statement, PSG said that Brazil forward Neymar “will continue his individual training”, saying that a new assessment would be made “in the coming days”. The 29-year-old had begun training with the squad again last week but will not return in time for Wednesday’s last 16, second leg clash with his former club at the Parc des Princes. Neymar has been out of action since mid-February after picking up the thigh injury…

President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned in strong terms discrimination against women in their places of work based on their gender. The President, in a message to mark this year’s International Women’s Day issued yesterday by his Media Adviser, Mr. Femi Adesina, however, said despite the gender discrimination, women remain the bedrock of the society. President Buhari while condemning all forms of gender-based discriminations, abuse, harassment and violence targeted especially at the female folk at work places, schools, community and national levels felicitated most warmly with Nigerian women, describing them as the bedrock of society. Noting that the theme of the…

Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has assured Nigerians that the 2023 elections would be different from all previous ones in terms of preparations and readiness. Yakubu, who gave the assurance at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), yesterday, in Abuja, said the commission was committed to deepening the culture of planning for election. “As we continue to plan for the next general election, the RECs have been directed to compile and submit an inventory of all election materials to determine shortfalls and take early steps to ensure their adequacy and availability “Only a few…

The recently released 2020 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), in which Nigeria scored 25 over 100 points and thereby moved down to 149 rank out of 180 countries shows that the war against corruption is not making the desired impact. It is unimaginable that at a time Nigeria claims to be waging a fierce battle against corruption, rather than moving up, the country dropped three steps down from the 146 position she scored in 2019. Analysts say this is the worst ranking since 2015 when the anti-corruption battle was launched. According to Transparency International (TI), Nigeria’s rating was based on lack…

•Threatens mandatory 181 sittings • Pressure on finance minister fails The two chambers of the National Assembly may not meet the mandatory constitutional requirement of 181 sittings yearly because of reduction in number of sitting days to once a week. Section 63 of the Constitution provides that the Senate and House of Representatives shall each sit for not less than 181 days in a year. And section 68 thereof states that any legislator who fails to attend the proceedings of the House or Senate for less than one third of the required number of days shall automatically lose his or…