Author: Chief Editor

Lekan Sote Many Nigerians argue that the Nigerian Constitution is loaded too much in favour of the Federal Government, and it becomes extremely difficult for sub-national governments – states and the local governments – to be economically viable. A recent National Bureau of Statistics report indicates that whereas 21 states were able to attract $14.31bn in the first half of 2019, 15 others, namely, Abia, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Enugu, Kebbi, Kogi, Osun, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara, could not. And the Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki complains: “I just could not understand why the Oredo Local Government…

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 700th goal of his remarkable career in Portugal’s Euro 2020 qualifying defeat to Ukraine on Monday. His latest landmark was another reminder of Ronaldo’s enduring brilliance, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner still proving himself prolific at the age of 34. The Juventus star has scored 95 goals for his country, while the bulk of his goals at club level came at Real Madrid, where he netted 450 times over nine seasons. However, the first century milestone arrived 11 years ago, which is where we begin our rundown of Ronaldo’s major landmark goals. GOAL 100 – MANCHESTER UNITED 3-1 Tottenham (FA…

Eze Onyekpere Nigerians welcomed the early presentation of the 2020 federal budget estimates by President Muhammadu Buhari on October 8, 2019 to the National Assembly in accordance with Section 81 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended. The budget, aptly titled, Budget of Sustaining growth and job creation, projects expenditure in the sum of N10.330tn. The 2020 proposals represent an 11% increase when compared to the 2019 appropriation of N9.12tn. The proposed retained revenue is N8.155tn and a deficit of N2.18tn which is 1.52% of the GDP. The key assumptions are the benchmark price of…

Garba Shehu Last week, the Senate Majority Leader, Senator Abdullahi Yahaya, reintroduced the anti-sexual harassment legislation to parliament, following a serious exposé by the British Broadcasting Corporation of a sex-for-grades scandal at the University of Lagos. The bill had been tabled before – in 2016 – but it was not passed: some members of our party, the All Progressives Congress, working with the opposition, then stronger in numbers than today, blocked it. This time round, there has been no such attempt by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, to scupper the legislation. We cannot tell whether they remain opposed to it,…

South Africa’s scandal-plagued former president Jacob Zuma will face a corruption trial, a court ruled Friday, in one of multiple alleged graft cases over his long political career. The country’s High Court unanimously dismissed Zuma’s bid for a permanent stay of prosecution over 16 counts of fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to a multi-billion-dollar arms deal dating back to before he took office in 2009. Zuma, who has been accused of taking bribes from French defence company Thales, sought in March to have the case dropped. He maintained the case was politically-motivated and years of delay would result in…

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay have enjoined Nigerians to participate fully in the fight against corruption for the overall good of the country. The duo observed that the Federal Government cannot succeed in the anti-graft war without the collaboration of the masses. They both spoke at the public launch of an anti-corruption App kno, ‘Flag It’ by the Akin Fadeyi Foundation in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) at the Musa Yar’Adua Centre Abuja. The Vice President represented by the Special Adviser to the President on…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed an application at the court for the forfeiture of 29 additional assets, worth N1.054 billion, traced to Abdulrasheed Maina. Maina, the fugitive former Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), was arrested in an Abuja hotel in September, when he sneaked into the country from his United Arab Emirates (UAE) base. He was picked up with his son, Faisal, who pulled a pistol to prevent his father’s arrest. Since his arrest, Maina has been undergoing interrogation at the EFCC. Some foreign assets believed to belong to Maina have also been…

Ayo Olukotun Reducing the high cost of governance has been a constant item in public discourse in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. Almost every administration has mooted the idea, or articulated policy around it, but none has had the courage to implement it. Remember the Steve Orosanye Panel of 2012? Set up by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, it made far-reaching recommendations such as merging some ministries, cutting redundant ones, and generally bringing down the cost of governance. Of course, we all know what happened to that report. Like several reports that never saw the light of day, the suggestions of the Orosanye…

Garba Shehu There were several crucial outcomes from the three-day state visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Republic of South Africa, October 2 to 4, 2019, and below are some highlights from the historic journey. The President, who was accompanied by governors of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, Kano State, Abdullahi anduje and Plateau State, Simon Lalong, seven cabinet ministers, head of the National Intelligence Agency and that of the Diaspora Commission was on a dual mission to undertake a State Visit and Co-Chair, with President Cyril Ramaphosa, the inaugural meeting of the elevated Bi-National Commission between Nigeria and South…

By Mikky Attah In February 2014, Nigerians were frozen by the chilling news of the killing of 59 school boys by Boko Haram in Yobe State. The buildings in the school were all burnt down, after  the school boys were shot dead. The horror had only just begun. Less than two months after, the Islamic Extremist Terror Group rocked the world with their abduction of 267 schoolgirls, aged 16-18 from their boarding school on the night of April 14,2014. The innocent girls were finalists at the Government Girls Secondary School,  Chibok in Borno State. A couple of weeks later, on…