Author: Obayomi Abiola Benjamin

President Buhari has returned to Nigeria, after 51 days on vacation in London, United Kingdom. Femi Adesina, the special adviser on media and publicity said President Buhari’s  plane landed in Kaduna  well after 7.am today in Kaduna, debunking earlier reports that the President flew in at about 4.am. “We are now at the helipad at the Aso Villa awaiting his arrival from Kaduna. The flight will take about  40 minutes”, said Adesina in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria. In Kaduna, President Buhari was received by deputy governor. Barnabas Yusuf Bala. An excited Kaduna governor, Nasir el-Rufai said on Facebook:…

Ooni of Ife Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi has ordered the release of Hausas held captive by the Yorubas in the crisis that ensued on Wednesday. He also warned that nothing untoward should happen to them. No fewer than 300 Hausa were taken captive by the Yoruba. Oba Ogunwusi appealed to the warring factions to give peace a chance because, according to him, there is no gain in crisis. Speaking through his media aide, Comrade Moses Olafare, the monarch said he had instructed some palace men to see to the rescue of the Hausa who were captured by the Ife. He said…

A Federal High Court in Abuja has delivered the much awaited judgment on the killing of six traders in Abuja by policemen on 7 June 2005. Two of the policemen, standing trial, were sentenced to death, while three others were discharged, in the judgement delivered today by Justice Ishaq Bello. Those condemned to death are Emmanuel Baba and Ezekiel Acheneje, while Danjuma Ibrahim, Nicholas Zakariah and Sadiq Salami were discharged. The five were among the six arraigned over the killing of the traders on suspicion that they were armed robbers. The sixth person on the charge sheet, Othman Abdulsalam, who was…

Senator Babajide Omoworare, representing Osun East (Ife/Ijesa) Senatorial District, has appealed to indigenes and residents of Ile-Ife to end the ongoing feud in Sabo area of Ile-Ife. In a statement signed by Mr Tunde Dairo, Media Aide to Omoworare, the senator appealed to all frayed nerves in the community to give peace and dialogue a chance. “There is no alternative to peace, we must collectively live in atmosphere of peace for mutual prosperity this has been the long standing practice and must be sustained in the interest of everyone. “Only through peace and dialogue can we find a lasting solution…

The Nigerian government plans to sell N1.13 trillion (about $3.70 billion) worth of treasury bills between March 16 and June 1, a Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, debt calendar has shown. The bank aims to auction N243 billion in 91-day bills, N198 billion in 182-day and N689 billion in 364-day debt. The Central Bank, Reuters News Agency says, sells treasury bills twice a month to help fund the government’s budget deficit and support commercial banks in managing liquidity. In February, the federal government had said it would raise N142.43 billion (about $453.60 million) from the issuance of short-term treasury bills.…

Director General of the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), Mr. Moddebo Kawu, says Nigeria is ready for the Digital Switch Over (DSO) which is to kick off in June this year. Kawu, who was in Calabar, with members of the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on DSO, to inspect to inspect two companies licensed to manufacture setup boxes that will be used switch over, said the pilot scheme in Jos and Abuja have been successful. Speaking to reporters at Gospell Digital, one of the companies, he said although the switch over may not cover the entire country at once, it would…

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has renewed his call for restructuring, saying he understands why many of those calling for restructuring are from the south, while the bulk of the opposition to it comes from the north. Speaking at an annual public lecture at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, on Monday, Abubakar listed fear of losing oil revenues as reasons why some are opposed to it, and lost of trust in the current structure as reasons some are clamoring for it. He said too much power at the centre has impeded the development of the country, explaining that the restructuring he…

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has directed Money Deposit Banks to henceforth process and meet the demand for dollars and other foreign currencies within 48 hours. In a circular on Sunday in Abuja, the Director, Financial Markets Department of the CBN, Dr. Alvan Ikoku, said the order would further make foreign currencies readily available to end users. Ikoku said that banks have been directed to process and meet the demand for personal and business travelling allowances by customers within 24 hours of application. For school fees and medical bills, the apex bank said that the commercial banks were to…

Some “very senior officials” of the Goodluck Jonathan administration mounted intense pressure on the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited to pay dividends and its 2014 company income tax and to government coffers just before the 2015 general election, TheCable has learnt. But the then managing director of NLNG, Babs Omotowa, vehemently resisted the pressure and still believes he would have been sacked if Jonathan had been re-elected. The payments were later made after President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office and shared as “bailout funds” to the three tiers of government to clear salary arrears. The pressure to pay the dividends and the tax…

Barring any unforeseen development, the Federal Government will this week unfold its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), which is expected to outline how the country will get out of recession and attain stability and growth. Competent Government sources confirmed to Vanguard last night that the long awaited economic plan, which was worked out by financial and economic experts in collaboration with the Ministry of Budget and National Planning and the Ministry of Finance, was ready and would be made public any time this week. One of the sources, who described the ERGP as optimistic, said that President Muhammadu Buhari…