Author: Maryam Garba

THE Management of Dangote Industries Limited has insisted that the international oil companies are still frustrating crude supply to its 650,000-capacity refinery. The management said this even as it commended the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission for its various interventions in the oil company’s crude supply requests from IOCs, and for publishing the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation guidelines to enshrine transparency in the oil industry. In a statement on Wednesday, the Dangote Group alleged that the IOCs insisted on selling crude oil to its refinery through their foreign agents, saying the local price of crude would continue to increase because…

A TOTAL sum of N1.354 trillion June 2024 Federation Accounts Revenue has been shared with the Federal Government, States and Local Government Councils in the country. The revenue was shared at the July 2024 meeting of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), held in Abuja and chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun. A communiqué issued by FAAC and signed by a spokesperson for the Accountant General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, explained that the N1,354.371 trillion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N142.514 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue…

THE Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has cancelled the aptitude test for 2024 Direct Entry candidates. A statement published on its X account on Monday, said other factors will be considered for Direct Entry admissions instead of the test. “Attention 2024 DE Candidates! This is to inform you that the Board has shelved the conduct of the aptitude test for the year. Other placement criteria shall be considered for your admission while adequate preparation goes into the exercise ahead of next year.” This is as the Board also said all processes had been put in place for the commencement…

THE federal government have announced the National Examination Council 2024 common entrance examination results for Unity schools. The Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu announced during a press briefing at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja. According to him, a total of 71,291 candidates participated in the 2024 National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) conducted in 599 centres on Saturday, June 1, 2024. He said: “Out of the maximum obtainable score of 210, one candidate obtained the highest score of 203, while 13 candidates obtained the lowest score of 1” Sununu also noted that this year, 52 candidates (2 candidates…

NIGERIA’s relegated third tier of government, the Local Government administration, got a boost on Thursday when the Supreme Court made some landmark declarations, settling a decades-long debate on the financial demarcation between the 36 state governments of the Federation and 774 LG administrations across the country. Designed to be the closest to the people and recognised by Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution, the efficiency of the government at the grassroots has been hampered by the weight of some overbearing governors who see the third tier of government as offshoots of their political dynasties undeserving of both financial and democratic…

THE House of Representatives has resolved to set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the activities of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), the Federal Capital Territory Administration Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, their agents and sub agents over the lapses observed in the 2024 Hajj exercise. This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Rep. Mohammed Umar Bio and presented at the plenary on Thursday. The lawmaker while presenting the motion, condemned the performance of NAHCON and the FCTA Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board in the 2024 Hajj exercise. He reminded that, Hajj is important…

A BUSINESS relationship manager with Zenith Bank PLC, Ifeoma Ogbonnaya, has told a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja how funds were moved from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through Zenith Bank to some accounts linked to Mrs Margaret Emefiele, wife of a former Governor of the CBN Godwin Emefiele. Ogbonnaya who is the fifth prosecution witness testified in the trial of Godwin Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, on charges of alleged abuse of office to the tune of $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion Led in evidence by EFCC’s Prosecutor (SAN) Rotimi Oyedepo, the witness told trial Judge…

THE National Population Commission (NPC) has said it has proposed November, 2024, for the Nigerian Population and Housing Census. Speaking during a press conference to mark the 2024 World Population Day, the Chairman of NPC, Nasir Isa Kwarra, said the proposal was, however, subject to the approval of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Kwarra, who stated that the commission was 70 per cent ready to conduct the census, said the delay in Nigeria having data of its population would not prevent the country from achieving the UN 2020 Round of Population & Housing Censuses. It would be recalled that Nigeria is…

THE United Nations has again predicted that 82 million Nigerians, about 64 per cent of the country’s population, may go hungry by 2030, calling on the government to tackle climate change, pest infestations, and other threats to agricultural productivity. The prediction comes in the wake of a persistent hike in food prices in the country. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s food inflation rate hit a record high of 40.66 per cent in May 2024, surpassing the previous month’s 40.53 increase. This surge represents the largest year-on-year increase in food prices since records began in 1996. Historically, food…

THE Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam, is intervening in the ongoing face-off between the Police Service Commission, and the Nigeria Police Force. After concluding the recruitment exercise, the PSC on June 4 released the list of 10,000 successful applicants for constable and specialist cadre roles in the Nigeria Police Force. Eleven days later, the police rejected the list over the allegation that the recruitment exercise was marred by corruption and irregularities. The statement by the force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi said, “Several names of persons purported to be names of successful candidates are those who did not even apply…

ONE hundred and three Nigerians on Friday arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the nation’s capital. They were part of those deported from the Republic of Turkey. They arrived at the pilgrims’ wing of the airport at about 6:45 pm on the Southwind Airlines flight with registration number TC-GRB. Upon their arrival, they were received by multiple agencies of government like the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) as well as those of the military. It is unclear whether they committed any…

AS the rainy season gathers momentum, residents of Jigawa State are bracing themselves for potential floods that may devastate their homes and livelihoods. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has sounded the alarm, warning that some local government areas in the state are at high and moderate risk of flooding. At a sensitization programme in Dutse, NEMA urged stakeholders to take proactive measures to mitigate the impact of floods. “We cannot afford to be complacent,” said Nura Abdullahi, Territorial Coordinator of NEMA’s Kano Territorial Office. “We must work together to protect lives and properties.” For Aisha Mohammed, a resident of…

THE Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Wednesday alerted Nigerians of a phone number being used by a scammer, pretending to be the minister on the popular social media platform, WhatsApp. Disclosing this in a statement, the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, Segun Tomori, said his principal was not associated with such a phone number being used as his on WhatsApp. “The attention of the Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake has been drawn to a phone number being used by a scammer, purporting to be the minister on the popular social…

MADAM Florence Morenike Saraki, mother of former Senate President Bukola Saraki, is dead. She was 88 years old, according to reports. Daily Trust learnt that the late Octogenarian went into a coma before she was rushed to an undisclosed hospital in Lagos State over age related ailment. Several members of the Saraki dynasty who preferred not to be named confirmed the development to Daily Trust in Ilọrin last night. According to one of the sources, “The incident happened this evening when Mama went into a coma and was rushed to the hospital in Lagos state. She was later placed at…

NO fewer than 137 institutions across the country have now collaborated with the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, data from the NELFUND website on Monday revealed. The data did not, however, disclose the names of the collaborating institutions nor did it specify whether the institutions are Federal Government or state-controlled. It simply stated, “137 collaborating with esteemed institutions” in its data insight section. But NELFUND’s Head of Media, Nasir Ayitogo, this newspaper in an interview that “The 137 institutions are the federal institutions.” NELFUND had in a press statement released last Thursday said it would publish the full list of institutions…

THE Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa has called for collective responsibility from African Ministers of Housing to address the continent’s housing challenges. Dangiwa made the remark while delivering the opening remarks at the 43rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB), held at the Marriott Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. The event saw the gathering of esteemed guests, honored delegates, and colleagues from various member states. In his address, Arc Dangiwa expressed his pleasure in welcoming participants to the AGM, highlighting the importance of their presence and commitment to the bank’s growth. He…

THE Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa-Musawa, has revealed plans to transform Nigeria’s creative space with a goal of contributing $100 billion to Nigeria’s GDP by 2030. She also said the eight-point agenda she introduced in her ministry is already driving the pursuit of the projection. Musa-Musawa made the revelation during an interaction with journalists. “One of the things that we looked at in terms of the potential of the industry was its ability to create an economic expansion. We came up with a very ambitious goal of trying to contribute at least $100 billion to increase…

THE Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) says the payment of depositors in Heritage Bank will commence before the end of the week. The Managing Director of NDIC, Bello Hassan, disclosed this in a briefing on the liquidation of the bank in Abuja on Wednesday. The NDIC commenced the liquidation of Heritage Bank following the revocation of its banking licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday. Hassan said the total bank deposits at heritage bank stands at N650 billion while it’s loan portfolio stands at over N700 billion. He stated that the NDIC looks forward to ensuring the…

THE Minister of Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, has appealed to the Organised Labour to shelve its ongoing industrial action which has crippled economic activities in the country. Onyejeocha said the Federal Government is not the sole decider of a new minimum wage as it must be determined by state governments and the Organised Private Sector. “The Federal Government takes into cognisance that it’s the tripartite committee that would also ensure that if Mr A agrees to pay, he has to pay,” the minister said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday monitored by News Point Nigeria, the day…

THE Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, says the government is working on the economic and investment climate to attract more multinationals into Nigeria. Edun, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme monitored by News Point Nigeria, said multinational companies exiting the country did not have liquid foreign exchange market. He said, “One of the major drawbacks one of the major impediments for them (exiting multinationals) was they did not have a liquid foreign exchange market. “Now, we have a willing buyer, willing seller foreign exchange market. It is elevated, may be…