THE UK government on Wednesday said it had cut tariffs and extended duty free trade in goods exported from Nigeria. Mr Ben Llewellyn-Jones, Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria said this at the launch of the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) which took place at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. Llewellyn-Jones said the scheme would help to boost Nigeria’s non- oil exports in line with the Federal Government’s wider trade policy objectives and take off in April 2023. He noted that the scheme would reduce import costs by over £750 million per year, thereby reducing prices, and increase…
Author: Lekan Adeyeye
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THE presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu has said that attempts by some persons to sabotage his chances, by hoarding fuel and the new naira notes, won’t stop his victory in the February 25, 2023 poll. Tinubu, who spoke on Wednesday during a rally at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, also said there is a plot by some saboteurs to stop the 2023 general elections from holding. He said fuel scarcity and the redesign of three naira notes won’t dissuade his supporters from voting him in. “Let fuel be expensive, only…
THE Dangote Group of Companies has reacted to what it called some misleading reports regarding the commissioning of Dangote Refinery during the present working visit of President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR to Lagos State. According to a statement by Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief, Branding and Communications Officer, Dangote Industries Limited, “We want to state categorically that our 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) Refinery project was never part of the President’s programme on projects to be commissioned. For the record, the projects slated for commissioning in Lagos State by President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR include: Lekki Deep Sea Port; 32-Metric Tonnes Lagos Rice Mill, Imota; 18.75km…
No Justification To Protest On Highways, NARTO President Says MINISTER of Works and Housing, Honourable Babatunde Raji Fashola has urged members of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, (NARTO) to place priority on adequate training of truck drivers to mitigate accidents on the highways. Fashola gave the advice on Tuesday while speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the association held in Abuja. The Minister who recalled efforts by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to put federal roads in good shape through maintenance and rehabilitation expressed concern over spate of fatal accidents which he attributed to reckless driving.…
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday commissioned the Blue Rail Line (from Marina to Mile 2) in Lagos State. The President alongside Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat commissioned the project at the Marina Train Station in the state. The President also witnessed the signing of the commencement of the Phase 2 of the project from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko. Speaking at the programme on Tuesday, Sanw-Olu thank the President for his support to the state including tax breaks and waivers granted on the project. Buhari, who did not make a speech at the event, earlier…
THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says its January 31, 2023 deadline for the validity of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes remains. The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele announced this after the apex bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday. The CBN also raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which measures interest rate, to 17.5 percent. According to him, kidnapping and ransom-taking have reduced since the three banknotes were redesigned. He also said the time given for the swap of the old naira notes with new ones were enough for Nigerians to go to commercial banks…
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari says the newly inaugurated Lekki Deep Sea Port and the Imota Rice Mill are projected to create more than 300,000 direct and indirect jobs, and generate economic benefits valued at well over 92 Trillion Naira (200 billion dollars) over . The President spoke at a State Dinner in his honour on Monday night during his two-day official visit to Lagos State to commission landmark infrastructure projects undertaken by the State Government and the private sector, MRS Holdings Limited. The President said these labour-intensive projects, which will contribute to job creation in the country, fit well to his…
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Monday inaugurated the Lekki Deep Sea Port, Imota Rice Mill, and Bestaf Lubricant at MRS Holdings Company Limited all located in Lagos State. The projects are part of a series of facilities being commissioned by Buhari during a two-day visit to the state. The Lekki Deep Sea Port which encompasses an investment in excess of $1.5 billion is a joint venture between the Federal Government through the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Lagos State Government, the Tolarams Group (the owner of the Lagos Free Zone), and China Harbour Engineering Company. According to a statement by Buhari’s Special…
VICE President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN says some of the goals of the Federal Government in pursuing a just Energy Transition agenda is seeking among other issues, adequate Climate Finance especially through the African Carbon Market Initiative, ACMI. He spoke today while receiving a delegation from the US-based Rocky Mountain Institute, an international think-tank involved with the issue of energy transition for the last 40 years. Prof. Osinbajo had earlier in the day virtually participated in a progress meeting of the international African Carbon Market Initiative Steering Committee where the progress of the plans on broadening the market in Nigeria and…
THE Presidential aircraft touched the ground at 3:33pm and the President was received by Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat and members of the State Executive Council. Governors Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti) and Dapo Abiodun (Ogun) and former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Service chiefs, All Progressives Congress (APC), among others also received the President. President Buhari was welcomed at the Presidential Wing of Lagos Airport with pomp and pageantry by the Lagos State Cultural Troupe. He inspected the guard of honour at the Parade Ground before he flew out of the airport in…
THE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control said it destroyed tramadol and unregistered pharmaceuticals worth N95bn. THE NAFDAC Director General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, who disclosed this at a press briefing on Monday said the destruction was done in December 2022 after four and half years of monitoring with the help of the government of Benin Republic. The products found in five containers were tramadol 200mg and higher strength, diclofenac tablets. News Point Nigeria gathered that the products were destroyed in Cotonou. Adeyeye said, “Following an intelligence report from the Presidency, the Director-General of NAFDAC in August 2018…
OFFICIALS of the Ogun State Community, Social Orientation and Safety Corps (So-Safe Corps) have arrested two suspects: Muhammad Lawal, 20, and 25-year-old Sarafa Asimiu, for allegedly kidnapping a herdsman. The herdsman, who was simply identified as Hussaini, was kidnapped on Friday at Olorunda-Lukosi, Iro, Owode-Egba Local Government Area, while grazing his cows. The So-Safe spokesman, Moruf Yusuf, said the Corps received a distress call on January 20 that a herdsman had been kidnapped. Yusuf said the kidnappers had immediately dispossessed their victim of the sum of N130,000 and the documents of his motorcycle. He added that the suspected kidnappers, after…
INTERNATIONAL flights at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport on Monday morning were grounded as workers of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc embarked on strike. According to NAHCO, the strike is due to salary increment. An affected passenger and aviation expert, Alex Nuba, said that NAHCO staff in the early hours of Monday walked out of the international airport, saying they were on strike and would not handle any passenger. “Even the Qatar flight I’m traveling with this morning landed and has returned to Doha as there’s no one to handle them,” Nwuba said. He said passengers are frustrated as…
THE National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has cautioned Nigerians against the use of the drug — Weight Rapid Loss Capsule. The caution was contained in an alert with No. 049/2022, signed by NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, issued journalists on Sunday in Abuja. Adeyeye stated that the drug had potential to cause cancer. The NAFDAC boss added that result of laboratory analysis showed that the drug, manufactured by Ingi Oman, contain banned substance “phenolphthalein”, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recognised as unsafe. She added that the capsule, being marketed as “the most effective…
SOME parts of Lagos metropolis on Sunday recorded the first rainfall in the year 2023. The rain fell around Lawanson in Surulere, Apapa Road, Costain and Oyingbo areas of Lagos. The morning rain, which did not last more than 30 minutes, varied in intensity in the the different areas mentioned. The rain only drizzled around Ijegun, along the Jakande/Isolo area of Lagos. However, the drizzle was enough to reduce the dust on the road. Some residents of these areas who expressed delight but urged that measures be put in place by government and residents to prevent floods. They also hoped the…
PROFESSOR Zainab-Duke Abiola, widow of late MKO Abiola has dragged the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Alkali and Inspector Teju Moses to court for alleged defamation. Prof Abiola, through her counsel, Mr Tawo Tawo, SAN, in her statement of claim, averred that she was framed on Sept. 20, 22 by the defendants for allegedly assaulting Inspector Moses. Abiola was arrested for allegedly assaulting Moses, her former orderly, for refusing to carry out menial and domestic chores at her house. Abiola, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2370/2022 claimed that her personality and image had been irredeemably battered by…
THE Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, has confirmed the outbreak of diphtheria disease has killed at least 35 persons in the country. Dr Adetifa said this during a programme on Arise Television on Saturday night. The NCDC had in an advisory issued on Friday said it had responded to reports of diphtheria cases in Lagos and Kano States and was monitoring the situation in Osun and Yobe States where cases are now being picked up. Diphtheria is a serious bacterial infection caused by the bacterium called Corynebacterium species that affects the…
THE Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square has sentenced a medical Doctor, Dr. Ejike Ferdinand Orji, to one-year imprisonment for causing grievous harm, negligence, and endangering the life of a 16-year-old patient. Justice Adedayo Akintoye found Dr. Orji guilty on 4 of the 6 counts for which he was charged. In the charge filed by the Lagos State Government, Dr. Orji who is the Medical Director of Excel Medical Centre Dolphin Estate was initially arraigned alongside his wife, Dr. (Mrs) Ifeayinwa Grace Orji. In the particulars of the offence, the defendants in July 2018, at their medical…
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari will visit Lagos State on Monday for two days of site visits and commissioning of projects in various locations, the Lagos State Government has said. The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, in a statement on Friday, described the President’s planned visit as ‘A Festival of Project Commissioning’. “Although Mr. Governor has hosted the President during some of his visits to Lagos, next week’s visit by President Muhammadu Buhari will be one with a difference,” the statement reads in part. “It is a visit where Mr. President will again see the beauty of Lagos and…
PRESIDENTIAL Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has said he would tackle insecurity and improve the nation’s economy if elected. Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, said he would confront the problem of insecurity from all angles, including introducing technology, recruiting more personnel into the army and police and engaging in training and re-training of personnel. He said,” If there is employment opportunities, good education and other opportunities for advancement, security would improve. I commit to realising the immense opportunities inherent in the Lekki Deep Sea Port, the first new sea port in decades,…