THE Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to “stop using the NBC Act and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to impose fines, threaten to impose sanctions, harass and intimidate the broadcast stations and other independent media houses in the country.” The court declared that “the NBC and its agents lack the legal power and authority to impose penalty unlawfully and unilaterally, including fines, suspension, withdrawal of license or any form of punishment whatsoever on independent media houses for promoting access to diverse information on issues of public importance.” The judgment was delivered in June…
Author: Amina Ibrahim
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THE National Judicial Council (NJC) has suspended Justice G. C Aguma of the High Court of Rivers State and Justice A.O Nwabunike of the Anambra State High Court from performing judicial functions. They were both suspended for the period of one year without pay and placed on watch list for two years thereafter. According to a statement by the council on Friday, the decision was taken at the 107th Meeting of the NJC chaired by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun on 13 and 14 November 2024. A total of 5 serving Judicial Officers were sanctioned for…
THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) says it has reached the mark of 1.8 million barrels per day of crude oil production. The state-owned oil company which made the announcement on Thursday, also stated that it is set to hit the two million barrels per day target set by President Bola Tinubu by December 2024. The company also revealed that it is now producing 7.4 million standard cubic feet of gas to power the gas infrastructure especially the AKK. This is an improvement from 6.1 mmscf earlier in the year. The NNPCL noted that the accomplishment which aligns with…
THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Gas Marketing Limited, a subsidiary of NNPCL, has executed a Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement with the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, Lagos. The agreement, signed by the Managing Director of NGML, Justin Ezeala, and the President/Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, on Tuesday at the Corporate Head Office of Dangote in Falomo, Lagos, outlined the supply of natural gas for power generation and feedstock at the refinery. “This major milestone is in line with President Bola Tinubu’s policy of utilising Nigeria’s abundant gas resources towards revamping the nation’s industrial growth and…
THE Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria says over 30,000 of its members are set to buy Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in bulk News Point Nigeria gathered. IPMAN also revealed that the price of petrol from the $20 billion Lekki-based plant was N940/litre and N990/litre when purchased using ships and trucks, respectively. Our correspondents further gathered that the independent oil marketers might not import petrol again following the deal to begin direct lifting from the Dangote refinery. Speaking on Channels Television on Tuesday, IPMAN President, Abubakar Garima, said the pump prices of petrol…
A NIGERIAN man wanted by the Rhode Island authorities on charges of murder, causing serious bodily harm to a child, and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution has been added to the U.S. Marshals Service’s “15 Most Wanted” list. A reward of up to $25,000 is offered for information leading to his arrest. According to a report on the U.S. Marshals Service’s official website, Olalekan Abimbola Olawusi, 48, was charged with first-degree murder and two counts of causing serious bodily injury to a child after emergency personnel in Providence found his 3-month-old son with severe injuries at a residence on 3…
THE new Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has abolished the 18-year admission benchmark for tertiary institutions in the country. News Point Nigeria reports that the minister also hinted at the possibility of reviewing the nation’s education policy. However, the minister stated that there would be no reversal of the Federal Government’s decision to void over 22,700 degree certificates obtained by Nigerians from some “fake” universities in neighbouring Togo and the Benin Republic. Alausa spoke on Wednesday at his inaugural ministerial press conference, which is ongoing in Abuja. He stated that practical education will help to address the unemployment situation…
ABUJA-BASED Human Rights Radio has gone off air to protest the arrest of minors during the #EndBadGovernance protest. Ahmed Isah, owner of the station, announced this while featuring on the Berekete family, a breakfast programme. Isah, who used to anchor the radio program every week day, was not in the studio in the morning, due to what he described as a shock he experienced since the condition of the children became known after they were arraigned on Friday. He called in through the phone around 8 20 am in the live program, where he expressed his anger about the development,…
THE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has warned Nigerians to avoid the recall of Nivea Black & White Invisible Roll-on deodorant, 50ml. NAFDAC issued a warning against the product labelled as providing 48-hour protection in African climates, following an equal warning from the European Union Rapid Alert System for Dangerous Non-Food Products in Brussels. In a notice released on Thursday, NAFDAC stated that the product’s batch number is 93529610. “The recalled Nivea product is reported to contain 2-(4-tert-Butylbenzyl) propionaldehyde, a chemical prohibited in cosmetic products due to its potential to cause harm to the reproductive system,…
THE attention of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has been drawn to a story making the rounds that certain persons have been using the University’s portal to contact students directly, showing them their current status and requesting money to clear their outstanding carryover courses. According to a statement signed by the Director, Media and Publicity, NOUN, Ibrahim Sheme, Thursday, a screenshot of a chat purporting to be between the University and one of the affected students was shown to the Management. The Management wishes to inform all the NOUN students and the general public that the University is…
THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says it has successfully restored bulk power supply through its 330kV Ugwuaji-Apir transmission line 1 as of 4:56 pm on Wednesday, following the completion of repairs on the vandalized section of the line. This was disclosed in a statement signed by the spokesperson of the TCN, Ndidi Mbah, on Wednesday and made available to Channels Television. “With the restoration of this line, the Apir-Lafia 330kV transmission line 2 is now operational, also, bulk power transmission has been restored to Lafia, Makurdi, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, and Gombe States. “As restoration efforts continue, with the…
THE Joint Action Committee (JAC) of non-teaching staff unions in the universities, has directed its members to proceed on a nationwide indefinite strike on Monday. It said this followed the non payment of the four months withheld salaries of its members. The JAC comprises the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU). This was contained in a circular addressed to all branch chairmen in the universities and inter-university centres. The circular was jointly signed by Mr Peters Adeyemi, General-Secretary of NASU, and Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, President, of SSANU, was issued…
FIVE persons have been rescued from the site of a collapsed building in Abuja, the nation’s capital. Police Public Relations Officer for the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday. Adeh, a superintendent of police, said the building, situated in Vidaz Estate, within the Sabon Lugbe extension of the FCT, caved in on Saturday. “Our preliminary investigations reveal that the building was previously demolished by the FCT Authorities due to its location in an illegally acquired area,” she said. “Regrettably, the structure was further compromised by scavengers who had been tampering with the remnants for…
FIRST Bank of Nigeria has dismissed reports suggesting that its system upgrade is currently in progress, clarifying that the message in question was intended exclusively for its vendors. The bank in a statement said its earlier notice was about transitioning from the current I-Supplier Platform, which connects FirstBank with suppliers, to a new Cloud-based Supplier Platform. It reassured customers that the enhanced supplier platform would not affect its banking experience, maintaining that operations are running smoothly. According to the statement, there are no disruptions to its services as customer transactions and banking channels will continue to function without interruption. The…
MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecom operator, has stressed the urgent need for the telecommunications sector to return to profitability to sustain its operations. The Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Karl Toriola, made this known on Monday during a tour of MTN’s facilities by Fellows of the Media Innovation Programme in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos. The MTN chief, who has about 78 million subscribers under his watch, pinpointed that the sector has been accumulating significant losses and that immediate action is necessary to reverse this trend. The operator with a corporate social investment of N2.6bn, according to its 2023 Sustainability Report, is…
SENATOR Oyelola Ashiru’s office has described as “wrong and fallacious” allegations by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), indicting him as being in possession of illicit drugs. The NDLEA alleged that Senator Ashiru’s house in Ilorin, Kwara State, was raided, and illicit drugs were found. The allegation followed Senator Ashiru’s declaration on the Senate floor that the NDLEA was corrupt. However, a statement issued and signed by the senator’s Legislative Aide, Olaitan Adeyanju said the allegations were false. “We find it preposterous and mere fishing for justification that NDLEA had to wait for the senator’s observation on the floor…
THE Federal Government, through the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), has advised Nigerians living around river banks along the River Benue Basin to quickly move to safer grounds. In a statement on Thursday, NIHSA Director General, Umar Mohammed, warned that water on the River Benue has reached the flooding level due to increased rainfall. He also urged those along the River Niger to move to a safe location as the management of Kainji and Jebba Dams are working to control the floodwaters. The NIHSA boss urged Nigerians to cooperate with the emergency management agencies and work together to build resilience…
TIK TOK said it removed over 2.1 million videos in Nigeria in the second quarter of 2024 for violating its community guidelines. According to the Community Guidelines Enforcement Report shared on Tuesday, Tiktok said the action is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to enhance content moderation and create a safer platform for users. “Key findings show that 99.1 per cent of these videos were proactively removed before users reported them, with 90.7 per cent taken down within 24 hours. “These figures highlight TikTok’s commitment to staying ahead of harmful content, ensuring a safer platform for Nigerian users,” the report…
THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, on Tuesday said the country’s foreign reserves rose by 12.74 per cent to $39.12 billion as of October 11. Cardoso stated this while appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Banking Regulation. The apex bank boss noted that the nation’s foreign reserves stood at $34.70 billion at the end of June. “The reserves rose by 12.74% to $39.12 billion as of October 11, 2024, from $34.70 billion at the end of June 2024,” he said. Cardoso maintained that the reserves have “grown significantly” with remittance flows which currently representing 9.4…
THE national grid collapsed on Monday, plunging millions of Nigerians into darkness. Electricity distribution companies across the country said the grid collapsed around 6:48 p.m., resulting in the loss of power supply across their networks. “Dear Valued Customer,” Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) which serves some parts of Lagos State said on its X handle. “Kindly be informed there was a system collapse at 18:48hrs which has resulted in a loss of power supply across our network. “We are currently working with our partners as we hope for speedy restoration of the grid. We will keep you updated as soon…