By Abiodun Ayantoye There is no denying the fact that many Nigerians are facing one of the most severe economic challenges one can imagine in peace time. Nigerians have had to contend with rising cost of living due to inflationary pressures with largely static incomes. This has left many households in an intense battle for survival. However, we did not get to this precarious point overnight. We basically sleep walked ourselves into trouble over a period spanning decades. The immediate trigger for the sudden spike in the cost of goods and services in the past couple of months across the…
Author: Michael Chibuzo
By Temitope Ajayi There is a viral video where human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, made allusion to the sum of N135billion given to the 36 states in December 2023 at a memorial event in honour of Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti. It is important to state here that Mr. Falana has a strong reputation for exaggerations and embellishments. What the Lagos lawyer rendered in that trending video was total misrepresentation of facts. He also did not tell his audience the real reason the said amount was released to the States under the World Bank-funded NG-CARES Programme. Contrary to the wrong impression…
The immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha has revealed that the signature of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari was forged by those who withdrew $6,230,000 from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on February 8, 2023 for a stated purpose to fund International Election Observers. Boss Mustapha, who was testifying on Tuesday, February 13, in the trial of former governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, also stated that his signature was equally forged, adding that he knew nothing about the money reported to have been withdrawn for the payment of foreign election observers. The ex-SGF said…
The Labour Party is contending with a fresh crisis, which is threatening to further divide its ranks following the demand by Party’s National Treasurer, Mrs. Oluchi Oparah, that the National Chairman, Julius Abure render an account of party funds totaling over N3.5bn being proceeds of sale of forms and other fundraising events conducted for the 2023 general elections. Oparah made the demand at a press conference in Abuja, on Monday. According to the treasurer, the LP National Chairman, Julius Abure has prevented her from exercising her constitutionally assigned role of handling the party’s accounts and has blocked all moves to…
A British passenger without a passport or plane ticket managed to fly from Heathrow to New York by ‘tailgating’ another traveller in a ‘major embarrassment’ for UK security, it emerged last night. Craig Sturt, 46, is accused of following another passenger through security and passport checkpoints at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 and enjoying free food and drinks on a British Airways plane before landing in the US. He is said to have been detained by armed officials there, who found he had no documentation and was sent back to the UK on a charter flight. Mr Sturt was then hand-delivered to…
The Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, is feared dead after a helicopter crash near the Nevada border in California on Friday night. The crashed aircraft also had on board the wife and son of the Access Bank boss as well as Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the Group Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc. The crash reportedly occurred in the Mojave Desert, east of the 15-Freeway, near Halloran Springs Road, shortly after 10:00 pm PST on Friday. Despite the grim outlook, ABC News reports that some survivors have been found. The identity of the said survivors are however not…
Keyamo former colleagues allegedly querying him over Hadi Sirika probe The dust raised when the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, announced that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was investigating the controversial Nigeria Air deal with Ethiopian Air, is reportedly taking another dimension going by reports indicating that former ministerial colleagues of Festus Keyamo in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari are unhappy with the Aviation Minister for probing his erstwhile colleague. In a recent interview on Channels TV, Keyamo said, “first of all, I have said it before and I will still say it. It was not…
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday quizzed Abubakar Ahmad Sirika, the brother of the immediate past Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika over an alleged N8.06 billion contract fraud in the Federal Ministry of Aviation. The former Minister of Aviation was believed to have awarded the contracts his sibling. The EFCC arrested Abubakar Sirika as part of an ongoing probe into alleged fraudulent practices in the Ministry of Aviation during the tenure of the former Minister of Aviation. EFCC is investigating allegations of conspiracy, abuse of office, diversion of public funds, contract inflation, criminal breach of trust and…
As part of efforts geared towards improving Nigeria’s defence capabilities, the United States Department of Defence has confirmed the commencement of production of 12 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and 32 refresh mission computer systems valued at $997 million earlier ordered by Nigeria. According to a statement issued by the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency, Northrop Grumman was awarded a U.S. Defense contract to deliver 32 H-1 tech refresh mission computers for the Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters destined for Nigeria. The contract is scheduled to be completed in June 2024. The acquisition of 12 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters will enhance…
Reports from Radio Nigeria indicate that the abducted school children and their teachers in Emure Ekiti have been released. The pupils and their teachers numbering nine who were kidnapped in their school Bus along Emure Eporo road last week were released in the early hours of Sunday. According to the Chairman of Emure Local Government, Mr Adebayo Oluwatosin who confirmed this to Radio Nigeria, the victims were now in the palace of Elemure of Emure Ekiti. He said the driver was however killed while the other eight persons were freed. It is not clear how the rescue efforts were carried…