President Bola Tinubu has presented a budget of N27.5 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year to the National Assembly.  President Tinubu made the presentation on Wednesday to the joint session of the National Assembly held at the temporary chamber of the House of Representatives. The budget is christened ‘Budget for the Renewed Hope’. Last week, the two chambers of the National Assembly passed the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) with a total spending of N26 trillion for the 2024 budget fiscal year and a borrowing plan of N7.8 trillion. While turning the spotlight on the details, Mr Tinubu said the 2024 appropriation was designed to address economic growth, human capital development, poverty reduction and insecurity. Read the full speech below: 1. In furtherance of my sacred duties and obligations as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is my honour to be here today to present my administration’s 2024 Budget Proposal to t...

     Image Credit - Tima-Miroshnichenko The Public Accounts Committee, PAC, of the House of Representatives on Monday launched a full scale investigation into the alleged mismanagement of COVID-19 intervention funds from 2020 to 2023 as mandated by the House at the Plenary season. Addressing the opening session, the Chairman of the Committee Hon. Bamidele Salam has warned that the Committee would not entertain delay mechanisms from the Ministries Departments and Agencies by way of asking for extension of time. According to him, " the Committee is probing over 60 MDAs over several billions of Naira intervention funds allocated to them during the COVID-19 and we have given them enough time to prepare for this exercise, the Committee will not entertain any extension of time from any of the MDAs the Committee is not after any individual or groups, we are going to be diligent in carrying out our assignment." He implores the Accountant General of the Federation whose office wa...

  The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has again faulted the agreement the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari signed with Ethiopian Airlines on the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air. The minister, who briefed State House reporters on Monday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, said the agreements of the deal were unfair on Nigerian airlines as the deal would create monopoly for Ethiopian Airlines. Keyamo said that reports on the issue had been submitted to President Bola Tinubu who will make a decision on the deal. The minister said he “cannot preempt my President”, adding that “All the reports, everything, we have forwarded to Mr President, the issues we met on the ground.” “But just to say that it would have been irresponsible of me as minister to take over office and close my eyes totally to those concerns. “So because of that, we suspended it to say, let’s just look at all the issues and recommend. Now we have looke...

     Oba Ghandi Olaoye An Oyo High Court sitting in  Ogbomoso  has granted an application by the Soun of Ogbomoso Oba Ghandi Olaoye for stay of execution of dissolution of his selection while the determination of appeal is pending. It was reported that the stool became a subject of legal tussle after Oba Olaoye’s appointment as the Soun was nullified by the court over a procedural flaw in his nomination. Issuing the order on Monday in a suit no HOG/27/2022, presiding judge, Justice Kareem Adedokun, directed all the parties to maintain status quo ante pending the hearing and determination of the appeal already filed by the defense of Oba Olaoye and the Oyo state government. Oba Olaoye, who was installed on September 8, 2023 by the kingmakers, was sacked on October 25 in a suit filed by Prince Kabir Olaoye over alleged breach of the process of nomination.   Aggrieved with the judgement, the monarch and the State Government, which approved the nomination,...

Life as a questioned £65m signing cannot have been easy for Kai Havertz. The Germany forward has faced intense scrutiny since his switch from Chelsea, with fans and pundits debating his best position, his form and whether he even belongs in an Arsenal shirt. With Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus fit to return to the starting XI, Havertz was dropped to the bench and forced to watch as the Gunners laboured against a resolute Brentford defence. However, when summoned in the final stages, he found a priceless goal to seal a win that moved them top of the Premier League table. "It sends a statement out to Manchester City and Liverpool," former Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell said on BBC Radio 5 Live. "When you have challenges and you have to overcome them, it makes the moments much more," said boss Mikel Arteta, who brought up 200 games in charge of the Gunners. "If things came easy, he wouldn't have got the reception he got today with everybody hugging him an...

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on the World Bank to suspend issuing loans to Nigeria’s 36 states over allegations of mismanaging public funds which may include loans borrowed from the institution. In the letter dated 25 November 2023, the group specifically wants the bank’s President, Ajay Banga, “to promptly, transparently and effectively conduct an investigation into the spending of loans and other facilities by the country’s 36 state governors and to suspend any loans and funding if there is relevant admissible evidence of mismanagement or diversion of public funds by any of the states.” It also asked the global bank to “suspend further applications for loans and any other funding to the 36 states until these states can satisfactorily explain details of spending of loans and other facilities obtained from the Bank and its partners.” This was disclosed in a statement on Sunday by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare. “The World Bank and it...

Fourteen Israelis hostages and three foreign nationals were released to the Red Cross on Sunday by Hamas, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson. At least one of the foreign nationals is Russian, according to a statement by the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing. A  4-year-old American-Israeli girl Abigail Edan was among the hostages freed today, source says " In response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin and in appreciation of the Russian position in support of the Palestinian cause, the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas has released a detainee of a Russian nationality," the statement said.   Hamas, already released 13 Israelis and four Thai hostages , officials said. Israel said it in turn freed 39 Palestinian prisoners. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it had since received a list of hostages due to be released by Hamas on Sunday. The list was being checked by security officials, it said, and fam...

Sequel to the appointment of 23 new judges, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, has released new postings for the court’s judges to various divisions across the country. This was contained in a statement Wednesday by the Assistant Director (Information) of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Catherine Oby Christopher. The Chief Judge directed the affected judges to report at their duty stations before the date of resumption from the Christmas vacation, being the 8th day of January, 2023, the statement said. His lordship wishes his fellow lordships a wonderful vacation in advance.

  The Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas has established a Special Ad Hoc Committee on oil theft to investigate the growing spate of pipeline   v andalism and  unlawful  bunkering  in the country. The Speaker, in his address at the inauguration ceremony on Wednesday, November 22 stated the resolve of the 10th House to tackle the problem. Abbas complained that Nigeria loses over 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day due to theft, vandalism, and other criminal activities. “Some of the severe consequences of this include revenue loss, environmental disaster, threats to regional peace and security, proliferation of arms, and a poor investment climate. “The nation is reported to have incurred losses of oil revenues estimated at N1.29 trillion annually due to industrial-scale theft,” he stated. “Nigeria is facing significant financial challenges due to a combination of rising expenditures and falling revenues. You may recall that th...

Twenty-five hostages detained in Gaza, which includes 12 Thai nationals and 13 other women and children, were released on Friday, the Egyptian government said, the first people to be freed under a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas . The hostages were freed as part of a prisoner exchange that was set to see 39 Palestinian prisoners and detainees released from Israeli custody on the first day of a four-day truce.  Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said he received confirmation of the release of 12 Thai nationals from Gaza. "I have received confirmation from our national security team and ministry of foreign affairs that 12 Thai hostages have been released. Our RTE staffs are on their way to receive them," Thavisin said in a post on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter. "We should know more about their names and details, please stay tuned," Thavisin added. This comes after Egypt had said earlier that the 12 Thai nationals who are hel...

       Image Credit - Macon Telegraphy Motor vehicle collisions lead to  the deaths of not less than eight people in Georgia on Thanksgiving Day, according to the Georgia State Patrol. Troopers responded around 6 p.m. to a two-vehicle crash on state highway 111 in south Georgia where a gray Ram pick-up truck collided with a white Ford van. Nine people were inside the van at the time, of which five were killed. The four other passengers were taken by helicopter to a trauma center in Thomasville and in Tallahassee, Florida. The driver of the Ram truck was very badly injured and taken by helicopter to the hospital. The victims of the fatal crash have not been identified yet, pending notification to their families.  Troopers based at Post 15 in Perry responded to a fatal crash in which a person died. GSP has not yet released further details on that crash.

    Image Credit - Robin Ramons The House of Representatives is begging the Federal Government to speed up effort on the prevention of flood disasters in Nigeria, work out a deal to provide relief to flood victims, monitor the management and prevention of flooding, and educate Nigerians on ways to prevent flooding. Following a motion by Honourable Sekav Iyortyom, the House on Thursday recognised that the flooding in the country was attributed to heavy rain and the impact of climate change which deserve urgent, proper planning and proactive actions to prevent damages. The lawmakers are concerned that the prevalence of floods in Nigeria requires urgent attention as delays could result in the destruction of houses and farms, food shortages, and a humanitarian crisis. The House is also mandating its Committee on Water Resources to investigate the release of the N19.2 billion allocated for the devastating impact of flooding on farmlands across the nation. In the last couple of year...

  The Federal Government on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to grant an extension of time for old naira notes to remain in circulation as a legal tender. The government also wants the court to lift its March 3 order that the old naira notes should remain alongside the new notes till December 31. In March, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had said old N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes would remain legal tender till December 31, 2023. It said the extension of time is necessary and it has not been able to print the volume of new notes that would enable it to phase out old currency before the December 31 order. In the fresh application by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, the Federal Government is seeking the following reliefs: An order of the court reviewing its consequential order contained in the judgment of 3rd March, 2023 to the effect that the old 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes should be legal tender until the 31st of December, 2023. The Federal Government...

                                  Image Credit - Mohammed-Abubakr Israel and Hamas announced a deal on Wednesday allowing at least 50 hostages and scores of Palestinian prisoners to be freed, while displaying trapped Gaza residents a suspension of hostilities  after weeks of all-out war. In the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the war, Palestinian militants will release during a four-day truce 50 women and children kidnapped during their October 7 raids. After weeks of Qatar-brokered negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet approved the truce accord Wednesday after a near-all-night meeting, in which he told ministers this was a “difficult decision but it’s a right decision”. The cabinet’s sign-off was one of the last stumbling blocks after what one US official described as five “extremely excruciating” weeks of talks. Hamas released a statement welcoming the “humanita...

    Image Credit- ean254 Rep. Bamidele Salam (PDP-Osun) has charged the federal government to apply  certain supports to ensure adequate security for students in schools nationwide. Mr Salam, also the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts chairman, said this at the 2023 National Children’s Leadership Conference to mark the 2023 Universal Children’s Day in Abuja on Monday. He observed that with the prevailing security challenge in the country, students needed extra security to be in schools in some parts of the country due to attacks by bandits, insurgents and other criminal elements. Also, he noted the lack of adequate security in schools had increased the number of out-of-school children in the country. “It is not cheering news that Africa’s largest economy, the biggest nation in the black world, has a number of out-of-school children that is the highest in all the countries in the world,” he said. He said Nigeria had 13.5 million out-of-school children, ...

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for crucial COP28 talks in Dubai to outline “dramatic climate action,” warning that “we’re out of road” on global warming. The UN chief issued his rallying call as the global body warned in a new report that countries’ greenhouse gas-cutting pledges put Earth on track for warming far beyond key limits — possibly up to a catastrophic 2.9 degrees Celsius this century. “Leaders can’t kick the can any further,” Guterres said. “Present trends are racing our planet down a dead-end three-degree temperature rise. In short, the report shows that the emissions gap is more like an emissions canyon. A canyon littered with broken promises, broken lives, and broken records,” he continued. “All of this is a failure of leadership, a betrayal of the vulnerable, and a massive missed opportunity.” The response must “light the fuse to an explosion of ambition in 2025,” he said. “That means national plans with clear 2030 and 2035 targets, that align with 1.5 deg...

  The Supreme Court has fixed March 13, 2024, to hear a suit filed in 2008, by the Attorney General of Lagos State against the Federal Government in respect of who controls and regulates the gaming and lottery sector. Ekiti State was joined as co-plaintiff in the suit following an order of the court made on October 6, 2020. The attorneys general of 34 other states were joined as defendants by the Supreme Court on November 15, 2022. A seven-member panel led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun fixed the date for the day’s proceedings. The plaintiffs want the apex court to declare that the lottery is not one of the 68 items for which the National Assembly has the exclusive vires to make laws under Part 1 of the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution as amended. They are also seeking a declaration that the National Assembly lacks the vires to legally and constitutionally make any law to regulate and control the operation of lottery in Nigeria.

  Former leader and sectional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Edison Ehie, says he escaped death on Sunday after an attack on his residence. Ehie established the attack on Monday morning, saying, “Yes, indeed, it was crazy but my house has been taken over by heavy security and they are doing a security sweep of the whole compound.” The lawmaker added that he would hold a press conference later in the day. The factional speaker was responding to a statement published on Facebook. The statement said, “At about 11pm on Sunday the 19th day of November, 2023, a group of Armed thugs and rogue Police Officers led by one SP. Irikefe London Owen, a superintendent of Police attached to the CTU B 3 RSV and CSP Salihu Masalachi attacked the private residence of the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Barr. Edison Ogerenye Ehie, DSSRS, fully armed with an intention to assassinate Mr. Speaker and his family.” According to the statement, the assailants were repe...

        Image Credit - Ron Lach The Federal Government has announced outlines to set free 4, 068 inmates nationwide as part of measures to decongest the nation’s correctional centres. Speaking at the flag-off ceremony in Abuja, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said that the programme is targeted at indigent inmates who cannot afford to pay their fines. He said the Federal Government has raised N585 million to be used for the payment of fines to secure the release of 4, 068 inmates across the federation. According to the minister, the money was raised by corporate bodies and philanthropists for this purpose. “Today, we flag off the release of about 4, 068 inmates. This is in a bid to decongest custodial centers as well as make them ready for proper reformation and rehabilitation to take place,” the minister said. The minister noted the initiative was targeted at inmates with fines and compensation that do not exceed N1m, stressing that the government’s com...

  Joseph Boakai, who is expected to win the presidency in Liberia after incumbent leader George Weah conceded election defeat, has four decades of political experience behind him. Boakai was vice president from 2006 to 2018 to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female president, who rebuilt the ravaged country after a civil war left an estimated 250,000 dead. This week’s vote was Boakai’s second run for the top job after he lost to President George Weah in a 2017 run-off. The two faced off again in a second-round vote on Tuesday, following last month’s hard-fought first ballot, in which neither secured an outright victory. Boakai, 78, has castigated the record of his opponent, a former international star footballer, and emphasised his own experience in office, proposing a “rescue plan” for the West African country. He has pledged to improve infrastructure, invest in agriculture, attract investment, open the country to tourism and restore Liberia’s reputation. “His motiva...

  The Federal Government has arraigned the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, on a six-count charge bordering on alleged procurement. The original charge, which was 20 counts to the tune of N6.5 billion, has been reduced to six, to the tune of N1.6 billion. Emefiele is the only defendant in the new charge. The former CBN governor appeared in court on Friday for an application for bail, pleading not guilty to the six-count charge after it was read to him. Emefiele arrived just in time for the commencement of the day’s proceedings. According to the amended charge sheet, the charges still border on procurement fraud. The Federal Government alleged that Emefiele illegally bought 43 vehicles between 2018 and 2020 worth N1.2 billion. He was also accused of awarding a contract for the procurement of 37 Toyota Hilux Vehicles valued at N854 million.

Mohamed Salah scored four goals as Egypt moved to victory in their first qualifier for the 2026 Fifa World Cup . However, Nigeria were held to a 1-1 draw at home by minnows Lesotho. Motlomelo Mkwanazi gave Lesotho, ranked 153rd in the world - 113 places below Nigeria - a shock lead with a 56th-minute goal from a corner. West Brom centre-back Semi Ajayi powerfully headed in Kelechi Iheanacho's corner to level 11 minutes later but the Super Eagles could not find a winner in their Group C opener in a rainy Uyo. Jose Peseiro's side had dominated the first half but paid for their profligacy as Iheanacho saw a free-kick saved, Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi failed to capitalise on a promising cut-back and Ademola Lookman had a low shot across goal turned away. Liverpool forward Salah starred as Egypt thrashed Djibouti 6-0 in Cairo while elsewhere there were wins for Algeria, Mozambique, Burundi and Gabon. Africa has a guaranteed nine qualifiers for the 2026 finals in Canada,...

  The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, on Wednesday, said investigation has launched into an assault on the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero. It was reported that some suspects have been arrested in connection to the incident in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on November 1, 2023. Labour embarked on nationwide strike on Tuesday to seek justice over an assault on Ajaero who was attacked when he was about to lead a protest against alleged anti-labour practices by the Governor Hope Uzodimma-led administration. In the wake of the incident and days to the November 11, 2023 governorship poll in Imo State, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, had redeployed Mohammed Barde, the then Commissioner of Police in the state under whose watch the incident happened, and ordered an investigation into the assault on the NLC leader. Meanwhile, the President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, said the unions have no confidence in ...