Author: Chronicle Editor

First Lady of Ondo State, Mrs. Betty Akeredolu has slammed a social media critic, Mr. Jimmy Adekanle, based in Canada, for alleging that she and Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu broke COVID-19 directives on inter-state travel. Adekanle had in a statement on social media on Sunday titled: ‘Show of rascality of the Arakunrin and Arabirin in my Sunshine State’, alleged that the Ondo State governor’s wife travelled to the state from Imo State, while her husband went to Abuja to lobby for a second term “with our money stocked in the boots of his vehicles in his convoy.” He added: “It has…

Some state governments in the Southsouth and Southeast of Nigeria are meeting over the influx of Almajirai to their regions. The Delta and Anambra state governments are the first two to meet over proffering a solution to the problem. Southeast leaders had last week lamented the increasing relocation of the northern youths, despite the COVID-19 interstate travel ban by the Federal Government. The highest Igbo socio-cultural organisation, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Igbo National Council (INC) and the Anambra State Association of Town Unions (ASATU) called for a halt to the influx. In a bid to stop the movement, the Willie…

* Nigeria Q1 growth slowest in 18 months -stats office * Expected recession could be worst in 40 years -World Bank * Oil production at highest in over 4 years -stats office Nigeria’s economy grew 1.87% in the first three months of 2020 from a year earlier, the Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, shrinking from the previous quarter as oil prices and international trade fell due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is the slowest quarterly growth rate in one-and-a-half years, and comes as Nigeria has still not recovered from a 2016 recession that sent more than 13…

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 229 confirmed new coronavirus cases in the country on Monday. The 229 cases announced by the Centre for Disease Control takes the total number of confirmed cases to 8068. The NCDC also announced the discharge of 48 patients from isolation centers across the country with five new deaths reported. Lagos state, the epicentre of the virus in Nigeria topped the number of confirmed cases with 90 new cases taking the total number of confirmed cases in Lagos alone to 3595. Nigeria announces 313 new coronavirus cases Twenty seven new cases were…

Americans have flocked to beaches and lakes for Memorial Day weekend, often flouting restrictions imposed to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. In Florida, state police dispersed an unauthorised gathering of hundreds of people in Daytona Beach on Saturday. In Missouri, bars at the Lake of the Ozarks were packed with revellers, who violated social-distancing rules. US coronavirus task force chief Dr Deborah Birx said she was “very concerned” after seeing such scenes. “We really want to be clear all the time that social distancing is absolutely critical. And if you can’t social distance and you’re outside, you must wear a mask,”…

A transgender woman in France has won election in her local commune to become the country’s first openly transgender mayor. The council in Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes in northeastern France chose Marie Cau as its new mayor on Saturday. The 55-year-old ran on a platform of ecological sustainability and building the local economy. Speaking to the AFP news agency, Ms Cau said she was “not an activist” and wanted to focus on municipal politics. “People did not elect me because I was or was not transgender, they elected a programme,” Ms Cau said. “That’s what’s interesting: when things become normal, you don’t get…

Proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu used to be an active campaigner of ‘One Nigeria’ until the end of the Goodluck Jonathan administration. He only began championing the breakaway of the south-east region after Jonathan lost his reelection bid. Since then, his only agenda has been to clamour for a Biafra republic. Before the 2015 election, Goodluck Jonathan was the president of Nigeria and Kanu was based in London, UK. In a video following a protest held by Nigerians in London against the Boko Haram insurgency, Kanu can be seen condemning those who were “determined to tear…

President Muhammadu Buhari may have directed his new Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari to cancel all appointments and approvals made by the late Chief of staff Abba Kyari without his permission, The Guardian report claims. According to the report, no reason was given for the President’s action, however, reports indicated that no less than 150 memos without the President’s authorization may have been uncovered. President Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina declined to confirm or refute the reports by The Guardian. In a response to a SMS, he said, “I’ve seen your text, I’ve seen your…

Leadership of Ndigbo in Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) has sacked Joe Igbokwe as its apex leader ‘for not promoting Igbo cause in Lagos’. Igbokwe is special adviser on Drainage and Water Resources to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. The group, at a news conference chaired by the Eze Ndigbo of Lagos State and Chairman of Ndigbo Council of Ndieze in Lagos, Christian Nwachukwu, said Igbokwe had not advanced the cause of the ethnic group since he became leader. Ohanaeze Ndigbo supports Sanwo-Olu in Lagos It said it had found a better leader in Jude Idimogu, the lawmaker representing Oshodi/Isolo State…

The World Bank will take final decision in late July on a $1.5 billion loan to support Nigeria as it fights the novel coronavirus, the bank’s country director said at the weekend. The World Bank is working on packages that could provide more than $3 billion to Africa’s largest economy, which is facing what the lender says may be its greatest fiscal crisis in 40 years, set off by the coronavirus pandemic and resulting oil price crash. Its Nigeria Country Director, Shubham Chaudhuri, said: “We were hoping to present to our board by late July or latest early August, because…