Author: Chronicle Editor

Nigeria Senate has denied alleged report suggesting that on Tuesday it gave a fresh approval for a loan request by President Muhammadu Buhari to the tune of N850 billion. A statement issued by the Senate spokesman, Senator Ajibola Basiru, described the report by some national dailies as “erroneous” and not a true representation of what transpired on the floor during plenary. According to the lawmaker, the upper chamber on Tuesday only amended a resolution reached earlier as to where the initial N850 billion already approved by the National Assembly would be sourced. Recall that the Senate had initially approved sourcing…

Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has explained that no decision has been taken on the proposed House of Representatives’ two-month free electricity for Nigerians. Its General Manager, Corporate Communications, Godwin Idemudia, noted that while the company supports the proposed intervention by the Federal Government, the details of the proposal are, however, still being worked upon by relevant stakeholders. Idemudia said the company cannot project the “two months” that will be covered by the palliative and the category of customers that will benefit from the intervention. He, however, urged its customers to continue to support the company, particularly its essential staff…

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has explained how the Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC) will save jobs, create new ones and protect the vulnerable and poor Nigerians. Prof Osinbajo gave a snippet into the hard work the ESC had embarked on for weeks after it was formed by President Muhammadu Buhari to come up with a plan for the economy. On Thursday, Prof Osinbajo who chairs the ESC met with members of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) for their inputs as the ESC finalises its work for presentation to the President. Updating Nigerians on the progress made so far, Prof. Osinbajo…

Kenyans have rallied to the aid of a widow filmed cooking stones for her eight children to make them believe she was preparing food for them. Peninah Bahati Kitsao, who lives in Mombasa, hoped they would fall asleep while they waited for their meal. She used to wash laundry locally but such work is hard to come by now as people have restricted their interactions because of coronavirus. A shocked neighbour, Prisca Momanyi, alerted the media to her plight. After being interviewed by Kenya’s NTV, the widow has received money via mobile phone and through a bank account that was…

Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, a co-founder of the Afrobeat musical genre, who played for Fela Anikulapo-Kuti died in Paris on Thursday aged 79, his manager says. “We don’t know the exact cause of death,” Eric Trosset told AFP, adding it was not linked to the coronavirus. Allen was the drummer and musical director of musician Fela Kuti’s famous band Africa ’70 in the 1960-70s. Kuti, who died in 1997, once said that “without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat”. Allen has also been described by UK musician Brian Eno as “perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived”. Allen’s…

Nigeria’s health minister, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has appealed to property owners around the country to consider loaning empty buildings to be used to help house patients who’ve tested positive for coronavirus. Dr Osagie Ehanire said the empty properties could be donated to state governments for a short period of time. His comments come as the director general of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control revealed officials were “struggling with bed spaces” in certain areas. COVID-19: Positive nursing mother wanted in Edo He added that Kano and Abuja were of concern, but Lagos, the country’s epicentre for the Covid-19 outbreak is the…

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced the single highest number of COVID-19 cases since coronavirus pandemic broke out in the country. The 204 cases announced by the Centre for Disease Control is eight more than the 196 announced on Thursday an indication that lifting the lockdown could have too early. For the first time, Kano topped the number of cases in Lagos with 80 confirmed cases reported in the northern state and 45 in Lagos – the epicentre of the virus in Nigeria. The NCDC also reported more discharged cases and more deaths on Wednesday, taking the…

President Muhammadu Buhari has extended the tenure of the Professor Keme Pondei-led Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from May 1 to December 31, 2020. In a statement by Femi Adesina, special adviser to the President on media and publicity, over N6 billion was awarded to the interim committee. The extension is to cover the period of the forensic audit of the NDDC, earlier approved by the Federal Executive Council, under the chairmanship of the President. Obscene corruption being perpetrated by NDDC’s IMC, Akpabio In the same vein, President Buhari equally approved that the NDDC provides…

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state has declared a nursing mother in the state wanted after she tested positive for coronavirus and fled the isolation centre. The governor declared one Mrs Amaka Okoro, who tested positive for COVID-19 wanted for treatment. According to him, the woman is a nursing mother and her baby is already coughing. “She lives at No 2 Atoe Idubor Street, off 2nd Ugbor, Benin City and she has been unreachable since her results was positive,” he said. Edo state has recorded 37 coronavirus cases as at 29th April according the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).…

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo, on Thursday, extended the dusk-to dawn curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for another 14 days. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obaseki, had on April 19, announced a 10-day dusk to dawn curfew to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state. The governor, announced the extension at a media briefing in Benin on the progress made so far to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state. “Since my last public update about 10 days ago, we have made tremendous progress in the area of screening, testing and improving awareness…