Author: Chronicle Editor

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has welcomed decision by Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordering the immediate release of the convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, from the custody of the Department of State Service as “a victory for the rule of law, human rights and judicial independence.” In a statement, SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare said: “It’s a huge relief that Sowore will be freed and can finally return to his family and journalism work. He should never have been detained in the first place. The Nigerian authorities should now withdraw all…

The ninth Senate will on Wednesday inaugurate its standing committees at plenary as it awaits the 2020 Appropriation Bill. President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan disclosed this after a closed-door session on Tuesday. The Senate had on resumption from its annual recess immediately went into an executive session. Lawan said that the Senate resolved during the executive session to inaugurate all its Standing Committees at plenary on Wednesday. READ: Court dismisses DSS application to detain Sowore He said the Senate also resolved to await the presentation of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper as well as…

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday struck out the application by the Department of Social Security (DSS) to further detain the publisher of SaharaReporters and convener of RevolutionNow, Omoyele Sowore. This follows the withdrawal of the application by the state counsel. Sowore’s lawyer, Femi Falana, persuaded the court to order immediate release of his client as the prosecution is no longer interested to detain him further Counsel to the DSS, however, challenged the oral application for release saying that a formal suit has been filed whereSowore is being accused of treasonable felony which is a capital offence.…

Two doctors with Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, have appeared before the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria Tribunal, to answer charges of gross professional negligence. The doctors, Iyiola Adewale and Adigba Onodjohwoyovwe, are accused of gross professional negligence which led to the death of a patient in their care. The prosecuting counsel, Mr Nasiru Aliyu, told the tribunal on Monday in Asaba that the defendants while on duty on March 7, 2017, negligently handled one of their patients, a pregnant woman, Mrs Rita Uchebuego, now late. According to the prosecutor, they allegedly failed to attend to her as appropriate for…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the transaction charges on deposit and withdrawal in furtherance of implementation of its cashless policy is on the amount in excess of the set limits. The Director, Corporate Communication Department, Mr Isaac Okorafor, made the clarification in an interview with NAN in Abuja on Monday. NAN reports that CBN on Sept 17 issued a circular to deposit banks to commence the implementation of the cashless policy in six pilot states across the country. The CBN explained that transactions would attract three per cent processing fees for withdrawal and two per cent processing fees…

Prince Tony Momoh, a former Minister of Information and one of the national leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in an interview with Daily Independent recently, speaks on the alleged plot to remove Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo by a powerful cabal in the Presidency. As one of the national leaders of the APC, what is your take on the news making rounds of an attempt by some power brokers to remove Vice President Yemi Osinbajo? The Vice President is busy doing his job and nobody is planning to remove him. How can anybody say they are planning…

The Department of State Services (DSS) on Monday said it did  not own, use or operate any official twitter handles and therefore, urged Nigerians to disregard twitter messages linked to the service. The Public Relations Officer of the service, Dr Peter Afunanya, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja. He said the attention of the service had been drawn to messages on social media, claimed to  have emanated from the official twitter handles of of the service. “The Service, therefore, disowns the ones, notably DSS 255 and DSS_NG_, currently in circulation. “These twitter handles which also bear the Service’s symbols are not only…

Housemates Mike Edwards, Tacha Akide, Cindy Okafor, Elozonam Ogbolu and Ike Oyeama are up for possible eviction. The five housemates were put on the nomination chop by Frodd, the veto power holder, on Monday. Frodd, who won the ultimate veto task was given the power to put any five housemates up for eviction. Earlier, the Pepper Dem Gang strolled into the Diary Room to make their Nominations, unaware of the surprise that awaited them. Ganduje pledges unflinching support for attainment of universal health coverage With the individual Nominations out of the way, the Ultimate Veto Power was put into play,…

Ms Leilana Fartha, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Adequate Housing, on Monday urged the Federal Government to impose vacant home tax with a view to addressing housing challenges in the country. Fartha at a news conference in Abuja, expressed concern over human rights crisis presented by poor living conditions in Nigeria’s informal settlements. According to her, the informal settlements house about 69 per cent of the urban population. She said: “Most residents in Nigeria’s ballooning informal settlements live without access to even the most basic services, like running water. “And they lack any security of tenure, forcing them…

Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has declared his unflinching support for the implementation of all health sector reforms towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the state. Ganduje, represented by Nasir Gawuna, the Deputy Governor of Kano State, made the pledge at a three-day workshop for all states’ social health insurance agencies on Monday in Kano. He said the workshop was timely and had come when the Nigerian population was clamouring for access to affordable and qualitative healthcare. Ganduje said Kano State had commenced the implementation of contributory healthcare scheme over one and a half years ago and had…