Author: Chronicle Editor

Mrs Maryam Uwais, Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments, says the Federal Government will prosecute saboteurs of its Social Investment Programmes (SIPs). Uwais gave the warning in a statement by Justice Bibiye, Communications Manager, National Social Investment Office (NSIO), on Sunday in Abuja. Uwais said the Federal Government would continue to mainstream the principles of transparency, accountability and probity in the implementation of the SIPs of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. She said efforts were being intensified to track down those bent on sabotaging the SIPs by exploiting beneficiaries for personal gains, or sensationalise untruths to discredit the efforts…

No fewer than 23 Nigerians are on death row in Saudi Arabia over drug-related offenses. The story was first published in April, but it seemed to have gained traction in the wake of the 78 Nigerian-born Internet scammers who were arrested mid last week in America by the Federal Bureau of investigation. According to a statement, the suspects were arrested between 2016 and 2017 at the King Abdul-Aziz International Airport, Jeddah, and Prince Muhammad Bin Abdu-Aziz International Airport, Madinah. READ: Army deploys new strategy to counter Boko Haram The crime carries death penalty. See their names as published by Saudi…

The Nigerian Army on Sunday said it had deployed new strategies to counter resurgence of Boko Haram insurgents’ attacks in some communities in Borno. Maj.-Gen. Olusegun Adeniyi, the Theater Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, made this known when he led a team of journalists on a visit to Magumeri, Gubio and Benisheik, headquarters of Magumeri, Gubio and Kaga Local Government Areas of the state. NAN reports that Adeniyi addressed the troops at the 5 Brigade Battalion and interacted with members of Gubio community during the visit. He dismissed as “misleading’’ reports indicating that the army had withdrawn its personnel from the…

The president of the powerful Federation of German Industries (BDI), Dieter Kempf, warned that global political and economic turbulence is pulling down the country’s growth prospects. “Uncertainty in the economy continues to be high, mainly because of international trade conflicts and Brexit,’’ Kempf told dpa. “Incoming orders and industrial production are falling, companies are investing less.’’ Worries over the health of Europe’s biggest economy mounted this month after second-quarter data showed growth contracting by 0.1 per cent over the previous quarter, raising fears that the country is heading towards recession this year. READ: SERAP writes AGF Malami, seeks public registers…

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to Mr Abukabar Malami, SAN, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, urging him to use his good offices and leadership to: “move swiftly to develop and adopt public registers for corrupt state governors and other high-ranking public officials charged with and convicted of grand corruption since the return of democracy in 1999. SERAP said: “We urge you to ensure that the public registers contain accurate data and are fully accessible and open to public scrutiny. Aspects such as the scope of the registers, who to…

By Justus Soweibo Last Sunday, social and online news platforms erupted in feverish debates over a letter written by Mr. Abba Kyari, President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, to Mr. Tunde Fowler, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). The letter, dated 8 August, was obviously leaked in hope that it would make either the FIRS or the Presidency look bad. It demanded explanations from Fowler, by 19 August, on the variances between the country’s budgeted tax collection and actual tax collections from 2015 to 2018. Fowler was also asked to explain why actual tax collections during the aforementioned…

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed a video circulating on social media alleging the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, was chased out of a meeting in Vienna, Austria. In the video, he was meeting with some members of the Nigerian community in Austria before the meeting was disrupted. Reacting to the video, Ferdinand Nwonye, spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja said the incident took place three years ago. “The attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been drawn to an old video circulating on the social media, purporting to show disruption of a meeting the Honourable Minister…

The Federal Government on Saturday promised to address housing deficit by delivering one million houses per year to close the 17 million shortfall by the year 2033. The Minister of State, Works and Housing, Mr Abubakar Aliyu, disclosed this in Abuja on Saturday during an inspection of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) mass housing project in Zuba, Federal Capital Territory. Aliyu said the government had decided to improve on current construction of 100,000 houses per years in order to meet the basic needs of the people. “The production now is low; we are constructing 100,000 houses per year and we…

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied receiving any money for notorious kidnap kingpin, Alhaji Hamisu Bala, popularly known as Wadume. The suspect, who is in police custody, allegedly claimed that he was paid 13 million by the APC. Responding to his claim, the APC said, “It is expected that the alleged kidnapper, having come face to face with justice, would throw whatever he could lay his hands on into the fray. In any case, our party did not have budget for thugs. “Unlike the period when the ruling party dipped hands into the public treasury to fund political…

The Presidency has explained the roles of the Chief of Staff and the Office of the Secretary of the Government to the Federation after a misconception by Nigerians. In a press statement on Saturday by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, the Presidency explained that the speech by President Muhammadu Buhari directing ministers to the Chief of Staff was on point. “Recent media and social media reports on the responsibilities of the Chief of Staff to the President have suggested that the role has changed. This is not the case,” Mr Shehu said. “Today,…