Author: Chronicle Editor

The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), and representatives of the Federal Government will reconvene on Sept. 4 to continue negotiations on the new national minimum wage. NAN reports that the negotiators adjourned to the new date to allow President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the disagreement of relativity and consequential adjustments on the new minimum wage. The meeting, which held in Abuja on Friday, had the Permanent Secretaries of finance and labour ministries, as well as representative of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission in attendance. Mr Lawrence Amaechi, one of the Labour leaders in the negotiations,…

The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaech, says the need for new approvals is responsible for the slow pace of work on the new Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway line. Amaechi said this on Friday evening while briefing journalists after the inspection of the project. He inspected the project in company of  the Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr Fidet Okhiria and Chairman, Board of Directors, NRC, Malam Ibrahim Al-Hassan-Musa. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the inspection was coming barely 48 hours after the inauguration of the new Federal Executive Council by President Muhammadu Buhari. Amaechi commenced…

The 24-year-old  Mr Nigeria, Nelson Enwerem, late on Friday in Manila, Philippines  won  five talent awards in the  just concluded Mr World pageant. A correspondent  of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who monitored the contest on cable network  from Lagos, also reports that Jack Heslewood of England emerged the new Mr World 2019. Heslewood defeated  71 other candidates during the grand  finale to become the 10th Mr World. NAN reports that the  27-year-old model  also won  an award for his  impressive drumming had now  succeeded India’s 29-year-old, Rohit Khandelwal, who had just completed his three-year-old reign Enwerem, a model and…

The partnership between Nigeria and the United States is one that would continue to produce mutually desirable results for both countries, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Friday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, when he received the Administrator of the US Agency on International Development (USAID), Mr Mark Green who is currently on a visit to Nigeria. Noting that the US is one of Nigeria’s most dependable development partners, the Vice President said the Nigerian government was grateful for the interventions in the areas of health, humanitarian issues and education. While stating the commitment…

Obinwanne Okeke, the Abuja-based businessman arrested for internet fraud in the US, has hired a new lawyer to help fight off the criminal charges levelled against him by FBI. Mr Okeke hired John Iweanoge, a Washington DC-based attorney of Nigerian origin, to take over from Rahul Sharma, a public defender, this was disclosed in court documents. Mr Sharma was appointed by a judge to stand as counsel to Mr Okeke because the suspect did not appear with a defence lawyer at his initial hearing on August 9. Mr Iweanoge notified the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia…

The acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu today, Friday, August 23, 2019, disclosed that the Commission had commenced investigation into the circumstances leading to the $8.9billion arbitral award against Nigeria by a United Kingdom Court over alleged breach of gas contract agreement between it and Process and Industrial Development Limited. Describing the process leading to the judgment as “day light robbery”, Magu vowed that the Commission will forensically investigate the transaction and bring anyone one found wanting to justice. He spoke while playing host to a delegation from the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, led by…

The Chief Judge of Kogi, Justice Nasir Ajanah has constituted a seven-man panel to investigate the allegations of gross misconduct levelled against Deputy – Governor Simon Achuba by the state House of Assembly. Ajanah disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Lokoja. He said the constitution of the panel was in line with the provisions of section 188 of the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria , 1999 (as amended). ” By virtue of section 188 (7) (b) of the 1999 constitution, the panel has three (3) months within which to submit its report to the assembly,” he said.…

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved wide ranging reforms in the broadcasting industry, including the licensing of online radio and television stations According to a statement by Mr. Segun Adeyemi, Media aide to the Minister of Information and Culture, the initiative is to bring sanity to the industry. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in the statement disclosed it in Abuja on Friday when he received members of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) on a courtesy visit, was responding to a request made by BON for the review of the Broadcasting Code. “I just want to use…

Director-General, Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), Mr. Oluwatoyin Bolowotan, has urged prominent Nigerians to emulate the commitment of Mr. Adewunmi Ogunsanya (SAN), Chairman, GOtv Boxing, to the revival and growth of boxing in the country. Bolowotan made the call on Thursday while speaking at the closing ceremony of the maiden Lagos State Inter-club Boxing Challenge. The three-day competition, sponsored by Ogunsanya, attracted over 100 male and female boxers from boxing clubs in Lagos State to the Rowe Park Sports Centre, Yaba, Lagos, where it held. Bolowotan described Ogunsanya as strong pillar of support for boxing in the country through GOtv…

The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) and the representatives of the Federal Government are currently meeting to put an end to delays in the implementation of the new national minimum wage. The meeting, holding at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, is expected to bring to an endthe continued disagreements in the percentage of consequential adjustments. Recall that the new minimum wage bill was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari in April. However, deliberations between government and labour had been stalled over the issue of relativity/consequential adjustment of salaries. The Federal Government…