Author: Chronicle Editor

The expectation of the Buhari administration that the Nigerian economy will grow this year up to 3.5 per cent is on course, Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu said today. His optimism was anchored on the latest GDP figures announced by the National Bureau of Statistics today. The NBS figures indicate a further growth in the fourth quarter of 2017, showing the economy grew by 1.92%. In the previous third quarter of 2017, the Nigerian economy grew by 1.4%, and this latest figure for the fourth quarter marks the third consecutive growth since the exit…

The Nigerian Army has confirmed the killing of three kidnap suspects and a soldier in Kogi during the rescue of oil magnate Alhaji Momoh Otinau Jimoh, on Tuesday. The spokesman of the Command Army Records, Lokoja, Captain Weri Finikumor, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on phone in Lokoja that some of the suspected kidnappers have been arrested and helping the military in its investigations. Finikumor assured residents that operation “exercise cat race” was ongoing to curtail criminality and boost security in the state. He said that the army would make details of the exercise public as soon…

Mr. Hamzat Ayodele Zubair, Chairman, Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS), has stated that wealthy Nigerians who have been underpaying taxes will be easily exposed if they fail to take advantage of the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS). Speaking in an interview at the weekend, the LIRS boss said the availability of information, locally and internationally, makes it virtually impossible for tax avoiders to escape detection. “There is what we call Project Lighthouse and it has to do with data mining. We are looking at several sources of information and trying to develop and bring out certain data…

An administrative official was snatched over the weekend from one of Cameroon’s restive English-speaking regions in the second such kidnapping in a fortnight, state media reported on Monday. The man was taken by armed men near Batibo, which lies 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of the city of Bamenda, and the same area from which another local official was taken on February 11. “The regional representative for social affairs for the northwest region has been missing since Saturday. He was taken while in his car in the Batibo area by armed attackers,” Cameroon Radio Television (CrTV) said. Regional police officials…

Despite all the controversies generated by Olamide’s hit single, Science Student, the official video of the song was quietly released on YouTube on Sunday. The video is already stirring controversy afresh, trending as number 3 on You Tube in Nigeria. It has within 24 hours garnered close to 85,000 views, with 294 dislikes and over 5,000 likes. The video opens on a note of drama, with Olamide being abandoned by friends in a dumpsite. The rapper is seen alone wading through the place, prodded by a woman with fire in her eyes. The symbolism is telling immediately, afterall this…

An Igando Customary Court in Lagos State on Monday terminated a 25-year-old marriage, following persistent pleas of an estranged woman that she would go no further in the relationship. Petitioner Blessing Adeosun got her wish and ended the troubled union, having described her pastor husband as a deadbeat, who was not good in anything. Blessing, 49, had approached the court for the dissolution of the marriage, saying that Lukmon Adeosun had abandoned his responsibility as a husband and father since he received `pastoral calling’. “For the past three years, Lukmon abandoned us to live in the church all in…

The meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) will not hold on Wednesday, February 28, according to a statement by media and publicity adviser, Femi Adesina. He said the meeting was shelved because of the participation of President Muhammadu Buhari and a significant number of ministers at the High-Level Meeting of the International Conference on Lake Chad Basin. The conference will hold at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, for the better part of Wednesday, Adesina said. He did not indicate whether the meeting will hold later in the week.

The President, Nigeria Youth Organisation (NYO), Abdullahi Wali, says he will sue President Muhammadu Buhari if he refuses to contest in the 2019 presidential election. Wali, in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja, said he was reacting to a statement credited to Buhari during a meeting with APC governors. He said that the president was quoted as saying that he needed time to decide whether he would run or not. Wali said President Buhari should run in 2019 in order to consolidate the achievements he had recorded so far. He listed some Buhari’s achievements as…

Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Tunde Fowler, has advised prominent Nigerians with tax liabilities to take advantage of the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), as political, social or economic prominence will not insulate them from sanctions for non-declaration. Fowler gave the advice in an interview in Lagos on Saturday. According to the FIRS Chairman. VAIDS offers all categories of tax debtors the opportunity to regularize their tax status and warned that failure to take advantage of the tax amnesty programme, which ends on 31 March, will attract a number of sanctions. These, he said,…

Manchester City won their first trophy under Pep Guardiola as they brushed side Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley. Sergio Aguero took advantage of some poor Shkodran Mustafi defending to latch on to Claudio Bravo’s goal-kick and lob David Ospina for the opener. Captain Vincent Kompany diverted home Ilkay Gundogan’s shot to double their lead. And David Silva added the third when he smashed home from Danilo’s pass. The Gunners were as poor as the scoreline suggests and their best chance came at 0-0 but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s close-range effort was at Bravo. The League Cup remains the only…