Author: Chronicle Editor

The House of Representatives has enjoined the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to immediately ban the sale of codeine and other ‘harmful’ drugs in the country. Adopting a motion sponsored by Abdulsamad Dasuki (APC Sokoto), the lawmakers directed NAFDAC to ensure that codeine was only dispensed through prescription and only sold in hospitals. Dasuki, while leading debate on the motion particularly stressed the need to stop abuse by banning the sale of codeine and tramadol over the counter and the need to address their abuse in northern Nigeria. It is believed that about three million bottles…

“The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and other relevant government agencies should go out to enforce sale of fuel at filling stations that are hoarding the product. Virtually all stations have petrol but they are not ready to sell so as to exploit the people.” With these words yesterday, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) offered solution to the lingering scarcity in the country. The union which denied being responsible for scarcity claimed the situation started two weeks before it issued a seven-day strike ultimatum on December 7, on the grounds of unfair labour practices…

A fire at a sports centre in South Korea has killed 29 people and left many others injured. The fire, which started in the basement of an eight-storey building, occurred in the southern city of Jecheon. Footage showed dark plumes of smoke as the blaze, which has now largely been extinguished, engulfed the property. 1 Most of the victims were trapped in a sauna on the second floor. Officials say the death toll could rise as firefighters continue their search. Read Also Venus Williams cleared over fatal Florida car crash “The fire produced so much toxic smoke so quickly, leaving…

The Federal Government will increase investment in the health sector, so that the country can halt the loss of well trained professionals to other lands. President Muhammadu Buhari made the pledge when he received the executive members of Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), at State House, Abuja, on Thursday, The President appreciated the concern expressed by the association on the state of the health sector in the country, and promised to implement the association’s recommendations to boost healthcare system in the country. “We will do our best to work on your recommendations, and increase investment in the…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, said it has released on bail, Anambra state-born industrialist, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, better known as Innoson. His bail coincides with the Nigerian senate’s intervention on the matter on 20 December. The upper chamber mandated its committee on anti-corruption and financial crimes to investigate circumstances surrounding the allegation that an EFCC operative slapped the wife of Chukwuma during a raid on his house in Enugu. Although the EFCC denies this narrative by the senate on what happened before he was arrested. The anti-graft agency claims that the businessman who runs a local auto assembly…

* Both governments deny Cameroon’s troops crossed border * Cameroon threatened to suspend Nigerian embassy staff -sources * Cameroon military sources say separatists launch attacks from Nigeria Cameroonian troops this month crossed into Nigeria in pursuit of rebels without seeking authorisation from Nigeria, causing a falling-out between the governments behind the scenes, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. At least one incursion was confirmed by a Nigerian government official, two Nigerian military officers and two foreign diplomats, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. Nigerian security forces were deployed to the border to stop any further crossings, said…

It was supposed to be tiny Cape Verde’s moment to shine: a chance for the Atlantic island nation to take up the rotating presidency of the commission of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). But the archipelago has found itself once again out of step with its mainland cousins, who decided to hand the responsibility to Ivory Coast at a meeting in Nigeria last weekend. Cape Verde is different. A pillar of democracy, stability and human rights, it is cited near the top of the yearly Mo Ibrahim Index, which measures and monitors governance performance in African…

Workers at South Africa’s Shoprite will go on a one-day strike on December 22 to protest a change in working hours, their union said on Wednesday. About 30,000 workers will down tools during the strike, Mike Tau an official of the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union said. Tau said a full-blown strike would follow if the company failed to change the working conditions. Shoprite South Africa is yet to comment on the proposed strike by workers despite the telling effect it will have on its during this Christmas shopping period. The Shoprite Group of Companies is Africa’s…

Venus Williams will not face charges over a crash that fatally injured a passenger in another car, police have confirmed. A report concludes that an unidentified third vehicle illegally cut off the tennis star as she tried to cross a busy six-lane road near her home – setting off the chain of events that ended with a sedan slamming into the passenger side of her SUV. Jerome Barson, a 78-year-old passenger in the sedan, died 13 days after the crash on 9 June. Williams was not hurt. The police report said that his wife Linda, who was driving, should have…

The Senate has mandated its committee on anti-corruption and financial crimes to investigate circumstances surrounding the arrest of the Managing Director of Innoson Motors, Mr. Innocent Chukwuma, and report back today. The chamber roundly condemned Chukwuma’s ordeal at the hands of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), urging President Muhammadu Buhari to call the commission’s acting chairman to order. Senate President Bukola Saraki, in his final intervention, deplored the action, saying: “This does not speak well for the country. How a private transaction has become the business of the EFCC is what I do not know. I have not…