Author: Chronicle Editor

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), on Wednesday, 6 December urged a Federal High Court, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, not to grant a bond application filed before the court, by the former governor of Oyo State, Rasheed Adewolu Ladoja, as a security over his property, which the court had granted a leave of protection to a receiver/manager. The presiding judge Justice Rilwan Aikawa had on 5 October 2017, granted leave of protection to the receiver/manager, Mr. Olamide Owolegbon, appointed by the GTB to take possession of a property belonging to Ladoja, pending the determination of a debt recovery suit filed against him and…

China’s Sinopec Group has hired BNP Paribas to sell its oil business in Nigeria and Gabon, three people with knowledge of the matter said, as the state-owned oil giant pares back its presence in Africa. Sinopec and other oil groups including China National Petroleum Corporation and CNOOC made large acquisitions between 2009 and 2013 with the help of low-cost loans from Chinese state-owned banks. The hunt for overseas assets was intended to bulk up their energy reserves and meet future demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy. But oil prices fell to about $27 a barrel in 2016 from more…

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has been fined £8,000 by the Football Association after he was sent to the stand during his side’s Premier League victory over Swansea last month. Conte was dismissed for disputing referee Neil Swarbrick’s decision not to award a corner in the first half. Following the match, which Chelsea won 1-0, the 48-year-old Italian apologised to Swarbrick. READ: David Moyes target players with Premier League experience He added: “I made a mistake. With my players I suffer. It’s a pity.” Chelsea are third in the Premier League table, 11 points behind leaders Manchester City. His managerial career…

West Ham manager David Moyes is expected to target players with Premier League experience as he seeks to guide the club away from the relegation zone. On Tuesday, the Hammers said a dispute with Sporting Lisbon over their pursuit of William Carvalho had been resolved. But Moyes, who succeeded Slaven Bilic last month, is not thought to want the Portugal midfielder in January. West Ham have spent only three of the past 25 seasons outside the top flight but are 19th in the table on 10 points. Moyes, who has been assured he has money to spend during next month’s…

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday pardoned 500 inmates of the Kurmawa Central Prisons in Kano metropolis as part of Federal Government’s efforts to decongest prisons. Buhari granted the pardon when he arrived at the place in company with the state Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and others. The president was on a two-day official visit to Kano State. The prisoners include males and females. President Buhari commissions Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital #PMBinKano The president advised the affected inmates to be of good behaviour and shun anything that could bring them back to prison. He charged them to engage in lawful ventures to…

President Muhammadu Buhari has commissioned the Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital in Kano as he continued his two-day visit to Kano state, his political stronghold. Buhari who commenced the working visit on 6 December will commission a handful of projects including the state-of-art Giginyu Specialist Hospital in Kano. Also to be commissioned is the Kano State Fertilizer Blending Plant KASCO. The plant currently produces 30,000 tonnes of fertilizer on daily basis. READ: 17 million babies breathing toxic air worldwide–UNICEF The Kano State Government is currently implementing some Federal Government initiatives like Buhari administration’s Social Investment Programmes, school feeding programme that uses…

Almost 17 million babies across the world are breathing toxic air, which could be damaging the development of their brains, according to a report released by UNICEF on Wednesday. There are 136 million children under the age of 1 globally, which means one in eight are being exposed to toxic air, the UN children’s fund said. Satellite imagery analysed by UNICEF indicates that 12.2 million of these children live in South Asia. The East Asia and Pacific region is home to some 4.3 million babies living in areas with pollution levels at least six times higher than international limits. “Not…

No fewer than 1,070 Nigerians died in road accidents in the third quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. The NBS Road Transport Data for Third Quarter, 2017 posted on its website on Wednesday showed that 89 out of the number were children. The report stated that 981 of the 1,070 Nigerians that died, representing 91.7 per cent of the figure were adults while the remaining 89 Nigerians, representing 8.3 per cent of the figure were children. The breakdown of the figure showed that 815 of the number were males, representing 76.2 per cent while 255 were females, representing…

The Rochas Okorocha administration has blamed the printer’s devil, for the wrong christening of the Ministry of Happiness. Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Sam Onwuemeodo said a typographic error led to the naming of the Ministry as the Ministry of Happiness and Couples fulfilment. It is now called Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment. “There was a typographic error in the first statement issued on the swearing in of the new commissioners. The word “Couple” was inadvertently written, instead of the word “Purpose,” we regret that. The statement went on to justify the essence of the new Ministry…

The founder and the general overseer of Champions Royal Assembly, Kubwa, Abuja, Bro Joshua Iginla, has joined his voice to condemn the killing and selling of migrants in Libya. Iginla described it as one man’s wickedness to another. Speaking at his church service last Sunday in Abuja, he decried the desperation of Nigerian nationals and other Africans to seek greener pastures abroad, revealing that there was no machine out there that guaranteed instant prosperity once they land abroad. Cable News Network (CNN) had last month aired a clip of black migrants being sold in night markets in Libya. It showed…