Author: Chronicle Editor

Lagos State has the highest number of prisoners in Nigeria, 7,396 out of the national total of 68,686. The state, which is the commercial hub of Nigeria also leads in prisons congestion. It has a capacity for 3,927 prisoners, indicating that it is almost 100 per cent overfilled, a trend that President Muhammadu Buhari has called a national scandal. According to a new data released by the National Bureau of Statistics today, Lagos is closely followed by Rivers and Kano States with 4,424 and 4,183 prison inmates population. Kano can conveniently accommodate just 2,116 prisoners. Rivers has one of the…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged cooperation with Nigeria in its fight against Boko Haram but said he expected the African nation’s support against a movement led by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating last year’s failed coup. Speaking at a joint news conference Thursday with Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, Erdogan reiterated Turkish assertions that schools run by Gulen’s movement in Africa were being used to raise “militants.” Buhari was in the Turkish capital for a meeting of “Developing-8” countries, which also includes Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia and Pakistan. READ: UBA emerges Best bank in support…

Pan-African banking group, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, at the weekend was recognised for its extraordinary support of the real sector as it won best bank in the category, ahead of its peers. The award, the organisers noted is in recognition of UBA’s leadership role as in expanding access to funds for the support of the real sector in Nigeria and the rest of Africa where it operates. This feat they further said has brought about unprecedented growth to the sector and by extension, the nation’s economy and that of Africa. READ: 2020: Nigeria to increase mobile broadband subscriptions…

…Reports Profit Before Tax of N150.03Billion Guaranty Trust Bank plc has released its unaudited financial results for the 3rd quarter ended September 30, 2017, to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges. A review of the 3rd quarter performance shows positive growth across all key financial metrics and improved strategic positioning of the brand. Despite non-recurrence of significant FX revaluation gain during the period, the bank reported an impressive Profit before tax of ₦150.03billion, representing a growth of 9% from ₦137.99billion recorded in the corresponding period of September 2016. Increase in PBT is primarily from 36% growth in interest income. The…

Nigeria says it is committed to increasing the current coverage of the active mobile broadband subscription per 100 from 20.95 percent to 50 percent by 2020. Mr Bolaji Akinremi, Minister Plenipotentiary, Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN, stated this while delivering Nigeria’s statement on ‘Information and Communications Technologies for Development’ at the UN General Assembly’s debate in New York. Active mobile broadband subscription is the number of subscriptions to mobile cellular networks with access to data communications – like the Internet – at broadband downstream speeds of 256 kilobit per second. Nigeria’s mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants increased…

Senator Andrew Uchendu, representing Rivers East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, has advised Governor Nyesom Wike to stop wasting Rivers money on unnecessary foreign trips. It will be recalled that Governor Wike of Rivers State, recently travelled to Spain with a large entourage of political loyalists, just to watch the La-Liga match between Gatafe CF and Real Madrid (his favourite football club). In a statement released to the press in Port Harcourt, Senator Uchendu cautioned Governor Wike against squandering the scarce resources of Rivers State on expensive football tours abroad, especially in this time of harsh socio-economic realities and…

Canadian province of Quebec has passed a controversial religious neutrality law that bars people from wearing face coverings when giving or receiving a public service. Quebec recently expanded the law to include services provided by municipal and public transit services. Women who wear a burqa or a niqab will now have to show their faces while receiving a government service. Quebec’s National Assembly passed Bill 62 by a 66-51 vote. READ: Buhari orders EFCC, others to disclose names of high ranking looters The provincial Liberals, who have been in power since 2014, tabled the bill two years ago. Bureaucrats, police…

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abukabar Malami SAN has disclosed that “President Muhammadu Buhari has directed all relevant agencies to compile documents on names of all looters. The order is in a bid to enforce the judgment of a Federal High Court in Lagos ordering the government to release to Nigerians information about the names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds were recovered.” The court also ordered the government to tell Nigerians the circumstances under which funds were recovered, as well as the exact amount of funds recovered from each public official.…

The Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu has advised the management of ntel to go national so as to give Nigerians in the rural areas opportunity to make choices and enjoy the services of ntel along other network providers. He made this charge in his office, during a courtesy visit by the new ntel Managing Director (MD), Ernest Akinlola and his management Team. The Minister while congratulating the new MD, said he would give him the necessary support because ntel belongs to Nigeria and that the challenges of funding and going international should be addressed. “It is government ambition to…

Many were yesterday evening feared charred in a horrifying inferno following an explosion from a fuel tanker. The tanker driver, who was reportedly driving recklessly, lost control of the wheel and in a bid to regain balance, tumbled on the expressway near Kyakyama Filling Station, few metres from the Ogere tollgate stretch of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. According to an eyewitness, the impact of the fall on the tarred road led to a huge explosion, sending balls of fire and plumes of dark smokes into the sky. The eyewitness added that the fire soon spread and caught vehicles packed by the…