Author: Chronicle Editor

Nigeria records highest increases in clothing materials Annual inflation drops by 0.04 per cent The annual inflation in Nigeria slowed for a seventh month in August, easing to 16.01 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday. The rate of annual inflation was 0.04 per cent lower than in July. Statistician General of the Federation, Dr Yemi Kale wrote on Twitter that August 2017 inflation report as well as selected food prices, diesel, petrol, cooking gas, transport fares to be published 15/09/17 at 9:30am. READ: Nigeria begin sale of N100bn sukuk on local market “The highest increases…

• Soldiers invade IPOB leader’s home in Abia State • Army to withdraw troops from streets, probes video clips • Balarabe Musa urges caution, says Southeast marginalised The troops of the Operation Python Dance II allegedly invaded the family home of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in Afaraukwu, Abia State, around 5:00 p.m. yesterday. The palace of Kanu’s father, Eze Israel Kanu, who is the traditional ruler of the Afaraukwu community was destroyed. The whereabouts of Kanu, his father and his mother during and after the invasion were not made known.When a call was put…

Alexis Sanchez’s fine strike helped Arsenal to a 3-1 win over Cologne in their Europa League Group H tie, after the match was delayed by an hour for crowd safety reasons. The match was postponed until 9.05pm with many home fans unable to enter the turnstiles due to thousands of gathering Cologne fans outside the stadium. Those fans were celebrating first as Jhon Cordoba gave Cologne the lead after 10 minutes, superbly lofting the ball over David Ospina from 40 yards after the goalkeeper’s weak clearance. Arsenal levelled after the break through Sead Kolasinac’s fierce left-footed volley, just four minutes…

The Plateau State Government on Friday imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Jos Metropolis following “rumoured skirmishes, tension and confusion” over the situation in South-East. The government, in a statement signed by Mr Emmanuel Nanle, Director of Press Affairs, said that the action was to avert a further breakdown of law and order. It said that security personnel had been deployed to flash points to ensure compliance with the order, and advised miscreants to avoid a clash with the law. The statement quoted Gov Simon Lalong as expressing shock and dismay over the sudden build up of tension in Jos, while…

Nigeria has started the sale of a 100 billion naira ($326 million) debut sovereign sukuk on the local market to fund road infrastructure, the Debt Management Office said on Thursday. The seven-year Islamic bond which is structured as a lease will yield a 16.47 percent rental rate, payable semi-annually. Subscription for the bond, which is guaranteed by the government, will close on September 20. The debut sukuk was originally planned to go on sale in June for three days via book building. READ: Stanbic IBTC offers scrip dividends to shareholders Africa’s biggest economy has a series of debt issues lined…

Shareholders can receive dividends in cash or as ordinary shares Declared interim dividend Using scrip dividends to conserve cash Stanbic IBTC Bank will offer shareholders the option to receive scrip dividends in lieu of cash dividends over the next three years, it said on Thursday, after it declared an interim dividend. The mid-tier lender, which is part of South Africa’s Standard Bank, did not give a reason for the move. The bank declared an interim dividend of 0.60 naira for its half-year to June 30. It set a reference price of 39.45 naira for the scrip issue, compared with Thursday’s…

World champions Germany have replaced Brazil at the top of the FIFA rankings after the latest round of 2018 World Cup qualifiers. While Nigeria has dropped six places despite beating Cameroon soundly in their FIFA World Cup qualifier including a 4-0 win on home soil. Cape Verde are the highest climbers, moving up 47 places to 67th after back-to-back victories over South Africa in September. England have fallen two places to 15th, with Wales moving up five places to 13th, replacing Gareth Southgate’s side as the highest-ranked UK team. Northern Ireland have reached their highest ever position of 20th, while…

Nigeria’s Dangote Cement owned by Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, has approached South African rival PPC about a takeover but has not completed talks. A statement issued by the firm in the national dailies said talks were ongoing but nothing concrete had been concluded. PPC is already considering a bid by local rival AfriSam, which launched a new all-share merger proposal that values South Africa’s largest cement maker at about 9.2 billion rand ($700 million). READ: LEAKED: How Babachir Lawal got tangled in IDP aid scandal PPC has a third offer from an unnamed bidder. “DCP (Dangote Cement Plc) hereby…

* Nigerian Senate report on aid calls for criminal investigation * Senior official identified as central to alleged corruption * Babachir Lawal denies wrongdoing, says victim of witch-hunt * Effects of some aid work done in northeast were shortlived By Alexis Akwagyiram and Paul Carsten When millions of people in northeast Nigeria faced hunger and attacks by Islamist militant group Boko Haram in March 2016, the government acted: it decided to spend $1.4 million cutting down weeds around the village of Wachakal in order to stop flooding. Six months later, many of the weeds had grown back and 317 million…

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the Senate President Dr Bukola Sakari to “urgently explain to Nigerians if it is true that Nigerian Senators gets N29 million in monthly pay, and over N3 billion a year.” Professor Itse Sagay, Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC), had last week alleged that a Nigerian Senator gets N29 million in monthly pay. But the Senate has so far refused to clarify this or disclose the details of salaries and allowances of its members. In a statement today by SERAP deputy director Timothy Adewale the organization said, “The ‘sky will not…