Author: Chronicle Editor

Chelsea skipper John Terry scored on what could be his Stamford Bridge farewell as the Blues celebrated winning the Premier League by nicking a thrilling victory against Watford. An emotional Terry, who will leave at the end of the season after more than two decades at the club, swept in a loose ball from a corner for the opener. The 36-year-old defender’s mistake then allowed Etienne Capoue to level before Cesar Azpilicueta drilled in from 25 yards to restore the lead. Michy Batshuayi tapped in his first home league strike to give a much-changed Blues side a two-goal lead, only…

The developers of the much loved music compression format MP3 have officially announced its demise. The Fraunhofer Institute, the German company that was one of the main driving forces behind the development of the MP3, has released a statement that the licensing for patents and software relating to the MP3 have been terminated. MP3 has been around since the 1980s and was one of the main driving forces behind a revolution in the way that people listened to music. Don’t worry –you’ll still be able to listen to music on the move, it’s just that the tired format is being…

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Monday spoke on the fight against corruption in Nigeria. Saraki said the war under President Muhammadu Buhari had recorded successes and that all Nigerians must play their part to help government and anti-corruption agencies. In a release by his media office, Monday evening, Saraki answered some questions on what the legislature was doing to curb corruption and highlighted a few things Nigerians must know. Excerpts: #1 On the Relationship Between Corruption and Development: “What got me thinking was the chicken and egg puzzle that that statement immediately raises. Do countries become more corrupt because the…

A Badagry Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State on Monday ordered the remand of one Mohammed Nura in Badagry Medium Prison over alleged rape of a 16-year-old boy. Mr. Nura, whose address is unknown, was said to have raped the 16-year-old boy on Sunday, April 16. The prosecutor, Akpan Ikem, told the court that the accused committed the offence on April 16 along Customs Quarters Road, Seme. He said the accused, who is a father of two, assaulted the boy by forcibly inserting his manhood into his anus. “The boy was just walking pass when the accused grabbed him, overpowered…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Friday took charge of bank accounts operated by Nigeria’s foreign intelligence service, the National Intelligence Agency, the latest in a string of measures against the NIA in the wake of last month’s discovery of N13 billion in a Lagos apartment. The cash – comprising $43.5 million, £27,800 and N23.2 million hidden inside Apartment 7B at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi – was uncovered by operatives of the EFCC on April 12. The director general of the NIA, Ayodele Oke, admitted to PREMIUM TIMES the money belonged to his agency, and was later suspended from office.…

Mrs Habiba Lawal, Acting Secretary of the Government of the Federation, has directed on Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to commence procurement in anticipation of the approval of the 2017 budget. She gave the directive on Monday in Kaduna at the opening of the 1st batch conversion training for procurement cadre officers for federal parastatals and agencies, organised by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). Lawal was represented by Mr Yinka Aguda, Director, Planning, Research and Statistics. “It is expected that the 2017 Appropriation Bill would soon be signed to enable the implementation of the budget. “I have been briefed…

Lagos State Government on Monday said that it paid a total of N1, 846 billion as pension from May 31, 2016 to April 30, 2017. The state Commissioner for Establishment, Training and Pensions, Dr Akintola Benson-Oke, made the disclosure at the 2017 Ministerial Press Briefing to mark Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode’s two years in office. The event held at Alausa, Ikeja. According to Benson-Oke, the population of pensioners in the state’s main stream public service as at February was 8,512. He said that the Mr Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration was determined to ensure that pensioners were paid their entitlements as and when…

Oando, a Nigerian oil firm has said on Monday it was in talks to work with Italian energy company Eni to rehabilitate one of the West African nation’s four refineries. Nigeria, an OPEC oil producer with refining capacity on paper of 445,000 barrels per day (bpd), imports most of its gasoline needs because its refineries have been shut or running at reduced capacity for years due to neglect and vandalism. Nigeria’s oil minister, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, said last week Eni would build a new refinery with capacity of 150,000 bpd, using its Agip subsidiary. Judge fixes date for hearing of…

“Hundreds of thousands” of Chinese computers at nearly 30,000 institutions including government agencies have been hit by the global ransomware attack, a leading Chinese security-software provider has said, though the Asian impact has otherwise been relatively muted. The enterprise-security division of Qihoo 360, one of China’s leading suppliers of anti-virus software, said 29,372 institutions ranging from government offices to universities, ATMs and hospitals had been “infected” by the outbreak as of late Saturday. In a statement dated Sunday, Qihoo 360 said the ransomware had spread particularly quickly through higher education, affecting more than 4,000 Chinese universities and research institutions. It…

The World Health Organisation on Monday confirmed a second Ebola case in Congo. “So far there are 19 suspect cases, including three deaths and two lab-confirmed cases,” a WHO spokesperson in Geneva said via e-mail. The first case was confirmed on Friday in Bas-Uele province in the north-east. The WHO has said the outbreak appears to be limited to that remote area, and that there is no need for travel restrictions for the time being. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, a continent-wide mechanism to monitor disease outbreaks, said it had activated its emergency operational centre to monitor…