Author: Chronicle Editor

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says the Federal Government is delivering on its election promises and that only “a few vocal minority are not seeing what the government is doing.” The minister stated this when the leadership of the National Association and Nigerian Students (NANS), paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja Tuesday evening. Mohammed said “the administration is on course in the delivery of the three major electoral promises it made before coming to power. That are: to fight corruption, fight insecurity and fix the economy. He said in less than two years, the government…

For all the questions swirling around President Trump’s abrupt decision to fire James Comey, one stands out above all: Why now? If the administration rationale that the FBI director botched the investigation of Hillary Clinton last summer is accurate, why didn’t the president-elect dump him during the transition? To say there is media skepticism about this rationale would be a colossal understatement. In the hours after the bombshell announcement, Fox’s Charles Krauthammer said the explanation was “highly implausible” and “almost inexplicable.” MSNBC’s Chris Matthews branded it the “Tuesday night massacre,” likening it to Richard Nixon’s Saturday night firing of the…

Nigeria’s government should simplify taxes and reduce fees involved in laying fibre optic cables to encourage development of infrastructure for the technology industry, Google’s manager in the West African country said on Tuesday. Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor told Reuters boosting the technology industry would help diversify Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy, the largest in Africa and which is now in its second year of a recession caused mainly by low crude prices. The Budget and National Planning Ministry said in March the government should encourage local production of technology hardware to reduce dependence on imports and generate foreign exchange. The government aims to create…

The House of Representatives on Tuesday received the report of 2017 N7.30 trillion Budget proposal from its Committee on Appropriation for final consideration. The report indicated that the committee increased the figures to N7.44 trillion, representing an addition of about N143 billion to the one presented by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 14, 2016. After the receipt of the bill, the House referred it to the Appropriation Committee on January 26, 2017, but its processing suffered delay due to the inability of other committees to tidy their reports in time. Presenting the report at plenary, Chairman of the committee, Rep.…

India’s national shooting team have been forced to spend the day at an airport after customs officials refused to allow them back into the country carrying guns and ammunition.The embarrassing gaffe left top shooters, including Commonwealth Games gold medallist Gurpreet Singh, stranded for over 12 hours at Delhi’s international airport until their paperwork cleared, National Rifles Association of India spokesperson Rajeev Bhatia told AFP. The shooters returning from competitions abroad were told the appropriate customs official required to clear their firearms was not available, despite the team insisting they had followed standard procedures. They were finally allowed through after spending…

Talks between Etisalat Nigeria and banks to renegotiate the terms of a $1.2 billion loan have reached deadlock after the telecoms firm missed a payment, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Lenders, under pressure to avoid loan-loss provisions, are pushing to finalise the debt restructuring before next month’s half-yearly audit, a banking source said. Etisalat Nigeria met with the lenders in London on April 28 led by Guaranty Trust Bank but they could not agree a way forward, the sources said. Etisalat Nigeria could not be reached for comment. The telecom firm signed the medium-term seven-year facility…

Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin, on Tuesday said the university spent over N30 million on electricity in March. Ambali disclosed this in Ilorin when he received members of the newly inaugurated Executive Council of the Postgraduate Students Association (POGSASS), in his office. He informed the POGSASS executives that it had invested heavily on power supply because it was critical to research works. Ambali said that the university was collaborating with a U.S. company to build a 500MW solar energy plant as part of efforts to tackle the challenge of power supply plaguing the country. Herdsmen kill 8,…

The spokes person of Switzerland Foreign Ministry Noemie Charton said Switzerland took part in negotiations that secured the release of 82 girls kidnapped by Nigerian terror group Boko Haram He said the country took part “at the request of Nigeria” and due to “humanitarian concerns”. Earlier in May, a Boko Haram faction released the girls, who had been held captive for three years, in exchange for prisoners. Those freed were part of a group of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from the Chibok village, in the restive Borno state, in April 2014. Nigeria thanked Switzerland, the International Committee of the…

Robert Mugabe, the 93-year-old President of Zimbabwe, has flown to Singapore for a “routine medical check-up”, The Herald newspaper reported Tuesday. President Mugabe who left Zimbabwe on Monday for Singapore is expected back in Zimbabwe at the weekend. He is expected back at the weekend to preside over the burial National Hero, retired Chief Justice Geoffrey Chidyausike. The leader who has been in power since 1980 regularly travels to the city state for health check-ups and private holidays and his last medical trip was in March. Why Ambode banned VIO in Lagos The leader who now walks with difficulty and…

An FCT High Court, Maitama, on Tuesday discharged Steve Oronsaye, former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, of the N190 million corruption charges levelled against him. Oronsaye was also the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force, set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan. He was docked on a seven-count charge, bordering on breach of trust and diversion of N190 million meant for the committee he chaired. Justice Olasumbo Goodluck, in her ruling on the no-case submission filed by Oronsaye, held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against Oronsaye. “There was contradictory evidence…