Author: Chronicle Editor

Nigeria’s central bank has lifted a ban on currency allocation for importers bringing in goods worth up to $20,000 per quarter, it said in a circular seen by Reuters on Thursday. The bank in 2015 placed a restriction on 41 items for which importers could no longer get dollars, including rice, toothpicks, cement, private jets, steel products, plastics and rubber, soap, cosmetics, furniture, Indian incense and foreign bonds. Aimed at conserving its foreign reserves, the move curbed access to dollars for importers bringing in a wide range of goods, helped fuel the currency black market and worsened investor perceptions about…

Thirty-six ships laden with petroleum products, food items and other goods are expected to arrive in Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports in Lagos from May 4 to May 29, according to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). NPA said they are bringing into the country items such as buck wheat, bulk gypsum, bilk salt, general cargo, base oil, frozen fish, petrol and bulk corn. The ships are also bringing in containers laden with assorted goods. According to the NPA, eight others carrying bulk fertilizer, aviation fuel and petrol had arrived the ports, waiting to berth. About 20 other ships are also…

Breast cancer survivors who consume even a small amount of alcohol have a higher chance of suffering a relapse than those who don’t, an Australian study released on Thursday found. Alcohol consumption has long been known to be a risk factor for developing the ailment which affects one in eight Australian women. A new analysis of previous studies, published by the Cancer Council of Victoria on Thursday found “a modest but significant” correlation between the consumption of six grams per day or half a bottle of wine per week increased breast cancer recurrence. Obamas unveil design of $500m presidential center…

Newport Gwent Dragons forward Ed Jackson has revealed he suffered a serious spinal injury after diving into the shallow end of a swimming pool. He was injured at a friend’s barbecue on 8 April and remains in hospital. Jackson, 28, underwent neck surgery for what his region at the time described as a “non-rugby related injury.” “After hitting my head on the bottom I realised I couldn’t swim to the surface because I’d lost movement in my legs and power in my arms,” Jackson said. Jackson, who has also played for Bath, Wasps, London Welsh and Doncaster Knights, said his…

A Dutse Magistrates’ Court has granted bail to former Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State. Lamido was standing trial on a four-count charge of inciting public disturbance, defamation of character, criminal intimidation and disturbance of public peace. The magistrate granted the two-term governor bail on self-recognizance and adjourned the case until July 5. Senate vows not to reinstate Babachir Lawal as SGF The Court had ordered Lamido remanded after he was charged with incitement and adjourned the case till May 4, for the continuation of the case. The offences contravened sections 113, 114, 392 and 394 of the Penal Code.…

The FRSC has confirmed that two persons died while eight others sustained injuries in an accident along the Ilo-Awela Road at Sango-Ota in Ogun on Thursday. The Unit Commander of the FRSC in Ogun, Mr Adekunle Oguntoyinbo, made the confirmation while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the development in Sango-Ota. He said the accident, which he blamed on break failure, occurred at about 8.20 a.m. Oguntoyinbo said the incident involved two buses, one of which was a commercial bus. He said that the brake of the commercial bus failed and ramped into a bus at the…

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved a $150 million soft loan from African Development Bank, AfDB, and $100 million from African Development Finance for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI). A statement by Salisu Na’ina, Director, Information, Ministry of Finance on Wednesday in Abuja made this known. He said that a grant of five million euros to finance Inclusive Basic Service Delivery and Livelihood Empowerment Integrated Programme in five states of the North East was also approved. He also said that the approval followed a memo presented to the Council by the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun. In…

Mr. Abbas Abdullahi Siraji, the Public Works and Reconstruction Minister of Somalia, has been killed. Siraji was shot dead in Mogadishu on Wednesday evening. Initial reports indicated that government forces opened fire on the minister’s vehicle near Villa Somalia, the state house in Mogadishu. They were reportedly suspicious that the approaching vehicle was ferrying insurgents. Information minister Abdurahman Osman Yarisow stated on Twitter that the government troops fired at the minister’s vehicle and that investigations into the matter had commenced. Four bodyguards of the Attorney-General were subsequently apprehended on suspicion of killing the minister. Mr Siraji was the youngest member…

Nigerian Senate has vowed to stop any move by powerful political forces within and outside government to reinstate suspended Secretary to Government of the Federation, SGF, David Babachir Lawal. This followed its consideration of the final report of its adhoc Committee, which accused Lawal of process violation in award of contracts under the Presidential Initiatives on North East (PINE) on Wednesday. The 45-page report was submitted by the Committee Chairman, Senator Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central). The final report revealed that contractors paid over N500m in kickbacks to a company linked Lawal. The bribe was discovered to have been paid…

The Commissioner 2 in the Local Government Service Commission, in Ekiti State, Dare Omotoso, was on Wednesday brought before an Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrate’s Court for allegedly stealing granite worth over N5m. The charge reads that Omotoso had between August and September 2016 stolen granites and stone dust valued at N5, 140, 800.00, belonging to Primadet and Co. Ltd. The offence is contrary to Section 390(9), Criminal Code, Cap 16 Laws of Ekiti State, 2012. The 64-year-old man pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him. The Police Prosecutor, Inspector Caleb Leramo, had earlier told the court that he…