Author: Chronicle Editor

The Chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Mr. Danladi Umar, on Thursday approved the filing of cases against Justice Sylvester Nwali Ngwuta of Supreme Court and Justice Adeniyi Ademola of Federal High Court, Abuja. The tribunal’s Head, Press and Public Relations, Mr Ibraheem Al-Hassan, said this in a statement he signed and made available to newsmen in Abuja. Al-Hassan said the chairman received the charges separately on Wednesday, from the office of Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. He said the charges which ranged from non-declaration of assets to false asset declaration preferred against the two Judges, were…

Security has been beefed up in Yenagoa, as the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, visits Bayelsa on Friday in continuation of his fact-finding tour of the Niger Delta region. Armed soldiers, policemen and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps personnel deployed for duties were visible on the streets and strategic parts of the Yenagoa, the state capital. Traffic was diverted from the roads leading to Bayelsa Government House, Ovom area, where Prof. Osinbajo is expected to hold an interactive session with stakeholders on the ongoing peace process in the region. Pedestrians were, however, allowed to pass through the road…

Nigerian peacekeeping troops in Gambia will be reduced after West African force in Gambia were reduced to 500 soldiers from 7,000 who arrived the country in January. Thousands of soldiers from ECOWAS are expected to start returning home this month from Gambia, from where long-time leader Yahya Jammeh was forced to flee last month, paving the way for new President Adama Barrow to take office. The multinational force will be cut to 500 troops from the 7,000 sent into Gambia after Jammeh, who had ruled since seizing power in a 1994 coup, refused to accepted Barrow’s victory in a Dec.…

The Nigerian Navy has handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, 12 suspected oil thieves, a vessel MV OMISAN 1 with registered number IMO 7216244, an un-named barge and two wooden boats. The suspects and the vessels were arrested by the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) PATHFINDER. The handing over ceremony was held at Naval Base, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. EFCC said the suspects would undergo further investigation before being prosecution. While handing over the suspects to the EFCC, Commodore W. O Kayoda, Commander of NHS PATHFINDER said that, the suspected oil thieves were arrested on 6…

Nigeria’s finance minister, Kemi Adeosun said the country’s $1 billion eurobond offered in the international market has been oversubscribed at an interest rate of 7.875 per cent. She said the Notes were approximately eight times oversubscribed with orders in excess of US$7.8 billion compared to a pre-issuance target of US$ 1.0 billion. According to her, this demonstrated strong market appetite for Nigeria. “This is despite continued volatility in emerging and frontier markets and shows confidence by the international investment community in Nigeria’s economic reform agenda.” The bond will mature on 16th February 2032 with a bullet repayment of the principal.…

A Federal High Court, sitting in Benin-City, Edo State on Thursday convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment one Osagie Aghedo Bliss (alias Julbert Stefan, Nesta Gilbert, Isak Krister and Fredrick Cruso) for conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence. Bliss was first arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on 29 January, 2013 on a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy, possession of fraudulent documents containing false pretences and obtaining by false pretence. Bliss, upon his arraignment, pleaded not guilty to the charges After diligent prosecution by the EFCC, Justice P. I. Ajoku found Bliss guilty on count one…

Lawlessness in Nigeria reached a new crescendo when two mobile policemen saddled with the responsibility of maintaining law and order threw caution to the wind in Onitsha, Anambra State. The spineless and of course very shameless policemen who are supposed to protect citizens speak less the physically challenged assault a Nigerian citizen in brutal fashion. In a video that made the rounds on social media, the policemen flung the helpless physically challenged man about as citizens watched in dismay. An eyewitness claimed that the duo descended on the man because he was wearing a military shirt. The policemen first took…

A brawl broke out in South Africa’s parliament Thursday as guards exchanged punches with opposition lawmakers who shouted down President Jacob Zuma as he tried to deliver his state of the nation address. In chaotic scenes, guards in white shirts forcibly ejected about 25 members from the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party who prevented the president from speaking for about an hour. “We have been patient with you, we have been trying to give you an opportunity to express yourselves but… it is being abused,” Speaker Baleka Mbete told the EFF lawmakers before they were thrown out. The…

Nigeria wants to borrow at least $1 billion from the World Bank to help haul it out of recession and plans to present the required economic reform proposals to the lender this month, officials and diplomats told Reuters. The oil producer, which has been hit hard by a sharp fall in crude prices since 2014, has been in talks with the Washington-based lender for a year to secure a loan to help plug a yawning budget deficit and fund badly needed infrastructure projects. But the government has not specified how much money it was looking to borrow from the World…

Pan-African group Ecobank Transnational plans to increase its customers to 100 million by 2020 from 10 million now, using technology to hit that goal, the chief executive said on Thursday. Lenders in Sub-Saharan Africa, where studies show about a third of people have accounts, have been using mobile and Internet banking to recruit new customers, cut operating costs and create new income sources. Speaking at the launch of Ecobank’s new mobile banking application in Kenya, Ade Ayeyemi told Reuters this would help the group reach more users in 33 African nations where it operates. “Without technology we cannot go anywhere,”…