Author: Chronicle Editor

Nigeria has picked an African Development Bank (AfDB) power expert to run its electricity transmission company, in an effort to rejuvenate the country’s creaking power infrastructure, the power ministry said on Friday. President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to increase power capacity exponentially during his four-year term and meet the demands of Nigeria’s more than 180 million people entirely within a decade. Usman Gur Mohammed will be on secondment to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) for 12 months from the African Development Bank, where he was the Principal Power Utility Transformation Specialist for Nigeria, the ministry of power, works and…

The Buhari presidency has told musician Tu Face and all those who wish to join his organized protest on Monday that they are free to do so. “This administration will not prevent Nigerians from expressing themselves in peaceful protests”, said Laolu Akande, a senior special assistant(media) in the presidency. “It is s fundamental right of the people”. Akande expressed Presidency’s position a day after the police commissioner in Lagos, Fatai Owoseni said the police would disallow the protest on grounds that it could be hijacked by hoodlums and it is illegal. Akande went further to question the logic behind the…

Even if Arsenal beat leaders Chelsea on Saturday, would you trust the Gunners to push on and seriously challenge them for the title? I think not. It is possible Arsene Wenger’s side will win at Stamford Bridge because, on their day, they can turn any team over. But you need consistency to sustain a title bid and they do not have it. This is the same old Arsenal – a team who cannot see things through. They can be brilliant but they are also soft – and that is the way they have been for several years now. Right mental…

The Police High Command has pleaded with musician Tu Face Idibia and others to shelve their planned protests against the Buhari administration, in the interest of peace and public order. In a statement Friday night issued in Abuja, the police said they were in possession of ‘credible intelligence’ that some other groups are planning a counter protest or marches between 5 February and 6 February, the days the Tu Face group has also planned to hold protests in some parts of the country. “If these various planned protests/ demonstrations are held as scheduled, that there may be breakdown of law…

Donald Trump’s administration has imposed sanctions on Iran following its recent ballistic missile test. The sanctions target 13 people and 12 companies, including groups in China, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. President Trump tweeted earlier: “Iran is playing with fire – they don’t appreciate how ‘kind’ President Obama was to them. Not me!” Iran is playing with fire – they don’t appreciate how “kind” President Obama was to them. Not me! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2017 Iran called the threats from “an inexperienced person” useless, vowing to impose reciprocal measures. John Smith, the US Treasury Department’s…

A US judge in Seattle has issued a temporary nationwide block on President Donald Trump’s ban on travellers from seven mainly Muslim nations. Federal Judge James Robart ruled against government lawyers’ claims that US states did not have the standing to challenge Mr Trump’s executive order. Last week’s order has led to protests and confusion at US airports. Some 60,000 visas have since been revoked. The Justice Department now plans to file an emergency stay of the ruling. In a statement, the White House described Mr Trump’s directive as “lawful and appropriate”. “The president’s order is intended to protect the…

Nigerian mid-tier lender FCMB has sold 5.1 billion naira ($16 million) of bonds, less than it originally planned to raise, at an interest rate coupon of 17.25 per cent, its advisers said on Friday. The seven-year bond was issued by way of a book-building with Standard Chartered Bank, local investment bank Chapel Hill Denham and FCMB Capital Markets as book runners. The offer was fully subscribed, they said in a statement. Several Nigerian lenders will likely raise fresh capital this year or sell some assets to boost capital ratios, after low oil prices created dollar shortages and weakened the naira…

Nigeria’s central bank sold about 400 billion naira ($1.27 billion) of Treasury bills on Friday, lifting the interbank lending rate up to 12 percent, traders said. The bank sold 82 billion naira in 181-day Treasury bills at 18 per cent and 309 billion at 18.6 per cent, mopping up liquidity from the money market and pushing up the cost of borrowing among commercial lenders. “We have some major placers quoting about 20 per cent for overnight placement, but most takers are not willing to borrow at that rate,” one dealer said, adding that the rate eventually settled around between 10…

The likely next president of Angola, Joao Lourenco, is a ruling party loyalist and former general who endured several years out of favour after he angled for the top job in the 1990s. Since then, the 62-year-old Lourenco has convinced key regime players and analysts he is the right man to succeed President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled the oil-rich southwest African nation for 37 years. Currently defence minister and deputy president of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party, Lourenco is firmly “part of the inner circle of power”, according to Didier Peclard, Angola…

Sales of broccoli and iceberg lettuce were being rationed by British supermarket giants Tesco and Morrisons on Friday due to widespread shortages caused by bad weather in southern Europe. Shoppers vented their frustration and the government said it was monitoring the situation after weeks of scarce supplies of broccoli, aubergines and salads that have angered healthy eaters nationwide. “Sorry: Temporarily Out of Stock”, read a sign on the lettuce shelf in a branch of Tesco, Britain’s biggest supermarket chain, near St Paul’s Cathedral. “Due to bad weather conditions in Spain, we are experiencing some availability issues, but are working with…