Author: Chronicle Editor

The Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu has pledged the Commission’s support for the World Food Programme, WFP, towards ensuring that all support deployed by its donors and the government of Nigeria reaches its beneficiaries without any threat of corruption. Magu made the pledge on Tuesday while signing a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with the WFP at the EFCC’s Head Office, Abuja. The EFCC boss who noted that corruption is a serious threat that negatively affects the development of a nation said the new partnership will in no small measure help in alleviating the sufferings of…

Former FIFA executive committee member Amos Adamu of Nigeria faces a second ban for unethical conduct. The judging chamber of the FIFA ethics committee says it has opened proceedings after ethics prosecutors requested a two-year ban for charges including conflict of interest. Details were not specified, though Adamu was investigated in a Michael Garcia-led probe of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests. Adamu was an executive committee member in 2010 when Russia and Qatar won hosting rights. He could not vote while suspended by the ethics committee for seeking bribes in an undercover sting by British newspaper The…

The late rapper Tupac Shakur and Seattle-based rockers Pearl Jam lead a class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees that also include folkie Joan Baez and 1970s favorites Journey, Yes and Electric Light Orchestra. The rock hall also said Tuesday it would give a special award to Nile Rodgers, whose disco-era band Chic failed again to make the cut after its 11th time nominated. Baez will be inducted only months after her 1960s paramour, Bob Dylan, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The hall’s 32nd annual induction ceremony will take place on April 7 at Barclays Center…

China confirmed Tuesday that it has returned a US Navy underwater drone back to US authorities, which the country seized last week in the South China Sea. The underwater glider was handed back at noon (0400 GMT) Tuesday the Chinese Defence Ministry announced in a one sentence Chinese language statement on its official website. The drone was being used to collect military oceanographic data as part of routine operations near the Philippines, when a Chinese Navy ship intercepted it on December 15. The US Defence Department also issued a statement on the drone handover on Monday, saying that the initial…

Aviation unions on Tuesday shut down the operations of Arik Air, leaving hundreds of the airline’s passengers stranded across the country. The strike was embarked upon by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), the Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers(NAAPE). The unions embarked on the joint strike following the airline’s failure to pay seven months salary arrears and other alleged anti-labour practices. The unions said the industrial action would continue indefinitely until their demands are met by the management of Arik Air. They shut down Arik…

Real Madrid have had their ban on signing players reduced to one transfer window following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS. A statement on the website of the Spanish club read: “CAS has today informed Real Madrid CF of their decision by which they have partially upheld the appeal lodged by the club against the FIFA resolution which imposed a sanction forbidding the signing of players for two transfer windows, reducing said sanction to just one period, corresponding to the January 2017 transfer window. “The decision highlights the injustice of the original ban imposed by FIFA,…

U.S. Embassy in Ankara on Tuesday issued a statement saying that U.S. mission to Turkey will be closed. According to the statement, an individual approached the U.S. Embassy Ankara main gate and discharged a firearm. There have been no reported injuries and the individual is in police custody. “Due to this incident, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, and the U.S. Consulate in Adana will be closed for normal operations on Tuesday,’’ the statement said. The U.S. Mission also reminded U.S. citizens to review personal security plans, ensure communication connectivity and maintain a high level…

The Nigerian Communications Commission has said the proposed hike in data tariff by telecommunication companies is meant to protect the interest of the subscribers and prevent monopoly. The Deputy Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of the NCC, Mr. Ismail Adedigba, said this in Osogbo on the sidelines of the 81st consumer outreach programme held in Osogbo. He noted that the agency had not given up on the proposed increment of data tariff, saying the NCC was working tirelessly to protect the interest of Nigerians in order to prevent telecom giants from ripping them off at the end. Adedigba explained that some…

The staff of Arik Air are currently staging a protest at the domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed airport (MM2). They were joined by the United Labour Congress (ULC) and the Nigeria Pilots and Engineers union on Tuesday as they shut the offices of Arik Airlines, due to the inability of the airline to pay its workers for seven months. The acting Chairman of ULC, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, said in a telephone interview in Lagos that the union could no longer tolerate the inhumane treatment of Arik’s management to workers. Korodo said that apart from owing workers for seven months,…

The U.S. Government has condemned the assassination of Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, in Ankara. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in a statement, described the incident as “despicable”. “The United States condemns the assassination today in Ankara of Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones, the Russian people, and with the other victims who were injured in this shooting.” The U.S. offered to assist Russia and Turkey to unravel the mystery behind the attack. “We stand ready to offer assistance to Russia and Turkey as they investigate this despicable attack. “This attack…