Author: Chronicle Editor

Nigeria’s recession deepened in the third quarter and oil production fell, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday, as a dollar shortage kept Africa’s biggest economy in a stranglehold. Gross domestic product contracted by 2.24 percent, the NBS said. A slump in crude prices led Nigeria’s economy to shrink by 2.06 percent in the second quarter, tipping it into recession for the first time in 25 years. The NBS report comes a day before an interest rate decision, where analysts expect the central bank to hold benchmark rates at 14 percent, amid galloping inflation that hit a more…

Pope Francis has granted priests the ability to forgive abortion. In a speech at the Vatican, he made permanent the temporary measure put in place for the Vatican’s jubilee year. “I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve those who have committed the sin of procured abortion,” the pope wrote in an apostolic letter marking the end of the “Year of Mercy”, which wound up Sunday. “The provision I had made in this regard, limited to the duration of the Extraordinary Holy Year, is hereby extended, notwithstanding anything to the contrary,” he wrote.…

Police have broken up a terror ring plotting an attack in France after arresting seven suspects in Strasbourg and Marseille, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday. The arrests of the alleged plotters from France, Morocco and Afghanistan “enabled us to prevent a long-planned terror attack on our soil,” Cazeneuve told a televised news conference. He said the investigation would show whether “the foiled attack was a coordinated attack aiming to target several sites simultaneously on our soil.” Police raids were carried out overnight Saturday to Sunday in the eastern city of Strasbourg and Marseille in the south following an…

Gemalto the world leader in digital security, has launched the world’s first solution for real-time reactivation of dormant SIMs in Ghana. LinqUs SIM Reactivation, allows operators to seamlessly reconnect lost prepaid subscribers at a fraction of normal acquisition costs. Gemalto’s innovative platform is designed to support customer experience management strategies by easing the reacquisition process. Lapsed subscribers can simply reuse their old SIM to instantly rejoin a network, anytime and anywhere. Research by GSMA reports that in 2016, most of the Ghanaian telecom SIM market is prepaid (97.46%). The research findings also prove that the country is also facing Multi…

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has called on the Federal Government to pay greater attention to the welfare of Nigerian soldiers on active service and families of fallen soldiers. Bello made this call while on a condolence visit to the immediate family of the late Lt. Col Muhammad Abu Ali in Kaduna on Sunday, 20th November. He was accompanied by the Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Imam Umar, where they both met with the widow of the deceased, Mrs Samira Abu Ali, and the three children. Gov. Bello, while acknowledging the improvement in the welfare…

Muhammad Babandede, the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has said that the President Buhari administration is considering extending validity period for international passports from its current 5 years to 10 years. Babandede said this to reporters in his office on Saturday. He added that the announcement will be made in the coming months. “We have submitted a memo to the president and we believe we’ll get a positive response to that soon,” Babandede said. According to PREMIUM TIMES, He said that this development is in response to several complaints from Nigerians and the international community. “We have received complaints…

The Ebonyi Police Command says it will start impounding and prosecuting drivers of vehicles with factory fitted tinted glasses who have not obtained the newly approved permit. Mr George Okafor, its Public Relations Officer (PPRO), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakaliki on Monday that the new permit, with unique security features, was to prevent hoodlums from using such vehicles for crimes. According to him, the new permit contains bio data of the car owner which include the photograph, finger prints, name and date of birth, among others. “The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Ibrahim Idris, on…

Model Gigi Hadid laid into soon-to-be First Lady Melania Trump during the opening monologue at the American Music Awards Sunday night with a comic impression. “I love my husband, President Barack Obama and our children Sasha and Malia,” Hadid said with pouted lips, squinted eyes and a fake accent as she mocked Melania’s Republican National Convention speech that lifted material from a speech given by First Lady Michelle Obama. According to Fox news, Hadid, who co-hosted the show with former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Jay Pharoah, says she has been working on her debut Melania impersonation “all week.” “I…

Justice Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court has been docked after he was arraigned on Monday before the Federal High Court in Abuja over corruption charges. He appeared before Justice John Tsoho. Ngwuta has been at logger head with Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, after he accused him of trying to bribe him to divert a judgment. In a response to Ngwuta’s accusations, Amaechi’s media team said: “Our attention has been drawn to the allegations leveled against Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, by Supreme Court Justice, The Honourable Justice Sylvester Ngwuta. In response we state that,…

The Kebbi State Government has called on the farmers who benefited from the CBN Anchor Borrowers’ agricultural loan programme to hasten repayment for others to benefit. Alh Garba Dandiga, the state Commissioner of Agriculture, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Birnin Kebbi on Monday. He said the beneficiaries were expected to repay the loans in cash or in kind, adding that “an individual farmer or group may repay in cash or with bags of paddy rice”. He said the loans were not free and warned the beneficiaries to hasten repayment to avoid…