Author: Chronicle Editor

VP highlights impact of Sustainability Plan in saving jobs, sustaining livelihood, improving healthcare sector Calls for global action in access to vaccines for African countries in Chatham House event Nigeria’s priorities in a post-COVID-19 world include restoring economic growth in the immediate term, building resilience in the health sector, and repositioning the economy on a sustainable footing in the medium term while saving jobs and building domestic capacity and local production in critical areas. These were the summations of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, during a virtual Chatham House interactive session on Tuesday themed: “Priorities for Nigeria’s Post-COVID Recovery”. During…

Kogi State House of Assembly has passed the state’s Violence Against Persons Prohibitions (VAPP) Bill to provide for the elimination of violence in private and public life, as well as life imprisonment for rapists. The passage followed the adoption of the report of the joint Committees on Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Judiciary and Justice, on the bill presented at plenary on Monday, in Lokoja. The report was presented by the Committee on Women Affairs, chairman, Abubakar Tanko Mohammed (APC-Kogi/Koto) and was followed by Clause-by-Clause consideration of the bill by the legislators at the Committee of the Whole. The Bill…

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has explained why the Federal Government is spending the huge sum of $1.5 billion on the Port Harcourt refinery, as it weighs in on the controversies and unverified claims by some Nigerians on the funds for the project. The state oil giant said that the funds approved for the 210,000 barrels per day capacity refinery was for complete rehabilitation and not turnaround maintenance. According to a report from NAN, this disclosure was made by the Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Mele Kyari, during a chat with the press on issues surrounding the rehabilitation…

The crisis over hijab (veil) wearing in Christian grant-aided mission schools took a violent turn yesterday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. Suspected hoodlums vandalised churches, shops and schools at Sabo-Oke, Muritala Mohammed Way and other areas of the metropolis. Other places affected include Post Office, Surulere and Maraba where churches and Christian schools are located. It took the combined efforts of officers and men of the Kwara State Police Command, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Army to prevent a breakdown of law and order. The tense situation sent fears down the spines of residents. The…

Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has warned Sunday Igboho and others agitating for a sovereign Yoruba State to stay away from the state. Akeredolu said Ondo people have elected to stay in the Federal Republic of Nigeria as constituted at present. He said no part of the entire state, known and delineated as Ondo State, would permit any gathering or agitation which may suggest, however remotely, that the people are in support of what he termed ‘unthinking rabble rousing. Akeredolu who spoke while swearing in Princess Catherine Oladunni Odu as the new Secretary to the State Government and other Special…

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 Control yesterday said that 122,410 Nigerians have been administered with doses of AstraZeneca since the national launch of the March 5 launch of the exercise in Abuja. The PTF stated that none of those who got their first jabs of have been down with severe adverse reactions to the vaccination. According to the PTF, there have only been isolated cases of mild pain and fever at the scene of vaccination. Though it listed Zamfara, Kebbi, Oyo and Kogi as the four states where vaccination has not be rolled out, Zamfara and Kebbi states later…

Britain’s Prince Harry will become the first chief impact officer of BetterUp Inc, a San Francisco-based start-up that provides employee coaching and mental health assistance, the company said on Tuesday. The move comes about a month after Harry, Queen Elizabeth’s grandson, and his American wife Meghan made a final split and said they would not return as working members of the royal family. Prince Harry has spoken publicly about his struggles with grief following the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a car crash in 1997. Earlier this month, Meghan told TV interviewer Oprah Winfrey that living in the…

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman as Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). On Tuesday, the Senate received a formal request from President Buhari, to confirm Suleiman as Chairman of NHRC. Also to be confirmed are fourteen others as Members of the Commission. The request was contained in a letter dated 17th March, 2021 and read during plenary by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan. Why FG preserved public jobs, exempted minimum wage earners from tax – Buhari According to President Buhari, the confirmation request was made pursuant to Section 2(3) of the National Human Rights Commission…

Collins Samuel, an alleged fraudster who obtained $8000 as Covid-19 benefit from the US state of Virginia, has been convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment by Justice P. Mallong of the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna, Kaduna State. Another fraudster, Okoh Kingsley Chukwuemeka also bagged two years in prison for fraud. Samuel had upon arraignment on March 11, 2021 pleaded ‘not guilty’ to a one count charge that borders on impersonation and obtaining by false pretences, brought against him by the Kaduna Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. He was arrested in Jos, Plateau State…

A Federal High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, presided over by Justice Agatha Okeke has given Senator Albert Bassey, the nod to appeal its earlier ruling, rejecting the Senator’s no-case submission. Bassey is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a six-count charge of alleged money laundering and for being in possession of six vehicles worth N204 million, provided by one Olajide Omokoro whose companies allegedly executed contracts for the Akwa Ibom State government. The EFCC had through its counsel, M. S. Abubakar, closed its case after calling several witnesses and tendered documents which…