Author: Chronicle Editor

Lawyers to HealthPlus, the pharmaceutical retail firm at the centre of a running hostile takeover drama, have stated that Alta Semper Capital, a British foreign private equity firm (PEF), lacks the power to remove Olubukunola George as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founder of the company. The lawyers made their position known in a letter addressed to the equity firm on its announcement, on Saturday, that it had terminated the appointment of George and appointed Chidi Okoro as Chief Transformation Officer (CFO). The solicitors, AO Muoka & Co, said the action of the PEF is a flagrant disregard for the…

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Maitama, Abuja, on Monday, awarded N50m damages against the Senator Elisha Abbo, to be paid as compensation to Osimibibra Warmate, a female attendant he assaulted at a sex-toy shop. Justice Samira Bature gave the order in her judgment on the fundamental rights enforcement suit instituted by Warmate against the senator. The video clip of the alleged assault of the woman by the senator representing Adamawa North had sparked a national outrage at the time. The police had in 2019 charged before a magistrate court in Zuba, Abuja with one count of assaulting…

Justice M. S. Sifawa of the Sokoto State High Court, Sokoto on Monday, September 28, 2020 convicted and sentenced the trio of Chima Nweke (a.k.a Dr. Idris Musa), Ubaka Kanayo David and Glory Arohia (a.k.a Ijeoma Ogbuagu) to prison for fraud. The convicts were prosecuted by the Sokoto Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on one count separate charge of cheating and conspiracy to which they pleaded guilty. Following their plea, prosecuting counsels, comprising S. H. Sa’ad, Musa Mela Gwani and Habila Jonathan asked the court to convict and sentence them accordingly, while defence counsel, A.…

The International Press Centre (IPC) has urged the Nigerian government to recognise the importance of respecting legal and institutional frameworks that guarantee the right to information in the country in line with continental and international standards. The call comes as the world celebrated the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI). IDUAI is celebrated yearly on 28 September as declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and adopted by the UN General Assembly. In a statement to mark the IDUAI day, IPC expressed concern about the state of Access to information in Nigeria despite adopting…

Justice Josephine Oyefeso of the Lagos State High Court Igbosere, Lagos has sentenced a fraudster, Tunde Martins, to seven years imprisonment for a N30million (Thirty Million Naira) fraud. The convict had obtained the said sum as a loan from Diamond Bank Plc, with a forged Certificate of Occupancy, C of O, and refused to pay back. His journey to prison subsequently began after he was arraigned alongside his company, Centre Global Limited, by the Lagos Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, sometime in 2018 on a three-count charge, bordering on obtaining by false pretence, forgery and…

Justice Umaru Fadawu of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri, on Monday, September 28, 2020 convicted Babagana Abatcha for fraud. The convict was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Maiduguri Zonal office on a one-count charge, bordering on criminal breach of trust to the tune of N9, 000,000.00 (nine million naira). The count reads: “That you, Babagana Abatcha sometime between 2017 and 2018 at Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, being entrusted with care over certain properties to wit: N9,000,000.00 (Nine Million Naira) only, by one Umar Gujja Ali being payment for the…

The number of deaths from coronavirus globally has crossed the million threshold, with more than 1,000,502 deaths recorded as of Sunday evening, according to worldometer.info. That includes over 209,000 deaths in the United States, which has lost more people to COVID-19 than any other country, and more than twice as India, the next most impacted country with about 95,000 dead. The total coronavirus infections globally has also crossed 33 million with the 33,192,997 cases reported as of Sunday evening, according to the worldometer.info data. Worst still, health experts say there are likely far more cases out there that have not been confirmed On…

Mr Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has hailed the decision of labour leaders to suspend their planned protest scheduled to have commenced Monday. Kyari, in a tweet on his official Twitter handle on Monday praised the leadership of the unions for choosing the pursuit of common good. He said : ”Being a former union leader, I understand the difficulties of labour leadership when faced with choices between stark realities and legitimate follower expectations. GE, NDPHC Restore 360MW In Nigeria  “The leadership chose the pursuit of common good and posterity will vindicate us all for standing…

General Electric has safely completed service interventions on three 9E gas turbines at the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) power plants in Calabar and Sapele, South South, Nigeria. With compressive safety measures due to COVID-19 in place, GE and NDPHC quickly ensured both employee safety and on-time project execution. Outages were executed on time and the restored power will enable NDPHC to provide the equivalent electricity needed to power up to 2 million Nigerian homes, a statement on Monday said. The operation reduced the risk of unplanned downtime of its power generation equipment, enabling the plants to reliably secure…

President Muhammadu Buhari has transmitted the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) 2020 to the National Assembly and has proposed the creation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. The bill proposes the scrapping of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency. The bill states that the NNPC Limited will be incorporated by the Minister of Petroleum, who together with his finance counterparts, will determine NNPC’s assets and liabilities that will be inherited by the new firm. Section 54 (1, 2 and3 ) reads in part, “The Minister (of Petroleum) and the Minister of Finance shall determine…