Author: Chronicle Editor

Despite widespread stakeholder disapproval, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, on Tuesday, presented the 6th National Broadcasting Code recently released by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC). Mohammed described the controversial document, presented at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, as “signed, sealed and delivered”. Since 27 May when it was proposed by the NBC, industry stakeholders have been critical of many of its provisions, which were deemed draconian, with the NBC facing allegations of straying into areas over which it has no jurisdiction. NBC code criticism Considered most irksome by stakeholders are provisions seeking to regulate content exclusivity, mandate content…

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 304 confirmed new coronavirus cases in the country on Tuesday. The 304 cases announced by the Centre for Disease Control takes the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 44433. The NCDC also announced the discharge of 11,188 patients from isolation centers across the country with 14 new deaths reported. Lagos state, the epicentre of the virus in Nigeria reported 59 new confirmed cases taking the total number of confirmed cases in Lagos alone to 15414. But it was the Federal Capital Territory that recorded the single highest number of cases…

The Abuja Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday re-arraigned former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mohamed Bello Adoke and Aliyu Abubakar before Justice I.E. Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on a 14-count amended charge of money laundering to the tune of over Six Million United States Dollars ($6,000,000). Count one of the new charges against Adoke read: “That you Mohammed Bello Adoke, sometime in September 2013, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, made a cash payment of the sum of $2,267,400.00 (Two Million, Two Hundred…

The Home Office has agreed to stop using a computer algorithm to help decide visa applications after allegations that it contained “entrenched racism”. The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) and digital rights group Foxglove launched a legal challenge against the system. Foxglove characterised it as “speedy boarding for white people”. The Home Office, however, said it did not accept that description. “We have been reviewing how the visa application streaming tool operates and will be redesigning our processes to make them even more streamlined and secure,” it said in a statement. The controversy centred over an applicant’s…

Acts as Lead Arranger for $1.5 Billion Facility to Boost Nigerian Oil Production and Government Revenue The United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), the leading pan-African financial services group, has acted as the lead arranger of a consortium of Nigerian commercial and international banks in a $1.5 Billion Pre-Export Finance Facility for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its upstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC). UBA is providing $200 million (Naira equivalent) to support investment growth and liquidity requirements. The facility will provide much needed capital for investment in NNPC’s production capacity, which is of strategic importance…

When guys get together to share some bottles of beer, it often culminates with one of them proposing “one for the road”. But in this case, it is about sex. Just before his girlfriend got married, the eve of her wedding, they had “One for the road”, but there is a party who was not particularly happy with the parting shot. A WhatsApp exchange between a girl and her boyfriend has been trending since it surfaced online. The conversation shows that her boyfriend had a one night stand with his ex-girlfriend a day to her wedding. The girl found out…

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the payment of fees and stipends of stranded scholarship students of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) studying abroad. A statement signed by the NDDC Director, Corporate Affairs, Charles Odili, said Buhari conveyed the directive to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, following the protest of the students. Odili said the students would be paid by the end of the week explaining that the delay was caused by the sudden death of Chief Ibanga Etang, the then acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration, EDFA, of the Commission in May. Odili said: “Under…

…Home Grown School feeding was not a sole decision of the ministry …124,589 households impacted between May 14 and July 6, 2020 …At N4,200 per take Home Ration the total figure for impacting 124,589 households is N523,273,800…FG provided funding while states implemented The Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has given a comprehensive response to speculations and fake news circulating around sums purportedly spent daily on the provision of take home rations under the modified Home Grown School Feeding programme. The Honourable Minister made the clarifications while speaking on Monday August 3, 2020 at…

Chelsea winger Willian, 31, has turned down a two-year deal with the club and has held talks over a free transfer to Arsenal, who are willing to offer the Brazil international the three-year contract he wants. (Guardian) Arsenal are also keen on Bayern Munich’s Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho, 28, and Atletico Madrid’s Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey, 27. (Times – subscription required) Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wants to see the club sign Barcelona French forward Ousmane Dembele, 23. (Le10 Sport) Manchester United are edging close to signing 20-year-old Borussia Dortmund and England winger Jadon Sancho on at least a five-year deal. (Mail) Manchester United will wait until late in the transfer window to move for Aston Villa’s English midfielder Jack Grealish,…

Nigeria Governors Forum have joined the growing list of Nigerians bemoaning the security situation in the country. They have planned a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and the Service chiefs to discuss “this worrisome and rapidly degenerating situation.” The governors conveyed their feelings in a letter to Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, whose convoy was attacked last week between Baga and Monguno in his state while on a trip. The attackers are suspected to be fighters of insurgent group, Boko Haram. Zulum accused the military of sabotage. He criticised troops for not showing enough commitment to the fight against…