Author: Chronicle Editor

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Benue Zonal Office, on Monday arraigned the duo of Victor Gabriel Charles and John Aboyi Omaku before Justice Moris Ikpambese of the Benue State High Court, Makurdi over alleged conspiracy and misappropriation of pension funds to the tune of N19million. Charles, a former vice chairman, Nigerian Union of Pensioners, (NUP), and Omaku, former Branch Chairman of the union, Benue State Chapter, were arraigned on two-count charges of fraud to which they pleaded not guilty. Count one of the charge read:”That you, Victor Gabriel Charles and John Aboyi Omakwu on 19th September, 2013 in…

The Court of Appeal sitting in Awka, Anambra State on Friday, July 17, 2020 added additional two years to the five years prison term, (without option of fine) handed to 39-year-old convict, Ikenna Stanislaus Ugwunna by Justice Chudi Nwankwor of Anambra State High Court, Ogidi. The convict had approached the appellate court for reprieve, but got additional jail term, as the court held that the trial court did not have the discretion to prescribe the five year jail term it sentenced the convict for an offence the law stipulates seven years jail term on conviction, hence it reviewed the sentence…

Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has explained why it had to scale down some of its activities. The EFCC said due to the coronavirus pandemic it had to restrict some activities, stressing that, those invited by the Commission are not affected by this restriction. “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) wishes to inform the general public that normal activities and operations are running smoothly and seamlessly in all its Zonal Offices across the country and its Corporate Headquarters in Abuja,” Dele Oyewale Head, Media and Publicity said in a statement. EFCC presents another witness against…

President Muhammadu Buhari is in a closed-door meeting with Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, at the State House, Abuja. Though the agenda for the meeting is unknown at the time of filing this report, it is believed to be centered around ongoing military operations in the country, particularly in the north east and north west. Buhari, in a recent meeting with Service Chiefs and other security heads, had warned he would no longer tolerate escalation of insecurity. He frowned at lack of synergy among the security heads and told them to work together to bring myriads of security challenges…

The Ballon d’Or for the world’s best players will not be awarded in 2020 because of a “lack of sufficient fair conditions” created by the coronavirus pandemic. The prize has been awarded by France Football every year since 1956. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi won the men’s prize last year, with USA forward Megan Rapinoe claiming the women’s trophy. France Football said awarding a prize in a “crippled” year would “not be worthy” of their history. “We did not want to put an indelible asterisk on the prize list like ‘trophy won in exceptional circumstances due to the Covid-19 health crisis’,” it…

The acting managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Prof. ‪Kemebradikumo Pondei has slumped at the House of Representatives when he was under cross examination from lawmakers. The acting managing director of NDDC, Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei went unconscious and almost fainted during the ongoing #NDDCProbe #NDDCfraudfacts pic.twitter.com/xRpzzz09pq — Chronicle NG (@chronicle_ng) July 20, 2020 Chronicle NG reports that Mr. Pondei has been rushed to the hospital from the National Assembly. As at the time of filing this report, the committee had declared 30 minutes break before it will reconvene to cross examine the Minister of Niger Delta, Senator…

The UK government has signed deals for 90 million doses of promising coronavirus vaccines that are being developed. The vaccines are being researched by an alliance between the pharmaceutical companies BioNtech and Pfizer as well as the firm Valneva. The new deal is on top of 100 million doses of the Oxford University vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca. However, it is still uncertain which of the experimental vaccines may work. A vaccine is widely seen as the best chance of getting our lives back to normal. Research is taking place at an unprecedented scale – the world became aware of…

The preliminary results of a clinical trial suggest a new treatment for Covid-19 dramatically reduces the number of patients needing intensive care, according to the UK company that developed it. The treatment from Southampton-based biotech Synairgen uses a protein called interferon beta which the body produces when it gets a viral infection. The protein is inhaled directly into the lungs of patients with coronavirus, using a nebuliser, in the hope that it will stimulate an immune response. The initial findings suggest the treatment cut the odds of a Covid-19 patient in hospital developing severe disease – such as requiring ventilation…

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 556 confirmed new coronavirus cases in the country on Sunday. The 556 cases announced by the Centre for Disease Control takes the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 36663. The NCDC also announced the discharge of 167 patients from isolation centers across the country with 11 new deaths reported. Lagos state, the epicentre of the virus in Nigeria topped the number of confirmed cases with 97 new cases taking the total number of confirmed cases in Lagos alone to 13438. Nigeria announces 653 new coronavirus cases But it was Edo…

There is anxiety in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State as they prepare for their primaries in Akure, the state capital. While 3,127 APC delegates will elect its governorship standard bearer today, PDP will pick its candidate on Wednesday. Ahead of the shadow poll, Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) and his estranged deputy, Agboola Ajayi, of the PDP, continued their media war on Sunday. The deputy governor accused Akeredolu of running the state aground. The governor said he would not allow Ajayi to distract him from his preparation for today’s primary.…