Author: David Great

President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria has overseen the Federal Executive Council to approve the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) $1 billion concessionary loan to support financing the budget and improve foreign exchange supply. Olawale Edun, Nigeria’s Finance Minister disclosed this on Monday after the weekly cabinet meeting. The AfDB loan which comes with an interest rate of 4.2% over 25 years with an eight-year moratorium is one of the many loans taken by the Tinubu administration since the President was sworn-in on May 29, 2023. “(Federal Executive Council) approved a $1 billion concessionary loan for general budget support and to be…

Nigeria on Monday revised its 2024 budget upwards by 1.5 trillion naira to 27.5 trillion naira ($32.76 billion), the Minister of Budget and National Planning Atiku Bagudu said. The most populous Black nation also increased the oil price benchmark and lowered the naira exchange rate assumption. Bagudu told reporters after the Federal Executive Council meeting that the cabinet had revised its oil price assumption up by $4 per barrel to $77.96 and its currency value to 750 naira per dollar, from 700 naira. The minister had last month said the country planned to spend 26.01 trillion naira for its 2024…

President Bola Tinubu on Monday swore in the newly-appointed eight Permanent Secretaries, whose appointments he approved last Friday after they successfully scaled the Federal Civil Service’s selection process. The Permanent Secretaries took their oath of office just before the commencement of this week’s federal executive council meeting, presided over by President Tinubu. The new Permanent Secretaries include: Ndakayo-Aishetu Gogo; Adeoye Ayodeji; Rimi Abba; Bako Odoh; Omachi Omenka; Ahmed Umar; Watti Tinuke; and Ella Agbo. Tinubu vows to grant full university autonomy Also present at the FEC meeting are Vice President Kashim Shettima, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George…

The Police in Lagos state have 32-year-old former sales representative, Bashiru Olatunji, was on Monday dragged before a magistrates’ court in Ikeja, for alleged theft. The defendant is standing trial before Magistrate E. Kubeinje on a one-count charge of stealing. He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. The prosecutor, DSP Kehinde Ajayi, told the court that the defendant committed the offence between January and November at Kosoko Street, Ojodu Berger, Lagos State. Ms Ajayi alleged that the defendant, while still acting as a sales representative to his employer, one Deke Super Store at Ojodu Berger, stole N7,809,000. The money…

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, is scheduled to meet with the heads of aviation agencies in the country over recurring safety issues in the industry. Keyamo will meet the aviation agencies’ heads on Monday in Abuja, according to a statement by the ministry. The agencies include the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Federal Airport Authority Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). Tinubu vows to grant full university autonomy The minister will meet with them “to discuss the recent accidents in the sector and will thereafter brief the…

A winter storm has left more than two thousand towns and villages in war-torn Ukraine without power Monday, the government said, piling pressure on the country’s fragile power grid. The energy infrastructure has been targeted systematically by Russian forces, and Kyiv has warned that Moscow is preparing fresh strikes on key facilities this winter. “In total, 2,019 settlements in 16 regions are cut off from the grid,” the interior ministry said. Israel-Hamas War: Biden calls for extension of truce as over 150 hostages get freedom In the southern city of Odesa, which has been subjected to repeated Russian strikes, authorities…

At least 18 people were killed in lightning strikes across western India’s Gujarat state during unseasonably intense storms on Sunday, officials said. Such big rainstorms are not expected in Gujarat during winter months, and fierce downpours caught many off guard. While flash floods and lightning kill dozens of people in India each year, scientists warn that rising global temperatures are unleashing a cascade of extreme weather events. India rescuers’ bid to free 41 tunnel workers fail At least 20 people were killed during the heavy rains, with at least 18 of them due to lightning, Gujarat state authorities said in…

Governor Dauda Lawal told Zamfara residents on Sunday to continue to pray and seek divine intervention to end insecurity in the state. Mr. Lawal said this in a message at the opening of Zamfara’s 27th Qur’anic recitation competition in Gusau, the state capital. Bandits kidnapped 100 men, women, and children from Mutunji in Maru LGA on Friday. The bandits reportedly raided the community after the villagers failed to pay a N50 million protection levy they demanded. Led by their kingpin, Damina, riding on motorbikes, the bandits surrounded the community after evening prayers on Friday. “On behalf of the state government,…

The military wing of Hamas said Sunday that the commander of its northern brigade and four other senior leaders had been killed during Israel’s offensive against the Islamist movement. In a statement, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said Ahmed al-Ghandour was a member of its military council and named three of the others, among them Ayman Siyyam, head of its rocket division, while its West Bank branch confirmed another leader’s death. “We pledge to Allah we will continue their path and that their blood will be a light for the mujahedeen and a fire for the occupiers,” the statement said, without…

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted over two tonnes of illicit substances in Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Ekiti, Anambra, Ondo, and Kogi last week. Its spokesman, Femi Babafemi, stated on Sunday in Abuja that the agency’s operatives stormed a warehouse at Obi Camp in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo on Monday, November 20. They seized 338kg of Indian hemp concealed in sacks of charcoal in the raid. NDLEA operatives also raided Ikhin Forest in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo on Saturday, November 25, and seized 235kg of the same psychoactive substance. “A suspect, Onah Ikechukwu…