Author: David Great

The Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) says it has sacked and demoted several staff found to have been involved in ticket racketeering. Fidet Okhiria, the NRC managing director, said this at the interactive session of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance on the 2024–2026 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) in Abuja on Wednesday. He said the corporation was working with the security agencies to address the menace. How to apply for FG Startup support Rep. James Faleke, the chairman of the committee, expressed worry over the meagre N345 million in revenue remitted by the corporation in 2023.…

The National Bureau of Statistics has said the average price of 5kg of cooking gas increased from N4,189.96 recorded in September to N4,562.51 in October. This is contained in the Bureau’s “Cooking Gas Price Watch’’ for October 2023, released on Wednesday in Abuja. The report said the October price represented an 8.89 percent increase, compared to what was obtained in September. The NBS said the average price of 5kg of cooking gas increased on a year-on-year basis by 1.76 percent from N4,483.75 recorded in October 2022 to N4,562.51 in October 2023. On state profile analysis, the report showed that Kano…

The House of Representatives passed the 2024-2026 medium-term expenditure framework on Tuesday, a set of assumptions that will be used to prepare the country’s budget over the next three years. The document, which was agreed by President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet before going to the House of Representatives for approval, pegs the naira around 700 naira per dollar next year before firming slightly in 2025 and 2026. The Nigerian currency last week briefly slumped to a record low of 1,105 against the dollar on the official market, bringing the official exchange rate within touching distance of the parallel market rate. The…

Nyesome Wike has claimed that he has saved N110 billion since he was confirmed as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on August 7, 2023. Wike made the declaration when he announced on Tuesday that the cost of obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) is N5 million. The former Rivers State governor said that the N110 billion generated barely three months since he was sworn in would be ploughed into developing infrastructures in the FCT, Nigeria’s capital. According to Wike, the FCT Administration and the Federal Capital Development Authority paid N8.9 billion monthly in salaries. Speaking…

FCT Minister Nyesom Wike says the FCT Administration has pegged the cost of issuing a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) at N5 million. Mr Wike made the pronouncement at a meeting with estate developers in Abuja on Tuesday. He said the payment could be made within four months of land allocation, after which the C of O would be handed over to the applicant. The minister added that he would seek the approval of President Bola Tinubu to link applicants’ National Identification Numbers to C of Os before issuance. Mr Wike said the era where three or more people…

At least 12 people died and 58 others were injured on Tuesday when a bus overturned on a highway in Mexico’s southeastern state of Veracruz, local government officials said. The accident occurred early Tuesday on the highway linking the towns of La Tinaja and Acayucan, authorities said on social media. A source in Mexico’s National Guard told AFP the crash was apparently due to driver error. 6.7m earthquake kills six in Philippines The Veracruz government said a massive emergency services response was initiated due to the magnitude of the accident. Dozens of people were taken to hospitals in the area,…

LeBron James claimed another piece of NBA history on Tuesday, becoming the first player to break the 39,000-point barrier as the Los Angeles Lakers routed the Utah Jazz to reach the knockout stage of the league’s new in-season tournament. The 38-year-old, needing just five points to reach the milestone heading into the game, etched his name into the record books with a three-pointer in the first quarter of a 131-99 Lakers win. Lebron James, who passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar last season to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, saluted the crowd as his achievement was announced. “I haven’t really had an…

Gunmen believed to be military personnel attacked the Adamawa State Police Headquarters, Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area, in the early hours of Wednesday, sending residents of Yola into panic. According to Daily Trust Newspaper, the state police public relations officer, SP Suleiman Nguroje, confirmed the attack but said things were under control. The police spokesman said, “The attack was repelled, but the identities of those behind it were unknown.” The newspaper quoted a source as alleging that the attackers were military personnel on a revenge mission following the alleged killing of a military officer by the police. Although the…

OpenAI announced on Tuesday its co-founder Sam Altman will return as CEO, days after he was fired by the board. “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo,” it said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. OpenAI’s board sacked Sam Altman last week, with Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella announcing soon after he was hiring Altman to run a new artificial intelligence research team. But in the fast-moving sequence of events, Altman said Tuesday he had the support of…

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State apologised on Tuesday for the outrageous amounts that appeared on the state’s procurement website, saying no administration was immune to mistakes and adding that his government was committed to public goods. Sanwo-Olu made the comment in response to the procurement record issued by the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency at the opening of the Lagos State Building Control Agency Building, PWD Ikeja. While applauding the open letter by the Action Democratic Congress’s governorship candidate in Lagos, Funso Doherty, Sanwo-Olu promised him that the government will continue to publicise its spending and make it open…