Author: Opalim Lifted

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has confirmed that results for candidates who sat the first day of the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will be released before midnight on Friday. In a statement issued by its Public Communication Adviser, Fabian Benjamin, the board said candidates who wrote the exam on Thursday, April 16, should expect access to their results once processing is completed later in the day. “This is to inform all candidates who sat for the 2026 UTME on Thursday, 16th April 2026, that their results will be released today before midnight,” the statement said. JAMB…

President Bola Tinubu has signed into law the 2026 Appropriation Bill, approving an aggregate expenditure of N68.32 trillion and extending the implementation period of the 2025 capital budget to June 30, 2026. The extension moves the previous deadline from March 31, 2026, giving Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) additional time to complete ongoing capital projects across the country. A breakdown of the 2026 budget shows that N4.799 trillion is allocated to statutory transfers, N15.8 trillion for debt servicing, and N15.4 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure. Capital expenditure stands at N32.2 trillion, accounting for about half of the total budget. The…

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja has issued a warrant of arrest against former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, and a Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Bashir Nura Alkali, over an alleged fraud involving $1.3 million and ₦746.6 million. Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie gave the order on Thursday after the two defendants failed to appear in court for their scheduled arraignment. Only the third defendant, Sani Nafiu Mohammed, was present. The trio are to be arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 21-count charge bordering on criminal…

Pope Leo XIV has said the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” who prioritise war spending over human development. The pontiff’s remarks come amid rising tensions between him and Donald Trump following his criticism of the US-Israel strikes on Iran. The pope said God does not bless conflicts and that military action cannot deliver lasting stability. Following his comments, Trump described the pontiff as “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” after the pope called for an end to rising global conflicts. Speaking on Thursday at Saint Joseph Cathedral in Bamenda, Cameroon, during his ongoing 11-day…

Nigeria has ruled out approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for loans, even as the country’s public debt continues to climb. The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, made this clear on Thursday during a ministers’ briefing at the ongoing IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC. His comments come just a day after the Debt Management Office (DMO) revealed that Nigeria’s total public debt surged by N14 trillion to N159.27 trillion as of the fourth quarter of 2025. Despite growing concerns over borrowing, Edun insisted that the government is not considering financial support from…

Aston Villa set up an all-English Europa League semi-final with Nottingham Forest after completing a commanding 7-1 aggregate victory against Bologna at Villa Park. Already 3-1 up from the first leg, tournament favourites Villa produced a statement display under four-time Europa League-winning manager Unai Emery to take another step closer to ending a 30-year trophy drought. It only took the Premier League side 16 minutes to increase their advantage in the tie as Ollie Watkins – the star of the first leg – applied the finishing touch on a wonderful team move to score his 100th goal for the club…

Nottingham Forest beat 10-man Porto to advance to the semi-finals of a European competition for the first time since 1984, where they will face Premier League rivals Aston Villa. After last week’s 1-1 draw in Portugal, Morgan Gibbs-White scored the only goal at the City Ground to set up a mouth-watering final-four Europa League tie with Villa later this month. Porto had failed to win any of their previous 24 matches on English soil, including a 2-0 defeat to Forest in October. The task became even tougher for the Portuguese side when Jan Bednarek was sent off after just eight…

Aliko Dangote, founder and president of the Dangote Group has warned that powerful foreign interests are actively working against Africa’s economic growth, urging Africans to take the lead in investing in the continent. Speaking at the Investing in Africa forum on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, the Dangote Group founder stressed that Africa must fix its regional markets before expecting a successful single continental market. According to him, the vision of a unified African market under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) cannot succeed without strong and functional regional blocs. “The Africa free…

MTN Nigeria has temporarily suspended its popular Xtratime airtime and data credit service to comply with new digital lending regulations, affecting millions of subscribers across the country. The telecom giant disclosed the development in a corporate filing to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Thursday, citing the need to align with the Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations, 2025. The Xtratime service, widely used by customers to borrow airtime or data and repay on their next recharge, has become a financial fallback for many Nigerians, especially during cash shortages. According to the company secretary, Uto Ukpanah, the suspension is…

Nigerian singer, Omawumi (born Omawumi Boma Magbele), has shared her perspective on how relationships have changed over time, pushing back against the idea that modern dating is more transactional. Speaking during a podcast session with Pulse Nigeria, the singer explained that exchanges in relationships are not new but have simply taken different forms across generations. According to her, what people call “transactional” today existed in simpler ways in the past. “I disagree because women have had ‘long throat’ since the beginning of time, but our own form of transaction was different. Back in secondary school through university days holding hands…