Author: Opalim Lifted

The Presidency has assured that the second 150,000 barrels per day plant of the Port Harcourt Refining Company in Rivers State will soon become operational as work is currently ongoing at the facility. PHRC has two refineries including the 60,000bpd facility, and the 150,000bpd plant. Presidency spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement titled ‘Putting to Rest Rumours about Port Harcourt Refinery Complex: Our Fact-Finding Mission’, advised Nigerians to ignore negative talks on the newly revived old Port Harcourt 60,000 barrels per day refinery. According to him, while the refinery is currently not running at 100 percent, it is functioning at…

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the release of funds for the payment of pension arrears, salary increases, and other entitlements owed to retired military personnel, following two days of peaceful protests at the Federal Ministry of Finance by army veterans. Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Muhammed Matawalle, announced the development on Friday, expressing gratitude to the President for his swift intervention. Matawalle commended Tinubu for ensuring the prompt payment of the three-month salary increase and the release of funds for the settlement of pension arrears and other owed entitlements to retired military personnel. In a statement issued by…

The Senate has expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of Nigeria’s electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), since the privatization of the power sector. The red (upper) chamber described the privatization of the power sector as a failure, while threatening to initiate legislative measures, to reverse the policy. This was made when the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, submitted his report for consideration. During the debate, he noted that the Discos have largely failed to deliver reliable electricity to Nigerians. This sparked concerns about the effectiveness of the 2013 privatization program,…

Brighton suffered only their third Premier League defeat of the season as two goals from Alex Iwobi, along with an own goal from the unfortunate Matt O’Riley, helped Fulham to victory at a wet and windy Craven Cottage. The game was played in horrendous conditions of heavy rain and strong winds, but there were no excuses for Bart Verbruggen’s early mistake to gift the hosts the lead. After only three minutes, Brighton’s Dutch keeper, looking to play a short pass to team-mate Carlos Baleba inside the penalty area, saw Alex Iwobi intercept and slide the ball into an unguarded net…

Defender Dean Huijsen scored the only goal as Bournemouth beat Tottenham to climb above them in the Premier League table. The 19-year-old was left unmarked at the back post to head home Marcus Tavernier’s inswinging corner on 17 minutes. Huijsen’s goal extended Spurs’ poor record of dealing with set-pieces, and prompted manager Ange Postecoglou to shake his head ruefully on the touchline. Postecoglou’s side had started well, with Dominic Solanke prominent as he returned to the Vitality Stadium following his £65m summer move. Solanke, who was greeted by a smattering of boos, had two of the first three shots for…

Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, chairman senate committee on local content, says plans are underway to kick-start the revitalisation of the Ajaokuta Steel Company plants in the first quarter of 2025. In September, Shuaibu Audu, minister of steel development, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the builders of the Ajaokuta steel plant, Messrs Tyazhpromexport (TPE), for the rehabilitation, completion, and operation of the plant and the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO). Speaking on Tuesday at the ongoing Practical Nigerian Content Forum organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in Bayelsa state, Akpoti-Uduaghan said the federal government has located…

An Abuja-bound Max Air flight made an emergency landing after one of its engines caught fire. The incident occurred barely 10 minutes after the flight departed the Maiduguri airport in Borno state on Wednesday. Over 100 passengers, including Usman Kadafur, deputy governor of Borno, were on board the Abuja-bound flight. According to Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, preliminary reports suggest that one of the aircraft’s engines developed a fault after a bird strike. The bird strike sparked a fire in the aircraft’s engine. The pilot diverted the aircraft back to the Maiduguri airport. 119…

The police have fingered newly formed terror group Lakurawa as the mastermind of an explosion that occurred along the Dansadau-Gusau Road in the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State on Wednesday. “This Lakurawa (group) when they were dislodged by the Army in Sokoto and Kebbi, the rest of them that survived the military onslaught were trying to find new enclaves,” the state’s police commissioner Muhammed Dalijan said on Channels TV on Thursday. “As they were passing that village to Birnin-Gwari forest, they planted a bomb under a bridge. Then a motorist was passing and step on it. It exploded…

Members of the Nigerian Armed Forces retirees under the umbrella of the Coalition of Military Pensioners in Abuja shut down the Federal Ministry of Finance on Thursday morning over the non-payment of their 20% to 28% salary increment from January to November 2024. The retired military officers who came from different chapters lamented the failure of the Federal Government to pay them their entitlements. Their demands are payment of palliatives from October 2023 to November 2024, payment of N32,000 added to pension, payment of Security Debarment Allowance (SDA) in bulk and refund of deductions made from the pensions of medically…

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group has announced plans to open a branch in Saudi Arabia and expand its presence across Africa in 2025. This was disclosed by the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, during a send-forth dinner held in honour of the bank’s retired non-executive directors in Abuja on Wednesday night. Alawuba also revealed that the bank employs over 25,000 staff and serves more than 45 million customers across 24 countries. He said, “The UBA, which has over 25,000 staff and serves more than 45 million customers across 24 countries, is the legacy you…