Author: Vincent Osuwo

Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, will offer interest-free loans to traders in the state starting January 2025. During a visit by the Edo State Association of Commodity Market Women and Men, Okpehbolo announced an initiative to support traders, businesspeople, and women who play important roles in the state’s economic development. He emphasised his administration’s commitment to empowering traders and improving livelihoods through sustainable economic policies. “Our traders are the backbone of our economy, and we must support them with the capital needed to grow their businesses. The interest-free loans will help our traders expand without the burden of high…

Some hoodlums in Minna, Niger State’s capital, attempted to block firefighters from extinguishing an inferno that destroyed a section of the Tunga market. It was gathered that the incident occurred days after the state governor, Mohammed Bago, paid an unscheduled visit to the market to inspect the ongoing road construction. He had issued a 30-day ultimatum to traders operating near the construction site of the road and had even pledged to pay shops whose property would be damaged during the visit. Some of the affected businessmen lost millions of naira in goods, including foam mattresses and home equipment, in addition…

The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have criticised President Bola Tinubu’s proposed 2025 budget of N47.9tn, expressing doubts about its feasibility and potential to address Nigeria’s economic challenges. Tinubu presented the budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, emphasising its focus on economic recovery and development. However, opposition parties have expressed a variety of concerns. The CUPP National Secretary, Peter Ahmeh, cited instances of budget duplication and mismanagement, stating that prior APC-led budgets had not resulted in substantial growth. “Every year, the budget…

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has sympathised with the families of children who died at a funfair in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Wednesday. Chronicle NG reports that the Oyo State Police Command has confirmed at least 35 persons dead in a stampede that occurred at the Islamic High School, Basorun, Ibadan, venue of the family event organised by Wings Foundation, owned by a former queen, Naomi Silekunola. On Thursday, the state police public relations officer, Adewale Osifeso, reported that the monarch’s ex-wife and seven others were arrested for their involvement in the funfair. However, the monarch’s…

The Oyo State Police Command arrested Naomi Silekunola, the ex-queen of the Ooni of Ife; Fasasi Abdulahi, the principal of Islamic High School, Ibadan; and six others in connection with the death of some children during a stampede at a funfair in Ibadan, the state capital, on Wednesday.  The ex-queen Naomi Silekunola was named as the main sponsor of the event. The number of children who died has risen to 35, while six others are critically injured. The event, which was held at the Islamic High School, Basorun, Ibadan, Oyo state, was made available to 5,000 children, but the number…

Peter Obi, the candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, visited the family of one of his teeming supporters whose residence was rattled by gas explosion. Chronicle NG reports that the residence of an Obi supporter simply identified as @Uptownoflagos was affected by a gas explosion on Tuesday, leading to the hospitalisation of three of his siblings who suffered third-degree burns. Reacting to the incident, Obi had sympathised with the affected family while he urged all and sundry to pray for the quick recovery of the affected victims. However, in a statement on his X page on…

The House of Representatives will, on December 31, 2024, present the sum of N704.91m for the use of vulnerable Nigerians owing to the economic hardship occasioned by the removal of the petrol subsidy by the President Bola Tinubu-led government. Recall that on July 18, the House resolved to cut 50% of their salary for six months in order to address the difficulties that ordinary Nigerians confront, following the acceptance of a motion introduced during a plenary session. Following a resolution by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, the House resolved in July to contribute half of their wages to address Nigerians’ hunger…

The Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Thursday granted Yahaya Bello, the immediate former governor of Kogi State, bail in the amount of N500 million with three sureties.  The trial judge, Justice MaryAnne Anenih, announced the decision after hearing a new bail application submitted before the court following the court’s refusal to grant Bello bail at the previous sitting. Bello, along with two others, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are on trial for 16 counts of criminal breach of trust and money laundering totalling N110.4 billion brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The court,…

George Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, has resigned from priesthood following allegations that he failed to handle child abuse cases correctly. A BBC investigation claimed that Carey advocated for a priest accused of assaulting teenage girls, David Tudor, to return to the priesthood. Tudor was barred from the church for five years in the 1980s due to the claims, but Carey later “allowed him to return under supervision.” Anthony Odiong, US-based Nigerian priest fathered children with sexual assault victims Tudor was fired from his position as a priest in October after admitting sexual misconduct. However, in his resignation letter…

The Anambra State Police Command announced the arrest of one Chidi Ekwesiri, 50, of Umunya, Oyi Local Government Area, and two others for harassing innocent inhabitants of the state.  In a press statement issued Wednesday, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, spokesman for the state command, stated that the Force recovered one automatic pump-action rifle and a police uniform from the suspect. Ikenga said, “In the early hours of Wednesday, December 18, 2024, operatives of the Special Anti-Cultism Squad of the Nigerian Police Enugwu-Ukwu, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, arrested one Chidi Ekwesiri (M) aged 50 years from Umunya, Oyi LGA,…