By Soni Daniel, Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Ezra Ukanwa, Emma Elebeke and Fortune Eromosele ABUJA —  Despite the Federal Government’s intervention, slashing transport fares by 50 per cent during the Yuletide, transport fares have not gone down, rather, commuters at various bus stations in Lagos, Abuja and other major cities had to cough out huge sums of money to travel following the rise in fares. This came as the Federal Government said it entered into an agreement with leading transport companies, among whom are God is Good Motors, Chisco Transport, The Young Shall Grow Motors, God Bless ..read more

By Elizabeth Adegbesan The naira yesterday appreciated to N1, 220 per dollar in the parallel market from N1, 238 per dollar on Wednesday. However, the naira depreciated to N861.91 per dollar in the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM). Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for NAFEM rose to N861.91 per dollar from N854.61 per dollar on Wednesday, indicating a N7.3 depreciation for the naira. The intraday high stood at N1249 per dollar while the intraday low for the window was N700 per dollar resulting in a N549 per dollar margin.  As a result, the gap betwee ..read more

By Joseph Erunke The Federal Government said it was working towards returning 15 million out of school children to classrooms by 2027, though evasive on the current number of children that were out of school. But the government which disclosed that it has so far brought a total of 230 out of school children back to school since the beginning of the current administration, said it was an embarrassment that Nigeria was being continually associated with the highest number of out of school children in the world. Minister of Education,Prof. Tahir Mamman, who address newsmen, yesterday, in Abuja, sa ..read more

By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief & Victoria Ojeme The Federal  Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), has recorded exponential growth in its revenue to over N56 billion in 2023. Speaking at a media engagement in Abuja, the Executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, stated that 90 per cent of the Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) came by means of payment of penalties by defaulting companies in the country. “In 2023, our internally generated revenue is already N56billion and we have remitted to the government N22.4billion and for me what this demonstrates is th ..read more

By Innocent Anaba Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, and the National Sugar-sweetened Beverage Tax Coalition, have warned of the dangers of unbridled sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption, saying the SSB industry is increasingly undermining public health for profits. The organisations, referencing research, accused the industry of promoting deliberately misleading narratives, clouding the public’s understanding of the true health implications associated with habitual consumption of their products. They accused SSBs, including soda and fruit drinks of playing ..read more

By Henry  Umoru THE Senate has confirmed the appointment of 11 Justices recommended for the Supreme Court bench. The confirmation followed the consideration of a report of the screening and approval of the nominees presented by the Chairman, Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal matters, Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North) during plenary, yesterday. The 11 confirmed Justices are Justice Jummai Sankey (North-Central), Justice Moore Adumein (South-South), Justice Haruna Tsammani (North-East), Justice Chidiebere Uwa (South-East) and Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme (South-Ea ..read more

By Elizabeth Adegbesan The Federal Government (FG)  recorded a 12 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) decline  in deficit spending to N2.34 trillion in the third quarter of 2023 (Q3’23). The figure was N2.66 trillion in the corresponding period of 2022, Q2’23. The decline was as a result of a 3.2 percent fall in expenditure against a 13 percent increase in revenue during the period.  Details of the Q3’23 Economic Report released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the FG recorded N1.69 trillion revenue in Q3’23, up from N1.5 trillion in Q2’23. However, expenditure ..read more

…Says future bleak without good leadership, restructuring …This is not country Azikiwe, Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello fought for By Clifford Ndujihe In this interview, Dr Phillips Nto, World Bank consultant, development economist and former Abia state commissioner for finance, spoke on the economy, insecurity and how to deepen Nigeria’s democracy among others. On 2024 budget and how to make it realisable Doing a little analysis on the N27.5 trillion budget, it could be seen that the recurrent expenditure is N9.92 trillion while the capital expenditure is N8.7 trillion while debt servicing is N8.25 tri ..read more

…We are repositioning, ready to take over- LP By Clifford Ndujihe & John Alechenu ALTHOUGH the September 21, 2024 Edo State governorship election is exactly nine months away the Edo polity is charged as if the poll will be held next month. There is a rat race of sorts for the tickets of the leading parties especially the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; All Progressives Congress, APC; and Labour Party, LP with a horde of aspirants locked in a flurry of activities. So far, the PDP and APC have scheduled their primaries for February 2024. The LP is yet to do so, a development that some ..read more

By Chancel Bomadi Sunday Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State has been called upon to intervene, without any further delay, in the brewing inter-communal crisis between Ijaw-speaking Okoloba federated community in Bomadi council area and Urhobo-speaking Okuama community in Ughelli South council area in the riverine enclave of the state. Addressing newsmen at Bomadi, headquarters of Bomadi local government area, yesterday, the chairman Okoloba federated community, Mr Clement Koki, alleged that their neighbouring Okuama community had invaded and attacked their indigenes, farmlands and fishing ..read more