Author: TheScrutinyNG

Nigerian quartet of Ademola Lookman, William Troost-Ekong, Paul Onuachu and Asisat Oshoala have gotten nominations for the 2024 FIFA Best Awards. Their nominations in different categories of the prestigious award are not unconnected with their outstanding performances in the outgoing year. The football body released the list of the nominees on Friday morning and the Nigerian stars made the list. Expectedly, Lookman made the list for the team of the year alongside Ekong. Southampton attacker Onuachu was nominated for the Puskas award while Oshoala will compete for honour in the Marta’s award. The winner of the FIFA Fan Award will…

Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, has admitted pleading guilty to a criminal offence relating to a police investigation over a mobile phone she claimed was stolen. Subsequently, she has resigned her position. She has admitted that, a decade ago, she told police she had lost her work mobile phone in a mugging, but later found it had not been taken. She was given a conditional discharge in 2013, before she became an MP. Haigh is the first resignation from Sir Keir Starmer’s government and the 37-year-old said her appointment as the “youngest ever” female Cabinet member “remains one of the proudest…

Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State, on Thursday, received the first set of repentant bandits in Birnin-Gwari and reopened the cattle market, which had been closed for about 10 years due to insecurity in the area. The development is a major breakthrough in the state government’s efforts to address the security challenges that have plagued the state for years. PUNCH reports that the Kaduna State Government has been working tirelessly to engage stakeholders and build trust among the various communities in the state. According to the governor, his administration has established the Peace Dialogue Group in collaboration with some Federal…

Two police officers, Yusuf AbdulKarim Bature and Musa Philip, and an immigration officer, Nasiru Mohammed, have been jailed seven years each for employment fraud to the tune of N1,640,000. Justice Justice T.G. Ringin of the Federal High Court sitting in Gombe convicted and sentenced the officers after the accused pleaded guilty to the charges. Bature and Philip were arraigned on two count – charge of obtaining by false pretences and intent to defraud while Mohammed was arraigned on one- count charge of obtaining by false pretences by the Gombe Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Count…

Senator Ali Ndume has said that the haste at which the upper legislative chamber passed the Tax Reform Bill was very suspicious, thus maintaining his opposition to it. The tax reform bills which passed for second reading at the Senate on Thursday have raised a lot of controversies since it was sent to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu, and Ndume has been one of the people who have mounted the strongest opposition against the bills. The National Economic Council also advised President Tinubu to withdraw the bills, but the President said he preferred that they go through the…

The Federal Government has called for private sector partnership in order to address the problems of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country. Vice President Kashim Shettima stressed this, saying the Sub-Saharan region of Africa is right at the epicentre of the conundrum. He spoke in Lagos at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) 2024 Africa Roundtable on Private Sector Solutions to Internal Displacement, titled ‘Bridging Futures: Converging for Solutions’. Vice President Shettima, represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Dr Tope Fasua, said, “This is unacceptable, as 35 million women, men, girls and boys…

The Naira, on Thursday, appreciated to N1,740 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,745 per dollar on Wednesday. Likewise, the Naira appreciated to N1,644.86 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, NAFEM. Data from FMDQ, as reported by VANGUARD, showed that the indicative exchange rate for NAFEM fell to N1,644.86 per dollar from N1,660.83 per dollar on Wednesday, indicating N15.97 appreciation for the naira. The volume of dollars traded (turnover) increased by 66 percent to $560.34 million from $337.07 million traded on Wednesday. Consequently, the margin between the parallel market and NAFEM rate widened to N95.14 per…

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), on Thursday, announced that it would begin a two-week warning strike beginning from December 2, 2024, over the inability of the government to resolve its eleven-item demands. Cardinal among the demands is the appointment of a Rector in Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State without following the due process and in violation of Federal Polytechnics Act. President of ASUP, Kpanja Shamnah, disclosed this while briefing journalists at the end of its 112 National Executive Council, NEC, meeting in Abuja. Recall that ASUP had issued a 15-day ultimatum to the Federal Government and other relevant…

The proposed Tax Reform Bills scaled second reading on the Senate floor on Thursday, despite strong reservations from some lawmakers. Presenting the lead debate on the Executive Bill before opening the floor to his colleagues, Senate Leader, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, described the proposed legislation as “a significant move to overhaul the country’s tax system.” He said, “These bills aim to simplify the tax landscape, reduce the burden on small businesses, and streamline tax collection.” The Senate Leader elaborated on the benefits of the proposed bills, which include four main components. He stated: “In broad terms, the four bills seek to…

The Benue State High Court sitting in Makurdi, on Thursday, nullified the seven-man caretaker committee constituted by the National Working Committee (NWC) to oversee the affairs of the party in the state. Delivering judgment, the presiding judge, Justice T A Kume, declared that the decision of the National Working Committee to dissolve the Agada-led exco was not in accordance to the party constitution. The judge averred that the action of the National Working Committee of the party amounted to gross violation of the rights of fair hearing of the applicants. He said, “A consequential order is hereby made declaring as…