Author: TheScrutinyNG

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Wednesday, presented a budget of N678.06 billion for the 2025 fiscal year, tagged, “Budget of Stabilisation”  to the House of Assembly for approval. The capital expenditure is N343 billion, which represents 50.6 percent while the recurrent expenditure is N335 billion, representing 49.4 percent of the total budget. Makinde said infrastructure development would take the largest allocation of N152 billion, representing 22.4 percent of the budget. The governor stated that N145 billion was earmarked for the education sector, accounting for 21 percent, while N59 billion was for the health sector, representing nine percent of…

The Federal Government is in the final stages of developing guidelines for organ donation and transplantation in Nigeria. This is according to Professor Philip Abiodun, chairman, Guidelines on Organ Donation and Transplantation, developed by the National Tertiary Health Institutions Standards Committee (NTHISC), who disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting on Wednesday in Abuja. According to him, organ transplantation is a critical aspect of modern medicine that gives a second chance at life to patients suffering from end-stage organ failure. He, however, said the transplantation aspect of the practice of medicine was very important which gave birth to the need for…

Donald Trump will make a triumphant return to the White House to meet President Joe Biden on Wednesday, in the Republican‘s first visit since departing under a torrent of scandal nearly four years ago. Trump’s meeting with Biden comes as he moves swiftly to name his administration, including the world’s richest man Elon Musk as head of a new group aimed at slashing government spending. Biden invited his sworn rival to meet in the Oval Office — despite the fact that 78-year-old Trump, who has consistently refused to admit his 2020 election loss, never afforded Biden the same courtesy. Biden,…

­The Federal Government has said the country needs $10 billion in investment in the power within five to ten years to achieve a 24-hour electricity supply. The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this when the Director General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Dr Jobson Ewalefoh, paid him a visit in Abuja on Wednesday. According to him, the Nigerian government alone cannot solve the backlog of challenges facing the country’s power sector, which is why it is calling for private partnerships. “Government cannot do it alone; this is why we have to look for organised private sector funding…

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday, expressed its worry over the alarming increase of kidnappings, killings and child abandonment in the country. Mr. Hillary Ogbona, the Senior Human Rights Adviser to the Executive Secretary of the Commission presented the data at a civil society consultation on human rights, organised by the NHRC with support from the European Union in Abuja. The event, which also marked the inauguration of the Human Rights Defenders Forum, underscored the urgent need for systemic reforms to protect Nigeria’s vulnerable populations. The data released by the Commission, revealed an unrelenting wave of violent crimes and…

New governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has firmly taking charge of affairs in the state as he has sacked political appointees of the last administration, as well as dissolved all boards of government agencies and parastatals in the state. The governor also sacked all Permanent Secretaries appointed from outside the state public/civil service and all other political appointees. The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Fred Itua, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Benin City on Wednesday. Okpebholo said the dissolution of the affected concerns was with immediate effect. He, however, advised the affected…

There is growing tension among states yet to implement the N70,000 new minimum wage, following the December 1 strike notice given by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, to workers in defaulting states to commence the indefinite strike. As of the end of October, 24 states had yet to start implementation, despite the Federal Government’s promise to organise labour for it. It will be recalled that during the meeting on October 17 in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, the government promised to summon a meeting of the economic council to impress governors on implementing…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned against election malpractice during Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State. Atiku warned that the PDP would firmly stand against any form of election malpractice during Saturday’s poll. In a statement by his media aide, Paul Ibe, the PDP chieftain urged the people of Ondo State to come out in large numbers to cast their ballots and ensure that their ballots count. According to Atiku, the All Progressives Congress, APC, must not be allowed to suppress electorates in Ondo State. “This is also a sound warning to all election management officials and volunteers that…

On September 9th 2024, N1.7 billion was spent to purchase 10 units of Toyota Camry V4, 2023, to the State House.  Document from the public payments portal, Govspend, has shown that the Nigerian presidency under Bola Tinubu spent N5.1billion on buying cars between August 18 and September 9, representing 21 days or three weeks. SaharaReporters reports that Data published on the Govspend website showed that the State House paid N3.4billion on August 18, for the purchase of sixteen numbers of 2023/2024 model Toyota Prado, to the State House, Abuja. This would mean that each Prado costs N212million.  On September 9th…

Some Civil Society Organisations have demanded that the defamation lawsuit brought against the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) by the Federal Government should be dropped. The CSOs, which described the lawsuit as “bogus”, made the demand in a statement they made available to media houses on Tuesday. Among the groups that signed the statement were Amnesty International, Accountability Lab, BudgIT, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, and CISLAC. Others were Human and Environmental Development Agenda, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, and YIAGA. The statement reads in full: “We, the undersigned civil…