Author: Amina Mohammed

The International Monetary Fund yesterday downgraded its forecast for Nigeria’s economic growth in 2024 to 3.1 per cent citing weaker growth recorded in the first quarter of the year, Q1’24. The new forecast was contained in the July 2024 World Economic Outlook of the IMF released, yesterday. The downgrade represents 0.2 percentage points below the earlier forecast of 3.3 per cent. The downgrade followed weaker-than-expected Gross Domestic Product, GDP, and growth recorded by the country in Q1’23. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, showed that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth dropped, quarter-on-quarter, QoQ to 2.98 per cent…

The Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf has approved the appointment of three second-class Emirs. The announcement was made by the Director General Press to the governor, Sanusi Bature. They are: Alhaji Muhammad Mahraz Karaye, Emir of Karaye, Alhaji Muhammad Isa Umar, Emir of Rano, and Alhaji Aliyu Ibrahim Abdulkadir Gaya, Emir of Gaya. The appointments which take effect immediately, will see the new emirates serving as second with Kano as first-class emirate. Yusuf named the newly appointed Alhaji Muhammad Karaye as the Emir of Karaye. He was the District Head of Rogo before his latest appointment. Alhaji Muhammad Umar was…

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has declared that his government will not allow the people of the state to suffer from the fallout of the Supreme Court judgment which granted financial autonomy to local governments in the country. Makinde maintained that the judgment had created a constitutional lacuna that would throw up different challenges at the local government level, saying that though he was not opposed to transparency in the councils, the Supreme Court judgment “is not a silver bullet that will wash away” Nigeria’s problems. The governor stated this on Monday during an Advisory/Consultative Committee Meeting comprising stakeholders in…

The Osun State House of Assembly on Tuesday confirmed the appointments of Wale Abbas as the chairman, Osun Amotekun Board and Adekunle Omoyele as the Corps Commander respectively. The confirmations followed the nomination of Abbas and Omoyele by the state governor, Ademola Adeleke, on July 5. The governor had forwarded their names to the House of Assembly for the necessary legislative approval. A statement by Olamide Tiamiyu, the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Adewale Egbedun, said the confirmation was a move to strengthen the state’s security apparatus. “The House of Assembly confirmed Abbas, a retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police,…

President Bola Tinubu has given a marching order to the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Christopher Musa to curb oil theft and vandalism in the Niger Delta region within the shortest possible time. The President said the menace had become a national issue that should be surmounted to boost oil production in the country. The Group Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, said this on Tuesday, July 16, while speaking to journalists at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, after a meeting of all security and intelligence agencies heads convened by the Chief of Defence Staff.…

The House of Representatives has slated Tuesday, July 26, 2024, for questioning of six Area Council Chairmen of the Federal Capital Territory on their expenditures. They would face the House Committee on FCT and Ancillary Matters after failing to honour several invitations extended to them. The Chairman of the Committee, Frederick Agbedi, stated this on Tuesday during a meeting attended by the Minister of State for FCT, Mariya Mahmud and the six council chairmen. The lawmaker chided the council bosses for treating parliamentary invitations with contempt. He said, “The committee is not witch-hunting anyone, but anyone who is in public…

A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Dr Abraham Ehizojie, the Medical Doctor at the health facility of Kuje Correctional Centre. The warrant was issued, over the alleged refusal to produce the medical report of Tigran Gambaryan, the detained executive of Binance Holdings Ltd. Justice Emeka Nwite gave the order following an application by Gambaryan’s lawyer, Mark Mordi, SAN. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gambaryan was whisked into Court 9 of the high-rise building in a wheelchair earlier in the morning. Gambaryan, alongside the cryptocurrency firm, is facing a…

The attention of the Edo State Government has been drawn to a fictitious story by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in which they returned to the expired tactic of dragging the palace of the Oba of Benin into politics with an allegation that there are purported plans to demolish the Benin Royal Museum. It is regrettable that the APC has found themselves in this sorry situation where they are now hell-bent on sacrificing the hard-won respect, legacy and heritage of the revered place on the altar of political exigencies. This should not be a matter for…

The Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) has fixed the 19th of October, 2024, for the conduct of local government elections in the state. The decision by Kogi SIEC to conduct the council election might not be unconnected to the Supreme Court Judgment of July 11, 2024, that granted financial autonomy to the local government administration. The Apex Court held that the local governments across the country should, from the date of the judgment, receive their allocations directly from the Accountant-General of the Federation and described the caretaker committee as illegal in the eye of the constitution. Kogi State House…

The President, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Ekiti State Branch, Oluseyi Olatunde, has said that the former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, lacks necessary ideas about the workings of the local government system. Olatunde spoke in a statement in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday in response to Fayose’s statement during a television interview that “most council officials do not take their work seriously”. The NULGE president said, “Such a mischievous statement is not the true picture of local government practice in Nigeria and in Ekiti State in particular. It is a mere fallacy cooked up by Fayose and his…