Author: Festus Adeloye

The Federal Government has announced that it is deploying reinforced concrete technology on the long-delayed East-West road, which spans the South-south region of Nigeria. This move comes after threats of protests from the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People and former agitators in the Niger Delta over the uncompleted axis of the road. In a statement on Wednesday in Abuja by the Minister of Works, David Umahi’s spokesman, Uchenna Orji stated that the government is committed to ensuring that segments of the road do not fail again. He explained that the use of reinforced concrete technology would end pavement…

Taiwan closed schools, suspended the stock market, and declared a typhoon holiday Wednesday as Gaemi barrelled towards the island, bringing torrential rains and whipping winds to its northeast. Typhoon Gaemi, packing sustained wind speeds of 190 kilometres (118 miles) per hour, also affected Japan and the Philippines — which announced government offices would close for the day. It is expected to make landfall in northeast Taiwan by 10 pm (1400 GMT), and President Lai Ching-te urged everyone to “put safety first” during a morning emergency briefing. “Gaemi is this year’s first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan,” Lai said. “I…

An explosion at a factory producing Jose Cuervo tequila in Mexico killed five people Tuesday, local authorities said. “So far the deaths of five people are confirmed, workers of the company,” the civil protection unit in the western state of Jalisco said in a statement. Two others were injured, one seriously, the statement added. It was not yet known what caused the blast in Tequila municipality, with the company saying it happened during maintenance work. It impacted four containers with a capacity of 219,000 litres each, two of which collapsed, said Victor Hugo Roldan, state director of civil protection. “The…

Putting our house in order and maintaining peace is of the highest priority, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Edozie Njoku, has said. He said the party has no plan to suspend Anambra State Governor Prof. Charles Soludo. Njoku told reporters in Lagos that the suspension of the party’s lone governor would have sounded good for the opposition parties. He said: “The current peaceful disposition in APGA made it unnecessary for the party. That would have sounded good for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and probably good for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). “But, if…

The House of Representatives on Tuesday asked the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the distribution companies, DISCOs, to reverse the tariff hike for Band A customers immediately. This resolution was reached after the adoption of a report presented by the House Committee on Power. Chairman of the Committee Victor Nwokolo who presented the report, stated that Nigerians cannot afford the new tariff. The Committee recommended a return to the status quo. The recommendations were adopted by the Committee of the Whole, after which it was passed. Further investigation into the tariff hike is to be conducted by the House.…

The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, on Tuesday, said there was a decline in crime rates across the country in the past few months due to the strategies deployed by the police. Specifically, he noted that major crimes dropped to 416 in the last one month, compared to 734 in May and 530 in June. Egbetokun, who spoke during a meeting with Commissioners of Police in Abuja on Tuesday, commended personnel of the Force for their passion and commitment to the execution of his strategies. He said, “It is gratifying to note that the strategies deployed and duly executed…

The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, passed the supplementary bill seeking to increase the 2024 Appropriation Act from N28.7tn to N35.06tn. The House had on Wednesday, July 17, passed the N6.2tn extra-budgetary proposal by President Bola Tinubu and on Tuesday, the bill scaled the third reading with Clauses 1 to 13 considered and approved at the Committee of Supply. A breakdown of the proposed N35.06tn for the 2024 fiscal year showed that N1.74tn is earmarked for statutory transfers; N8.27tn for debt service; N11.2tn for recurrent expenditure while N13.77tn is slated as a contribution to the Development Fund for capital expenditure…

Uefa has opened “disciplinary proceedings” against Spain captain Alvaro Morata and team-mate Rodri after they chanted “Gibraltar is Spanish” during their Euro 2024 victory celebrations. The Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) made an official complaint about the celebrations to Uefa and European football’s governing body appointed a disciplinary inspector to “evaluate a potential violation of the Uefa disciplinary regulations”. Morata and Rodri have now been charged with “general principles of conduct, violating the basic rules of decent conduct, using sporting events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature, and bringing the sport of football, and Uefa in particular, into disrepute”. Uefa’s control,…

Chris Brown and Live Nation are facing a $50 million lawsuit filed by four concertgoers who claim they were “brutally and severely beat” by Brown and his associates after a performance. The lawsuit, filed in Harris County, Texas, names Larry Parker, Joseph Lewis, Charles Bush, and Da Marcus Powell as the plaintiffs. They allege that after being invited backstage at Brown’s show at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, they were attacked by Brown and his entourage, which included associates Sinko Ceej, Hood Boss, and Yella Beezy, per Page Six. The plaintiffs claim that the altercation was initiated when Brown,…

The Senate on Tuesday, July 23, approved the nomination of Dr. Olatunji Bello for appointment as the chief executive officer/executive vice-chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). The confirmation was a sequel to the consideration of the report of the Committee on Trade and Investment presented by its chairman, Senator Sadiq Suleiman, (APC-Kwara North), during plenary. Also on Tuesday, July 23, the Senate approved the nomination of Dr. Jobson Eseodion Ewalefoh for appointment as the director-general of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC). The approval followed the consideration and approval of the report of the Committee on…