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PDP sets agenda for Lagos governor in 2021
The Lagos State Chapter of Peoples Democratic Party has advised Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to strive hard to provide satisfactory dividends of democracy to residents of the state in 2021. The state PDP Publicity Secretary, Taofik Gani, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos, while assessing Sanwo-Olu’s performance in 2020. “As a constructive opposition party, the year 2020 was not satisfactory in terms of dividends of democracy to Lagos residents. “Most of the local council chairmen performed below average, Sanwo-Olu should look into that because the chairmen are putting too much pain on the people due to their abdication of duties. “We are indeed very anxious to take over government as an opposition party in Lagos,” Gani said. According to him, the party shared wi...
OPC slams President Buhari over increase in electricity tariff
File Photo The Oodua Peoples Congress has accused President Buhari of being insensitive to the plights of Nigerians, saying the sudden increase in the electricity tarrif is brutish and inhuman, describing it as an attempt to fuel national crisis. The group also restated its support and commitment to true federalism on the basis of regionalism, adding that Nigeria cannot make any meaningful progress with the 1999 Constitution, which it described as a democratic albatross. At a marathon meeting of the leadership and National Coordinating Council of the group in Lagos, the OPC, led by its National Coordinator and Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams, in a statement signed by the National General Secretary and Publicity Secretary, Babajide Tanimoowo and Yinka Oguntimehin,...
World Bank predicts 4% global economic growth, 1.1% for Nigeria in 2021
ABS-CBN The World Bank says global economy is expected to grow by 4 per cent in 2021, assuming an initial COVID-19 vaccine rollout becomes widespread throughout the year. It said this in a statement issued in Washington D.C. on Tuesday at the presentation of the January 2021 Global Economic Prospects. It added that the said recovery would likely be subdued unless policy makers moved decisively to tame the pandemic and implement investment-enhancing reforms. The bank also said that growth in Sub-Saharan Africa was forecast to rebound moderately to 2.7 per cent in 2021, while Nigeria’s growth was expected to resume at 1.1 per cent. For the region, it said that while the recovery in private consumption and investment was forecast to be slower than previously envisioned, export growth was expe...
Pep Guardiola confident Kevin de Bruyne will commit future to Manchester City
Pep Guardiola expects Kevin De Bruyne to commit his long-term future to Manchester City despite reports the Belgium midfielder’s contract talks have stalled. De Bruyne’s current contract runs until 2023, but City have already offered him a new deal. That contract extension remains unsigned amid claims De Bruyne was “disappointed” City’s offer did not significantly improve his reported salary of £280,000 ($380,000) per week. De Bruyne, voted the PFA Player of the Year last season, is said to want a deal that reflects his status as one of the world’s best midfielders and vice-captain of the club. Despite those issues, City boss Guardiola remains confident De Bruyne’s future will be at the Etihad Stadium. “I am pretty sure he will stay but at the same time we have to respect the process,” Gua...
Court orders Governor Obaseki to open defence in ‘certificate forgery’ case
The All Progressives Congress, APC, on Monday, closed the forgery case it instituted against Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, after it called a total of six witnesses and tendered 17 Exhibits. Lead counsel to the APC, Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN, announced decision of the party to rest its case, shortly after the court discharged the sixth witness, PW-6, Dr. Mikano Asekome, who is an Associate Professor in Banking and Finance Department at Benson Idahosa University, Benin city, Edo state. The PW-6 told the court that he was on December 23, 2020, summoned to appear as witness in the matter. The witness went ahead and tendered in evidence, the original copy of his certificate in Agricultural-Economics, which the University of Ibadan awarded to him on July 31, 1978. Under cross-examination, ...
Akwa Ibom village head dethroned over ‘fraud’
The village head of Ikot Obio Inyang in Etinan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom state, Chief Emem Okon Akpan, has been dethroned over alleged fraud and other criminal activities in the community. Akpan was accused by his community of sabotaging the water scheme provided by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in their area. This is contained in a 14-point resolution signed by Enefiok Umoh the President of Ikot Obio Inyang Development Association, IKODA, 89 other members of the community and made available to newsmen in Uyo. They pointed out that a police report of February 17, 2020, indicted the village head, and therefore passed a vote of no confidence on his leadership. It stated; “This led to a petition to the state police commissioner who ordered an investigation into the ma...
Millions of Americans risk losing jobless benefits as Donald Trump refuses to sign aid bill
Millions of Americans are about to see their jobless benefits expire on Saturday as U.S. President Donald Trump has so far refused to sign into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package, insisting that it did not do enough to help everyday people. Trump stunned Republicans and Democrats alike when he said this week he was unhappy with the massive bill, which provides $892 billion in badly needed coronavirus relief, including extending special unemployment benefits expiring on Dec. 26, and $1.4 trillion for normal government spending. Without Trump’s signature, about 14 million people could lose those extra benefits, according to Labor Department data. A partial government shutdown will begin on Tuesday unless Congress can agree a stop-gap government funding bill before then. Af...
U.S. agents search Nashville blast site, seeking clues behind Christmas explosion
Police and federal agents were scouring the charred site of a Christmas Day explosion in Nashville on Saturday, trying to determine how and why a motor home blew up and injured three people in the heart of America’s country music capital. The fiery blast, heard from miles away, destroyed several vehicles, damaged more than 40 businesses and left a trail of glass shards around the area. The motor home, parked on a downtown street of Tennessee’s largest city, exploded at dawn on Friday moments after police responding to reports of gunfire noticed the recreational vehicle and heard an automated message emanating from it warning of a bomb. The means of detonation and whether anyone was inside the RV when it blew up were not immediately known, but investigators were examining what they believed...
CAN accuses Anambra governor of religious bigotry
File Photo Chairman, Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Anambra State, Rev. Ndubuisi John, has accused Governor Willie Obiano of marginalising the Christian body in the state. He said the marginalisation was informed by his non-Catholic disposition, describing it as religious bigotry. John who was honoured yesterday in Onitsha by the United Nations Peace and Positive Living Awareness Centre as an ‘Ambassador for World Peace’, lamented that several efforts made by the body to meet with the Governor since he assumed office as the CAN chairman had been unsuccessful. He said, “One should imagine it is religious bigotry, it depends on one’s perception, if I were to be an Anglican or Roman Catholic Bishop, he would not have treated me that way. “I think that the government should not abe...
National Assembly raises 2021 budget by N580 billion, approves N13.588 trillion
The two chambers of the National Assembly yesterday passed the 2021 Appropriation Bill, increasing the budget size from N13.08 trillion presented to them by President Muhamnadu Buhari 11 weeks ago to N13.588 trillion. The passage of the 2021 budget followed consideration and adoption of harmonised reports separately submitted to them by their Committees on Appropriation. The two chambers increased the 2021 budget by about N580 billion and pegged daily crude oil production at 1.86 million barrels per day, while oil benchmark price was fixed at $40 per barrel. They approved N379 to dollar as the official exchange rate while GDP growth rate was pegged at 3 per cent. Highlights of the report approved by the Senate showed aggregate expenditure to be N13,588,027,886,175, statutory transfer of N4...
UK says new coronavirus strain ‘out of control’
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Sunday that the government has imposed a strict Christmas lockdown in London and southeast England because a new strain of the coronavirus was “out of control”. Hancock warned that the strict measures could stay in place until the virus vaccine is fully rolled out. “We acted very quickly and decisively,” Hancock told Sky News, justifying the “stay at home” order and closure of non-essential shops affecting around a third of England’s population. “Unfortunately the new strain was out of control. We have got to get it under control.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday that millions must cancel Christmas plans and stay home because the new strain was spreading far more quickly. Hancock told Sky News that the situation was “deadly seri...
Wafu B Cup: Ghana edge Burkina Faso to win tournament
Ghana have been crowned winners of the 2020 Wafu B Cup of Nations following a 2-1 triumph over Burkina Faso in Saturday’s final in Benin. Kouame Jean Fiacre Botue scored first for the Young Stallions but captain Daniel Afriyie and Precious Boah hit back for the Black Satellites at Stade Charles de Gaulle in Porto-Novo. Abdul Karim Zito’s outfit not only leave Benin with the trophy but also have a qualification ticket for the 2021 Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Mauritania. Afriyie was among the returnees to the coach’s line-up for the final, taking back his place – at the expense of Issah Huda – after dropping to the bench for the semi-final 5-3 penalty shoot-out win over Niger. Ofori McCarthy was also a new face in the starting set-up, replacing Abdul Mugees Zakaria. Burkina Faso opened the ...
