Author: Olukayode Oke

Five United Nations agencies have called for urgent action to protect the vulnerable children in Nigeria and 14 other countries worst hit by the food and nutrition crisis. A press statement issued by the World Health Organisation on Thursday noted that conflict, climate shocks, ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and rising costs of living are leaving an increasing number of children acutely malnourished while key health, nutrition and other life-saving services are becoming less accessible. The statement read in part, “Currently, more than 30 million children in the 15 worst-affected countries suffer from wasting – or acute malnutrition – and eight…

The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Friday in Abuja dismissed the bid by members of the family of the late General Sani Abacha to stop moves by the Federal Government to reopen the criminal forfeiture proceedings against the ex-Head of State. The fresh government move to reopen the fraud probe is targeted at some family members over their alleged complicity in looting the nation’s treasury during Abacha’s administration. In his judgment, Justice Emmanuel Agim of the Supreme Court dismissed the suit brought before the Apex Court for want of merit and substance. The Supreme Court upheld the judgments of both…

Health union in Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, Gusau, Zamfara State capital has embarked on a peaceful protest over non-payment of workers’ salaries. It was gathered that the union had earlier issued a one-week ultimatum to the Zamfara State Government to clear their members’ salary arrears and correct the half salaries being paid to some of them. The union stated that they contacted relevant authorities over the issue but nothing was done despite several assurances. They said the failure of the relevant authorities to act on their demands within the 24 hours ultimatum earlier issued forced them to stage the peaceful…

Private depots have raised the price of petrol by 6.7 percent to N240 per litre this week, from about N225 per litre the previous week. This came as the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, said the current petrol scarcity might continue till June 2023 when the government was expected to remove its subsidy. The Chief Executive Officer,  Nigerian  Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, Engr. Farouk Ahmed, whose agency has the  responsibility  to regulate activities in the midstream and downstream sectors, did not respond to Vanguard’s inquiries, yesterday on the rise in the private depots price of petrol by…

Cristiano Ronaldo will play against Paris Saint-Germain on January 19 as part of a combined Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal XI. The match will see the Portuguese veteran come up against old foe Lionel Messi. PSG are travelling to Riyadh to take part in the exhibition match. Ronaldo will feature in a side consisting of team-mates from current Saudi leaders Al-Nassr and players from last year’s league champions Al-Hilal. Asked about the 37-year-old’s Saudi debut, Al-Nassr boss Rudi Garcia confirmed: “(It) won’t be with the Al-Nassr jersey. “It will be a mix between Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr…” Ronaldo has been serving a two-match…

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association has stated that the country has been losing about $2.5bn monthly for failing to meet the 1.8m barrel per day crude oil production allocation by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. In a statement, the Director-General of NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, claimed that though the country’s crude oil production grew by 4.2 per cent to 1.23 million barrels per day in December 2022, it was still short. He stated still a 0.57 million barrel per day shortfall, which translated to about $2.5bn monthly loss for the country. According to him, oil theft seemed to continue unabated…

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced the extension of the deadline for collecting Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, to Sunday, January 29, 2023. The Commission also frowned at allegations of discriminatory issuance of PVCs in some locations, warning that this is against the law and that all bonafide registrants are entitled to their PVCs. The INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday. Recall that the electoral body had earlier fixed Sunday, 22nd January 2023, as the collection deadline. However, following a meeting by INEC on Thursday, it pushed the deadline by eight days. The…

As the 2023 presidential election draws nearer, President Muhammadu Buhari has warned foreign nations to stay clear of interfering in Nigeria’s election. Buhari stated this warning on Thursday while receiving Letters of Credence from Ambassadors of Sweden, Switzerland, the Republic of Ireland, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Republic of Senegal and the Republic of South Sudan in Abuja the nation’s capital. According to a statement by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Buhari urged ambassadors to be guided by diplomatic practice and go about their duties professionally. “As Nigerians prepare to elect another government at…

2022 was a blockbuster year for news – and 2023 is shaping up to be just as busy. In Nigeria, being the giant of Africa, all eyes are on the over 200 million populated country on how or not the general elections would unfold. Many are agitated about the many challenges in the land as the forefront contenders appears to create an assurance of anything different from the backdrop of what some refers to as the fear of the top fear dogs, and who you did say the cap-fit may not wear the crown. Nigerian seems not to be smiling…

The Nigerian Immigration Service, on Wednesday, revealed that about 7,500 international passports are still awaiting collection in their Oyo State office. The Assistant Comptroller-General of Immigration, Dora Amahian, who is in charge of planning and statistics at the NIS headquarters, made this known in Ibadan. Amahian said some of the passports have been produced since 2020 but were waiting for the owners to claim them The assistant comptroller-general added that the NIS had been sending text messages to the applicants as only a few of them responded to the calls put across to them. Amahian lamented that some applicants submitted…

Mr. Emefiele has been out of the country for several weeks amidst fears he would be arrested by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS), who are investigating several allegations against him, including corruption and terrorism financing. A presidency source, however, revealed that the CBN governor got President Muhammadu Buhari’s permission for two weeks of leave which expired Tuesday. His holidays finished on Tuesday, so he ought to have reported to work today,” our source said. It was also learnt that Mr. Emefiele is planning to leave the country again very soon, afraid the secret police could eventually arrest him…

Former world number one and four-time major champion Naomi Osaka has disclosed she is pregnant and said she would miss the 2023 tennis season. Osaka recently withdrew from the upcoming Australian Open, a tournament she has won twice. Osaka has not played a full match since her first-round loss at the US Open and participated in just 11 tournaments in 2022. She had also informed reporters the sport was no longer bringing her joy following a third-round exit at the 2021 US Open. Osaka tweeted on Wednesday announcing her pregnancy, including a picture of an ultrasound. I realize that life…