Author: Adejuyigbe Francis

The Lagos State Government on Monday ordered the reopening of Mile 12 International Market after it was sealed on Friday. The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the market was reopened after a thorough assessment, covering various aspects of environmental compliance, waste management practices, and general cleanliness within the market. He noted that issues critical to the environment, public health and safety, were not negotiable, as government would not watch helplessly as those values were compromised and eroded by the conduct of few people. “We cannot continue to be nonchalant about our environment. Our negative attitude towards…

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Akure, Ondo state capital, has been shut. The development seems as though it is connected with plans by some members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to stage a protest inquiring about the continued absence and whereabouts of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. Akeredolu had in September returned to the country from his three-month medical vacation in Germany where he treated an undisclosed illness. But since his return, Akeredolu has reportedly been staying at his private residence in Ibadan, Oyo state capital, a development that has forced critics of his administration to demand his resignation.…

Banana entrepreneur Daniel Noboa will become Ecuador’s youngest ever president as he defeated leftist politician Luisa González in elections on Sunday, the head of the electoral authority CNE has said. Thirty-five-year-old Noboa of the centre-right National Democratic Action alliance led by González, from the camp of ex-president Rafael Correa, by 52.30 per cent to 47.7 per cent with more than 90 per cent of votes counted. González congratulated Noboa on his victory. “Today we made history,” Noboa said on social media platform X. “We are going for a country… where promises do not remain in the electoral campaign and corruption…

President Bola Tinubu will swear in three additional ministers into his cabinet today, Monday, October 16, 2023. The appointment of the new ministers was recently confirmed by the Senate and thus increased Tinubu’s cabinet size to 48 persons. An anonymous source in the presidency disclosed that the new ministers would be sworn into office at the Council Chamber of the State House before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council meeting. This is the second FEC meeting since President Tinubu assumed power on Monday, May 29, 2023. The first meeting took place on August 28, 2023, following the inauguration of 45 ministers. The…

Rangers have appointed former Monaco and Club Brugges head coach Philippe Clement as their new manager on a three-and-a-half-year contract. The 49-year-old former Belgium defender succeeds Michael Beale, who was sacked earlier this month. Clement was sacked himself by Monaco in June after 18 months in charge when his side finished sixth in Ligue 1. The Scottish Premiership club had reportedly reduced their shortlist to two – Clement and Yokohama F Marinos head coach Kevin Muscat, the former Rangers defender. Clement told Rangers’ website he is “hugely excited by this chance to achieve success at one of Europe’s most iconic…

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos group wants to assume control of the football operations side of Manchester United’s business from the Glazer family if a 25% offer worth an estimated £1.3bn is approved. The British billionaire is thought to be increasingly confident of securing what he hopes will be the first stage of an eventual buyout. It is not clear how an Ineos minority stake would be structured and if the Glazers would accept it. A United board meeting is set to take place on Thursday, during which it is possible the agreement could be finalised. Ineos is thought to hope…

The appointment of Imam Ibrahim Kashim Imam as board chairman of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has continued to generate mixed reactions from Nigerians on social media. FERMA is the agency involved in road construction, improvement and connectivity between states. The mandate of this agency which is under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Work, is also to monitor and administer road maintenance with the objective of keeping all federal roads in good condition. On Friday, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, announced that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had appointed the 24-year-old…

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has agreed a deal to buy a 25% share of Manchester United after Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani withdrew from the takeover race. Sheikh Jassim had been pursuing a 100% takeover of the club, offering to pay around £5bn to take control of United as well as signalling a willingness to pay off debts of £1bn. The Glazers, however, value the club significantly higher, perhaps up to £10bn, and sources have confirmed that Sheikh Jassim withdrew from the process after declining to increase his latest offer. Instead, a deal has been agreed with Ratcliffe, who is…

The Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has said those threatening violence in the forthcoming governorship election in the state would be neutralised before the November 11 poll, urging the people to ignore them. The governor, who stated this on Saturday during the governorship campaign in Kabba, Kogi-West Senatorial District, said security agencies would rise to the occasion. He said, “I want to tell you to ignore those who are threatening violence because they will be neutralised way before the election. They will be disappointed. I want to call on the security agencies to rise to the occasion. You…

The “sit-at-home’’ order by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra is killing the Southeast geopolitical zone and its businesses. The observation was made by Deputy Speaker, House of Representative, Rep. Benjamin Kalu, on Friday in Abuja when executives of the Nigerian Association of Small And Medium Enterprises (NASMEs) paid him a courtesy visit. The NASME executives were led by Abdulrashid Yerima, president of the association. Kalu observed that the Southeast geopolitical zone loses between ₦10 billion and ₦13 billion in the transportation sector alone on every sit-at-home day weekly. “When they sit at home in the Southeast, the Southwest, South-South, Northwest, Northeast…

Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has said that no ransom was paid to the abductors of the four female students of the Nasarawa State University, NSUK, Keffi rescued by the military. Sule disclosed this after paying a thank-you visit to the Commandant, 177 Guard Batallion, Keffi Local Government, Lt. Col. Auwalu Inuwa, on Saturday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the four students were kidnapped in their residence in Agwan Kare district in Keffi in the early hours of Tuesday, October 10 and taken to unknown destination. However, after intensive manhunt by the police, military and other…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the results of the November 11 governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states will be transmitted electronically. Recall that the Bayelsa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Ofiong Efanga, recently, at a press conference, said that the commission would adopt a manual mode of transmission of the governorship election results. But INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, during the monitoring of the mock election in Lokoja, Kogi State, said whatever the Bayelsa REC must be disregarded. He said: “The method is as provided by law—electronic accreditation and electronic upload of results on…