NewsReports

The largest jackpot in United States history shot up to $1.5bn on Tuesday, driven by record sales as people flock across state lines and international borders to buy tickets, a lottery executive said. To win the jackpot, a ticket holder has to match all numbers on five white balls and one red ball selected at the twice weekly Powerball draw …

The Federal Ministry of Finance says it has successful completed a pilot project of using Bank Verification Number (BVN) details to fish out ghost workers, identity duplication and other irregular entries on the payroll. The Bank Verification Number is a number that uniquely identifies each bank’s customer for “know your customer” KYC purposes. The pilot project was initiated by federal …

A coalition of civil society organisations, under the aegis of Coalition Against Electoral Rights Violation, on Wednesday in Abuja, demanded a reduction in military presence in the Bayelsa State supplementary election scheduled for Saturday. Instead of the military, the group suggested that the Nigeria Police Force and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps should take the leading role during the …

HON JOHN YAKUBU is a former Chairman for Esan North East Local Government Council of Edo State. A strong chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party of Edo State, his bid for a second term generated state wide controversy after the result of the election was allegedly annulled by the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission, EDSIEC against the trend of collation …

ABUJA — President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his administration would soon establish an inter-ministerial committee to ensure the speedy reform of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. The President stated this at a meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Jin-Yong Cai, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday. According to the President, the re-organisation …

THE Minister of Environment Hajiya Amina Mohammed has projected that the country can generate $7, 5 billion (about N15 trillion) from of grid solar energy. This is even as the Coordinator of Nigerian-German Energy partnership, Dr. Jeremy Gaines, has lauded the Federal Government’s 13,000MW plans for electricity through solar energy over the next decades. Speaking at the just held Conference …

The Minister of Youth Development and Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalong, has said the Federal Government plans to expand the National Youth Service Corps scheme to include skill acquisition and entrepreneurial training. Dalong said this on Tuesday during an inspection tour of the Lagos State NYSC orientation camp in the Iyana Ipaya area of the state. He said, “Apart from the …

The ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has landed the spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, in the Commission’s cell in Abuja. Metuh, who was arrested by four operatives of the anti-graft agency from his Abuja home, spent the first night with his interrogators at the headquarters of the EFCC, answering questions on …

House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said the executive orders, which bypass Congress, “undermined liberty” and would be challenged in court. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said that, if elected, he would reverse the measures. In an emotional address on Tuesday, Mr Obama accused the gun lobby of holding the country hostage. Wiping away tears, he recalled the 2012 Sandy …

THE Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to tell the national security operatives to rescue the Chibok girls from their abductors or sack its leadership if not capable of discharging their duties. Bakare, who stated this during Sunday’s thanksgiving service in his Lagos church, said this should be achieved in …