NewsReports

• Lamentations Trail 7.9% Vote For Education, 4.9% For Health• Neglecting Social Sector Could Be Economically Fatal, Experts Warn• All Challenges Cannot Be Tackled In One Budget Cycle – NECA Stakeholders have begun to worry about the paltry 12.5 per cent allocation for both health and education in the 2024 Appropriation Bill, predicting that the social sector of the economy …

•Ours is government of the elites,  by the elites, for the elites Last week, former President Olusegun Obasanjo lamented that western democracy was imposed on us and we have continued with it even when it is not working for us. In his keynote address at a high-level consultation on “Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy for Africa” in Abeokuta, he noted that western liberal democracy …

Indications emerged on Friday that the National Assembly would pass the 2024 Appropriation Bill of N27.5tn on Tuesday, December 19. The Senate and the House of Representatives had earlier on Friday passed the ‘Renewed Hope’ budget for second reading. The Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, hinted during the plenary that the budget might be passed by the lawmakers on December …

Nigeria and Germany yesterday signed an accelerated performance agreement aimed at expediting the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) to improve electricity supply in Nigeria. The signing ceremony, which was presided over by President Bola Tinubu and the German Chancellor, Mr Olaf Scholz, took place on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations Climate Conference (COP28) in Dubai, the United Arab …

Apex bank orders electronic revalidation of BVN, NIN attached to accounts, wallets Jan 31 Account holders, others fear new round of hardship, naira scarcity The Central Bank of Nigeria on Friday directed commercial banks to bar customers without Bank Verification Numbers and National Identity Numbers from having access to their accounts from March 2024 by putting a “post no debit” …

Despite the economic gains that have come with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) policies that enhanced the use of Point of Sale (PoS) machines for financial transactions across the country, the devious activities of scammers are discouraging many from making use of the technology in their business deals. In this report, OMIKO AWA x-rays the tricks of PoS fraudsters …

Pensioners in the federal civil service may get a raise in their pension stipends next year based on details contained in the report on the harmonisation of pensions submitted to the Federal Government by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission. It was gathered that the raise would be for Federal Government pensioners under the new pension scheme as well …

The Federal Government yesterday unveiled technologically driven reforms for international passport issuance for its citizens by setting  a  96 hours  processing timeline ,   insisting that the production of the travel document should not be seen as a privilege, but a fundamental right of its nationals. Besides the revolutionary timeline, the government said, it will effective February 2024 start the implementation of Electronic …

The Nigeria Immigration Service on Friday said that barring unforeseen technical issues, Nigerians would get their passports three weeks after the day of submission of the application. The Comptroller General, Mrs Caroline Adepoju, disclosed this on Friday while speaking to newsmen at the unveiling of the Igbogbo Passport Front Office in the Igbogbo-Baiyeku Local Council Development Area of Ikorodu, Lagos …

The Senate has asked the federal government to stop the statutory allocation of funds to local government councils whose chairpersons were not democratically elected. The resolution followed a motion by the Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro, during the plenary on Friday. Mr Moro, the senator representing Benue South under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), complained that some …