Author: Chronicle Editor

A human rights activist, Kenechukwu Okeke, has filed a criminal complaint before a Chief Magistrate’s Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) against 50 persons, including activists, musicians, celebrities, football star, musicians, among others. Some of those listed are Aisha Yesufu, Yemi Alade, Paul Okoye, Innocent Idibia, Sam Adeyemi, Davido, Paul Okoye, Kanu Nwankwo among others. Okeke, who said he resides at Plot 224, Gana Street, Maitama, Abuja, claimed, in a document he filed along with the complaint that the defendants, between October 2 and 28, 2020 using Twitter, a micro blogging and electronic social networking service, conspired among themselves…

A Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital has ordered that the funds in the accounts of 20 #EndSARS campaigners be frozen after they were allegedly linked to terrorist activities. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had frozen 20 accounts and thereafter approached the court to seek an ex parte order to freeze the accounts. In the case with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1384/2020, filed before Justice A. R. Mohammed, the CBN, however, made no mention of the fact that the 20 accounts were owned by persons involved in the #EndSARS protests, but told the court that the funds might have emanated…

Joe Biden has said President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede victory in last week’s White House election is “an embarrassment”. But the US president-elect – who has been making contact with foreign leaders – insisted nothing would stop the transfer of power. Mr Trump meanwhile tweeted he would ultimately win the race that all major TV networks have forecast he lost. As happens every four years, US media projected the election victor. None of the state-by-state results have yet been certified, several vote counts are continuing, and the outcome will only be set in stone once the US Electoral College…

Lagos State on Tuesday unfolded plans to repeal the public officials’ pension law which grants certain benefits to former elected governors and deputy governors. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who gave the hint during his 2021 budget presentation to the House of Assembly, said he would send an Executive Bill to scrap the law because the entitlements were not sustainable due to financial constraints. The N1.155 trillion budget was christened: “Budget of Rekindling Hope.” The governor said the repeal of the law would reduce the cost of governance and foster the spirit of selfless service. He said: “In the light of keeping…

President Donald Trump has sacked Defence Secretary Mark Esper, announcing on Twitter that the top US official has been “terminated”. Christopher Miller, the current head of the National Counterterrorism Center, will take on the role immediately. It follows a public falling-out between Mr Trump and Mr Esper in recent weeks. Mr Trump has so far not conceded the US election to President-elect Joe Biden, and has vowed to challenge the projected result in court. In the weeks before Mr Biden takes office on 20 January, Mr Trump is still empowered to make decisions. Mr Miller was seen entering the Department…

An Ibadan-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Life Support Network (LSN), has said about 17.5 million children in Nigeria do not have access to education and health facilities. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NGO, Miss Itunuoluwa Ajayi, reeled out the statistics from a report of an international organisation while delivering a speech at the 2020 admission of new international volunteers into the organisation in Ibadan. Speaking about the topic: ”Nigeria, towards Rebirth of our Collective Destiny,” she said 13 per cent of Nigerians have been rendered homeless in recent times due to poverty. Ajayi lamented the prevalent poverty, particularly…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has opposed a suit seeking to remove the Ajami (Arabic) inscriptions on naira notes. It told the Federal High Court that it would cost the country a “colossal sum of money” to discard the existing notes and print new ones without Ajami. The CBN said Ajami is not a symbol or mark of Islam but an inscription to aid non-English speakers who are literate in and use Ajami for trade. The apex bank made the submission in a counter-affidavit to a suit filed by a Lagos-based lawyer, Chief Malcolm Omirhobo, before Justice Mohammed Liman.…

Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said Senator Kabiru Marafa has no locus standi to speak on the any issue affecting the party. It insisted that the Zamfara Central senator had been suspended from the party since 2019. Marafa, on Sunday, asked the Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the party to organise a national convention in December, in line with the mandate given to it or quit. But in a statement yesterday in Abuja, Zamfara State APC Chairman Lawal Liman said having been suspended from the party since last…

The Osun State Judicial Panel of Inquiry constituted to look into cases of police brutality, human rights violations and extra-judicial killings by operatives of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Osun, has announced that it will begin sitting on Thursday. Secretary of the Panel, Kemi Bello said this in a statement she signed and made available to journalists in Osogbo on Monday. Bello said that the sitting would hold at the Council of OBA’s Chambers, Finance Building, State Secretariat, Abere, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., adding that subsequently the Panel will hold sitting on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.…

President Donald Trump’s spokeswoman has vowed the legal battle to contest Joe Biden’s White House election victory is only just beginning. “This election is not over,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told a news conference. “Far from it.” She made a flurry of allegations of election corruption, although no evidence of systemic fraud that might have influenced the result has emerged. Mr Trump, a Republican, has not conceded the race. What are Biden and Trump up to? Since media projected on Saturday that Mr Biden had won the critical state of Pennsylvania, accumulating enough votes to claim the White…