Author: Vincent Osuwo

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited provided inaccurate and misleading information about the details of its $1 billion investment in the refinery’s operations, emphasising that the facts were misrepresented in a way that misled stakeholders and the general public about the nature and scope of the investment.  The refinery highlighted that the $1 billion crude-backed loan represents only 5% of the total expenditure in establishing the 650,000 barrels per day refinery. Mr. Olufemi Soneye, NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, stated on Monday at a stakeholders engagement meeting that the national oil company has…

No fewer than 30 children have reportedly lost their lives in a stampede that occurred during a children’s carnival in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, on Wednesday. Dotun Oyelade, the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, acknowledged in a statement made on Wednesday that the stampede took place at Basorun Islamic High School’s private children’s funfair. According to Oyelade, the administration immediately organised a fast reaction team once the situation broke out. The commissioner noted that victims were quickly transported to various hospitals in the Ibadan metropolis for medical treatment. While thanking the Commissioner of Health, Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, for swiftly…

China on Tuesday executed Li Jianping, a former official in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who was convicted in the largest-ever corruption case in the country, totalling more than $421 million. The death sentence of Jianping, the former secretary of the ruling Communist Party working committee of the Hohhot economic and technological development zone was initially issued in September 2022 and upheld on appeal in August 2024. Jianping’s execution followed the approval of the Supreme People’s Court and was carried out by a court in Inner Mongolia, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. “Li (64) was found guilty by an…

President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, said that the Federal Government aims to stabilise the exchange rate at N1,500 to the dollar to ensure the smooth implementation of the 2025 budget. This is a decrease of almost N200 from the current rate of N1,700 to the dollar. Tinubu stated this while presenting the 2025 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the 11th National Assembly in Abuja. He said, “The budget projects that inflation will decline from the current rate of 34.6% to 15% next year, while the exchange rate will improve from approximately N1,700 per dollar to N1,500. The base…

Russia’s security service has apprehended a 29-year-old Uzbek man in connection with the killing of senior general Igor Kirillov and his aide in Moscow.  Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, commander of the Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defence Forces (NBC), was outside a residential block early Tuesday when an explosive device placed in a scooter detonated remotely. According to official media outlets, the Russian security service claimed the anonymous suspect was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence. According to a source speaking with the BBC on Tuesday, Ukraine’s security service had already claimed responsibility for the death. The Ukrainian source claimed Kirillov, Russia’s chemical…

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state has condemned the suspension of the 18 local government chairmen. Describing the suspension as unconstitutional, the Edo PDP Caretaker Chairman, Tony Aziegbemi, in a statement, said the chairmen and their vice were not given the opportunity to defend themselves. Chronicle NG reports that the Edo State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, passed a resolution suspending the chairmen and vice chairmen of the 18 local government councils of the state. The council chairman and their deputies were suspended following a motion proposed by Isibor Adeh, member of Esan North East 1, and seconded…

The Edo State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, passed a resolution suspending the chairmen and vice chairmen of the 18 local government councils of the state. The House also directed legislative leaders to assume leadership of their respective councils. The council chairman and their deputies were suspended following a motion proposed by Isibor Adeh, member of Esan North East 1, and seconded by Mr. Donald Okogbe, member of Akoko-Edo 2. The Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo had earlier petitioned the House over the chairmen’s failure to give their local government’s financial records to the state. In the letter, the governor…

Food inflation has risen by 60.88 percent under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership despite getting international loans worth $3.334 billion (N5.178 trillion) and garnering over $4.3 billion in investments to improve food production. When Tinubu took office in May 2023, food inflation was 24.82 percent. It increased to almost 40% in November 2024. This is based on figures from the National Bureau of Statistics. This is happening as Nigerians are increasingly unable to buy essential food supplies, with many households struggling to make ends meet due to dramatic price increases. This sharp increase in food prices contradicts the government’s ambitious efforts…

The police on Tuesday charged Timothy Atolagbe, a 40-year-old fake visa agent, for receiving N9,879,928.00 under the false pretence of assisting his victim in acquiring a Canadian study visa. Atolagbe, who was arraigned before Magistrate D. S. Odukoya, is charged with conspiracy, acquiring by false pretences, and forgery. Inspector Chinedu Njoku, the police prosecutor, told the court that the defendant and those who remain at large planned to conduct the crimes between July 2023 and June 2024. Njoku informed the court that the event occurred in Ajangbadi, a neighbourhood of Lagos State. He claimed Atolagbe got the money from a…

Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati has won the FIFA Women’s Player of the Year prize for the second time. The 26-year-old Spaniard Bonmati picked up the Best Women’s Player award for the second year running, adding to her two Ballon d’Or trophies. “I’m grateful; I’m proud to receive this award,” Bonmati said via video link from Barcelona’s Olympic stadium. Last season, Bonmati led Barcelona to a historic continental quadruple of titles and claimed the Nations League with her national team. She won every trophy available to her in club football in 2023/24—the Spanish league, the Copa de la Reina, the Supercopa…