Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Gu Xiaojie, has declared absolute support for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s plan to convert more of the country’s $39 billion foreign reserve to Yuan. 80 percent of Nigeria’s foreign reserve is in dollars, but this is set to change as the CBN hinted in January it may convert more to the Chinese currency, a development that started in 2011. Speaking at a Forum on Wednesday in Abuja, the Chinese Ambassador Xiaojie described the CBN’s plan as a very encouraging development. “Nigeria is among few countries, or two or four countries, in the world that…
Author: Wale Adebayo
President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed appreciation to the groups and individuals who donated the N22 million needed for the purchase of a presidential nomination form of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Thanks to the donors, the president, who has been adopted as a consensus candidate of the PDP, will tomorrow, October 30, pick up the nomination form for the 2015 Presidential elections. “The President is … grateful to all the persons, groups and communities who have sent donations, and made pledges to assist him to pay the required N22 million for the PDP Presidential Nomination Fee and Expression of Interest…
President Goodluck Jonathan has extended his condolence to the government and people of Zambia over the death of their President, Michael Sata, who died in London on Tuesday. A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, on behalf of Jonathan and the people of Nigeria noted that Sata will always be remembered for his stand against neo-colonialism in Zambia and Africa as a whole. “President Jonathan’s deepest sympathies are with the people of Zambia and President Sata’s family as they mourn their leader, patriarch, nationalist and patriot. “He believes Sata will always…
The wife of the president, Dame Patience Jonathan, has denied canvassing for the 2015 gubernatorial ambition of a former governor of Oyo State and chieftain of the Accord Party, Senator Rasheed Ladoja. The first lady was yesterday reacting to a report in some national dailies that she summoned Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial aspirants in Oyo State and asked them to “accommodate” Ladoja. A former governor of the state and gubernatorial aspirant, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, who was part of the meeting, which reportedly took place 10 days ago at the Presidential Villa, Abuja and had in attendance the Minister of…
Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna State yesterday denied a report in a national daily that he was under pressure to jettison his 2015 governorship ambition. Yero, who became governor in 2012 following the death in a helicopter crash of his boss, Governor Patrick Yakowa, recently obtained nomination forms to contest the 2015 governorship election of the state on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party. However, it was alleged that the move was greeted with opposition from party leaders, who want to replace Yero with a candidate from Southern Kaduna to complete the tenure of late Yakowa. The governor, according…
Some few months after he returned from a medical trip overseas, indications emerged yesterday that former Lagos State governor and national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was flown to London on Friday for yet another round of medical treatment. According to Daily Trust, an aide of the APC chieftain confirmed that he was flown out in his private jet as his health condition deteriorated. The newspaper gathered that Tinubu is suffering from an ailment which affects his posture and balance as well his movement, speech and writing. He is said to have been battling the ailment for…
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State on Tuesday attributed the current political crisis rocking the state to the handiwork of mischief “elements”, who had defected from the All Progressives Congress to the Peoples Democratic Party. Oshiomhole said this during a town hall meeting organised by the state government at Imagwe College in Benin, the Edo State capital. The town hall meeting was attended by members of the state executive council, state House of Assembly members, traditional and religious leaders, market women, civil society groups, labour unions and youths. According to the governor, both the PDP and APC had co-existed peacefully…
The Federal Government on Tuesday said negotiations with the Boko Haram sect, which led to a recent ceasefire agreement, is still ongoing. Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Muhammed Adoke (SAN), disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of a meeting convened by President Goodluck Jonathan with security chiefs and relevant ministers at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The minister noted that the meeting was properly briefed on the latest development as far as the agreement was concerned. “The negotiation is still ongoing. The council was briefed about it”, he said. When asked to speak specifically…
Nigerian gospel singer Yinka Ayefele narrated in an open interview howhis father Pa Joshua Taiwo Fele, died on October 12. The sad news broke out weeks after the famous musician and his wife had welcomed their third child. Speaking recently with City People, Yinka said that his father, a renowned teacher in Ipoti Ekiti who rose to the post of Headmaster before his demise, knew he would die soon, which happened on the day of his 76th birthday. When asked about how it happened, the singer said: “I believe Baba (father) had premonition of his death, he knew he was going to…
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has asked the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, to step down from the position following his defection from the party to All Progressives Congress, APC, Tuesday. Mr. Tambuwal announced his defection from PDP to APC shortly after plenary before the House went on recess till December. The speaker only last week denied media reports that he had joined the opposition party when he attended a meeting of the APC in Sokoto State. His formal declaration for APC brings to an end months of speculation as to where his true political allegiance lies. Reacting…
Comrade Issa Aremu Vice-President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Issa Aremu, has faulted a former Head of State and presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for saying that he would not mind a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket. The NLC chief also berated a former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, for warning against a Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket. Aremu spoke in an interview with journalists during the 26th Annual National Education Conference of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria and the Nigeria Textile, Garment and Tailoring Employers’ Association in Ilorin, Kwara State,…
A former Minister of Transport and an ex-governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria in Rivers State, Dr. Abiye Sekibo, on Tuesday debunked rumors of his death, saying he was shocked that an online publication reported that he was dead. An online publication (not Information Nigeria), reported that Sekibo died early on Tuesday while he was about to be flown abroad for medical attention thus causing panic and confusion among his friends and associates. The report also said a close family associate had confirmed the news of his death. Speaking through his former Media Director and spokesman for…
Acting Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mr Suleiman Abba, sai about 30 policemen were still unaccounted after more than two months of Boko Haram terrorists attack on their training facility in Gwoza, Borno state. Abba who spoke with state house correspondents yesterday however said that one of the policemen that went missing had returned to his base. “Last week we were able to identify that one of the missing officers in Gwoza had gone back to his base this time around. So, there can still be some that are in their homes, perhaps refusing to even report to anyone that…
The suspension of the entire executive of Gombi Local Government, Adamawa State, by the state government is an act of vindictiveness, some councillors have said. Eight out of the ten councillors of the local government specifically accused Governor Bala Ngilari of being dictatorial and vindictive. The councillors said the governor suspended them from office because they refused to be a willing tool in his hand for the removal of the chairman of the local government. The councillors include, Yohanna Jonathan (Yang Ward), Dominic Irmiya (Liva Ward), Sabo Inuwa (Gombi North), Samaila Umar (Duga Ward), Mohammed Abdallah (Gombi South), and Adama…
Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State, Tuesday, formally declared his presidential ambition on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), placing security at the top of his agenda for the nation if elected president. Kwankwaso said it was misgovernance that led the country to its present position, stressing that a government under him will fight to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency and other sectarian violence in the country. Addressing a mammoth crowd of supporters that converged on the Old Parade ground, Abuja, the former Miister of Defence said he was joining the race to help reclaim “our country…
Attacks by suspected Boko Haram terrorists continued on Monday despite ongoing truce talks, with police station, government lodge and other public buildings and over 250 vehicles set ablaze in Kukawa town, the headquarters of Kukawa local government area of Borno State. “The insurgents burnt down the Kukawa Divisional Police station and some public buildings in the town,” a resident of the town, Mallam Abor Kanembu told Vanguard. According to him, the insurgents stormed the town in several Hilux vehicles and motorcycles and moved straight to the police station where they shot sporadically targeting residents. Kanembu explained that Rocket Propelled Launchers…
With global oil prices plummeting, Nigeria’s public jobs may be the hardest hit as one of the measures mooted as a strategy for managing an extended crisis is to reduce recurrent expenditure. Nigeria has proposed a $78 crude oil benchmark for its 2015 budget, but falling global oil price may deal the country’s plan a big blow as the free fall of oil price continued on the international market. “In morning trade on Monday, the price of crude oil fell below $80 a barrel for the first time since mid-2012 as energy prices continue to plummet around the world,” Business…
MTN Nigeria and Alcatel-Lucent have launched a superfast, 100 gigabit-per-second fiber-optic network that will see the mobile telecommunications company offer ultra-broadband connectivity to its over 58 million subscribers in the West African country. “MTN realized we needed to upgrade our network to meet customer expectations for ultra-broadband connectivity and high reliability within Nigeria’s very competitive marketplace,” said Lynda Saint-Nwafor, CTO of MTN Nigeria. According to her, the company wanted a state of the art solution that met three main criteria: increased network reliability, a high degree of scalability to prepare the network for 400G and beyond, and preservation of its…
Adewale Adeleke, boss of HKN Records and elder brother of ace singer Davido, has recently showed off his brand new gold-plated, diamond-encrusted Rolex wristwatch valued at over $10,000. Chairman HKN, as he’s fondly called, shared the picture on Instagram yesterday with the caption: ‘NYC issued new Rolly 1/2 Kilo on da neck #GidiBound #HknGang #Richgang.’ Adewale is currently on his way back to Lagos from New York before jetting out to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks where they plan to celebrate the 22nd birthday of his famous brother and ‘Aye’ singer. See post below: –
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday has Abuja denied reports that he was planning to leave the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM). “Our attention has been drawn to a recent publication which alleges that APC chieftain and presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar, intends to dump the opposition party APC for the PDM. This information is not only egregiously false, but our investigations have traced it to a senior APC member from the Northeast zone, who is working to further the presidential ambition of another aspirant within the party,” a statement signed by Malam Garba Shehu, Atiku’s…