NIGERIAN NOTCH

The Federal Government has continued to evacuate Nigerians trapped in countries around the world as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This comes as a new set of 269 stranded Nigerians arrived in the country from India in the early hours of Saturday. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) announced the arrival of the returnees on its Twitter handle. According to the agency, 103 of the evacuees arrived in Lagos and 166 others landed in Abuja at about 2am, after a few hours of delay. Following their arrival, the returnees were subjected to compulsory 14 days self-isolation, in line with the protocol by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19. The NIDCOM stated that all the evacuees tested negative before boarding the plane and would be re-tested within 72 hours at a designated testing centre of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). They were brought back to Nigeria from India aboard an Air Peace plane which first landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Ai

By Karen James. At the premises of the Onitsha high court, the Nigeria Bar Association Onitsha branch Chapter elected new executives that will pilot the affairs of the association for the next two years according to their constitution. The election produced Bar.Onyechi Ononye as the new chairman of NBA, Bar. Margret Wilcox as vice chairman, Bar.Frank Ibechukwu as Secretary, Bar.Stella Ikeogu as the Social Secretary and Princess Ajama muoneke as the Treasurer of the Association. Speaking to news men,the outgoing NBA chairman Bar.Ozoemena Erinne said that the task of moving the association to greater heights remains the top priority of the newly elected executives. Bar. Erinne listed the renovation of the Bar center to a classic type with building of public toilet for convinence to the general public and members of the bar as well though its not free as it requires payment at the point of entry. He also advised the incoming chairman and his executives to consolidate on his achievement to

Nigeria records 627 new COVID-19 cases, another high for two consecutive days, the Nigeria Centre For Disease Control(NCDC) says. In a tweet on Friday, the centre said Nigeria has 15,181 cases of the COVID-19. The NCDC also said that as at June 12, 12 deaths were recorded. The however said that no new state had reported a case in the last 24 hours. NCDC said that Lagos state again led the state ranking with 229 new cases. Abuja trailed behind, reporting 65 new infections. Other states with new infections include Abia (54), Borno (42), Oyo (35), Rivers (28), Edo (28), Gombe (27), Ogun (21), Plateau (18), Delta (18), Bauchi (10), Kaduna (10), Benue (9), Ondo (8), Kwara (6), Nasarawa (4), Enugu (4), Sokoto (3), Niger (3), Kebbi (3), Yobe (1), and Kano (1). The NCDC said that till date, 15,181 cases had been confirmed, 9891 active cases 4891 cases have been treated and discharged deaths , 88, 432 samples have been collected, and 399 deaths have been recorded in 35 states and the Federal Ca

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State was last night weighing different options and considering the party he would bear their flag in the September governorship election  after the Prof. Jonathan Ayuba-led Screening Committee of the All Progressives Congress APC for the Edo state Governorship primary election  disqualified him, as well as Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi and Hon. Matthew Iduoriyekemwen.  Sources close to the governor said a final decision would be taken today even as some politicians in the state  had eyes on the Peoples Democratic Party. But even as that option appeared shaky, close friends of the governor boasted that they had a joker, vowing that the governor would be re-elected in September. The governor, his aides, said, would not appeal the disqualification. Presenting the report of the committee to the National Working Committee NWC of the party on Friday in Abuja, Prof. Ayuba cited discrepancies in the names and certificates of the governor. For Ogiemwonyi, the committee

International Police (INTERPOL) has broken silence on the arrest of Instagram celebrity, Raymond Igbalodely a.k.a. Hushpuppi Nigerian Notch, recall that Hushpuppi was arrested in  Dubai for allegedly hacking into the United States (US) unemployed database and defrauding the US of over $100 million meant for native Americans in the battle against the coronavirus. Interpol on Friday said Hushpuppi will be extradited from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Nigeria to face alleged multiple fraud charges. The Commissioner of Police (CP) INTERPOL, Garba Umar, made this known while speaking to The Nation and confirming the arrest of Hushpuppi. He said: “Yes, It is true that Hushpuppi was arrested by the INTERPOL. We are currently working on bringing him to Nigeria to face charges of fraud. “Some of the offences were committed here in Nigeria and he has to answer for them.” He added that other accomplices are currently on their trial as Hushpuppi did not commit the crimes alone. Credits: Daily

Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, has said that his government will recover to the last penny looted from state treasury by his predecessors. Governor Uzodinma stated this on Friday in Owerri while addressing stakeholders of the state including his deputy, Professor Placid Njoku. He said that his government, which is anchored on Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Recovery, will ensure a sanitized system in the state where Imo taxpayers’ money is not taken by a few greedy individuals to the detriment of the large majority. “We have sanitized the civil service system and we won’t be having issues of ghost workers or dead people receiving salary and pension. “Let me sound it as a note of warning, going by the new law on Land Use Charges, all land owners in the state are advised to go for a revalidation of their Certificate of Ownership, otherwise, the government will not hesitate to return their lands to the original owners when the need arises. “I tell you here and now, any land

The Federal Government has announced that 260 Nigerians are expected to return from India on Saturday, June 13. Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, disclosed this on Friday night via his official Twitter handle. He also explained that the government’s planned evacuations commenced as scheduled, and that some 102 Nigerians had already been successfully evacuated from Egypt. The evacuees from Egypt arrived Nigeria on Friday, June 12 with EgyptAir, while the evacuees from India will be conveyed by Air Peace Nigeria. Also, the evacuation protocols announced by the Minister have been implemented, with the arrival of the first evacuees. According to Ms Sarah Sanda, Onyeama’s Special Assistant on Media, the returnees who arrived via the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, are already self-isolating and will undergo the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing within 72 hours. Sanda said in an interview with NAN that the same procedures would be applied with the ex

The rising cost of Nigeria’s debt  profile   breached a new milestone  with the country’s  debt service as a percentage of revenue rising to 99% in the first quarter of 2020. This is  contained   in the  Medium-Term  Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy (MTEF/FSP) report  recently  released by the Federal  Ministry  of Finance, Budget, and National Planning   A cursory review of the  data obtained from the  MTEF/FSP report  shows that  in Q1 2020, Nigeria  incurred a total  sum of N943.12 billion  in  debt  service  while the federal government retained revenue was  put at N950.56 billion. This implies Nigeria’s debt service to revenue is estimated to be 99% during the period.    This is the highest on record and  it  suggests  a lmost all the revenue generated from both oil and non-oil sources was used to meet debt service  obligations.    Debt service , recurrent expenditure,  and Revenue Breakdown    Nigeria like the rest of the world has been battling with th e COVID-19 pandem

Brent crude closed at $38.73 a barrel, while U.S crude oil futures settled at $36.26 a barrel, by the end of the week’s trading session on Friday night. Both benchmarks for crude printed weekly declines of about 8% – their first after six weeks of bullish run that rallied crude prices off April’s lows. The recent dip is as a result of fears that a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic will disrupt the market once more. “This market is at a crossroads. If demand continues to improve, the oil market has a lot more to go on the upside,”  said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group.  “If we get into a situation where we start to take steps back with the coronavirus, the market is going to go down.” In addition, U.S. crude oil inventories surged to a record of 538.1 million barrels, as cheap imports from the Saudis flooded the American oil market. Why OPEC+ decided to cut oil production:  Demand for crude oil dropped, in spite of a deal brokered by the Saudis, Russians, and oth

Despite the market and economic uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic, investors expressed a lot of confidence in Nigeria’s debt market. The Debt Management Office (DMO) has announced an oversubscription of the third sovereign Sukuk for which it offered N150 billion to investors. The offer attracted a very high level of subscription from investors, with total subscriptions of N669.124 billion. This represents a subscription level of 446%. The DMO said, “This impressive demand for the Sukuk came from a wide range of investors which included Ethical Funds, Insurance Companies, Fund Managers and Retail Investors amongst others. This participation by a wide range of investors is in line with the DMO’s objectives of diversifying the investor base for Government Securities and promoting financial inclusion. “The issuance of the third Sovereign Sukuk, which followed the debut issuance of N100 billion in September 2017 and a second issuance of another N100 billion in December 2018, is ba

The Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District at the Senate, Senator Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah in his Democracy day message to Nigerians, called on Nigerians to take advantage of our uniqueness and diversity as a source of strength to foster unity and oneness amongst Nigerians. Democracy Day Celebration in Nigeria marks a turning point in our history, when we as a Nation defied all odds and chose to rebuild our Motherland on the Principles of Democracy and Sovereignty.   He said that " Each year as new events unfold, we find good reason to rejoice in the celebration of new milestones achieved in the course of  building our core national values . We equally find time to review the challenges faced in nurturing and growing the institutions and value systems that support the sustenance of  Democracy in our country. According to him , this year's Democracy day is an opportunity to recall that democracy is about the people. Democracy is built on inclusion, equal treatmen