oyinloyefola

Nigeria got a lifeline on Monday as the African Development Bank (AfDB) said it would support the country with the sum of $1 billion to help it address the N2.2 trillion deficit in the 2016 budget. AfDB President, Akinwunmi Adesina, who disclosed this to State House correspondents after meeting with Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, and the Economic Management Team (EMT) at the State House, Abuja, said the facility would attract a 1.2 per cent interest. This is Adesina’s first official visit to his country of origin since he became president of the bank last year. He said that between 2016 and 2017 the bank would provide the sum of $4.1 billion to Nigeria to fund power, infrastructure, agriculture and the private sector and the Small and Medium size Enterprises financing and lending scheme. Adesina said the bank’s lending portfolio in Nigeria would grow to a total of $10 billion by 2019. Disagreeing with those saying Nigeria is in a debt crisis, the AfDB president said Nig...

The presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 elections is the main cause of the current crisis tearing the party apart, its embattled National Chairman Senator Ali Modu Sheriff said yesterday. Sheriff, who bared his mind in an interview with African Independent Television (AIT), accused Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and a former Deputy National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, of plotting to hand the party’s ticket to a prominent leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He said: “Wike and Secondus are working to give the party ticket in 2019 to a man in APC, a man that is not even bold enough to leave the APC and join us. He was in the PDP before. He was a founding father of the PDP. “I don’t have to mention him. Secondus himself told me that he and Wike always meet this man to strategise plans on 2019. I told him that it is wrong. If the man is bold enough, let him come and join us now. “They accused me ...

The senate president, Bukola Saraki, and his predecessor, David Mark, and other prominent Nigerians may soon be in trouble as the Presidency has ordered the investigation of present and past Nigerian officials named in the Panama Papers scandal. The chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, Sam Saba, confirmed the directive to PREMIUM TIMES. This newspaper had published leaked papers from a Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonsecca, which were obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The 2.6 TB files, involving 214,488 entities, exposed incredible secrets of the underworld economy, where a network of banks, law firms and other middlemen utilize shell companies, sometimes to hide illegal wealth. PREMIUM TIMES identified at least 110 Nigerians and companies operating offshore shell companies in tax havens. Mr. Saba said the Presidency forwarded names of some persons mentioned in the Panama Papers, to the agency for investigation. more

The LMC has slammed Lagos based club Ikorodu United with heavy fines after previously announcing the team had been charged for failure to restrict unauthorized persons from restricted areas during their NPFL matchday 30 game vs 3SC. The club also got charged for disturbances caused by its supporters during & after the NPFL game vs 3SC was discontinued. As a result, Ikorodu Utd were fined N750,000 for failing to restrict unauthorized persons from restricted areas during the game vs 3SC. Ikorodu Utd was also fined N750,000 for failing to provide adequate crowd control during & after the 3SC game. The LMC also stated that Ikorodu Utd were in breach of NPFL framework & rules for failing to provide adequate crowd control during its game vs 3SC. The Lagos based club further breached NPFL rules with its supporters throwing objects onto the pitch leading to the discontinuing of the game vs 3SC. For objects thrown onto the pitch by its supporters & causing the discontinuan...

Governor Ayo Fayose yesterday failed in his bid to stop the anti-graft agencies from probing Ekiti State’s finances and bank accounts. An Ado Ekiti High Court declined to grant an ex parte order sought by his administration to restrain the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating the government’s financial records. Justice Cornelius Akintayo ordered that EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Department of State Service (DSS) be put on notice before the case can be heard. The judge adjourned the suit till Tuesday and ordered all parties to appear before him for the hearing of the motion on notice. The suit was filed by Ekiti State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Owoseni Ajayi, to stop the impending investigation of the accounts of the government by the EFCC. Another relief sought by the plaintiffs was an order stopping the arrest of the Commissioner for Finance, Accountant Gen...

Principal Officers in the House of Representatives on Thursday said the removal of a former chairman of House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, was done in the best interest of Nigeria. The lawmakers, which include Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, took “full responsibility” for the dismissal of Mr. Jibrin from his post. “The decision to relieve the erstwhile Appropriation Chairman of his position was a collective decision of the leadership in response to unrelenting pressures from the overwhelming majority of Honorable Members who were irked by the former Chairman’s gross abuse of the budget process,” the lawmakers said. The 10 lawmakers who signed the statement included, Mr. Dogara, his deputy, Lasun Yusuf, Mr. Gbajabiamila, Deputy Majority Leader, Buba Jibril, House Whip, Ado Doguwa and Deputy Chief Whip, Pally Iriase. Others included: Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, Minority Whip, Yakubu Barde, Deputy Minority Lead...

Looking remarkably unlined for his claimed 120 years, an Indian monk who says he is the oldest man to have ever lived puts his longevity down to no sex or spices, and daily yoga. Hindu monk Swami Sivananda was born on August 8, 1896, according to his passport. If true, his life would have spanned three centuries, but despite his apparent age he remains strong enough to perform yoga for hours at a time. He is now applying to Guinness World Records to verify his claim. It currently lists Japan’s Jiroemon Kimura, who died in June 2013 aged 116 years and 54 days, as the oldest man to have ever lived. India’s passport authorities confirmed Sivananda’s age from a temple register, the only record many Indians even decades younger have of their date of birth. However it would be extremely difficult to independently verify his age. Sivananda was featured by local media earlier this summer, with the Times of India noting he looked 50 years younger than his apparent age but ...