Oil Prices Fall as Labour Ends Strike in Norway

By Aduragbemi Omiyale President Bola Tinubu has said the 2024 budget presented to the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday was designed to achieve macroeconomic stability, a better investment environment, greater access to social security, poverty reduction and enhanced human capital development. According to him, if these goals are achieved, the standard of living of Nigerians will improve and the citizens will enjoy the dividends of democracy. While presenting the 2024 Appropriation Bills to the parliament yesterday, the President said this was why he christened the budget proposal as the Budget of Renewed Hope. Mr Tinubu told the

By Adedapo Adesanya The prices of oil benchmarks jumped by 2 per cent on Tuesday on the fresh possibility that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will extend or deepen supply cuts. Data showed that Brent crude futures gained $1.70 or 2.1 per cent to close at $81.68 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by $1.55 or 2.1 per cent to $76.41 per barrel after a drop in Kazakh oil output and a weaker US Dollar. OPEC+ is due to hold an online ministerial meeting on Thursday to discuss 2024

By Dipo Olowookere Local equities rebounded by 0.34 per cent on Wednesday on the back of buying pressure on a few energy stocks and others at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. According to data from the bourse, the bullish stance was attained despite profit-taking activities in the banking space amid plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to recapitalise the industry, leaving the market breadth index negative. This was because the number of price losers was more than the price gainers at 39 and 19 apiece, indicating a weak investor sentiment. Business Post reports that the energy counter grew

By Adedapo Adesanya The Dangote Group has announced plans to commence civil works for the construction of its Sugar factory in Tunga, Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, saying it would employ 1,000 people from the immediate community after taking off. This was made by Mr Maryoud Elsunni, the lead member of the team from the headquarters of the Dangote Group, when they paid a courtesy visit to Governor Abdullahi Sule in Government House, on Wednesday in Lafia. Mr Elsunni said Mr Aliko Dangote, Chairman/CEO of the Dangote Group, had directed his contractor to handle the project. He said

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A crime prediction software has been released by Space Imaging Middle East (SIME). It is its latest predictive policing software successfully launched by the Dubai Police force. The software, which is the first of its kind in the region, was developed in support of the UAE’s Smart Governance Initiative, and specifically designed to complement the Dubai Police force’s modernized approach to crime prevention and enhanced public safety. Crime Prediction analyses existing intelligence and crime patterns from police databases and, using sophisticated algorithms, produces highly accurate data related to when and where crime is likely to occur next.

Niger Delta leaders under the aegis of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) have condemned what they called lopsided appointments into top management positions at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiaries and departments in favour of the northern part of the country. Their position was contained in an open letter entitled Re: Addressing the Continued Injustice Against the Niger Delta People Vis the Lopsided Appointments in the NNPC and its Subsidiaries/Departments addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari at the weekend. The leaders called on the president to urgently correct the abnormality and also reaffirmed the call for proper restructuring

By Dipo Olowookere About N2.290 billion representing 45.8 percent of the N5 billion Paris Club refund received from the Federal Government by the Kwara State government has now spent to pay salaries of workers in the state. This was so as a result of the release of an additional N400 million by the state government to local councils to enable them pay December salary in full. In a statement issued via its Facebook page on Saturday, the state government said with this development, it has complied with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari that states should use 25 percent of

By Sodeinde Temidayo David, Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel The federal government of Nigeria has signalled its interest to venture into the manufacturing of aircraft in the country. The Minister of Aviation, Mr Hadi Sirika, disclosed this in a statement issued by the ministry’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr James Odaudu. He said Nigeria was looking to start local aircraft production with the assistance of the Magnus Aircraft Manufacturing industry in Hungary. Mr Sirika paid an inspection visit to the Magnus Aircraft Industry in Pogany, Hungary on Monday and he said he was satisfied with the features of the aircraft and was willing

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Bank of Industry (BoI) has opposed the scrapping of the bank and the establishment of National Development Bank of Nigeria (NDBN). At the one-day public hearing organised on Monday by the Senate Committee on Bank, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions in National Assembly on a bill seeking to establish NDBN, the Acting Managing Director of BoI, Mr Waheed Olagunju, described the move as anti-people. He argued that the BoI already handles the responsibilities the proposed institution plans to carry out when granted the approval to operate. “We are of the opinion that BoI as presently constituted

By Kester Kenn Klomegah Southern African Development Community (SADC), an organization made up of 16 member states, was established in 1980. It has as its mission to promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development through efficient, productive systems, deeper cooperation and integration, good governance and durable peace and security so that the region emerges as a competitive and effective player in international relations and the world economy. In September 2013, Ms Lawrence Stargomena Tax began as the fourth Executive Secretary of the organization. According to the official information, her second term of office ends in August 2021. As

By Dipo Olowookere A journalist based in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital, Mr Obong Ndutim, has been arrested by the Nigeria Police Force, reports reaching us said. Mr Ndutim is the publisher of an online news portal, FactsReporter.com, and was arrested by men of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the NPF over an article published on his platform titled CBN Probes Akpabio’s N865b Unrecorded Despites in Three Banks. The local journalists was apprehended in the early hours of Monday, December 3, 2018 after Senator Godswill Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, wrote a petition to the