EFCC Grills FUNAAB Vice Chancellor

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A student of Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, Miss Sonia Nwakanma, has retained her position as the Best Female Chess Player in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the third year running. She clinched the latest accolade she first picked in 2021 at the prestigious Abuja Inter-School Chess Competition, rated by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and the Chess Players Association of Nigeria (CPAN). Miss Nwakanma, who is a member of the 2023 graduating set of the school, attributed her achievement to her school’s robust in-house sports and personal development facilities that offer students opportunities to compete with

By Adedapo Adesanya A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, in a landmark judgment brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has ordered the disclosure of the spending details of over N200 billion public funds collected by the government of former Delta State governor, Mr Ifeanyi Okowa, from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) fund and allocations from the Federation Accounts. The court ordered the current Delta State Governor, Mr  Sheriff Oborevwori, to “disclose details of budgetary allocations and actual spending by his predecessor between 2015 and 2019, including specific projects carried out to improve primary education in

By Bliss Okperan The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, has warned the rising school fees of tertiary institutions in Nigeria could backfire in the future if nothing is done by the federal government to stop it. Speaking on Channels TV Sunday Night, the union leader said in two years’ time, about 40 to 50 per cent of students in universities across the country could drop out of school because of their inability to pay the high fees. The don urged the federal government to stop the arbitrary increment in school fees by

By Bliss Okperan The University of Osun State (UNIOSUN) has set a goal to achieve a spot in the 10 top universities in Nigeria by 2026. The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Clement Adebooye, while speaking on Friday at the main campus of the university in Osogbo, said the management also intends to make the school one of the 25 best in Africa in three years’ time. According to him, the management has begun to implement the strategies designed to meet this target, including providing a peaceful academic environment for students and others. He expressed the commitment of the

By Dipo Olowookere One of the top rating agencies in the world, S&P Global Ratings, has announced affirming its ‘B-‘ long-term and ‘B’ short-term issuer credit ratings on Nigeria-based tier-two lender, Fidelity Bank Plc with a stable outlook. In a statement issued last Friday and obtained by Business Post, the rating company said it was also affirming its ‘ngBB+/ngB’ Nigeria national scale ratings on the bank. S&P explained that the affirmation reflects its view that the bank will display relatively moderate earnings compared with the sector average, as demonstrated in 2017, and relatively stable asset quality amid a slow economic

By Dipo Olowookere Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Lagos High Court has granted an interim injunction restraining the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from removing the Group Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, Mr Adewale Tinubu, and his deputy, Mr Omamofe Boyo. The interim injunction was granted yesterday by the court after the duo filed an application to stop their removal from the board of the oil company by the apex capital market regulator. Last Friday, SEC directed Mr Tinubu and Mr Boyo to resign after a forensic audit of the company indicted them for market infractions. SEC, on Sunday

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Import-Export Bank (Afreximbank) is teaming up with International Trade Centre (ITC) to train small business owners and young entrepreneurs in Africa to trade with other African countries as part of the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The training programme is being launched as the new free-trade area comes on stream next year and amid the coronavirus pandemic. The training will give business owners the knowledge and skills they need to engage effectively in cross-border trade under terms of the emerging free-trade area for Africa. Both organisations will work toward increasing opportunities for small

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A deal has been reached between Ericsson and MTN Nigeria for the launching of 5G services in Lagos and a few cities in the first phase of the collaboration. With Ericsson Radio System, MTN will provide advanced mobile broadband and fixed wireless access services, unlocking a range of new opportunities in the enterprise domain. The new 5G services can bring about unique, sustainable development initiatives for agriculture, energy, financial inclusion, and security, overcoming past institutional challenges and barriers to growth. In the future, MTN Nigeria’s Ericsson-powered 5G network will be driven by software-defined network capabilities where a

By Adedapo Adesanya The European Union (EU) has deployed an EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) to observe Nigeria’s general elections scheduled for February 25 and March 18, 2023. In a statement on Tuesday, the bloc said the decision was coming in response to the invitation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). In light of this, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr Josep Borrell, has appointed Mr Barry Andrews, Member of the European Parliament, as Chief Observer for the EOM to Nigeria. The EU previously deployed Election

By Modupe Gbadeyanka For the second straight day, Nestle led the advancers’ chart on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), improving by N9.44k to close at N734.99k per share on Friday. Yesterday, the share was the biggest gainer at the market, going up by N34.55k to close at N725.55k per share. Its performance today, with the 15 other stocks on the gainers’ chart, pushed the stock market further by 0.27 percent, leaving the market to close the week positive. At the wrap of trading activities on the NSE on Friday, the All-Share Index rose by 67.65 points to

By Adedapo Adesanya The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) Plc has stated that it disbursed 52 percent of its total loan of N100 billion to youths across the country in 2019 in line with its objective to create jobs. The bank revealed that in total, it disbursed about N100 billion to over 100,000 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as at December 2019. Out of which led to the creation of addition­al 3,192 jobs for Nigerians. This was made known by the Managing Director, DBN, Mr Tony Okpanachi, at the bank’s third Annual Gen­eral Meeting (AGM), which was held virtually,

Justice Kazeem Alogba has been appointed as the 17th Chief Judge of Lagos State with effect from Tuesday, June 11, 2019, in acting capacity. A statement issued by the state government today said Justice Alogba will remain Lagos State acting Chief Judge pending the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC) and subsequent confirmation of the Lagos State House of Assembly. It was learned that this appointment was made by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in accordance with Section 271 (1) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As amended). The appointment