Tinubu Increases Planned Monthly Allowance to N35,000

By Adedapo Adesanya  Nigeria’s anti-crude theft troop, Operation Delta Safe, has destroyed 50 illegal oil refining sites in the Niger Delta region and arrested 51 suspects in the last week. The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, who made this known on Thursday in Abuja while briefing newsmen on the operations of the military, said the troops also eliminated four criminals and recovered arms and ammunition. He added that a total of 578,900 litres of stolen crude oil, 454,330 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil and 10,000 litres of dual-purpose kerosene (DPK) were recovered during the operations.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Some public servants in Nigeria have been charged to make use of what they learned from a seven-week AIG Public Leaders Programme (PLP) to drive transformative change from within. This appeal was made by the executive vice chairman of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, Mrs Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, at the conclusion of the programme, offered by the Foundation in partnership with the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government. It is an executive education scheme that provides high-potential African public servants with the opportunity to acquire the skills needed to create cultures of excellence, effectiveness, and integrity in their organisations.

By Bliss Okperan Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has presented another supplementary budget to the Kano State House of Assembly. Recall that about two months ago, the Governor presented a supplementary budget of N58 billion to the state legislative arm of government. On Tuesday, he approached the parliament for approval for another supplementary budget of N24 billion, noting that the funds would be used for the settlement of gratuity and personnel costs. According to him, the payment of gratuity will gulp N20 billion, while N4 billion is for personnel costs. The first and second supplementary budgets under Mr

By Adedapo Adesanya The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has distributed farm inputs to 150 rice farmers in Oyo State. At an event held in Ibadan, the farmers were given bags of certified rice seeds, fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides. Speaking during the distribution, a Director in the ministry, Mrs Karima Babangida, said the items were part of the federal government’s COVID-19 palliative for farmers. Mrs Babangida, represented by a Senior Agricultural Officer in the ministry, Mr Dauda Ayeleke, said the programme was organised in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). She said the distribution was

By Dipo Olowookere The Ekiti State government and its Lagos State counterpart have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the cultivation of rice. Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose, confirmed this development on his Twitter page on Thursday. According to him, his government will provide land for the rice cultivation, while the Lagos State government would provide the funds and expertise. This development follows a similar deal signed between Lagos State and Kebbi State on the production of LAKE Rice few years ago. The move was applauded then by many Nigerians, who challenged other state governments to look

By Adedapo Adesanya The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has said it hopes to generate a revenue of N2.3 trillion by next year. This was disclosed by the director of the agency, Mr Sarki Auwali during an interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) in Lagos on Monday. Mr Auwalu said the target comes on the heels of over N1 trillion generated this year with an average of N1.9 billion revenue per staff. He noted that the oil industry is facing challenges bordering on oil price crash, cuts from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

By Adedapo Adesanya The Brent crude recorded its third consecutive loss on Wednesday by going down by $2.23 or 3.1 per cent to sell at $70 per barrel. The United States crude benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was also not left out as it depreciated by $2.61 or 3.7 per cent to settle at $67.95 per barrel. It was observed that the oil market was dampened by a triple whammy surprise build in crude stockpiles and negative economic reports in the United States as well as worries about the spread of the coronavirus Delta variant. The market, which was already

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Investors in the country’s stock market recorded a gain of N27 billion on Friday, extending the market’s upward trend to three consecutive days. It was observed that the major market indicators finished in the green zone today, including the all-share index, which added 78.51 points or went up by 0.31 percent to close at 25,817.69 points, as well as the market capitalisation, which grew by N27 billion to end at N 8.883 trillion. In addition, a turnover of 108.5 million shares worth N1.64 billion in 2,512 deals were traded on Friday by investors on the floor of

By Dipo Olowookere Discussions have been held between the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on how to forge closer ties on a range of issues from use of land in the ports where oil and gas free zones are located to strategic cooperation. The strategic engagement move between the two government agencies began some days ago when the managing director of OGFZA, Mr Umana Okon Umana, paid a courtesy call on his counterpart at the NPA, Mrs Hadiza Bala Usman, at the NPA head office on the Marina, Lagos. Briefing Mrs Usman

By Adedapo Adesanya Despite a significant increase in the demand for foreign currencies at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Tuesday, September 21, the Naira appreciated against the United States Dollar. Business Post reports that the Nigerian Naira gained 40 kobo or 0.10 per cent against the greenback yesterday to trade at N413.28/$1 at the market window in contrast to N413.68/$1 it traded at the first trading session of the week. A turnover of $200.65 million was recorded at the session as against the $91.23 million achieved at the preceding day, indicating a

By Dipo Olowookere Key stakeholders in the built industry have been assured of strong backing by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) so as to reduce the housing deficit in Nigeria. The agency, through its director-general, Mr Lamido Yuguda, stated that it looks forward to having the players explore the capital market to tackle the issues. Mr Yuguda, while speaking at a meeting with the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) in Abuja on Wednesday, stated that, “There is a renewed focus on Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) now, we are getting to see how the sector contributes