Category: Happenings

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate decreased to 33.40% in July 2024, down from 34.19% in June 2024. This marks the first decline in the headline inflation rate since December 2022, when it last dropped to 21.34%, Nairametrics is reporting.

The latest inflation rate figures are based on the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) CPI report for July 2024. According to the report, the headline inflation rate decreased by 0.79 percentage points in July 2024 compared to June 2024.

On a year-on-year basis, the rate was 9.32 percentage points higher than in July 2023, when it stood at 24.08%. This indicates an increase in the headline inflation rate on a year-on-year basis for July 2024 compared to the same month in the previous year.

Additionally, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in July 2024 was 2.28%, slightly lower than the 2.31% recorded in June 2024.

The Council of State comprising former Presidents and Heads of State, the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives, serving and retired Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, as well as State governors on Tuesday passed a vote of confidence on President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

This is as the Council of State has described the recent hunger and bad governance protest as an insurrection and a movement aimed at regime change.

The former leaders that passed the confidence vote on President Tinubu included Generals Yakubu Gowon, Muhammadu Buhari & Abdulsalami Abubakar, as well as former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The confidence vote was passed during the National Council of State meeting, presided over by President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Both former presidents Buhari & Jonathan attended the meeting physically while Generals Gowon & Abubakar joined virtually.

The Nigerian government has frozen more than $37 million worth of cryptocurrency held in wallets believed to be owned by some organisers of End Bad Governance protests.

The freezing followed an order by the Federal High Court in Abuja. The judge, Emeka Nwite, gave the order in a ruling delivered on 9 July, a copy of the decision seen on Tuesday shows. Mr Nwite issued the order based on an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In the ex parte application filed on 8 August and heard by the court on the following day, the EFCC described the assets as proceeds of money laundering and terrorism financing.

There was no objection to the application during the hearing, which was an exchange of views between the judge and EFCC’s lawyer, O.S Ujam.

The House of Representatives has introduced the Counter Subversion Bill 2024, which aims to impose stringent penalties on Nigerians who fail to recite the national anthem.

According to the proposed legislation, anyone found guilty of refusing to recite the national anthem shall be fined N5 million, face a 10-year prison sentence, or both.

Anyone who destroys a national symbol or a place of worship shall be liable to the same punishment. The Bill, sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, is set for its second reading, where its general principles will be debated.

The Bill “stipulates that anyone found guilty of destroying national symbols, refusing to recite the national anthem and pledge, defacing a place of worship with intent to incite violence, or undermining the Federal Government shall face a fine of N5 million, a 10-year prison sentence, or both”.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has released the sum of N50 billion to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) from recovered assets to support the student loan scheme.

The anti-graft agency announced this in a press statement on Tuesday, following a visit by NELFUND’s head, Akinwunmi Sawyerr, to the EFCC headquarters.

According to the statement, the chairman of EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, lauded the student loan programme, describing it as a policy issue to tackle corruption.

Olukoyede also mentioned that the inability of many parents to fund the education of their children had always been a predisposing factor of corruption, making students vulnerable to all forms of economic and financial crimes.

“One of the main incentives to cybercrimes is the inability of parents  to fund the education of their children.  NELFUND is a policy issue against crimes.  President Tinubu should be commended for initiating the Fund”, he said.

The Police Command in Oyo State said it has commenced investigation into the killing of a 14-year-old, Malik Kareem, for alleged money ritual in Ibadan.

The command’s Public Relations Officer stated this during an interview on Monday in Ibadan. Mr Osifeso said that the command was aware of the incident and had immediately commenced investigation with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice.

He assured members of the public that an update on the investigation on the matter would be made available once it was concluded.

It is reported that the victim was b3headed for rit¥al purposes on Saturday evening in the Olorisaoko community within the Akinyele LGA.

According to reports, the victim had recently completed his final subject for the WAEC.

Sources indicate that the victim, along with three peers, sought the services of a now-absconded Muslim cleric for a money ritual on the same day. It was learnt that the three boys had bargained with the cleric to kill their friend as part of the ritual

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on information & strategy to the President  has revealed that food inflation in Nigeria has declined massively

He said this in a tweet on August 12, 2024 while reacting to a report that the prices of a basket of tomatoes has dropped from N150,000 to N60,000 amid new harvests

Traders in Ketu & Berger markets gave the new prices. A trader at Ketu market said a big basket of tomatoes is currently selling for about N55,000 to N60,000 down from an average of N150,000 a few months ago

Additionally, a crate of tomatoes that previously cost N55,000 is now being sold for N30,000. He said a large basket of habanero pepper (rodo) is now selling for an average of N25,000 compared to N55,000 at the peak of the price surge

It is the season. Hausa tomatoes & peppers are already coming out,” the trader said providing reasons for the decline

Another trader in Ketu market said a small basket of tomatoes now costs between N20,000 & N25,000

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka Anite has revealed  that the economic sabotage from the ongoing EndBadGovernance protest is estimated at N500 billion.

In a post shared on her official X handle, she lamented the deaths because of the protest and other damages caused by the protests.

According to her post, around N52 billion worth of goods were destroyed while the d3ath toll from the protest had reached 21. She noted that the lootings from the protest are a setback to businesses and entrepreneurs across the country.

She said, “The loss of lives during the protests is saddening. My thoughts are with the families affected. The looting, resulting in billions lost, is a severe setback for our economy and entrepreneurs. Let’s honour those we’ve lost by striving for more peaceful and constructive dialogue.”

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says it has launched a formal investigation into the destruction of the Nigerian passport at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

Videos of a female traveller purportedly destroying her husband’s passport at the airport began circulating on social media on Saturday.

In the clips, torn pieces of the passport are seen strewn on the floor, as someone confronts the woman over her action.

“I tore it,” she replied in Pidgin English. “Is it yours?”

Moments later, the lady yells at her husband: “If you want to sleep there, you sleep there.”

She then struts away with her son and daughter as her husband stands forlorn with a baby in a stroller.

In another video explaining her actions, the woman insisted that she did nothing wrong, alleging that she has been oppressed by her husband for a while.

A man was arrested for climbing the Eiffel Tower on Sunday, hours before the Olympics closing ceremony.

The man was spotted climbing the tower at about 14:45 local time (13:45 BST) and officers immediately intervened and arrested him, police said. No more details were immediately available on the man’s motivation and nationality.

Amir Tsarfati, [Aug 11, 2024 at 9:42 AM]
Hours before the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games – the Eiffel Tower is evacuated after a person climbed it. Large police force on site, the person was spotted above the Olympic rings on the tower above the first observation deck pic.twitter.com/SY4cMPtnb2

— Rooted n routes (@rooted91954) August 11, 2024

Videos on social media show a shirtless man scaling the tower just above the Olympic rings that have adorned it during the summer games.

In another video, the man is escorted away by police, hands cuffed behind his back, and says to a bystander: “Bloody warm, innit?”

Obasanjo spoke at his residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while receiving six members of the House of Representatives who are co-sponsors of bills on single term of six year, rotational of presidency between the north and the south as well as rotation of governorship slot among the three senatorial districts of each of the 36 states.

He said: “Our main problem is ourselves and until we take care of ourselves it doesn’t matter we may have one term of four years one term of six years, one term of seven years if it’s the same people and same mentality and way we do things then it won’t change.

Yes, the system; yes, democracy. We have to rethink democracy. We have to rethink form of government. But what about the character of the people in government? With all due respect most of them should be behind the bar, some should even be in the gallows and that is the truth.

President Bola Tinubu has promised to review the request for the convening of a national constituent assembly with the mandate to draft a new constitution.

The request was made by a group of eminent personalities known as ‘The Patriots’ led by former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku.

Speaking during a visit to the president in Abuja on Friday, August 9, Chief Anyaoku, appealed to the President to send an executive bill to the National Assembly, proposing two measures: ”The convening of a national constituent assembly with the mandate to produce a draft people’s democratic constitution.

The constituent assembly should be of directly elected individuals, on a non-political basis, from the 36 states of the federation, possibly three individuals per state, and one from the FCT.

They should be assisted by seven constitutional lawyers, one drawn from each of the six geo-political zones and the FCT.

The kidnapped former Delta State Commissioner for Technical Education, Hon. Joan Onyemaechi Mrakpor, has been released by her abductors.

Mrakpor, an evangelist and politician, was released late Friday night, August 9, after 11 days in captivity.

The abductors had earlier demanded N1billion ransom, however, SaharaReporters reliably gathered that a yet-to-be-disclosed huge amount of money was allegedly paid as a ransom before she was released.

A source who spoke to the news outlet disclosed that former governor, Ifeanyi Okowa and the Delta State government played vital roles towards her release.

“You know initially the kidnappers demanded a ransom of N1billion from the family & the family said they didn’t have such huge amount of money. The family begged for a lesser amount of money & at the end of the day, a compromise was reached & ransom was paid & she was released,” the source stated.

The spokesman of the Delta State Police Command, SP Bright Edafe also confirmed the release of Mrakpor late Friday night.

Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, says the N570 billion disbursed to states did not come from the federal government.

In a newsletter, the governor said President Bola Tinubu’s remark that 36 states were given N570 billion to “expand livelihood support to their citizens” is “another case of misrepresentation of facts”.

“The said funds were part of the World Bank-assisted NG-CARES project — a Programme for Results intervention,” Makinde said.

“The World Bank facilitated an intervention to help States in Nigeria with COVID-19 Recovery. CARES means COVID-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus.

“It was called the Programme for Results because States had to use their money in advance to implement the programme.

The family of Usulor Esther Chinenye, a 21-year-old POS operator, is seeking justice after she was allegedly murdered by her boyfriend in Awoyaya, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.

The suspect, identified simply as John, was accused of killing the deceased on Friday, August 2, after which he made away with her POS machine, money and phones.

The suspect who was a security guard at a network mast is said to be on the run.

It was gathered that six suspects were initially arrested in connection with the murder but were later released on bail.

The House of Representatives has explained why 50 percent of their salaries have not been deducted as part of their contribution towards cushioning the hardship being faced by the masses.

Recall that during a plenary session on July 18, the lawmakers pledged to donate half of their monthly salaries for six months to combat hunger in Nigeria. The lawmakers had said they earned N600,000 monthly and promised to release N300,000 each to support the Federal Government’s economic recovery efforts.

The spokesman for the House of Representatives, Rotimi Akin, in a statement said: “The House of Representatives remains committed to the resolution passed on July 18, which mandates a 50 per cent reduction in the salaries of honourable members for the period from July to December 2024.

We acknowledge and regret that this resolution was not implemented by the bureaucracy as intended for the month of July.”

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun says the FG currently spends $600 million monthly on fuel imports.

Speaking with AIT on August 7, the minister explained that this situation was a key factor in President Tinubu’s decision to remove the fuel subsidy, as the country lacks precise data on domestic fuel consumption.

“The fuel subsidy was removed May 29, 2023, by Mr President & at that time, the poorest of 40% was only getting 4% of the value, and basically, they were not benefitting at all. So it was going to just a few.

Another point that I think is important is that nobody knows the consumption in Nigeria of petroleum. We know we spend $600m to import fuel every month but the issue here is that all the neighbouring countries are benefitting.

So we are buying not for just for Nigeria, we are buying for countries to the east, almost as far as Central Africa. We are buying. We are buying for countries to the North and we are buying for countries to the West.

A popular Nigerian Crossdresser, Abuja Area Mama, has been reportedly killed by yet-to-be-identified persons in Abuja.

It was gathered that the Crossdresser was attacked and killed on Wednesday night, August 7, 2024.

He was found dead by passersby wearing the same outfit he worn in a tiktok video he posted on Wednesday evening.

The immediate past Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume on August 6, apologized to the leadership of the ruling APC for not consulting the party before publicly accusing President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

This comes one month after he was removed as the Senate’s Chief Whip following the interview he granted Arise TV, stating that Tinubu had been caged and prevented from knowing the hardships which Nigerians were going through.

Ndume was removed and replaced by Senator Mohammed Monguno following a letter by the ruling party to sanction the lawmaker.

Addressing journalists after a two-hour closed-door meeting with members of the party’s National Working Committee at its secretariat in Abuja, Ndume said:

“I accepted the mistake of not talking to the party as a last point and I told the party that all my observations as a senior member of the family should have terminated or ended with the party.

That is something that will be corrected moving forward. But whatever I said or did was out of patriotism.

Kamala Harris has picked the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, as her running mate for the 2024 U.S. presidential election billed to take place in November.

Democrats believe the 60-year-old can appeal to rural and working-class voters in crucial Midwestern US states, BBC reports. He is expected to appear with Harris later on Tuesday at a campaign event in Philadelphia.

The two will also speak at the Democratic National Convention later this month, from 19 to 22 August in Chicago, when the Harris-Walz ticket will be formally coronated.