Author: Kwara Reporters

Members of the Patriots, a group of eminent Nigerians led by a former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, yesterday, met with President Bola Tinubu and appealed to the President to send an executive bill to the National Assembly, proposing the convening of a national constituent assembly with the mandate to produce a draft of the people’s democratic constitution.Speaking with the President at the State House, Abuja, Anyaoku, also told the President that, “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 controversy surrounding the purported disbursement of N573 billion to subnational governments announced by President Bola Tinubu during a nationwide broadcast on Sunday, continued yesterday, as more States denied receiving such fund from his administration.Just like the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, on Thursday, faulted the claim by the President, Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, yesterday, also denied receiving the N573 billion hardship grant claimed to have been given to the state governments by the federal government.Abia and Osun State governments also indicated that they were yet to receive such funds, maintaining that the World Bank intervention was…

On Thursday, August 8, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, announced to Nigerians that the Port Harcourt Refinery would become operational in four weeks’ time, perhaps to meet the government’s August deadline of producing petroleum products.The association went further to say that the refinery would equally be supplying between 10 and 12 million litres of petrol to marketers.The IPMAN’s National Operations Controller, Zarma Mustapha, who let the cat out of the bag in an interview on national television, said the refinery would boost the supply of petroleum products in the country to about 11 to 15 million liters…

Gunmen suspected to be cult members on Thursday night shot dead the manager of a hotel in Ilorin, Kwara state capital.Sources at the hotel said the gunmen shot the hotel manager at a very close range and thereafter macheted his lifeless body in what many believed was a cult-related attack.The deceased, whose name was given as Anthony Balogun, was the one running the hotel owned by his mother before the unfortunate incident. This happened around 8 p.m. on the ill-fated night inside the premises of the hotel located in Olunlade area of the Ilorin metropolis.Vanguard reliably gathered that gunmen numbering about…

Another crisis may soon erupt in Nigeria’s public universities if their vice-chancellors approve the proposed N80,000 electricity fee per student due to the hike in power tariffs by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).Under the regime introduced last April, NERC placed the universities under “Band A,” which either tripled or quadrupled their electricity bills.Some universities could not pay the new bill and were consequently disconnected by their various distribution companies (DisCos).In their search for a solution, the university authorities have considered passing the burden to the students.This was disclosed recently by the secretary-general of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian…

At least four persons have been reported dead and one injured in a multiple road crash that occurred around Kara Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.The crash, which happened at about 7:35 p.m. on Thursday, involved an Isuzu mini truck with registration number T1079L, a Toyota Camry with registration number EPE200GK, a Honda Accord, and a BUA trailer with no registration number.Confirming the incident to the press on Friday, the spokesperson of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogun Sector Command, Florence Okpe, said the total number of people involved was yet to be ascertained.Okpe attributed the cause of the crash to…

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has demanded a refund of N4.71tn from the Federal Government to settle outstanding debts used to import Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, into the country. The claim was listed as “Exchange rate differential on PMS and other joint venture taxes” on petrol products imported by the company between August 2023 to June 2024.This was disclosed by the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, at the June meeting of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee. Our correspondent obtained the minutes of the meeting on Thursday.Exchange rate differentials refer to the…

The President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has stated that his $20bn Dangote Petroleum Refinery was built to use Nigerian crude and add value to it within the country.Dangote, who stated this in a statement issued by the refinery on Thursday, asked why should the plant deviate from this focus, as he admitted that the refinery had also been refining crude oil grades from Europe, the United States, and other countries.Africa’s wealthiest man further noted that the domestic crude oil supply issues in Nigeria were being resolved by the parties involved.The statement said the refinery has…

A total sum of N509,889,985,435.90 has been approved on the floor of the Kwara State House of Assembly as 2024 supplementary appropriation bill for the state.The approved sum caused an increase in the state fiscal year with N217,148,693,3.00 as against N292,741,292,132,30 that was initially proposed.In a letter transmitted to the House,Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had requested the lawmakers to consider and approve the supplementary appropriation bill, (2024) in view of the current economic reality.At the plenary on Thursday, the supplementary appropriation was considered and approved at the Committee of Supply of the House.The Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Arinola…

In the face of significant economic struggles currently confronting the nation, leaders from the North Central region have made a compelling appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, urging him to suspend for one year all foreign trips undertaken by government officials.Expressing their deep concern over the ongoing hardships faced by the citizenry, they expressed belief that a pause on international engagements would significantly benefit the country’s financial health.According to the regional leaders, the consistent trend of government officials traveling abroad for medical treatments, professional training, various conferences, seminars, and workshops is contributing to the ongoing significant drain on the country’s…