AKSMEDIAS

A Lagos lawmaker, Mr Segun Olulade, says he is optimistic of a burgeoning economy early 2017 just as President Muhammadu Buhari had assured Nigerians of an end to economic contraction in the new year. Olulade, the Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Health Services, said in line with God’s plan through His various prophets, 2017 would usher in a period of economic buoyancy and new lease of life for the country. “The current economic downturn in the country no doubts is biting hard, but I believe that as we transit to the new year and with what the administration has so far put in place the country will witness a turnaround,” he told the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday. According to him, the country will move out of the current recession into economic prosperity for the good of all. Olulade (APC-Epe II) urged Nigerians to approach the new year with hope and excitement for national prosperity and new lease of life for all.

Dele Momodu, a Nigerian journalis, businessman, philanthropist, actor and motivational speaker, has released a festive message on Christmas day, where he expressed his view on the future of Nigeria and made some prophecies. 1. My prediction is that Nigeria is not going to witness any substantial change in the near future. 2. I predict with the greatest sense of responsibility that barring any major development, especially age and health reasons, President Buhari will contest the next presidential election. 3.3. If the Nigerian economy continues to nosedive along this present freefall path, Buhari is likely to face stiff opposition from within his own political party and from outside. 4. Buhari will continue to hold sway in APC and his challengers would have to find somewhere else to try their luck. Buhari would try to unleash terror on such recalcitrant fellows and whip them back into line. 5. Next, I predict the emergence of a third force. APC elements would combine with ...

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday approved additional N71.8 billion to augment shortfall in the 2016 budgetary allocation for payment of delayed workers salaries, Daily Trust gathered. This will enable the government pay thousands of workers who are owed November and December salaries. The amount is part of the N213 billion virement assented to by Buhari yesterday, Daily Trust has learnt. Sources had initially told Daily Trust that the president had withheld assent because the National Assembly increased the budget by N33billion, but he was persuaded to sign the virement to enable some agencies pay workers salaries before Christmas. The Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun had explained inability of some government agencies to pay November salaries saying the shortfall is to be augmented through the virement. She told State House reporters after cabinet meeting on Wednesday that “What we did in the virement we sent to the National Assembly, which the National Assembly approved...

Nigeria has seized over 100 bags of plastic rice smuggled into the country, where prices of the staple food are rocketing ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The Zonal Coordinator of Customs Service (NCS), Zone ‘A’, Assistant Comptroller-General Eporwei Edike, said 45 jumbo bags of Cannabis (Marijuana) worth N250 million from Ghana had been intercepted by the Western Marine Command (WMC). Edike disclosed this on Wednesday in Lagos during his visits to the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) Customs Command, Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone “A’’ of Customs and Western Marine Command (WMC) of the service in Lagos.He attributed the success recorded in making the seizure to the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Retired Col. Hameed Ali, for his amiable leadership and very supportive. Edike said the comptroller-general had enabled officers to be more focused in eradicating smuggling throughout the country. He said that the seizure was made along Agbara/Badagry axis by Marine Command, adding that the marine command had so far made seizures valued at N3.35 billion in 2016. He said that the Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the total seizures record...

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved continuation of work on the second Niger Bridge. It also approved emergency repair works on Tambruawa Bridge between Kaduna and Kano States. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of FEC meeting in Abuja. He said: “We presented from the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing two memoranda, one was first for emergency repair works of Tambuwawa Bridge between Kaduna and Kano, situated largely in Kano. Council considered and approved the emergency procurement. “The bridge was suffering from scrap and erosion, the parts were exposed as a result of some mining activities. We got approval for that by Council. “The second memo related to the continuation of work on the second Niger Bridge which is the bridge that is meant to give relief to the existing Niger Bridge and improve connectivity between the West and the East. “The project was conceived fi...

The Federal Government has commenced the process of extraditing a former governor of Delta State, Mr. James Ibori, from the United Kingdom, The PUNCH can confirm. The Southwark Crown Court had, on April 17, 2012, sentenced Ibori to 13 years in prison after the ex-governor pleaded guilty to 10 counts of money laundering and stealing $250m from the Delta State treasury. Ibori, a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, was the governor of the state between 1999 and 2007. He was, however, released on Wednesday following a court order that declined the UK government’s request for an extension of his sentence. The UK Home Office had opposed Ibori’s release on the grounds that the process of the permanent forfeiture of his assets had yet to be completed. According to the BBC, the UK Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, did not intend to deport Ibori to Nigeria until he handed over £18m of the “proceeds of crime” he alleged the ex-governor held. The convicted former governor, was, however, allo...

In the year 2017, Nigeria may experience a change of ministers. Who are the ministers that will be affected by this change? No one is sure yet, as no official announcement has been made. However, a close look at 2016, and its activities could help speculate on the ministers that might be affected. Below is a list based on speculations: 1. Rotimi Amaechi The minister of transport, Rotimi Amaechi has been in the news for negative reasons in 2016. His continuous grouse with Nyesom Wike the former governor of Rivers state has made many question his competence. Worse still, he has been accused of corruption. He might be one of those to go in 2017. 2. Solomon Dalung It is difficult to know where to begin with Solomon Dalung the minister of youth and sports development, from the Olympics debacle which was a shame to the entire Nigerian government. To the shabby way the Nigerian Falcons were handled despite winning their last tournament. 3. Kemi Adeosun The minister of finance,...

There are indications that Patience Dame Jonathan is under pressure to contest for the Rivers East senatorial election in 2019. The former first lady has been called on by her people to represent them in the Senate. Sources said her people are already mobilising themselves to make her run for the election in 2019. Speaking about her plan, a source said: ”There is already a team on ground working towards achieving this objective. Mummy (Mrs Jonathan) is aware and has not told them to stop which means she is okay with the idea. ”The team has started reaching out to influential leaders in Rivers East senatorial district and beyond to ensure that their plans come to fruition.” Although some people have said it is just a mere rumour, her supporters have insisted that she will contest for Senate in 2019. ”The plan is on course. In fact, we have people joining us on a daily basis because many know this is a done deal. ”Mama Peace is no push over in Rivers politics and her entrance i...

Governor Nyesom Wike of River state has been accused of allegedly trying to divert the attention of Nigerians from the leaked audio tape where he purportedly threatened to kill an INEC official for not doing his bidding in the December 10 Rivers re-run election. A group, the Integrity Youths Alliance (IYA), which made the allegation against Wike on Tuesday, December 20 in Port Harcourt also claimed the governor’s paid agents were already spreading smear campaigns against the transportation minister, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, all in a bid to divert attention from the leaked tape The Nation reports that the secretary-general of the IYA, Danjuma Lamido, urged Wike to own up to the threat to kill officials of the INEC. The group said: “Since an online news platform, Sahara Reporters, exposed Governor Nyesom Wike, he has been looking for ways to divert the attention of Nigerians and the international community from his threat to kill INEC officials. “We are aware that Governor ...

President Muhammadu Buhari has on December 19, Monday, said that Nigeria's recession will ease in 2017. Femi Adesina, presidential media aide, revealed this in a statement made available to newsmen. The president was speaking in Abuja while declaring open an induction course for Nigerian Career Ambassadors-designate who were recently cleared by the Senate. Buhari said: “We are optimistic that the external factors that partly contributed to push our economy into recession will ebb in 2017. Until then, I regret that the resources available to fund our missions abroad will not be as robust as we would like. We are working hard to turn around our national economy by effectively reforming our macroeconomic environment through measures, some of which were outlined in my budget speech to the National Assembly last week.” The leader of the nation reminded the ambassadors-designate that: “as we are all making great sacrifices at home, we also expect you to similarly make judicious...

Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, the Managing Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Commission (NDIC), on Friday said the commission and CBN had set up a committee to look into the trending digital currency, Bitcoin. According to Bitcoin.org, Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin is open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone can take part. On Bitcoin reddit page, it was explained that it is the currency of the Internet: a distributed, worldwide, decentralised digital money. Unlike traditional currencies such as dollars, naira- bitcoins are issued and managed without any central authority whatsoever: there is no government, company, or bank in charge of Bitcoin. As such, it is more resistant to wild inflation, devaluation, import policies, currency fixing and corrupt banks. It is a true floating currency whose val...

The Federal Government has said that the Zungeru Hydro Power Plant would add 700 megawatts of electricity to the national grid when completed. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, made the disclosure in a statement issued by Mrs Etore Thomas, Deputy Director, Press, in the ministry. The statement said that Fashola represented by the Director, Energy Resources in the Ministry, Mr Emmanuel Ajayi, made the disclosure at the project site in Zungeru, Niger State. Fashola said the project, being executed by a consortium of major Chinese companies, was one of the biggest hydro power projects in the country. “It is a great and feasible feat that would boost the provision of electricity supply nation-wide. “It is a good omen for the attainment of the present administration’s thrust of providing incremental, sustainable and uninterrupted power supply which Nigerians are yearning for.“ Fashola commended the efforts of partners involved in the execution of th...

Today, President Muhammadu Buhari turns 74 yrs old, strong and agile. In his birthday week, Mr President has had to fly Abuja-Monrovia-Freetown-Banjul-Monrovia-Freetown-Abuja-2017 Budget-Lagos-Abuja-Daughter's Wedding Just to say how active he still is. Nairalanders want to wish Mr President a happy birthday, longlife and fulfillment. Drop your birthday wishes here. 

U.S president -elect Donald J. Trump took to his Twitter account this afternoon to react to reports circulating that the Russian state helped him win the election using cyber attacks. According to Trump, cyber attacks were used to favour Hillary Clinton as the leader of the Democratic party obtained information via cyber attacks and gave Hillary Clinton answers to each of her questions during the presidential election debates. He also urged Clinton's fans to come on the 20th of January for his swearing in ceremony. More tweets after the cut...

There is about to be some serious tension in the international political landscape…and this is no joke. President Barack Obama on Thursday called for retaliation against Russia for the hacking of Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails that federal authorities believe was meant to sway the presidential election in favour of President-elect, Donald Trump. “I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections … we need to take action.” Obama who said this in an interview with NPR to be broadcast Friday, added that “we will, at a time and place of our own choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be.”

Governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom has sympathized with the family of his staff, Mrs. Philomena Mwarga Musa, who died in Uyo church collapse and also employed her first daughter. Mr Ortom who paid a condolence visit to the deceased family in North Bank, Makurdi, Benue state stated that the collapse of the church was unfortunate. In a condolence letter to the family of the deceased, he said, “I was deeply saddened by the news of the collapse of the uncompleted church building which left dozens dead and scores injured throwing the state and entire nation into mourning,” the Governor Stated. Be assured that the people of Benue State stand with you in this trying moment.”  He described the late Mrs. Philomena as a dedicated staff who added value to service and stated that Miss Iveren Agbor, graduate of Theatre Arts at the Benue State University, first daughter of the deceased be employed to fill the gap the death of her mother has created

The search for oil in the north east has yielded result as the federal government confirmed the discovery of crude oil in Borno which is north east Nigeria. This was disclosed by Dr. Jamila Shua’ra who is the permanent secretary of the Ministry Petroleum Resources at the presentation of the 2016 petroleum sector scorecard held at the auditorium of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PDF) in Abuja on Thursday, December 15. She noted that the discovery was one of the successes of the ministry in 2016. “Our doggedness culminated in the discovery of oil in new frontiers – Lagos and Borno.” She said: “Today, as a team, we have recorded commendable achievements in our sector: the introduction of the PMS Price Modulation Matrix; the availability of PMS in all outlets; eradication of payment on fuel subsidies; located foreign direct investment to finance midstream oil and gas infrastructure; adopted exit strategies on Joint Venture Cash Call; robust engagement of host communiti...

CBN Director of Development Finance Dr. Mudashiru Olaitan gave the warning at a business leaders’ conference with the theme:“Prospering in a recession”, organised by EZ37 Solutions in Ibadan. According to him, Nigerians have to be careful in investing their resources, especially at this period of economic recession. Olaitan urged Nigerians to embrace agriculture instead of MMM, even as he noted that the nation is blessed with many resources and businesses that could bring returns at minimal risks. Olaitan, who was represented by the Head of CBN Development Office in Ibadan, Banji Akinola, said that MMM has become a national embarrassment with the scheme’s operators insulting the Nigerian government just because it cautioned the people over the scheme. “It is an embarrassment to the nation. The CBN had earlier warned them against investing their money into it. It is sad,” he said.

Dr Iyi Uwadiae, the council's registrar while speaking to journalists at a meeting on Wednesday, December 14, in Accra, Ghana, said: “The West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates known as the November/December diet for private candidates will now be conducted in January/February and August/September. "The measure is to ensure that many private candidates, who desire the certificate for various purposes, will have the opportunity of writing the examination and acquire the certificate. We have concluded arrangements to commence writing of our WASSCE for private candidates twice a year from 2017. “This will take place in January /February and August/September every year in all the member countries." According to Leadership, he stressed that this development, does not affect the May/June, WASSCE, which remains once a year for all candidates. Uwadiae also said that as part of its mandate to render qualitative service to all...