No fewer than N19.43 billion was spent on the maintenance and operations of the Presidential Air Fleet from July 2023 to September 2024, The PUNCH learnt. Checks by our correspondent on GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses the Federal Government’s spending, showed that for 2024, the payouts amounted to N13.55 billion, representing 66 per cent of the allocations for the fleet in the 2024 fiscal year. Most disbursements were labelled ‘Forex Transit Funds,’ typically funds allocated for foreign exchange requirements to facilitate international transactions and engagements. In the context of the Presidential Air Fleet, such funds are…
Author: Abimbola Ogunaike
The management of Dangote Refinery is set to meet with officials of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria(PETROAN) to discuss direct petrol supply arrangements. This development comes just a day after the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) announced it had reached an agreement with Dangote Refinery to purchase petrol directly, bypassing intermediaries. PETROAN Publicity Secretary, Joseph Obele, told an online on Tuesday, 12 November, 2024 that the refinery had already sent an email to PETROAN President, Dr. Billy Harry, proposing a business meeting in the coming days. According to Obele, Dr. Harry has formed a…
The Government of Equatorial Guinea has filed a lawsuit against the former Director General of the country’s National Financial Investigation Agency, Baltasar Engonga, for alleged misconduct in connection with a sex tape scandal. The government stated that the actions of the ex-anti-graft agency chief “violate the ethical and moral values of noble Equatorial Guinean society.” Through the Minister of Information, Press, and Culture, Jerónimo Osa Osa, the government made this known over the weekend. In a public address covered by local media platform Ahora EG, the Minister of Information announced that the Equatorial Guinean Government, through the State Attorney General’s…
The Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, has assured Nigeria of support in its economic reform programmes. The assurance came when the Crown Prince and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met on Monday in Riyadh on the sidelines of the joint Arab-Islamic Summit. The two leaders explored potential areas for cooperation, particularly oil and gas, agriculture, infrastructure and the constitution of the Saudi-Nigeria Business Council. Nigeria wants an agreement with the Saudi government over a proposed $5 billion bilateral trade facility between the two countries. The Saudi Agricultural and Livestock…
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Butane Energy Limited on Friday recorded a significant milestone in their collective drive to make liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) a widely accessible, cleaner, and more cost-effective fuel option for cooking in the country, with the commissioning of a 180-metric-tonne LPG Filling Plant in Kaduna, Kaduna State. The Filling Plant, the second after the commissioning of another 100MT LPG Storage and Bottling Plant in Kabukawa Layout, Katsina, Katsina State, in 2021, is part of a joint venture to establish five of such facilities in Northern Nigeria with a combined storage capacity of…
As parts of measures to reduce hunger in Nigeria, FoodClique Support Initiative, a non- profit charity organization, has disclosed that it has been able to provide over 13 million meals to vulnerable and the less privilege in the country. The Chief Executive Officer of the Organisation, Prince Ibrahim Onilegbale made this disclosure during a press conference held in Lagos on Monday, 11 November, 2024. “In total we have been able to provide over 13 million meals, in which 4,972, 810 are perishable while 8,511,640 are non-perishables. The analysis/breakdown of the intervention by Foodclique goes thus: Age bracket: Children 22%, Teen…
The Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion on Tuesday, 12 November, 2024 rejected the Church of England’s approval of same-sex marriage. The Primate of the Anglican Church, Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba, disclosed this during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Divine Commonwealth Conference (DIVCCON 2024) in Abuja. Ndukuba, however, noted that the difference in opinion does not compromise the relationship between the Church of Nigeria and the Church of England. “The Church of England has strayed from its Christian principles. They have not only voted to endorse same-sex marriage but have also introduced liturgy celebrating this rebellion against God,” he said.…
The newly sworn-in Governor of Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, is set to probe the administration of his predecessor, Godwin Obaseki. Okpebholo announced Tuesday, 12 November, 2024 that he will set up a panel of inquiry to investigate the past administration’s refusal to inaugurate 14 elected lawmakers of the State House of Assembly in 2019. Thegazellenews.com recalls that the 14 lawmakers elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 7th Assembly were denied inauguration during Obaseki’s administration. Okpebholo announced the planned probe in his inaugural speech shortly after taking the oath of office as the governor of…
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby has resigned from his exalted position on Tuesday, 12 November, 2024 Thegazellenews.com recalls that this latest development comes after the independent Makin review discovered that the Church of England covered up sexual abuse by a barrister. Following calls for his resignation, Welby said the report “exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth”. According to Welby, he believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow” when he was told in 2013 that Smyth had been reported to the police. In a statement, Welby said: ‘Having sought the gracious permission…
At least 10 persons died while several others sustained serious injury in a road accident in Taura LGA of Jigawa State on Tuesday, 12 November, 2024 A resident confirmed that the accident occurred in Yanfari village, Taura LGA, along the Kano/Hadejia Road. According to him, the incident happened when a bus hit a packed trailer with registration number RGN 180 ZC, as a result of which the vehicle somersaulted and 10 persons died on the spot. The Jigawa State Police Command Public relations Officer, DSP Lawan Shiisu, confirmed the sad incident. “On November 12, 2024, at about 2130hrs, a fatal motor…