Author: straightnewsng.com

Nigeria occupies sixth position among the 10 miserable countries in the world, Steve Hanke, an economist from John Hopkins University in Baltimore, United States, listed in his recently published report. Venezuela, Iran and Brazil are among other countries listed by the economist. Reacting to the report, Hanke said, “Venezuela holds the inglorious title of the most miserable country in the world in 2018, as it did in 2017, 2016, and 2015.” However, Argentina jumped to the No. 2 spot after yet another peso crisis. Since its founding, Argentina has been burdened with numerous economic crises. Most can be laid at…

The Federal Government has issued 21 licences for hydropower generation and water-related activities with other pending applications. The Federal Executive Council had in 2017 approved the Water Use and Licence Regulation, which had been gazetted and became operational nationwide. Reuben Habu, the executive director of Nigeria Integrated Water Resources Management Commission, who stated this on Friday, sadi the commission has issued licences to Nestle Water and Winners Power Gardens companies for water supply and hydropower construction respectively. Habu noted that the issuance of licences to prospective applicants was another landmark, having met the conditions required by law. He said in…

Guaranty Trust Bank says the judgment of the Supreme Court mandating it to pay N2.4 billion to Innoson with a 22 percent interest, per annum until the final liquidation of the judgment is in respect of Garnishee Proceedings against the account of the Nigerian Customs Service Board domiciled with the bank and not against the bank as an entity. The bank issued the statement in reaction to the action of Innosen Motors and his supporters who sealed branches of the bank on Friday with plans to seal more. The bank said that it is a law abiding corporate citizen and…

Nearly a quarter of maternal deaths in low and middle income countries were among women who had a cesarean delivery, a systematic review and meta-analysis found. An examination of 196 studies from 67 low and middle income countries found that in 72 studies, 23.8% of maternal deaths (95% CI 21.0-26.7) in low and middle income countries were women who had undergone a cesarean section, reported Shakila Thangaratinam, MD, of Queen Mary University of London, England, and colleagues.  The overall risk of maternal death from cesarean section in these countries was 7.6 per 1,000 procedures (95% CI 6.6-8.6), with the highest…

Theresa May has suffered a parliamentary defeat on a third attempt to pass her Brexit deal through the UK House of Commons, leading the prime minister to warn that parliament was “reaching its limits” in finding an agreed exit from the EU. May had sought approval for her deal on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU on what had long been scheduled to be Brexit day. Instead MPs voted by 286 to 344 against the EU divorce treaty, which if passed would have opened the way to Britain leaving the EU on a revised date of May 22. Speaking after…

Since the inauguration of the 8th Senate headed by Dr. Bukola Saraki, President Muhammadu Buhari has declined assent to 31 bills. Buhari had on March 20, declined assent to five bills that were passed by the National Assembly and forwarded to him to sign into law. In separate letters addressed to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and which will be read when Senate resumes plenary next week, President Buhari listed the latest rejected Bills as the National Institute of Credit Administration Bill, 2018; Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency Bill, 2018; Ajaokuta Steel Company Completion Fund Bill, 2018; the National…

Election observer groups have asked the National Assembly to immediately convene public hearing on the 2019 elections, saying that the conducts and subsequent outcomes were questionable. The accredited local and international observers, speaking at a post election assessment forum, Thursday, in Abuja, lamented how rampant vote-buying and inducement of voters were, demanding complete audit of the general exercise. The observers, under the aegis of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, WARDC, Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, Human and Environmental Development Agenda, HEDA, and Election Observation Platforms, insisted that the 2019 general election cannot pass integrity test. In their various reports presented…

Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has denied being under any form of pressure to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari on his victory at last month’s presidential election. CAN said that, as a religious group, it remains apolitical and would congratulate and rejoice with whoever the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has declared winner of the fiercely contested poll. Recall that a source within the national leadership of CAN had, in a recorded conversation, told Vanguard on Wednesday, that some influential persons in government were unrelenting in their persuasion for the Church to pay the President a congratulatory visit. However, CAN President,…

While Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, handed an indefinite suspension on Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State for supporting the governorship candidate of another party, it has not applied the same sanction on Rotimi Amaechi for doing something similar in Rivers State. The APC, however, justifies its action, saying the issues of the two officials, though similar, are different. In Imo, Okorocha backed Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance against Hope Uzodinma of the APC. Both candidates, however, lost to Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In Rivers State, the Supreme Court barred the Independent…

The Senate, Thursday, heard that Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA, is suffering shortfalls of more than N1.3 billion in budgetary releases by the Ministry of Finance. The Commandant of the academy, Major-General Adeniyi Oyebade lamented that the shortfalls had made it almost impossible for the Military institution to pay non-regular allowances to its personnel, adding that the allowances affected by the N1.3 billion shortfall in 2018 budget releases, are hazard, responsible and excess workload allowances. Oyebade who appeared before the Senate Committee on Defence in presentation on performance of 2018 budget allocations to the Academy and proposals for the 2019 fiscal…