Author: straightnewsng.com

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and international banks, Monday, signed a third party financing deals to the tune of $3 billion for the development of the oil and gas industry. Dr. Maikanti Baru, the Managing Director of the corporation who stated this at the 42nd Nigeria Annual International conference and Exhibition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), in Lagos, also said Nigeria needed to leverage on its vast mineral wealth in terms of the 37 billion barrels of oil reserves and 199 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, among others, to prop up other sectors of the economy and…

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has urged Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State to remain resilient, unbowed, and undeterred, despite the persecution that followed his decision to defect from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In a recent letter to the governor on his decision to dump APC, Prof. Soyinka observed that Ortom had a moral right to seek an alternative political platform, given the level of insensitivity exhibited by his former party to the wanton killings in Benue State. Soyinka noted that the choice of the governor to seek an alternative platform should…

The departure of Senator Godswill Akpabio from Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, seen as the arrowhead of the party’s fortune,  has caused panic both at the state and the national levels. At the state level, Governor Udom Emmanuel is desperately working hard to reposition the party ahead of his re-election bid in the 2019 general elections, Straightnews investigation shows. As a step, the governor is bowing to outside pressures to rejig his media team in the face of media assaults by the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state against his administration. Consequently, Emmanuel is set up Image and Strategy…

Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) Tuesday this morning barricaded the National Assembly complex, Abuja, preventing lawmakers and staff from entering their office. The officials said the order to barricade the National Assembly complex is from above. However, the security operatives did not allow the lawmakers to enter their offices and chamber for their deliberations. Journalists were equally not allowed to enter but to stand outside the gate. Reports from National Assembly complex said lawmakers of All Progressives Party, APC, were not seen at the gate or inside the complex. However, some Senators from Peoples Democratic Party were…

Senator Godswill Akpabio has tendered his resignation as Minority Leader of the Nigerian Senate, Straightnews has gathered. The resignation letter, dated 4th August, 2018 however did not state any reason for the resignation. Senate caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has begun moves to replace the Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Akwa Ibom North West and regretted not getting rid of him earlier. A source said the PDP has already commenced plans to replace the Minority Leader once he steps out to his new party. According to the senators, fear of overheating the polity and causing…

Hamza bin Laden, the son of the late al-Qa’eda leader, has married the daughter of the lead 9/11 hijacker, according to media reports. In an interview with The Guardian, Osama bin Laden’s half brothers said their half-nephew has married into the family of Mohammed Atta, who flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Hamza holds a senior position within al-Qa’eda and has sworn revenge for his father’s death in a US raid in 2011, they added. “We have heard he has married the daughter of Mohammed Atta,” said Ahmad al-Attas, son of Osama…

The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, has resolved to closely monitor the operations of 14 indigenous oil and gas companies involved in managing Nigeria’s marginal fields in line with set standards and guidelines. The companies are Oriental, Midwestern, Walter Smith, Niger Delta Petroleum, Green Energy/Lekoil, Network E&P, Platform, Pillar Oil, Prime Energy, Excel E&P, Frontier Oil, Suntrust, Oando and Energia Limited. Consequently, the government will achieve set objectives, especially increased indigenous participation, local content and capacity building in the industry, previously dominated by International Oil Companies, IOCs. The marginal fields were previously owned by the IOCs but left undeveloped before…

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has accused the opposition of using fake news as a campaign tool against President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, ahead of the 2019 general elections. Mohammed made the remarks in Abuja Monday when he visited the corporate headquarters of Authority Newspapers to kick-start the media tour in furtherance of the campaign against fake news, which was recently launched by the Federal Government. He said because Buhari’s administration was performing well, political opposition believed that the best way to de-market the administration was to latch on to fake news to create religious and ethnic…

Tanzania unveiled former Nigeria international Emmanuel Amunike as their new head coach on Monday. The Tanzania Football Federation confirmed the appointment on their official Twitter handle, with Amunike being unveiled by TFF President Wallace Karia in Dar es Salaam. Rais wa Shirikisho la Mpira wa Miguu Tanzania (TFF) Wallace Karia amemtangaza kocha Emmanuel Amunike kutoka Nigeria kuwa kocha Mkuu wa Timu ya Taifa ya Tanzania “Taifa Stars” inayodhaminiwa na bia ya Serengeti kwa mkataba wa miaka 2. pic.twitter.com/At1pcBjSw8 – TFF TANZANIA (@Tanfootball) August 6, 2018 The 47-year-old, who has been without a job since leaving Sudan’s Al Khartoum SC in…

A Nigerian writer, who emerged the winner of 2018 McKitterick Prize, is invited to speak at the Marlborough Literature Festival in the United Kingdom, in September this year. The McKitterick Prize is awarded for a first novel by a writer over 40, the Society of Authors said. Anietie Isong, the author of a debut novel- Radio Sunrise, is the first Nigerian to win the award since its institution in 1990. “I wrote Radio Sunrise to help draw attention to a myriad of issues in Nigeria, and I am thrilled that this resonated with the judges,” Isong said. Speaking at the…