Author: straightnewsng.com

The federal government said Thursday that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory (PPPRA) will soon be scrapped. Ibe Kachikwu, the minister of state for petroleum resources, spoke this at a round table on understanding the new petroleum industry regulator to be set up by the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), organised by the Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC) and the Media Initiative on Transparency in the Extractive Industry (MITEI). Kachikwu, however, dismissed the fears that workers of the DPR and the PPPRA would be sacked. He said the workers will be assimilated into the…

A Nigerian Senator in the eighth Senate is collecting N13.5 million as running cost every month, a fiery Senator has revealed. Shehu Sani, the Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial district, said: “I think what we can say is that the running cost of a Senator is N13.5 million every month.” Sani, who made the revelation in an interview with The News magazine, said receipts must be produced to back up expenses for retirement of the amount monthly. “But what I am saying is that that money (N13.5 million per month) must be receipted for what you do with it. But…

Doctors at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, are battling to save the life of a civil servant in the state after she was allegedly attacked by her maid in the Ejigbo area. PUNCH Metro learnt that the victim, one Mistura had been in a coma since Monday, March 5, 2018, when she was attacked with blended pepper and a wine bottle by the maid identified as Susan Samson. This reporter was told that despite a three-hour surgery on Wednesday, the victim had yet to come round and was in the intensive care unit of LASUTH. It was learnt that…

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, has confirmed that Nigeria is out of recession, applauding Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for the country’s strong recovery in foreign exchange reserves. This, according to Leadership, was contained in a report released on Wednesday, March 7, in Washington DC by its executive board after the conclusion of Article IV Consultation with Nigeria. The executive director of IMF applauded Nigeria’s implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, according to the report. It, however, warned that it was still susceptible to shock in spite of the economy being out of recession due to its fragility.…

Gernot Rohr, Super Eagles’ technical adviser has made public a 28-man list for the Eagles friendly games against Poland and Serbia in a pre-World Cup match on March 23. The Super Eagles of Nigeria will trade tackles with Poland at the 43,000 –capacity Stadium Wroclaw on Friday, March 23. Four days later, the Eagles will lock horns with the Senior National Team of Serbia at The Hive, London-home ground of Barnet FC and London Bees. Eagles number one goalkeeper, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, who stood between the post for the crucial last four World Cup qualifying games leads the goalkeeping section and…

The village head of Ikot Edet in Etim Ekpo local government area of Akwa Ibom State abducted by unknown gunmen has breathed fresh air of freedom, Straightnews has learnt. Chief Mfon Udoessien kidnapped from his palace on Monday, February 26 was released two days ago after his family was said to have paid ransom to his abductors. A family source that did not want his name in print confided in Straightnews that “The sum of N5 million of the N7 million demanded was paid to the suspected kidnappers before his release.” It is learnt that the monarch is a brother-in-law…

African governments are encouraged to emulate China by aggressively pursuing “knowledge economy” against “baggage economy” in their search for solutions to the continent’s economic problems. Mr. Peter Obi, ex-governor of Anambra State, while delivering a keynote speech at the three-day 2018 African SME Roundtable Forum in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, recapped “Thirty-five years ago, Africa was doing better than China per capita, but the reverse is now the case,” reeling out figures to buttress his point. While Africa has regressed over the past three decades, Obi noted that China has gone on to become one of the best economies…

The National Examination Council, NECO, plans to remit N1.2 billion to the Treasury Single Account, TSA, at the end of its examinations season this year. This is against N320 million and N350 million remitted by the agency to the TSA in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Prof. Charles Uwakwe, Registrar/Chief Executive of NECO, who stated this during an interactive session with newsmen, Monday, in Abuja, said improved amount will gladden the stakeholders, lamenting that some state governments were indebted to the body to the tune of N3.2 billion. Uwakwe stated, “Talking about remittance to the Federation Account in 2016, we remitted…

A 45-year-old paraded by Ogun State Police Command for allegedly conspiring with robbery suspects to dupe passengers in Abeokuta admitted complicit in the illicit act of duping people because she had once been a victim. Ashile Basirat, a mother of five said her children had advised her to stop the illicit business, but her venture into petty trading did not yield the desired profit. Explaining how her gang operated before they were apprehended, Basirat claimed that her gang members acted as passengers in a taxi, pretending to be waiting for more passengers. She said when the victim is found, they…

Imo State in the country registered the highest number of candidates of 92,890 candidates out of the 1.6 million candidates that are participating in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination beginning Friday. Oyo and Osun states trailed behind with 86,695  and 86,044 registered candidates respectively just as Sokoto, Zamfara and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, have low registration with13,456, 10,077 and 6,418 candidates in that order. Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB Registrar, who released the candidates’ registration table at a press conference in Abuja, Wednesday, said the board recorded a decrease of 55,642 applications, representing 3.2 percent in the sale of 2018…