Author: straightnewsng.com

Swaziland, the poorest but tiny African country, is on the news again as its King has fallen in love with profligacy and ostentatious lifestyle. Nationally, 58.9% of Swazis lived below the national poverty line in 2017. This follows a decline from 63% in 2009, and 69.0% in 2001. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Swaziland was worth 4.70 billion US dollars in 2018. The GDP value of Swaziland represents 0.01 percent of the world economy. GDP in Swaziland averaged 1.52 USD Billion from 1960 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 4.82 USD Billion in 2011 and a record…

A Federal High Court Lagos, Thursday, further adjourned hearing in the alleged N1.4 billion fraud case filed against President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Paul Usoro. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), charged Usoro before Justice Rilwan Aikawa on 10 counts bordering on fraud. Usoro was first arraigned before Justice Muslim Hassan in December 2018, but the case was re-assigned to Justice Rilwan Aikawa. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges before Hassan, and also maintained his not guilty plea before Aikawa, and was granted bail. The continuation of trial which was earlier fixed for Thursday, has…

By Akanimo Sampson United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has come under the hammer of Human Rights Watch. The global rights group is accusing the CIA-backed Afghan forces of committing summary executions and other grave abuses without accountability, Human Rights Watch claimed in a report that the strike forces have unlawfully killed civilians during night raids, forcibly disappeared detainees, and attacked healthcare facilities for allegedly treating insurgent fighters. Civilian casualties from these raids and air operations have dramatically increased in the last two years. The 53-page report, “They’ve Shot Many Like This’: Abusive Night Raids by CIA-Backed Afghan Strike Forces,” documents 14 cases from late…

An Indonesian man, who worked for an organisation that drafted strict adultery laws, has been publicly whipped for being caught in an affair with a married female. Mukhlis bin Muhammad of the Aceh Ulema Council (MPU) was flogged 28 instances. The girl he experienced the affair with was caned 23 moments. Mukhlis is from the deeply conservative Aceh region, the only area in Indonesia which practises the rigid Islamic legislation, Sharia. Gay sexual intercourse and gambling are also punishable by public caning in Aceh. “This is God’s regulation. Everyone ought to be flogged if proven guilty, even if he is…

By Akanimo Sampson Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State in Southern Nigeria, has flushed out 40 lawyers from the state Ministry of Justice into the exploding labour market, claiming that the sacked law officers were wrongly employed. In Nigeria, unemployment rate jumped to 23.10 percent in the third quarter of 2018 from 22.70 percent in the second quarter of last year. From 2006 until 2018, unemployment rate in the country averaged 12.31 percent, reaching an all time high of 23.10 percent in the third quarter of 2018, and a record low of 5.10 percent in…

Fear-stricken residents of Eket local government area and their environs in Akwa Ibom State have cause to smile as some kidnap suspects in the oil-rich city had met their Waterloo. The Akwa Ibom Police Command is said to have dismantled a kidnap gang that terrorised the area and ferried victims to their hide-outs to bargain for ransoms. Straightnews reported on October 26 that Mrs. Glory Ekerenam, the wife of an ExxonMobil’s staffer in Eket had abducted by unidentified gunmen. The Akwa Ibom Police-Public Relations Officer, SP Odiko MacDon in a press release dated November 1 said “On 17th October, 2019,…

The House of Representatives Joint Committee on Finance, Customs and Public Petitions, has summoned the Attorney-General of the Federation, Comptroller-General of Customs and Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to appear before it on November 6, 2019, over alleged concession scam. Others summoned by the committee include the Managing Director/CEO of HUAWEI Technical Services Provider, Managing Director/CEO Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Ltd, Bionica Technologies (West Africa) Limited, and Managing Director/CEO of African Finance Corporation. The joint committee issued the summons yesterday, James Faleke, Yuguda Hassan Kila and Jerry Alagbaoso, chairmen of House Committees on Finance, Customs and…

President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated Federal Government’s readiness to mobilise additional capital from development finance institutions for the upgrade of critical infrastructure in the country. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, who stated this in a statement issued Thursday, said President Buhari met with United States Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, in Riyadh on Wednesday, and had positive discussions on investments in Nigeria, under the new United States International Development Finance Corporation, USIDFC, which provides $60 billion for investments in developing nations. He said the President at the meeting held on the margins…

In its quest to raise more infrastructure funds, the federal government is currently exploring the possibility of introducing Jollof Bonds into the capital market. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who stated this at BusinessDay Investment and Capital Markets Conference, in Abuja, Thursday, also spoke of plans by the government to come up with Vision 2040. She said that a working group was being set up on the Naira-denominated, internationally traded Jollof Bonds. The minister said: “We are currently exploring the use of so-called “jollof bonds” to fund infrastructure. To this end, during the recently…

Governors elected under All Progressives Congress, APC, Thursday, said the party was working towards developing a standard communication template for all APC states in order to effectively project the ideals of the party within and outside Nigeria. Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-olu, stated this on behalf of the governors at a meeting with spokespersons and Commissioners of Information of APC-controlled states in Abuja. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, however, said they were not disturbed by the purported campaigns by some of their party men, ahead of the 2023 general elections, declaring that since every…