The Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery in River. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva made this known when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the Council meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. According to him, the rehabilitation will be done in three phases of 18, 24 and 44 months. The minister stated that the rehabilitation was in fulfilment of Federal government’s desire to resuscitate the country’s refineries to reduce the cost of processing petroleum products as…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
Shareholders of Zenith Bank Plc shareholders on Tuesday unanimously approved the proposed final dividend of N2.70 per share at the bank’s 30th Annual General Meeting. Mr Jim Ovia, Chairman of the Zenith Bank Group, said in a statement on Tuesday that this brought the total dividend payment for the 2020 financial year to N3 per share with a total value of N94.19 billion. He said that the dividend followed the recent release of the bank’s audited financial results for the 2020 financial year. According to the audited financial results, profit before tax rose by five per cent to N255.9 billion…
Edward Kallon, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, has said peace was the only solution to the Humanitarian crisis ravaging Nigeria’s North East. Speaking at an online event and launch of a $1 billion 2021 Humanitarian Response for the North East, Kallon said that over the years, while needs had continued to grow, funding had, however, been dwindling. He added that in his over 30 years of service to the United Nations, he was yet to see a humanitarian crisis that was resolved through humanitarian response only. He pointed out that even if the UN system had all the…
Gunmen have kidnapped the Priest in charge of St. John’s Catholic Church, Obinomba in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta. The priest, identified as Rev. Fr. Harrison Prhinyovaw, was said to have been abducted at about 8:00 p.m. on Monday at a bad spot in Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state. The victim was said to have been on transit from Warri to his station, Obinomba. According to a community source, the cleric was meandering through the bad spot in his Highland SUV in Oria-Abraka when the incident happened. “The kidnappers shot sporadically in the air to scare…
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has pledged to partner with the National Assembly to ensure speedy passage of the Electoral Act amendment bill. Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman, INEC said this at a consultative meeting with labour unions and professional associations on the expansion of voters access to polling units in Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja. Yakubu said at the meeting held physically and vertically, that the bill was critical to INEC, because it will provide legal framework for its activities. He said the commission had been reassured by the National Assembly that work on the bill would be concluded…
The Lagos State Government says it has vaccinated 5, 222 people with the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after the rollout of the vaccine in the state. The state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, made this known in a statement while giving an update on the state’s COVID-19 vaccine administration on Tuesday in Lagos. Lagos received 507,742 doses out of the 3.92 million doses of the COVAX facility AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine allocated to Nigeria. Abayomi said that none of the people vaccinated experienced any serious adverse effect following the vaccination. “A total of 268 people were vaccinated on March 12, while 4,954…
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan on Tuesday received the first jab of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Ola Awoniyi, his Special Adviser on Media in a statement on Tuesday said the vaccine was administered to Lawan in his office by his personal physician, Dr Muhammad Usman. The vaccination card was presented to the Senate President by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary), Sen. Ibrahim Oloriegbe. Lawan after taking the first jab of the vaccine, called on Nigerians to make themselves available for the vaccination. “The COVID-19 pandemic is real. We are still facing that challenge and therefore…
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, says it is strategizing to ensure that N69.5 billion and $5.31 billion statutory revenue yet to be paid to government accounts were fully recovered. Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, the new Executive Secretary, disclosed this at a maiden news conference in Abuja, on Tuesday. He said that the amount was revealed on its 2018 audit report and that the agency would focus on remedial issues disclosed in most of its audit reports. “The Current NEITI Management under my leadership is already evolving policies and strategies that would ensure that the recommendations in our reports…
The Benue House of Assembly has suspended chairperson, Vandeikya local government council of the state, Mrs Kukase Garba, for three months, for misappropriating public fund. This followed the adoption of a motion by Mr Damian Cheme, Majority Leader and seconded by Minority Leader, Mr Bem Mngutyo at Tuesday’s plenary in Makurdi. This motion was sequel to a letter by Gov. Samuel Ortom, requesting approval of the house for her suspension. Ortom said he received a letter from Vandeikya legislative council indicating a Vote of No Confidence on the suspended chairperson. “The council accused the chairperson of not informing it of…
President Yemi Osinbajo says the integration of artisanal and modular refinery operators into mainstream oil and gas sector will boost local content in the industry. Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, said the vice president spoke virtually at the National Summit on the Integration of Artisanal and Modular Refinery Operations in Nigeria. The vice president said that such integration would advance the use of home-grown technology in the refining of petroleum products. “We are confident that the integration of artisanal and modular refinery operations into the oil and gas sector will not only promote the…