Leaders of Nigeria’s labour unions on Sunday announced suspension of their four days national warning strike but said the face-off with government is far from over. The unions began the warning strike on September 26. On Sunday, they said they were suspending it in order to enable a conducive environment for a crucial meeting of the tripartite committee involving the unions and government next week October 4 and 5. “We have received a firm and formal invitation to a reconvened meeting of the tripartite committee scheduled for 4th and 5th of October, 2018,” the unions said at press Sunday afternoon.…

European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States missions that monitored the just-concluded Osun governorship elections have expressed concerns over “widespread incidents of interference and intimidation of voters, journalists, and civil society” during the exercise. The missions, in a joint statement issued in Abuja stressed the need for neutrality of the security services and responsible conduct by party agents during future elections, particularly in 2019. The polls, won by ruling APC was marred by widespread violence, intimidation and irregularities. Here’s the full statement. “Delegations from the Missions of the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States observed…

Residents too afraid to sleep indoors camped out in the darkness Saturday while victims recounted harrowing stories of being separated from their loved ones a day after a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami that unleashed waves as high as 6 meters (20 feet), killing hundreds on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The official death toll stood at 384, with all the fatalities coming in the hard-hit city of Palu, but it was expected to rise once rescuers reached surrounding coastal areas, said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. He said others were unaccounted for, without giving an estimate. The nearby…

Some states are yet to receive the third tranche of Paris Club debt refund weeks after the release of the $2.69 billion (about N823.5 billion @ N306.25/$1) balance was approved because the president, Mr Muhammadu Buhari, halted the disbursement. On September 11, federal ministry of finance announced conditions the states must fulfill before the refund could be paid to them. Apart from prioritising the payment of workers’ salaries and staff related benefits, the states were also asked to show commitment to commence the repayment of budget support loans granted by the federal government in 2016. Other conditions included commitments to…