News

Sunday, 16 September 2018 04:59

Backend investigation, politics that led to Adeosun’s resignation

Mrs Folakemi Adeosun, British-born Nigeria’s finance minister, whose counterfeit youth service scheme certificate was the subject of a relentless news coverage for over two months, left her senior cabinet position on Friday. The development — although came largely as a result of the PREMIUM TIMES investigation that exposed her in July— followed the conclusion of an internal probe by a senior administration official detailed to supervise the government’s independent findings. President Muhammadu Buhari accepted Mrs Adeosun’s resignation on Friday night, in which she admitted the document was forged and she had to step down to avoid being a perpetual liability…

Sunday, 16 September 2018 04:57

Kemi Adeosun departs Nigeria

Nigeria’s former finance minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has left the country, a day after her resignation, sources close to her revealed. Adeosun, finance minister since November 2015, stepped down from office on Friday after owning up to parading a forged youth service scheme certificate. President Muhammadu Buhari accepted her resignation on Friday night, 69 days after PREMIUM TIMES first published a detailed investigation of how she obtained the fake document and went on to secure plush employments with it, including as head of Nigeria’s finance ministry. Mrs Adeosun explained in her resignation letter that the PREMIUM TIMES investigation was true,…

Saturday, 15 September 2018 04:11

Buhari accepts Adeosun’s resignation over NYSC certificate scandal

PRESS RELEASE President Muhammadu Buhari Friday accepted the resignation of Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun. The President thanked the Minister for her services to the nation and wished her well in her future pursuits. The President also approved that Minister of State Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, should oversee the Ministry of Finance with effect from today. Below is the text of Adeosun’s resignation letter: Let me commence by thanking you profusely for the honour and privilege of serving under your inspirational leadership. It has been a truly rewarding experience to learn from you and to observe…

Friday, 14 September 2018 04:31

Buhari removes Seiyefa, appoints new DG DSS

Press release President Muhammadu Buhari has approved with effect from the 14th of September, the appointment of Mr Yusuf Magaji Bichi as new Director-General of Department of State Service (DSS). The appointee is a core Secret Service operative. He attended Danbatta Secondary School, the Kano State College of Advanced Studies and the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he graduated with a degree in Political Science. The new Director-General began his career in the security division of the Cabinet Office in Kano, from where he joined defunct Nigerian Security Organization (NSO), the precursor of the present DSS. Bichi has undergone training…

Friday, 14 September 2018 04:30

Southern, Middle-Belt leaders condemn Buhari’s removal of Seiyefa as SSS DG

Some elder statesmen from the south and parts of central Nigeria have condemned the removal of Mr Matthew Seiyefa as Director-General of State Security Service by President Muhammadu Buhari. The leaders said Mr Buhari’s action had further shown that he does not believe in a united Nigeria in which state duties are conducted with fairness and equity. Seiyefa was replaced by Yusuf Bichi from Kano State Thursday night. He will take office on Friday, the presidency said in a statement announcing the changes. Seiyefa, from Bayelsa State in the oil-rich Niger-Delta, was appointed on August 7 by Vice President Yemi…

Friday, 14 September 2018 04:27

Buhari’s ex-minister Amina Mohammed expresses concern over Nigeria’s debt profile

Deputy Secretary-General of United Nations (UN), Amina Mohammed, has expressed worries over Nigeria’s debt profile. Mrs Mohammed, a former Minister of Environment in President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, expressed her concerns while speaking at International Monetary Fund (IMF) and UN Working Together Conversation programme. A clip of the conversation was posted on the IMF website Tuesday. Mohammed explained that although a former minister of finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was very influential in the debt relief Nigeria secured in 2005, the nation has since returned to the path of indebtedness. She explained that monetary organisations and developing nations should have conversations about…

Friday, 14 September 2018 04:26

Court awards N10m damages against FG for detention of journalist

Abuja division of Federal High Court has described the two years detention of journalist Jones Abiri as outright conviction and ordered government to pay N10 million in damages to Mr Abiri. Abiri was arrested in August 2016 and detained for two years till his lawyers, led by human rights activist, Mr Femi Falana filed a fundamental suit against the Federal government. Following outcry by various human rights agencies and the media, Abiri was arraigned on charges of militancy at a magistrate court in Abuja. Speaking at a judgement on Mr Abiri’s fundamental rights suit at Abuja Division of the Federal…

Friday, 14 September 2018 04:24

World leaders bid farewell to ex-UN chief

World leaders and royalty have paid their respects to one of Africa's most famous diplomats, Kofi Annan, at his funeral in his home country of Ghana. It is the climax of three days of mourning which saw thousands of Ghanaians file past his coffin as it lay in state in the capital, Accra. Annan died on 18 August in Switzerland at the age of 80. He was UN secretary-general from 1997 to 2006, the first black African to hold the world's top diplomatic post. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for helping to revitalise the international body,…

Friday, 14 September 2018 04:18

Passengers stranded as plane overshoots runway in Abuja

Many air travellers were stranded at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja Thursday morning after an aircraft overshot the runway and disrupted flight operations. It was gathered that the aircraft, a Gulfstream 4 belonging to Skybird, overshot the runway on Wednesday night and got stuck there. Sources at NAIA told our correspondent that the aircraft landed through Runway 22 and was stuck on the Runway End Safety Area. “The RESA is about 30 metres from the Runway 22 end, and the incident happened at about 10.20pm local time yesterday (Wednesday),” one of the sources, who pleaded not to be named due…

Thursday, 13 September 2018 04:44

Gov cries out over Cameroonian invasion of Cross River

Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River has raised alarm over increasing number of Cameroonian refugees in the state following the arm struggle and demand of Ambazonia Republic in Cameroon. Ayade said this when President of Senate, Mr Bukola Saraki, paid him a courtesy visit in Calabar on Wednesday. The Senate President was in Cross River to solicit delegates support for his presidential aspiration. Ayade told Saraki that Cross River was currently facing security challenges with the discovery of 27 illegal routes used by Cameroonians to gain access into the state. “With the recent Ambazonia crisis, a lot of tension has…

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Thursday, 13 September 2018 04:42

Why I was called ‘minister of dustbin’ in Nigeria — Amina Mohammed

Mrs Amina Mohammed, deputy secretary-general of United Nations (UN), has disclosed that she was seen as the dustbin lady when President Muhammadu Buhari appointed her as minister of environment. Speaking at International Monetary Fund (IMF) and UN working together conversation on Tuesday, she said the people did not see the real value of her office as minister of environment. President Buhari appointed Mohammed in November 2015. She resigned from Nigerian Federal Executive Council on 24 February 2017 to assume office as the 5th Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations. “I have to tell you, when I went back to…

Wednesday, 12 September 2018 04:15

FG gives states conditions for $2.68bn Paris Club refund

The Federal Government on Tuesday said it had approved $2.68bn as final payment to states for the Paris Club Refund. The amount was confirmed in a statement issued by Director of Information in the Ministry of Finance, Mr Hassan Dodo. The explanation is coming amidst controversy that has trailed the payment of the sum of N13bn to Osun State. There have been talks that the refund was made to empower the Osun State Government to successfully prosecute the September 22 governorship election in which All Progressives Congress candidate, Mr Gboyega Oyetola, is facing strong candidates from at least three other…

Wednesday, 12 September 2018 04:14

Buhari to address 73rd UN General Assembly

Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, says President Muhammadu Buhari, will lead Nigeria’s delegation to 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, which begins September 18. The 73rd UNGA will begin September 18 at the UN Headquarters, New York, while the General Debate will hold from September 25 to October 1. Onyeama, who disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a news conference on the 73rd UNGA, said Mr Bubari would use the opportunity to assert Nigeria’s position on global issues. “It an opportunity for him to assert Nigeria’s position globally and to put forward our ideas and…

Wednesday, 12 September 2018 04:13

Catalonia 'National Day' rally draws million

About a million people have taken to the streets of Barcelona to mark Catalonia's "National Day" and show continued support for independence. The annual celebration is the first since Catalonia's failed attempt to break away from Spain last October. A sea of protesters wearing red shirts and bearing red-and-yellow Catalan flags banged drums, blew whistles and chanted slogans of support. The turnout was roughly the same as last year. Catalan regional president Quim Torra and his predecessor Carles Puigdemont, who fled into exile in Belgium after the failed independence bid, had urged people to demonstrate. Mr Torra said at the…

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