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Port Harcourt refinery begins operations The Port Harcourt Refinery has recommenced operations. The refinery has a capacity of 210,000 barrels per day. The federal government had promised that operations at the refinery would commence in December 2023. In August 2023, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), explained that the operational refineries would stop the country’s over-reliance on fuel imports. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) had also affirmed that the importation of petroleum products into the country would cease by December 2024. Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, also projected the commencement of the Warri refinery in the early first quarter of 2024 and the operation of the Kaduna refinery by the close of 2024. In March 2021, the Federal Executive Council sanctioned a $1.5 billion budget for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery.  

AfDB President Akinwunmi Adesina named 2023 Awolowo Leadership Prize winner The President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina has been conferred with the 2023 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership. Addressing a news briefing in Lagos, the Chairman of the Selection Committee for the Prize, Chief Emeka Anyaoku said the members were unanimous in their decision to confer Dr Adesina with the award.  Chief Anyaoku, a former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, said the committee received many nominations before settling for Dr Adesina due to his exemplary leadership and service since he was Minister of Agriculture which is similar to that of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.   

Reps seek free malaria treatment in public hospitals The House of Representatives wants the Federal Government to provide free malaria treatment and drugs for Nigerians in public hospitals. This was sequel to a motion of urgency by the House of Representatives member from Abia State, Mr Amoebi Ogah at plenary. The lawmaker said there have been several reported cases of malaria which has resulted in the death of many Nigerians, particularly children below the age of five. According to Mr Ogah, the average cost of treating malaria is about 5,000 to 10,000 which many Nigerians can not afford thereby resorting to herbal treatment which has in many cases caused complications and even death. The lawmaker suggested that part of the funds from subsidy removal should be used for free malaria treatment in Public Hospitals. The Deputy Speaker, Mr. Benjamin Kalu who presided over the plenary referred the matter to the committees on Malaria, HIV, Tuberculosis, and Health Services. The Deputy Speake...

 London court throws out P&ID’s plea to appeal $11bn judgment A London court has refused to grant an application by Process & Industrial Development (P&ID) seeking to appeal the judgement halting the enforcement of its $11 billion award against Nigeria. In a judgment on Thursday, Robin Knowles, the presiding judge, ruled that the award against Nigeria should be thrown out immediately. Details later ..…

 Court declares man innocent after spending 48 years in prison A US District Court Judge Amy Palumbo , has  declared 71-year-old black man, Glynn Simmons  innocent of a the crime of murder for which he was convicted. His exoneration comes after he has spent  close to 50 years in prison. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, Simmons, was served more time behind bars before being exonerated than any other inmate in US history. The court first threw out his conviction in July before declaring him innocent on Tuesday. Simmons was released in July after serving a total of 48 years, one month and 18 days in prison. Simmons and another man, Don Roberts, were sentenced to death in 1975 after being convicted of the murder of a 30-year-old liquor store clerk during a robbery in Edmond, Oklahoma. But their sentences were later commuted to life in prison. Their conviction was on the basis of the testimony of a teenage customer who survived a shot to her head during...

Why I divorced Jude Ighalo – Footballer’s estranged wife, Sonia Sonia Ighalo, the estranged wife of Nigerian footballer, Jude Ighalo, has taken to her Instagram platform to explain further the reason for her separation from her husband. The Nation reported that Sonia, a few hours ago, announced that she has found love again.  The mother of three posted a picture of her new partner, concealing his face with an emoji while expressing her admiration for him. Sonia has yet again disclosed that she had split up with Jude in 2019, but that she had gotten back together in 2021 and ended things without his consent in 2022. She said that the football player had crawled back to her, and she had agreed to it because of the children. She claimed that because of his family and the fact that she was travelling back and forth between Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Nigeria with the kids, they kept their relationship quiet. Sonia stated in her divorce petition that Jude Ighalo withheld their reconciliati...

Emefiele operated 593 illegal US, UK, China accounts – CBN investigator The former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, illegally lodged billions of naira in no fewer than 593 bank accounts in the United States, United Kingdom, and China without the approval of the apex bank’s board of directors and the CBN Investment Committee. The Special Investigator on the CBN and Related Entities, Jim Obaze, found that the ex-CBN governor lodged £543, 482,213 in fixed deposits in UK banks alone without authorisation. When contacted, counsel for Emefiele, Mathew Bukkaa, SAN, asked one of our correspondents to send him a text message. He has yet to reply to the message as of the time of filing this report. Meanwhile, Obaze submitted his final report tagged, ‘Report of the Special Investigation on CBN and Related Entities (Chargeable offences) to President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday. The report partly read, “The former governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele invested Nigeria’s money without au...