Nelly's SmartBriefs

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has again faulted the agreement the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari signed with Ethiopian Airlines on the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air. The minister, who briefed State House reporters on Monday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, said the agreements of the deal were unfair to Nigerian airlines as the deal would create a monopoly for Ethiopian Airlines. Keyamo said that reports on the issue had been submitted to President Bola Tinubu, who will make a decision on the deal. The minister said he “cannot pre-empt my president,” adding that “all the reports, everything, we have forwarded to Mr. President, the issues we met on the ground.” “But just to say that it would have been irresponsible of me as minister to take over office and close my eyes totally to those concerns. “So, because of that, we suspended it to say, Let’s just look at all the issues and recommend. Now we have looked...

President Bola Tinubu has written the House of Representatives, seeking the approval of the green chamber for an $8.6billion and €100million external borrowing plan for critical infrastructure in areas such as power, roads, water, railways, and health. The President also forwarded the Federal Capital Territory Supplementary Budget to the House for consideration. Meanwhile, the President will present the 2024 budget to the National Assembly on Wednesday.  This was after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a 2024 budget of N27.5trillion. The approval followed the review of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) earlier passed by the National Assembly, which benchmarked the exchange rate at N700 to $1 and the crude oil price at $73.96 cent per barrel. The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, told reporters at the State House on Monday that FEC revised the MTEF and the Fiscal Policy to use an exchange rate of N750 to $1 and also a benchmark crude oi...

President Bola Tinubu will, on Wednesday, depart Abuja for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to attend the COP28 Climate Summit, his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, has said. At the world leaders’ summit, which will take place on December 1 and 2, 2023, with the theme, ‘Unite, Act, and Deliver,’ Tinubu will deliver a national statement, highlighting Nigeria’s stance on various thematic issues, including renewable energy and climate financing. The President will be accompanied by senior government officials to the summit also known as the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP28). “Mindful of the severe impact of climate change on Nigeria, such as desertification, flooding, erosion, drought, and national security risks arising therefrom, President Tinubu will maximise the opportunity afforded by the platform to advocate increased financial and technical support for developing nations, while reminding developed countries of their public pledge...

The amount spent on airtime and data by Nigerian telecom subscribers rose to at least N2.59trillion in the first nine months of 2023. This is according to the financial statements of MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa.  This was a 32.57 per cent increase from the N1.95trillion both telcos recorded from both income sources in the corresponding period of 2022. The increase in voice and data venue was partially driven by rising data subscriptions and the devaluation of the naira on Airtel’s part.  In the first nine months of 2022, Airtel made $1.41billion from airtime and data.  When converted at the exchange rate of N461/$ which was obtained at the time, it amounted to N647.71billion. In the same period of 2023, the company’s income from these two revenue sources amounted to $1.29billion.  When converted at the exchange rate of N777/$ at the time, it amounted to N1.003trillion.  On MTN’s part, increasing data revenues continue to fuel the company’s overall revenue grow...

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives, on Monday, began a full-scale probe into the alleged mismanagement of COVID-19 intervention funds from 2020 to 2023 as mandated by the House at the plenary session. Addressing the opening session, the Chairman of the Committee, Bamidele Salam (PDP-OSUN), warned that the committee would not entertain delay tactics from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies by way of asking for an extension of time. “The committee is probing over 60 MDAs over several billions of naira in intervention funds allocated to them during the COVID-19 pandemic and we have given them enough time to prepare for this exercise,” he said. “The committee will not entertain any extension of time from any of the MDAs. The committee is not after any individual or groups, we are going to be diligent in carrying out our assignment.” Salam urged the Accountant General of the Federation, whose office he argued is crucial to the assignment, to make availa...

A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt on Monday, adjourned hearing in a matter brought before it by member representing Ahoada East Constituency One in the Rivers State House Assembly, Rt Hon Edison Ehie, seeking the court to restrain Martin Amaewhule from presiding over the activities of the house to Tuesday, December 5, 2023. The presiding Judge, Justice Phoebe Ayua, adjourned the case to enable parties in the matter serve processes on each other. When the matter came up in court, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), K.C.O. Njemanze, informed the court of his appearance to change the counsel to the plaintiff.  He told the court that he was the new counsel to the plaintiff, but was objected by the led counsel to the plaintiff, N. O. Akporuvweku, who earlier was incharge of the case. Mr N .O. Akporuvweku argued that they have not be serve any notice of change in counsel and insist they remain counsel for the plaintiff.   Meanwhile, counsel to the 1st and 2nd defend...

                        Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has defeated the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC),  Tonye Cole at the Appeal Court. The appellate court sitting in Lagos State on Tuesday, dismissed the petition filed by the APC governorship candidate against Fubara and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The APC candidate, who was present in the courtroom on Tuesday, wanted the court to direct INEC to declare him the winner of the March governorship election in Rivers State. The Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had in October dismissed the petition of Cole challenging the election of Fubara as the governor of the state. The tribunal had dismissed the petition saying that the APC that sponsored Cole had withdrawn the petition against Fubara’s victory. Not satisfied with the tribunal’s victory, the APC candidate ap...

The President of Rivers State Customary Court of Appeal, His Leadership, Justice Ihemnacho Wilfred-Obuzor on Monday charged the newly sworn in chairmen and members of Customary Courts of Rivers State Judiciary to be mindful in order not to disappoint God and humanity in discharge of the duties. Justice Wilfred-Obuzor, who spoke shortly after swearing-in four chairmen and 21 members of Customary Courts of Rivers State Judiciary, urged them not to see the work as civil servant or political appointment but work of a priest representing God himself. The President of the state Customary Court of Appeal cautioned the new chairmen and members of Customary against being radical but should also depend on prayers to God in discharge of their responsibilities. Justice Wilfred-Obuzor further advised the new chairmen and members of the Customary Court to tie themselves with the oath office taken and must be abided by the judicial code of conduct just as he urged them to always allow customary law t...

The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr Samuel Ogbuku, has said that the commission was working in line with the policy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration which emphasises stakeholders’ engagements in the development process. Speaking during a courtesy visit by members of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOP, at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, Ogbuku, said it was important to involve all stakeholders in driving the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region. He remarked: “We all face the same challenges in the region and this means that we must all work together to address the challenges, regardless of our ethnic background. Challenges, such as underdevelopment and ecological problems, confront all of us.” The NDDC Chief Executive Officer stated that the history of the Niger Delta struggle will not be complete without indexing the contributions of the Ogoni people, noting: “Your contributions cannot be forgo...

President Bola Tinubu will present the 2024 budget estimate to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday. Reliable sources in the upper chamber informed the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday. The sources said the President had written to both the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Tajudeen Abbas, conveying his intention to address the joint session. The two National Assembly leaders are expected to read the President’s letter to Senators and Members of the House of Representatives during Tuesday’s plenary. It will be recalled that Tinubu had about three weeks ago forwarded the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework ( MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper ( FSP), proposing an expenditure of N26.1trillion for the 2024 fiscal year. After two weeks of deliberations and interface with heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies on the revenue and expenditure projections, the Senate through its Committee on Finance app...