Author: Naija Daily News

By Deborah Nnamdi The Federal Executive Council on Monday approved the 2025 Budget Proposal. The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, revealed this to State House Correspondents after the Council met for the last time in 2024 at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. He said: “Today, the Federal Executive Council approved the budget proposals for 2025 with amendments which Mr President directed following a presentation to the Federal Executive Council led by the Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu. “The 2025 framework is based on an oil price benchmark of $75 per barrel. Oil production of 2.06…

Photo: Some of the 792 suspects arrested by the EFCC The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested nearly 800 fraudsters in a major raid on a crypto crime ring operating from the exurb corporate set-up in Victoria Island, Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State. EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, who disclosed this in Lagos on Monday described the arrest as a landmark raid, revealing that 792 suspects were arrested for their alleged involvement in cryptocurrency investment fraud and romance scams. Photo: Building where the fraud suspects were arrested in Victoria Island, Lagos A statement on the commission’s official ‘X’…

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, has advised students to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the fund to achieve their academic dreams. The NELFUND MD made the call at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun-Warri, Delta State when he led members of the board to the pioneer oil training institute. He told the students that NELFUND is open to both new and existing students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, adding that on successful application, the fund is disbursed within reasonable days. He said: “The loan provides financial support to qualified Nigerian students…

By Deborah Nnamdi The Supreme Court sitting in Abuja on Monday imposed a N5 million fine on a former presidential candidate, Ambrose Albert Owuru, for harassing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with a frivolous and vexatious suit. Owuru, who contested the 2019 presidential election against former President Muhammadu Buhari on the platform of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP), was ordered to pay N5 million to Tinubu. Justice Uwani Musa Aba-Aji issued the order against the former presidential candidate while dismissing his fresh suit praying for the removal of Tinubu as Nigeria’s President. Apart from the N5 million fine, the apex court…

The prices of cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, have continued to rise amidst the hope of a favourable policy by the incoming President Donald Trump U.S. Presidency. Bitcoin, the world’s largest and most popular cryptocurrency, on Monday, exceeded $106,000 per coin, amidst hints that President Trump intends to create a strategic crypto reserve similar to the USA oil reserve. A report by Reuters said Bitcoin hit a high of $106,533 on Monday, rising from the last trading of $104,493 at about 10 am WAT. The rise translates to a 3.1% gain for Bitcoin, while smaller crypto ether rose 1.2% to $3.952. “We’re…

By Didimoko A Didimoko, Abuja The Nigerian Defence Headquarters has debunked reports on social media and rumours making the rounds that the French military is setting up military bases in Nigeria. The rumour gained wind recently amidst a post by a human rights activist of northern extraction, Mahdi Shehu who lambasted the government on Saturday for its denial. The rumour of French involvement in crisis-hotbed Northern Nigeria followed the collapse of the European nation’s relationship with its former colonies of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. It was further heightened by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent state visit to France, where…

The Supreme Court of Nigeria will today rule on a petition by a former presidential candidate, Chief Ambrose Owuru, to sack President Bola Tinubu from office on the allegation that the President is not qualified to be President. Owuru, the presidential flag-bearer of the Hope Democratic Party, HDP, in the 2019 general election, claimed that President Tinubu is an active agent of the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, of the United States of America, USA, a position he said made him unfit to occupy the presidential seat. The Supreme Court fixed Monday, December 16, to hear the matter. A hearing notice…

By Deborah Nnamdi A joint security operation involving the Nigeria Police Force, Armed Forces, Department of State Security Service, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has dismantled criminal hideouts responsible for persistent unrest in Ezioha, Eziama Autonomous Community, Mbaitolu Local Government Area, Imo State. The operation, conducted under the aegis of “Operation Udoka,” resulted in the killing of four suspects, the arrest of five others, and the recovery of firearms and other incriminating items linked to the suspects. Police spokesperson Henry Okoye disclosed this in a statement on Sunday. He emphasized that the success of the operation is…

By Deborah Nnamdi Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have recovered multi-billion-naira worth of methamphetamine and “Loud” shipments concealed in automobile spare parts imported from Canada and intended for distribution during the Christmas and New Year festive season at the Tincan Seaport in Lagos. A statement released on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, revealed that the shipments were seize following months of intelligence-driven tracking of the cargo across three continents. Babafemi noted that this marked the first time the agency had recovered two consignments of methamphetamine weighing 83.301 kilograms. The shipments were recovered from separate…

By Deborah Nnamdi Goods worth millions have been destroyed in a fire outbreak in the early hours of Sunday morning in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, destroying three shops. The swift response of the state fire service, however, saved 13 other shops from being consumed. The fire reportedly started around midnight behind a branch of First City Monument Bank in Dugbe. It was reportedly caused by burning refuse left unattended by occupants of the premises.While no lives were lost, property and goods worth millions of naira were destroyed. This latest fire adds to a series of devastating incidents in Ibadan…