By March 27, a month since its first recorded COVID-19 case, Nigeria had confirmed 70 cases of the virus, a speed of spread that pales into insignificance when compared with that of the United States' for the same period. The U.S. went from 60 cases to 104,126 within that period,…

The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19. "I just received my COVID-19 confirmation test result. It is POSITIVE. I am asymptomatic and will continue to self-isolate," Mr Makinde wrote on his Twitter handle and verified Facebook page. "I have designated Prof…

The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Mohammed Babandede, has tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19), he told PREMIUM TIMES Sunday morning, joining a list of officials who have tested positive to the virus. "I tested positive for COVID-19," said Mr Babandede in a message sent in the early hours of Sunday.…

At least two persons in Nigeria's high political class are now infected with the raging COVID-19, currently causing upset across the world. The Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, and Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, are among Nigeria's 46 confirmed cases (by Wednesday morning), which include Mohammed, a…

Six persons are missing two weeks after suspected armed herders waged an attack on an agrarian Benue community, PREMIUM TIMES can exclusively report. This was confirmed during a group interview with now-displaced survivors of the attack, one of the fatal spinoffs of Nigeria's conflict involving pastoralists and farmers. Mnena Athanisius…

In August 2019, Nigeria partially closed its land borders, and since November, has banned the supply of petroleum products to communities within 20 KM of the land borders. The supply cut was to stop the smuggling of petroleum products to Nigeria’s neighbours where illicit dealers could make higher margins after…

The Senate on Thursday gave nod to the $22.7 billion loan request by President Muhammadu Buhari, bringing Nigeria's external debt stock to nearly US$50 billion, amid lawmakers and public's concerns the approval was without scrutiny. The government of Mr Buhari desperately needed the approval as African's largest economy returns to…

Nigeria is committed to a deal that would help Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, keep over $100 million from funds stolen by late kleptocrat, Sani Abacha, according to court documents reported by Bloomberg, putting cooperation with the United States over Abacha loot recovery at risk. The deal was first negotiated…

While Nigeria’s late dictator, Sani Abacha, relentlessly plundered public wealth, other senior military officers, one of them now a serving minister, were also, helping themselves with huge sums of money from the country’s treasury, an official report has shown. According to the report, the generals used the international banking system to…

Partner Africa, a UK-registered business-social audit firm, engaged by FrieslandCampina WAMCO following a PREMIUM TIMES' investigation that exposed child labour in the Dutch multinational company's supply chain in Nigeria, has released its report, containing claims that substantially differ from the truth. "From our research we observed that the Fulani children…

A Forte Oil retail station is the last of such service facility to Nigeria's Illela, Sokoto State border with Niger Republic. The station is now closed following a custom policy banning the supply of petroleum products to stations within 20 kilometres of Nigeria's land borders. Nevertheless, it is a hub…

“My businesses are suffering from what I know nothing about. I don’t smuggle petrol across the border. We only sell petrol to motorists and other users in Nigeria. I am too far from the border to be engaged in petrol bunkering, if you want to see those smuggling petrol to…

At least three persons, believed to be drivers of Dangote Cement and Sokoto Cement trucks, have died, after being stranded for months at Nigeria's border with Niger Republic following the border closure policy. Nigeria's borders with neighbouring countries such as Benin and Niger have been partially closed since last August…

In July last year, the mood of Nigerians was livened up, then some fresh hope followed. President Muhammadu Buhari had just announced a new plan with German tech giant Siemens AG to reverse the hex that is electricity supply in the country where about half of the population lacks grid…

The National Industrial Court has ordered the Nigerian Army to reinstate another senior officer, Thomas Arigbe, after three such judgements since the military authorities illegally dismissed several officers in 2016. The judge, Paul Bassi of the Lagos division of the industrial court, handed the judgement on Thursday. Mr Bassi held…

The National Industrial Court, on Tuesday, ordered the Nigerian Army to reinstate a senior officer, Abdulfatai Mohammed, having established that the military authorities broke the law in dismissing the officer in 2016. "The compulsory retirement of the claimant is wrongful, unconstitutional, null and void," the judge, Rakiya Haastrup, said on…

The National Industrial Court has ordered the Nigerian Army to reinstate a senior officer, Abdulfatai Mohammed, having found the military authorities violated the law in his 2016 dismissal. The judge, Rakiya Haastrup, gave the judgement on Tuesday at the headquarters of the industrial court in Abuja. The judgement upholding Mr…

At least three persons have died in Oyo Town following gunshots by security operatives after people protested the failure of the firefighters in the town to stop a ravaging fire Sunday morning, witnesses have told PREMIUM TIMES. The fire razed Oyo's central commercial area, Akesan Market, almost entirely, leaving only…

The Turkish legislature has approved a proposal to send troops to Libya, amid concerns the conflict in the troubled African nation could escalate insecurity in the Sahel region, which includes Nigeria's extreme north. The approval on Thursday followed the declaration, last December, by President Recep Erdogan to intervene in the…

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the State Security Service (SSS) to release the Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, and ex-National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki. Both men are being held in defiance of separate court orders. The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, said, on Tuesday, his office had issued…

President Muhammadu Buhari may have left the immediate past chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Tunde Fowler, shocked with the replacement Monday of the revenue chief. Mr Fowler on Monday wrote to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, asking to be allowed to continue his…

The Netherlands on Friday said the child labour practice, which a PREMIUM TIMES' investigation revealed in the Nigerian supply chain of Dutch multinational, FrieslandCampina, is being taken "seriously" and already a subject on the agenda of the European country's food industry. The Dutch government's response to the investigation by PREMIUM…

Nearly one year after Nigeria's interior ministry increased the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Alien Card (CERPAC) fee, a federal court in Lagos has nullified the review. The cancellation followed a suit by the lawyer, Femi Falana. In the ruling delivered in November but just obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, the…

A former governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, was Thursday convicted of corruption and mismanagement of N7.65 billion public funds. He was sentenced to a 12-year jail term by the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court, about 12 years after he was first arraigned by the anti-corruption body, EFCC.…

Multinational dairy company, FrieslandCampina, says it has engaged an international firm, Partner Africa, to conduct an audit of its raw milk sourcing in Nigeria following an investigation by PREMIUM TIMES revealing child labour in its supply chain. The company said it is committed to "preventing and eliminating" child labour in…