The Nigerian government’s Strategic Intervention Programme (SIP) was aimed at giving the present administration a channel to reach and touch the lives of the most vulnerable people in society. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on SIP, Ismaeel Ahmed, explains to PREMIUM TIMES’ BASSEY UDO and IFEOLUWA ADEYEMO, in…

An opposition party, the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN), has said the government should cut the salaries and allowances of civil servants and pay more attention to social services and massive job creation for the masses. In march, PREMIUM TIMES reported how Shehu Sani, the senator representing Kaduna Central, revealed…

The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has said the newly launched Patients’ Bill of Rights (PBoR) will translate into new standards of quality, equity and dignity in patients’ experience in healthcare in Nigeria. On Tuesday, while speaking at the launch of the PBoR, which was organised by the Consumer Protection Council…

Nigeria’s recovery from economic recession slowly began in the second quarter of 2017 (Q2 2017) mainly because of oil exports and controlled imports, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday. The bureau disclosed this in a report published on its website titled, Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report (Expenditure…

The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has concluded the selection of successful applicants for its controversial railway scholarship, sources have told PREMIUM TIMES. The scholarship would involve sponsoring over two score Nigerian undergraduate students in Chinese universities to study railway engineering. It is part of the CCECC's corporate social…

Lagos recorded the highest average fares for air travels in June, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said. In a report called Transport Fare Watch published on the bureau’s website, Wednesday, it also disclosed that the FCT Abuja had the highest average fares for road travels within the city…

Nigerians paid less for petrol, diesel and kerosene as the average prices decreased in June compared to the previous month as well as June 2017, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said. The NBS disclosed this in three reports published on its website on Tuesday. For petrol, the average…

The father of Nkechi Igwetu, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member who was shot dead by a police officer in Abuja, has called for an investigation and prosecution of Garki hospital. Ms. Igwetu was shot by a police officer around Ceddi plaza in Central Area, Abuja, and taken to…

President Muhammadu Buhari has announced that he would soon sign the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA). This is coming almost a month after the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN) concluded a nationwide, sectoral and industry wide consultation and sensitization exercise on the African Continental Free Trade Area.…

The South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, on Wednesday explained that Nigerians were not deliberately being targeted to be killed in his country. Mr Ramaphosa gave his view on the troubling issue when he paid a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja. Xenophobic attacks have been going on in South…

CCTV footage from Garki Hospital, Abuja, has shown that Nkechi Igwetu, the National Youth Service Corps member shot by a police officer in Abuja, was taken in for treatment almost immediately she arrived the hospital premises. In a tweet on Friday, one of the medical doctors at the hospital, Etin-osa…

The downstream arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC Retail, said it has commenced a nationwide audit of its field operations. A statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, Thursday, said the audit is to ensure all delisted trucks are in compliance with the company’s requirement to have the NNPC Retail…

The Garki General Hospital, Abuja has reacted to claims that it denied corps member, Nkechi Igwetu, treatment after being shot by a police officer. A statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, signed by the hospital's Medical Director, Essen Nyomudim, described the allegations as false and malicious. Friends of the…

The federal government intends to improve its revenues by ensuring that Nigerians who have investments, businesses or incomes abroad pay their taxes when due, the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler, has said. After a session with the Federal Executive Council (FEC), Wednesday, Mr Fowler told…

The Ministry of Budget and National Planning on Thursday disputed a report that poverty situation is worsening in Nigeria. The ministry said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is the statutory agency of government with responsibility for producing Nigeria’s official statistics, including poverty estimates. A publication by the World Poverty…

The Niger state government, Tuesday, declared its intentions to establish a mining city within the state making it the first of its kind in Nigeria. The state governor, Abubakar Sani-Bello, while giving his speech at the second edition of the international conference on lead poisoning in Abuja, said the state’s…

The federal government has proffered multi-sectoral partnership as the key to prevent lead poisoning from reoccurring in the county. Lead poisoning in Nigeria was first discovered in Zamfara state by Medecins San Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in 2010. The plague, which was caused by lead pollution generated from processing lead-rich…

The ministers and other top officials who allegedly hijacked a scholarship scheme  for young Nigerians put in place by Chinese firm, CCECC, have been identified. PREMIUM TIMES reported how an undergraduate scholarship scheme by the Chinese construction firm, CCECC, for young Nigerians was cornered for ministers and other top public officials. The…

Young Nigerians who were not nominated by ministers and other top public officials were on Thursday denied the chance to take part in a scholarship interview. This led to chaos at the head office of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) in Abuja as scores of youth besieged the place…

The comment by the defence minister, Mansur Dan-Ali, that anti-grazing laws by some state governments are responsible for the farmers/herders clashes, has been described as his personal view by Audu Ogbeh, minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Mr. Dan-Ali, in January, while briefing state house correspondents at the end of…

The state with the lowest bus fares intra-city and intercity for May 2018 was Bauchi at the average rate of N87.92 (within the city) and N1,064 (Intercity), the National Bureau of Statistics has said. The bureau disclosed this in a report published on its website on Thursday titled ‘Transport Fare…

The federal government has presented a plan to permanently solve the farmers-herders conflicts in Nigeria which has claimed the lives of thousands over the years. Hundreds of people have been killed in 2018 alone in violence involving nomadic herdsmen in states like Benue, Plateau, and Kaduna. Aside the loss of…

The average price per litre paid by consumers for petrol decreased by 0.8 per cent to N150.2 in May 2018 from the N151.4 recorded for April 2018, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said. The average price of petrol also decreased by 0.3 per cent when compared to the…

Political activists have reacted to President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to honour Babagana Kingibe alongside late Moshood Abiola and Gani Fawehinmin with national awards. Mr. Kingibe was Mr. Abiola’s running mate under the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the June 12, 1993 election. Although they won the election, it was annulled…

The opposition candidate in the 1993 presidential election, Bashir Tofa, has expressed reservations about President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to honour late Moshood Abiola and his then running mate, Babagana Kingibe. Mr Abiola presumably won the June 12, 1993 election, considered one of Nigeria's fairest elections. The election was, however, annulled…