Author: Lawan

Employers with outstanding pension liabilities risk losing access to government contracts and other business opportunities as the National Pension Commission (PenCom) intensifies enforcement of compliance with pension laws. The commission said employers with unpaid penalties for delayed remittance of workers’ pension contributions would be unable to obtain Pension Clearance Certificates (PCC), a requirement for certain government contracts and business transactions. The Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this on Tuesday at the 2026 Annual PenCom Media Conference in Abuja, where she announced the introduction of an automated system for calculating penalties against defaulting employers. She said the new system automatically…

Minister of Works, David Umahi, has insisted that the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway remains intact and cannot be altered, assuring Nigerians that construction is progressing across several states. Umahi, speaking to State House Correspondents after briefing President Bola Tinubu, said surveyors and designers were currently assessing the highway’s alignment in Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states, while work continued on sections already under construction. “Nobody has abandoned the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. In fact, as we are talking now, we have designers. We have surveyors. We are surveying the axis of Edo State, we are surveying the axis of Delta…

₦2.7 TRILLION PIPELINE ROW: STOP THE SELECTIVE CRITICISM AND NAME-CALLING, ANSWER THE QUESTIONS — AMANYANABO OF THE SOURCE CHALLENGES OLU OF WARRI, JOEL AGHO •••Says, Niger Delta Development Is The Responsibility of State Governors And Relevant Development Agencies, Not Private Citizens The Palace of the Amanyanabo of the Source (Elem Kalabari, Torusaramapiri), Da Amakiri Tubo, Alhaji Mujahid Abubakr Dokubo-Asari, Dabaye Amakiri I, has taken note of the recent response from the Palace of the Olu of Warri to issues raised by Da Amakiri Tubo concerning the controversial ₦2.7 trillion pipeline security contract allegation. Rather than address the substance of the…

Former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai (retd.), has asked the Ministry of Defence to account for the $1 billion approved for arms procurement during his tenure, insisting that the ministry managed the funds while service chiefs bore the criticism over their alleged diversion. Buratai’s demand for accountability came as former Senate president, Ahmad Lawan, called for a dedicated share of national revenue and first-line funding for the military and other security agencies to acquire more weapons and overcome delays in budget release.Both spoke at the opening of the third Defence Correspondents Association of Nigeria (DECAN) conference in…

Cuts global growth outlook to 3.1% as energy costs mount The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on the federal government to provide targeted cash transfers and temporary income support to vulnerable households struggling with rising food and energy costs. The Fund said the measures would help reduce poverty and improve food security, but stressed that they must be backed by a credible plan to strengthen government revenue and ensure public funds are spent effectively. It also projected global economic growth of 3.1 per cent this year but warned that rising energy and commodity prices, mounting public debt and uncertainties…

Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has insisted that the South East Development Commission (SEDC) must operate from the South-East and extend its activities to the grassroots so that people across the region feel its presence. Kalu, chairman of the Senate Committee on SEDC, spoke on Monday during an oversight visit to Enugu, where he expressed satisfaction with the commission’s office facilities and said the committee would return in December to assess further progress. “The only problem that I said before, and I repeat, is that they cannot operate from Abuja. They must operate from where they are set up. This is…

The Magodo Phase II Residents Association has called on Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to stop an alleged attempt by developers to construct access roads through the estate to a protected wetland. The association raised the alarm over the presence of articulated trucks and heavy-duty equipment outside the Shangisha Gate, expressing fears that they could be used to force entry into the estate. In a statement issued on Monday and signed by its chairman, Niyi Odusi, the association urged the governor to order the immediate removal of the vehicles and secure the estate’s boundaries. “The estate is currently under threat.…

INEC lists spark fresh 2027 election battles Fresh political and legal wars erupted across the country at the weekend after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released its final lists of candidates, shutting out key Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship hopefuls, exposing rival claims to some tickets and setting up heavyweight contests ahead of the February 6, 2027 elections. The disputes have also spread beyond the governorship races. In Gombe, an All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives candidate already published by INEC has had the primary that produced him nullified by a Federal High…

Dangote Refinery•PSC, royalties, contracts limit availability•Rules out discounted crude for refiners The Federal Government has admitted that Nigeria lacks sufficient freely available crude oil to meet the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s daily requirement of 700,000 barrels, despite efforts to increase production and curb oil theft. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, made the disclosure during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today at the weekend. The disclosure comes amid renewed debate over government intervention in the petroleum market, with proposals for production subsidies, the 30-days petrol discount and other measures to support domestic refining and…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) have demanded greater transparency from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the production and custody of sensitive materials for the 2027 general election as well as recent personnel postings in some of the commission’s strategic departments. Atiku, in a statement by the Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Phrank Shaibu, specifically asked INEC to disclose the companies engaged to print sensitive election materials, the procurement process and the security arrangements surrounding their production, storage and delivery. Separately, the ADC, in a statement by…