Presidency Reacts as Super Eagles Captain Ahmed Musa Officially Joins Kano Pillars

Bashir Ahmad, a personal assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media, has applauded Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa for joining Kano Pillars until the end of the season.

Nigeria Professional Football League club Pillars announced they have signed the former Leicester city forward on a short-term deal, with Bashir Ahmad describing it as ‘smart move’.

Musa will play with the Kano based team until the end of the 2020/2021 season where he scored 18 goals having had a stint there in 2009.

The Nigerian international has been without a club after leaving Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia last year’s October.

Reacting to Musa’s move.

 Bashir Ahmad via his twitter handle on Wednesday, welcomed the former CSKA and Leicester City forward back to the NPFL.

He wrote:

“Kano Pillars FC have agreed to sign its former player and Super Eagles captain,

 Ahmed Musa, for the rest of the 2020/2021 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season. Smart move by the ‘Sai Masu Gida’. Welcome home Ahmed Musa718.”

Musa however disclosed that he moved to the local club instead of being idle in Europe. 

Ahmed Musa earlier hinted that he would definitely return home to play for a club to help raise the standards of the Nigeria Professional Football League.

In an exclusive chat during his time at Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia, Musa who has shown a lot of patriotism for Nigeria also urged current and ex-national team stars to endeavour to, at least, play for a season in Nigeria.

Musa left Riyadh based club Al –Nassr in 2020 with two years remaining of the four-year contract he signed when he joined from Leicester City.

Several clubs in England including West Brom are reportedly interested in the 29-year-old who remain Nigeria’s record scorer at the World Cup with four goals.

Photo: Ulrik Pedersen

Musa said:

“It’s better than hanging and idling in Europe. There will always be a place for you at home.

“Anything that improves the image of Nigerian football is something that I strive to embark on and Kano Pillars holds a special place in my heart.

“It’s the team that helped me become the professional footballer I am today, so this is more than just football but a very strong bond.”

IGP disbands police monitoring units in Lagos, Port Harcourt

 

The acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, has ordered the immediate disbandment of the IGP monitoring satellite offices in Lagos and Port Harcourt.

The police boss gave the order after Nigerians complained that the officers in the units were harassing them and operating beyond their briefs.

IGP says he will improve from where his predecessor has left. Photo: @PoliceNG

He made the disclosure on Thursday, April 15, at his maiden meeting with command police commissioners and zonal Assistant Inspector-General (AIG)'s in Abuja.

Baba said the disbanded units will be re-organised.

The IGP took the action 24 hours after he met with Musiliu Smith, chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), to discuss ways of increasing the efficiency of the police force.

Meanwhile, the IGP Baba has disclosed that the security situation in the southeast and south-south geopolitical zones in Nigeria is critical to his tenure. 

Baba disclosed this on Friday, April 9, in Abuja at the opening of a meeting with police strategic commanders in the zones.

He said the meeting was aimed at discussing security issues affecting the two regions of the country. Baba noted that after the meeting, the commanders would go back to their zones to implement the outcome of the meeting.

In another report, some unknown gunmen have killed three police operatives in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state capital.

According to the report, the operatives were shot while on duty at about 7:30 pm on Wednesday, April 14 along Nwezenyi road in the state capital.

The officers who sustained bullet wounds during the attack were later confirmed dead by doctors at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki. Commissioner for internal security and border peace, Stanley Okoroemegha, confirmed the incident.

Royal Dutch Shell Lowest Payout to Nigerian Government in Three Years

 

Royal Dutch Shell subsidiaries' payment to the Nigerian government declined last year as the company paid less when compared to the previous fee disbursed. In 2020, the company paid $3.24 billion.

The reduction in Shell's payment was also recorded in other countries where the company operates. However, the payment made to Nigeria is the highest payout from the oil and gas company to 24 nations last year.

But when compared to the preceding years, the combined payment of the subsidiaries to Nigeria dropped from $6.39 billion in 2018, to $5.63 billion in 2019 and $3.24 billion.

Shell tanker. Photo: Yegor AleyevTASS

The last time Shell paid lower than $4 billion to the Nigerian government was in 2016 and 2014, when the company disbursed $3.64 billion and $3.02 billion respectively.

According to the company's report on Payments to Governments Report for the Year 2020, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation received $2.28 billion last year, against the $3.77 billion in 2019.

Federal Inland Revenue Service got $440.39m as taxes from the company in 2020, lower than the $1.28 billion of 2019. These are some of the payouts from the company which suffered a loss of $21.68 billion last year, in contrast with the $15.84 billion profit Shell recorded.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has received a court order from the Federal High Court to freeze the accounts of companies and persons.

The affected are eleven in number. The CBN had made the request last month in order to restrict the financial activities of the companies. It was stated on Wednesday, April 7, 2021, that the order had been given.

According to a statement from the financial regulator, the request to freeze the accounts was due to suspicious activities which the CBN intends to investigate.

Economy : Nigeria records highest inflation rate in four years

 

Nigeria’s inflation rate increased by 18.17 % (year-on-year) in March 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a blow to the Nigerian economy. Photo: @sgyemikale/Twitter, Femi Adesina/Facebook

This is 0.82 % points higher than the rate recorded in February (17.33 percent), which makes it the highest reported in four years since April 2017.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported the new figure in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) March 2021 report released on Thursday, April 15.

According to the NBS report, increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.56 % in March 2021.

This is 0.02 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in February 2021 (1.54 %).

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months period ending March 2021, over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 14.55%, representing a 0.50% point increase over 14.05 % recorded in February 2021.

The urban inflation rate increased by 18.76 % (year-on-year) in March 2021 from 17.92% recorded in February 2021, while the rural inflation rate increased by 17.60 % in March 2021 from 16.77 % in February 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.60 % in March 2021, up by 0.02 compared to the rate recorded in February 2021, while the rural index also rose by 1.52 % in March 2021, up by 0.02 compared to the rate that was recorded in February 2021 (1.50 %).

This is higher than 14.66 % reported in February 2021, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in March 2021 is 13.99 % compared to 13.48 % recorded in February 2021.The corresponding 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 15.15% in March 2021.

Meanwhile, the claim that Nigeria printed N50-N60 billion last month to cushion its financial trouble has been denied by the federal ministry of finance, budget, and national planning as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

P.M News reports that Osita Nwanisobi, the spokesperson of CBN, on Sunday, April 11, said he was not aware of any money printed by the government. He disclosed this while speaking to journalists.