Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has denied the reports that he is sitting on letters from some Senators who have informed him of their defections from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Lawan denied the reports via a statement issued by Ola Awoniyi his special adviser on media, on Saturday, July 30.
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan,. Photo credit: The Senate President - Nigeria Source: Facebook
Meanwhile, the reports claimed that Lawan is sitting on the purported letters to protect his position as the President of the Senate.
However, a statement from the office of the Senate President said the reports were lies, the statements read:
"We have seen a story on social media and some online newspapers purporting that the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, is sitting on letters from some Senators allegedly intimating him of their defections from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
"The story insinuated that Lawan is sitting on the purported letters to protect his position as the President of the Senate.
"We hereby state categorically that the story is an utter falsehood as there is no such letter before the Senate President."
An Enugu hair vendor with the name Ms Onuorah Caritas Onyinye, also known as Smart Beyonce, got people talking when she met her waterloo recently.
The 29-year-old socialite who is popular in her state for going braless got into trouble upon her arrival at Enugu airport onboard an Ethiopian airline flight from Addis Ababa.
NDLEA nabbed the Enugu socialite at the airport. Credit: @hallesblogafrica Source: Instagram
The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) searched her luggage at the airport and discovered 219 kilograms of cocaine concealed in two women's handbags with false linings.
Smart Beyonce is reported to be unconsolable in detention as she is yet to name her sponsors.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Thursday, July 28, announced that it found a total of N540 million in the account of a public primary school teacher with a salary of N76,000.
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has also ordered the final forfeiture of N120 million traced to the teacher, Roseline Egbuha who teaches at Ozala Primary School, Abagana, Anambra State.
Mrs Roseline Egbuha . Photo: ICPC Source: UGC
A statement by the commission's spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua said that the court headed by Justice D.U Okorowo also ordered the forfeiture of cars traced to Egbuha and some of her accomplices in money laundering activities.
According to the ICPC, the court's order is a sequel to an ex-parte motion filed by the commission in 2021.
The motion also followed an allegation surrounding N540 million linked to Egbuha and her accomplices who tried to hide the funds in her Guaranty Trust Bank account.
Investigations by the commission also prompted the ICPC to place a Post-No-Debit on her account which led to her obtaining a court order from the Federal High Court, Abuja to lift the PND placed on the account.
It was gathered that the accused immediately withdrew the funds and distributed them to multiple accounts owned by Bureau de Change owners and some other private individuals including James Erebouye, Emon Okune and Chisom Iwueke.
Others are Alonge Ojo, Maureen Chidimma, Owoyemi Mayowa and Ejeaka Ifeoma in addition to two private companies charged to court over fraudulent activities and warehousing proceeds of the alleged crimes.
Other items forfeited by the respondents are cars which include Toyota Lexus and Venza sport utility vehicles.
On Tuesday, July 26, the Senate received a formal request from PresidentMuhammadu Buhari to confirm Justice Olukayode Ariwoola as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
Ariwoola’s nomination was disclosed in a letter dated July 25 and read during the plenary by the senate president, Ahmed Lawan, on Tuesday.
President .Buhari Photo Credit: Femi Adesina Source: Facebook
This was contained in a statement signed by the special assistant on media to the senate president, Ezrel Tabiowo. The letter read:
“Pursuant to Section 231(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), I forward for confirmation by the Senate, the appointment of Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.”
President Buhari also asked the red chamber to confirm the nomination of Suleiman Agha Afikpo as representing commissioner for the southeast zone in the national hajj commission of Nigeria.
Buhari noted that his request is in line with section 3(2) of the hajj commission act 2004. The president urged the Senate to consider his submission with the highest consideration.
Ariwoola, a 62-year-old justice, resumed acting CJN following the resignation of Justice Muhammad Tanko, who had resigned on health grounds.
Tanko’s resignation came following a protest by 14 aggrieved justices on issues bordering on welfare.
But the former CJN stated in his resignation letter that his health was the reason for his decision.
Meanwhile, Justice Ariwoola will be functioning on an acting basis pending when he will be confirmed by the national judicial council (NJC).
The International Monetary Fund. Photo: Olivier DOULIERY / AFP/File Source: AFP
Surging inflation and severe slowdowns in the United States and China prompted the IMF Tuesday to downgrade its outlook for the global economy this year and next, while warning that the situation could get much worse.
"The outlook has darkened significantly since April," said IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas. "The world may soon be teetering on the edge of a global recession, only two years after the last one."
"The world's three largest economies, the United States, China and the euro area are stalling with important consequences for the global outlook," he said at a briefing.
In its latest World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund cut the 2022 global GDP estimate to 3.2 percent, four-tenths of a point lower than the April forecast, and about half the rate seen last year.
Last year's "tentative recovery" from the pandemic downturn "has been followed by increasingly gloomy developments in 2022 as risks began to materialize," the report said.
"Several shocks have hit a world economy already weakened by the pandemic," including the war in Ukraine which has driven up global prices for food and energy, prompting central banks to raise interest rates sharply, the IMF said.
Ongoing Covid-19 lockdowns and a worsening real estate crisis have hindered economic activity in China, while the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes are slowing US growth sharply.
But the IMF offered a stark caveat to the forecasts, cautioning that "risks to the outlook are overwhelmingly tilted to the downside," and if they materialize could push the global economy into one of the worst slumps in the past half-century.
Key among the concerns is the fallout from the war in Ukraine including the potential for Russia to cut off natural gas supplies to Europe, as well as a further spike in prices and a food shortage due to the chokehold the war has on grain supplies that could trigger famine.
In an ominous warning, the WEO said "such shocks could, if sufficiently severe, cause a combination of recession accompanied by high and rising inflation ('stagflation')."
That would slam the brakes on growth, slowing it to 2.0 percent in 2023. The global growth rate has only been slower five times since 1970, the report said.
Gourinchas said that would be "getting really close to a global recession."
The top priority for policymakers is to rein in soaring prices, even at the cost of inflicting pain on their citizens, the fund said, since the damage caused by allowing inflation to rage out of control would be much worse.
Gourinchas, in a blog post about the report, noted that the "synchronized" moves by major central banks to deal with the inflation threat "is historically unprecedented, and its effects are expected to bite."
"Tighter monetary policy will inevitably have real economic costs, but delaying it will only exacerbate the hardship," he said.
The IMF now sees consumer prices jumping 8.3 percent this year, nearly a full point higher than previously forecast, while emerging market economies face a 9.5 percent increase in consumer prices.
But, "further supply-related shocks to food and energy prices from the war in Ukraine could sharply increase headline inflation."
That would increase the pain for poor nations least able to withstand the shock, where food makes up a larger share of family budgets. While the global economy did a bit better than expected in the first three months of the year, it appears to have "shrunk in the second quarter -- the first contraction since 2020," the IMF said.
The IMF downgraded growth forecasts for most countries, including big revisions for the United States and China, cutting more than a point off the prior forecasts.
The fund now sees US growth this year of just 2.3 percent, amid slowing consumer spending and rising interest rates, and the report said a recession -- defined by two quarters of negative growth -- may already have begun.
China's economy is expected to slow dramatically in 2022, expanding just 3.3 percent -- the lowest in more than four decades other than the 2020 pandemic crisis -- due to Covid concerns and the "worsening crisis" in the property sector, the report said.
"The slowdown in China has global consequences: lockdowns added to global supply chain disruptions and the decline in domestic spending are reducing demand for goods and services from China's trade partners," the report said.
There were some exceptions to the gloomy outlook, including upgrades for Italy, Brazil and Mexico, as well as for Russia which is still expected to contract but is benefitting from rising oil prices due to Western sanctions, the WEO said.
