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  Femi Otedola appointed Board Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria The First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Holdings has appointed billionaire businessman Femi Otedola as the new chairman of its board of directors. He succeeds the outgoing Chairman of the board, Alhaji Ahmad Abdullahi. The financial institution disclosed this in a corporate filing on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), notifying investors of the new development. This appointment, effective January 31, 2024, follows a recent meeting of the board where Otedola succeeds Alhaji Abdullahi. Otedola, a renowned business mogul with significant contributions in various sectors, is expected to bring his extensive experience and strategic insight to FBN Holdings. Gasper Babatunde Reporting . 

  President Tinubu tells New Minimum Wage committee what he wants from them President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, January 30, inaugurated the Tripartite National Minimum Wage Committee, tasking the 37-man team to promptly conclude its assignment and bring in its report and recommendations. President Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, also directed the Bukar Goni Aji-led Committee to ensure their decisions are firmly rooted in social justice and equity. To guarantee sustainability in all tiers of government, the President said the committee must pay attention to the ability of all parties to pay the new wage, just as he asked the committee members to ensure timely completion of their assignment. According to the President, the timely conclusion and submission of the report and recommendations of the committee is very important to the take-off of the processes of a new national minimum wage regime. He, however, informed the committee that he had already instr...

  BREAKING: Atiku’s ex-spokesman meets President Tinubu in Paris Daniel Bwala, a former spokesperson to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election, Atiku Abubakar, met with President Bola Tinubu in Paris on Monday, January 29. Bwala disclosed this in a post on his official X page. He wrote: “It was a pleasure to meet with the father of the nation @officialABAT President Bola Tinubu in Paris today. He continues to share his thoughts and demonstrate his passion to lead Nigeria out of the woods.”

  BREAKING: Supreme Court affirms five-year jail term for Lawan over $3million BREAKING: Supreme Court affirms five-year jail term for Lawan over $3million bribery saga ABUJA – The Supreme Court, on Friday, upheld the judgement that convicted and sentenced the former Chairman of the then House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy probe, Mr. Farouk Lawan, to five years in prison for  The apex court, in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel, dismissed as lacking in merit, an appeal the former lawmaker, who has been in prison custody since 2021, filed to challenge his conviction. Lawan had among other things, contended that he was not allowed to make a plea of allocutus (plea for leniency) by the trial court before it jailed him. However, in its lead judgement that was prepared by Justice Inyang Okoro but read on Friday by Justice Tijjani Abubakar, the Supreme Court said it was “crystal clear that failure of the trial court to call for allocution, did not vit...

  He claimed that his participation in the Edo governorship contest was aimed at preventing special interests from restoring businessmen to positions of authority. Shaibu made this commitment shortly after submitting his governorship nomination form to the Peoples Democratic Party’s National Secretariat in Abuja on Thursday, January 25. He said: “We started the journey of rescuing Edo State in 2006, and we were conscious of what we wanted to achieve. This election is another challenge; they want to take the state from Edo people and return it to businessmen, and we are saying no! Because Edo state cannot return to Egypt. “Edo State will continually move forward, and the only way it can move forward is if power resides with the people. PDP says power to the people, not power to business friends or business colleagues. I will tell the leadership of PDP that some of us have been harassed. I have received a lot of intimidation, but unfortunately for me, it is like a cross that God has ...

 Gasper Babatunde Reporting ......... The Nigerian military has identified several factors contributing to the recent crisis in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State. The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba stated that herder militia, cattle rustling, and a combination of other factors were responsible for the crisis that engulfed the town. He said this on Thursday, January 25, while addressing a news conference in Abuja on the activities of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. However, he said that to control the situation, Special Forces had been sent to state hotspots General Buba said: “The situation was triggered by a number of factors including the attempted cattle rustling and the killing of a Mangu man by herder militia.” He claimed that on January 22, 2024, it was reported that a guy on a motorbike down the road collided with a herd of cattle crossing the road. He said: “The herders reportedly killed the man on the spot. Consequently, militia...

 Gasper Babatunde Reporting; TUC’s Deputy President, Mr. Tommy Okon, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos that the failure to inaugurate the committee, three months to the expiration of the current minimum wage, was worrisome. He said organised labour would not want to be put under pressure on the wage increase because it had to be done in line with the rule of engagement. The labour leader said organised labour had since submitted the list of members that would be part of the committee for the minimum wage negotiations. “The intention of the government is not known to us. This is because by now, the committee should have been inaugurated We do not want a situation where the work of the committee is done under desperation. This is January, and the N30,000 national minimum wage will expire on April 18 this year (2024). “So, it is expected that by now, the committee would have been inaugurated and a chairman of the committee appointed. This is because it is tripar...

 Gasper Babatunde Reporting ;Minister of State for Labour and Employment,   Nkeiruka Onyejeocha , who dropped the hint yesterday in Abuja, said: “I am sure before the month runs out, the panel will be in place.” The minister spoke through a text message. The national minimum wage committee, when inaugurated by the government, will oversee the modalities across the board. The minimum wage was reviewed from N18, 000 to N30, 000 on April 18, 2019 and signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari. But following the removal of subsidy payment on petroleum products, the two Labour centres – Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) – have been advocating for a wage increase. One of the demands of Labour was an upward review of the national wage to N200, 000. source told this reporter that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu demanded for the list during the last Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting. The minister confirmed that the list will soon be submitted ...

 Gasper Babatunde Reporting ........... As Nigeria prepares for negotiations for a new national minimum wage, Organised Labour and other critical stakeholders have tasked the Federal Government to ensure a hitch-free negotiation process that would result in a timely agreement and implementation of the new wage. They noted that considering the socio-economic crises bedeviling the country, especially with the removal of fuel subsidy, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should keep to his promise of alleviating the sufferings of Nigerians by ensuring that the implementation of a new national minimum wage is achieved within the specified time frame. Kukuruku News has it that  Tinubu had in his New Year live broadcast, promised to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians and vowed to implement the new minimum wage, which is due in April this year   As Nigeria prepares for negotiations for a new national minimum wage, Organised Labour and other critical stakeholders have tasked the Federa...

 Gasper Babatunde Reporting....... Ahead of the new minimum wage negotiations, organised labour plans to demand wages based on the cost of living and other socio-economic indices across the country. This came as the Federal Government has promised to clear arrears of the N35,000 wage award owed its workers.  Labour has been working round the clock to ensure that its wage demand can hardly be faulted by both government and private sector employers. According to sources, organised labour’s demand will be guided and determined by the cost of living and other socioeconomic parameters across the country. Consequently, to ensure that labour’s demand is data-based, instead of sentiments, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has directed its state councils nationwide to collate the cost of living data in towns and local government areas in states. To source such data, NLC has designed a data collection form for local governments and towns. In a circular dated January 17, 2024, to the state c...

 Gasper Babatunde Reporting...... The Federal Government has told Nigerian workers that it will clear the arrears of the N35,000 wage award just as it also said the government had resumed the payment of the wage award. The government also reiterated its commitment to addressing issues in the National Minimum Wage agreement reached with the Organised Labour in 2023. Kukuruku News reports, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, disclosed the government’s commitment towards implementing agreements with trade unions during separate meetings with the leaderships of the Trade Union Congress and Congress of University Academics, on Wednesday in Abuja. Onyejeocha underscored the significance of her interactions with key trade unions, emphasising the intention to uphold open lines of communication, strengthen labour relations to mitigate the likelihood of future strikes, and actively contribute to cultivating a harmonious and friendly work environment for all employees....

 Gasper Babatunde Reporting ...... The Federal Workers Forum (FWF) asked the federal government under President Bola Tinubu to pay all the outstanding wage award arrears to federal workers within the next 14 days, as suffering of Nigerians especially that of workers is becoming u The forum stated this in a communiqué issued at the end of an online meeting to evaluate the existential conditions of the federal workers in Nigeria made available to journalists. In the communiqué signed by the forum’s national coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze, FWF said federal workers are now suffering in silence, noting it “has been a tale of harrowing experiences from the federal government workers in Nigeria.” According to the forum, “Life has been made meaningless and hellish since the removal of subsidy on petrol. The daily rising cost of living has made everything worthless resulting in monumental hardship being visited on the workers.“After intense and critical discussions concerning the livi...