ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: TUESDAY

24 Jan ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: TUESDAY

🌎Stories from the Villa
President Buhari on Monday officially inaugurated the Lekki Deep Sea Port located in Itoke village, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, and observed the offloading from a container ship at the Quay. The $1.5 billion, a Joint Venture between the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Nigerian Ports Authority, Lagos State Government, the Tolarams Group (the owner of the Lagos Free Zone), and China Harbour Engineering Company, will have aggregate impact of about $361 Billion on Nigeria’s economy in the next 45 years.
* Today, Tuesday, the President inaugurated the historic first Phase of the Blue Line of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit in Marina and the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History at Onikan roundabout.
* He will depart Lagos for Senegal on Tuesday to attend the 2nd edition of Dakar International Conference on Agriculture.
* VP Osinbajo, on Monday in Abuja, said Nigeria’s energy transition plan will include, among others things the introduction of electric cars and decommissioning of generators.

🌎The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced that it collected over N10 trillion in tax revenue in the year 2022, the highest tax collection ever recorded in its history.

🌎Crude oil prices were steady on Tuesday as concerns about a global economic slowdown and expected build in U.S. oil inventories were offset by hopes of a fuel demand recovery from top importer China. Brent crude was down 30 cents, or 0.3%, at $87.89 a barrel by 1010 GMT.

🌎The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), says the delay experienced by passengers along the Abuja-Kaduna train route on Monday was caused by the poor quality of diesel it received.

🌎The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has approved the operations of 94 companies as digital money lenders in Nigeria. Forty nine of the digital lenders were given full approval, while 45 got provisional approval.

🌎All travellers arriving Nigeria must now provide evidence of COVID vaccination, the director of port health services, Geoffrey Okatubo, said on Monday.

🌎Spotify, the online music streaming platform, says it plans to cut 600 jobs due to possible recession.

🌎Security Stories: At least 39 Catholic priests were killed by gunmen and 30 others abducted during 145 attacks in the year 2022, according to a new report by SBM Intelligence, a research organisation.
* The police have confirmed the abduction in Iwo, Osun State of Hamzat Ibrahim, Deere Ibrahim and a 38-year-old man in their farm in Ologun area of the town Friday evening.
* Police in Ebonyi State said on Monday that they have arrested at least 26 persons in connection with the crisis and killings that took place on 26 December at Ekoli-Edda Community in Afikpo South Local Government Area of the state.

🌎Russia-Ukraine War: Western allies continue to pressure Berlin to authorize the delivery of its modern Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine and Germany’s defense minister said there will be a decision soon on the tanks.
* Russia has warned that Ukraine will bear the consequences if other countries supply it with tanks. * Russia has sent tens of thousands of new troops to reinforce the front lines in Ukraine over the past few months, a senior US military official said Monday but the troops have made little difference in the conflict, the official said, arriving on the front lines “ill-equipped, ill-trained” and “rushed to the battlefield.”