ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: WEDNESDAY

30 Nov ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: WEDNESDAY

🌍Stories from the Villa:
President Buhari says the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is influencing the activities of insurgents in the Lake Chad region. He spoke on Tuesday at the 16th summit of the heads of state and government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, held in Abuja.
* He has written to the Senate for the legalisation and Institutionalisation of the Social Investment Programme in Nigeria (NSIP).
* VP Osinbajo has called on Nigerians to shun the disaster of corruption, embrace honesty and unite to build a great country. He spoke at the official launch of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) Integrity and Zero Tolerance Manual for school clubs, which held at the Model Secondary School Maitama, Abuja.

🌍Oil prices firmed in Asian trade on Wednesday on falling U.S. crude inventory figures from API, a lower dollar value and some optimism on the outlook for China’s demand and economy. A high likelihood that OPEC+ would leave output unchanged at its upcoming meeting limited gains. Brent crude futures firmed 70 cents or 0.84% to $83.73 per barrel by 0732 GMT
* The NNPC Ltd, on Tuesday put the national PMS stock holding at over 2 billion litres, equivalent to over 30 days of sufficiency and blamed the fuel queues in Lagos State and Abuja on some construction projects going on in the state.

🌍Bilateral trade between Nigeria and the United Kingdom now stands at 5.5 billion pounds.

🌍The average retail price paid by consumers in Nigeria for kerosene rose by 145.9 per cent in October compared to the same period of last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a report released on Tuesday.

🌍The CBN says non-oil exporters repatriated $4.98 billion into the country in the first nine months of the year.

🌍The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, yesterday exonerated the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning from alleged budget insertions.

🌍At a workshop for judges on legal issues in telecommunications on Tuesday in Lagos, the executive vice-chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Danbatta, has asked the judiciary to make contributions towards improving the communications sector.

🌍Owners of foreign-registered private jets, comprising top business moguls, leading commercial banks and other rich Nigerians, have dragged the Federal Government to court seeking to prevent the government from grounding their planes for allegedly refusing to pay import duty on the jets.

🌍Security Stories: The Nigerian military said it has concluded arrangement to prosecute over 886, radical fighters of the Boko Haram. Another 323, terrorists ex-combatants who willingly give up their arms to embrace peace are currently undergoing the Federal government program on De-Radicalization, Demobilization and Rehabilitation, (DDR), in Gombe State.
* Terrorists on Monday night attacked the family house of the Divisional Police Officer for Dutsi under Katsina State Police Command, killing his mother and younger brother.
* Suspected herders have, again, killed three persons in Agu-Amede, a farming community in Eha-Amufu, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria’s South-east
* The Labour Party women leader in Kaduna State Mrs. Victoria Chimtex killed by unknown gunmen who also shot her husband in the leg on Monday.

🌍Russia-Ukraine War: NATO allies have promised more arms for Kyiv and equipment to help restore Ukrainian power and heat knocked out by Russian strikes, as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow’s forces were attempting to advance in multiple regions.
* Ukrainians on Tuesday fled for bomb shelters after air-raid warning sirens, although the all-clear later sounded across the country. In the eastern Donetsk region Russian forces pounded Ukrainian targets with artillery, mortar and tank fire.
* The power deficit in Ukraine is at 30% on Tuesday, slightly up from Monday, according to the country’s state-run electricity company. A recent barrage of Russian strikes has devastated energy supplies in the country.
* Two weeks after Russian troops retreated from Kherson, residents of the southern city face acute power and water shortages with winter fast approaching.