Author: Editor

The process of lawmaking generally requires a long period of deliberation and consideration of many interests and implications of a bill. A bill passes through four stages in the parliament, which include three readings before it is passed into law. The first stage is the Presentation and first reading: At this stage, the bill is introduced and the Clerk of the House or Senate reads the short title and gives a brief statement and background on the bill. The Rules and Business Committee then sets a date for its Second Reading. The second reading is the stage where the…

Railway debt servicing cost exceeded revenue by 1,208.5 per cent in the first half of 2023, an analysis of debt service documents has shown. In the first half of 2023, the government spent $38.59m (N29.98bn at N777/$) on servicing debt for loans obtained to build the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu Kaduna Section) and Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project( Lagos – Ibadan Section). At that time frame, the total railway revenue was N2.29bn according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. In the first quarter of 2023, a total of 441,725 passengers travelled via the rail system, a 53.65…

Capone’s Reputation After an attempt on his life in 1925 by rival mobsters, Torrio decided to leave the business and return to Italy, turning over the entire operation to Capone. Scarface again ignored his mentor’s advice to maintain a low profile and instead, moved his headquarters to a plush suite in the Metropole Hotel in downtown Chicago. From there, he began living a luxurious and public lifestyle, spending money lavishly, although always in cash to avoid a trail. Newspapers of the time estimated Capone’s operations generated $100 million in revenue annually. The press followed Capone’s every move avidly, and…

Police in Australia are trying to trace a charmless chipboard cabinet sent from Canada to Sydney after nearly $50 million worth of meth was found inside a hidden compartment. A multi-agency task force in Australia has issued a public appeal for information from anyone who recognizes the cabinet that was sent by sea cargo from Canada and arrived in Sydney on May 9. Cheaply made of chipboard, also known as particle board, with a white veneer over its two top drawers and two bottom cupboards, the cabinet’s ordinariness might have made it suspicious — who pays to have such…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked four of its directors to proceed on retirement in accordance with a circular on the eight-year tenure policy for directors in the public service. The commission’s National Commissioner and Chairman for Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, announced this in a statement yesterday in Abuja. Although he did not give the names of the affected directors, the INEC spokesman said while two of them served as heads of department at the commission headquarters in Abuja, the other two served as Administrative Secretaries in the states. Olumekun said those in the…

Akeredolu: Aiyedatiwa Declares Three Days Of Mourning Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the governor of Ondo, has declared a three-day mourning in the state over the death of Rotimi Akeredolu, his immediate predecessor. Akeredolu died on Wednesday morning at the age of 67. According to the Ondo government, the former governor died of “complications from protracted prostate cancer”. Shortly after he was sworn in as governor, Aiyedatiwa described the death of Akeredolu as a “monumental loss” to the people of Ondo state. He declared December 28 to 30 as mourning days for the passing of his principal. The governor also announced the appointment…

Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman and the vice chairman of the Forum, Governor ‘Seyi Makinde, on Wednesday, paid a condolence visit to the Ibadan home of the late Ondo State governor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu. Speaking shortly after signing a condolence register at the Idi Isin, Ibadan home of the deceased governor, Abdulrahman said the visit was made on behalf of the governors in the country. He described Akeredolu’s death as a sad affair and prayed for his soul to rest in peace, saying: “We paid a condolence visit to…

Former spokesperson for the defunct new Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has said that the dreams of Nyesom Wike becoming the jagaban of Rivers State is over. He said that Wike, who is the immediate past Governor of the State, is no longer relevant as far as the politics of Rivers State and Nigeria at large is concerned. He claimed that most of Wike’s antecedents were now well known to all and sundry, adding that whoever that decides to work with him does so at their own peril. He informed the former Governor that Rivers can never…

Victor Lustig was a notorious con artist who lived a life of deception and luxury. Known as the “Man who sold the Eiffel Tower,” Lustig duped wealthy individuals and even governments into believing his elaborate schemes. He travelled the world, charming his victims with his confidence and charisma, and leaving a trail of deceit in his wake. What drove such an obviously brilliant man to the life of a con artist? Why did he set out to scam the world, and how did he succeed? Who was Victor Lustig? Lustig was born on January 4, 1890, in Hostinne, Austria-Hungary.…

…fault Fubara, insist proclamation is death sentence PORT HARCOURT: Rivers State Elders and Leaders Forum has stated that the 8-points proclamations of President Ahmed Tinubu to resolve the lingering political crisis in Rivers State are not implementable. The elders, however, faulted the Presidential Peace Proclamation, asserting that the directives are against the Nigerian Constitution and the Rule of Law. The elders, in two separate letters to President Tinubu and the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, raised several concerns about the 8-points directives, explaining that the president does not have powers to give directives to a democratically elected Governor or…