COVID-19: Fresh Hope As Nigeria Records Yet Another Low Daily Case

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has yesterday record another daily record of 574 cases of the dreaded coronavirus, the lowest for the second time since the beginning of the second wave, first was on Sunday, the previous day.

Image of Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige

The Federal Government and Organised Labour have slated December 7, 2020, to reconvene in a bid to continue their dialogue over the increase in fuel price as well as the proposed electricity tariff adjustment. This was made known by Senator Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment during a media briefing on Thursday at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.

Former VP Atiku Abubakar Reacts To Ban On Cryto, Calls For A Rethink

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has reacted to the recent Ban on cryptocurrency purchase and trading by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN which placed restrictions on chryptocurrency transactions in the country. Since the emergence of the CBN decision, which entails that any person or entity who is receiving cryptocurrency as payment in his bank account and withdraws it as cash cannot do that again, a lot of Nigerians have reacted to it on several social media platforms. Atiku while reacting to the development on his Twitter page on February 6, said “We Need To Open Up Our Economy, Not Close It.” “The number one challenge facing Nigeria is youth unemployment. In fact, it is not a challenge, it is an emergency. It affects our economy and is exacerbating insecurity in the nation.

NNPC Assures Nigerians Of Sufficient Petrol Supply During And Beyong Yuletide Season

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has allayed fears of possible petrol scarcity brought to bear by ongoing disagreement between the Federal Government and oil workers under the auspices of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), over the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Dr. Kennie Obateru, NNPC spokesman, in a statement, on Tuesday, in Abuja assured that the industrial action would not lead to non-availability of petroleum products at fuel stations and depots.

COVID-19: Nigeria Fails To Secure Limited Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccines

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declined to shortlist Nigeria for the limited Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines being expected to be delivered to African countries this month. This is because of the country’s failure to meet the standard requirement of being able to store the vaccines at the required -70 degrees Celsius. According to WHO only four countries out of 13 African countries (Nigeria inclusive) that expressed interest and submitted proposals will be receiving the limited 320,000 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. The four countries are – Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tunisia. The United Nations Agency, while urging the other countries not shortlisted for the vaccines to fine-tune their planning for covid-19 immunization campaigns, stressed that it cannot afford to waste a single dose of these vaccines.

Electricity Tariffs: FG Commences Free Meter Distribution In States

In line with the determination of President Buhari to fulfil his promise of metering all Nigerian consumers of electricity and end estimated billing, free distribution of electricity meters will commence today abreast with the inauguration of the scheme in Eko, Ikeja, Kano and Kaduna electricity distribution companies. A source in the presidency who spoke o condition of anonymity stated that this free distribution would be carried out under the banner of ‘National Mass Metering Programme”.

Bitcoin On The Verge Of Being Widely Accepted Mode Of Payment

Cryptocurrency is becoming a popular tender when transacting businesses after it first surfaced as open-source decentralized software in 2009. CEO of Tesla Inc and Billionaire Elon Musk during his debut on the invitation-only app Clubhouse disclosed on Monday that cryptocurrency especially the bitcoin is “on the verge” of being more widely accepted among investors as he expressed his support for the cryptocurrency in a chat on social media app Clubhouse that drew thousands of listeners.

COVID-19 Update: Nigeria Records 340 New Cases, Toll Now 51,304

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, on Friday night confirmed 340 new cases of Coronavirus in Nigeria. Data by NCDC revealed that the latest cases were confirmed in 19 states across the country. Kaduna has the highest number with 63, followed by the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, with 51 and Plateau State with 33. States that made up Friday’s figure include Plateau-38, Lagos-33, Delta-25, Gombe-21, Adamawa-21, Edo-20, Katsina-17, Akwa Ibom-11, Ekiti-10, Rivers-9, Ondo-5, Ebonyi-4, Cross River-3, Ogun-3, Sokoto-2, Imo-2 and Nasarawa-2.

Bitcoin Suffers Biggest 2-day Fall since March 2020

Bitcoin slid by 21% between Sunday and Monday to as low as $32,389 after hitting a record high above $41,000. The bearish movement has made the digital currency suffer its biggest two-day decline since March 2020 and this is beginning to raise concern among investors that the polarizing cryptocurrency boom may run out of steam.

The Nigerian Governors' Forum (NGF) has on Sunday disclosed that state governments would receive $2.5 million performance-based grants as an incentive for implementing tax relief programmes for businesses and individual taxpayers in a bid to ease the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was made known in a statement issued by Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, Head of Media and Public Affairs of the NGF Secretariat in Abuja following a virtual meeting between the forum and the World Bank, adding that the grant will be given to states that met required conditions for the tax relief.