Former Imo State governor, Emeka Ihedioha, has yesterday disclosed that the mass exodus that has hit the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Imo state that followed his resignation from the party is a vote of confidence in his leadership Ihedioha, stated this during an interview session on AriseTV, saying that he left the PDP because of his large followership’s desire to lead a change and rebuild Imo to its position it deserve. 

Sequel to an invitation to serve as Keynote Speaker at the University of Massachusetts-Boston’s 6th Africa Day, co-organized by UMASS-Boston, West Africa Research Association (WARA) and West Africa Research Centre (WARC) of Boston University, the ECOWAS Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Ambassador Kinza Jawara-Njai delivered the Keynote address of the 2024 Academic Conference of UMASS Boston’s John W. McCormark Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at its Campus in Boston on Friday, 19th April 2024.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has approved an increase of between 25% and 35% in salary Increase for Civil Servants on the remaining six Consolidated Salary Structures. The Head of Press, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Emmanuel Njoku, who made the announcement in a statement noted that the increase takes effect from 1st January 2024.

The National Agency for the Control of AIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and other development partners are set to optimise innovative HIV prevention and strategies for increased domestic funding towards community ownership and sustainability of HIV. The event which will be held between 7 and 9 May in Abuja, was contained in a statement issued on Friday and signed by the agency's public relations officer, Toyin Aderibige. The conference tagged "Accelerating HIV Prevention to End AIDS through Innovations and Community Engagement," aims at opening dialogue on optimistic innovative HIV prevention approaches towards achieving HIV epidemic control. It will also showcase a diverse array of sessions including dedicated tracks on youth empowerment, community engagement sessions, leadership discussions, plenary sessions, sponsored sessions, and special sessions.

The federal government has instructed all chief medical directors and medical directors of federal tertiary hospitals to procure needles and syringes solely from NAFDAC-approved local manufacturers. The new directive was stated in a circular addressed to all medical directors signed by the Minister of State for Health, Tunji Alausa, on Friday.

Yobe State government said 85 persons have died from Cerebrospinal Meningitis in the state while 2,510 have recovered from the disease between January 2023 to April 2024. The Commissioner for Health in the State, Dr Lawan Gana while addressing journalists in Damaturu also refuted the purported social media report on the alleged deaths of 200 persons in Potiskum and Nangere local government areas of the state.

A federal high court sitting in Kano has granted an interim order restraining the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Kano Electricity Distribution Company, KEDCO, from implementing a the tariff hike in electricity for Band A customers in the state. According to the court KEDCO should suspend the implementation of tariff it increased from N76.54/Kwh to N225/Kwh arbitrarily until further directive. 

The federal government has announced the addition of 625 MW of power to the national grid, increasing the grid’s wheeling capacity to 4800 MW. Bolaji Tunji, special adviser on strategic communications to the Minister of Power, said this in a statement in Abuja on Friday. Mr Bolaji quoted the minister, Adebayo Adelabu, as saying this at the inauguration of the 63 Mega Volt Ampere (MVA), 132/33 Kilo Volt (KV) mobile station at Ajah, Lagos, and the inauguration of the 60MWA, 132/33KV power transformer in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi.

The Federal Government has reviewed upward the Maximum Deposit Insurance Coverage for banks operating within the country. In a recent briefing with journalists, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation Managing Director, Bello Hassan disclosed the new coverage benchmarks.

Meta has now surpassed three (3) billion daily active users across its apps, showing a 7% increase year-over-year. The biggest surge was seen in Instagram's "Threads", which has now reached over 150 million monthly active users, up from 130 million in February.

Microsoft Corp. and The Coca-Cola Company on Tuesday announced a five-year strategic partnership to align Coca-Cola’s core technology strategy systemwide; enable the adoption of leading-edge technology; and foster innovation and productivity globally.

Meta has expanded its AI service, Meta AI, to 12 countries that include Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and others. Meta is the company managing Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Meta Llama 3, Meta AI is smarter, faster and more fun. With Meta Llama 3 technology at its core, Meta AI empowers users to accomplish tasks, acquire knowledge, foster creativity, and forge connections with ease. 

 Brentford, an English Premier League club, has signed Nigerian U20 defender Benjamin Fredrick to a four-year contract. Fredrick is a product of Simoiben Football Club, Moses Simon’s academy, in Kaduna State. 

The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, has signed up the former Super Eagles winger, Finidi George as the Head Coach of the senior national football team, Super Eagles.

British media has revealed that Liverpool football club has finalised an agreement with Feyenoord yesterday that Arne Slot shall succeed Jurgen Klopp as manager. According to the Press Association a severance package has been prepared for the 45-year-old, who by his contract had two more years left but has now accepted the deal. The BBC disclosed that the deal is worth up to £9.4 million (10.9 million euros). Slot had said Thursday that he was “confident” of landing the Anfield job. 

Nigerian singer Iyanya has slammed a fan on a social media after the fan downplayed his musical achievements in the industry while explaining the reason Wizkid is “hated” in the music industry. A social media user with the X handle @itzbasito took to his page and said: “Wizkid’s only crime is surpassing the benchmark set for him and becoming the benchmark himself” to which another user @Xperience_Snr reposted, saying expectations for Wizkid is for him to end up like Iyanya and Samklef. 

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has stated that media freedoms, freedom of expression and access to public information are crucial to democracy.

In defiance to a court order, MultiChoice Nigeria Limited has increased the subscription rates for its DStv and GOtv bouquets, ignoring an interim order from the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal (CCPT) in Abuja. On Monday, the CCPT issued a clear injunction restraining MultiChoice Nigeria from adjusting its subscription prices, which were set to rise on May 1.

Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, announced on Monday that he will not be resigning amidst a corruption investigation into his wife's affairs, Begoña Gomez. In a TV address from his official compound in Madrid, the PM stated that he would continue as the head of the Spanish government with more force, if possible. This announcement came days after he canceled his public duties to "reflect" on whether to continue in his job, following a Spanish court opening a probe against his wife.

The death toll from heavy floods and landslides in Tanzania has risen to 155 persons. The prime minister Kassim Majaliwa cautioned that the rains might continue into May, and urged families to vacate flood-prone areas. He added that the El Nino climate pattern has worsened ongoing rainy seasons and about 200,000 people and over 51,000 households were already affected by the disaster. El Nino is a Natural occurring climate pattern typically associated with increased heat worldwide, as well as drought and heavy rains. The devastating effects of the downpour were "primarily due to environmental degradation", Majaliwa said. He also blamed deforestation, unsustainable farming practices such as "slash and burn" agriculture, and unregulated livestock grazing.

On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates experienced strong thunderstorms that resulted in the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in the country in just a few hours. As a result, some parts of the country's main highways and Dubai's international airport were flooded. According to the state-run news agency WAM, this unprecedented weather event surpassed any other documented since data collection began in 1949, before the discovery of crude oil when the region was still part of the Trucial States, a British protectorate.