Author: Ogochukwu Ndubuisi

Putin to Hold Annual Press Conference Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to hold his traditional annual press conference in Moscow on Friday, answering questions from national and foreign journalists on a range of topics over several hours. This year, the media spectacle will again be combined with the TV show “Direct Line,” in which Russian citizens can lament their problems, ask the head of the Kremlin for solutions, and quiz him on other issues. Russian state television reported that more than 2 million questions had been received in advance. Putin has been preparing for the event since Wednesday,…

Tinubu Convenes APC Caucus Ahead of NEC Meeting President Bola Tinubu on Thursday night convened a meeting of the National Caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the State House, Abuja, ahead of the NEC meeting on Friday The strategic meeting was attended by key party leaders, including Vice President Kashim Shettima, former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and Senate President Godswill Akpabio. Other attendees included serving and former governors, National Assembly leaders and senior party stakeholders from across the geopolitical zones. The president used the occasion to charge governors on grassroots development and ensuring the full implementation of financial autonomy…

EU Agrees to Provide Ukraine With €90bn  The European Union (EU) has agreed to provide Ukraine with €90 billion ($105.5 billion) for the years 2026 and 2027, European Council President Antonio Costa has said. “We have a deal,” Costa said in a post on social media platform X in the early hours of Friday. “Decision to provide 90 billion euros of support to Ukraine for 2026-27 approved. We committed, we delivered.” EU leaders gathered in Brussels reached a compromise after plans to use billions of euros in frozen Russian state assets to cover Ukraine’s financing needs of the coming years…

PenCom Unveils PenCare Pilot for Low- Income Retirees in March Says DG The National Pension Commission (PenCom) will commence the pilot phase of the Pension Industry Healthcare Initiative (PenCare) in March 2026, targeting no fewer than 30,000 low-income retirees across the country. The initiative covers retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), Director-General of PenCom, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this at the 2025 PenCom Media Conference held in Lagos on Thursday. The conference has the theme: “Pension Revolution Summit: A 365 Days Scorecard.” According to her, the initiative is designed to ease the healthcare burden of low income retirees, and…

Nestlé, Guinness, Others Lift Stock Market by N331bn The stock market closed bullish on Thursday, leading to N331 billion gains for investors. This marked the fourth consecutive positive rally in the week. The positive performance was driven by sustained investor’s interest in stocks like Nestlé Nigeria, Guinness Nigeria, Aluminium Extrusion Industries, Daar Communications, Mucure and 30 others. Specifically, the market capitalisation, which opened at N95.525 trillion, added 331 billion or 0.35 per cent to close at N95.856 trillion. The All-Share Index also gained by 0.35 per cent or 520.23 points, to settle at 150,363.05 against 149,842.82 recorded on Wednesday. As…

23 Ships Laden With Petroleum Products, Food Items Expected at Lagos Ports No fewer than 23 ships laden with petroleum products, food items and other goods are expected to arrive Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports in Lagos from Dec. 18 to Dec. 26. The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stated this in its publication,`Shipping Position’, a copy of which was made available to the News men on Thursday in Lagos. NPA explained that the expected ships contained buck wheat, bulk fertiliser, general cargo, bulk soya beans, fresh fish, containers, diesel and petrol. The document noted that four ships had arrived the…

Trump Vows Economic Boom, Blames Biden in Address to Nation U.S. President Donald Trump promised Americans an economic boom in an address to the nation on the night of Dec. 17, while blaming Democratic predecessor Joe Biden for high prices that have hit the Republican’s popularity. “Good evening, America. Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” the 79-year-old said in his live speech from the White House at the end of his first year back in power. Trump faces growing voter anger over the issue of affordability despite his efforts to dismiss it as a “hoax”…

Naira Falls as FX Intervention Fails to Ease Market Pressure The Nigerian naira fell at the Nigerian foreign exchange market, crossing an intraday high of N1462, suggesting mounting pressures from increased demand for US dollar payments. At the official window, the Central Bank reported that the naira fell by 0.16% to ₦1,457.84 per dollar, from N1455.49 the previous day. The Apex Bank supply, exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows remained insufficient to redirect the exchange rate. The official rate touched an intraday high of N1462.9000 per dollar, the highest quote in December, suggesting pressure has refused to abate.…

UK Prepared to Share Risk of Using Frozen Russian Assets for Ukraine Britain is prepared to share with European allies the risks of using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s 10 Downing Street office has indicated. It comes after Belgium on Thursday said it would only back a loan for Ukraine if it receives firm assurances that it will be shielded from any Russian retaliation. At a crunch summit in Brussels, European leaders are mulling whether to use immobilised Russian money to underwrite a loan to fund Ukraine’s military and economic needs. Most of the…

Nigeria Customs to Penalise Banks over Delayed Revenue Remittance The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will begin enforcing penalties against banks that default on remitting customs revenue. NCS`s Comptroller-General (C-G), Bashir Adeniyi, gave the warning in a statement by the spokesperson of the service, Abdullahi Maiwada, on Wednesday in Abuja. Maiwada said the move was in line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) executed between the NCS and designated banks. He said the service had observed cases of delayed remittances by some designated banks after reconciling collections processed through B’odogwu, its digital platform. Such delays, he…