Author: thepublisherngr

President-elect Joe Biden has chosen retired General Lloyd Austin, who oversaw U.S. forces in the Middle East under President Barack Obama, to be his defense secretary, two people familiar with the decision said on Monday. Austin, who would be the first Black U.S. secretary of defense, was a surprise pick over Michele Flournoy, a former top Defense Department official who was considered the leading contender for the job. Flournoy would have been the first woman defense secretary. The news was first reported by Politico. Austin, who retired in 2016, will need a waiver from Congress since it has been less…

Abeokuta: Members of Ogun State Chapter of Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), have rejected the appointment of Com. Abayomi Arabambi as the Chairman of the State Management Committee (SMC) of the council. This was made known during an emergency meeting of the council in Abeokuta on Monday. Adressing members of the council at the meeting, the chairman of the council, Asiwaju Abdulateef Adedamola asked members to either vote in support or against the SMC. In his reaction, the chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Aare Sola Coker who was listed as the Deputy State Chairman 2 rejected the…

Ogun State Government says special attention will be given to the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, even as it charges the new board to think outside the box for solution to the myriad of problems facing the tertiary health institution. “I expect you to be innovative and adaptive. In fact, you may have to make bricks without straws. You may have to think not just outside the box, but in fact without the box”, Governor Dapo Abiodun said while inauguration the new Board of the Teaching Hospital at his office in Oke Mosan, Abeokuta. He noted that the…

Croatian midfielder Luka Modric is set to begin discussions with Real Madrid over signing a new contract at the club. Modric joined the Spanish giants in 2012 from Tottenham Hotspur. After a tough opening year, the Croatian has become a superstar at the Bernabeu, peaking in 2018 when he won the Ballon d’Or. At 35 years of age, it was thought that the World Cup finalist was nearing the end of his time at Los Blancos, especially with the much younger options of Martin Odegaard and Federico Valverde breaking through. However, the midfielder is still very much in favour at Real Madrid, starting…

Provincial governments across China are placing orders for experimental, domestically made coronavirus vaccines, though health officials have yet to say how well they work or how they may reach the country’s 1.4 billion people. Developers are speeding up final testing, the Chinese foreign minister said during a UN meeting last week, as Britain approved emergency use of Pfizer’s vaccine candidate and providers scrambled to set up distribution. Even without final approval, more than 1 million health care workers and others in China who are deemed at high risk of infection have received experimental vaccines under emergency use permission. There has…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invited Mr Abdon Gin, former Head of Service in Bauchi state to its headquarters in Abuja. The Newsjaunts reports that the ex HoS who is also the Special Adviser on Civil Service and Labour Matters to Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state was arrested on Saturday by the officials of EFCC. The arrest was shortly after he had cast his vote in the just concluded Dass state constituency by-election. NAN also reports that Gin was arrested after an allegedly undisclosed amount of money was found in his car, a few metres away…

The Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA), in its commitment to ensure that residents at the grassroots have access to affordable, effective and quality healthcare, has partnered with First Bank of Nigeria Limited to utilise its over 13,000 Firstmonie Agents as payment channels for the Lagos State Health  Scheme (LSHS). The General Manager, Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA), Dr. Emmanuella Zamba, made the disclosure during the flag off of the partnership in Alausa, saying that the partnership became necessary to facilitate ease of health insurance premium transactions for residents, especially at the grassroots. She noted that FirstBank was selected…

Nigeria’s leading financial institution, Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, has won Agric Bank of the Year Award at this year’s edition of Nigeria Agriculture Awards (NAA) for the second consecutive year. The Bank had earlier won the award in 2019.The award, organised by Agro Nigeria, recognises Stanbic IBTC Bank’s commitment to the development of agribusiness in Nigeria and consistency in providing financial solutions to farmers and agricultural enterprises across the country. Since its existence in 2014, the prestigious NAA has continued to celebrate stakeholders who have excelled in their contributions to the growth of…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Femi Saheed of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of Saturday’s by-election for Kosofe constituency 2 of the Lagos State House of Assembly. Prof. Iyinola Oni, INEC Local Government Collation Officer for the by-election in Kosofe, declared the result at the collation centre in Agidi Comprehensive School, Agbonyi-Ketu at 5.35a.m. on Sunday. According to Oni of Department of of Geography, University of Lagos, the APC candidate polled 12,494 votes to beat his closest rival, Mr Sikiru Alebiosu of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who got 2,068 votes. He said that AA…

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, has warned generals against staging any coup. Buratai has vowed that the Nigerian Army will never tolerate any agent of destabilization bent on scuttling the current democratic dispensation. He said this on Friday, as the Army decorated 39 newly promoted Major Generals. “Democracy has come to stay. We will not tolerate any agent of destabilization. The years of military misadventure in politics have never carried us anywhere. It is over,” Buratai said. Buratai also warned against lobbying with politicians for appointments. “Do not hobnob with politicians. At this rank of…