Good Morning. Here’s a recap of top trending news stories this morning.
1. The Federal government, through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, has launched the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates portal to provide housing access to Nigerians, both at home and abroad.
This state-of-the-art web portal, the Renewed Hope platform, aims to enhance the delivery of the current administration’s Renewed Hope Estates and Cities Initiative.
2. The Federal Government has approved a $750 million World Bank grant designated for the establishment of 1,200 mini-grids in rural areas throughout Nigeria. Revealing this development on Tuesday during the Alliance for Rural Electrification Energy Access Forum in Lagos, Abba Aliyu, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency, shared that President Bola Tinubu endorsed the funding for the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up project.
This initiative is geared towards extending energy access to Nigerian rural populations.
3. The Nigerian Army has officially announced the closure of Banex Plaza in Abuja, for an extensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack on soldiers in uniform.
According to army spokesperson Onyema Nwachukwu, the plaza, known for selling phones and electronics, was shut down following an agreement with the plaza’s management.
4. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the benchmark interest rate by 150 basis points, from 24.75% to 26.25%, to address rising food inflation. This monetary policy rate (MPR) is the interest rate the CBN charges banks, who then lend to customers at higher rates. The increase was announced after a two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
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5. The Nasarawa State Government has started cultivating 10,000 hectares of land to enhance food security in the country. Governor Abdullahi Sule, who inspected the progress at the Jangwa site in Awe Local Government Area, assured that the administration does not intend to take farmlands from local farmers; instead, they will benefit from the project.
6. The tripartite minimum wage negotiation meeting between Organized Labour, the federal and state governments, and the Organized Private Sector (OPS) ended in deadlock. Labour rejected the government’s N54,000 offer and criticized the absence of state governors, whose representatives lacked mandates. The meeting is scheduled to reconvene today at 4 pm.
7. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, has urged lawmakers to extend the gas concession granted to electricity companies to cement manufacturers to address rising cement prices. Represented by Permanent Secretary Ambassador Nura Rimi, she made this appeal during a House of Representatives Joint Committee hearing investigating the price increase.
8. Operatives of the Benue State Police Command have uncovered an internet fraud, or ‘yahoo yahoo,’ training center in Makurdi, the state capital.
The special operation, targeted at cracking down on criminal gangs in the state, also resulted in the arrest of 31 suspected members of various criminal gangs operating in the area.
9. Seven individuals, many of whom were reportedly students of Niger Delta University, Yenagoa, were found dead in a music studio on Tuesday morning, believed to have inhaled generator fumes.
Reports indicate that the music studio, located on Transformer Road in the Amarata area of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, was operated by one of the deceased, identified as Akpos Barakubo.
10. Suspected bandits have allegedly killed more than 40 individuals in an attack on Zurak village in Bashar District of Wase Local Government Area, Plateau State. The assailants raided the community as residents were preparing to conclude their daily routines.