NLC rejects planned electricity tariff hike (Leadership)
The organised labour yesterday kicked against the plan by the federal government to increase electricity tariff describing it as callous and insensitive to the well-being of consumers, especially the poor Nigerians.
The plan to increase electricity tariff by 40 per cent is expected to start by July 1, 2023.
Although the federal government explained that the rationale for the increment was in response to the over 100 per cent increase in the pump price of premium motor spirit (pms) with details showing a movement in inflation from 16.9 per cent to 22.41 and a shift in exchange rate from N441 to N750. Read more
Outrage over proposed 114% RMAFC pay rise for Tinubu, others (Sun)
In spite of denial by the Presidency, outrage has continued to trail the reported 114 percent increase in the salaries of elected politicians, including the president, vice president, governors, lawmakers, as well as judicial and public office holders by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
Chairman, RMAFC, Alhaji Muhammadu Shehu, said having considered the impact of the review on the economy, the remuneration of the political, public and judicial office holders in the country was adjusted upward by 114 per cent.
He said with respect to allowances and fringe benefits, the commission recommended that the existing allowances be maintained at the current levels since that would translate to higher provisions in actual amounts when applied on the reviewed annual basic salary. Read more
We invited skitmaker, Trinity guy for allegedly sexualising minor — Police (Vanguard)
The Police Command in Oyo State says it has invited a content creator, Abdullahi Maruf, popularly called Trinity, for allegedly sexualising a minor in a viral skit video.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Adewale Osifeso, confirmed the invitation in a statement on Thursday in Ibadan.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Maruf had in a 38-second video asked a female minor to describe his genitals. Read more
INEC To Review Operations Of 2023 General Elections (DailyTrust)
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed dates to review the operations of the 2023 general elections.
The National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, Festus Okoye, said this in Abuja on Thursday.
According to him, the commission held its regular meeting on Thursday 22nd June 2023, and resolved to conduct a post-election review of the 2023 General Election in line with its practice over the years. Read more
Sanwo-Olu, LASG reward record-breaking LASU student, Yusuf with N10m (Guardian)
Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has rewarded the Lagos State University (LASU) record-breaking graduating Law student, Aminat Yusuf with a sum of N10 million.
Sanwo-Olu rewarded Yusuf who obtained a CGPA of 5.0 with the money on Thursday at the 26th convocation ceremony of the institution at the Ojo-Iyana Iba area of Lagos State.
The governor announced a personal donation of N5 million and another N5 million from the Lagos State government for Yusuf who broke a 40-year-old record at LASU. Read more
Lagos airlifts 3,655 Hajj pilgrims (Punch)
The Lagos State Government has successfully airlifted 3,655 pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the 2023 pilgrimage.
The 11th and last batch of intending pilgrims landed at the King AbdulAzeez International Airport, Madinah, Wednesday at exactly 7.45pm.
The Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Lagos State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Mr Taofeek Lawal, disclosed this in a statement.
Lawal said this batch brought the first leg of the Hajj operation to conclusion. Read more
APC bigwig, Baba Eto assures Igbo, non-indigenes in Lagos of political appointments (Vanguard)
A member of the Lagos State Governing Advisory Council (GAC) Cardinal James Odunmbaku has assured non-indigenes of President Bola Tinubu’s consideration of political appointments.
Odunmbaku, popularly known in Lagos as Baba Eto, gave the assurance at the Indomitable Tinubu Support Organisation (ITSO) Victory Appreciation Party in Ikeja, Lagos on Thursday.
Odunmbaku noted that the appointments would be based on merit and competence, regardless of tribe because Lagos state remained a metropolitan city. Read more
Ogo Okpue wins Best Director with A Song From The Dark at world’s largest black filmfest (Tribune)
It was another milestone for the Nigerian entertainment industry in Miami beach, Florida, United States when Ogo Okpue, a UK-based filmmaker from Nigeria was adjudged the Best Director in a tie with Bryan Keith Montgomery Jnr at the 2023 American Black Film Festival Award for his film, A Song From the Dark.
The American Black Film Festival, currently at its 27th annual edition is the biggest black film festival in the world, created to highlight audio-visual works of black origin.
A Song From The Dark which also won the Best Actor category at the American Black Film Festival had six nominations at the 2022 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) in Nigeria, while winning Okpue, the best director for first feature film. Read more
Priscilla Presley “excited” to see Sofia Coppola’s movie Priscilla (FilmNews)
Priscilla Presley stated she is “excited” to see Sofia Coppola’s new movie, “Priscilla”.
While speaking to TMZ, the former wife of Elvis Presley expressed her thoughts on the upcoming film which is based on her famous 1985 memoir, “Elvis and Me”.
“I am very excited to see the interpretation of my book by the masterful Sofia Coppola,” the actress told the outlet. “She has such an extraordinary perspective and I have always been such an admirer of her work. I’m certain this movie will take everyone on an emotional journey.” Read more
Tom Cruise says release of Mission: Impossible 7 “a beautiful moment” after COVID restrictions (Sky)
Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise has told Sky News the release of the seventh installment of the Mission: Impossible film series was “a beautiful moment” after difficulties with COVID restrictions.
Speaking at the film’s London premiere, Cruise said: “I don’t take anything for granted when making these films, especially with that time period, I’m just very proud of what we all did together.
The Sun newspaper published an audio recording in 2020 of Cruise screaming obscenities at crew members working on the film after apparent breaches of on-set social distancing. Read more
Accused Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira pleads not guilty to federal charges (NYPost)
Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guardsman accused of leaking top-secret Pentagon documents on social media, pleaded not guilty to six federal charges in a Massachusetts courtroom Wednesday.
The 21-year-old was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense secrets.
Teixeira has been held in federal custody since his arrest in April after being accused of sharing troves of classified documents to members of an invite-only Discord group – a social media platform typically used by gamers — before they were later shared more widely. Read more
Ukraine strikes Chonhar bridge to Crimea, says Russia (BBC)
Ukraine has attacked a bridge linking southern Ukraine to the Crimean peninsula with long-range British missiles, Russian officials say.
The two parallel Chonhar bridges were both damaged but no-one was hurt, said the Russian-installed governor in occupied Kherson Vladimir Saldo.
He said it was likely British Storm Shadow missiles were used in an attack “ordered by London”.
The bridge is the shortest route from Crimea to the front line in the south. Read more
“Rust” weapons supervisor charged with evidence tampering over alleged drug transfer (USAToday)
The weapons supervisor charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a cinematographer on the New Mexico set of the Alec Baldwin film “Rust” was charged Thursday with evidence tampering for allegedly passing drugs to someone else on the day of the shooting.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed “did transfer narcotics to another person with the intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of herself.” the special prosecutors appointed in the case said in a Santa Fe County court filing. They gave no further details.
Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney Jason Bowles called the move “retaliatory and vindictive.” Read more
Palestinian killed during settler rampage in Turmusayya town near Ramallah (NewArab)
A Palestinian man was killed on Wednesday in a village that came under attack by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Omar Qattin, 27, was shot dead as hundreds of Israeli settlers rampaged through the village of Turmusayya, just north of Ramallah. Thirteen other Palestinians were injured by live fire.
The large-scale settler attacks on Palestinian villages across the West Bank began on Tuesday afternoon, after the killing of four settlers in the illegal settlement of Eli in the occupied Palestinian territory. Read more
Vatican sends priest’s diary to Bolivia amid sex abuse scandal (AlJazeera)
A sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church has gripped Bolivia, prompting the Vatican to send a key piece of evidence back to the South American country.
On Thursday, the Society of Jesus of Bolivia acknowledged that it had received a copy of the diary belonging to the late Alfonso Pedrajas, a Jesuit priest accused of abusing dozens of minors. The diary was then turned over to prosecutors in the city of Cochabamba.
The contents of the diary were first brought to light in the Spanish newspaper El País in April, as part of its ongoing investigation into the Spanish Catholic Church. Read more
Obaseki commends Bendel Insurance FC for Federation Cup triumph (Guardian)
Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, yesterday, congratulated Bendel Insurance for winning the 2023 NFF/Tingo Federation Cup. Bendel Insurance defeated Enugu Rangers 1-0 in the final game of the Federation Cup played in Asaba, Delta State.
In a statement, Obaseki said: “I heartily congratulate Bendel Insurance Football Club for an impressive season run which culminated in the lifting of the Federation Cup trophy after defeating Rangers International Football Club in Asaba, Delta.
“The team, fondly called the Benin Arsenal, have given an excellent account of themselves and made us all proud with their outstanding performance, which has continued to befuddle bookmakers. Read more
Neymar faces possible $1m fine over Brazil property work (France24)
A “major construction” project at Brazilian football star Neymar’s mansion in Rio de Janeiro state was halted on Thursday for “environmental infractions,” which could result in a fine of some $1 million, authorities said.
The project was underway “without environmental authorization” on the Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil national team player’s luxury property in Mangaratiba, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Rio de Janeiro, the mayor’s office said in a statement.
The authorities, alerted by complaints posted on social media, discovered “various environmental infractions,” including the diversion of a waterway, and the unauthorized extraction of water from a river. Read more
Sir Alex Ferguson and Jurgen Klopp send Great Britain Special Olympics football team message (ITV)
Sir Alex Ferguson and Jurgen Klopp have sent a good luck message to the Great Britain football team competing in the Special Olympics.
The Special Olympics World Games is the pinnacle of competitive sport for those with intellectual disabilities and will see athletes from 190 countries compete in 26 disciplines over the next nine days.
More than 50,000 people gathered in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium for a spectacular evening of entertainment and celebration. Read more
Wembanyama era begins as San Antonio select French phenom first overall in NBA draft (StraitsTimes)
Victor Wembanyama was selected first overall by the San Antonio Spurs at the NBA Draft in New York on Thursday, making the player seen as a once-in-a-generation talent the highest-drafted French player in league history.
The 19-year-old “Wemby” comes into the league with a buzz that has not been seen since LeBron James, the league’s all-time leading scorer, was drafted out of high school 20 years ago.
Wembanyama cried with joy after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called his name at Barclays Center. Read more
International Boxing Association is stripped of its recognition by IOC (RTE)
The International Boxing Association’s (IBA) recognition as the global body for the sport has been stripped by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which ratified an executive board recommendation.
The IOC’s extraordinary session, held online on Thursday, rubber-stamped the recommendation by 69 votes to one to withdraw the IBA’s recognition over what the IOC said was failure to complete reforms on governance, finance and ethical issues.
The IBA had called the IOC board’s recommendation “truly abhorrent and purely political” and tried to have it blocked through an urgent appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, sports highest court, which rejected the appeal on Tuesday. Read more
US Senate summons key figures in PGA Tour’s Saudi deal as probe into golf saga continues (Express)
Golf’s three major tour bosses have been summoned to a United States Senate hearing next month, as the controversial merger agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf is put under scrutiny.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund (PIF) governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan have all been invited to appear at a Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations meeting on July 11, that will analyse the detail and reasoning behind the unexpected unification of the three tours.
The golfing world was left stunned two weeks ago when the PGA Tour released a statement announcing that it had reached a ‘framework agreement’ to create a new commercial entity with the DP World Tour and LIV Golf’s funder PIF. Read more