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Tanko Counters SDP’s Adebayo, Says Obi Remains In Labour Party 

By in News, Nigeria News

Peter Obi, the party’s interim national coordinator, Yunusa Tanko, joined the organization on Monday until further developments.

The former governor of Anambra State has not formally joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP), according to Tanko, a campaigner for the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate for 2023.

His Excellency, Peter Obi, is a Labour Party member, as far as I am aware. On Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Tanko said, “It will stay that way until there is any other thing that might arise.”

Adewole Adebayo, the party’s 2023 flag bearer, claimed Obi and former vice president Atiku Abubakar had started discussions to join SDP, and the LP chieftain responded.

Olu Agunloye also claimed Obi’s supporters were lobbying his party ahead of the upcoming election, according to Olu Agunloye, SDP’s national secretary.

In line with the Supreme Court’s decision to fire Julius Abure as LP national chairman, Tanko added that the Labour Party leaders would make some statements clear to Nigerians in the upcoming days.

According to him, “As I speak to you right now, there will be a meeting by the party leaders to make fundamental points clear to everyone, and in accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision, which will of course put the entire situation to rest,” he said.

L-R: COMBO PHOTO OF Nasir El-Rufai, Atiku Abubakar, and Adewole Adebayo, Peter Obi, and Atiku Abubakar

Read more about Atiku, Obi, and other candidates’ plans to join SDP, according to former presidential candidate.

Talks about an inter-party alliance reached their height on Thursday, March 20, 2025, when opposition arrowhead Atiku, Obi, and former governor of Kaduna, announced a coalition to ouster All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Tinubu, whose administration has been accused of managing the economy with unprecedented inflation and unprecedented living costs.

The coalition relies on Atiku and Obi’s recent polls to prove their party’s numerical viability. With combined votes of over 12 million, Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Obi of the Labour Party (LOC) came in second and third, respectively, more than four million more than Tinubu’s total votes, who was chosen by INEC to be the winner.

FG To Deliver 75,000 Electricity Meters In April, 200,000 Units In May — Adelabu

By in News, Nigeria News

The first batch of over 3.2 million electricity meters purchased by the federal government will be delivered to address the nation’s over 7 million metering gap. &nbsp, &nbsp,

Bolaji Tunji, the minister’s Special Adviser on Strategic Communications and Media Relations, stated in a statement on Sunday that the minister’s minister, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, anticipated delivery of 75, 000 meters under the International Competitive Bid 1 by April 2025.

In May 2025, there will be a second batch of 200 000 meters.

The Federal Government of Nigeria’s continued efforts, financial commitment, and structured implementation plans to close the metering gap are the facts, according to Tunji.

Metering installations have continued to advance steadily despite claims of stagnation. 5, 502, 460 customers were metered as of December 2024, or 55% of the 10, 114, 060 active electricity customers in Nigeria.

” In 2024 alone, 572, 050 meters were installed. The government is actively working to close the current metering gap as quickly as possible, despite acknowledging it. According to Adelabu, “the fact is that a sizable portion of active electricity users already have meters,” refuting the exaggerated portrayal of an industry in crisis.

Although installation rates have fluctuated over time, the sector has still managed to install about 668, 000 meters on average each year, according to the statement.

The minister added that centralized financing and government-backed initiatives are anticipated to expedite deployment beyond the current rate, ensuring that the metering gap is effectively addressed.

The government has taken significant steps to significantly improve metering across the nation to close this bind. By 2026, the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP) will have delivered 3,205, 101 meters.

“This will be accomplished through various procurement models,” according to 1 437, 501 meters through International Competitive Bid 1, 217, 600 meters through National Competitive Bid (NCB), and 1, 550, 000 meters through International Competitive Bid 2 (ICB2).

The first batch of 75, 000 meters under ICB1 is anticipated to arrive in April 2025, followed by the second batch of 200, 000 meters in May 2025.

The N700 billion Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI) is another significant step toward accelerating metering, in addition to the DISREP. The Minister continued, “The initiative is structured to ensure large-scale meter procurement and deployment,” adding that it has already secured N700 billion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

Read more about NNPCL’s plans to ship first-class cargo on a Delta tanker to Europe.

According to him, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has been set up to oversee the initiative’s implementation. The government wants to deploy two million meters every five years, with the first batch of two million meters scheduled to be available by the third quarter of 2025.

According to the minister, these well-planned interventions provide a clear strategy for closing the metering gap.

Further, the statement goes on to say that while the metering gap is still a problem, the idea that it will take more than ten years to fix is misleading.

Hong Kong stock market plunges most since ’97 crisis amid tariffs panic

By in News, World News

Hong Kong’s stock market has suffered its steepest single-day decline in nearly three decades amid a wave of panic selling brought on by United States President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.

The financial hub’s benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 13.22 percent on Monday, after plunging as much as 13.74 percent during the day.

It was the sharpest plunge for Hong Kong stocks since the index tumbled 13.7 percent in a single day during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

On the worst day for Hong Kong stocks during the 2007-09 global financial crisis, the index fell 12.7 percent.

The rout came after Trump doubled down on his sweeping tariffs overnight, likening the measures to “medicine”, and following China’s announcement last week that it would retaliate with a 34 percent tariff on US imports.

“Friday was a public holiday in Hong Kong, so what we are seeing is the reaction to Trump’s tariffs and China’s retaliation. So it’s a double whammy,” Carlos Casanova, a senior economist with UBP in Hong Kong, told Al Jazeera.

“To put this into context, previous retaliatory measures targeted less than 1 percent of China’s total imports. The magnitude of the last measures is unprecedented,” Casanova said.

“We’re in uncharted territory.”

Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis, said the dip in Hong Kong offered a more accurate gauge of the market’s expectations for how the tariffs will affect China’s economy than the stock markets on the Chinese mainland.

“The point is, you cannot trade freely in China. You cannot short Chinese stocks. You can do all of that in Hong Kong. So it’s obviously reflecting what is going on much better than Chinese stocks,” Garcia-Herrero told Al Jazeera.

Hong Kong stocks were by far the worst performers on a dismal day overall for Asia’s markets, with equities in mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and Singapore all suffering steep declines.

Global stock markets have shed trillions of dollars in value since Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on almost all countries on Wednesday.

US customs authorities began imposing a baseline tariff of 10 percent on imports on Sunday, with steeper duties of between 11 percent and 50 percent set to go into effect on Wednesday.

US stocks have shed more than $6 trillion in value since Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement.

Further steep losses are expected when Wall Street reopens on Monday, with futures tied to the benchmark S&P500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 – which are traded outside usual market hours – down 2.7 percent and 3.55 percent, respectively.

Runners compete as Pyongyang Marathon returns from COVID pause

By in News, World News

North Korea has held the first Pyongyang International Marathon in six years, with hundreds of runners taking to the streets of the capital.

Numerous foreign athletes had arrived in the city ahead of the race, held on Sunday as part of celebrations of the birth of the country’s founding leader, Kim Il Sung, in 1912.

Photos showed foreign runners crossing the starting line at Kim Il Sung Stadium, some taking photos on their phones, as North Korean spectators cheered them on.

Another image showed North Korean and foreign runners competing on the streets of Pyongyang, with citizens lining the route.

The marathon is the largest international sporting event in the reclusive Asian country, and offers a rare opportunity for visitors to run through the streets of the tightly-controlled capital.

Images posted on the Instagram account of Simon Cockerell, the general manager of Koryo Tours which organises trips for foreign amateur runners to participate, showed crowds cheering as the athletes passed.

“A few pics of today’s Pyongyang Marathon in North Korea. Amazing event and a race like no other,” Cockerell wrote.

The last edition of the marathon was held in 2019. The following year, the nuclear-armed state sealed its borders in an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Pyongyang Marathon is an extremely unique experience as it provides an opportunity to interact with locals,” Koryo Tours said on its website. “An experience truly like no other.”

“North Korea is a complex and fascinating place that intrigues many people,” Cockerell told Australian broadcaster SBS.

“And while it is certainly not for everyone, it definitely appeals to those curious about the experience of visiting such a country and seeing what they can.”

The marathon is listed on the website of the global governing body World Athletics.

Approve Treatment Within One Hour, NHIA Directs HMOs

By in News, Nigeria News

Health Management Organizations (HMOs) are required by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to grant authorization for patients’ care within one hour of receiving requests from hospitals and other healthcare providers.

According to a statement from the NHIA’s Emmanuel Ononokpono, a spokesperson, the organization’s goals included ensuring that patients receive high-quality healthcare services as well as reducing delays in access to services.

He claimed that the treatment process is still hampered by the delays in obtaining codes and obtaining treatment.

A team of doctors performing surgery on a patient

He claimed that the changes to the authorization of care were first put into effect on April 1, 2025, despite having been approved at a stakeholders’ meeting in February 2025.

NAFDAC Tightens Pharmaceutical Imports from China and India

Among the authorisations are:

1. HMOs’ time for requesting authorization to care and issuing authorization codes shall not longer exceed one hour. To help enrollees receive service access delays, health care facilities (HCFs) must submit requests for authorization codes to HMOs right away.

2. Communication of a response that states “no authorization within the hour” where the HMO has valid arguments against not issuing the requested code.

3. keeping up all records regarding all requests and responses from providers and HMOs for treatment authorization.

4. The healthcare providers must proceed with the services provided to the enrollee and immediately notify NHIA if there are delays beyond the one-hour window. The NHIA will check the quality of the services provided.

5. Employers are required to notify the NHIA of any delays or obstacles to timely access to health services as a result of receiving authorization codes that exceed the one-hour limit.

6. Authorization codes must be obtained within 48 hours of receiving treatment in all emergencies, as required by the operational guidelines.