Diamond Celebrities

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has been fined $3,500 for breaching COVID-19 rules by posing for a selfie without wearing a face mask. The picture of Pinera with a woman also with no mask on, had gone viral earlier in the month and caused a backlash. The Chilean president has, however, apologised and admitted that he […]

Nigeria may spend about $1.4bn (N540.4bn, at the official exchange rate of $1: N386) to procure and distribute 218,400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, Sunday Punch has learnt. The figure is based on estimates of the World Health Organisation as regards the total amount of funds that Africa would need to pursue a vaccination drive. According to […]

The United States Embassy in Nigeria has cautioned American citizens to reconsider travel to Nigeria due to COVID-19, crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and maritime crime. The U.S. government, however, warned its citizens to be careful during their stay and travel in the country because “crime is endemic throughout Nigeria.” The Holiday Security Alert tweeted […]

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose on Friday said Nigerians who voted for President Buhari brought the nation into hopelessness. Fayose spoke in reaction to the release of Kankara Government Science Secondary School students by Boko Haram. The former governor, after watching a video of the boys’ release, said he grieved with the victims […]

Despite criticisms from many Nigerians of the two-week ultimatum for the registration and linking of National Identity Number (NIN) to mobile numbers, the federal government has insisted on the deadline. The director-general of the National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC), Aliyu Abubakar, in an interview with Premium Times on Friday said there was no extension for […]

Following the resurgence of coronavirus around the world, the Lagos State government has issued fresh directives for residents to comply with. In a press statement by the governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, it said the state is recording an increase in COVID-19 cases in all local governments, and there is a need for fresh guidelines. Mr Sanwo-Olu, […]

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given telecommunications operators in the country two weeks to block all SIM cards that are not registered with the National Identity Numbers (NIN). Failure to do so will lead to your line being blocked or disconnected by the 31st of December 2020. However, to avoid going into a new […]

Nigerian Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, Thursday, said the Federal Government had done everything possible to please the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to end its protracted strike that had paralysed academic activities in universities for about 10 months. The minister, in a statement by his Media Officer, said only ASUU […]

Nigeria on Thursday night posted 1,145 COVID-19 cases, its highest daily record till date, according to data published by the NCDC. Two states, Lagos and Kaduna and the capital Abuja accounted for 64 percent of the monster cases. Lagos recorded 459 cases, its highest daily since February, when the pandemic touched Nigeria, with the arrival […]

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, says there were indications that the country had entered the second wave of infections. The chairperson of the PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha, who gave the indication, lamented the risk of not just losing the gains from the hard work of the last nine […]

Governor Aminu Masari Thursday night confirmed the release of the abducted students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara. The governor said the boys were at Tsafe, Zamfara State, and would be transported to Kankara on Friday. According to him, the release of the boys was facilitated by the leadership of MACABAN/Miyetti Allah. The governor’s Special […]

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has faulted the claim by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, that the man in Aso rock is not President Muhammadu Buhari but Jubril from Sudan. Adesina in his article titled: ‘Buhari at 78: If only we […]

The House of Representatives on Wednesday said it was forced to summon the National Communications Commission when strange persons were calling and messaging public office holders during the recent #EndSARS protests. The House stated that the identities of the owners of the telephone lines could not be ascertained as the Subscriber Identification Module cards used […]

Over 164 million phone lines may be disconnected by December 31, if their owners fail to integrate their National Identity Numbers to Subscriber Identification Modules registration records. One of Punch correspondents gathered from the National Identity Management Commission on Wednesday that the number of Nigerians with NINs was about 43 million. In a response to […]

Germany shattered its record for Covid-19 deaths in 24 hours on Tuesday with 952 patients dying compared to a previous record of 598 on December 11, according to the country’s center for disease control. The nation tallied 27,728 new coronavirus cases, the Robert-Koch-Institute (RKI) reported, as it enters a hard national lockdown on Wednesday in an effort to […]

The President on Wednesday, ordered the immediate reopening of four land borders. The Presidency made this known in a tweet today. “President Buhari has directed the immediate opening of four land borders: Seme, Illela, Maigatari, and Mfun,” @NGRPresident tweeted. Nigeria had in August 2019 closed its land borders to curtail illegal importation of drugs, small […]

A team of 10 international scientists will travel to the Chinese city of Wuhan next month to investigate the origins of Covid-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. Beijing has been reluctant to agree to an independent inquiry and it has taken many months of negotiations for the WHO to be allowed access to […]