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The naira continued its rebound against the dollar on Friday, strengthening to N950/$ on the average in the parallel market. This represents a N170 gain or a 15.18 per cent appreciation of the local currency compared to the N1,120 it traded for on Thursday. This is also the second day of recovery for the naira following a move by the Central Bank of Nigeria to clear some of its FX backlog on Thursday. According to Bureaux De Change operators, who spoke to The PUNCH, the naira is still gaining as the market continues to react positively to the CBN’s move. A trader who only gave his name as Awolu said, “The dollar is N950 today if you want to buy it.” Kadri, another trader, stated that he currently buys at N900/$ but sells at N950. He declared, “Dollar is coming down. It is N900 if you want to sell. But is N950 if you want to buy.” Taura, another currency trader, stated that the naira was N1,015/$ in his area. He told The PUNCH, “If you want to sell, it is N980. But if you want to buy it...

  The Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 Elections, Peter Obi, has reacted to the discovery of decomposing corpses in Abia State, describing it as “bone-chilling” and “extremely cruel.” In a statement on Thursday, Obi said the discovery “reflects how insecure our environment has been” and “unearths how insecurity has continued to ravage many parts of the country, taking innocent lives and killing the economy.” Obi commended the Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, for taking a “bold step” against insecurity in the state. He also recalled facing a similar situation in 2013 as the Governor of Anambra State. “I was accompanying President Goodluck Johnathan to an official engagement outside the country when I received the sad report of about 35 decomposing bodies floating on Ezu River, Anambra,” Obi said. “I had to leave everything to rush back to the State to attend to the situation and ensure that order was restored in the vicinity. Investigation was immediately com...

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia seeking to be joined as an interested party in the controversial Federal High Court, Kano, judgment now discarded by the Appeal Court, Kano. The Federal High Court had ruled that Gov. Alex Otti was not duly nominated by his party, the Labour Party to stand for the March 18 governorship election in which he defeated PDP’s Ahiwe. Ahiwe, who lost the March 18, 2023 governorship election won by Otti, had filed a suit on October 30, 2023, seeking to be joined as an interested party in the controversial Federal High Court, Kano, judgment. The Supreme Court on Thursday described his application as a bubble and agreed with the lawyers to Otti that Ahiwe had slept over his right, if any. The apex court then dismissed the appeal and awarded cost of N500,000 against Ahiwe, a judgment described by those present in court as a show of shame for Ahiwe and the PDP. The P...

President Bola Tinubu has called for a free, fair and peaceful poll in the November 11 gubernatorial elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states. Tinubu made the call on Thursday, while presenting flags to governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the gubernatorial election in the three States. The candidates include Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa), Hope Uzodinma (Imo) and Ahmed Usman Ododo (Kogi). The event, which was held inside the Banquet Hall of the State House, had the national chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, other members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), and some guests of the candidates.

Ghazi Hamad, deputy foreign minister for Hamas, told a broadcaster on Wednesday, November 1, that the terr0rists 'did not want to harm civilians' during their bl00dy rampage through southern Israel, which saw more than 1,400 Israelis murd£r£d in cold bl00d.   He said the terr0r group had only done so due to 'complications on the ground.' He was referencing the Nova festival massacre which saw scores of innocent young people g^nned down, mut!lated, and kidnapped. His speech saw him vow to launch repeat attacks telling a broadcaster that 'on October 7, October 10, October 1,000,000 - everything we do is justified'.  Mr. Hamad earlier boasted that the terror group 'demonstrated that Israel is beatable' and that the k!lling of Israelis inside their homes or as they fled the festival 'destroyed the myth of Israel as a military superpower'. He dismissed the heartbreaking number of people k!lled in the Israel-Hamas war, the d£adliest and most destructiv...