Author: News Room

Turnover on the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market rose to $1.41bn on 17 August, 2026, marking the highest level in five weeks as trading activity recovered from the sharp decline recorded earlier in the month. Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria showed that the latest turnover was more than seven times the $185m recorded on 11 August. The 17 August figure was the highest since 21 July, when NAFEM turnover stood at $1.53bn. The market recorded 394 deals during the session, including 178 interbank transactions. The increase followed significant fluctuations in FX activity over recent trading sessions. Turnover rose to…

A filmmaker who worked with Hayden Panettiere on her 2025 horror-comedy, A Breed Apart, has claimed that the actress was “not OK” on set. “I had met Hayden about 10 years before that and I knew that she was insanely talented, so when she signed on to do this picture that we were shooting, I was psyched,” director Griff Furst began in an Instagram video shared on Monday, August 17. “I really wanted to work with her. So I’m on set, and I get word from the movie’s security team who picked her up from the airport that something was…

The Enugu State Government says it has leased 67 tractors to farmers in the state at a subsidised rate as part of efforts to boost agricultural production and promote mechanised farming. The State Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-industrialisation, Patrick Ubru, disclosed this when journalists visited the Nortra Tractor Assembly Plant established by the state government on Tuesday. Mr Ubru said the tractor leasing initiative was part of the government’s efforts to make mechanised farming more accessible and affordable to farmers. He said farmers could access the tractors at a subsidised rate of N70,000 per day, compared with the prevailing commercial…

The Vice-Chancellor of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Prof Razaq Kalilu, has been honoured by the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, for his contributions to art, scholarship and leadership. Kalilu was honoured alongside other distinguished alumni at the Distinguished (Special) Alumni Lecture and Reunion organised by the Faculty of Environmental Design and Management, OAU, on Wednesday, August 12, 2026. The event, held at the university’s Oduduwa Hall, was part of activities marking OAU’s 65th anniversary. According to a statement by the LAUTECH Public and Alumni Relations Unit, the programme featured the presentation of Awards of Excellence to Kalilu and other…

The Buss family has been synonymous with the Los Angeles Lakers since Jerry Buss purchased the franchise in 1979. Now, that era might be ending — but not without its share of controversy. The family has reportedly voted to sell its remaining 17.8 percent stake in the Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at a $12.5 billion valuation, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Monday, August 17, but Jeanie Buss is pushing back on the potential sale. “We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the…

A cleric and businessman, Okwudili Ossai, has sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) over the alleged substitution of his name on the NDC’s Enugu North District ticket for the forthcoming 2027 general elections. Ossai, otherwise known as Bishop Oscar, is challenging the uploading of Asadu’s name to the INEC portal as the Enugu North District candidate for the 2027 election. The entrepreneur filed the suit on 5 August at the Federal High Court in Abuja through his legal team led by F. M. Nworah, according to a court document seen by PREMIUM TIMES.…

Fortis Global Insurance Plc has announced the appointment of Dr Umar Faruk Umar as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Mr Ufuoma Ibru as a Non-Executive Director on its board, following approval by the National Insurance Commission. The company disclosed this in a regulatory notification signed by the Company Secretary, Halima Jimada, and sent to the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public on Thursday. According to the insurer, the appointments are part of deliberate efforts to further strengthen its board with experienced professionals capable of providing strategic direction and enhancing corporate governance. Commenting on the appointments, the board expressed optimism…

Hayden Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, is speaking out after her daughter’s death at age 36. “I think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments, and I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry — it is a struggle and it’s a very challenging industry and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path,” Vogel said in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday, August 18. Vogel added that she takes solace in the fact that Hayden has reunited with late brother Jansen Panettiere, who died at age 28 in February 2023…

Bright Iyamu, chairman of the five-person ad hoc committee set up by the Edo State House of Assembly to investigate its immediate past speaker, Blessing Agbebaku, says the probe will be transparent, fair, and free of vendetta. Speaking after the committee’s inauguration on Tuesday in Benin, Iyamu, who represents Orhionmwon South State Constituency, said the investigation is a normal democratic process and not targeted at any individual. “I want to let you know that it is not a witch-hunt. What you are seeing today, I would say, is the beauty of democracy. “In democracy, the people choose you, when they…

Former President Goodluck Jonathan, the Defence Minister, Gen Christopher Musa (retd.), and senior lawyers have called for reforms to Nigeria’s approach to election security, particularly in the massive deployment of security personnel and political mobilisation witnessed during off-cycle elections. Their separate positions followed the August 15 Osun State governorship election, where over 15,000 police personnel were deployed ahead of the poll amid the presence of several governors, political leaders and other senior government officials. Jonathan, in a statement titled, ‘Osun and the Need to Set New Boundaries for Political Conduct in Off-Cycle Elections,’ commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, security…