Author: News Room

The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority and China-Africa Investment FZC, the management of the Ogun Free Trade Zone, Igbesa, Ogun State, on Monday, said the fire incident that occurred in the zone on Sunday was not caused by a gas explosion and did not affect any residents. The management also said no casualties were recorded and that investigations had been launched into the incident. This was contained in a statement signed and released by Mr Steve Makanjuola on behalf of NEPZA and China-Africa Investment FZC, and made available to journalists on Monday. According to the statement, the fire incident occurred…

A former Plateau State Governor, Senator Jonah Jang, has denied calling for the resignation of Governor Caleb Mutfwang over his recent defection from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress. The denial came in a statement issued on Monday in Jos by Clinton Garuba, Jang’s media consultant. Garuba described reports circulating in some print and online media outlets as misleading and said the former governor was quoted out of context. “The attention of Sen. Jonah David Jang has been drawn to a misleading report in some print and online media outlets. “The report attempts to portray him as…

YouTube star-turned-boxer KSI — real name Olajide Olatunji — has officially announced he is done with boxing, confirming that he will not face longtime rival Jake Paul in the ring. KSI, one of the pioneers of influencer boxing, first drew attention in 2018 with his fight against Logan Paul, which sold over a million pay-per-views. He later founded Misfits Boxing, providing a platform for YouTubers and social media stars to compete. But after a five-fight run in 2022-2023 that ended with a 3-1-1 record, KSI said he lost his love for the sport. Jake Paul Yahoo News on Sunday quoted…

Google turned up the heat in the AI shopping wars this weekend, announcing plans to turn Gemini into a merchant and launching an open-source standard built together with major retailers including Shopify, Walmart, and Target. The move comes as companies like OpenAI, Amazon, and Perplexity jostle for power and influence at the heart of a growing AI-powered shopping ecosystem, with consumers increasingly turning to the technology to streamline purchasing.At the National Retail Federation’s annual conference this weekend, Google said it had partnered with Shopify, Target, Walmart, Wayfair, and Etsy to develop a protocol it hopes will become the industry standard…

Seventy economists and policy experts have called on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to back a digital euro that clearly serves the public interest, arguing that it is crucial for Europe’s monetary sovereignty and for guaranteeing access to central bank money in an increasingly cash‑light economy. The open letter, published on Sunday and titled “The Digital Euro: Let the public interest prevail!” warns that without a strong public option, private stablecoins and foreign payment giants could gain even greater influence over Europe’s digital payments.​The signatories, including former executive board director for the European Union at the European Bank for Reconstruction…

Dax Shepard detailed why he couldn’t help feeling “sad” after failing to take home the first Best Podcast Golden Globe award. Taking to Instagram after the ceremony on Sunday, January 11, the “Armchair Expert” cohost shared a screen shot of a text exchange with one of his daughters that detailed his post-event reflections. “You know, the ONLY reason I’m sad I didn’t win is because I wanted to stand on that stage and tell the whole world how much I love you and your sister,” Shepard, 51, sent to his daughter via text. (Shepard shares two daughters, Lincoln, 12, and…

The Police Command in Delta State, on Sunday, said it apprehended a member of a suspected cult group in the state. The command’s spokesman, Bright Edafe, disclosed this in a statement to reporters in Warri. Mr Edafe, a superintendent of police, said that the command had intensified efforts to identify, track, and arrest other fleeing members of the cult group. According to him, the suspect was nabbed on Saturday by police operatives attached to the Ekpan division in Uvwie Local Government Area of the state. Mr Edafe stated that the police team was led by the Divisional Police Officer of…

Nigerian music stars Divine ‘Rema’ Ikubor, Crown ‘Shallipopi’ Uzama and Damini ‘Burna Boy’ Ogulu have emerged as the biggest winners at the 9th edition of the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA). PREMIUM TIMES reported that the award ceremony, which brought together top artistes, producers and industry stakeholders from across Africa and the diaspora, was held on Sunday at the Eko Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. AFRIMA is an African-based music awards ceremony honouring African artistes and music produced in every region of the continent over the past one year. It celebrates their commercial success, cultural impact and growing global recognition…

Over 10,000 Front-End Partners, FEPs, have been trained nationwide as Nigeria moves closer to the full activation of the Local Government Proof of Address system. This was disclosed in a progress update released by the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, on Monday. According to the ALGON update, the trained FEPs are drawn from across the states of the federation and are being prepared to commence enrolment as the rollout advances. ALGON, which described the development as a significant milestone in efforts to standardise address verification at the grassroots level, further noted that continuous retraining and revalidation will be…

The National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Monday accused the All Progressives Congress, APC, of engineering crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Labour Party, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP. Abdullahi claimed that the aim of the APC is to ensure that no other political party survives ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Featuring on AIT Focus Nigeria, Abdullahi said: “The crisis in Labour Party was engineered, the crisis in PDP was engineered, the crisis in all these parties were engineered. “But why were these crises engineered? That is the question. These…