August 21, Top National News You Need To Know

The past 24 hours has had interesting happenings both from local, state, national and international scene. below are top trending news.

Top Trending News

New Barcelona manager, Ronald Koeman, is reportedly looking to sign Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum, this summer transfer window. Wijnaldum’s current deal with Liverpool is due to expire next year. But Koeman, who managed the midfielder with the Dutch national team, wants to make the 29-year-old his first signing at the Nou Camp, according to Algemeen Dagblad.

Big Brother Naija, Lockdown housemate, Prince has said if given the chance to break a relationship in the house, he will pick the relationship between Kiddwaya and Erica. Housemates were instructed and paired to act as Big Brother for Thursday’s diary session. Erica, who was Prince’s Biggie, asked him which relationship in the house he would like to break up.

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Effurun branch in Delta State, on Thursday, vowed to challenge in court, the new Company and Allied Matters 2020 Act, CAMA, signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 7. The NBA President in Effurun, Mr. Jonathan Ekperusi Esqmade, made the vow during a remark when he led members of the legal profession on a courtesy visit to the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Warri Correspondents’ Chapel.

Nehemiah Adejor, the suspect detained over the death of Tolulope Arotile, Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot, will be charged with culpable homicide and criminal conspiracy. Arotile died on July 14, 2020, after she sustained head injuries when she was knocked down by a car driven by Nehemiah, her classmate at the Nigerian Air Force Secondary School in Kaduna. Nehemiah was arraigned at magistrate’s court in the state for causing death of Arotile through dangerous driving.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is proposing to collect excise duty on soft drinks, abolished in 1993 by the interim national government. Appearing before a joint committee of the senate on finance and national planning on Thursday, Hameed Ali, comptroller-general of the NCS, said the federal government should lift the tax waivers for companies producing soft drinks within the country.

Top Trending News

Rosemary Ajayi, a digital forensic researcher, has claimed that leaked answers to some subjects at the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) were being circulated across some Nigerian WhatsApp groups. Ajayi is a research director at Digital Africa Research Lab, an initiative focused on studying the use of digital and social media in Africa.

The United Kingdom high commission in Nigeria is offering to replace vignettes on expired or about to expire 30-day visas for free. In a statement on Thursday, the commission said the renewal will be free till December 2020 and each will be valid for 90 days.

Chris Oyakhilome, founder and president of LoveWorld Incorporated better known as Christ Embassy, says pastors who are yet to reopen their churches over COVID-19 fears are not genuine believers. Religious centres were shut in March as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But on June 1, the federal government lifted the ban on religious gatherings, directing states to follow suit.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Thursday, faulted the development in Mali which led to the military toppling the government of President Ibrahim Keita. Describing the development as a setback for regional diplomacy, the President called for unconditional release of Keita and others detained by the military.

The Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, has sentenced two Lebanese men to two years in prison with an option of fine for money laundering. Chamseddine Waell Mohammed and Dina Jihad Khali, who both pleaded guilty to a separate one-count charge of money laundering preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, were convicted on Thursday, August 20.