Author: Citynews

The United Kingdom has updated its customs guidance for travellers, outlining the items visitors can bring into the country duty-free, those that are prohibited, and goods that require special permits before entry. According to revised UK government guidance released on Thursday, duty-free allowances apply only to goods intended for personal use or as gifts. Any item imported for business or resale must be declared regardless of its value. Travellers arriving in England, Scotland and Wales from outside the UK are permitted to bring up to 42 litres of beer, up to 18 litres of still wine, and either up to four…

KEY TAKEAWAYS A Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced three suspects in the Oriire abduction case to life imprisonment for roles in kidnapping students and teachers in Oyo State. Justice Salem Ibrahim convicted the defendants after they pleaded guilty to concealing information about the attack masterminds and admitting membership of Darul Salam, linked to Ansaru. The court also heard Abdulrazak Umar and Shamsudin Adamu pleaded guilty to training a WhatsApp group for alleged terror incitement, while Umar admitted illegal gold mining in Suleja. A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced suspects in Oriire abduction to life imprisonment. The three…

The Presidency has criticised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over reports that he engaged a United States lobbying firm to petition President Donald Trump and the US State Department over President Bola Tinubu’s decades-old civil forfeiture case. According to the government, “if Atiku Abubakar were Chinese, he would be rotting away in jail.” Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the remarks in a statement issued on Thursday, accusing Atiku of spending $1.2 million on American lobbyists to revive a matter the Presidency said had long been settled. Onanuga described the move as an attempt…

KEY TAKEAWAYS Atiku Abubakar attacked the Tinubu government for putting N22.15bn in the 2026 Appropriation Act to build and renovate 106 palaces nationwide. In a Thursday statement signed by his aide, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the 1999 Constitution leaves traditional institutions to states and councils, not Abuja. Atiku asked the Presidency, Budget Office and MDAs to publish the 106 palaces, locations, allocations, procurement details and constitutional basis. Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has criticised the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government’s decision to allocate ₦22.15 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act for the construction…

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (“GTCO”) has today announced full plans for its 16th Annual Autism Conference scheduled to hold on Monday, July 27th and Tuesday, July 28th, at the Muson Centre, Lagos. Themed “Acceptance in Action: From Family to Classroom to Workplace to Public Spaces,” the Conference, which will be followed by one-on-one family consultations by specialists, continues the Group’s commitment to advocating for Autism through access to developmental support, professional guidance, and learning opportunities for individuals on the autism spectrum and their families. Over the years, the GTCO Autism Programme has become a leading platform for Autism advocacy…

Zenith Bank Plc has been named “Africa’s Best Bank” and “Nigeria’s Best Bank”, the latter for the second consecutive year, at the prestigious Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2026, clinching the biggest and most coveted national and continental awards in banking. The awards were presented to the Bank on Thursday, 16 July 2026, at The Peninsula London Hotel, London. This dual recognition is a testament to the Bank’s sustained excellence in financial performance, customer service, digital innovation, and its contribution to economic development across Nigeria and the wider African continent.   The Euromoney Awards for Excellence are among the most respected…

An American lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has questioned the authenticity of the purported letter from United States President Donald Trump to President Bola Tinubu, arguing that the document released by the Presidency raises serious concerns. The firm made the remarks in a post on X after comparing what it described as an authentic letter sent by Trump to Argentine President Javier Milei with the version released by an account linked to President Tinubu, using the Facebook handle PBATMediaCentre. According to the lobbyist, the format of the document circulated by the Nigerian Presidency differs significantly from the original style of correspondence…

Social media activist, Martins Vincent Otse, aka VeryDarkMan, has challenged Assistant Inspector-General of Police, AIG Moshood Jimoh, to publicly respond to allegations that he conspired to frame a businessman, Ahmed Tajudeen Akanbi, in a murder case. VeryDarkMan had made the allegation in a video shared on his official social media page, where he questioned the handling of the investigation into the death of Sheriff Salami and accused the officer of compromising the integrity of the criminal justice process. According to the activist, the AIG allegedly worked with Aare Bashiru Fakorede to implicate Akanbi in the murder despite earlier confessions by…

The dream that a private sector-led oil exploration drive will return to northern Nigeria and other frontier basins where taxpayers’ money has been invested in recent years suffered a major setback yesterday after investors outrightly refused to bid for oil blocks in most inland basins. This is coming four years after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) led former President Muhammadu Buhari to Kolmani, announcing a one billion-barrel oil discovery, 500 billion standard cubic feet of gas, a proposed $3 billion investment, a refinery, fertiliser plant as well as gas-fired power plants. Unlike previous bid rounds, 13 of the…