President Muhammadu Buhari has sworn-in four newly appointed Permanent Secretaries during the weekly virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in the Council Chambers of the State House, the president conducted the ceremony completing the list of 16 persons who were appointed on June 12. The four permanent secretaries sworn-in on Wednesday include, Mr. James Sule from Kaduna; Mr. Ismaila Abubakar from Kebbi; Mrs. Ibiene Patricia Roberts from Rivers, and Mr. Shehu Aliyu Shinkafi from Zamfara.

The House of Representatives has rescinded the passage of the controversial National Water resources bill over flaws in the procedure that led to its passage bill. Upon resumption on Tuesday, a member of the House, Ben Nzondo from Benue State moved a point of privilege and argued that the proper procedure was not followed on the bill. In his ruling, speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila concluded that Nzondo had raised fundamental objections that must be looked into. Citing several sections of the House rules to back Mzondu's argument, he said: "I have painstakingly searched through all the journals of the House and cannot find where the Bill is gazetted and I stand to be challenged or corrected. “I wish to move, relying on Order 8, Rule 8, and the above-stated rules, that the House do rescind/expunge its decision of 23rd July 2020, which adopted the National Water Resources Bill 2020 H3921 to have been read the third time from our records. I so move,” Mzondu said.

The Socio-political group such as Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, and the Pan Niger Delta Forum PANDEF, has yesterday thrown their weight behind the Vice President; Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’s warning that there is a crack that requires fixing in the country if we shall continue as a country. The three socio-cultural groups PANDEF, Afenirefe, and the Ohanaeze while talking to journalists opined that the country cannot continue to live in denial.  However, the Northern Socio-cultural group, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) though admitted that there exist some unhealthy cracks but it was unacceptable for the personality of the Vice President to heat the polity while it is already tensed.

In an effort to ramp up COVID-19 testing capacity, the Nigerian government has developed a molecular test kit named the SARS-COV-2 Isothermal Molecular Assay (SIMA). With the new kit the country can now reach higher daily target of testing. The minister of state for health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, who made this information known at the bi-weekly Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday, said the new NIMR can produce results in less than 40 minutes. “The Nigeria Institute of Medical Research has developed a molecular test for COVID-19 that can give results in less than 40 minutes.

The world's coronavirus death surpassed 990,000 on Saturday nears one million, with the US, Brazil and India making up nearly half of the total, according to Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. The United States of America remains the country worst hit by the pandemic, with 7,065,019 cases and 204,249 deaths, making up more than 20 percent of the global death toll. Although the number is likely to be much higher as testing rates in many countries remain low, with virus-related deaths not being recorded.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has disclosed that the death toll of the pandemic on the continent has surpassed 35,000; meanwhile, Nigeria has shutdown two (2) of its COVID-19 isolation centre due to lack of patients. According to Africa CDC, of 1,437,339 infections about 1,185,054 patients have recovered which is very positive. South Africa with 668,529 cases is the 10th most-affected nation globally while the first (1st) in Africa. Nigeria on the other hand is the fourth most impacted country in the continent after South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia.

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has cleared the air over speculation that the new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) send to the National Assembly proposed the scrapping of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi state has hail President Muhammadu Buhari over his policies on Agriculture saying the policies have begun yielding results in the country.
The governor made this statement today when he paid a visit to a private rice mill, belonging to one businessman, Alhaji Sahabi Lolo in Kamba, Dandi Local Government Area of the states.

The FG has stated that applicants are not paying any facilitation fee to access its N75Bn intervention grant for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and also cautioned applicants against fraudsters. This was disclosed by Mrs. Mariam Katagum, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade, and Investment at a news conference on Thursday in Abuja. She said the Nigerian government through the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP) has started the nationwide implementation of the MSME Survival Fund and the Guaranteed Off-take Stimulus Schemes.

Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has issued a response to the rumors linking Ousmane Dembele with a move to Manchester United. United are reportedly in talks to sign Dembele on a season-long loan and hope to finalize a deal before the transfer window slams shut on October 5.

Arsenal Manager, Michael Arteta, would clash with his rival Liverpool by tomorrow night in the Premier League without his seven key players. Kieran Tierney is back in full training and will soon return to the starting XI.

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed Wilfred Ndidi could be sidelined from action for between six to 12 weeks due to a ‘nasty injury’.