The Geregu Power generating plant in Ajaokuta, Kogi, is expected to attain full capacity of 414 megawatts per day in May to boost the country’s electricity supply.

Head of the Station of the plant, Monima Stanley-Idum, disclosed this in an interview with the press in Ajaokuta Tuesday. Stanley-Idum, an engineer by profession, said that two units of the plant, GT12 and GT13 had been linked to the national grid.

A strategic investment in Sterling Bank by South African bank, FirstRand, is imminent, banking sources who are familiar with the deal have revealed. According to them, FirstRand is ready to throw in between $300 and $400 million (N45 to N60 billion) into the deal.

This is the second time the South African bank is coming to the country to hunt for a Nigerian bank to invest in. It would be recalled that the bank was the first foreign bank to announce its interest in one of the rescued banks but later developed cold feet.

The event which was held at the Umaru Musa Yar’adua indoor sports hall of the Murtala Mohammed Square, Kaduna was chaired by  the former Head of State, retired General Yakubu Gowon who also inaugurated the Alhaji Aliko Mohammed-led executive council.  General Gowon earlier in his address urged northerners to give the new leaders of the forum maximum support for them to succeed in contributing towards the development of the region.

Vice President Mohamed Namadi Sambo in his address said the Federal Government was resolute in pursuing peace initiatives in the North with particular emphasis on Plateau, Borno and Bauchi states to ensure that normalcy is restored in the areas.

‘’This is without prejudice to the overall peace efforts across the country to have a nation of our collective dreams and aspirations. We cannot achieve any meaningful development without peace,’’ he said.

Sambo while reiterating the commitment of the Federal Government to enhance infrastructure in the country, said they were considering the dredging of the River Benue up to Yola in Adamawa State to fast-track the development of the country.

He also said efforts to revive the New Nigerian Newspapers by offsetting the long outstanding liabilities of the company and giving it a lease of life by the Federal Government had reached an advanced stage.

Sambo urged the new leadership of the ACF to revisit the works of the Northern past heroes and borrow a leaf from such lofty experiences and efforts to develop workable synergies for the rapid development of the socio-economic potentials of the North for a greater Nigeria.

“We must eschew bitterness and politicization of the lives of our people by promoting such virtues that will unite rather than divide this blessed country of ours. We are confident in your ability to partner any government and stakeholder in that direction which we believe in turn shall reciprocate this gesture by giving all the necessary cooperation that the North desires,’’ he said.

Hours after militants said they would detonate bombs without prior notice, multiple explosions have rocked an oil facility in Bayelsa State.

In Port Harcourt yesterday, a bomb scare grounded a Lagos-bound Arik Air flight, which was due to depart at about 8.00am.

The explosions occurred Tuesday night at Well Head 3 Flow Station at Cloak Creek Area in Ekeremo Local Government Area of the state, which belongs to Agip Oil.

Demand for foreign exchange is gradually edging up, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) offered $1.3 billion so far this month at the official Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS) window.

Even though there are five more auctions for the month of March, the amount so far traded exceeds the average traded figure since the beginning of the year.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Wednesday rejected a request by members of the House of Representatives for a closed-door meeting on the commission’s role in party primaries.

The House had in one of its resolutions last week accused INEC of partiality in its choice of which court orders on party candidates to accept or not and consequently summoned Jega to appear before its Committee on Electoral Matters and Justice to defend the role of his commission in the primaries.

The Senate today passed the Freedom of Information Bill. The House of Representatives had passed the Bill on February 24.

It has taken the current session of the National Assembly a total of four years to pass the Bill, which has been renamed the Right of Information Bill 2011. It was reintroduced in the National Assembly in 2007, shortly after the current session of lawmakers was constituted. The Bill was sponsored by Abike Dabiri (ACN, Lagos), a former journalist.