1. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is currently in Lagos State for his Christmas and New Year celebration. President Tinubu arrived at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at exactly 3:23 pm on Wednesday, December 18.

2. TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Company, MRS Oil and Gas Limited, Sahara Deepwater Resources Limited, among 20 others emerged preferred bidders for fresh oil blocks available for allocation in the country. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, unveiled the bidders yesterday for no fewer than 25 oil blocks that are available for exploration and production.

3. President Bola Tinubu says indicators have shown that the economy is responding positively to stimulus. Tinubu, who said this while presenting the 2024 budget on Wednesday before a joint session of the National Assembly, said the focus of the 2025 budget was to stimulate the economy through the implementation of targeted fiscal stimulus packages through public expenditures and specific non-inflationary spending.

4. Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has again dismissed insinuations on the recent cabinet reshuffle that affected the office of the Chief of Staff, the Secretary to the State Government and five commissioners. Addressing journalists on Wednesday during the state executive council meeting held at Government House, Governor Yusuf refuted political nuances attached to the major cabinet shakeup.

5. The Naira on Wednesday depreciated to N1,670 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,665 per dollar on Tuesday. Similarly, the Naira depreciated to N1,545 per dollar in the official foreign exchange market.

6. Operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Taskforce have apprehended 27 persons for alleged unlawful acts of street begging. State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, confirmed this in a post he shared on his X handle @tokunbo_wahab, on Wednesday.

7. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has shut down 150 shops at Eziukwu Market in Abia State, over fake and expired products worth N5 billion. The agency disclosed this in a statement on its X handle, formerly Twitter on Wednesday. NAFDAC said the shops were shut during a two-day operation on December 16 and December 17, while products valued at N5 billion were destroyed at the market.

8. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Oguduokwor Ward in the Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi has expelled the National Vice Chairman of the party in the South East, Mr Ali Odefa from the party. Chairman of the Ward, Mr Onyeka Ovuta, announced the expulsion of Odefa during a press conference on Wednesday in Onicha Local Government Area of the state.

9. A-yet-to-be ascertained number of children have reportedly lost their lives in a stampede that occurred during a children’s funfair in Ibadan, Oyo State capital on Wednesday. It was gathered that over 30 children lost their lives with many injured during the incident.

10. Delta State Police Command has arrested a native doctor’s apprentice, Destiny Ogbeh, for his involvement in the killing of an eight-year-old boy, Progress Agidi, for ritual purposes. The incident was said to have happened on Saturday, November 14, at Owa Alero, in the Ika North-East Local Government Area of the state.