THROUGHOUT 2023, Nigeria’s business environment grappled with unprecedented challenges, chiefly influenced by the complexities of an election year. Uncertainties surrounding election outcomes and policy directions led investors to adopt a cautious stance, influencing significant long-term investment decisions. The year kicked off with artificial cash scarcity and a botched currency note redesign, initially hampering consumer spending. Economic recovery in the second quarter was marred by the removal of fuel subsidies and the unification of the foreign exchange market, resulting in soaring inflation and considerable depreciation of the naira. These macroeconomic hurdles, compounded by longstanding national issues, triggered a notable departure of…
Author: Amina Ibrahim
AHEAD of the February 3, 2024 by-elections, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has released a timetable and schedule of activities for the contestants into Senatorial, House of Representatives and State Assemblies seats. The PDP timetable released on Tuesday was signed by the party’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature. The sale of nominations, expression of interest and delegates forms will begin on December 28, 2023, and end on January 3, 2024, while primary elections are scheduled to be held on January 9, 2024. The PDP pegged the price for the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms for the Senate, House of…
NIGERIA’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, has issued a heartfelt call to all Nigerians and citizens all over the world urging them to rekindle their commitment to nurturing peaceful relationships, showing respect for one another’s differences, and collaborating to tackle global challenges that affects everyone. In his Christmas message signed by the Special Adviser, Media and Communications Strategy to the minister, Alkassim Abdulkadir on Sunday, the Minister expressed his unwavering dedication to advancing diplomacy and cooperation for the betterment of our shared future. He encouraged all to use this Christmas season as an opportunity to renew their commitment…
F.A OIL Limited, a company owned by Nigerian billionaire and Africa’s richest woman, Folorunso Alakija, has been awarded exploration rights in six offshore oil blocks, following the issuance of a Petroleum Licencing Agreement by the Government of Sierra Leone. Julius F. Sandy, Secretary to the Sierra Leonean President, Julius Bio, disclosed in a statement that the licence agreement was signed in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on December 4, 2023. The notice, titled, ‘Award of Petroleum Licence to F.A. Oil Limited,’ read, “The General Public is hereby informed that following the closure of Sierra Leone’s Fifth Licensing Round and the successful conclusion…
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approved a timetable for conducting bye-elections resulting from the resignation or demise of members of the National and State Houses of Assembly. The electoral empire in a statement on Friday said both categories of elections are scheduled to take place simultaneously in all affected constituencies on Saturday, February 3, 2024. The vacancies were declared by the Presiding Officers, the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Speakers of State Houses of Assembly, according to INEC. It stated that the vacancies occurred across two Senatorial Districts, four Federal Constituencies, and three State…
THE Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) has lost its final appeal against Nigeria in an eleven-billion-dollar arbitration case. The P&ID sought to overturn an October judgement by a London High Court that halted the enforcement for damages over a failed gas processing project. The High Court had earlier ruled in October that the British Virgin Islands based company, paid bribes to a Nigerian oil ministry official in connection with the gas contract signed in 2010, and failed to disclose this when it took Nigeria to arbitration over the collapse of the deal. In his ruling, Judge Robin Knowles rejected P&ID’s…
THE Federal Government has expressed commitment to return the over 15 million out-of-school children to the classroom by 2027. The Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday at a One-Day Retreat on Quick Wins in the Ministerial Deliverables (2023-2027). Mamman explained that the out-of-school menace must be taken seriously. He said having robust policies in place was not enough to tackle the challenges but that delivering on the policies would go a long way to address the problem of out-of-school children. He added, “The Federal Ministry of Education has further distilled the implementation of the…
THE Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC ) has declared a free train ride from Thursday on all its passenger services. This followed the directive of President Bola Tinubu who also approved a 50 per cent reduction in interstate bus fares to enable the people to travel for the Christmas and New Year holidays. The NRC in a statement said following the President’s directive, it would commence free train service on its entire passengers’ services from Thursday, December 21, 2023 to Thursday January 4, 2024, both days inclusive. The statement added, “Passengers are advised to obtain their free tickets via the online…
THE Nigerian Communications Commission has directed MTN Nigeria, Airtel and other telecommunications firms to fully bar phone lines without National Identity Numbers and those whose NINs have not been verified. This was disclosed in a corporate notice that MTN Nigeria filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited revealing the directive from NCC and the attached deadlines for the barring. In the statement signed by its Company Secretary, Uto Ukpanah, MTN Nigeria said, “This is part of an industry-wide directive that requires phone lines for which the subscribers have not submitted their NINs to be barred on or before 28 February 2024.…
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says re-run and bye-elections may be held across the country next February. This is according to the Chairman of the electoral body Mahmoud Yakubu who spoke at a meeting with political parties. “With regard to the bye-elections, you may recall that in my recent address at the swearing-in of new Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) which was combined with our last quarterly meeting with the RECs nationwide, I made a commitment that the Commission will conduct elections to fill vacancies in the National and State Assembly constituencies,” the INEC chief told the Monday gathering at…
THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has increased the registration fees for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for 2024. In an official statement shared by JAMB, the updated registration fees are outlined as follows: Seven Thousand, Seven Hundred Naira Only,(N7,700 )for UTME registration inclusive of a mock examination, and Six Thousand Two Hundred Naira Only (N6,200) for UTME registration without the mock examination. Before the recent adjustment, the cost of the JAMB form without a mock exam stood at Five Thousand Seven Hundred Naira (N5,700) and the application form inclusive of a mock exam was priced at Six…
TROOPS of Operation Hadarin Daji have killed three terrorists and also rescued six kidnap victims in Sokoto State. The Nigerian Army disclosed this in a Friday statement, saying the development followed an “onslaught against terrorists”. “The offensive clearance operation which took place on the 14th December 2023 at Bauni village and Bauni forest in the state led to a Gun duel that lasted for several hours,” the Army said. “However, troops’ aggressiveness and firepower superiority forced the terrorists to abandon their hideouts and flee in disarray, leading to the rescue of six kidnapped victims while three terrorists were neutralized and two…
MRS Gill Lever OBE – Officer of the Order of the British Empire – has been appointed as the British Deputy High Commissioner (DHC) in Abuja, Nigeria. She takes over from Ms Gill Atkinson who recently concluded four years as Deputy High Commissioner in Abuja. According to a statement from Atinuke Akande-Alegbe, a spokesperson of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in Abuja, Lever is an experienced career diplomat who has worked in different parts of the world including Romania, India and Japan. “Before becoming the British Deputy High Commissioner (DHC) in Abuja, she served as the UK Deputy…
THE Central Bank of Nigeria has announced a suspension of applications for new loans, under its development finance intervention funds programme. The suspension represents a significant shift in its approach to development finance intervention funds, which was previously considered a cornerstone of the central bank. The apex bank also charged Deposit Money Banks with the recovery of previously granted loans under the scheme. The CBN made this known in a circular to the Chief Executives of banks, signed by the Acting Director, Development Finance Department, Sa’ad Hamidu, on Tuesday. The circular titled ‘Suspension of Acceptance of New Applications under the…
THE Senate has taken a swipe at the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Doris Nkiruka-Anite for proposing to spend N1 billion on trip to Geneva in 2024, as contained in next year’s budget of the ministry, just as the minister said that the ministry has no record of the nation’s balance of trade. This was revealed, yesterday, when the minister appeared before the Senator Sadiq Umar (APC, Kwara North) led joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Trade, Industry and Investment to defend the budget. Plans to spend N1 billion next year on trips to only Geneva was…
THE Federal Government has disclosed plans to deploy drones for monitoring and protection of the country’s vast borders. The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju, disclosed this on Tuesday while speaking at a press conference where she outlined the activities to mark this year’s International Migrants’ Day. She said the Federal Government was in discussion with a Chinese giant, Huawei, to deploy Artificial Intelligence to secure the borders. The CG allayed fears raised over the use of drones in security operations following the accidental bombing in Kaduna, explaining that the gadgets would only monitor and…
THE Corporate Affairs Commission is set to delist 91,843 companies for failing to file their annual returns with it. In a list published on its website, the commission listed 91,843 companies for delisting (2,738 less than the 94,581 it initially published in August). This is still less than the initial 100,000 companies that CAC said it would remove in an earlier announcement. In July, the Registrar-General and Chief Executive Officer, CAC, Garba Abubakar, revealed that the commission would delete 100,000 registered companies from its database for failing to file an annual return. He said, “CAC steps up enforcement of 100,000…
THE Central Bank of Nigeria has suspended the processing fees on large cash deposits, a release by the Acting Director of Supervision, Dr Adetona Adedeji, on Monday revealed. The new development under the “Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial Institutions, and Non-Bank Financial Institutions” issued on December 20, 2019, with reference number (FPR/DIR/GEN/CIR/07/042), affects deposits above N500,000 for individual accounts and N3,000,000 for corporate accounts. The suspension shall remain in effect until April 30, 2024, CBN said. The CBN had in 2019 declared that it would begin to levy bank customers making cash deposits and withdrawals as part of…
THE Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been listed on Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women list. According to Forbes’ 20th annual ranking released on Tuesday, the distinguished Nigerian economist holds the 87th spot, surpassing South African businesswoman Mpumi Madisa, who stands at 88th. Tanzanian President Samia Hassan also makes her debut on the list at the 93rd position, alongside Nigerian media mogul and philanthropist Mo Abudu at the 98th. Topping the chart is Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission for Impactful Policy and Budget, while Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank President, secures the…
THE Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Christopher and the Minister of State for Defence Bello Matawalle have visited the victims of Sunday’s accidental Tudun Biri bombing in the Igabi area of Kaduna State. Eighty-five persons were killed and 66 injured in the incident that the Nigerian Army has claimed responsibility for. But days after the bombing, the CDS and minister visited the victims at the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital in Kaduna. They were received by the Deputy Chief Medical Director of the hospital Dr Shuaibu Musa. Matawalle and the Chief of Defence Staff went through different wards in the…