Author: Abdullahi Maitama Sani

ABOUT N531.4bn of the Central Bank of Nigeria intervention funds remains unused in the coffers of nine Deposit Money Banks in the country, findings by this newspaper have shown. This came on the heels of the suspension of all CBN intervention funds by the incumbent governor of the apex bank, Olayemi Cardoso. Last October, the CBN governor upon assumption of office stopped all development finance interventions, stating that the lines between monetary policy and fiscal intervention had become blurred. Thus, he said that in refocusing the CBN to its core mandate, there was a need to pull the CBN back…

THE Presidency on Sunday said it was ready to launch about 2,700 CNG-powered buses and tricycles before May 29 when President Bola Tinubu turns one year in office. It said the Federal Government is set to deliver 100 conversion workshops and 60 refuelling sites spread across 18 states before the end of 2024. The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, revealed this in a statement he signed Sunday titled ‘Presidential CNG initiative set for rollout.’ “From the end of May, Nigeria will take some baby steps to join such nations that already have large…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu will on Monday, April 22, open the African Counter-Terrorism Summit in Abuja. This was disclosed in a statement by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, Sunday. According to the statement, Nigeria, with the support of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), is organizing a high-level African counter-terrorism summit under the theme, ‘Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Institution Building to Address the Evolving Threat of Terrorism’, in Abuja, from April 22 to April 23. The objective of the summit is to enhance multilateral counter-terrorism cooperation and reshape the international community’s collective response to…

THE Federal High Court in Abuja, yesterday dismissed money laundering charges filed against a former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice under the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration, Bello Adoke. Adoke was accused of alleged fraud in the controversial Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245, widely known as Malabu Oil deal. The judge, Inyang Ekwo, upheld the “no-case-submission” application filed by Mr Adoke after the prosecution, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), concluded its case and it was the turn of the defendants to present theirs. A no-case submission is filed by a defendant at the…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mairiga Aliyu Katuka as the Chairman of the Securities And Exchange Commission. This was disclosed in a statement by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, Friday. The statement reads in full: STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of the following Nigerian professionals to the Board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): (1) Mr. Mairiga Aliyu Katuka — Chairman   (2) Mr. Emomotimi Agama — Director-General  (3) Frana Chukwuogor — Executive Commissioner (Legal and Enforcement) (4) Mr. Bola Ajomale — Executive Commissioner (Operations)…

THE current acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Umar Damagum, will continue in that capacity until another National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting that will hold after the one slated for today, Thursday April 18, 2024. This formed part of the resolution of the PDP caucus meeting on Wednesday night. PDP spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, said the caucus resolved that all reconciliation committies of the party be reconstituted to resolve grievances affecting the unity of the party. Asked what the caucus discussed about issues regarding the party’s chairmanship position, he said it is an issue that the NEC of…

OLAYEMI Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said the bank is not strengthening the Naira with the country’s foreign reserves. Speaking at the ongoing Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, Cardoso said the Naira is performing independently, and not as is being speculated by the public. He added that his team is determined to nurse a foreign exchange market ruled by the principle of willing buyers-willing sellers. Cardoso’s clarification came following speculations that the bank pumped forex into the market vis-a-vis depleting foreign reserves corresponding with massive appreciation of the…

THE Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesome Wike, on Wednesday attended the PDP’s national caucus meeting in Abuja ahead of the party’s National Executive Committee meeting, scheduled to take place on Thursday. This is the first time that the former Rivers state governor will be attending a meeting of the PDP since after the presidential election last year. Mr Wike has been at loggerheads with the PDP leadership and did not support the party’s choice of Abubakar as the party’s…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has commended the enterprising feat of Dangote Oil and Gas Limited, in reducing the gantry price of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), also known as diesel. The Group recently reviewed downwards the gantry price of AGO from ₦1,650 to ₦1,000 per litre for a minimum of one million litres of the product, as well as providing a discount of ₦30 per litre for an offtake of five million litres and above. The price review represents a 60% drop, which will, in no small measure, impact the prices of sundry goods and services. A statement signed by Special Adviser…

THE Federal Government has vowed to take stringent regulatory measures against traders “unfairly inflating prices” of goods and commodities. The government, through its agency, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), expressed worry that despite the recent appreciation of the Naira against the dollar, consumers continue to face escalating costs without a corresponding decrease in prices of goods and commodities. “This situation is unacceptable, and the FCCPC is committed to protecting consumers from exploitation,” the Commission’s chief Adamu Abdullahi said in a statement on Wednesday. “The FCCPC understands the significant financial strain these rising prices are placing on Nigerian…

THE Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment says it has begun disbursement of the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme to verified applicants after an exhaustive selection process. The government, through the Bank of Industry, had said it would be disbursing three categories of funding totalling N200bn to support manufacturers and businesses across the country. In a progress report posted on the trade minister’s official X (formerly Twitter) handle on Tuesday, Doris Aniete stated that an unspecified number of beneficiaries have received their grants, adding that by Friday, April 19, another significant disbursement will be made to a substantial number of verified…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has declared April 7 as National Police Day. He made the declaration through Vice President Kashim at the maiden award and commendations event organised by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in Abuja on Monday night. Delivering the President’s speech titled, “Courage Under Fire: A Bouquet for Our Police Force,” VP Shettima said at a time in Nigeria’s history when the nation’s security architecture is being stretched beyond elastic limits, the citizens have been able to endure in the face of security threats as well as attacks on their lives and livelihoods due to the commitment of the…

THE National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, on Monday received 22 abducted students and staff of Federal University, Gusau in Zamfara, who were rescued on Sunday. The 22 people, comprising 15 students and seven workers of the university, were abducted from the university in September 2023. According to the NSA, the rescue operation was coordinated by the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, NCTC, on Sunday. Ribadu who received the rescued victims on Monday in Abuja, urged them not to allow their experience to break them, but should rather make them stronger. The NSA also thanked the parents of the rescued victims for…

THE Federal Government of Nigeria has called for restraint from all sides involved in the fresh conflict in the Middle East.  In a statement on Sunday, spokesperson for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Francisca Omayuli, said, “The Federal Government of Nigeria joins other members of the international community to call on Iran and Israel to exercise restraint, as diplomatic efforts are ongoing to ease tension and avoid a wider conflict in the Middle East. “In this critical period, it behoves the two countries to reflect on the universal commitment to peaceful resolution of conflicts, for the advancement of global peace…

THE rivalry between the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesome Wike, has become heightened ahead of the 98th National Executive Committee meeting of the party. One of the major issues likely to take centre stage at the NEC meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 18, is the question of whether the party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, should remain in office or be replaced. There have been calls to remove Damagum and choose a substantive Chairman. Damagum, formerly PDP National Deputy Chairman (North), became the party’s acting National…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has slammed suspended Humanitarian Minister, Betta Edu, her predecessor, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, and the Coordinator of the National Social Insurance Programmes Agency, Halima Shehu, while revealing that a combined total of N32.7bn and $445,000 has been recovered so far from the ministry. The commission made the development known on Sunday while dispelling commentaries, opinions, assumptions, and insinuations concerning the progress of its mobile investigations into the alleged financial misappropriation in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. The statement signed by the spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, said the recoveries were…

THE Nigerian Army has declared emphatically that at no time did it enlist repentant Boko Haram members into its fold, saying report to that effect in the social media was born out of mischief. The Army made this known following reports that a repentant Boko Haram terrorist allegedly absolved into the force, gruesomely murdered his female partner. Director of Army Public Relations, Major Gen Onyema Nwachukwu made the declaration in a statement titled, “Re: Repented Boko Haram Member Enlisted into Nigerian Army Slits Woman’s Throat in Enugu Barracks, Hides Corpse”. It reads, “The attention of the Nigerian Army (NA) has…

THE Northern Elders Forum has come under fire for its recent comments regarding the presidency of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The NEF recently said it regretted supporting President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 general election. The forum said it would prioritise someone who is seen as “more inclusive, less controversial, and more aligned with the interests of all regions of the country”. Reacting to the comment in a press statement on Saturday, the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, described the action of the NEF as a political burden on the North. Matawalle stressed that members of NEF lack the…

THE Federal Government has traced fleeing Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, to Kenya, following his escape from custody in Nigeria. Following the development, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the International Criminal Police, the Nigeria Police Force and the Kenyan Police Service have deepened talks to quicken Anjarwalla’s extradition. Sources in the Presidency who are on top of the case told this newspaper that Anjarwalla, whose cover has now been blown, went into hiding immediately after he landed in Kenya. The source revealed, “We have found him. We know where he is. He is in Kenya, and we’re working with the…

COVENANT University has been ranked above the University of Ibadan and the Federal University of Technology, Akure, as the best university in Nigeria for the second time, according to Times Higher Education‘s 2024 rating. Analysis of the latest ranking on Thursday showed that the university based in Ota, Ogun State, is among the top 1,000 universities in the world. The 801st-ranked university in the world first gained prominence in 2018 after it got the prize for the best university in Nigeria and the sixth-best university overall. The University of Ibadan followed Covenant as the second-best university in the country, while…