Central Bank of Nigeria has directed banks to sell excess foreign exchange from February 1, 2024 The new circular issued by CBN would force banks to sell off excess dollar liquidity exceeding $5bn. The CBN, which disclosed this in the circular it released on Wednesday, also warned lenders against hoarding excess foreign currencies for profit. According to officials, the central bank believes some commercial banks hold long-term foreign exchange positions to enable them profit from the volatile movements of exchange rates. The new circular introduces a set of guidelines aimed at reducing the risks associated with these practices. In the…
Author: Michael Chibuzo
Contrary to reports being circulated by a popular fake news online medium (Peoples Gazette), accusing Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of withdrawing corruption cases it filed before an Italian court against oil multinational giants, Eni and Shell over the controversial OPL 245 oil deal, it was instead the Italian court that acquitted the Italian oil company Eni and Shell of any wrongdoing in the long running case as far back as March 2021 – more than two years before President Tinubu assumed office. Nigeria then went on to record a string of losses in courts both in Italy, United Kingdom…
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, says the agency has uncovered a religious organisation in the country that launders money for terrorists. Olukoyode who spoke in Abuja on Wednesday added that the religious organisation has dragged the EFCC to court to protect its leader from being interrogated after laundered money was traced to the sect’s bank account. He disclosed that the religious body got a court injunction restraining the commission from inviting, arresting or prosecuting its leader. However, the EFCC chairman assured that the anti-graft agency had appealed the decision. “As I stand before…
The United Parcel Service (UPS) is laying off 12,000 employees in its workforce, according to reports, adding the organisation to the growing list of employers announcing job cuts this year. The number corresponds to 2.4% of the more than 500,000 UPS employees across the world, NBC News reported. A spokesperson from the package and document delivery company told NBC that the job cuts would impact employees across the world but won’t affect union-represented roles. All functions would also be affected, according to the spokesperson, adding that 75% of the cuts would be carried out in the first half of the…
The Ogun State Police Command has paraded three (3) police officers for their alleged involvement in armed robbery around Ijebu-Ode. A student of Tai Solarin University of Education was allegedly fleeced by the officers of over Three Hundred Thousand Naira on Jan 12, 2024. The officers are Inspector Taiwo Kolawole with Force Number AP/No 341113, Inspector John Ogbe with Force Number AP/No 309292 and Cpl Idowu Sunday with Force Number 513707. All the officers were attached to Ijebu-Ife Division, in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun state. While narrating the background to the story, the Police said that…
By Omogbolahan L.A. BABAWALE That Nigeria is going through one of her tumultuous quagmires in history is not in doubt. It is also an irrefutable fact that ‘streets are not smiling’ if I can borrow the colloquial slangs on the streets across the country. It is indeed a challenging time for everyone – families, government, private businesses, multinationals and in fact everyone. The economy is in doldrums – it has always been, at least in the past decade. Insecurity albeit with concerted efforts by the new administration seems to be intractable, defiling all measures with increased kidnappings – many of…
Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, has concluded plans to flag off the construction of a 10-storey luxury hotel in Awka, the Anambra State capital. The hotel construction is expected to gulp at least N66.2 billion according to provisions captured in the Anambra 2024-2026 budget estimates. This was made known by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA), Mr. Osita Onuko. According to the ACTDA Boss, the construction of the 10-storey luxury hotel is part of the Soludo administration’s strategic efforts to ‘catalyze the economic transformation’ of the State Mr. Ossy…
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, has clarified the non-remittance of $2 billion into the federation account in 2022 as reported by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). According to the Group CEO of NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, the NEITI report alleging non-remittance of $2 billion in taxes to the federation account is incorrect. He said that NNPCL was not holding any public funds back and what NEITI reported as non-remittance was what was due to the company as payment for taking the burden of fuel subsidy on behalf of the federal government. NEITI, in its ‘2021 Oil…
Vice-President Kashim Shettima says those criticising the federal government’s decision to relocate the headquarters of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and some offices of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to Lagos are mischief makers. On January 18, 2024, FAAN had announced the relocation of its headquarters from Abuja to Lagos following a directive by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo SAN. The CBN also announced the transfer of some units in charge of banking supervision to its new office in Lagos. This move was greeted with dissatisfaction from some quarters, especially in the North.…
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris has said that despite the difficulties facing Nigeria on various fronts especially on the economic and security angles, the nation is still forging ahead with a lot of positive strides. In a press statement titled: “Amidst Challenges, Nigeria will Forge Ahead”, the Information Minister essentially talked on the state of the Nation. In the statement, Mohammed Idris acknowledged the challenging reality Nigeria currently find itself especially with the impact of inflation on personal and household budgets, and the threats to security in parts of the country. He however stated that these…