The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended the recapitalization deadline of the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators to December 31, 2025.

 

This comes amid appreciation of the naira against the dollar at the foreign exchange markets on Tuesday.

 

BDC operators made this known in their group chat.

 

However, the Central Bank of Nigeria has not issued official notice on the extension.

 

The extension follows the expiration of the second deadline for the recapitalization exercise given by the CBN on June 3, 2025.

 

The CBN had initially set the deadline for December 3, 2024, but later extended it by six months to June 3, 2025, to give operators more time to meet the new requirements.

 

The president of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe said the level of compliance stood at merely 10 percent.

 

He had earlier insisted that BDCs should consider a merger to meet the recapitalization requirement.

 

DAILY POST reports that the new recapitalization regime announced by the CBN in February 2024 introduced a two-tier structure for BDCs.

 

Under this framework, Tier-1 BDCs must raise a minimum capital of N2 billion to continue operations, while Tier-2 BDCs are required to raise at least N500 million.

 

Tier-1 BDCs will be licenced to operate nationwide with broader operational latitude, while Tier-2 operators will be restricted to a single state of operation.

 

DAILY POST reports that the naira recorded a gain across official and parallel foreign exchange markets on Tuesday

Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, has called out President Bola Tinubu.

 

He asked Tinubu to show Nigerians the billions he saved from fuel subsidy.

 

Speaking on Monday during an appearance on Arise TV, Obi said the  government has so far engaged in a haphazard and poorly managed implementation of the policy.

 

“I have consistently maintained that I would have removed the fuel subsidy,” Obi said, pointing to his campaign manifesto. “If you go to my manifesto, it’s there. Steps I would have taken to do it in an organised manner. There was nothing wrong in the removal of subsidy. What is wrong is the haphazard way in which it was announced and implemented. Everybody knows that the subsidy regime was a solution of criminality. There was a lot of corruption, which they needed to out. Do it in an organised manner.”

 

 

“And since you’re doing it for savings, we’re told we’re doing it because we don’t want to continue to borrow, to continue the subsidy. And the removal of it will be able to have available funds to be invested in critical areas of development. With all these things, billions saved, where is it? Where is it invested in those critical areas of development?” Obi queried.

 

Speaking further during the interview, the former Anambra State Governor also questioned the manner in which the policy on floating the naira was implemented.

 

He argued that having a productive economy should have preceded the floating of the naira.

 

“There’s nothing wrong with floating your currency. There’s nothing wrong in even devaluing your currency. But you do this when you have productivity. What devaluation or floating does is that your currency becomes, in terms of value, low. You attract investment. Your products become more marketable. But where we are unproductive, you have nothing to sell. So it’s a double whammy. So in all this, I would have done the same thing in an organised manner,” he said.

 

Pressed on how he would have managed both subsidy removal and currency floatation differently, Obi insisted on planning, transparency and gradual implementation.

 

He said, “The subsidy removes the criminality that’s associated with it, which is over 50% of it. Be able to sit down with the operators there and come up with a pricing that will be agreed. And then, whatever we’re able to save from it, have a specific place we’re investing it.

 

“We will need to have a national planning where all the resources will be put in. It is not just something you say, oh, we are sharing it the way we used to share every other money. No, because that’s not what you said. You said, we will be able to put it in critical areas of development. That was your promise. So we’ve removed it. People want to see where these funds are invested. It’s a very clear thing. We’re not the only country who’s done that before. Countries after countries go with national plan.”

 

Obi further emphasised the need to have a gradual implementation of the policy while boosting local production before taking such monetary steps.

 

“I would have focused on making sure that we ramp up production, the agriculture, the manufacturing, and everything, and do it gradually,” he said

Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho has made an allegation against President Bola Tinubu.

 

He accused Tinubu of continuing the prosecution he suffered under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

 

Igboho’s spokesman, Olayemi Koiki, in an audio message sent to SaharaReporters on Monday claimed that Tinubu's government is witch-hunting Igboho.

 

Koiki also claimed that Igboho's accounts have been blocked by the goverhment.

 

“It is unclear why the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has continued to witch-hunt Sunday Igboho. Till today, he is still on the wanted persons list,” Koiki said.

 

Koiki lamented that, despite court orders and the release of Igboho by the Benin Republic authorities, the Nigerian government has allegedly refused to remove him from the list of wanted persons.

 

He added, “We asked that his bank accounts be opened, and they refused; same for his companies.

 

“Sunday Igboho’s offence was standing up against the injustice happening in Yorubaland, and the issues he protested against are still prevalent.”

 

According to Koiki, Igboho is treated with dignity abroad but remains labelled a criminal in his own country.

 

“When he travels around the world, he is not seen as a criminal but only in his home country. Even when the court said he should be compensated, no one compensated him till date,” he said.

 

Koiki accused the Buhari-led government of attempting to eliminate Igboho during the controversial raid on his Ibadan residence in July 2021, carried out by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

 

The DSS had claimed that the raid was based on intelligence that Igboho was stockpiling weapons. Although Igboho escaped the raid, the DSS later declared him wanted and claimed to have recovered firearms from his home.

 

After fleeing to the Republic of Benin, Igboho was arrested and detained. He was later arraigned at the Court d’Appel in Cotonou on charges including arms smuggling, inciting violence, and promoting secession from Nigeria.

 

 

His release by Beninese authorities in March 2022 was met with jubilation in parts of the Southwest.

 

Prominent Yoruba historian and advocate for the Oodua Nation, Banji Akintoye, also alleged that the Nigerian government tried to pressure Igboho into renouncing his cause while in detention.

 

Akintoye claimed that the then Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.), acting as a special envoy, visited Igboho in prison and presented him with a document offering billions of naira in exchange for abandoning his agitation for Yoruba independence.

 

“He refused to sign the document, and Buratai subsequently took it away,” Akintoye said.

 

In October 2022, Igboho reportedly wrote to then UK Labour Leader and now Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, urging the British government to acknowledge and support the Yoruba secessionist movement in Nigeria.

 

Despite his release, Sunday Igboho has yet to return to Nigeria, with his supporters insisting he remains unjustly targeted by the state.

FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike has revealed how the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP can survive its current crisis.

 

Wike said the party will survive if it adheres strictly to its constitution and the 1999 Constitution.

 

Wike, who is the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, stated this on Monday in Abuja at a meeting with former Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Samuel Ortom (Benue), and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia).

 

The meeting also had in attendance Senator Anyanwu; former Senate Minority Leader Philip Aduda; serving and former federal and state lawmakers; and zonal and state party executives.

 

Wike described those who visited him as stakeholders of the PDP, saying they believe in the survival of the party.

 

 

According to Wike, the PDP would not have been boxed into its current situation if it had listened to the advice of the “Group of Five Governors (G5).”

 

He recalled the agitation of the five governors for presidential zoning or rotation, noting that it has stabilized the polity.

 

He cautioned against double standards, wondering why only the National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, was prevented from returning to his position after losing the Imo State governorship poll.

 

Wike said: “All of you here are those who are committed to the survival of our party, not just on TV talking or in the newspapers talking, but you are committed to the party at the various levels.

 

“Today, this country is stabilized because of the activities of the G5 Governors. You may like us, you may hate us. The truth of the matter is that if the G5 did not take the decision we took, this country would have been in crisis.

 

“It doesn’t matter who the beneficiary was, but the right thing had to be done and we still stand by that decision.

 

“If the party had listened to what we said, we wouldn’t have been where we are today, and we have continued to sound it to the party: let the constitution of the party and of the country be respected.”

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC Joe Igbokwe has expressed worry over the alleged fall out between President Bola Tinubu and the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

 

According to him, some people are already celebrating the rumoured beef and want it to escalate into another political chaos.

 

In a post on Facebook, he claimed the issue has been settled and forgotten.

 

He wrote, “Some people have been celebrating the infractions between PBAT and his son Gov Sanwo Olu thinking that it will escalate. No sir, it can never happen.

 

“The leader has always been a wise man from day one. All is forgotten and the case rested”.

 

There has been speculations over alleged fall out between the governor and his political godfather, Tinubu.

 

A viral video that emerged recently, captured a moment when the president reportedly shunned the governor at an event in Lagos State

The Take It Back Movement has announced venues for its protest on Nigeria's Democracy Day on June 12.

 

The protest according to the group will take place across the country.

 

Recall that the movement called on Nigerians to hit the streets in protest against economic hardship, insecurity, and what it describes as the erosion of civil liberties under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

 

Speaking with Punch on Monday, the National Coordinator of the movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, confirmed that protests would be held in at least 20 locations nationwide, spanning the North, South, East, and West.

 

“In Abuja, we will converge at Eagle Square by 8:00 am. In Lagos, we have four locations: Badagry, Maryland, Agbara, and Toll Gate, all starting by 7:00 am,” he said. 

Other locations include Cathedral Junction in Akure, Ondo State (8 am), Museum Ground in Benin City (9 am), and Gida Matasa in Niger State (8 am).

 

Sanyaolu listed multiple venues in Delta State, including:

 

Amukpe Roundabout in Sapele

 

Summit Junction, Koka Junction in Asaba

 

Otovwodo Junction in Ughelli

 

Effurun Roundabout, PTI Junction, and DSC Roundabout in Warri

 

Police Station Junction in Abraka

 

Other confirmed venues:

 

Mokola Roundabout, Ibadan, Oyo State (8 am)

 

Kasuwan Gamboru Flyover, Borno (8 am)

 

Olaiya Junction, Osogbo, Osun State

 

Juppu Jam Road, Yola, Adamawa

 

Maiduguri Bypass Roundabout, Damaturu, Yobe

 

Bauchi School of ACR, Bauchi (Yelewam Makaranta, 8 am)

 

The group stated that the protests aim to demand accountability and reaffirm citizens’ rights.

 

 

“We are using June 12 as a day to exercise our democratic rights. The Constitution clearly states that the government’s primary duty is the security and welfare of the people. That has failed under Tinubu,” Sanyaolu stated.

 

Citing a report by Amnesty International, he claimed that over 10,000 Nigerians had lost their lives to insecurity since Tinubu took office.

 

“In Benue State, over 40,000 people are displaced; in Plateau, the figure is around 68,000. Nigerians are suffering, and the government appears indifferent,” he said.

 

The movement also accused the Tinubu administration of clamping down on freedom of speech and suppressing opposition voices.

 

“Under this administration, the civic space is under attack. Government critics are being hounded. We want to raise awareness and push back against this trend,” he added.

 

Sanyaolu issued a stern warning to security agencies, urging them to protect rather than repress protesters.

 

He added, “The right to protest is enshrined in the Constitution and upheld by the Supreme Court. The police have a duty to protect protesters and ensure their safety.”

 

He called on Nigerians to “reclaim the soul of the country” and take a stand against bad governance.

 

Popular singer and activist Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa aka Charly Boy has made a revelation.

 

He revealed that women didn’t let him rest, even though they all knew he was married.

 

This is as he confessed that he took some suggestive n@de pictures about 30 years ago because he had a banging body.

 

In a post on his X handle on Tuesday, the singer said he had heard stories about his late father from when he was young and single.

 

According to Charly Boy, rumours had it that women didn’t let his father rest while he was attending Achimota College in Ghana.

 

He said: “There are times and seasons in everyone’s life.

 

“I heard stories of my beloved late father when he was single and young. He attended Achimota College in Ghana.

 

“Rumours had it that women no let the fine Bobo rest. He was always showing off his body ‘cos he was a gym rat too.

 

“30 years ago, I took some suggestive n@de pictures because I knew I had a banging body, and the women no let me rest even when they all knew I was married.

 

“Yea! You can say, na my papa born me.”

Kenneth Okonkwo, a lawyer and Nollywood actor has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of throwing unnecessary obstacles in the way of opposition members in Nigeria’s polity.

 

Speaking on Arise Television on Monday, Okonkwo described the electoral body as a department of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He alleged that INEC has continued to frustrate efforts by the coalition, championed by a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, to oust President Bola Tinubu from power.

 

 

Speaking on the coalition plans, the lawyer debunked claims that the movement was already in disarray.

 

He said, “Well, a coalition is a group of interested parties that come together for a common goal. You know, Nigerians like formulating stories which I call market talk. How can something be in disarray when it has not yet started?”

 

Okonkwo also noted that at the moment, all the political bigwigs interested in the coalition have only one aim which is to remove the APC-led government from power.

 

“People are talking and some opponents are already selling to you that it’s in disarray. What we have now is common priorities we don’t have individual difference because the time for individual ambitions have not commenced.

 

“So we are just talking about the options that we have, which is the option of; do we go for a new party altogether? Now with INEC as a department of APC, you know that they put a lot of roadblocks for the opposition and engages a lot of obstacles,” Okonkwo stated.

 

He further said that should the rule of law be respected, the coalition would have preferred to name a new party ahead of the 2027 elections.

 

“If we are in a nation where the rule of law is guaranteed under this kind of INEC, it would have been preferred to have a new party altogether, registered, where everyone would move in.

 

“But when INEC has the tendencies of delaying what is apparent, you can’t throw all your eggs in one basket,” he added

The National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Barr Julius Abure, has warned its 2023 presidential election candidate, Peter Obi, to stop blackmailing the party’s officials.

 

Abure said the attention of the party’s leadership was called to an interview on Monday granted by Obi wherein he alleged that the APC-led federal government has infiltrated the leadership of the Labour Party and, by so doing, fomented a crisis in the party.

 

A statement issued by the Labour Party’s national secretary, Alhaji Umar Farouk Ibrahim, said that Obi could not produce any tangible evidence when asked to produce evidence.

 

“He said that the national chairman, Barrister Julius Abure, referred to the Abia State governor, Dr. Alex Otti, as a dwarf.

 

“As a member of our party, we sincerely do not wish to join issues with Mr. Obi, but for his penchant to constantly misinform Nigerians on the real reasons for the crisis in the party, knowing that virtually most other parties are in one form of crisis or the other. We sincerely hope he will introspect and move away from these ill-conceived narratives. 

 

“It is therefore pertinent to put on record that the problem with the Labour Party was not created by the ruling party (APC). Rather, the problem in the Labour Party was created and sustained by Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti, the governor of Abia State, who is presently serving a suspension for anti-party activities. We dare Obi to produce any tangible or intangible evidence which suggests remotely or otherwise that the Abure leadership of the Labour Party is in bed with the APC-led government,” the party said.

 

The statement said nobody is infallible, adding, “it behoves anyone who makes mistakes to be bold enough to own it.

 

“When good leaders fail, they should own up to their responsibilities. Obi was unable to provide leadership for the party. He should own up to his mistakes. Therefore, it is shameful for Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti to continue accusing the government of infiltrating the Labour Party and demarketing it.

 

“This same government was in existence in 2022 when the party made six aspirants, including Prof. Pat Utomi, to step down for Peter Obi as the party’s candidate. The government existed when the party crisscrossed all the country’s nooks and crannies, including the insecurity-prone areas, campaigning for Peter Obi in 2022 and 2023.

 

“The government existed when the national chairman, Julius Abure, travelled across Europe and the United States to galvanise support for Peter Obi. The government also existed when the party leadership mobilised its members across the state, leading to over six million votes won during the election.

 

“It was the same leadership that you claimed had been infiltrated that stood with Peter Obi throughout the tribunal and up to the Supreme Court. The same Abure appeared in court more than Obi, refusing to be cowed when a splinter group wanted to hijack the process. The government existed when Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti were given sole tickets for 2027, even against the status quo.

 

“For the records, there was no problem in the Labour Party until Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti went to Umuahia, Abia State, to create an illegal and unconstitutional Caretaker Committee that polarised the party. And may I ask, is it the ruling party that sent Obi and Otti to Umuahia to create a division in the party?

 

 

“They were also aware that the courts, from the lower court up to the Supreme Court, clearly affirmed the party’s leadership, but Peter Obi and Alex Otti surreptitiously plotted to hijack the party’s leadership by instigating the division. Again, is the government in power creating the division or forcing them to march to INEC headquarters to exhibit their ignorance? the statement asked.

 

The statement added: “For Peter Obi to respond to the comment where the National Chairman referred to the governor as dwarfy in knowledge, we want to say clearly that there is no action without a reaction. The National Chairman was only responding to a pejorative comment made by the governor, wherein he referred to the National Chairman as ‘masturbating’.

 

 

“The governor neither retracted nor apologised for that reckless statement. He showed utter disrespect to the constituted authority of the party, to the man who went out of his way to help him achieve his ambition to be a governor.

 

“If the governor is not limited or dwarfy in knowledge, he would have appreciated the import of the Supreme Court judgement, which practically resolved the crisis in the party, but these men were only blinded by their inordinate desire to wrestle the party from the present leadership.

 

Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX), a Ponzi scheme that disappeared with subscribers’ funds earlier in the year restored depositors’ balance on Tuesday amidst intensified investigation by the Nigerian authorities.

 

LEADERSHIP recalls that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) launched investigations into the disappearance of deposits by Nigerians with a pledge to recover the losses.

 

However, while subscribers said on Tuesday that they were able to view the amounts in their wallets prior to the platform’s alleged crash in April, victims were being asked to pay additional fees to retrieve their lost investments.

 

In order to purportedly retrieve their lost fund, a new deposit of $200 was requested as fresh deposit from individuals who initially invested over $1,000 and $100 from those who invested below $1,000.

 

A victim told our correspondent anonymously, “I have been able to view my balance but it makes no sense to be asked for a fresh deposit to retrieve my investment. 

 

“I’ll wait to see what happens to know what to do next, but if it requires a fresh deposit, then count me out.”

 

However, the scheme allegedly demanded the extra payments before investors can access or withdraw the funds.

 

CBEX caught victims unawares in April when it collapsed without warning, locking users out of their accounts and sparking panic.

 

Furious victims embarked on violent protests, including the looting of the scheme’s office in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

 

The company had previously promised to double deposits within 40 days.

 

Despite locking their Telegram group to suppress complaints, CBEX operators blamed hackers for the shutdown.

 

The EFCC said it arrested some suspects and traced funds to multiple countries while some suspects were also recently declared wanted by the anti-graft agency in connection with the cryptocurrency scam.

 

EFCC, however warned that it might not be able to recover all lost investments

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