Popular Afrobeat sensation Davido, has found himself in a spat with an Abuja-based barber following a seemingly harmless social media post, which led to a fiery exchange between the two parties.
The incident unfolded when Davido took to his Instagram page to share photos of himself, extending an invitation to his followers to join him in a city in the United Arab Emirates.
“HABIBI COME TO DUBAI !!!!!,” Davido wrote.
However, what followed was unexpected as an Abuja barber, identified as Kallystouch, decided to take a jab at the musician in the comment section.
Kallystouch’s comment, referring to Davido as the “only 3rd man in the music industry,” seemed to irk the singer.
Davido responded sharply, expressing disappointment in Kallystouch’s behavior, especially considering he had saved the barber’s contact with the intention of patronizing his services in the future.
In his reply, Davido highlighted how he had previously supported his barbers by opening shops for them and expressed his dismay at what he perceived as a missed opportunity for Kallystouch to benefit from his patronage.
The exchange escalated as Davido lamented that Kallystouch appeared to prioritize social media over seizing the chance to enhance his career.
“I don save ur picture I for come Abuja … u for cut my hair wey don almost finish but u like social media … my last 3 barbers I open shop for them .. nah so u dull ur generation blessing smh,” Davido responded.
Unbothered by Davido’s response, Kallystouch took to his Instagram story to reaffirm his allegiance to Wizkid, referring to himself as a member of the Wizkid FC (Football Club) and asserting that no amount of pressure from Davido or his fans would sway him from his loyalty.
“Davido no be my God, FC forever. I am a Wizkid FC Barber 1 period,” he wrote.
Comedienne, media personality and movie actress Wofai Fada has continued to promote her wedding on social media despite her husband’s family’s disapproval of their marriage.
Wofai Fada announced her marriage to Taiwo Cole in an Instagram post on Saturday with their pre-wedding pictues.
However, the Cole family in a statement dissociated themselves from the marriage, saying they were unaware of the marriage plans and did not grant consent or support.
Unconfirmed reports claim Taiwo Cole’s father rejected their marriage because of their age difference.
Despite the statement, Wofai who appeared seemingly unbothered, shared their pre-wedding video on her Instagram account on Sunday with the caption “Let love lead.”
In a post via her Instagram story as well, Wofai Fada asserted her love while backing it with Bible verses. The quotes emphasised the power of love in its genuine form over the fear of common people.
She wrote:
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 John 4:18).”
“Yesterday, we saw that as we abide in love, we can be sure we abide in God (1 John 4:16).”
Meanwhile, Taiwo’s sister who appears to be in support of the marriage, posted pictures from their traditional wedding on X with a congratulatory message.
She wrote:
“Congratulations to my twin brother and my new sister in love – your union is blessed with love. Let love lead! #TWO24.”
Renowned businessman, socialite, and philanthropist, Obi Cubana, has appealed to the federal and state governments to create an enabling environment that fosters entrepreneurship and makes life easier for Nigerian youths.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the Gavice Logistics conference on igniting innovation, Obi Cubana emphasized the need for infrastructure development and improved security to boost entrepreneurship.
According to Obi Cubana, a conducive business environment is crucial for the success of Nigerian youths. He highlighted the importance of good roads, for instance, in the logistics business, saying:
“Youths They need good roads to transport their goods from one point to the other”.
He urged governments to construct good roads and address insecurity, which hinders business growth.
Obi Cubana stressed that youths are not asking for handouts but rather an environment that allows them to thrive.
“The youths are not asking governments to buy vehicles for them but to create that enabling environment and remove all those blockages on the road.”
He lamented the multiple taxes and regulatory hurdles that discourage young entrepreneurs, saying:
“People buy and sell, but the multiple taxes to worry about is demoralising.
He warned that if these challenges persist, youths may be driven to harmful activities, and the consequences would be dire.
“If these young people start to get involved in harmful things, who do we hold responsible?”
“Also, people should be able to move from one point to the other without fear of being robbed or kidnapped” he said.
The Chairman of Cubana Group also advised youths to embrace innovation and hard work to achieve success.
He emphasized that business operators must adapt to different seasons and challenges, saying:
“There are different seasons in businesses. It is left to the operators of businesses to know how to approach each season.
“There are times when things are difficult and times when the business is doing very well.
“Life is a hurdle, and with each challenge faced, you must know how to jump it and continue your journey to the next stage until you succeed.
“Nobody should stop a journey because times are hard.
“Therefore, business owners especially the young ones, must be innovative” he said.
A 39-year-old fruit seller, Dolapo Babalola, has narrated how he killed his cousin and four others for rituals at Okeigbo, in Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Babalola, who was paraded alongside 18 other suspected criminals, confessed that he used their body parts for rituals.
His herbalists and accomplices were also paraded by the police at the police headquarters in Akure, the state capital.
In an interview with newsmen, the suspect narrated how he killed his victims and disembered their bodies for rituals.
The suspect said he always attack motorcyclists by snatching their bikes from them and thereafter, killed them when his victims recognise him. He said he attacked his victims with stone and stick whenever they recognise him after dragging their motorcycles with them.
The suspect, who confessed that he had been in the illicit business since 2021, said they carried out their operations within the town and the neighbouring states.
Babalola said: “I have killed five persons, including my cousin and my friend and snatched their motorcycles. I killed Opeyemi, who was my friend and sold the motorcycle to one man at Ibadan called Toheed.
“I do not sell human parts but I took part of one of my victims’ bodies to an herbalist in Ondo, who promised to give me an Ifa Oracle.
“At the point where we snatch motorcycles, anyone who struggles with me in the process gets hit on the head with a big stone and a stick.”
Parading the suspects, the state Commissioner of Police, Abayomi Oladapo, said: “Sequel to the arrest of one Babalola Daniel, who led police detectives to a shallow grave at Okeigbo where the corpse of Opeyemi Oyelakin, a commercial motorcyclist was exhumed, other suspects have been arrested in connection with the case.
“Further investigation revealed that the suspect had killed four persons in various locations and stole their motorcycles.
“In April 2023, he killed a motorcyclist in Kabba, Kogi State and Ife along Ilesha road in Osun State, removed some parts from the corpse for rituals.
“In June 2023, he killed another motorcyclist at Ondo town and dumped the corpse in a farm at Oboto bush along Bolorunduro road, Ondo town while in October 2023, the suspect and one Sikiru Mutiu aka S.K deceived his childhood friend by name Joel Olagoke to take them with his motorcycle to a location where he was killed, his body dismembered and handed to herbalists: Mujeeb Lawal and Shina Ojo (both in police custody), for rituals.
“The duo of Abiola Toheeb and Ayegbajeje Michael, who are receivers of stolen items and one Oyediran Olaitan, who helped in the production of fake documents to aid the selling of the stolen motorcycles have been arrested.
With service delivery in the financial services sector being gradually taken over by Artificial Intelligence (AI), Nigerians are at risk of data abuse from providers of financial services, LEADERSHIP can now reveal.
This is as Nigeria is losing $500 million to cybercrimes, translating to N675 billion annually using the N1,350/$ conversion rate that the nation’s currency traded at the weekend.
Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows the country loses the aforementioned annually to various forms of cybercrimes, with the banks losing N8 billion to cybercrimes in 2022.
While NCC disclosed that 71 percent of companies reported one form of cyber-attack or another, the Nigeria Interbank Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) disclosed that the financial industry lost N50.5 billion to fraud between 2019 and July 2023.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a simulation of human intelligence into a machine format such that the machine can do routine tasks faster.
As much as AI is good for promotion of banking, insurance and pension businesses, experts have pointed out the challenge in data protection and privacy.
There are concerns that private data submitted to financial sector providers, which ought to be secret, could be exposed through AI, thereby serving as a breeding ground for cybercriminals to launch attacks on unsuspecting customers of banks and other financial services providers.
To this end, Nigerians have been warned to beware of AI-induced software they download on their phones as most of them spy on private information that could be hacked by hackers to perpetrate their evil acts.
Financial firms have reported significant direct losses, totaling almost $12 billion since 2004 and $2.5 billion since 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has disclosed.
In its April 2024 Global Financial Stability Report released recently, IMF stated that attacks on financial firms account for nearly one-fifth of the total, of which banks are the most exposed.
Similarly, informational technology (IT) professionals are concerned about the threat landscape associated with Artificial Intelligence (AI), and have revealed that attackers are now using sophisticated linguistic techniques, such as longer sentences, more punctuations and increased text volume, to carry out attacks, particularly in the financial industry.
As they anticipate more threat actors utilising AI to enlarge every facet of their offensive toolbox, IT experts claim that generative AI enables attackers to quickly and efficiently create complex and targeted attacks.
The latest report from Computer Crime Research Centre (CCRC) has projected that the cost of cybercrime will rise to $12 trillion by 2024 due to AI technology, saying: “As we move forward in 2024 and 2025, in the market will see attackers adopting AI to carry out their attacks. AI will be adopted to deliver more cost-efficient, rapid development of new malware and ransomware variants.
“Deepfake technologies will take phishing and impersonation attacks to a new level. Businesses will embrace AI but will be threatened by its use in novel cyber-attacks. There is also a risk that the dynamic character of AI-driven attacks could make static defence mechanisms ineffective.
“Vertical segments covering manufacturing, retail, professional services, financial, and utilities will be the most vulnerable. This is partly driven by vulnerabilities across the legacy nature of their network, technology maturity, and elevated risk impact levels to the business as a result of cyber-attacks,” the report revealed.
Corroborating the findings of the research, retired director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Dr. Jacob Afolabi, observed that there had been a plethora of significant incidents concerning cyber threats in 2023, all of which have a wide range of effects on governmental or organisational entities.
Afolabi explained that Al technologies often collect and analyse large amounts of data, raising issues related to data privacy and security.
“As Al technologies become increasingly sophisticated, the security risks associated with their use and the potential for misuse also increases. Hackers and malicious actors can harness the power of Al to develop more advanced cyber-attacks, bypass security measures, and exploit vulnerabilities in systems,” he asserted.
To diminish privacy risks, Afolabi advocated strict data protection regulations and safe data handling practices.
While over-reliance on Al systems may lead to a loss of creativity, critical thinking skills, and human intuition, the retired director stressed the need to strike a balance between Al-assisted decision-making and human input, which is vital to preserving human cognitive abilities.
“Al-driven automation has the potential to lead to job losses across various industries, particularly for low-skilled workers. To mitigate the risk, the workforce must adapt and acquire new skills to remain relevant in the changing landscape. This is especially true for lower-skilled workers in the current labour force,” he added.
In the same vein, the government affairs director, Microsoft Africa, Akua Gyekye, stated that when it comes to using AI safely, one of the most effective ways to accelerate progress is to build on existing governmental frameworks.
Several African countries, he stressed, had already begun to formulate their own legal and policy frameworks and are helping to lead discussions around AI policy and strategy development on a regional, continental, and global scale, offering valuable insights for other countries looking to do the same, adding that, while at different stages of implementation, they all are looking to find balance between the need to create guardrails for the new technology and at the same time wanting to help a nascent industry grow, innovate, and adopt these new and emerging technologies.
She stated that the African Union (AU) continues to convene experts from across the continent and this year published a policy draft containing a comprehensive continental strategy for AI regulations for African countries.
The head of corporate planning, strategy and risk management at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Kelechi Nwankwo, explained that the fast-disruptive world of the telecoms industry had witnessed the convergence of diverse technological advancements with the potential to reshape the future.
Expressing similar concern, the managing director/CEO, Guinea Insurance Plc, Ademola Abidogun, said that as much as artificial intelligence is good for the promotion of insurance and pension businesses, the challenge lies in data protection.
“AI helps profile customers and assists in carving out a product that suits the needs of each customer, relying on their data to know what each customer wants at any point in time.
“Yet, as good as AI is, there are the issues of data protection and privacy. This is critical so that sensitive information about a customer is not abused by data harvesters, thereby tramping on their privacy. There should be regulation on data that can be harvested for use, and on some sensitive information, there should be consent before that information can be used. Stakeholders should come together to address this, especially in the era of cybercrimes and attacks,” he stated.
The IMF had earlier said cyber events constitute a major operational risk that might jeopardise the operational stability of financial institutions and negatively impact macrofinancial stability as a whole.
To strengthen resilience in the financial sector, the IMF suggested that central banks and authorities must create a sufficient national cyber security strategy and implement efficient regulation and supervisory measures, which should include: regular evaluation of the state of cyber security and detection of possible systemic vulnerabilities resulting from concentrations and interconnections, including those arising from third-party service providers; improved cyber-related governance to lower cyber risk and supports the idea of promoting cyber ‘maturity’ among financial sector companies, including board-level access to cyber security knowledge, among others.
Similarly, the chairman of the Committee of Chief Information Security Officers of Nigerian Financial Institutions (CCISONFI), Mr. Festus Amede, stated the importance of implementing robust security measures to protect sensitive financial data in the face of emerging threats.
Phillips Consulting Limited (PCL), in a report, noted that the surge in big data, driven by customers’ digital interactions and the utilisation of structured and unstructured data, along with the rapid expansion of cloud technology and robust computational resources, has accelerated this transformative change, enabling organisations to embrace AI with unprecedented readiness.
Liverpool winger, Mohamed Salah, on Sunday, matched a record set by Wayne Rooney during their 4-2 win over Tottenham.
Salah, Andy Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott all scored at Anfield before the hour mark, as the Reds kept their faint title hopes alive.
As well as scoring the opener, the ‘Egyptian King’ assisted Elliott for his wondergoal.
This brings his tally for the campaign to 18 goals and 10 assists so far.
Salah has now become the first player to score 10+ and assist 10+ in three consecutive seasons.
Furthermore, he has become just the second player to hit double figures in both metrics in five separate seasons.
The only other player to achieve this feat was Rooney while he played at Manchester United
Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson to President Bola Tinubu, has suggested that Peter Obi, former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, is a bitter person.
Onanuga made the expression in a post on his X handle on Monday, while sharing another post on Obi by Nwachukwu Chigozie @chigozie0102.
Chigozie in his post called Obi ‘chief mourner’, saying he (Obi) woke up and went to Canada to ‘practice demarketing of Nigeria.’
“Chief mourner woke up, wore his usual mourning clothes and went to Canada to practice his market to market demarketing of Nigeria, while he was at it, the Mayor of the town got hold of the Mic and started singing the praises of Nigeria, Lagos in particular. The bitter loser didn’t know when he joined his hurriedly assembled crowd to start clapping for the mayor.”
The statement might have stemmed from Obi’s recent visit to Canada, where he criticized the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, server during the last presidential election.
The former Anambra State governor also complained that the current administration, alongside its agencies, had resorted to calling him names and organizing town hall meeting for him.
However, the spokesman to the presidency quoted the post on his personal X handle, writing: “Bitter Obi”.
Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Oluyinka Olumide, stated that 80 per cent of buildings in Ibeju Lekki have no approval.
He disclosed this in a recent interview with newsmen.
He said, “Just last week Thursday and Friday, myself and the team were in the Ibeju Lekki and Epe axis and you would agree with me that anybody passing through that corridor would see a lot of estates marked. We went there, and I can tell you that from what we saw, over 80 per cent of them do not have approval.
“The procedure to get approval is first to get the planning information, as to what those areas have been zoned for. In this case, what we have is agricultural land, and people now go to their families to buy agricultural land. Of course, those lands would be sold because those families do not know the use such land would be put to.
“The next thing to do is the fence permit. If you missed the earlier information on not knowing the area zoning, at the point of getting the fence permit, you would be able to detect what the area is zoned for. After that, the layout permits a large expense of land follows.”
Olumide noted that a layout permit cannot be obtained if it is not zoned for the purpose it was designed for or for the purpose it was being requested.
“So, you can see all these layers, but people still go ahead to start advertising. Some have even gone to the extent of displaying the sizes they want to sell. Imagine someone in the diaspora who wants to send money without any knowledge. Then, no approval is eventually gotten. Even if they pass the assignment and the survey to them, we would not grant the individual permit, because that area is not zoned for that purpose,” the commissioner explained.
In the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer of Octo5 Holdings, Jide Odusolu, said Lekki Peninsula’s masterplan got distorted post-2010 due to rapid development, with newer estates sidestepping old regulations.
He said, “The Lekki peninsula had a master plan which was originally launched when Bola Tinubu was the governor and updated under Babatunde Fashola. Almost all large estates along the Lekki corridor, especially those developed between 2000-2008, have approved layout plans. It was obligatory and rigidly enforced by the state government.
“However, starting in 2010, the plans became distorted with accelerated development, and many of the smaller schemes that sprung up deliberately sought to avoid the large infrastructure burdens carried by the legacy era developments.
“I am sure investigations with developers such as UPDC (Pinnock Beach), Trojan Estate, Aircom (Northern Foreshore), Cityscape (Buenavista), Howard Roarks (Lake View) and Octo5 (Ocean Bay) will reveal how they all spent huge sums providing infrastructure with zero support from the government while still paying punitive taxes.”
According to Odusolu, the government weaponised planning and titling for internally generated revenue, and that disincentivises compliance, leading to chaotic development.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Fame at Oyster & Co. Nigeria, Femi Oyedele, said most of the estates had layout plans that were not coordinated to form a planned city.
He noted that the communities that were not planned were the historic settlements that the government excised in the scheme.
“To do Lekki better, those estates which have been approved on the west and east arterial roads, which go down to Awoyaya on the east side and to Akodo on the west side of Lekki-Epe Expressway, must be demolished to make way for the planned roads.
“The kind of restoration done to Abuja by Nasir El’Rufai must be done in Lekki. Lekki Peninsular and Victoria Island have a population of over 3 million people. Glasgow has a population of less than 2 million people with twice the roads of Lekki Peninsula,” he enunciated.
The Naira depreciated by N130 against the United States dollar at the parallel foreign exchange market on Sunday.
A Bureau De Change operator, Mistila Dayyabu, disclosed this in an interview.
He noted that Naira dropped to N1,420 per dollar from N1,290 in less than 48 hours at the parallel market.
“The Naira depreciated to N1,420 per dollar on Sunday at the parallel market due to high demand. We buy at N1,410 per dollar and sell at N1420 as of Sunday. It was N1290 per dollar on Friday,” told DAILY POST.
Recalls that the Naira appreciated at both the official and parallel foreign exchange markets on Friday.
The Naira has continued to experience fluctuations in foreign exchange despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s interventions.
From March 26th to April 26th, 2024, the apex bank released FX thrice to Bureau De Change operators.
Financial expert Kalu Aja said CBN’s intervention was the reason for the appreciation of the Naira from March to mid-April 2024.
The Mundubawa country home of former governor Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau has been gutted by Fire, destroying the sitting room of his second Wife, Halima Shekarau.
Although the fire was suspected to have started from the kitchen, the actual cause could not be immediately ascertained.
Officials of the State Fire Service struggled to put it off.
A source close to the family told our correspondent that the fire started from the inner kitchen.
He said, “we thank God the fire only affected one of Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau’s sitting roomm and already the Fire Service officials are working to quench it.”
The spokesperson of the State Fire Service confirmed the Incident.
“We are still at the house and you know I cannot comment on anything now because we are still trying to make sure that the fire didn’t spread to other places”, he added.
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Popular comedians like AY Makun, Seyi Law, and MC Lively were among the personalities who attended the dedication ceremony of Atunyota Akpobome, also known as Ali Baba’s triplets.
The event, which took place on Sunday in Lagos, brought together Ali Baba’s friends, family, and professional acquaintances.
The dedication started with a church service at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Christ The Lord Central Parish in Lekki.
The service was followed by a reception at an event centre on Hakeem Dickson Street in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.
Ali Baba had on April 1 announced that his wife, Mary was delivered a set of triplets.
Many, however, did not believe the information which they tagged April Fools’ message.
Other guests at the event included Chigul, Bunmi Davis, Ajebo Comedian, and Adebola Williams.
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The value of Nigeria’s currency in circulation has risen to N3.87tn at the end of March.
According to the latest money and credit statistics on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the currency in circulation was N3.87tn, higher than N3.69tn in February and N3.65tn in January.
However, currency outside banks have also increased progressively during the first quarter, growing from N3.28tn in January to N3.41tn and N3.63tn in February and March, respectively.
The data revealed that over 90 per cent of currency in circulation is held outside of the banking system, indicating Nigerians are holding more cash.
In their personal statements, one of the members of the Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN at their March meeting, Muhammad Abdullahi, posited that the apex bank had identified high currency outside banks as one of the monetary drivers of the country’s inflation.
He said, “From available data, prices of domestic food items remain the major driver of headline inflation because of supply shortages and high cost of logistics and distribution.
“While this cannot be directly influenced using monetary policy tools, the bank’s response to the drivers of headline inflation is targeted at addressing identified monetary drivers such as money supply growth,
exchange rate depreciation and Currency-Outside-Banks, the combined impact of which will dampen inflationary pressure significantly.”
In January 2024, at the height of the currency redesign policy, currency in circulation stood at N1.386tn with the percentage of the cash outside the banks standing at 57 per cent at N792.184bn.
By February, the cash outside banks rose to N843.311bn, representing 85.9 per cent of the N982.097bn that was in circulation.
It dropped further in March to 85.8 per cent with N1.445tn of the N1.683tn CIC, outside the banking system.
The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 40-year-old male worshipper identified as Abiola, otherwise known as Aro, who was accused of defiling a 14-year-old minor (name withheld) at the Olorunloba Mosque restroom located on Ondo Road in the Ijebu-Ode area of Ogun State.
Before Saturday’s incident, the suspect had been a member of the mosque for more than 15 years, according to information obtained exclusively by PUNCH Metro.
Following the completion of the afternoon Muslim prayer in the mosque, our correspondent learnt that the incident happened on Saturday, March 4, 2024, at about 2:20pm.
Based on the information provided to the police officers at the Igbeba Division, the survivor claimed that she needed to relieve herself and went to the mosque’s bathroom to pass the stool.
She, however, explained that she heard a knock on the door shortly after she entered the restroom.
The survivor further claimed that she was startled when she opened the door and discovered Aro standing by it, even though she had assumed the knock was from her younger brother, who had also come for the prayer.
She told the police that she was trying to find out why Aro was in the women’s restroom when she surprisingly saw him by the door. He was said to have then allegedly shoved her back into the restroom and forced her up against the wall.
A police source who was privy to the report but craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak with the press told our correspondent that despite the survivor’s cries and pleas, Aro removed her pants violently and pinned the teenager to the toilet wall before having carnal knowledge of the girl.
A police document exclusively made available to PUNCH Metro on Sunday about the report of the incident partly read, “As a result of what Aro did, the survivor started bleeding uncontrollably from her private parts. She went back home to report the matter to her guardian, who took her to a general hospital in the area for medical attention.”
Following the suspect’s arrest, he was detained, according to the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, who also informed PUNCH Metro that the case would be forwarded to the State Criminal Investigation Department for additional investigation.
“The suspect has been arrested and detained for alleged defilement. He will be transferred to the State CID in Abeokuta immediately after the preliminary investigation is completed,” Odutola stated via a WhatsApp message on Sunday.
A related incident occurred on April 26, 2024, according to PUNCH Metro report, when the command detained two brothers, Olamijuwon Noibi and Lukman Olatunbosun, for suspected gang rape in Oke-Eri, Atan-Ijebu.
One of the suspects had tricked the survivor into coming to their apartment, where he allegedly assaulted her sexually and threatened to kill his younger brother, Olatunbosun, with a knife after he refused to take part in the crime.
Noibi was said to have also filmed the moment his brother was allegedly having unlawful sexual intercourse with the survivor.
The Nigerian government plans to impose stricter rules on cryptocurrency platforms to defeat the Naira against the dollar in the foreign exchange market.
The development comes as the Director General of Nigeria Securities and Exchange, Emotomtimi Agama, will meet with local and international crypto exchanges on Monday.
Blockchain Industry Coordinating Committee of Nigeria, BICCoN, chair, Lucky Uwakwe disclosed this in a statement.
The planned regulations became necessary after the Nigerian government lifted the suspension on cryptocurrency in December 2023.
“Everyone’s presence and insights are invaluable as we collectively navigate the regulatory terrain and strive toward fostering an environment conducive to innovation and growth within the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector,” he said.
The meeting comes amid the continued clampdown on Binance, OctaFX, and other cryptocurrency platforms based on the undermining of Naira in the forex market.
Recall that barely five days ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria stopped OPay, Palmpay, Kuda Bank, and Moniepoint from onboarding new customers over allegations of accounts being used for illicit foreign exchange transactions.
Governor of CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, in a briefing at the 293rd meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, said $26 billion was funnelled through cryptocurrency without a trace.