Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves have taken a significant hit, dropping by approximately $1.02bn within 18 days as the Central Bank of Nigeria steps up efforts aimed at defending the naira.

On March 18, 2024, the FX reserves stood at $34.45bn, but by April 3, it had dropped to $33.50bn, based on the latest data from the CBN.

Before the current decline, the reserve had been steadily growing, witnessing a remarkable 43-day surge between February 5 and March 18, 2024, during which it appreciated by $1.28bn.

The CBN attributed this rise to increased remittance payments from Nigerians abroad and heightened interest from foreign investors in local assets, including government debt securities.

Additionally, reforms in the foreign exchange market and an increase in oil production contributed to the reserve growth.

However, the trend since March 18 indicated a significant drawdown in the reserve. After peaking at $34.45bn, it gradually declined; $34.39bn on March 19, $33.57bn by April 2, and finally $33.50bn by April 3.

This rapid decline of $1.02bn within 18 days underscores the pressure on the reserve as efforts continue to stabilise the local currency.

The CBN has been actively intervening in the foreign exchange market to support the naira, which has faced pressure from various economic factors. These interventions often involve the sale of dollars to maintain liquidity in the market, a strategy that has likely contributed to the decrease in FX reserves.

During the 18 days under review, the Central Bank of Nigeria made two significant announcements. First, it declared the complete clearance of the valid foreign exchange backlog. Second, it facilitated the sale of foreign exchange to Bureau De Change operators in Nigeria at an exchange rate of N1,251/$1.

Usually, Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserve reflects the country’s balance of payments and its ability to meet international obligations. A substantial decline in reserve can erode investor confidence and potentially lead to a credit rating downgrade, which would further impact the nation’s borrowing costs.

The International Monetary Fund recently projected that Nigeria’s foreign reserve would experience a significant reduction, plummeting to $24bn by 2024. The IMF foresaw a challenging period for Nigeria’s financial account through 2024–25, driven by the absence of new Eurobond issuances, substantial repayments of existing funds and Eurobonds totalling $3.5bn, and continued portfolio outflows.

Meanwhile, the federal government has said it will issue domestic bonds denominated in foreign currency in the second quarter of this year, precisely in the month of June, a move which some economists believe would stabilise the naira and nation’s reserve.

The Federal Government has declared Tuesday and Wednesday, April 9 and 10, 2024, as public holidays to mark the Eid-el-Fitr celebration.

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday by the ministry’s permanent secretary, Aishetu Ndayako.

The minister congratulated all Muslims for the successful completion of the fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.

Tunji-Ojo called on them to imbibe and practise the virtues that entail kindness, love, tolerance, peace, good neighbourliness, and compassion, as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him).

The statement read, “The Federal Government of Nigeria has declared Tuesday, 9th and Wednesday, 10th April, 2024 as public holidays to mark Eid-el-Fitr celebration.

“The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, congratulates all Muslim Ummah for the successful completion of the fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.

“Tunji-Ojo calls on Muslim Ummmah to imbibe and practise the virtues that entails kindness, love, tolerance, peace, good neighbourliness, compassion as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him).

“He urged Nigerians to continue in the spirit of unity in order to improve and achieve peace and oneness in the country.

“The minister wishes all Muslim Ummah a happy Eid-el-Fitr celebration and prays that the peace, blessings, and favour of Allah be with everyone and our great nation.”

Some retired soldiers have warned the Federal Government to desist from rehabilitating and reintegrating some repentant terrorists who have gone through the government’s deradicalisation programme, Operations Safe Corridor (OSC).

Naija News reports that the rehabilitation programme began during former president Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and has seen no fewer than 4,000 ex-Boko Haram members go through the programme.

In January 2023, no fewer than 613 rehabilitated terrorists undergoing de-radicalisation were scheduled to be handed over by the military authorities to their respective state governors.

However, in July 2022, some repentant Boko Haram members, despite renouncing their membership of the terror group, were accused of having contact with their former colleagues and supplying them intelligence.

The former terrorists were said to be among the 800 persons who were recently reintegrated into the Bama community in Borno State and were resettled at the Government Girls’ Secondary School Bama.

Speaking on the development, a retired colonel, Hassan Stan-Labo told Punch that, “If we have mobilised and brought them (terrorists) out for rehabilitation, it is already too late; there is nothing we can do but to go the whole hog; go through the entire demobilisation, de-radicalisation and rehabilitation.

“However, if I were the commander-in-chief, my instructions would have been: ‘Don’t bring anybody for any damn rehabilitation; you bloody well will pay the price for whatever you have done on the battle front’.

“You want a battle, come get the battle. You have committed all kinds of atrocities and now, you turn around begging for forgiveness.

“We don’t have a responsibility to forgive you; we hasten your journey to heaven. Go and meet God and ask for penance. What do we tell the people in the displaced persons camps, who are not even getting the kind of treatment we are giving these guys?

“We can have the biometrics of these guys and since fingerprints are used in the course of recruitment, we should be able to fish out those who may want to join the military. If we have a very effective intelligence network on the ground, this wouldn’t happen. I’m also aware that the Borno State Government is documenting their biometrics data. That’s a very good starting point.”

Another retired military officer, who served in the Nigerian Navy but refused to be named, said it was wrong to assume that terrorists would repent because the government made them go through a programme.

He said, “We are talking of hard criminals who kill innocent people for a living and leave families deserted. They destroy people’s livelihoods and feel nothing. Why will a few months or years programme deradicalise them? What was the government thinking when it said it wants to reintegrate them back into the society to live with the same people whom they rendered homeless? The government needs to have a clear rethink. No terrorist should be treated with kid’s gloves.”

Also speaking, a former director of the Department of State Services, Mike Ejiofor, said the rehabilitation programme seemed not well-thought-out and ill-timed.

He said, “The government has been releasing some of them under the notion that they have been de-radicalised. These same people will go back into the society and start wreaking havoc. I think the government should reconsider its stance on the release of de-radicalised insurgents to avoid reintroducing criminals into the society.

“You can’t continue to release them in the heat of the problems when none of the people that have been arrested has been successfully prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others. Since they are not prosecuted, they are not afraid of going back to their old way.”

Ahead of the 2027 election, the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabi’u Kwakwanso, has said his party is the best alternative to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The former Governor of Kano State described the ruling APC as a failing party and the PDP as a failed party, adding that both parties do not have the competence to lead the country.

He likened the ruling APC and the PDP to birds of a feather, suggesting that both parties have inflicted immense suffering on Nigerians with their unpopular and inhumane policies.

He stated these during the party’s national convention, which took place at the A-Class Event Centre in Maitama, Abuja, on Saturday.

Kwankwaso guaranteed that the NNPP would introduce a revitalising change for citizens and the nation as a whole if it is given the chance to lead the nation.

The former Defence Minister asserted that Nigeria possesses sufficient resources and manpower to address insecurity.

He said, “We are all aware that the PDP has completely failed. Many of us decided in 2014, and 2015 to bring in some positive changes. Unfortunately, we have seen what happened from 2015 to date. This is the same APC government.

“Therefore, as far as we are concerned, we have a failing party that is the APC and we believe that this country requires an alternative to the APC and of course, the PDP and the only party, in my opinion, and based on facts, because the NNPP today is the fastest growing party in this country.

“I also believe even beyond this country, that is the only hope as we stand today. In many parts of this country, especially in northern Nigeria, particularly in my part of the north, so many people have been chased out of their homes, and so many have been killed. Some are in the bushes now in the forest under the care of bandits and other criminals. And it looks like many people don’t care.

“It is even becoming a normal thing to go and pick up people in their homes, on the roads, in the markets and so on. I believe it is only in this country that this sort of nonsense is happening. And it is the responsibility of every government, responsible government to ensure the peace of its people.

“I believe, as a former minister of defence in this country, as a former chief security officer of Kano State for eight years, and so on, I believe that we have adequate resources, we have enough manpower, we have all that it takes to protect Nigerians to peace in this country today. So it’s an opportunity for me to ensure that we bring on board a united, stronger, more peaceful, more prosperous Nigeria for all of us.”

The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has vowed not to give recognition or legitimacy to the leadership of the national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure.
NLC vowed not to rest until it unseat Abure as national chairman of the party.

The Congress also stated that the LP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, is free to leave the party if he chooses to.

The NLC spokesman, Benson Upah stated this on Sunday during an interview with Punch.

According to him, “Our position on this matter is clear and has not changed. Abure remains unknown to us. It is not a question of removal. As far as we know, he does not exist.”

Speaking further, Upah said the issue of whether Obi should stay or leave the party should not be debated, saying the former governor was free to determine his destiny.

According to him, the NLC cannot stand in the way of the presidential candidate should he decide to defect to another political platform.

While describing him as an asset, the spokesman reiterated that the congress would not stand in his way if he chose to leave.

“The right of choice is available to Mr Obi. If he chooses to leave the party, that is his preference. We can’t sit in judgment over him on that. But if he chooses to remain, of course, Peter Obi is an asset any day. I rest my case on that,” he added.

The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, arrested the General Overseer of CAC Freedom City Prophetic and Deliverance Ministry, Ilorin, Kwara State, Adeniyi James, for allegedly defrauding a member of the church to the tune of N3,980,000.

A Statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, made available to our correspondent in Ilorin on Saturday noted that the victim, Oluwole Babarinsa, had in a petition to the commission, alleged that James called him out during a church programme some time in 2021 that he had a revelation that he would travel abroad.

According to the petitioner, the cleric, in the course of giving the revelation, asked him about his preferred country, to which he replied “Canada”.

“Thereafter, we struck an agreement to talk later to perfect arrangements for the trip,” the petitioner said.

“The prophet later told me that he had a friend in Lagos who could help me facilitate my relocation to Canada, but for N1.7 million and N2.5 million for processing of flight ticket and travel documents, respectively”, the petitioner said.

The Petitioner further disclosed that he had to sell some of his property and took some loans before he could raise N3,980,000, which he gave the prophet to facilitate his quick relocation to Canada.

The Petitioner further said that after prolonged waiting with no result, he became agitated and began to query the prophet’s vision, prompting him to ask for a refund of his money.

He said that all efforts and entreaties to the suspect to refund his money yielded no positive result.

The EFCC said that the suspect would be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.

American actor and wrestler, Dwayne Johnson, popularly known as The Rock has vowed not to endorse the incumbent President of the United States (US), Joe Biden for a second term in his looming rematch with his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Sunday Telegraph recalls that Johnson endorsed Biden in his first presidential election contest in 2022 against ex-President Trump, commending him then as the former vice-president and senator over his “compassion, heart, drive and soul”.

But in an interview with Fox News on Friday, Johnson said, “Am I going to do that again this year? That answer’s no. I realise now going into this election, I will not do that.”

In September 2020, Johnson endorsed Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris.

“You guys are both experienced to lead, you’ve done great things,” The Rock had said.

“Joe, you’ve had such an incredible career, and you’ve led with such great compassion, heart, drive, and soul…Kamala, you have been a district attorney, a state attorney, a US senator. You are smart and tough. I have seen you in those hearings.”

According to the Guardian UK, the action star, when asked if he would repeat the endorsement said, “Am I happy with the state of America right now? Well, that answer’s no. Do I believe we’re gonna get better? I believe in that – I’m an optimistic guy. And I believe we can do better.

“The endorsement that I made years ago with Biden was what I thought was the best decision for me at that time. I thought back then, when we talked about, ‘Hey, you know, I’m in this position where I have some influence,’ and it was my job then … to exercise my influence and share … who I’m going to endorse.”

Johnson also said his “goal is to bring this country together” but said he would “keep my politics to myself”.

“It is between me and the ballot box,” he said. “Like a lot of us out there, not trusting of all politicians, I do trust the American people and whoever they vote for that is my president and who I will support 100 per cent.”

Former Governor Nasir El–Rufai of Kaduna State has come under intense pressure to jettison the idea of dumping the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), to form a mega political party with some like minds. That was even as an ambassadorial appointment is being dangled before him as an alternative. It would be recalled that the El – Rufai, who played a major role in the formation of the APC in 2014, recently paid a visit to the secretariat of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), in reciprocation to the earlier visit of the National Chairman of the SDP, Shehu Musa Gabam, in company with National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu and a chieftain of the APC, Kashim Ibrahim – Imam. The trio went to break their fast in El–Rufai’s Abuja home. However, some people are prevailing on him not to leave the party, which he helped in its formation and winning the elections in 2015, a credible source conversant with the issue confided in Sunday Telegraph. The Source said: “Some persons are trying to broker some rapprochement, telling him not to leave the party as a founding member of the APC, who played a major role; he should not jettison the party.

“However, the trouble at home is further putting pressure on him to find a new platform to become more relevant because the governor in his home state in his revelation has further damaged him in some way, his reputation as an astute manager of resources and men. “But some of his men are saying that the money was borrowed for some developmental purposes and therefore, what the loan was used for is very visible everywhere; that when you want to kick-start an infrastructural revolution, you need extra finances. That is making him more estranged from the party.” Furthermore, our source said that it was not without reason.

“He has two reasons why he is looking for another party,” our source adds: “Number one: He believes that he was deliberately schemed out of being minister of the federal republic by some entrenched interests and he believes that he was not duly rewarded for the key and critical role he played in the emergence of candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the candidate of the APC and also his emergence as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “He believes that he has not been well treated by the leadership of the party and by the government. His critical role has not been acknowledged and rewarded like others, who did not play half of the role he played. “So, it is obvious that he is very angry with the system and he believes that what he did in 2014, and 2015, leading to the formation of the APC can be done again. However, some persons from within the party are also said to be reaching out to him that he should not be angry.

“They are dangling before him the ambassadorial compensation. Whether that will materialize is another thing. “He also needs to be cleared in one way or the other. He is reluctant to take that leap because he believes that it may lead to another humiliation and of course, he also believes that some of the things happening in his home state are orchestrated to haunt him. “That is their response to his move in the last few days by people who believe that they will pay you back, you want to form a mega party. He believes that what is happening in his home state is being orchestrated by the same people, who denied him the ministerial slot.

In a bid to make the forthcoming sallah festivities in Zamfara State more memorable, Senator Abdulaziz Yari has flagged off the distribution of 380 cows to the All Progressive Congress (APC) leaders, stakeholders and the families of those who mostly are destitute in the state.

This was disclosed shortly after the distribution ceremony of the cows in Gusau which was led by the Chairman, Senator Yari Political Organization, Alhaji Lawal M Liman, adding that, Senator Yari has provided 380 cows to distribute to the concerned beneficiaries after considering the cost of living.

“Yari, the former Zamfara governor representing Zamfara West Senatorial District in the National Assembly, has decided to assist considering the fact that, members of the APC in the state are now on the opposition, therefore, things could be difficult.

“The beneficiaries of the gesture include State, Local Government and Ward executives of the APC.

“Other beneficiaries of the gesture include Islamic scholars, youth and women groups and associations as well as community leaders in the state.

“Nine of the 14 local government areas of the state have already collected cows allocated to them.

“We are working to extend the allocations of the remaining Five LGAs and other categories of the beneficiaries’’ Liman said.

He commended the former governor for his concern for the people of the state, especially for those at the grassroots.

Liman urged other political officeholders to emulate the former governor in extending the dividend of democracy to the electorates.

Liman called on Muslims to use the remaining days of Ramadan to pray for peace and stability in the state and in Nigeria in general.

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) says the recent hike in electricity tariffs could impact negatively on the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

Emeka Obegolu, ACCI’s president, spoke in an interview with NAN on Saturday in Abuja.

Obegolu acknowledged the various challenges already faced by entrepreneurs and investors in the country.

He said small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are crucial to the country’s economy, would be greatly affected by the hike in tariff.

“The ease of doing business is a critical factor for fostering economic growth, attracting investments, and creating job opportunities,” he said.

“Regrettably, the increase in electricity tariffs can hinder these efforts by imposing additional financial burdens on businesses, especially SMEs, which are the backbone of our economy.”

According to Obegolu, any disruptions or cost increases associated with electricity supply could lead to higher operational expenses.

He said it would hinder businesses’ ability to invest in innovation and expansion and impede their competitiveness in both domestic and international markets.

Obegolu also expressed concern that the tariff hike, combined with other economic challenges such as the removal of fuel subsidy and foreign exchange unification, could further compound difficulties faced by businesses.

“Many enterprises are already struggling with reduced demand, supply chain disruptions, and financial constraints. The burden of higher electricity tariffs exacerbates their challenges and threatens their long-term viability,” he said.

“As advocates for the business community, we urge relevant authorities to reconsider this decision and explore alternative solutions that prioritise the needs of businesses and support ease of doing business.

“It is vital to strike a balance between ensuring a sustainable energy sector and mitigating the adverse effects of tariff hikes on businesses, particularly during these trying times.”

The ACCI president called for constructive dialogue with stakeholders to find collaborative solutions that addressed concerns from both energy providers and businesses.

“Through fostering open communication, promoting transparency, and adopting policies that facilitate business growth and competitiveness, we can create an environment conducive to sustainable economic development and prosperity for all,” he said.

Obegolu said ACCI stands ready to collaborate with stakeholders to address challenges posed by the tariff.