Presidential candidate of the Labour Party during the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has reacted to the news of a Nigerian lady, Ifeoma Amuche, emerging as the best-graduating student at South West University in China.
In a congratulatory message via his Twitter page on Friday morning, Obi commended Amuche, saying it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to achieve such academic height.
The former Governor of Anambra State also acknowledged that Amuche had brought honour to Nigeria and established herself on the global state through her remarkable academic performance.
“I congratulate Miss Ifeoma Amuche, a Nigerian student who recently emerged as the Best Graduating Student at South West University, China. It takes immeasurable hard work and dedication to achieve such an academic feat and stand out from the crowd.
“You have, by your outstanding academic results, brought honour to our nation and established yourself on the global stage. As a firm believer in education, I know there are no limits to how far one can go by taking their education seriously.
“Every Nigerian youth will be able to attain their full potential if we make the right investments in education. Your outstanding achievement shows clearly that we must spare no effort in the education of the girl child knowing that excellence is no respecter of gender,” Obi wrote on Twitter.
He urged Amuche to remain hardworking, remain of good character, and focus on building a more productive and impactful life.
“Keep the flag flying,” the Labour Party presidential candidate ended his tweet.
[NaijaNews]
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Thursday said that noodles produced in the country did not contain ethylene oxide or its metabolism.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this at a media briefing organised to present the outcome of its investigation on whether noodles produced in the country contained ethylene oxide.
Mrs Adeyeye said the investigation was occasioned by the recall of Indomie Instant Noodles Special Chicken Flavour by Malaysia and Taiwan, on account of the alleged presence of ethylene oxide, a compound associated with an increased risk of cancer.
She said: “At the time of my initial press release on the issue, I assured the public that a thorough investigation of the products would be conducted both at the factory and market levels and that our findings would be communicated.
“As soon as we received the news of the product recalls in Malaysia and Taiwan, immediately I requested the Director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition to carry out investigation and random sampling of Indomie instant noodles from the production facilities.
“And extend the investigation to other brands of instant noodles offered for sale to Nigerians.
“Imported noodles are not expected to be sold in Nigeria because NAFDAC does not register imported noodles as a result of the ban by the Nigerian government many years ago to foster local production.
“Samples of chicken-flavoured instant noodles of various brands and the seasonings were drawn from the production facilities across the country to ensure robust investigation.
“A total of one hundred and fourteen (114) samples of instant noodles and the seasonings were received, while samples were also collected from Lagos, Abuja and Kano.”
According to Mr Adeyeye, findings show that ethylene oxide or its derivative was not found in any of the instant noodles produced in Nigeria and their seasonings.
Mrs Adeyeye said: “The compound of interest, ethylene oxide, is a colourless, odourless gas that is used to sterilise medical devices and has been implicated as a cancer-causing chemical.
“We did not only analyse for ethylene oxide and its derivative 2-chloroethanol in the noodles and seasonings, we also analysed for other contaminants such as mycotoxins and heavy metals in the samples.”
The D-G explained that the delay in the analytical activities in the laboratory was not deliberate.
She noted that the agency placed orders for the procurement and supply of certified reference materials (standards), reagents and chemicals from overseas.
She reassured Nigerians that the agency would continue to remain proactive and committed to its responsibilities of protecting the public’s health.
(NAN)
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says about 97,000 passport booklets issued were uncollected in the 36 states nationwide including Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Service Public Relations Officer, (SPRO) Comptroller of Immigration, Mr Tony Akuneme said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
Akuneme said that the service recently found out that Lagos State had half of the uncollected passports.
He said that there was also a danger that half of the owners of the uncollected passports could not be reached due to lack of proper documentation because of a third party involvement.
He also said that the essence of state of emergency declaration was to draw attention of the media so they could deepened the process for the service as alot of people do not know if their passport were ready for collection.
“Some of them engaged agents to help them in their passport processing and these agents might be doing for alot of persons.
“They end up dropping wrong contacts and thereby making it difficult to reach out to the owners of these passports when they are ready for collection. This is a big challenge, “he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Acting Comptroller General, NIS, Mrs Caroline Adepoju had recently declared state of emergency on passport issues across the country.
The SPRO said that the service recently found out that most applicants complains also bothers on some human factor and technical factor which included slow speed of Internet.
According to him, the CG didn’t want to leave anyone in doubt as to the issue of passport processing being her core area of interest.
“That’s how she came about that term of declaring state of emergency in the passport issues.
“When the acting CG assumed office, she made it very clear that she was going to focus on Passport reforms and staff welfare, “he said.
According to him, the Lagos state Governor is willing to collaborate with the CG in terms of expanding the Passport services on Lagos State.
“So, we went to Lagos State Governor to help in terms of giving us office space where we can set up front desk offices and immediately, the governor was very positive in his response
” Lagos is a tourism place and immigration have a key role to play in the mind of anybody visiting the state.
“So it was a welcome development and you can see that the state of emergency that was declared is already yielding fruits as the governor accepted CGs request on land allocation to build staff quarters in Lagos, “he said.
Akuneme said that the service however, needed the Media to tell Nigerians that people should not think there were no passport booklets.
He said “there are booklets issued that are not collected. It is ironical, we don’t have problem of booklet, we don’t have shortage of booklets.
“What we have had in the last one or two years is a sudden upsurge in the number of Nigerians wanting to travel . We felt it was also related to COVID-19, “he said.
Akuneme assured that the result would be instant as more facilities were going to be put in place to curtail any challenges of passport issuance across the country.
[ThgeNewsGuru]
The Federal Inland Revenue Service has partnered with the Market Traders Association of Nigeria to collect and remit Value Added Tax to the FIRS from the country’s markets, especially in the informal sector.
According to available information, the association has a membership of well over 40 million traders across Nigeria.
This cuts across the country’s 774 local governments, 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory, which makes it the biggest player in Nigeria’s market space.
The details of the FIRS’ partnership with MATAN was disclosed at a Stakeholders Engagement Programme on the VAT DIRECT Initiative held on Thursday in Lagos State.
The partnership will see the FIRS collaborating with the association to deploy technology to enumerate traders for collecting and remitting VAT to the Service, consequently leading to an expansion of the tax net and increased revenue for the Federation.
The VAT DIRECT Initiative is a programme designed to foster collaboration between the FIRS and the market place, especially the informal sector, in the collection and remittance of VAT using technology.
Speaking during the Stakeholder Engagement, Muhammad Nami, Executive Chairman of the FIRS, highlighted that the initiative was the first of its kind and that it was crucial to revenue generation and also to eliminating multiple taxation, especially from the informal sector.
The Executive Chairman of the FIRS, who is also the Chairman of the Joint Tax Board, further stated that the government was worried about the multiplicity of taxes.
Nami said the Service and JTB were working on various modalities of addressing this challenge and that this partnership has laid a very good foundation for the government to address the issue of multiple taxation and extortion by tax officials, tax agents and touts in the market place.
He further noted that the Service would collaborate with security agencies, especially the Nigeria Police, to deal with illegal tax collection by touts in markets.
He said: “One important area of our collaboration is the issue of providing adequate security in the markets.
“We are aware of the challenges that you have faced in the past with miscreants, self-imposed tax collection agents and touts.
“I want to assure you that as part of this initiative, we will be collaborating with the relevant security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police Force, to tackle all forms of touting and illegal tax collection by miscreants and keep them away from your markets.”
Nami further noted that the success of this collaboration would lead to increased revenue for the country and in turn provide government the needed resources to fund infrastructure and other social amenities.
He added: “The successful outcome of this collaboration and additional revenue accruable will have multiplier effects on all sectors of the economy as the government will have more revenue to provide the needed social amenities and infrastructure in critical sectors.
“An improved VAT collection will improve the revenue base of the States and Local Governments at the sub-national level and the citizens will be the ultimate beneficiaries.
“This initiative is very important to the government, particularly at this moment of dwindling revenues from the petroleum sector and therefore, requires that we put all hands on deck and optimally explore all available opportunities.
“The administration of VAT in the informal sector is characterised mainly by a low level of compliance and a lack of awareness in terms of obligation and liability.
“It, therefore, becomes necessary to leverage the MATAN platform to positively change the status quo.”
Nami also noted that to ensure transparency and accountability of the project operations, a combined monitoring and evaluation team comprising both organisations would be formed.
During the Stakeholder Engagement, the Executive Chairman, FIRS also unveiled an Identity Card that is to be given to each trader upon enumeration.
The card contains their tax identification number and other personal details.
The VAT Direct Initiative Stakeholder Engagement was attended by the Secretary of the Joint Tax Board, representatives from Deposit Money Banks, Iyalojas of Markets across the country, members of various trade clusters, representatives from all major markets across the country, as well as officers of the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
[TheEagleonline]
Flutterwave, a leading African payments technology company today announced it is working with Microsoft to build its next generation platform on Microsoft Azure, powering payments infrastructure across the African continent and beyond. This agreement reflects com Flutterwave’s commitment to give businesses and individuals access to global-grade services across all of Africa and drive digital transformation around the world. With Flutterwave and Microsoft’s plans to power payments to-and-from Africa, this collaboration is an incredible opportunity to impact growth across the continent.
Through this engagement, Flutterwave will support the accelerated growth of transactions processed on Flutterwave platform for global clients like Uber, Netflix, and Microsoft, solidifying Azure’s role in facilitating a seamless, reliable, and secure payment experience.
Key Flutterwave products such as Flutterwave for Business, Send by Flutterwave, Flutterwave Store, and Flutterwave for Fintech Platform, are being developed and transitioned onto the robust Azure cloud platform. Moreover, Flutterwave uses Azure OpenAI Service capabilities, enabling the scaling of its product offerings to millions of merchants worldwide.
“Microsoft has been an invaluable partner, providing a platform that allows us to deliver consistently high-quality services to our clients,” stated Olugbenga Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave. “As we manage high-volume payment processing, particularly during peak periods, the robustness, reliability, and scalability of Microsoft Azure become critical. As such, deepening our collaboration with Microsoft is the most logical step forward for us.” It means Flutterwave will continue to drive the transformation of global commerce, taking full advantage of the diverse and expanding range of services offered by Microsoft.
“Our development on Microsoft Azure has set a strong foundation for Flutterwave,” said Gurbhej Dhillon, Flutterwave CTO. “Their platform provides us with significant developer leverage, which we harness in service of our clients. Looking to the future, we’re excited about the possibilities of scaling with Azure OpenAI Service, which will enable us to serve even more merchants worldwide,” added Dhillon.
“We have proudly supported Flutterwave’s core operations with Microsoft Azure for many years. We are excited to further fuel their growth and innovation through this expanded collaboration,” said Mike Gaal, Microsoft Corporation General Manager. “Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Working with Flutterwave will take us a step closer to achieving our mission In Africa,” added Gaal.
[Nairametrics]
Less than 30 days into the job, President Bola Tinubu is dealing with managing the assets and liabilities inherited from his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
However, unlike in 2015, the new president is unable to criticise his predecessor on his liabilities considering that they belong to the same political platform, the All Progressives Congress, APC.
During the inauguration of the National Economic Council, President Tinubu admitted that “The situation that we have seen is one- I inherited, and it is fundamental, I inherited assets and liabilities of my predecessor.”
Pro-market people and forces have hailed his reforms particularly, fuel subsidy removal and deliberate attempts to end the multiple exchange rates.
Here are the liabilities President Tinubu inherited from his predecessor, Buhari
N77 trillion debt
The current administration has been left with a debt burden of N77 trillion by the former President.
The figure was given by the Debt Management Office (DMO). This is perhaps the biggest liability the former administration left for the current government.
“The danger with the debt burden is that even with the removal of subsidy, a large chunk of the federal government revenue is going to be used for debt servicing, Lekan Olaleye, an Economist, told DAILY POST.
He added that “The ongoing reforms mean the government cannot afford to introduce any form of new taxation. The government must increase the minimum wage and still deal with the loans.”
Fuel Subsidy
The outgoing administration made provision in the budget for petroleum subsidy till June 30, but Mr Tinubu did not wait for the due date, as he announced that “fuel subsidy is gone” in his speech on Inauguration Day.
While the administration has been able to remove fuel subsidy, however, the question of palliative and other interventions remains to be addressed.
The former government only planned to borrow $800 million as palliatives.
Emefiele/Naira redesign
Nigerians still face uncertainty over the old Naira notes in the pocket as the Supreme Court order still stands till December 31, 2023.
It would be recalled that Nigerians went through biting Naira notes scarcity in the first quarter of the year due to the Naira redesign policy of the now-suspended CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Mr Tinubu had in his inaugural speech promised to do cleaning in the monetary space, and Mr Emefiele appears to have been the first casualty of the cleaning as he is facing prosecution by the state secret police, the DSS.
But Nigerians still don’t know if the Naira notes in their hands will be of value after December or not.
Census
One other thing the new administration inherited is the 2023 national census. The past administration already expended N200 billion on preparations for the population census, however, it has been suspended.
Population census in Nigeria has always been controversial because of the political implications of census figures.
It remains unclear if the current administration will be willing to continue on this path.
Closed borders
The Tinubu administration also has to decide on the closure of land borders.
Only Atiku Abubakar made his position on the border closure very clear during the campaign.
DAILY POST had reported that the former Vice President had vowed to open the border, a declaration that was criticised by Lai Mohammed, the immediate past former Minister of Information and Culture.
A memo for the re-opening of the Seme land border for the importation of vehicles is said to be awaiting a final approval.
[DailyPost]
[STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE] We’re Ready For Business , Tinubu to Investors at Economic Summit In Paris
AdminPresident Bola Ahmed Tinubu Thursday in Paris – France said ongoing reforms, starting with removal of fuel subsidy and streamlining of exchange rate, will be sustained for a more competitive economy that attracts Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), urging investors to take advantage of opportunities in Nigeria.
“We are ready for business, prepared to welcome investments,’’ he said, while receiving President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim), Prof. Benedict Oramah and President of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Odile Renaud–Basso, in separate meetings, on the sidelines of the Summit for New Global Financing Pact.
The President assured the delegation of AfreximBank Executives led by Dr Oramah that the Federal Government will continue to stimulate the economy with policies that support investments in areas of Nigeria’s competitive advantage, particularly agriculture.
“We need reforms for national survival,’’ he added, noting that it would take boldness and courage to reposition the economy, calling for more collaboration to solidify the economy.
“We must stimulate recovery for the growth and prosperity of our people, which will not be far away. Nigeria is ready for global business and our reform is total.
“Nigeria is blessed with human and material resources,’’ President Tinubu told the delegation, who had earlier listed areas of interventions to buoy the economy, like infrastructure, health, energy and agriculture.
The President of AfreximBank commended President Tinubu for the bold steps in removing the fuel subsidy and unification of the exchange rate, assuring the Nigerian leader of the full support of the financial and development institution on the ongoing reforms.
Dr Oramah said the bank was already building the first African Specialist Hospital in Abuja, and Energy Bank, pledging to inject more money into the economy to further build confidence of investors.
In the meeting with the EBRD, President Tinubu said, “We are challenged in terms of reforms, and we have taken the largest elephant out of the room with removal of fuel subsidy, and multiple exchange rates are equally gone. We are determined to open up the economy for business. Consider us a stakeholder in the Bank.’’
He told the EBRD President that Nigeria’s economy was too large and potent to be ignored, adding, “Ignoring Nigeria will be a peril to the universe.’’
Renaud-Basso said it would be a mistake for the development bank not to invest in Nigeria, after considering six potential economies for investment.
She explained that focus would be on the private sector, especially Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).
Dele Alake
Special Adviser to the President
Special Duties, Communication and Strategy
Imo State Government has been given a one month ultimatum to fully implement the White paper that indicted the immediate past Senator that represented Imo West, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, of looting more than N130 billion from the state’s coffers while he was Governor.
At a world press conference in Owerri Wednesday, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Sincere Concern Organization Inc, regretted that the non-implementation of the White paper has emboldened the former Governor to attempt to return to Government through a proxy.
The Director General of the Organization, Mrs Foluke Olabimbe Lemechi, said the group was saddened that two years after the publication of the White paper which indicted the former Governor of wide spread looting, the Government was foot dragging on the issue.
It noted that Okorocha has taken advantage of that lacuna to now plot on how to sponsor a candidate for the November Governorship election in Imo State so as to escape justice.
It declared: “We don’t want the victims of Okorocha’s brigandage and open robbery to die before the emperor is brought to justice. We don’t want to wait until Okorocha succeeds in installing a stooge as Governor to continue the looting spree before he is stopped.”
The group disclosed that if at the expiration of the one month ultimatum, the Imo State Government has not moved against Okorocha to return the stolen money and assets, it would mobilize the youths to act through lawful means.
The group said: “If after the expiration of the ultimatum, Okorocha has not returned the money or he is not in jail, we shall take lawful steps to ensure that justice is served so that would be Public Office holders would not think that it is a norm to steal from the public purse and go scot free.”
The NGO which commended the State Government for recovering the KO Mbadiwe University and Palm Garden Estate from Okorocha, however urged it to do more in the interest of Imo people.
It recalled that the Commission of Inquiry which was set up by the government of Hon Emeka Ihedioha had indicted Okorocha of looting more than N130b through phoney contract awards while he and his family appropriated Government and private lands to themselves.
The group feared that the non-prosecution and possible jailing of the former Governor was responsible for his current grandstanding of planning to install a stooge as Governor.
“We are saddened that those who looted the assets and money of the state are still walking free and even planning to return to power to finally bury the State through corruption,” it lamented.
The Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has ordered Governor Peter Mbah to appear before it today.
The order was sequel to an application made by the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, through its counsel, Alex Amujiogo.
Candidate of the PRP, Christopher Agu, is in court seeking to upturn the declaration of Peter Mbah as the winner of the March 18 governorship election conducted in the state.
He is also claiming that Mbah was not qualified to contest the election, having allegedly forged his National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, discharge certificate, among other issues.
At the resumed hearing, the PRP’s counsel, Amujiogo told the tribunal that Mbah was supposed to be in court as a subpoenaed witness.
He, however, said from the affidavit deposed to by the bailiff of the Tribunal, it had been difficult to serve Mbah the summon.
Amujiogo then moved an application, urging the Tribunal to grant a substituted service of the summon on Mbah through his counsel.
Although the application was opposed by the three respondents, the INEC, Mbah as well as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, because it was supposed to come by way of motion, supported by an affidavit during a pre-trial session, they were overruled by the Tribunal.
Chairman of the Panel, Justice K. M. Akano ordered that the subpoena be served on Mbah through his counsel and that he should appear before the Tribunal tomorrow,(today) June 23, 2023.
Earlier, the PRP guber candidate during the election, Agu, had also testified before the Tribunal as PW2.
An official of the NYSC from the National Secretariat, Abuja, Aliu Muhammed, who also appeared on behalf of the Director-General of the Corps, tendered an affidavit to the Tribunal, declaring that an order of a Federal High Abuja, was inhibiting them from tendering the disclaimer the Corps made against Mbah’s certificate.
The PRP lawyer, Amujiogo told journalists after the Tribunal’s sitting that “our PW2 (Christopher Agu) has already testified before the Tribunal and he has given a clearer picture, the synopsis of what transpired during the election, and we are urging the Tribunal to set aside the purported result in favour of Peter Mbah, the governor.
“We had an issue of a subpoena against Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, in which the Tribunal is urging him to appear before it to clarify certain issues against him, based on his NYSC certificate and other matters.
“Surprisingly, he was not in the Tribunal today and the bailiff informed the Tribunal that he is evading service, he cannot find him, and the security cannot allow him to serve Mbah the subpoena.
“Then, the Tribunal in its wisdom, after I have applied, has now permitted the bailiff or myself, to now serve Mbah through his counsel, for him to appear before the Tribunal tomorrow, being 23rd of June, 2023, and clarify certain issues against him before the Tribunal and we have already served him the said subpoena through his lawyer, Ik Onuoma today in court.
“So he must obey the summon of the Tribunal by appearing in person tomorrow, Friday.”
NYSC DG to appear before tribunal
Similarly, Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Brigadier General Yushau Dogara Ahmed, will appear before the Enugu tribunal.
In a Tweet by the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA, Dogara will appear before the tribunal over Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah’s alleged fake discharged certificate.
In February 2023, NYSC issued a letter signed by Ibrahim Muhammad, the scheme’s director of certifications, that the certificate belonging to Mbah was not issued by the corps.
Mbah sued NYSC for what he described as conspiracy, deceit, and misrepresentation of facts and demanded N20 billion compensation.
Speaking as a guest on Arise TV in May, the NYSC DG said he had met with Mbah and was frank with him, informing him the certificate is not from the scheme.
“This case is in court, and I may not want to say much but let me tell you the issue you are talking about. The person came to the NYSC for verification, and he was told the certificate is not issued from us.”
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared a total sum of N786.161 billion to the federal, state and Local Governments.
It represented their share from the May 2023 Federation Account Revenue, according to the communiqué issued at the end of the FAAC meeting in Abuja, yesterday.
The meeting was chaired by the new Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, according to the Director, Press and Public Relations, Mr. Bawa Mokwa.
The N786.161 billion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N519.545 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N251.607 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) of N14.370 billion, and Exchange Difference revenue of N0.639 billion.
A total of N38.238 billion was deducted as cost of collection, usually paid to the revenue generating agencies, while statutory transfers took another N163.193 billion.
The balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $473,754.57.
The communiqué indicated that from the total distributable revenue of N786.161 billion; the Federal Government received N301.889 billion, the State Governments received N265.875 billion and the Local Government Councils received N195.541 billion.
A total of N22.855 billion was shared to the oil producing tates as 13% derivation revenue.
Gross statutory revenue of N701.787 billion was received for the month of May 2023. This was higher than the sum of N497.463 billion received in the previous month by N204.324 billion.
From the N519.545 billion distributable statutory revenue, the Federal Government received N261.686 billion, the State Governments received N132.731 billion and the Local Government Councils received N102.330 billion. The sum of N22.798 billion was shared to the relevant States as 13% derivation revenue.
For the month of May 2023, the gross revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was N270.197 billion.
This was higher than the N217.743 billion available in the month of April 2023 by N52.454 billion.
The Federal Government received N37.741 billion, the State Governments received N125.804 billion and the Local Government Councils received N88.062 billion from the N251.607 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue.
The N14.370 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) was shared as follows: the Federal Government received N2.155 billion, the State Governments received N7.185 billion and the Local Government Councils received N5.030 billion.
From the N0.639 billion Exchange Difference revenue, the Federal Government received N0.307 billion, the State Governments received N0.156 billion, the Local Government Councils received N0.119 billion and the sum of N0.057 billion was shared to the relevant States as 13 percent mineral revenue.
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The naira yesterday depreciated N765.13 per dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window.
Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for the window rose to N765.13 per dollar from N763.17 per dollar on Wednesday, indicating N1.96 depreciation for the naira.
Similarly, the naira depreciated by N14 in the parallel market yesterday.
Vanguard findings from black market traders showed that the exchange rate for the market rose to N772 per dollar from N758 per dollar on Wednesday.
Thursday’s transaction volume was an improvement from below $90 million turnover recorded at the window on Wednesday.
The naira also weakened against the British Pound Sterling (GBP) to N980/GBP at the close of business on Thursday.
The I&E window was activated in June 2017, and represents the broader forex market, where dollars sourced from autonomous sources are traded between Authorised Dealers, Clients and the CBN.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has issued a warning about potential attacks on worship and recreational centres during the upcoming Eid Kabir celebrations.
The warning comes after the discovery of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in a joint operation conducted by the DSS, the Nigerian Army, and the Police.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Peter Afunanya, the spokesperson for the DSS, urged vigilance from operators of public spaces, such as shopping malls.
According to the DSS statement, there have been reports suggesting plans to attack these places of gathering before and during the Eid festivities. The discovery of IEDs further validates these concerns.
“Operators and patrons of public places including markets, malls, etc are advised to be watchful and report any suspicious movements and persons to the relevant security agencies,” the statement read.
The DSS, in collaboration with the Nigerian Army and Police, has been conducting operations in Nasarawa and Kogi States.
In June 19, 2023, they arrested Abubakar Muhammad, a suspected gunrunner, along the Abuja- Keffi Expressway in Keffi LGA of Nasarawa State.
The team confiscated several items, including ammunition, IEDs, cash, and a Volkswagen Golf vehicle.
In another operation on June 22, 2023, in Ejule, Ofu LGA of Kogi State, the team encountered Kabir Bala, a notorious gang leader and one-time jailbreaker.
Although Bala was neutralized during a gunfight, his gang members managed to escape.
The operation resulted in the recovery of an AK47 rifle, locally fabricated weapons, phones, and charms.
The DSS reassured the public of its commitment to partnering with other security agencies in executing proactive measures to prevent criminal activities.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), on Thursday, asked the federal government to shelve its plans to increase electricity tariff by 40%.
NLC in a statement signed by its President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said; “The plan to increase electricity tariff by 40% by July 1st is both insensitive and callous and reflects an organised indifference to the well-being of consumers, especially, the poor ones.
“The massive increase is explained away as a response to the over 100 per cent increase in the pump price of premium motor spirit (pms).”
The organised labour, further stated; “Details reveal a movement in inflation from 16.9% to 22.41 (threatening to needle 30), and a shift in exchange rate from N441 to N750.
“We believe not even these figures are a justification for this reckless proposed tariff increase.
“The issue of capacity to pay and quality of service delivery are not only germane but superior to any rationalisation by market logic.
“The service providers in spite of sundry support have not been able to meet the threshold of 5000 megawatts.”
Ajaero went on to say, “There have been surreptitious increases without notice in violation of statutes.The inherent risk in the new regime of tariff is that there is no control, implying that by August, consumers will pay new rates.
“The other risk is that by the time other product or service-rendering entities come up with their new prices or rates, the ordinary person would have been compacted into dust.
“We would want to advise apostles of the Market who have called NLC all sorts of names to check their conscience.
“The rate at which they are going is highly combative and combustible. With contemplation of payment of school fees in tertiary institutions and increases in privately-owned ones in addition to other costs/tariffs on the way, life in Nigeria could truly be Hobbesian.
“The market economies which the Market Fundamentalists seek to emulate, have in place socio-economic safeguards which we do not have.
“In light of this, our advice is that this proposed tariff hike should be shelved for our collective safety.”
…Confers Honorary Degree On Fashola, Fayemi, Gbajabiamila, 5 Others
Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, announced a cash reward of N10 million for Ojo Aminat Yusuf, the best graduating student of the Lagos State University.
Sanwo-Olu made the announcement during the school’s 26th convocation ceremony for the awards of diplomas, first degrees, PGD, MSc, professors, PhD, Conferment of honorary foctorate degrees and others.
The event also marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of LASU.
Yusuf who graduated with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.00 (First Class Honours), is the first to do so in the history of the school.
The governor said he would give Yusuf N5 million from his personal pocket, while another N5 million would be given to her by the state government.
“I’ll be giving her a token donation of N5 million. My state government will give her additional donation of N5 million,” Sanwo-Olu said.
Meanwhile, speaking to journalists, Yusuf, said the events of the past few days had motivated her to share in brief her story, in a bid to inspire many others who are in similar situation as she was and are striving towards excellence.
She said: ”I called for financial support only under compelling circumstances, after I have exhausted all options.
“As a result, I experienced some serious financial constraints during my two plus four years stay at LASU.
“In 200 Level, second semester, just because I needed to get a browsing phone and get trained in computer skills, I saved up about 90 per cent of my feeding allowance.”
According to Yusuf, for most part of her days as an undergraduate, she lived in the university premises, because she had no hostel, and going home everyday would have been absolutely inconvenient for her.
“I remember fantasising about achieving a remarkable feat in this prestigious university.
“I first did Diploma in Law programme, which runs for two years, in which students are taught compulsory law courses, with a view to offering direct entry admission to top class students.
“I studied really hard and prayed so fervently towards achieving excellence; I graduated from the programme with a CGPA of 4.98 and this was the best in my set.
“The possibility of graduating with such grade motivated the yearning to graduate with a perfect CGPA at the undergraduate level,” she said.
Other highlight of the event was the conferment of honorary doctorate degrees on former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola; Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; former Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, First Lady of Lagos, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, among others.