The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has denied reports that it is set to revoke the licenses of Unity Bank, Keystone Bank, and Polaris Bank.

An online report claimed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would revoke the licenses of three banks, allegedly following the revocation of Heritage Bank’s license.

The apex bank, in a post via its official X account on Tuesday, urged members of the public to dismiss the report.

“The content is fake and not from the CBN,” the post reads.

Vanguard reported that on Monday, the CBN revoked the operating licence of Heritage Bank.

According to the CBN, the decision was made due to the bank’s failure to improve its financial performance.

The statement partly reads: “The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in accordance with its mandate to promote a sound financial system in Nigeria and in exercise of its powers under Section 12 of the Banks and Other Financial Act (BOFIA) 2020, hereby revokes the licence of Heritage Bank Plc with immediate effect.

‘This action has become necessary due to the bank’s breach of Section 12(1) of BOFIA, 2020.

“The Board and Management of the bank have not been able to improve the bank’s financial performance, a situation which constitutes a threat to financial stability.”

Two individuals were pronounced dead following an explosion involving a suspected Liquefied Natural Gas tanker at the Obiri-Ikwerre flyover on the outskirts of Port Harcourt in Rivers state.

The explosion occurred around 9:25 am when the tanker overturned while attempting to navigate the bypass at the flyover.

Almost immediately, it burst into flames, tragically engulfing a salon car with two individuals inside.

This unfortunate incident comes just a month after another devastating explosion caused by a fuel-laden tanker along the Eleme axis of the East-West Road.

The previous accident resulted in the loss of approximately five lives and the destruction of over 60 vehicles.

On the recent occurrence, the PUNCH quoted an eyewitness to have revealed that the two occupants of the car were unable to escape and were tragically burned to death.

“My office is just close by here. It was a terrible sight. Two persons inside a salon car parked nearby were burnt beyond recognition.

“The tanker was trying to negotiate through the flyover when it fell and the explosion occurred,” the eyewitness said.

Rivers Tanker Explosion

It is worth noting that the Obiri-Kwere flyover leads to the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa in the Ikwerre local government area of the state.

Another eyewitness, who identified himself as Lucky, said the sound of the explosion spread to residential areas near the flyover and caused panic.

He stated, ‘It was about past 9 am that I was driving towards the University of Port Harcourt that I saw the flames.

“I quickly made a u-turn because I was driving. Many vehicles started making a detour to avoid the scene of the fire, somewhere even videoing the fire with their phones”.

Confirming the explosion, the spokesperson of the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, “Yes, I can confirm that two persons died in the tanker fire. Myself and the Commissioner of Police, are on the ground as I speak to you.

“The fire has been put out but the area is still dangerous because the gas is still licking.

“So motorists are advised to take alternative routes to avoid any further casualty. The investigation is ongoing. “

APC Calls Advice Unpatriotic

The Peoples Democratic Party, on Monday, advised the organised labour not to settle for nothing less than N120,000 as a minimum, saying the Federal Government had no excuse not to pay as much.

But the ruling All Progressives Congress, whose government is proposing N60,000 as minimum wage, described the PDP’s advice to Labour as unpatriotic.

The Organised labour, spearheaded by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trades Union Congress, began a nationwide strike on Monday after rejecting the Federal Government’s N60,000 minimum wage offer as opposed to the N494,000 being demanded by labour.

The strike paralysed activities at government offices, airports, schools and hospitals; while the electricity supply was cut and water distribution was halted.

In an interview with our correspondent, the PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the APC-led Federal Government was being insincere in its negotiation with Labour.

According to him, the Federal Government had been extravagant and so could not claim not to have funds to pay at least N120,000 as minimum wage.

Abdullahi said, “The back and forth with the labour leaders is hypocritical of the government. They didn’t mean well for Nigerians from the word go, even when they started engaging the NLC. It was not an intended policy direction. It was something that was made as a smokescreen to continue to deceive the Nigerian workers and, of course, the nation.

“With the lies the APC is telling us, if they can afford to construct a road for N3tn, if they can afford to do all this jamboree if they can afford to take 1,500 government officials out of this country for things that are not important, then I don’t know why, for crying out loud, they should not be able to pay a reasonable minimum wage.

“The reasonable minimum wage Nigeria should take at this moment should be N120,000 or nothing less. If Nigerians cannot be given that as a minimum wage, then we better go on with this strike unending. So that the government will know that some people put them there if they were truly elected.”

But when contacted, the APC Publicity Director, Bala Ibrahim, lambasted the opposition for instigating the organised labour against the government.

Ibrahim stated “The PDP is gradually turning into something that will one day question the integrity of the Constitution of Nigeria.

“If the PDP had won the election, believe me, it would have not been a question of minimum wage, there would be no wage at all. So, they said it out of anger, the bitterness of losing an election, and lack of patriotism.”

The APC Publicity Director acknowledged the hardship in the country but described the NLC and TUC’s demand for N494,000 minimum wage as unreasonable.

Ibrahim said, “The labour union should engage their sense of reason in negotiation. They should engage their conscience, patriotism, justice, and fairness in negotiation. Nigeria is a country that has more than 250 million people.

“While they are negotiating for the workers who are less than 20 per cent of the population, they should also have feelings for the remaining 80 per cent of Nigerians who go to the same market with these workers, who have no one to pay them anything, and who are struggling to make ends meet.

“We agree, yes there is hardship in the land, but for God’s sake, when you are going to talk about your people, do so with a sense of equity. What is good for you is good for others. In a country where we have a lot of people who are unemployed, where the resources are not enough to go around, and you’re asking for N500,000 per month! I think that is unethical, unreasonable, and irrational.”

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, says the visa face-off between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates has been settled.

As such, he said the UAE government would soon lift the travel barrier debarring Nigerians from visiting the UAE especially Dubai.

Keyamo made the disclosure on Monday at a welcome dinner for delegates attending the International Air Transport Association 80th Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit taking place in Dubai, UAE.

The UAE imposed the visa ban on Nigeria in connection with a number of diplomatic disputes.

President Bola Tinubu had in August 2023 waded into the dispute between the UAE and Nigeria over the issuance of visas as well as the face-off with Emirates Airlines that had made the carrier stop flights into Nigeria.

At the AGM where over 2000 delegates were seated, Keyamo was accompanied into the hall with the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum amid applause.

Speaking with journalists on the sideline of the event, the minister said issues relating to visa denial by the UAE had been resolved, adding that what remained was to fine-tune processes for lifting the visa ban.

He said, “The issue of visa has been resolved just the announcement remaining. They want to dot the I’s and cross the T’s. The announcement will be in a couple of weeks.”

Keyamo further stated that his visit to Dubai was necessitated by the need to ensure cordial relationships with countries of the world.

He said, “The UAE is considered as a very important partner in Nigeria. Nigerians have a lot of stakes here in the UAE with a lot of investments. What we are doing is to make sure that we make it easy for millions of Nigerians who have put a lot of pressure on us to ensure that we open up this route again and secondly to make the visa application easier. I am sure you can see the way I was received here. That is to tell you how they value Nigeria.”

“I was on the same ride with the ruler of Dubai, the Minister and the head of Emirates Group and all the top shots of Emirates. There was no other person given that privilege here; that is to tell you how much they value us and they want Nigeria to see it in that light. They have opened up again to us. They have started to trust us again and I want to say thank you to them. I will take it from here on.”

The Senate on Tuesday promised to fast track its consideration and passage of a new Minimum Wage Bill for the country.

This is even as the Red Chamber commended the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress for suspending its indefinite strike for one week.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio made these remarks during plenary in Abuja.

Akpabio’s comments followed a motion calling on the NLC and TUC to suspend the strike.

The motion was sponsored by Senator Diket Plang (PDP – Plateau Central), who chairs the Senate Committee on Labour and Employment.

However, during debate on the motion, information got to the chamber that the NLC and TUC have suspended their strike action for one week to allow for further negotiations with the Federal Government.

Following the information, the Senate stepped down the motion.

Akpabio said: “Taking it (motion) will mean that we are jumping the gun and we are trying to settle the issues for them.

“There are many variables that they will look at – capacity to pay and the ability of states, local governments and private sector to even pay.

“They will also be looking at the fact that if the minimum wage is too high, then the possibility of retrenchment of workers will occur and I think they will do comparative analysis to know that the last minimum wage which was fixed at N30,000.00 by this parliament as an Act of the National Assembly, how many states were able to pay? How many local governments were able to pay? How many employers were able to pay?

“We’ll be looking at those things because it’s important that holistic approach be looked at and I have taken the suggestion that we should not rest until we arrive at an amicable resolution of the issue and that the National Assembly should also continue to make its own contributions towards the ongoing negotiations.

“On that note, I want to thank the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress for listening to the voice of Nigerians and the international community by calling off the strike to enable negotiations to continue and we wish them well in the negotiations.

“On our part, we will continue to do our best by making contributions and at the same time awaiting the incoming Bill on Minimum Wage for us to enact for the benefit of all Nigerians.”

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has filed a lawsuit against one of its employees, Komolafe Oluwayomi, 45, for allegedly hacking into the bank’s system and stealing N9,989,000 from its account for personal use.

The defendant was ordered arrested by the Divisional Police Officer, DPO in charge of Bar Beach division, Victoria Island, Lagos following a complaint by the management of GTBank

After an investigation by Inspector Patience Eguabor and team, Oluwayomi, a resident of Unity Close, Ojodu, Lagos from Ondo State was charged before the Tinubu Magistrate’s Court, Lagos Island on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and stealing.

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Police counsel, Ben Ekundayo informed the court that the defendant committed the offence during working hours at the Guaranty Trust Bank Plc located at Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Ekundayo told the Court that the defendant betrayed the trust reposed in him by his employer as the officer in charge of payment of drivers’ retirement benefits by fraudulently including the name and account number of his friend in the retirement benefits payroll and used it to transfer the sum of N9,989,000 into his friend’s account as if his friend is a beneficiary of the retirement benefits and later transferred the money from his friend’s account to his personal account domiciled at GTB Bank and converted the money to his use.

He said the management of GTB uncovered the fraud when they audited the drivers’ retirement payroll accounts.

Ekundayo said the offences, the defendant committed were punishable under sections 411 and 287(7) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges, and Magistrate, M.A. Owunmi granted him N2m bail with two sureties in like sum.

Owunmi adjourned the case till 11 June 2024 and ordered that the defendant be detained at the Ikoyi correctional facility till he perfected the bail conditions.

Nollywood actress, Toyin Abraham has promised to keep her political choices private after a series of exchanges on social media platform known as X on Tuesday.

The actress during the exchange addressed questions about her support for President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 general election. 

The online interaction began when an X user, Otunba (@ManLikeIcey), asked Abraham to share the plans that Tinubu had discussed with her during the campaign.

He wrote, “Maybe one day Toyin Abraham will divulge the plans Bola Tinubu shared with her to the public. I strongly believe we deserve to hear. Thank you @toyin_abraham1.” 

In response, Abraham revealed that she had been assured by Tinubu’s camp of “good governance and happiness for everyone.

“You asked me in a polite way so I will definitely answer you. Of course, I was told and promised good governance and happiness for everyone, which I believe.”

Abraham further expressed concern over the potential backlash if the promises made by Tinubu did not materialize.

“If things didn’t go well, why do I have to be the one to suffer for it? I remember I voted for (ex-president) Jonathan and I was bullied, but I didn’t put blame on anyone after everyone chose (ex-president) Buhari. So please, why would they be cursing and trolling me every time,” she implored.

When further questioned by Otunba on whether she believed Tinubu had failed in governance, Abraham responded by emphasizing her decision to focus on her personal life and career.

“Thank you for your prompt response. Do you believe he has failed at the moment in governance or not?,” Otunba question.

Abraham replied, “I have faced my life and career because I am not a politician and I’m not in government, I have learnt my lesson never ever to be open with my choice again.”

In 2023, Abraham had publicly endorsed Tinubu, saying the former Lagos governor “has been a wonderful man to my people.”

“I love Asiwaju and I’m speaking about myself. I love him. And I’ll vote for him because I love him. Although I’ve not decided, I’m just telling you. And because of the things he has done for my industry,” she said.

Her choice of candidate, however, led to criticism and backlash from some Nigerians on social media.

Nigerian singer, Oladapo Oyebanjo, with the stage name “D’banj,” has revealed that his 20-year music journey would not have been complete without his business partner, Michael Ajereh, popularly known as “Don Jazzy.”

The 41-year-old took to his Instagram page on Tuesday with a display of a video to appreciate Don Jazzy and invite him to his 20th-year anniversary dinner.

He described the two decades as years characterised by brotherhood, entertainment, and of unwavering support.

D’banj wrote: “My 20 year journey cannot be complete without It’s @donjazzy again! Giving him the invite to my anniversary dinner was a moment filled with nostalgia.

“As we both celebrate 20 years in the industry, I’m reminded of the countless memories and milestones we’ve shared together.

“Here’s to two decades of brotherhood, entertainment, and unwavering support. Love you always, Brother!.”

Don Jazzy also took to the comment section, saying: “Still finding it hard to believe it’s been 20 years bro. Feels like yesterday. Thank you for everything. Love you brotherLee. More blessings.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Don Jazzy, a Nigerian record producer and Chief Executive Officer of Mavin Records, co-founded Mo’Hits Records with D’banj in 2004.

D’banj had earlier hinted at his plan to celebrate his 20 years on stage at the New Afrika Shrine in Lagos, with the theme “D’banj live @New Afrika Shrine.” (NAN)

Nigerian rapper, Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz, has disclosed how the recently suspended strike affected his business.

Recall that members of the organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, on Tuesday, suspended their strike for five days.

However, Falz disclosed that his business suffered a loss during the strike.

According to the singer, the strike made him stranded in Uyo as his return flight to Lagos was cancelled due to the closure of airports.

He explained that he also lost money he spent organizing a video shoot because he couldn’t make it to Lagos for the shoot.

Falz, however, stated that he understands the reasons for the strike, adding that he is in support of the labour unions’ demands.

Speaking via his Instagram account he said, “I woke up this morning, set out for the airport only to hear that the airport is closed, all the flights are cancelled because of the strike action. I can’t make it to Lagos, now stuck in Uyo.

“It affected me because there is a video shoot I’m supposed to do in Lagos today, I ended up losing money because we have already booked stuff, so we are going to have to pay another amount. Despite the fact that it really affected me, I understand the reason for the strike and I’m with them. I am with the labour. In fact, this strike is supposed to happen earlier than now.”

Oyo State Governor, Engineer ‘Seyi Makinde, has approved the appointment of Professor Razaq Olatunde Rom Kalilu as the substantive Vice Chancellor of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso. 

This was confirmed by the state’s Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Salihu Adelabu, in a statement.

The statement, which was released on Tuesday, stated further that Prof. Kalilu is to serve as substantive vice chancellor for a single term of five years, with effect from June 12, 2024.

Recall that the governing council of the institution forwarded the name of the VC to Governor Makinde last week.

He said that the government looks forward to his hard work, diligence, and professionalism in realizing its mission for the institution.

Prof Kalilu is a well-established figure in the world of art and art history. 

He joined the service of LAUTECH on September 1, 1992, and was pronounced a Professor of Arts and Arts History in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, twenty-four years ago on October 1, 1999, and was appointed as Acting Vice-Chancellor on June 12, 2023.

Kalilu, an alumnus of the prestigious University of Ife and the University of Ibadan, is a polymath and specialist in form and material technology. His administrative skills and leadership experiences are intense, integrous and ambidextrous.

He was the Head of Department of Fine and Applied Arts from 1998 to 2003; Dean of Faculty of Environmental Sciences from 2003 to 2006 and again from 2012 to 2016; Chairman, Committee of Deans in 2004; and from 2004 to 2006 the Chairman, Committee of Deans and Provosts; he was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of LAUTECH between 2006 and 2008.  

Professor Kalilu is a recipient of many national and international prizes and awards, which include: the Gold Medal in the 1978–1979 All Africa Painting Contest; Elected Membership of the New York Academy of Sciences in recognition of his contributions to Science and Technology; Merit Prize in International Postage Stamp Design Contest in 1997; the Outstanding People of the 20th Century Outstanding Achievement Medal in 2000; and the Twentieth Century Achievement Award in 2001. 

His other prizes and awards include his selection as one of the 1000 Leaders of World Influence for the 21st century in year 2000 and the distinguished and exceptional Universal Award of Accomplishment in 2000. Furthermore, he received the Development in Nigeria Merit Award in 2006.

Professor Rom Kalilu is a member of several academic and intellectual organisations, which include the Australian Ceramic Society, and the International Association of Astronomical Artists. and is a Fellow of the Society of Nigerian Artists.