FG Moves to Adopt CNG for Public Transportation Across States

By Adedapo Adesanya The Lagos State Government has announced that the first phase of the Blue Rail Line will commence operations on Monday, September 4. The Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Mrs Abimbola Akinajo, made this known at the Marina Train Station on Wednesday. Mrs Akinajo also noted that the first train ride would kick off by 9 am with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on board, along with other passengers, from Marina to Mile 2 Train Station. Mrs Akinajo explained that for the first four weeks, the rain will run only 12 trips with the locomotive

By Adedapo Adesanya * Cost of other alternatives transport soar in Review Month ** Ripples of fuel subsidy spur rise in food, rent, others *** President Tinubu launches palliative measures to cushion effect The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per increased by 97.9 per cent from N649.59 in May 2023 to N1,285.41 in June 2023 as Nigerians grapple with a rise in prices after President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy. This was contained in the Transport Fare Watch June 2023 released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) over the weekend,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Lagos State House of Assembly is considering regulating the multiple dues collected by transport unions in the metropolis to ease the burden on commuters, who are forced to pay higher by drivers. This was one of the issues addressed at the plenary on Tuesday by the state legislators. Another matter discussed by the lawmakers was the activities of some officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) in the state. On Monday, it was reported that a driver, who was allegedly being chased by officials of the traffic control agency, crushed to death two workers

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Ogun State Government has disclosed that the construction of bus stations for the take-off of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Mass Transit scheme along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway axis will commence soon, with core stations to be sited within the Mowe, Ibafo, Arepo, and Berger axis of the ever-busy expressway. This was disclosed by the state’s Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Olugbenga Dairo, on Thursday as a guest on a radio programme in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. According to him, the construction will commence in earnest, as necessary implementation frameworks have been put in place, even as

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has said it would continue to ensure children across Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS0 camps receive quality education. The nation’s stock market regulator gave this assurance on Tuesday, May 1, 2018, at the award ceremony organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) held at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island. At the event, the NSE was announced winner of the 2018 award for ‘CSR in Education’. NSE emerged the winner of this award in recognition of its education support for Internally Displaced Persons in Borno State. Commenting on the award, the

By Adedapo Adesanya Global mobility and urban services platform, inDrive, has launched a new venture and merger and acquisition (M&A) arm to invest up to $100 million in promising startups. This was disclosed in a statement seen by Business Post on Thursday. The firm added that the new subsidiary would be headed by a seasoned entrepreneur and investment professional, Mr Andries Smit, who joins inDrive as Vice President of New Ventures. New Ventures Investments, as the new arm is called, will focus on rapid growth and reduce positive community impact with investments spread on companies tackling injustice and improving the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka About €3.5 million stolen assets have been transferred to Tunisia by Switzerland in response to a request for mutual legal assistance. The final destination of these assets will depend on the proceedings currently under way in Tunisia. Acting on a request for mutual legal assistance from Tunisia, on May 26, 2017 the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland ordered the transfer of an additional amount of approximately €3.5 million. The assets had been frozen in Switzerland in connection with a close relative of the former president of Tunisia, and are being transferred to the current Tunisian

By Dipo Olowookere The overnight interbank lending rate rose sharply on Friday as a result of the outflows of about N126 billion from the sale of OMO bills by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Also the funding for retail foreign exchange (forex) by banks contributed to the spike recorded by the interbank rate. Business Post reports that yesterday, the overnight rate rose broadly to 17.67 percent from 5.75 percent on Thursday, while the Open Buy Back (OBB) rate jumped to 16.67 percent from 5.25 percent the previous day. It was gathered that treasury bills market was relatively flat on

By Adedapo Adesanya Italy’s antitrust regulator, AGCM, on Monday announced that it would fine Apple €10 million for misleading claims about the waterproof qualities of its iPhone products. The competition authority took issue with advertisements in which latest iPhone models were presented as water resistant for up to 30 minutes at depths ranging from one to four metres. “Customers were not properly warned that this could happen only during “specific and controlled laboratory tests” and “not under normal conditions of use,” AGCM noted in a statement. Apple was also fined for its refusal to fix under warranty, liquid-related damage as

By Dipo Olowookere Rite Foods Limited, the makers of the premium award-winning Fearless energy drink, has unveiled a new mantra for the brand, Embrace the Thrill. In its new television commercial, the company expressed its determination to continue revitalising consumers with its Classic and Red Berry flavours. In the TVC, the brand motivated its consumers to go beyond their limits and not be laid back by the number of rejections they have received in time past. The new pay-off also encouraged them to be daring and energetic, to exhibit the willpower to excel, be enthusiastic in their endeavours, and be

By Dipo Olowookere The secondary market for treasury bills was bearish on Wednesday, forcing the average yields to slightly rise by 0.08 percent to 14.12 percent. This was as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mopped up N66.02 billion from the financial system through the sale of the debt instruments via Open Market Operations (OMO). However, the exercise was not heavily subscribed to like in the previous session, where an oversubscription of 153 percent was recorded. But in the previous auctions, the apex bank offered the treasury bills in three maturities. Of the N10 billion worth of the 99-day bill

By Dipo Olowookere An investment company based in the England, MBU BidCo Limited, an acquisition vehicle wholly owned by MBU Capital Limited and co-founder by an experienced investment manager, Mr Mohammed Iqbal, has been selected to become the new owner of the United Kingdom subsidiary of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. The Nigerian lender, in a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday, announced that MBU Capital will now control 100 percent stake in the bank subject to approval of the relevant regulatory agencies from the two countries. Union Bank explained that it was selling the financial institution