Finance Minister Blames Fuel Subsidy Removal for Economic Crisis

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Taxpayers, including organisations and individuals, who are yet to pay their outstanding taxes, will not pay penalties and interests if they make the payments on or before December 31, 2023. This tax default forgiveness was given by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which explained that it created this window in “recognition of the challenges that many taxpayers have faced in settling their outstanding tax liabilities.” However, it stressed that if the full principal payment is not done before the deadline, defaulters would be forced to pay the outstanding tax liabilities. The Chairman of the FIRS, Mr

By Adedapo Adesanya Bitmama Incorporated, a crypto exchange company, has confirmed the acquisition of Payday, a virtual card service provider. According to reports, the chief executive of Bitmama, Mrs Ruth Iselema, has offered PayDay investors $1 million worth of equity in the crypto company at a $30 million valuation. The news comes barely nine months after Payday announced its $3 million seed round and three months after its exploration of sale options was confirmed. Facilitated through Bitmama’s cross-border payments product, Changera, the acquisition marks a pivotal shift from earlier speculations, including a potential acquisition by lead investor, Moniepoint. Changera is

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Naira opened the week stronger on the American Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, December 4 as pressure eased amid continued foreign exchange (FX) liquidity squeeze in the market. In the official market, the Naira appreciated against the greenback by 9.6 per cent or N89.42 to settle at N837.77/$1 compared with last Friday’s closing price of N927.19/$1. Also, the Naira gained N172.53 against the Pound Sterling in the NAFEM segment of the market during the session to close at N1,031.57/£1 versus last Friday’s rate of N1,204.10/£1 and against the Euro,

By Dipo Olowookere The management of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has said its results for the second quarter of 2020 should be released on or before Tuesday, September 29, 2020. The lender made this disclosure on Monday, August 31, 2020, in a notice sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), to inform investors on the reason for the delay. According to UBA, a tier-1 bank, the audited results for the half-year ended June 30, 2020, have not been submitted to the exchange because of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Last month, the financial institution’s board of directors held

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Over the weekend, Ecobank Nigeria carted away the Electronic Data Rendition Compliance and Integrity award at the 2019 edition of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Electronic Payment Incentive Scheme (EPIS) Efficiency Awards. The CBN EPIS Efficiency Awards is organised to celebrate financial institutions, merchants and other stakeholders at the forefront of driving electronic payment in Nigeria. Now in its fourth edition, the awards are based on objective analysis of all E-payments data collated by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) over a full calendar year. According to the NIBSS, the annual award puts into consideration electronic

By Modupe Gbadeyanka President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with Ghana over the loss of the country’s former President, Mr Jerry Rawlings, to the cold hands of death. The revolutionist died on Thursday morning at the age of 73. He died at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana, where he was taken to last week for treatment. The Nigerian President, in a statement signed by Mr Femi Adesina, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, sent his heartfelt condolences to government and people of Ghana, affirming that the entire African continent will sorely miss the sterling qualities of the

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government through the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has sanctioned Arise TV, African Independent Television (AIT) and Channels Television for what the agency called a gross violation of the broadcast code, especially with the use of alleged unverifiable online video footages on their respective platforms. The three major broadcast stations were reprimanded over their alleged roles in the escalation of violence across the nation by airing various images of shootings of peaceful protestors by the Nigerian military. Business Post understands that the regulators fined Arise TV, AIT, and Channels between N2million and N3million. According to the

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has assured Ondo State that it will benefit from the $200 million World Bank Livestock Productivity and Resilience Project (L- PRES). The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Sabo Nanono, made this known on Thursday in Akure, the Ondo State capital. Mr Nanono, who was represented by a Deputy Director in the ministry, Mr Franklin Olonimoyo, explained that the projects would create 5,000 direct jobs in all the selected states. He said it was specifically designed to grow piggery, poultry, and goat and sheep productions, increase human protein intakes and add more value

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A crude oil-producing vessel located at the Ukpokiti Terminal, Escravos, Warri, Delta State, has exploded, causing tension in the region as some workers on the facility were said to be missing after the incident. It was gathered that the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel has the capacity to produce about 22,000 barrels of oil per day and can also inject about 40,000 barrels of water per day and store about 2 million barrels of oil. Reports further said some inhabitants of the area where the unfortunate explosion occurred are afraid that their livelihood would be

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Tuesday revealed plans of his administration to leverage on the vast economic opportunities in entertainment, tourism and arts sectors, among others to grow the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state and promote talents in the state to compete globally. Speaking at Lagos House, Ikeja when he received artistes who performed at the One Lagos Fiesta (OLF), who were on a thank-you-visit, Governor Ambode said the creative industry remains a veritable platform to grow the economy, and that government would tap into it and use it to positively engage the

By Ahmed Rahma The Managing Director of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mr Emeka Emuwa, has been applauded by the board of directors for transforming the company. Mr Emuwa joined the old generation bank in November 2012 and under eight years, he exceptionally revamped the financial institution, making it a disruptor in the banking sector in the country. However, like the Yoruba adage that says o wuni ka j’eran pe lenu, sugbon ounfa ona’fun ni koje (which loosely means it is desirable to eat meat for long but for the oesophagus), Mr Emuwa has to go and pass the baton