Naira Falls to N450 Per Dollar at Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya The prices of oil benchmarks jumped by 2 per cent on Tuesday on the fresh possibility that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will extend or deepen supply cuts. Data showed that Brent crude futures gained $1.70 or 2.1 per cent to close at $81.68 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by $1.55 or 2.1 per cent to $76.41 per barrel after a drop in Kazakh oil output and a weaker US Dollar. OPEC+ is due to hold an online ministerial meeting on Thursday to discuss 2024

By Aduragbemi Omiyale President Bola Tinubu has said the 2024 budget presented to the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday was designed to achieve macroeconomic stability, a better investment environment, greater access to social security, poverty reduction and enhanced human capital development. According to him, if these goals are achieved, the standard of living of Nigerians will improve and the citizens will enjoy the dividends of democracy. While presenting the 2024 Appropriation Bills to the parliament yesterday, the President said this was why he christened the budget proposal as the Budget of Renewed Hope. Mr Tinubu told the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) and the unregulated Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and the parallel market segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, November 29 as President Bola Tinubu reiterated his administration’s promise to meet its obligations. Speaking during the presentation of his administration’s N27.50 trillion 2024 budget proposal to the joint session of the 10th National Assembly on Wednesday, Mr Tinubu said, “Despite the challenges, we continue to meet our obligations.” In the official NAFEM segment of the market, the value of the local currency went

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr Simbi Wabote, has charged staff of the agency to discharge their duties with diligence and professionalism so as to reinvigorate the tempo of Nigerian Content implementation for the benefit of Nigerians. In his New Year message to staff, the Executive Secretary harped on the need for all personnel to adhere strictly with the Board’s core values, policies and processes and adopt positive work attitudes and culture, describing the attributes as necessities for achieving the Nigerian Content mandate. He assured that the Board’s position and role

By Mayowa Olajide Akinleye Nigeria is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 12 of that document establishes that young people must be heard. They must be listened to and taken seriously. It is their right. This idea presupposes that there is a speaking, an expression that is present but ignorable. Articles 2 and 13 recognize this seeming powerlessness and, in seeking to protect the right to be heard, establish that young people have a right to not be discriminated against and can freely express themselves without fear. Yet, 95% of its youth

By Dipo Olowookere About N126 billion has been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the construction of 12 roads across the country. This information was revealed by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on Wednesday after the FEC meeting presided over by Acting President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, at the State House in Abuja. According to the Minister, the roads are expected to make lives easier for residents of the beneficiary states, which will in turn boost the countnry’s economy especially at a time it is battling with recession. Mr Fashola, while addressing newsmen after

By Adedapo Adesanya The Court of Appeal in Lagos has affirmed the judgment of the tribunal, confirming the return of Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Mr Obafemi Hamzat as the Governor and Deputy Governor of Lagos state. The justices of the appellate court in a unanimous decision dismissed the appeals of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) for lack of merit. The judgement was delivered by Justice Yargata Nimpa, Justice Samuel Bola, and Justice Paul Bassey. The governorship candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and the PDP, Mr Abdulazeez Olajide Adediran, otherwise known as Jandor,

By Adedapo Adesanya The United States Government has donated 200 ventilators to Nigeria as part of efforts to tackle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This was made by the US Ambassador, Ms Mary Beth Leonard, on Tuesday in an handing over event done by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to the Minister of Health, Mr Osaige Ehanire in Abuja. Ms Leonard said the 200 ventilators being transferred are compact, portable and can easily be mobilised to reach patients with the most severe symptoms of COVID-19, adding that it was the result of a recent promise made by the

By Aduragbemi Omiyale In five years’ time, members of the investing public will be able to buy and sell shares of Transcorp Power, the Chairman of Transcorp, Mr Toby Elumelu, has confirmed. In an interview with Arise TV last week, the serial entrepreneur said the power-generating company wants to put some things in place before going public, playing down speculations that the list of the firm would be done very soon. Last year, Geregu Power Plc joined the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, triggering rumours that Transcorp Power would follow suit. But Mr Elumele denied reports of planning to list Transcorp

By Ahmed Rahma The COVID-19 pandemic hit many businesses, countries and individuals in 2020 by surprise and till now, the effect is still being felt. Nigeria, which is one of the countries hit by the virus, though mildly when compared with countries in Europe and the United States of America (USA), slipped into a recession as a result of the contagion. When the country, which is Africa’s largest economy, recorded its first case of coronavirus in late February, some people knew trouble was lurking around. In March, President Muhammadu Buhari was forced to take the harsh decision of locking down

By Dipo Olowookere The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again defended its decision to stop the sale of foreign exchange (FX) to Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators on July 27, 2021, maintaining that it was the right step. The Director of Corporate Communications at the CBN, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, while addressing reporters on Monday in Abuja, said the apex bank took the action because it was not sustainable in the long run. “Such a practice was not sustainable in the long run, considering that many of the BDCs had since deviated from the purpose for which they were issued