FG Airlifts 355 Stranded Nigerians in Russia with N306m

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday departed Abuja for Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to attend the COP28 Climate Summit which takes place from December 1 —2, 2023, with the theme Unite, Act, and Deliver. According to the presidential spokesman, Mr Ajuri Ngelale, the President will be using the platform to advocate for funding as well as technical support to tackle the array of climate problems facing the country. He said Mr Tinubu was “mindful of the severe impact of climate change on Nigeria, such as desertification, flooding, erosion, drought, and national security risks arising therefrom, will maximise

By Adedapo Adesanya Fils has launched a platform to help global businesses turn intent into action when integrating sustainable values into the core of digital payments. The new innovation paves the way for trust and safety in carbon markets, bringing together buyers with capital, and suppliers with high-integrity carbon credits, at the rate and scale required to rebalance the planet.  Designed as a holistic, enterprise-grade B2B2C product offering, Fils leverages the power of leading technologies for its end-to-end infrastructure to transform various industries, including financial services, hospitality, and e-commerce. This makes it easier for businesses to act on the core

By Adedapo Adesanya The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has written to the World Bank to suspend issuing loans to Nigeria’s 36 states over allegations of mismanaging public funds which may include loans obtained from the institution. In the letter dated November 25, 2023, the group specifically wants the bank’s President, Mr Ajay Banga, “to promptly, transparently and effectively conduct an investigation into the spending of loans and other facilities by the country’s 36 state governors and to suspend any loans and funding if there is relevant admissible evidence of mismanagement or diversion of public funds by any of

By Adedapo Adesanya The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on National Planning and Economic Affairs, Mr Isiaka Ibrahim, has said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) must be insulated from political interference to perform more effectively. Mr Ibrahim said this at a Public Lecture to mark the 2023 African Statistics Day celebration in Abuja on Wednesday themed Modernising Data Ecosystems to Accelerate the Implementation of the AfCFTA: The Role of Official Statistics and Big Data in the Economic Transformation and Sustainable Development of Africa. He said the reliability of data from the stats office would be questioned if

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The management of Access Bank Plc has not hidden its intention to embark on an aggressive cut in operating expenses (OPEX). The financial institution is considering some cost optimisation strategies to give value to shareholders, some of who are expressing worry over the company’s high cost of operations, which they feel is affecting profit and dividend payout. Recently, Access Bank held its 31st Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos and the Group Managing Director of the bank, Mr Herbert Wigwe, used the occasion to inform shareholders that the organisation was already addressing the issue high operating expenses.

By Dipo Olowookere The bearish sentiment at the local stock market continued on Tuesday with a 0.48 percent loss, leaving the year-to-date return to sink deeper to -12.54 percent. This was as President Muhammadu Buhari received his presidential nomination form worth N40 million and the expression of interest form valued at N5 million from a group, which reportedly purchased the forms for him due to his inability to buy the forms because of its high cost. With this, President Buhari has set the pace to seek re-election next year on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Back

By Dipo Olowookere The hunger earlier shown by offshore investors to the treasury bills issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through Open Market Operations (OMO) is beginning to wane. Last year, the apex bank restricted local retail and non-financial institutions from investing in the liquidity management tool, but allowed only foreign portfolio investors to buy. This was ostensibly done to attract foreign exchange into the country to bolster the nation’s external reserves, which was getting threatened through depletion following reduction in the prices of crude oil at the global market. While the CBN left the stop rates of

By Omoshola Deji The most embraced notion on the evolution of the state is the social-contract thought promulgated by Thomas Hobbes in the ‘Leviathan’, published in 1651. Hobbes posits that the state is a product of the society; each individual submits a portion of their rights to a consented authority in interchange for an assured protection of their other rights. The consented authority presides over the equitable distribution of resources, justice, fairness and the rule of law. Uncomplicated, the consented authority in this case is the Nigerian government and Hobbes’ social-contract theory is employed to unmask the factors provoking the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Efforts are being made by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to foster safe conduct of transactions and usage of personal data of investors in the Nigerian capital market. To achieve this, the apex capital market regulator has collaborated with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). Last week, SEC organised a webinar on Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR): Implications on the Nigerian Capital Market and the Director-General of SEC, Mr Lamido Yuguda, emphasised that the commission was very serious on the issue of data protection in the capital market, assuring that going forward, more awareness on

By Dipo Olowookere Following an increase in the landing cost of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, to N145 per litre, Federal Government has resorted to the subsidy regime to ensure consumers in the country get the commodity at the official N145 per litre. This is coming about eight months after the President Muhammadu Buhari-led regime stopped the fuel subsidy, which was costing the government millions of Naira being paid monthly to oil marketers importing the product then. Investigations by Punch on Friday showed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), now responsible for about 90 percent of the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Some shareholders of publicly quoted banks in Nigeria exposed to the $1.2 billion loan obtained by 9mobile, formerly Etisalat Nigeria, are beginning to express joy at news that the telecom firm has commenced repayment of the debt. Some days ago, Teleology Holdings Limited confirmed taking over the debt-ridden 9mobile after a vigorous bidding process, which began in 2017. Etisalat Nigeria had approached a consortium of Nigerian lenders for a credit facility aimed at expanding its operations in the country. However, when it was unable to service the loan, attempts were made by the lender to take over

By Dipo Olowookere Three graduates of Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State have come up with what might finally solve the age-long power supply crisis in Nigeria. The three young men; Adeyinka Amurawaiye, Oluwaseyi Oguntade and Segun Busari have, through their company, Intellectric Systems, designed solar-based renewable energy prototypes, which consumers do not even have to own to use. At the moment, consumers, beset by poor power supply on the one hand and the noise and pollution of generators on the other, are forced to buy tons of heavy-duty batteries and acres of solar panels with inverters for their energy needs,