General
Freight Agents, Wine Shop Owner in Trouble for Bottled Cannabis Juice
By Adedapo Adesanya
Four freight agents and a wine shop owner have been apprehended by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over the importation of smuggled bottled Cannabis juice into the country.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the spokesman of the agency, Mr Femi Babafemi, stated that the suspects were arrested at the SAHCO import shed of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
He disclosed that Cannabis juice, with a gross weight of 16.50kgs on Wednesday, December 23, was discovered during a search of consolidated cargo from South Africa.
Investigations by anti-narcotics officers subsequently led to the arrest of the four freight agents: Mr Soremekun Olalekan Wasiu; Mr Olufisayo Dayo; Mr Moruf Olusegun Bashir, and Mr Imole Moses Ajayi, whose statements eventually led to the arrest of the consignee, a wine shop business owner, Mr Emebede Chuka, the following day Thursday, December 22.
Also, the NDLEA has seized consignments of Colorado concealed in vehicles imported from Montreal, Canada and packs of cannabis juice flown in from South Africa, meant for distribution ahead of the Christmas festive season.
This was intercepted at the Tincan seaport, Apapa and the MMIA.
Mr Babafemi further revealed that the NDLEA also recovered 152 kilograms of skunk from two dealers in Kano; 100,000 pills of Tramadol in Imo state and 520kgs of cannabis hidden in soft drinks crates loaded in a truck coming to Abuja, the nation’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Also, an attempt to export quantities of cannabis and ecstasy pills known as MDMA concealed in the beverage drink, Bournvita, containers to Dubai, UAE, through the NAHCO export shed on Friday, December 23, was frustrated while a vulcanizer given the assignment for a fee of N4,000, and Mr Iyanda Ogunleye Yaya has been arrested.
In the same vein, a consignment of 185 parcels of cannabis Indica, popularly called Colorado, weighing 61.3kgs, have been seized during a joint examination of a container at the Tincan seaport, Lagos.
The container marked MSCU5206726 from Montreal, Canada, was declared as containing three units of used vehicles, but upon a 100 per cent examination, it was found to contain two vehicles; a 2009 Toyota Corolla car and a 2009 Ford Econoline bus as well as used car engines, bicycles, shoes and other items including the drugs. Two dock workers: Mr Abdulquadri Abdulazeez and Mr Ogbuji Kenneth, are already in NDLEA custody in connection with the seizure following their initial arrest by Port Security and the Police.
Meanwhile, in Kano, two suspects, Mr Nura Zakariya’u and Mr Alkasim Abubakar, were arrested along Zaria-Kano road, Kwanar Dangora, with 161 blocks of cannabis weighing 152kgs and various quantities of Exol and Codeine-based syrup, while a total of 100,000 pills of tramadol were recovered from a suspect, Mr Amaechi Johnson in Imo state on his way to Onitsha, Anambra state.
Similarly, a total of 708 kilograms of cannabis were recovered by operatives from a bus at Ehinogbe, Owo area of Ondo state on Tuesday, December 20.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has formally transitioned into the Nigeria Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) following President Bola Tinubu’s assent to the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency Act, 2026.
The Act establishes NPERA as the statutory authority responsible for the economic regulation of ports in the country.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, Mr Ibrahim Shema, chairman of the NPERA governing board, described the development as a major institutional reform aimed at creating a more transparent, predictable, and competitive port environment.
Mr Shema said NPERA would be responsible for the economic regulation of port services and related activities, including tariffs and charges, licensing, service standards, fair competition, commercial dispute resolution, trade facilitation, and protection of port users.
He said the new framework is expected to provide greater regulatory certainty for shipping lines and terminal operators, while offering importers, exporters, freight forwarders, and clearing agents more predictable procedures, fairer charges, and improved mechanisms for resolving disputes.
The chairman clarified that the establishment of NPERA does not create a competing authority with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
“While the Nigerian Ports Authority will retain responsibility for port infrastructure and its landlord functions, NPERA will provide independent economic oversight within its statutory mandate,” Mr Shema said.
He said NPERA’s regulatory approach will be anchored on five principles: transparency, fairness, predictability, efficiency, and accountability.
The board’s chairman said the new agency would deploy technology and data to strengthen licensing, tariff administration, monitoring, compliance, reporting, and stakeholder engagement.
“The agency also plans to work with key maritime institutions, including the Nigerian Ports Authority, NIMASA and the Nigeria Customs Service, as well as terminal operators, shipping lines, freight forwarders, manufacturers, investors and other industry stakeholders,” he said.
Mr Shema said the immediate priority is to ensure an orderly transition from the NSC to NPERA, while maintaining continuity in essential regulatory functions and preserving institutional knowledge.
The chairman stressed that the success of the new agency would ultimately be measured by its impact on port users and the wider economy.
“Effective implementation of the Act should translate into better services, greater efficiency, lower uncertainty, fair competition, and stronger trade facilitation,” Shema added.
On his part, Mr Pius Akutah, executive secretary and chief executive of NPERA, expressed optimism that the new law would significantly clarify the regulatory environment governing Nigeria’s ports within the next one to two years.
Mr Akutah said the NPERA Act would give the agency stronger powers to improve commercial dispute resolution and protect the interests and welfare of port users and other stakeholders, adding that the new regulatory framework would enable the agency to deliver a more efficient, transparent, and competitive Nigerian port system.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, has announced that Nigeria will launch a new alphanumeric postcode system on October 1, 2026, with every home expected to have a unique postcode.
Mr Tijani disclosed the development in a video post on X, describing the new system as a more precise and digitally oriented approach to addressing locations across the country.
He said the initiative would mark a significant shift in Nigeria’s postal addressing system by assigning unique postcodes to individual homes.
The initiative marks a major step in Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda. By replacing the outdated numeric-only system, the alphanumeric codes provide a more flexible and scalable framework that can accommodate the country’s rapid urban growth and diverse settlement patterns.
For emphasis, an alphanumeric postcode system is a postal indexing system that uses a combination of both letters (alpha) and numbers (numeric), along with spaces or punctuation, to identify specific geographic locations, streets, or individual buildings for mail delivery.
Unlike purely numeric postcode systems (such as the 5-digit US ZIP Code or 5-digit codes used in some European countries), alphanumeric codes offer a much higher number of unique combinations using fewer total characters. This flexibility allows postal authorities to pinpoint locations with incredible precision, often down to a single side of a street or a specific large building.
“On October 1st 2026 Nigeria’s new Alphanumeric Postcode System goes live,” Mr Tijani said.
“For the first time, every home will be assigned a unique postcode that’s simple, precise and built for a digital future,” he added.
The minister urged Nigerians to prepare to generate their individual postcodes ahead of the launch.
The new system is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s digital addressing infrastructure and improve the identification and location of homes and properties for postal and other location-based services.
The initiative is being implemented in collaboration with the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) as part of broader efforts to modernise the country’s addressing and digital infrastructure.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, has been directed to give an account to Nigerians on how the current government has fared since its inception on May 29, 2023.
This directive was given by President Bola Tinubu in a message posted on his verified social media handles on Wednesday.
This coincides with the commencement of campaigns for the 2027 presidential election scheduled for January 16.
According to the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), candidates seeking to become the country’s president are eligible to kick off their campaigns from today, Wednesday, August 19, 2026.
In his message today, Mr Tinubu said, “When we began this journey of reform in 2023, I promised that the difficult decisions we were making would serve the purpose of building an economy that works better for you and a country that is stronger for our children.
“Today, your government presents The Reforms Scorecard. It sets out what our reforms have achieved, what they have cost us, and the greater costs and harms we have prevented by acting when we did.
“I have therefore directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to give an account to Nigerians, to explain the numbers, the choices we have made, the progress recorded, and the work that remains.
“You deserve to see the numbers. You deserve to know what has changed and what these reforms mean for you, your family, your business and our country.
“This is your government. This is your country. This is our account to you.”
Shortly after he took the oath of office over three years ago, President Tinubu declared that subsidies on petroleum products were gone. He later approved foreign exchange (FX) reforms, which devalued the Nigerian Naira, shooting from about N800 per Dollar to nearly N2,000 per Dollar. However, it is currently slightly above N1,340 per Dollar in the official market.
