I Remain Accord Party Leader in South West—Doyin Okupe

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Senate and the House of Representatives will on Tuesday resume plenary after weeks of vacation with expectations that they will attend to correspondences from President Bola Tinubu. The upper chamber adjourned for a six-week annual recess on August 17 after confirmating 45 out of the 48 ministerial nominees of President Tinubu. The Senate President, Mr Godswill Akpabio, also announced the composition of 74 standing committees on that day. Upon resumption, the Senate will commence its legislative duties by attending to correspondences from the President requesting the confirmation of some appointments he made. The appointments include those

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Ministry of Power and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to urgently provide funds for the completion of the Okpai–Kwale Transmission Line Project in Delta State. At the plenary on Tuesday, the lower chamber of the parliament mandated its Committee on Power to ensure that bottlenecks mitigating against the completion of the project are effectively addressed and the project is completed in due time. This followed a motion moved by Mr Nnamdi Ezechi, the lawmaker representing Ndokwa/UKwuani Federal Constituency in the National Assembly on the floor of the green

By Adedapo Adesanya An initiative to boost youth employment and shore up Nigeria’s foreign exchange (FX) earnings has been introduced by the Nigerian government. The scheme, the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP), was unveiled over the weekend at the Microsoft Office in New York, United States of America by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs Doris Uzoka-Anite. She said the programme would position Nigeria as an export hub for talent outsourcing in Africa following the example of India, Bangladesh, Mexico and The Philippines. Mrs Uzoka-Anite noted that NATEP is a key national initiative that will serve as a

By Adedapo Adesanya The management of NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange has published a draft document contain rules for admission of right issues by companies trading their securities on its platform. In a notice released on Thursday, the regulator said firms on its platform intending to raise fresh capital via rights issue must adhere to the guidelines, including receiving approvals from the necessary organs, shareholders inclusive. Business Post reports that rights issue allows existing shareholders to purchase additional shares in proportion to their existing holdings, which will help raise supplementary capital for the company. In the circular analysed by Business

By Adedapo Adesanya The Lagos State Government, through its Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), has opened the Eko Haven, a shelter for survivors of domestic violence. In a statement released on Monday, signed by its spokesperson, Mrs Joke Ladenegan-Oginni, it was revealed that this is part of the state government’s commitment to ensuring holistic support is provided for survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). Speaking on this, the Executive Secretary of DSVA, Mrs Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, revealed that the facility, located in the Ikorodu axis of Lagos, is a 30-bed space capacity to provide immediate shelter services to high-risk

By Adedapo Adesanya The ongoing strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been extended by additional 12 weeks (three months) after the two-month warning strike expired. This was disclosed by the president of the union, Mr Emmanuel Osodeke on Monday. In a statement he issued after an emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the association at the University of Abuja, the ASUU president said the decision was to give the government enough time to resolve all outstanding issues with the lecturers. “After extensive deliberations, noting the government’s failure to live up to its responsibilities

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Losses recorded by International Breweries and 14 other counters overpowered gains posted by 21 equities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday. Business Post reports that there was a renewed sell pressure at the local bourse yesterday as investors approached the market with caution, slowing the index down by 0.14 percent at the close of transactions. While the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 45.4 points to close at 32,568.65 points, the market capitalisation decreased by N17 billion to finish at N12.145 trillion. A look at the price movement chart yesterday revealed that International

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The number of customers on the digital wallet platform of Colombian-based digital payments company, MOVii, has crossed 1.5 million. MOVii is powered by Comviva’s mobiquity platform, which enables over 70 digital financial services in more than 50 countries. The firm is ranked fifth amongst all financial institutions in Colombia in terms of transaction volume and has reached this milestone faster than any other financial institution in the country. It is the country’s first 100 per cent digital money platform, where everything from customer registration to payments happens using the mobile application. Its vision is to revolutionise financial

By Dipo Olowookere The stock market commenced trading for the new week on a negative note on Monday with a 0.79 percent loss as the wait for news of the release of ministerial list to the Senate for confirmation continues. During his term in office in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari waited for nearly six months to announce his cabinet members and this had a negative effect on the economy, which eventually slipped into recession some months later. On May 29, 2019, Mr Buhari was sworn into office for a second term, having emerged winner of the keenly contested presidential election

By Dipo Olowookere Seychelles received a round of applause in New York today from a group of ambassadors to the United Nations dedicated to promoting the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG14) on the conservation and use of oceans and seas for sustainable development. The Group of Friends of Oceans and Seas (GoFOS) congratulated Seychelles after its Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Ronny Jumeau, reported on the country’s success in finalising more than $40 million in innovative financing in 2016-2017 for implementing SDG14 and developing the blue economy. The ambassadors said Seychelles was “leading the way” in finding new sustainable

By Dipo Olowookere The bears consolidated their dominance on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday amid sustained selling pressure triggered by profit-taking in financial and consumer goods stocks. Equities like MTN Nigeria, Nestle Nigeria, Zenith Bank, GTCO, Dangote Sugar and others suffered losses during the session. The increase in the interim dividend payout by UBA and its outstanding performance in the first half of the year could not persuade traders to slow down in their profit-booking activities. At the close of transactions, the stock market further shrank by 0.80 per cent, with the banking, insurance, and consumer goods sectors