General
Pension Arrears Payment: Court Fines CBN
By Adedapo Adesanya
Justice Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae of the National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has fined the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) the sum of N100,000 over the bank’s replacement of an application filed for a stay of execution on the judgement of the court over the payment of pension arrears to the former Governor of Taraba State, Mr Jolly Nyame; Mr Uba Ahmadu; Mr Abubakar Armayau and Mr Bilkisu Danboyi.
At the court on Monday, counsel to the central bank, Mrs Johannah Titus, said she was withdrawing an earlier motion dated and filed on May 27 to replace it with another filed yesterday.
This was kicked against by Mr Edward Erhinure, counsel to Mr Nyame, who argued that he had already filed a counter-affidavit to the May 27 application and had also spent money to file processes in response to the application, praying the court to award him the sum of N1 million as costs.
However, Mr Confidence Samuel, counsel to the judgment debtor, the Taraba Government, informed the court that he was not opposing the CBN’s application.
While ruling on the matter, Justice Obaseki-Osaghae directed the CBN counsel to move the motion to replace the same with the one filed on Monday and awarded the sum of N100,000 as costs against the bank to be paid before the next adjourned date, October 17 for a hearing of Monday’s application.
In addition to the application of a stay of execution by CBN, it also filed a notice of appeal contesting the garnishee order delivered by the same court on May 24.
A garnishee order is a judicial proceeding of execution or enforcement of monetary judgment whereby money belonging to a judgment debtor, in the hands or possession of a third party known as the ‘Garnishee’ (usually a bank), is attached or seized by a judgment creditor, the ‘Garnisher’, in satisfaction of a judgment sum of debt.
The court in its ruling made an order absolute in the garnishee proceeding ordering the CBN to pay the judgment creditors.
The judgment creditors had filed the suit against the judgment debtor, the Taraba State Government, and CBN, the garnishee debtor, through a garnishee proceeding.
The judgment debtor in a response filed an application filed on January 24, seeking the order of the court to set aside the order nisi (an order that will ripen or take effect at some set date in the future, unless the order is rescinded by a court before that date), granted in favour of the judgment creditors on December 2, 2021.
CBN on its part had objected to the garnishee proceeding by stating that the court did not have jurisdiction to entertain the proceeding.
The garnishee proceeding had emanated from a judgment delivered by the same court on July 12, 2019.
In the judgment, the court had ordered the payment of the sum of N151.1 million, being the unpaid pension arrears of the judgment creditors.
The judgment, which was delivered by Justice Sanusi Kado, was for an unpaid pension from May 2013 to October 2015.
The court, in the said judgment, had ordered 10 equal instalment payments, commencing from July 2019, on a monthly basis until the final liquidation of the total sum.
The judgment creditors were paid the sum of N16.3 million as the first instalment but were never paid again until the expiration of the instalment plan in Nov. 2021.
The judgment creditors, who were former employees of the judgment debtor upon retirement, were paid the sum of N45 million out of their total pension arrears of N196 million.
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.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and the Nigerian Agip Exploration (NAE) Limited are advancing discussions on the development of deepwater assets estimated to hold 500 million barrels of oil reserves.
The development followed a meeting between the chief executive of the state oil company, Mr Bayo Ojulari, and Agip’s Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Maurizio Pinna, in Abuja.
The talks focused on ongoing work on deepwater acreage jointly held by NNPC, NAE and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) as well as plans to bring the associated resources into production.
According to NNPC, the acreage comprises the Zabazaba and Etan deepwater fields, with estimated reserves of about 500 million barrels.
The fields are located in Nigeria’s deepwater terrain and are considered significant to the country’s efforts to expand its upstream oil production base, particularly as operators seek to advance projects capable of delivering additional barrels over the medium to long term.
While details of the expected production timeline were not disclosed, the meeting underscores renewed industry focus on unlocking Nigeria’s deepwater resources and growing crude oil production.
The acreage comprises licences converted from OPL 245 and is operated by NAE in partnership with NNPC Limited and SNEPCo.
Mr Ojulari and Mr Pinna also reviewed the work currently underway on the assets and the expected production outlook, with the discussions centred on advancing deepwater development.
The engagement comes amid renewed efforts to attract investment into Nigeria’s offshore petroleum resources and increase national oil production.
