Access Bank to Sack 75% of Contract Staff

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A veteran journalist, Mr Bayo Onanuga, has been appointed as the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy. A statement issued on Friday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ajuri Ngelale, said Mr Tinubu also appointed Ms Delu Bulus Yakubu as his Senior Special Assistant on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. In the statement, the President wished his new aides “well in the discharge of their duties,” noting that their appointments were “part of efforts to prioritize effective and efficient working synergy between the Presidency and Federal Ministries.

By Precious Olisa The federal government has threatened to stop paying salaries of unidentified workers on its payroll, saying it was determined the loopholes in the civil service. The Head of Civil Service, Mrs Folashade Yemi Esan, confirmed this development, noting that it was to tackle the prevalence of ghost workers on the government’s payroll. She said the unverified employees of the government would be fished out with the implementation of the Human Resources (HR) software designed to capture accurate data of workers. According to her, the software will be implemented by the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPS) in

By Adedapo Adesanya The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, has disclosed that so far, about 550,000 applicants have indicated interest in the first phase of the government’s plan to train three million tech talents in Nigeria within two weeks of initiating the scheme. The Minister recently revealed that the training would be done in three phases, starting with the training of 30,000 persons in the next three months as dictated by the 1-10-100 model. “We are using a 1-10-100-model. We are starting with 1 per cent of our 3 million target, and that will be

By Adedapo Adesanya The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the nomination of Mr Zacch Adedeji as the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Mr Adedeji, who appeared at the upper chamber for his screening today, revealed his plans to improve the nation’s revenue, referring to the dearth of information in the oil and gas sector. The FIRS boss promised that most of the leakages would be halted. According to him, the core problem in the country is that of proper data, adding that developing data upon which decisions will be made is fundamental. He explained that this would enable

By Adedapo Adesanya The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange appreciated by 5.60 per cent in the four trading sessions of last week. This occurred at the bourse reached the N1 trillion valuation buoyed by the significant demand for the shares of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc. The firm had proposed to pay a dividend of N4.73 to shareholders for the 2021 financial year and this triggered an appetite for the company’s stocks at the unlisted securities market. At the close of transactions in the week, FrieslandCampina gained 32.6 per cent to settle at N200 per unit

By Investors Hub Asian stocks ended broadly lower on Thursday, tracking overnight declines in the U.S. and European markets as investors fretted about trade tensions, slowing global growth and uncertainty over Britain’s departure from the European Union. Chinese shares fell after a senior Chinese diplomat said that provoking trade disputes is “naked economic terrorism,” ramping up the rhetoric against Washington. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index eased 8.89 points or 0.3 percent to 2,905.81 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended down 120.83 points or 0.4 percent at 27,114.88. Japanese shares hit a 3-1/2-month low as trade war fears continued to

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Federal Government has disclosed that the 200,000 unemployed Nigerian graduates selected in the first batch of the N-Power Volunteer Corps (NPVC) would undergo a physical verification before being deployed to their places of assignment. The beneficiaries, according to the government, are expected to start work on Thursday, December 1, 2016 and would be paid N30,000 as salary for the next two years. A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, it was revealed that over 90% of the beneficiaries were first verified using the Bank Verification

By Dipo Olowookere About 158 protesters and members of the Otodo-Gbame community in Lagos, who were apprehended last week, have now been released. The Lagos Police Command, in a statement on Friday, November 17, 2017, disclosed that it released the protesters on Thursday. The 158 demonstrators were members of the Otodo-Gbame community protesting the destruction of their community by the Lagos State government earlier this year. They were apprehended by the police for breaching public peace during their demonstration at the government house in Alausa, Ikeja. During their protest last week, members of the community blocked major roads at the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Stocks in the financial services industry led the activity chart of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last week with 249.6 million shares valued at N1.6 billion traded in 5,899 deals. In the week, the sector contributed 59.15 per cent and 29.29 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. It was observed that equities in the consumer goods space followed with 51.8 million shares worth N1.1 billion in 1,877 deals, while shares in the industrial goods counter recorded a turnover of 46.2 million units valued at N833.5 million transacted in 1,489 deals. In the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Telecoms giant, MTN Nigeria, has refuted a claim by one member of the Nigerian Senate, Mr Dino Melaye, that it illegally transferred $13.92 billion from Nigeria to its home country, South Africa, between 2006 and 2016 through its bankers. The lawmaker, while moving a motion on Tuesday, had named the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Elenemah; Stanbic IBTC; Standard Chartered Bank; Citi Bank and Diamond Bank as accomplices. He then called for the probe of those involved in the alleged act. But MTN, in its reaction on Wednesday, denied the allegation, describing it as completely

By Investors Hub Asian shares tumbled on Tuesday as a trade dispute between the U.S. and China intensified and oil turned volatile ahead of a critical meeting of crude-producing nations that will determine whether it’s time to ramp up production. Traders eyed looming trade wars after President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and Beijing vowed to ?immediately? retaliate. Chinese stocks hit a two-year low and the yuan weakened after the Ministry of Commerce vowed to retaliate with ?strong? countermeasures against U.S. companies, deepening a trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies. The

By Dipo Olowookere The local stock market closed 0.21 per cent higher on Wednesday on the back of a renewed buying interest in mid and high-cap equities on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. For three consecutive trading sessions, Customs Street was in the red territory as a result of profit-taking, but gains across the major sectors of the bourse lifted the spirits yesterday. Business Post reports that the banking index grew at the session by 1.68 per cent, the consumer goods counter gained 0.65 per cent, the insurance space rose by 0.18 per cent, the energy landscape appreciated by 0.09