Author: Aishat Olalere

Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has established 70,000 task force with the sole aim of tracking Dollar Racketeers in Nigeria. The task forces are to operate in the 14 Zonal commands targeting the Dollar Racketeers. Dele Oyewale, The anti- graft agency’s spokesperson, said in his statement on Wednesday in Abuja where he claimed that the committee invited the owners of private colleges and other institutions that collect tuition in dollars. The report shows that those affected include all private universities and other tertiary institutions that charge dollars and other foreign currencies. This occurred after multiple policies aimed at ensuring…

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has trained and empowered 3,000 vulnerable farmers in 12 states in the South-West and South-South. Dr Deola Lordbanjou,Director in the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Services, said in a statement that the training and empowerment of the 3,000 farmers were carried out simultaneously in the 12 South-West and South-South states of the country. The ministry noted that the initiative was implementing the Agriculture For Food and Jobs Creation Programme, under the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Scheme of the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning. The beneficiaries, who were drawn by…

World Bank Managing Director of Operation, Anna Bjerde, met with Federal Government authorities for talks on what she called “ambitious” plan of government to steer the economy towards recovery and what more support the Bretton Woods Institution can avail the Africa largest economy. It was understood that ongoing talks are focused on macro-economic reforms as well as Nigeria’s social safety net programs which the bank is hugely supporting especially at this time. Bjerde who is visiting Nigeria for the first time said she is also in the country to assess the ongoing projects and Programme of the World Bank in order to decide on…

Auditor General, Nancy Gathungu, has raised concern over both the Jubilee and Kenya Kwanza administrations’ moves to spend billions without approval from Parliament. The Supplementary Budget Expenditure Report published by Gathungu’s office covering the period between 2014 and 2023 shows that cumulatively, both governments spent a whooping Ksh597.7 billion without authorisation. In the document, Gathungu reports that both administrations failed to account for the money within the required timeframe as stipulated by the 2010 constitution. Article 223 of the constitution stipulates that the government is required to seek Parliament’s approval within two months after spending money that has already not been appropriated.…

The Nigeria currency depreciated to 1500 at the parallel market compared to N1,433 on Tuesday. The currency changer in Lagos known as Bureau De change quoted the buying of Niara at N1,490 and selling at N1500 having a profit margin of N10. According to data from NAFEM, traders at the Forex market quoted an intra-day high of N1,510 per dollar and an intra-day low of N826.28. The depreciation at the parallel market comes as Forex inflow declined by 56.17% to $203 million. On February 1, 2024, the Federal Government of Nigeria continued it foreign exchange market reform by removing it…

On Thursday, the Heads of State of Japan challenged Kenyans to roll up their sleeves and work to build their country. President William Ruto has hinted at instituting more measures to ensure that the government collects more revenue to finance its operations and emerge from the debt hole the country currently finds itself in. He further pointed out that in Japan, taxation as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at 34.8 per cent while Kenyans were lamenting high taxation at just 15 per cent. “I was looking at the numbers today and Japan, their tax as a…

On Wednessday, The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System(NIBSS) disclosed that cashless transaction in Nigeria rose to N611 trillion in 2023. The payment grew by 54.55 per cent year-on-year from N395.38tn in 2022. NIBSS Instant Payments is an account-number-based, online real-time Inter-Bank payment solution developed in the year 2011 by NIBSS.It is the Nigerian financial industry’s funds transfer platform that guarantees instant value to the beneficiary. An analysis of data from NIBSS showed that electronic payment channels were used 11.05 billion times in 2023, a 75.96 per cent increase from the 6.28 billion times they were used in the prior year. It…

FSL Securities said based on the N9.18 trillion budget deficit of 2024, there will be high level of Bond activities in order to tackle the budget and to be able to achieve the targeted growth. Speaking at the FSL Securities’ Economic Review and Outlook for 2024, with the theme “Navigating the tides”, Victor Chiazor, its Head of Research and Investment, said: “Given the need to fund the budget deficit, private sector activity in the segment of the market is needed.  We see the bond market remaining active this year as money would be raised from the market to fund the…

On Tuesday, The House of Representative directed its committee on the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and control (NAFDAC) to look into the circumstances surrounding the ban imposed on the production of beverages in sachets and small bottles by the agency. The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, had on Monday announced that the agency would begin the enforcement of the ban on the importation, manufacture, distribution, sale, and use of alcoholic beverages in sachets, PET, and glass bottles of 200ml and below. The Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DBAN) said its plan to take its protest…

An anti-corruption court has acquitted former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko in the Ksh357 million graft case. In a ruling issued on Wednesday, February 7, the court released Sonko and 16 others citing insufficient evidence. As such, it was ruled that the evidence presented before the court was not sufficient to warrant a conviction. “The evidence is inadequate to sustain the charges levelled against the accused persons,” Magistrate Eunice Nyutu ruled. The court further faulted the prosecution for only presenting six witnesses against an earlier indication that the case was built around the testimonies of 38 witnesses. In the case that has dragged…