Author: Safiu Kehinde

The Naira has, on Monday, depreciated by 1.39 percent against dollar at the official market trading. Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, revealed that the Naira lost N23. By implication, Naira dropped to N1,675.62 against the dollar. when compared to the previous trading date on Friday, Nov. 22 when it exchanged at N1,652.62 to a dollar. Also, the total daily turnover reduced to 108.79 million dollars on Monday down from 243.05 million dollars recorded on Friday. At the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1,710 and N1,650 against the dollar.

Safiu Kehinde Lagos State 2025 Appropriation Bill of N3.005 trillion has scaled through the second reading at the state’s House of Assembly on Monday. The state’s lawmakers debated on the bill which Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu presented to them last Thursday. The Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, who presided over the plenary, committed the bill to a joint Committee on Appropriation and Finance for review with a mandate to report back in one month. Prior to that, the Chairman, House Committee on Budget and Economic Planning, Sa’ad Olumoh, provided an overview of the proposed spending with a breakdown of items in the estimate.…

Declares N2trn Debt Recovery As Senate Committee Hints Extension of Corporation’s Dissolution Safiu Kehinde Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) says over 3000 debt cases are still pending in court as it demands judiciary support for the quick recovery of the debts. This was disclosed by AMCON’s Managing Director and CEO, Gbenga Alade, at the Stakeholders Retreat with the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and other Financial Institutions held on Saturday at Radision Blue Hotel, Lagos. In his address, Alade urged the judiciary to expedite the adjudication of AMCON-related cases within the 60 to 90-day timeframe stipulated by the AMCON…

Safiu Kehinde Nigerian Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has called for the adoption of technological-driven strategies to combat terrorism. Shettima made the call during his address to officials from the Executive Intelligence Management Course 17- a subsidiary the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS) who paid him a courtesy visit on Monday. As contained in a statement issued on official X handle, the Vice President directed the adoption of technology-driven strategies to combat terrorism, cybercrime, and border security challenges facing Nigeria and the entire African continent. According to him, while Africa and Nigeria are currently navigating some of the most troubling…

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told the BBC the gas deals she made with Russia were intended to help German firms and kept the peace with Moscow. She also insisted the war with Ukraine would have started earlier if she hadn’t blocked Kyiv’s entry into Nato in 2008. Angela Merkel led Germany for 16 years. She was in office during the financial crisis, the 2015 migrant crisis and, significantly, Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine. Was she too soft on Moscow? Too slow to help Kyiv? If she hadn’t blocked Ukraine’s Nato membership in 2008, would there be a war…

Miners at two copper mines in Zambia were rescued after being trapped underground following a nationwide power outage, the energy ministry said on Monday. Zambia suffered a nationwide blackout following a power system disturbance, the southern African nation’s state utility Zesco said on Sunday, which also affected neighbouring Zimbabwe. Zambia and Zimbabwe are experiencing prolonged hours of electricity rationing after the worst drought in decades in the region hit hydropower generation. Zambia’s energy permanent secretary Peter Mumba said miners were trapped at Mopani Copper Mines, which is majority owned by United Arab Emirates’ International Resources Holding, and at another Chinese…

Egyptian authorities say 17 people are missing, including foreigners, and 28 have been rescued after a tourist boat sank in the Red Sea. A distress signal was received at 05:30 (03:30 GMT) from the Sea Story, which left port near Marsa Alam on Saturday for a five-day diving trip with 31 tourists and 14 crew, according to the governor of Red Sea province. Maj-Gen Amr Hanafi said the survivors were found in the Wadi el-Gemal area, south of Marsa Alam, and that they were receiving the necessary medical care. He added that the Egyptian Navy warship El Fateh and military…

Safiu Kehinde The Chairman of Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State, Eric Odo, has vowed to arrest parents of any child hawking goods during school hours. Odo said this during the inauguration of Public School Supervision Committee (PSSC) of the council area, at the council’s headquarters, Ogbede, on Monday. He pledged to do his best to reposition public schools in the council area as a strategy to end out-of-school syndrome. The Council chair charged the PSSC to ensure that out-of- school children would be enrolled back to school, adding that the council would provide uniforms, bags, sandals, and other…

Safiu Kehinde A businesswoman, Clara Anthony, was on Monday, arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos, for allegedly obtaining N625.8 million under guise of supplying rice to some of her business partners. The defendant was arraigned alongside her company, Flourish Clear Concept, on a 17-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretences, stealing, fraud and conversion. The prosecutor, Mr S. A. Ogala, told the court that the defendants conspired and committed the offences sometime in June 2022 and December 2023, at Oregun Area of Lagos. He alleged that the defendants obtained the sum of N56 million from one…

Safiu Kehinde Plateau state governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has presented an appropriation bill of over N471.134 billion to the State House of Assembly for the 2025 fiscal year. Presenting the bill on Monday in Jos, Mutfwang said that the bill was tagged “Budget of Consolidation and Sustainability”. He explained the presentation was in accordance with section 121, subsection one of the 1999 constitution as amended. As contained in the bill, the total budget covered recurrent expenditure of more than N201.5 billion, representing 43.5 per cent of the appreciation bill. The governor also explained that the capital expenditure would gulp more than…