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Category: Breaking News

  • UBA increases staff salaries to address rising cost of Living

    The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Africa’s global bank, has reaffirmed its dedication to the well-being of its staff and their families amid the current economic challenges impacting living conditions which is occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy.

    In response to this rising cost of living, the bank’s Board of Directors has taken decisive action by implementing a cost of living adjustment for its employees, effective immediately.

    This marks the third time in three years that the bank has raised the salaries of its staff, underscoring its commitment to recognizing and valuing the contributions of its employees.

    Additionally, in line with its commitment to rewarding excellence, UBA announced the promotion of over 1,500 staff across Africa in March 2023, building on the elevation of close to 1,000 staff in the previous year.

    Oliver Alawuba, UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are aware of the impact of recent economic policy pronouncements on prices and your capacity to meet your financial commitments to family and personal needs. As an organization focused on the well-being of our people, I am pleased to inform you that the Board of UBA Plc has approved a Welfare Allowance for all employees.”

    This decision by UBA to adjust staff remuneration once again reflects the bank’s unwavering commitment to maintaining a standard of living for its employees that is in line with prevailing economic conditions.

    By prioritizing staff welfare, UBA aims to support its workforce in navigating the challenges posed by the changing economic landscape.

    Alawuba explained that the decision to adjust the staff’s remuneration package once again demonstrates UBA’s unwavering commitment to maintaining the standard of living for its employees at a level that is commensurate with prevailing economic conditions.

    “This move will serve to alleviate the financial burdens faced by our staff and their families, reinforcing the bank’s position as a responsible and caring employer,” he explained.

    United Bank for Africa is one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent with 25,000 employees’ group wide and serving over 35 million customers globally. 

    Operating in 20 African countries and in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and the United Arab Emirates, UBA provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting edge technology.

  • Tinubu employs special investigator to probe Emefiele, CBN’s activities

    President Bola Tinubu has taken a significant step in the fight against corruption by appointing Jim Obazee as a Special Investigator.

    Mr. Obazee’s primary task is to conduct a thorough investigation into the activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria and other Related Entities.

    This decision, as stated in a letter dated 28 July, is firmly grounded in Section 15(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), underscoring the administration’s commitment to combating corruption.

    The appointment of Mr. Obazee is already in effect, and he will be reporting directly to President Tinubu.

    The specific terms of his engagement as a special investigator will be communicated to him in due course, according to the letter signed by the president. It is worth noting that Mr. Obazee brings significant expertise to this role, having previously served as the chief executive officer of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN).

    Tinubu also requested regular updates from Mr. Obazee on the progress of the assignment. In the same letter, he directed Mr. Obazee’s attention to his earlier directive to suspend the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, on 9 June. This move indicates a keen interest in ensuring a comprehensive investigation into the matter.

    Regarding the suspended CBN governor, there have been subsequent developments. After being suspended by Mr. Tinubu, Godwin Emefiele was arrested at his Lagos residence by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS).

    He was subsequently transported to Abuja for further proceedings. The SSS is prosecuting him for allegedly possessing an unregistered firearm. However, last week, the Federal High Court in Abuja granted him bail.

    Despite being granted bail by the court, Mr. Emefiele was re-arrested by the SSS on the court premises, leading to a confrontation between SSS officers and personnel from the Nigerian Correctional Centre, who attempted to take him into their custody. The reason for Mr. Emefiele’s continued detention has not been publicly disclosed by the secret service.

    This ongoing situation has sparked considerable interest and concern, and the appointment of Jim Obazee as Special Investigator is expected to shed light on the matter. With his expertise and the mandate given by President Tinubu, the investigation aims to bring transparency and accountability to the activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria and associated entities.

  • CBN jerks interest rate from 18.5 % to 18.75% MPR

    The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Tuesday raised the country’s Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from 18.5 percent to 18.75 percent.

    The Acting Governor of the CBN, Mr Folashodun Shonubi made this known on Tuesday, while presenting the communique from the MPC meeting.

    The MPR is the baseline interest rate upon which other interest rates are built.

    Shonubi announced that the committee also adjusted the asymmetric corridor from from +100/-700 to +100/-300 basis points around the MPR, retained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 32.5 per cent; and retained the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.

    According to Shonubi, the committee is confronted with only two policy options, to hold or marginally hike the policy rate to offset the moderate increase in headline inflation.

    “Considering the option to a hold, the committee reviewed the impact of the continued rise in inflation on various macroeconomic variables, noting the potential dampening effect on output growth.

    “Members agreed unanimously that the previous series of rate hikes had indeed greatly moderated the pace of price development and was gradually but steadily yielding the expected outcome.

    “The option to continue to hike the policy rate, albeit moderately, also presents a strong alternative,” he said.

    He said that this was premised on the expected liquidity injections into the economy, from the recent policy developments and the likely impact on inflation.

    “The committee remained cautious in arriving at a policy decision as members noted the need to continue to support investment which will ultimately lead to the recovery of output growth.

    “The balance of these arguments thus, leaned in favour of a moderate rate hike, to sustain efforts at anchoring inflation expectation, narrow the negative real interest rate gap, and improve investor confidence.

    “The MPC, thus, resolved by a majority vote to raise the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 25 basis points. Six members voted to raise MPR by 25 basis points while five members voted to hold the MPR Constant.

    “All members, however, voted to narrow the asymmetric corridor from +100/-700 to +100/-300 around the MPR,” he said.

  • DSS re-arrests Emefiele just hours after court bail

    There are indications that the Department of State Services has re-arrested former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele shortly after he was granted bail by a Federal High Court in Lagos.

    Emefiele was charged by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation under the Ministry of Justice.

    He was arraigned at about 9:21a.m, before Justice Nicholas Oweibo, on a two-count charge of illegal possession of firearms

    He had pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail in the sum of N20 million with one surety in like sum.

    The court had adjourned the case until November 14 for trial and had ordered a remand of the defendant in the correctional service pending the perfection of his bail.

    After the case was adjourned, Emefiele remained in the courtroom for several hours.

    It was gathered by newsmen who equally waited all the time in the court premises, that the defendant may likely be re-arrested by the DSS, whose armed operatives were at the court.

    When a senior officer of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) attempted to take the defendant into custody in line with the court’s directive which ordered his remand pending perfection of bail, the DSS resisted the move.

    After a faceoff between men of the DSS and NCoS, the defendant was eventually intercepted by the DSS when he stepped out of the courtroom and was taken away in a police vehicle at about 3:15 pm.

    At the time of filing this report, it was not clear why the former CBN governor was taken away by the DSS.

  • NNPCL increases fuel pump price to N617 per litre

    *Brief queues surface at NNPC stations in Abuja

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has once again raised the pump prices of Petrol, also known as Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), from N537 to N617 per litre. This comes after President Tinubu’s inauguration speech, where he announced the removal of fuel subsidies, triggering a previous price increase from N195 to N537 per litre in May.

    Following the recent price adjustment, NNPC filling stations in Abuja experienced short queues, with the station located along Murtala Mohammed Express road, Kado, temporarily closing for a few hours to recalibrate their fuel pumps to reflect the new N617 per litre price.

    The move to remove fuel subsidies has been driven by the high cost of subsidizing fuel prices. In the first half of 2023 alone, Nigeria spent N3.6 trillion on fuel subsidy. The Federal Government estimates that discontinuing fuel subsidies will result in savings close to N6.7 trillion.

    Notably, Nigeria has expended a staggering N13.7 trillion on fuel subsidies over the last 13 years, according to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

    The developments in fuel pricing continue to impact citizens and the economy, raising concerns about the affordability and accessibility of fuel in the country.

  • Kyari is new APC National Chairman

    The Deputy National Chairman (North) of the All Progressives Party (APC) Senator Abubakar Kyari, has taken over the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling party.

    The development confirms the widely reported resignation of the National Chairman Senator Abdullahi Adamu at the weekend.

    Adamu was reported to have tendered his resignation with the National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

    Around 10:40 am on Monday, the Deputy National Chairman led a team of seven other members of the NWC to a meeting in his office.

    The Nation also noted that the official car of the Deputy National Chairman was parked in the slot reserved for the National Chairman.

    Around 11:20 am, the National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, arrived at the secretariat and joined others in the meeting.

    Kyari came in with the Deputy National Chairman (South) Emma Enukwu; National Vice Chairman (North West) Salihu Lukman; National Vice Chairman (North East) Salihu Mustapha; National Vice Chairman (North Central) Muazu Bawa; National Vice Chairman(South West) Issacs Kekemeke; National Vice Chairman (South East) Ejoroma Arodiogu and the Deputy National Secretary, Barrister Festus Fuanter

    Security around the national secretariat has been beefed up with those driving into Blantrye Street, where the party headquarters is situated subjected to checks while passers-by are also stopped for questioning.

  • Updated: Nigeria’s inflation rates jumps to 22.79% in June

    *As food inflation rises to 25.25%

    Headline inflation rate rose to 22.79 percent in June relative to May 2023 headline inflation rate which was 22.41 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.

    In its CPI and Inflation Report June 2023, the Bureau noted that the figure indicates a 0.38 percentage point increase when compared to May 2023 headline inflation rate.

    On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 4.19% points higher compared to the rate recorded in June 2022, which was 18.60%.

    This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in June 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., June 2022). 

    According to the Statistics Bureau, the headline inflation was driven by food inflation which stood at 25.25 percent year-on-year, higher by 4.65 percent relative to the rate recorded in June 2022 (20.60%).

    The rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of Oil and fat, Bread and cereals, Fish, Potatoes, Yam and other tubers, Fruits, Meat, Vegetable, Milk, Cheese, and Eggs.

    The removal of fuel subsidy by the Tinubu-led administration led to a transport increase with businesses passing the burden to the final consumers.

    On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in June 2023 was 2.40%, this was 0.21% points higher compared to the rate recorded in May 2023 (2.19%).

    The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending June 2023 over the previous twelve-month average was 24.03%, this was a 5.41% points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in June 2022 (18.62%).

    The NBS stated that Core inflation stood at 20.27 percent in the month under review. On a year-on-year basis, the rates were up by 4.53 percent when compared to the 15.75 percent recorded in June 2022.

    NBS said: “The highest increases were recorded in prices of Passenger Transport by Air, Gas, Vehicles, Spare Parts, Liquid Fuel, Fuels and Lubricants for Personal Transport Equipment, Medical Services, passenger transport by Road, etc.

    “On a month-on-month basis, the Core Inflation rate was 1.74% in June 2023. It stood at 1.81% in May 2023, down by 0.07%. The average twelve months annual inflation rate was 18.71% for the twelve months ending June 2023; this was 4.65% points higher than the 14.06% recorded in June 2022,” the report said.

    “On a year-on-year basis food inflation in the month of June was highest in Kwara (30.80%), Lagos (30.37%), and Kogi (29.71%), while Zamfara (21.38%), Sokoto (21.60%) and Borno (21.75%) recorded the slowest rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis.

    “On a month-on-month basis, however, June 2023 Food inflation was highest in Kwara (3.82%), Abuja (3.64%), and Ogun (3.56%), while Rivers (0.75%), Zamfara (1.33%) and Adamawa (1.47%) recorded the slowest rise in Food inflation on a month-on-month basis.”

  • Cross River doctors embark on indefinite over colleague’s abduction

    Doctors in Cross River on Sunday embarked on a total and indefinite strike in solidarity with one of their members abducted on Thursday from her residence in Calabar.

    This is contained in a communique signed by Dr. Felix Archibong, Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, (NMA), Cross River branch, after an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) on Sunday in Calabar.

    It would be recalled that on Thursday  July 13, Dr. Ekanem Ephraim, a medical practitioner with the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), was kidnapped from her residence by armed men who pretended to be patients at about 7.30 p.m.

    The doctors noted that despite all their efforts in ensuring the release of their colleague, Ephraim has remained in captivity.

    The association thereafter resolved to do the following.

    “To embark on a total and indefinite withdrawal of medical services effective immediately in solidarity with our member still in the hands of her abductors.

    “This withdrawal of medical service will involve all hospitals in the state both federal, state, private, and Mission.

    “The State government should activate all necessary instruments at its disposal to ensure the timely and unconditional release of our member in the hands of her abductors.”

    They added that NMA in Cross River was not oblivious of the hardship its withdrawal of services would have on the citizens but appealed to the relevant security agencies to ensure a timely release of its abducted member.

    This was not the first time the association would embark on a strike on account of the abduction of its member in Cross River.

  • Charge Emefiele or release him, Court orders DSS

    A Federal Capital Territory High Court has ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to charge Godwin Emefiele, suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to court if they have criminal allegations against him.

    Hamza Muazu, the presiding judge, said the former CBN governor should be released on bail if he is not taken to a competent court within one week.

    On June 9, President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele and asked him to transfer his responsibilities to Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, deputy governor, operations directorate.

    The day after, the DSS announced that Emefiele was in its custody for “some investigative reasons”.

    Through his lawyer, Joseph Daudu, Emefiele filed a suit against the DSS and the attorney-general of the federation (AGF), seeking an enforcement of his fundamental human rights.

    Tijjani Ghazali, counsel to the AGF, stated that the first respondent is challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case brought before it by the applicant.

    He said Emefiele’s arrest and detention by the DSS is an administrative decision of an arm of the executive.

    The DSS also challenged the court’s jurisdiction to hear the suit, insisting that there is a subsisting order of a chief magistrate court for Emefiele’s detention.

    Delivering judgement on Thursday, Muazu held that Emefiele’s continued detention without trial, amounts to a gross violation of his fundamental human rights.

    The judge, however, held that Emefiele failed to prove that his arrest, detention, and investigation were unlawful since it was based on a valid court order.

    “Detention, no matter how small, can amount to a breach of fundamental rights,” Muazu said.

    “Though I am in sympathy with the applicant (Emefiele), but my sentiment will not go far to deliver judgment by granting all the reliefs sought by the applicant.

    “The applicant has not shown that his arrest, detention, and investigation were unlawful.

    “However, I am concerned that the application is not without merit. The applicant is entitled to a fair hearing.

    “At this point, the continued detention of the applicant cannot be justified in the absence of any charge against him.

    “At the very least, justice demands that applicant should be released on administrative bail.

    “Consequently, I hereby make an order, directing the respondents to within one week, charge the applicant to court or release him on administrative bail.”

  • Akpabio announces Bamidele Senate Leader, Ndume Chief Whip, others

    Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio has announced Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central) as the Senate Majority leader and former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South) as the Senate Chief Whip.

    Reading the letter from the All Progressives Congress, APC, Akpabio also announced Senator Dave Umahi, APC, Ebonyi South as the Deputy Leader and Senator Lola Ashiru, APC, Kwara South as the Deputy Whip.

    Akpabio who entered the hallowed Chamber at 11:18am, immediately prayed at 11:20am and asked Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, APC, Abia North to move for the adoption of Votes and Proceedings of 14th June and seconded by Senator Ezenwa, Imo East.

    Recall that the four candidates nominated by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, for Senate and House of Representatives leadership won their elections in June.

    The four anointed candidates are Senate President Akpabio; Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau; House of Representatives Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas; and Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu.

    While Barau and Kalu emerged unopposed, Akpabio prevailed after a tough battle and Abass recorded a landslide victory over his two opponents.

    In the Senate where all the 109 senators took part, Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State and one-time Senate Minority leader, polled 63 votes to defeat former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Abdulaziz Yari (APC, Zamfara West) who polled 46 votes.

    In the House of Representatives, it was smooth sailing for Abass as 353 of the 359 lawmakers inaugurated gave him their votes. His challengers, Idris Wase and Aminu Jaji polled three votes each.