- Minister pledges issuance of passport within 24-hours
Interior Minister, Rauf Aregbesola, has assured Nigerians of obtaining their international passports within 24-hour following the commissioning of the newly built Maitama Passport Express Centre (MPEC). The centre, located in Abuja, was established in partnership with the private sector. Aregbesola said it marked the beginning of the decentralisation of the issuance of passport and hinted that more of such centres would be built across the country to speed up issuance of the document. To read more, click HERE
- Autonomy: Judiciary workers to shut down courts Tuesday
The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has directed her members accross Nigeria to shut down courts following the inability of Goverment to implement Financial Autonomy of the Judiciary in line with the Constitution and other extant laws. The union had on 13th March 2021 issued a 21- day ultimatum which elapsed on Sunday April 2021, and strike begin Monday but due to public holiday the nationwide strike commence Tuesday 6th April 2021. To read more, click HERE
- Banks’ defy CBN, sack over 3,000 workers in 2020
Eight banks in the country in 2020 sacked about 3,754 workers despite warnings by the Central Bank of Nigeria against it. The apex bank had in May 2020 warned banks against the sack of employees as speculation of mass retrenchment in the sector made the round following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. To read more, click HERE
- AfCFTA: Concern over dumping mounts as trade deficit widens
The fears that Nigeria might become a dumping ground for manufactured goods, especially with the advent of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), has heightened as Nigeria’s Trade in Goods Statistics show rising deficit in manufactured goods trade. Analysis of the Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) from the fourth quarter of 2019 (Q4 2019) to Q4 2020 revealed a steady increase in the value of imported manufactured goods compared to exports in consecutive quarters. To read more, click HERE
- FirstBank Disburses N58bn to 81,000 Female-owned Businesses
FirstBank Nigeria Limited has disclosed that it disbursed a total of N58 billion to female-owned businesses in 2020. The Chief Executive Officer FirstBank Nigeria Limited, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan said this on Wednesday, during the First Gem 4.0 Conference which was a hybrid event that saw participation from local and international analysts, with the topic: ‘The Art of Negotiation.’ To read more, click HERE
- Transcorp Records N75bn Revenue, N3.8bn Profit
Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) has released its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, showing a revenue of N75.271 billion and profit after tax (PAT) of N3.792 billion. Total assets of the group grew by eight per cent from N313.1billion to N338.1billion, while shareholders’ funds increased by five per cent, from N108.7 billion in 2019 to N114.4 billion in 2020. To read more, click HERE
- Q1 2021: 10 Stockbroking firms trade 30.2bn shares worth N357bn
A total of 30.16 billion shares worth N357.48 billion were traded by tenstockbroking firms in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2021, according to data from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The equities were traded by prominent brokerage firms with Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited emerging as the most active by value of the transactions, while Cardinalstone Securities led the list of stockbroking firms by volume of shares. To read more, click HERE
- Profit taking depresses ASI further by 0.76% ahead of Easter holiday
Contrary to the significant buying activities witnessed in the previous weeks, the local market was largely dominated by the bears during the week, occasion by profit taking action in major highly capitalised stocks ahead of the Easter holiday. To read more, click HERE
- Attack on Ortom: Indigenous people of Benue valley, Niger Area to pull out of Arewa
The attack on the life of Benue state governor, Dr Samuel Ortom, by suspected Fulani herdsmen has taken a worrisome dimension as the indigenous people of the Niger Area and Benue Valley have threatened to pull out of union with Arewa and forge ahead as an entity of its own. The people also tongue lashed the Federal Government for what it described as being deceitful by deployment of detachment of operatives to investigate a crime whose perpetrators are known. To read more, click HERE
- Nigeria’s Economy Bleeds As FG Fails To Implement Port Automation
Nigeria is losing billions of Naira it has the opportunity of earning due to the failure of government to commence implementation of a one-stop-shop cargo clearing system at the nation’s ports, LEADERSHIP report. This development, according to sources, has provided opportunity for dishonest government officials and shippers to short-change government through making human contacts and negotiating to their own advantage what should go to government’s coffers. To read more, click HERE
- ‘$601m airlines’ revenue blocked in 17 African countries’
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has expressed worry over the trapping of $601 million airlines’revenue blocked in 17 African countries since the onset of COVID -19 over a year ago. Blocked funds are owed to airlines that could not be repatriated to their country in routes they fly to. To read more, click HERE
- Rage Over Governors’ Breach Of Executive Order 10
AKEEM NAFIU writes that more than 10 months after the issuance of an Executive Order by President Muhammadu Buhari, fiscal autonomy for state legislatures and judiciaries has remained a mirage as state governors continue to observe Section 121(3) of the Constitution in breach. Some senior lawyers have expressed deep concerns about the non-implementation of the Executive Order 10 issued more than ten months ago by President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure fiscal autonomy for state legislatures and judiciaries. To read more, click HERE