The Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has faulted the Federal Government over the new cybersecurity levy directive issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
CBN had issued a new directive to all financial institutions, including commercial, merchant, non-interest banks, payment service banks, and mobile money operators, mandating the implementation of a 0.5% cybersecurity levy on all electronic transactions.
This move is in line with the provisions of the recently amended Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2024. The directive, detailed in a circular, instructs that the levy be applied at the point of electronic transfer origination, with the deducted amount to be reflected in the customer’s account as a “Cybersecurity Levy.”
In a statement via his X handle on Wednesday, Peter Obi asserted that introducing the Cybersecurity Levy at a time when Nigerians are faced with severe economic distress shows the FG is more interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.
The former Governor of Anambra State noted that the Cybersecurity Levy also negates the Government’s avowed commitment to reducing taxes and streamlining the tax system.
Peter Obi added that policies such as the Cybersecurity Levy impoverish citizens and make the country’s economic environment less competitive.
The President of Alaigbo Development Foundation(ADF).Prof. T.U.Nwala has clarified that he is still the president and leader of Alaigbo Development Foundation(ADF), a socio cultural pressure group with interest in forstering peace, unity and development of the Igbo nation.
He revealed that a transition committee to elect a new leadership by the month of June that will succeed him is already working in that direction.
Prof. Nwala made the clarification while reacting to published reports in some social media platforms that a new leadership of ADF has been elected.
Speaking to news men at ADF office in Enugu yesterday,Prof. Nwala said there was an illegal conduct by an overzealous group,who want to beat the gun.pervade the processes put up by the ADF transition committee and went out to declare themselves as new leaders of ADF.
He stated,”As you can see, I am still in charge. How can a group of people take over the leadership of an organisation without occupying it’s office?
“The fact remains that after 10 years of meritorious service to Igbo nation, I have decided to step aside and wish only to play advisory role. The ADF transition committee is working assiduosly to elect credible sons of Igbo land who will take over from me”.
Suprisingly,some people who felt they will not meet the criteria for the election, went out to claim they have been elected.
Prof. Nwala stated further,” The electioneering process is on course and hopefully will be conducted and concluded peacefully by next month,June.We have no crisis”.
He described the group as impostors and cautioned members of the public to avoid dealing with them on issues relating to ADF.
He disclosed that there was an attempt by the dissident group to come into ADF secretariat in Enugu but they were flushed out with assistance from the Nigerian Police Force.
The intruders are on bail and will soon be charged to court.
Prof.Nwala went memory lane to elaborate the achievements of ADF in the past ten years to include the suspension of the anti-grazing bill, fought against the Quit Notice given to Igbos living in the North, fought against the python dance horror by the military in the South East zone, 2014 International colloquim which brought home over 2,500 Igbos from different parts of the globe to brainstorm in Enugu on future of the Igbo Nation, publication of the GREEN BOOK through which ADF has projected the future of the Igbo Nation as either an autonomous region within the Nigerian context in full control of her military, security forces, international relations, educational system, etc , and relating peacefully with other regions in Nigeria. etc.
His words.”For the past ten years,ADF has been in the forefront of championing Igbo cause. ADF was at the forefront of the anti-grazing bill before the National Assembly which was eventually thrown off.
“ADF fought against the Quit Notice given to Igbos living in the North by the Northern Youths and some of their elders.
“ADF took the matter to United Nations through a petition and copied to American Congress and other major congresses in the world.
“ADF took the Federal government and the Nigerian military to court over the python dance horror experience.
“ADF inaugurated the campaign asking Igbos to bring their wealth home. ADF was responsible for inaugurating the movement in the East.
ADF also organised the first major international colloquim in 2014 which brought over 2.500 Igbos from different parts of the world to discuss to discuss the predicament and future of Ndgbo in Nigeria.
“The result of that colloquim is contained in the two volume book titled ‘IGBO NATION ; History and challenges of Rebirth and Development.
“ADF has also done very deep research into the Nigerian January 1966 coup and the Biafra incursion into the Mid-West which is published in a book titled, “THE NIGERIA JANUARY 1966 COUP AND BIAFRA-MYTHS AND REALITIES”. The result showed thst coup was organized by young military officers who sought to release Chief Obafemi Awolowo from prison and make him the z prime z minister of Nigeria. Professor Nwala elaborated all these and many more as part of achievements of ADF under his watch in the past ten years.
He disclosed that the lacuna in the activities of the organisation will be broken in the month of July with a seminar on contemporary issues bordering our nation and Ndigbo in particular.
Atiku had criticised the Nigerian government for giving the contract for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to Hitech Construction Company which he claimed is owned by the Chagoury family.
The Nigerian presidency has attacked former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, for criticising the Bola Tinubu government for awarding the construction of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to Hitech, a company associated with the Chagoury family.
Atiku had criticised the Nigerian government for giving the contract for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to Hitech Construction Company which he claimed is owned by the Chagoury family.
Governor Alex Otti of Abia State and his predecessor, Okezie Ikpeazu, are currently trading words over the alleged allocation of N10 billion by Mr Ikpeazu-led administration to a non-existent airport project in the state.
Abia State Governor Alex Otti and his predecessor, Okezie Ikpeazu, have continued their tirade over the financial status of the state.
Otti, at a news conference in Umuahia yesterday, expressed surprise that Ikpeazu ‘would go about dishing concocted financial statements when, in the real sense, he left the state in huge debt’.
Otti, who was represented by the Accountant-General, Mrs. Njum Onyemenam, said contrary to Ikpeazu’s claims, he met a debt hangover of N191,239,307,593.67 as against the N24 billion Ikpeazu claimed he handed over to him.
The governor also wondered why Ikpeazu could not pay April and May salaries/pension if the state had money. He hinted that aside the financial liabilities left behind by the Ikpeazu-led government, there were the physical liabilities in all key institutions.
Otti added: “To put the record straight and disabuse the minds of those who may have been misled, we have decided to address Abians and state that the Summary of ABSG balances with different banks, and external debt, as at May 28, 2023, is N191,239,307,593.67.
“The public should note that the Okezie Ikpeazu-led government did not leave any N24 billion in government’s account as falsely claimed. The $200 million and $50 million dollars they claimed they left for the new administration are loans they were pursuing which is yet to crystallize.
“Outside the humongous financial liabilities left behind, they also left physical liabilities in all our key institutions. For example, the University Teaching Hospital lost accreditation for the first time in history. Our only state Polytechnic also lost accreditation. The regulatory authorities predicated their action against these institutions on non-payment of salaries, lack of equipment and infrastructure. Poor internal revenue generation, with the little they generated frittered away as payment to consultants for no added value. They pay as much as 20 per cent which is highly unethical.
“Doctors who have been on strike since February 2023 just called off their strike, and they emphatically said they based their decision on the conviction that Governor Otti would solve the problem that necessitated the strike.
“Finally, the elementary question is; if Ikpeazu had the billions he claimed to have left behind for the Otti led-government in April and May, why did he not pay workers and pensioners before leaving office, since Governor Otti just took over from him on May 29?”
But Ikpeazu’s former media aide, Ikechukwu Iroha, debunked Otti’s claims, saying “under the watch of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, the World Bank approved all the processes and declared the financing agreement for a grant of $20 million to Abia State, effective from June 14, 2023. With this, Abia will be the first state in the Southeast to qualify for a $20 million grant for ease of doing business processes, programmes and projects based on the work Governor Ikpeazu did to qualify Abia for the funding.
“When this money is received the current administration should apply it as necessary and, of course, have the integrity to acknowledge the work of the previous administration that made it possible.
“Transparency is not something you preach, it must be a way of life and if you must highlight liabilities you inherited, also remember to highlight the assets you are inheriting. Otherwise we will help you inform the people of Abia State because the state belongs to all of us.”
Lagos State‘s Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, revealed on Wednesday that 86 partitioned rooms were discovered beneath the Dolphin Estate Bridge in Ikoyi, Lagos Island.
According to reports, each room, measuring 10×10 and 12×10, was rented out to tenants at an annual rate of N250,000.
He explained that the enforcement team from the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources had successfully dismantled all structures, including a container utilized for various illicit activities, from beneath the Dolphin Estate bridge.
he wrote, “A total number of 86 rooms, partitioned into 10×10 and 12×10, and a container used for different illegal activities were discovered under the Dolphin Estate Bridge.
“They have all been removed by the enforcement team of the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.”
A Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Kunle Rotimi-Akodu, confirmed the eviction of squatters from beneath the bridge towards Dolphin Estate in Ikoyi over the aforesaid illegal settlement and environmental violations.
Rotimi-Akodu noted that 23 individuals were arrested during the eviction, which was carried out by officials of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps, popularly known as KAI on Tuesday.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi, weekend, explained why servers belonging to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, failed to work during the 2023 presidential election.
According to him, the ‘establishment of criminality’ made the INEC servers not work during the last general elections.
Obi stated this while addressing the issues of the 2023 elections, including the IREV servers, in Canada at the weekend.
He, however, urged people to intensify engagement with all stakeholders to make the system work.
The former Anambra State governor explained that Amazon testified there were no glitches recorded globally on the day of the presidential election.
His words: “Where did we go wrong in the last election? We didn’t go wrong anywhere. We did the right things.
“But as I can always tell people: when you bring a change, you fight all those who live off the old order. They don’t go away; they gang up. And don’t think it’s a straight race to remove an establishment.
“It’s a long-distance journey anywhere in the world. Go and check anywhere, whether you are looking at what happened in India, with Mandela in South Africa, or in America. No change has happened overnight, it takes time.
“I urge all of you, if you want change, we have just begun. We just have to continue from where we are.
“Yes, there might be one or two things we will correct, those things we will correct. I assure you we are correcting them without naming them. It’s not going to be easy.
“The INEC server was the same as the establishment. The server would not work because it was the establishment that made it so it wouldn’t work. It’s ours to continue to say that it would work. But there was no glitch.
“Amazon came and said there was no glitch. Amazon glitch is noticed globally – it’s recorded globally. And at that period, we brought down an Amazon person who said this is the number of glitches we have had since inception.
“There was none that it reported that day. We know it didn’t occur. It was the glitch of the establishment criminality that was in the system. And we must one day make it work.”
Dollar to naira exchange rate today black market (Aboki dollar rate):
The exchange rate for a dollar to naira at Lagos Parallel Market (Black Market) players buy a dollar for N1400 and sell at N1420 on Sunday 5th May 2024, according to sources at Bureau De Change (BDC).
Please note that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does not recognize the parallel market (black market), as it has directed individuals who want to engage in Forex to approach their respective banks.
Dollar to Naira Black Market Rate Today
Dollar to Naira (USD to NGN)
Black Market Exchange Rate Today
Buying Rate
N1400
Selling Rate
N1420
Dollar to Naira CBN Rate Today
Dollar to Naira (USD to NGN)
CBN Rate Today
Buying Rate
N1441
Selling Rate
N1442
Please note that the rates you buy or sell forex may be different from what is captured in this article because prices vary.
Why was the coastal road moved from its original alignment along the Water
Corporation Road to the beachfront where there are 57 active businesses,
thousands of jobs, and millions of dollars worth of infrastructure? The original
route remains unused and undeveloped till date.
b. Why were properties not previously marked for demolition and outside the right
of way, demolished?
c. After the FG refusal to realign the route despite Landmark’s pleas to save the
infrastructure, businesses and jobs on the Landmark Beach, why was the route
later realigned to save infrastructure along the right of way after demolition at
Landmark had already taken place?
2. Due Process
a. Why was a contract of such magnitude awarded to a single contractor without a
competitive bidding process as confirmed by the Federal Minister of Works?
b. Why was a contract with such significant environmental and social impact
commenced without the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) as
required by law?
c. Hi-Tech, the construction company that was awarded the contract for the road
works is owned by the Chagoury Group who also own Eko Atlantic, the business
that is sand filling. The owner of the Chagoury Group, Gilbert Chagoury is also a
known personal friend of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Did this personal
relationship play a role in awarding the contract to Hi-Tech without a competitive
bidding process?
d. The Federal Minister of Works and members of the Ministry have been lodged in
Eko Hotel and holding official Federal Government stakeholder meetings in Eko
Hotel while on official assignment for the road. It is worth noting that the owner
of Eko Hotel is also the Chagoury group. Who is ultimately covering the costs for
the FG stay at the luxury 4 star hotel and conduct official government meetings
there as opposed to the Federal Ministry of Works office in Lagos?
e. Why was there no stakeholder engagement or consultation, especially with
impacted businesses, before the right of way was finalized and notice of
demolition?
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), has unbundled the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) with the establishment of the Nigerian Independent System Operator of Nigeria Limited (NISO).
The company disclosed this in an order signed by its Chairman, Mr Sanusi Garba and the Vice Chairman, Mr Muslim Oseni in Abuja on Saturday.
According to the order, TCN will transfer all market and system operation functions to the newly formed NISO.
The company said that this is in line with the provisions of the Electricity Act 2023, which provides clearer guidelines for the incorporation and licensing of the independent system operator (ISO).
It said that previously, TCN held Transmission Service Provider (TSP) and System Operations (SO) licences issued by NERC.
”With the establishment of NISO, TCN will now transfer its assets and liabilities related to market and system operations to the new entity.”
According to the order, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has been directed to incorporate a private company limited by shares under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) by May 31.
”This new company, to be named the Nigerian Independent System Operator of Nigeria Limited (NISO), will assume the market and system operation functions as specified in the Electricity Act and the terms of TCN’s system operation licence,” it said.
The company outlined NISO’s responsibilities to include managing assets and liabilities related to market, and system operation on behalf of market participants and consumer groups.
”The new ISO will also negotiate contracts for ancillary services with independent power producers and generation licensees.
”In addition to performing market and system operation functions for the benefit of market participants and system users,” it said.
”
The NERC has issued a new Order taking effect from 1 May 2024 establishing the Nigerian Independent System Operator Limited (“NISO”).
It is to hold and manage all assets and liabilities pertaining to market and system operation on behalf of market participants and consumer groups or such stakeholders as NERC may specify.
NISO will now carry out all market and system operation-related contractual rights and obligations transferred to it by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
This transfer shall be concluded no later than 31 August 2024 when TCN is expected to hand over its system operation licence to NERC within 7 days of that date,” the order said.
In a startling revelation, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has accused no fewer than 58 former governors of looting, embezzling, laundering, or misappropriating a staggering sum of N2.187 trillion over a span of 25 years.
This astronomical figure excludes seized properties across the globe and other assets under investigation, which amount to billions of Naira.
The EFCC’s allegations paint a grim picture of corruption at the highest levels of Nigeria’s state governments. The looted N2.2 trillion is equivalent to the entire 2024 budget of Lagos State, valued at N2.25 trillion, as well as the combined budgets of all the South-East states in the same year, totaling N2.29 trillion. Notably, this sum surpasses the budgets of both the North-Central and North-East states for 2024.
The 58 former governors under EFCC scrutiny hail from various regions of the country, reflecting the widespread nature of the alleged corruption. Since the inception of civil rule on May 29, 1999, Nigeria has seen a total of 170 governors across its 36 states.
A breakdown of the governorship landscape reveals significant variations among states. For instance, Abia State has seen four governors, including notable figures like Orji Uzor Kalu and Theodore Orji. Conversely, Ekiti State, despite being the second least populated state in Nigeria, has witnessed a revolving door of eight governors within the same period, indicating a high turnover rate.
Furthermore, the EFCC’s data highlights the complex legal battles faced by some former governors. While 18 governors served in acting capacities or had their elections annulled, 36 are currently serving, and 114 completed their terms. Only four former governors have been convicted of fraud-related charges, including prominent figures like Lucky Igbinedion and James Ibori.
Despite the EFCC’s aggressive prosecution efforts, no former governor has been among the 6,981 individuals convicted of fraud by the commission between 2020 and 2022. However, cases against several ex-governors are still pending, while others have been dismissed or resulted in acquittals.
The EFCC’s list of former governors under investigation includes names like Timipre Sylva, Ayo Fayose, and Peter Odili, with alleged amounts ranging from billions to hundreds of millions of Naira. The commission has vowed to revisit cases involving a total of N772 billion against 13 former governors, signaling its determination to hold corrupt officials accountable.
Amidst allegations of operating a Ponzi scheme, retired Commissioner of Police Aderemi Adedoye has come under scrutiny for his involvement in an investment club. Adedoye, who vehemently denies any wrongdoing, asserts that the club operates legally and transparently, with assets valued at around N20 billion.
The EFCC’s pursuit of justice against corrupt officials underscores the ongoing battle against graft in Nigeria. As investigations continue and legal proceedings unfold, the fate of these former governors hangs in the balance, with accountability and transparency at the forefront of public discourse.
The 58 ex-governors who are currently or have previously faced investigations by EFCC, with alleged amounts in question, consist of:
