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LAGOS — The battle for defence of the Naira value has widened, affecting existing withdrawal limits on Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) and foreign transactions on all existing Naira debit cards (ATM cards). In the new arrangement, all ATMs that were hitherto enabled for domestic and foreign transactions have been restructured to limit Naira cash withdrawal at ATMs to N60,000 per day while foreign currency is $300 per day. Hitherto, the domestic withdrawal limit was N150,000 per day. The new arrangement has separated traditional ATM from MasterCard credit card where the former has now been deactivated and can no longer be used for transactions abroad. Hitherto, a single ATM card serves for transactions for both domestic and abroad. Also, the restructured cards now have spending limits on POS/eCommerce (online shopping) pegged at $300 (about N60,000) per day. Before this, the limit was N2 million per day. In the new arrangement, a bank customer with multiple debit cards (AT...

You may have heard or seen the news trending on social media, that Zahra Buhari now runs an office of the 1st Daughter of the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, and they posted these pictures as #EmpiricalEvidence. The daughter of President Muhammadu Buhari, Zahra, has received a new job as young woman posted some photos on her Twitter account. Zahra becomes new ACE charity ambassador at large. She has signed charity agreement and shaken hands with a member of board – Mrs Emem Opashi. ACE (Assisting caring and empowering) charity is a non-profit organisation making a sustainable, realistic and effective difference in the lives of Africans. A peep close look at the ceramic mug on the table would reveal the inscription of the ACE logo as further proof of this fact.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has ordered banks in the country to refund charges made on customers for daily cash withdrawal or deposits exceeding set limit in the 30 states that full cashless policy transactions has not taken place. The CBN disclosed that the new policy on cash-based transactions has not officially taken place in all the states of the country. Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Briefing newsmen after the 322 Bankers’ Committee Meeting in Lagos weekend, Mr. Kolawole Balogun, who represented the Director Banking Supervision Department of the CBN, Tokunbo Martins said “At the meeting we agreed that banks should refund the charges made on customers for withdrawal and deposits in those states that cashless policy has not taken place.” According to him “ The cashless policy has officially  taken place in five states and federal capital, Abuja. The states are Lagos, Abia, Anambra, Kano, Ogun and Rivers States, as well as the Federal ...

President Buhari used just one stroke of the pen yesterday to block what many Nigeria believe is the biggest source of leakage in Government revenues, when he directed all ministries and government agencies to maintain the Single Treasury Account (TSA) domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Henceforth, all Federal Government Ministries, Department and Agencies are now to run a single account, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) for all revenues, incomes and other receipts. This is a directive issued by President Muhammadu Buhari to specifically to promote transparency and facilitate compliance with sections 80 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution, a press statement to this effect said. “Henceforth, all receipts due to the Federal Government or any of its agencies must be paid into TSA or designated accounts maintained and operated in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), except otherwise expressly approved” Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President, Media & Publicity,...

LOOKING at a king’s mouth, one would think he never sucked at his mother’s breasts, says an African adage. That seems the case with some occupants of high public offices in the current political dispensation. From total obscurity, they rose to national prominence through determination and a dint of hard work. From Lagos to Ogun, Ekiti and Benue states, stories abound of individuals who had worked as commercial bus drivers, conductors, motor park touts and other lowly vocations, but are now functioning as governors, commissioners and other high profile portfolios. Numbered among them are Benue State governor, Samuel Ioraer Ortom; Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose; the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa and frontline lawyer and commissioner in the recently dissolved cabinet of Governor Ibikunle Amosun in Ogun State, Barrister Segun Odubela. Samuel Ioraer Ortom Few individuals’ stories can be as inspiring as that of Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue S...

A former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Haladu Hananiya, is in trouble for allegedly paying N150,000 for a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser SUV worth N13 million. Mr. Hananiya is alleged to have used his position as former Chairman, Governing Council of the Adamawa State University, ADSU, to convert the vehicle to his personal property. The university bought the brand new vehicle on January 28, 2015, several months after the former FRSC boss ceased to be chairman of the institution’s board. Seven days later, the car was passed to Mr. Hananiya who bought it off as scrap, paying a token N150,000. A whistle blower, one Luka Ibrahim Monduva, first made the alleged scam public in a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Mr. Hananiya was appointed chairman of ADSU governing council on August 16, 2014. About two months into his four-year tenure; the state government sacked the board on October 8, 2014. However, three months afte...

(My take: The slow but steady vindication of Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi...) PRESIDENT BUHARI APPROVES ACTIONS TO FAST-TRACK ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN-UP OF OGONILAND In keeping with his avowed commitment to working for the development and well-being of all Nigerians, President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday in Abuja approved several actions to fast-track the long delayed implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Report on the environmental restoration of Ogoniland. The actions approved by President Buhari, based on recommendations to him by the Executive Director of UNEP, the UNEP Special Representative for Ogoniland, Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Ministries of Environment and Petroleum Resources, and other stakeholders, include the amendment of the Official Gazette establishing the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) to reflect a new governance framework comprising a Governing Council, a Board of Trustees and Project Management. The Presiden...

As at Wednesday, 28th July, 2015, I wasn't really certain I would be Part of the gathering of the next generation of Nigerian technocrats, but this speculation was put to rest on Friday, 31st July, 2015 when the facilitator sent me a mail: Dear friend, My hope is that this meets you well. I look forward to seeing you at the Breakfast Roundtable for Young professionals tomorrow morning at the Shell Hall of the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. As I write this, I am excited about what is about to happen tomorrow. You want to make sure you arrive early, well before 8.30am, in order to clear registration formalities. It creates a great impression that you are seated before your mentor gets in. Please come with a form of identification. It will be a great idea if you come with your business /complimentary cards, if you have one. You never can tell. Dress code is business casual. Finally, come with an open mind, listen, read between the lines, ask questions and contribute wi...