₦airaland Forum

The Kano State Government has claimed that the immediate past governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje, left office with a debt burden of over N500 billion in the state.

The Deputy Governor of the state, Abdussalam Gwarzo, made the claim on Friday in Kaduna State while chairing the North-West Zonal meeting of New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP.

According to him, the debt inherited by the current administration may be in excess of N500 billion at the end of the ongoing verification process.

Mr Gwarzo explained that the huge debt impeded the smooth take-off of the NNPP government in the state.

While pointing out the remarkable achievements accomplished by the Governor Abba Yusuf-led administration inception, Mr Gwarzo said: “We came into office inheriting a government that left us with nothing but debt. Initially, it was N300 billion, but now it is approaching N500 billion, and we are still counting.

“Once we complete the assessment, we will inform Nigerians, especially our fellow Kano residents, about the total debt left behind.”

He also highlighted the efforts of the current administration in the state in managing the available resources judiciously.

Mr Gwarzo said: “Governor Yusuf ensured full payment of salaries to state workers and resolved outstanding issues and upon assuming office, he ordered the full payment of salaries which was not the case prior to our administration.

“Furthermore, due to Governor Kabir Yusuf’s compassion, starting this month, the state will be disbursing retirement gratuities, especially the death benefits to families of deceased retirees.

“The first beneficiaries will be those from levels one to six, as they are junior staff who have suffered the most. We have allocated N6 billion for this purpose.

“The screening process is underway, and by the end of this month, many people will receive their death benefits and gratuities.

“This initiative will continue, and our goal is to clear all outstanding gratuities within the next two years.”

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s first supplementary budget includes a fleet of SUVs for himself and his wife, a presidential yacht and the renovation of his villa amid a cost-of-living crisis for some of the poorest people in the world.

The proposal — which seeks additional funding beyond the annual budget approved by Tinubu’s predecessor — comes as the government asks Nigerians to persevere through pain caused in part by a raft of economic reforms ushered in by the new president. Africa’s most populous country faces rampant unemployment, soaring food prices and a plummeting currency.

Federal lawmakers approved the president’s request for extra spending on Thursday, but eliminated the provision of 5 billion naira ($6.01 million) to buy a presidential yacht. Instead, they doubled the allocation to a student loan fund to 10 billion naira, according Abubakar Bichi, chairman of an appropriations committee in the House of Representatives.

The lawmakers approved 1.5 billion-naira proposed to purchase SUVs for the office of First Lady Oluremi Tinubu — an amount larger than that allocated to many individual federal colleges. The supplementary budget also proposes almost 6 billion naira to purchase SUVs for the presidency — more than the amount initially allocated to fund a student loan program for poor families.

A spokesman said the president didn’t ask for a yacht and criticized coverage of the budget. The “public attack” is because of the “very simplistic way some of the line items are described by civil servants, who prepare the budget,” Temitope Ajayi said in a column posted to a local media outlet. New vehicles, he said, will be used by aides and civil servants, not Tinubu himself.

The legislature has also been slammed for buying hundreds of its own expensive SUVs.

Tinubu, who took office in May, ended a popular but costly fuel subsidy and removed currency restrictions that saw prices spike and the naira sharply devalued. That’s left many households struggling to survive in Africa’s most populous nation, where at least 40% of its more than 200 million people live in extreme poverty.

Last year, the country spent about 96% of its revenue servicing debt and the government plans to raise 9 trillion naira to help fund next year’s budget.

PRESS RELEASE

THE FACTS ON THE NAVAL BOAT IN 2023 SUPPLEMENTARY BUDGET

Following public reactions over the provision for what is termed presidential yacht and other line items in the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation presented to the National Assembly, it is important to provide some clarifications.

First, we need to make clear that President Bola Tinubu's administration respects the views of Nigerians on all matters of public concern. We thus consider it very imperative to clear any misconception and misunderstanding of the issues.

1. What was named as Presidential Yacht in the budget is an Operational Naval boat with specialized security gadgets suitable for high profile operational inspection and not for the use of the President. It is called presidential yacht by way of nomenclature because of the high level security features.

2. The Naval boat was ordered by the navy under the previous administration. President Tinubu has consistently said that government is a continuum as he inherited both assets and liabilities of past administrations.

3. The payment request for the boat was part of the committed obligation submitted by the office of the Chief of Naval Staff to the Ministry of Defence. The total of the submitted requests was in excess of N200 billion out which N62 billion was approved by the President.

4. President Tinubu is focused on securing our country and territorial waters. The Federal Government under his leadership is investing more resources to enhance greater economic output from our oil and gas, marine and blue economy.

In President Tinubu, we have a leader who understands the economic challenges being faced by the masses. His administration is working very hard to confront and surmount those challenges. Nigerians will soon get the benefits of the ongoing reforms that will certainly lead to a buoyant and improved quality of life for all citizens.

Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy
November 2, 2023.

Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Atiku Bagudu has stated that N18 billion will be granted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conduct of the governorship elections in Bayelsa, Kogi, and Imo States.

He stated this while briefing State House media following the Council meeting, which was presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa’s Council Chamber in Abuja.

“Equally N18 billion was provided for the Independent National Electoral Commission to support them in the conduct of the Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo elections,” he informed.

He also stated that the council has approved N2.1 trillion as Supplementary Budget for 2023.

He explained that out of the proposed amount, N605 billion would be spent on national defence and security, while about N300 billion would be spent on the maintenance of bridges.

Bagudu also disclosed that N210 billion would go for the payment of wage awards to civil servants and N400 billion for cash transfers to vulnerable households.

Another provision of N8 billion was included in the supplementary budget for the take-off of the newly created ministries such as the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, according to Bagudu.

The Elders of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State, have met the Governor of the state, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, in closed doors over peace.

The meeting is not unconnected with the move by some lawmakers in the State House of Assembly to impeach the governor of the state, which led to the burning of the hallowed chambers of the assembly.

The persons at the meeting include Elder Ferdinand Alabaraba, Leader of PDP Elders Forum, Chief Sergeant Awuse, the Chairman of Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, OCJ Okocha, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and Bro Felix Obuah, the Campaign Director of PDP/Fubara for the 2023 election.

The meeting was held at the residence of the governor in Government House, Port Harcourt.

Although, the purpose of the meeting was not disclosed, but a source said the elders were in Government House to intervene in the ensuing crisis in the state.

The source, who did not want his name mentioned, said the elders had pleaded with Fubara to shelve further action while the team consulted all parties involved to bring in peace.

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested two businessmen at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja, with consignments of cocaine and heroin going to Hong Kong and France concealed in their bellies.

While 38-year-old ThankGod Chimamkpa Emenike was arrested at the boarding gate of the Abuja airport on Friday 20th October during the outward clearance of passengers on Air France flight 818 to Paris, another passenger, 41-year-old Agbo Chidike Prince was taken into NDLEA custody on Saturday 21st October while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 950 to Hong Kong via Addis Ababa.

They were both arrested and detained after their body scan revealed they ingested illicit drugs. After days in custody and a number of excretions, Emenike excreted 72 wraps of heroin weighing 1.171 kilograms, while Chidike discharged 49 pellets of cocaine with a total weight of 998.53grams. In his statement, Chidike claimed he is a businessman dealing in spare parts at the Alaba International market in Ojo area of Lagos. He added that he was to be paid N3.5million which he intended to use to import goods from Hong Kong.

In the same vein, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos on Wednesday 25th October intercepted a Qatar Airways flight passenger going to Oman, Agbo Celestine Tochukwu with a consignment of 58 parcels of skunk weighing 29.10kgs while undergoing processes to board his flight at the terminal 11 of the airport. In his statement, Tochukwu claimed he relocated to Oman on 6th May and has been working as hotel attendant in Oman before venturing into drug trafficking.

Meanwhile, a total of 2,197 kilograms of skunk were recovered in four interdiction operations in parts of Ondo state within four days. While 1,165.5kgs were seized in Uso, Owo LGA on Wednesday 25th October, a consignment of 691kgs were recovered from Ukugu forest in Ipele the previous day, Tuesday 24th October. A suspect, Ifeanyi Abuguja, 32, was arrested with 87kgs of same substance on Monday 23rd October at Agula Road, Ogbese, Akure North LGA, while 253.5kgs were recovered at Ogbese market in Akure North LGA on Thursday 26th October.

In Oyo state, two suspects: Ayo Dele, 19, and Olaitan Ahmed, 23, were arrested with 160 grams of cannabis at a drug joint at Nalende area of Ibadan metropolis on Sunday 22nd October while a follow up operation at their warehouse in the same area led to the recovery of 332kgs of the same substance.

While operatives of the Lagos Command of the Agency intercepted and recovered a vehicle loaded with 209kgs of Loud at Okun Ajah area of the state on Monday 23rd October, their counterparts in Gombe on Saturday 28th October recovered an abandoned consignment of 401 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 392kgs and 21,000 capsules of tramadol at Tumfure area of the state.

In the early hours of today, Sunday 29th October, NDLEA operatives in Edo state stormed the Utese forest in Ovia North East LGA, where they evacuated a total of 2,931.3 kilograms of cannabis sativa from a warehouse in the forest.

The War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaign of the Agency continued in equal measure in schools, markets, worship places and others across the country in the past week. Some of them include: WADA town hall sensitization lecture by Zone E command in collaboration with Kano and Jigawa commands of the Agency for 108 principals of secondary schools in Dutse Emirate; same lecture for students and teachers of Nkpoghoro community secondary school, Afikpo, Ebonyi state; students and teachers of Government Secondary School and Community Comprehensive School, both in Abua/Odual LGA, Rivers state as well as WADA sensitisation lecture at Durbar Grammar School, Durbar, Oyo state.

While commending the officers and men of the NAIA, MMIA, Ondo, Oyo, Lagos, Edo and Gombe Commands for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) urged them and their compatriots across all formations of the Agency to maintain the offensive action tempo and strive to surpass previous records while maintaining a balance with their drug demand reduction efforts.

Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters Abuja
Sunday 29th October 2023

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a 40-year-old Madrid, Spain-based ‘businessman’, Sherif Egbo Ally at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja while attempting to board an Air France flight to Paris, France, after they discovered he ingested illicit drugs.

Egbo was arrested on Saturday 14th October after body scanner revealed he had wraps of illicit drugs in his stomach. He was subsequently placed under observation at the Agency’s exhibit recovery room where he excreted 93 pellets of heroin weighing 2.222 kilograms. In his statement, the suspect claimed he works at a chicken hatchery farm in Madrid, Spain and also into drug trafficking business.

In the same vein, NDLEA operatives at the NAHCO imports shed of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos on Monday 16th October seized a consignment of 10 cartons containing 500,000 pills of tramadol 225mg branded as tapentadol. The cargo, which was shipped from India through Qatar Airways with airwaybill number MAWB 319-01227236 was purported to be a transit cargo to Monrovia, Liberia. However, the lid was blown open through partnership and real time intelligence sharing mechanisms between NDLEA and its Liberian counterpart.

Also, attempt by an intending passenger to Muscat, Oman on Qatar airways, Ngene Chinecherem Oscar to export 11.100kgs of skunk and 600grams of tramadol concealed in foodstuffs through the Lagos airport was thwarted by NDLEA officers who arrested him and seized the illicit substances.

In another operation, NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations, DOGI, attached to courier companies on Sunday 15th October intercepted 1kg methamphetamine concealed in containers of body cream going to New Zealand as well as another consignment of 2.5kgs cocaine and phenacetin hidden in walls of a carton heading to Saudi Arabia.

Two more seizures: 112grams of Dimethyl Sulfone and 583grams of Cocaine and phenacetin were made at another courier company in Lagos on Wednesday 18th October. While the Dimethyl Sulfone was concealed in the hollow of a motor driving shaft going to New Zealand, the consignment of Cocaine and phenacetin was packed into a bottle of body cream heading to Saudi Arabia.

In Imo state, operatives on Sunday 15th October intercepted a Mercedes Benz container truck marked ABN 418 YN parked in an isolated area along Owerri - Onitsha expressway. A search of the abandoned truck led to the recovery of 168 bags of skunk weighing 1, 854 kilograms.

Not less than 1,381.3kgs of the same substance were seized in four interdiction operations in parts of Edo state including: Ekpon community, Igueben LGA; Iguiye forest in Ovia North East LGA; Iruekpen, Ndokwa West where a suspect, Monday Samuel Nwocha was arrested and Egwalor village in Onwude LGA where the duo of Obune Prince and Chika Obi was arrested and their Audi 80 salon car marked BEN 406 CL loaded with cannabis sativa, recovered.

In Kano state, an ex-convict, Aminu Suleiman, 46, was arrested along with Haruna Abdurrahaman, 41, and Ojo Joseph Esezobor, 34, at Gadar Tamburawa area of the state on Saturday 14th October while 106kgs of cannabis were recovered from them. Aminu was first arrested with 22kgs of cannabis on 3rd June 2022 and convicted by the court on 24th November 2022. Four other suspects: Inusa Fugu Ali, Yahaya Musa, Abba Audu, Ali Abubakar, and Bunu Kyari were also arrested at Gadar Tamburawa area of Kano on Monday 16th October for dealing in 75.3kgs of skunk.

While operatives of the Zone J Command of the Agency seized 478kgs of cannabis in a forest in Ikere Ekiti on Friday 20th October, those of Ondo state command recovered a total of 928kgs of the same substance in a bush by Shagari market, along Ifon-Owo express road, and Ibola camp, Ipele forest. In Borno state, a suspect, Sani Mohammed, 31, was arrested on Saturday 21st October with 182kgs of cannabis at Njimtilo, along Maiduguri - Damaturu road.

Commands across the 36 states and the FCT equally continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitisation lectures in schools, communities, work places and others. Some of these include: WADA sensitisation lecture for students of Ogborhill Secondary School, Aba, Abia state; WADA sensitisation lecture to Students of Nana Aisha Memorial Islamiyya Secondary School, Buba-Shongo, Gombe; WADA sensitisation lecture at Awe High School, Awe, same at Smiles and Surprises Academy, Onna, Akwa Ibom; WADA sensitisation lecture for students of Sango High School, Ijoko, Ogun state while the Zone C Command of NDLEA along with Kwara state command also had WADA sensitisation town hall meeting with principals of secondary schools from five local government areas of the state.

Commending the arrests and seizures of the past week by officers and men of the NAIA, MMIA, Imo, Ondo, Kano, Edo, Zone J Commands as well as those of DOGI, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) charged them and their compatriots across all formations of the Agency to continue to remain vigilant and double their efforts especially with the desperation of criminal networks to make money by all means towards the end of the year season.

Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters Abuja
Sunday 22nd October 2023

A mega rally in support of Palestine was held in Lagos yesterday to demand justice for the people of Palestine and put an end to the continued bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli forces.

The mega rally, organised by the Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO), drew participants from various Muslim organisations, civil society groups, students and Islamic scholars across the country.

Also in attendance from the human rights community was the Amnesty International (AI) Nigeria representative, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani.

The protesters carried placards and banners with inscriptions, such as “Nigeria Unites for Palestine, Support Freedom and Justice for the Palestinian nation; Stop Killing Innocent Women and Children; From the River to the Sea, Palestine Would be Free; Gaza: End the Siege; Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians; A Crime against Humanity; Our Freedom is not Complete without Freedom.

The mega rally tagged “50,000 Man Match” in solidarity with Palestine, also saw the Muslims asking the Federal Government of Nigeria to put on hold all diplomatic relations with Israel until the two-state resolution is achieved.

The Dean, Faculty of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Usman Dan Fodiyo University, Sokoto and an adviser to the vice chancellor of Afro-Asian University, Somalia, Prof Isa Maishanu, who read the 14-point resolution of the Nigerian Muslims, demanded that the international community led by the United Nations should prevail upon Israel to stop its bombardment of Gaza and other parts of Palestine.

“We consider as irresponsible, reprehensible and barbaric, the show of support by the duo of the United States and the European Union for Israel and we hold them complicit and culpable in this human tragedy happening before the global audience,” he said.

The group further declared that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation but an elected representative of the people engaged in arms insurrection against an occupying force as allowed by international law, rationality and necessity.

The general secretary of the CIO, Lukman Balogun said, “We are here today because we are human with conscience. It is binding on us to support the oppressed, whether Muslims or non-Muslims. But when the oppressed are Muslims, it is our religious duty to support them.”

Suspected militants have attacked Afokang Federal Prison in Cross River State.

The militants who reportedly stormed there from the nearby Calabar creeks were said to have gunned down a security guard.

The militants reportedly took away his gun.

According to sources, the militants did not gain access to the prison yard but only operated at the main gate.

A source said the incident might be related to feeding as there has been grumbling that the new state comptroller sliced food rations to the inmates.

Daily Trust gathered that the comptroller summoned an emergency meeting at the head office of the Correctional Centre opposite the Millennium Park, Calabar, over the prison attack.

A resident of the area who gave his name as Godwin Esu, said, “The incident happened around 9pm. We heard gunshots. We knew it came from the prison. Then there was stampede. It was after those who shot had gone that we were told that an officer was killed.”

The Public Relations Officer of Cross River State Command of the Nigerian Correctional Service, DSC Effanga Etim, confirmed the incident, but did not go into details.

He said a statement would be issued soon.

Barring a last-minute change, the Federal Government might appoint Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd) as Commandant General of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

The Guardian reliably learnt that the nomination of the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s resolve to reposition the security architecture.

Al-Mustapha, who aspired for the presidency on the platform of Action Alliance (AA), had deplored the security situation in the country, particularly when former President Muhammadu Buhari held sway.

While delivering a keynote address at a roundtable on “Contemporary security challenges and their effects on 2023 general election”, he had warmed that Nigeria was sitting on a keg of gunpowder owing to pervasive arms and hard drugs in circulation.

Stating that the trend posed danger to the polls, the soldier-turned-politician disclosed that Nigerians needed to start asking questions on whether the cache of arms was meant to reinforce insurgency.

According to him, several victims of insurgency still litter over the country.

He had said: “There are leadership deficit in Nigeria at all levels. The next leader must have shock absorber, because this country is sitting on a keg of gunpowder.”

Today [Monday 16 October] the Prime Minister has announced a further £10 million in humanitarian aid funding for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), in response to the escalating conflict.

He made the announcement in a statement to the House of Commons, in which he also reiterated the UK’s condemnation of Hamas’ actions in both Israel and Gaza, and called for immediate access for humanitarian organisations to be allowed to deliver life-saving aid.

This latest commitment is in response to the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, including shortages of key goods and widespread displacement due to the conflict.

This funding will allow trusted partners, including key UN agencies to provide essential relief items and services. These could include food, water and emergency shelter, depending on the needs on the ground.

The UK is also exploring options for moving humanitarian supplies closer to the region and is liaising with aid agencies in the region to ensure relief supplies can be distributed as quickly and effectively as possible.

Speaking in Parliament, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

I’m proud that we are a longstanding and significant provider of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people. And I can announce today that we are increasing our aid by a third, with an additional £10 million of support.

An acute humanitarian crisis is unfolding, to which we must respond. We must support the Palestinian people – because they’re victims of Hamas too.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

We are committed to supporting the Palestinian people – they are victims of Hamas too. This funding will provide vital, lifesaving support to Palestinian civilians who are caught up in this conflict and are in desperate need of help.

The UN estimates that over 1 million Palestinians have been displaced so far. Prior to the recent escalation of hostilities, the UN estimated that nearly 60% of people in Gaza already needed humanitarian assistance, including over 1.5 million people in need of food assistance and 1.6 million in need of health and nutrition assistance.

Today’s announcement is a 37% uplift to the existing £27m of UK funding this year which is already providing critical support to the region, including an extra £10 million announced by the Foreign Secretary during his visit last month. We will consider further support depending on the changing humanitarian needs on the ground.

The UK remains committed to mitigating the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza while standing alongside the people of Israel against the terrorist group Hamas.

The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have spoken to Israel, Egypt and other international partners about opening the Rafah crossing to allow urgent humanitarian aid into Gaza.

All UK aid funding to the OPTs undergoes rigorous oversight, and no funding goes to Hamas.

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have taken into custody two wanted heads of transnational criminal organisations with multi-billion-naira worth of illicit drugs and assets seized from them after weeks of intelligence-led operations across the country and outside Nigeria.

The arrest of the wanted drug lords came on the heels of the interception of consignments of cocaine and heroin buried in the bellies of two traffickers heading to Paris, France and Doha, Qatar by NDLEA officers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja.

Operatives at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos on Tuesday 10th October succeeded in taking into custody, Hakeem Babatunde Salami, the arrowhead of "Tajudeen Babatunde Abioye Transnational Criminal Organization" involved in the illicit trade of several narcotics including Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine, and Ephedrine between Nigeria, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa, Mozambique, and Europe. He fled Nigeria to South Africa upon the arrest of a member of his syndicate, Suleiman Babatunde Oba at the Lagos airport on August 25 over attempt to export 25.10kgs of ephedrine to South Africa.

Hakeem Babatunde Salami was however smoked out of hiding through partnership with South African authorities and other intelligence and investigative mechanisms. While some of his luxury vehicles have been seized and his home in Surulere Lagos sealed, other members of the cartel already in custody include Suleiman and Godwin Edet Mathew.

In his statement, he claimed he was into the importation of building materials from China to Nigeria and used to sell gold in South Africa before delving into the illicit drug trade about two years ago.

The head of another cartel, Okafor Ikechukwu Williams (aka Jantu) and his wife, Okafor Ifeyinwa Grace were also taken into custody on Thursday 5th October when NDLEA operatives raided their hideout at 9 Awa Street, Ago Palace, Okota area of Lagos where they recovered 27.566 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in a blue box and two sacks, ready for export to Europe and Asia. Their Lexus RX350 marked ABJ 512 AY parked in the house was also seized during the operation. Their arrest followed weeks of intelligence gathering about the activities of the criminal network.

At the Abuja airport, operatives on Friday 6th October arrested a drug trafficker, Nwofor Ejiogu Charles, 45, during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Doha. After body scan revealed he ingested cocaine, he was placed under observation during which he excreted 75 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.653kgs. At the point of his arrest, Nwofor who was the last passenger to board his flight offered to compromise an NDLEA officer with $3,000 to free him.

The following day, Saturday 7th October, another trafficker, Nwufo Charles Okwudili, 45, was also arrested while attempting to board Lufthansa Airlines flight LH 0595 to Paris, France via Frankfurt, Germany. After being put through body scanner, he was taken into recovery room where he excreted 96 wraps of heroin he ingested with a total weight of 1.413kgs.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Okene -Lokoja-Abuja expressway on Tuesday 10th October intercepted a commercial bus coming from Lagos to Kano. A search of the bus led to the seizure of Four Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty Thousand US Dollars ($4,880,000), and Fifty-Seven Million Céfa, (CFA57,000,000) suspected to be counterfeits.

In Sokoto, the Federal High Court in the state capital presided over by Justice Ahmad Mahmud has sentenced an acting district head, Alhaji Umar Mohammed (aka Dan Bala) to five and a half years in jail on four count charges of possession and dealing in 436.38kgs cannabis and 7kgs psychotropic drugs brought against him by NDLEA in October 2022. He was convicted and sentenced to two years on each of counts 1 and 2 with an option of N1million fine, and eight months on each of counts 3 and 4 without an option of fine.

Operatives in Edo state on Wednesday 11th October stormed the Orue forest, Owan West LGA where they arrested Happy Akashili, 37, and Solomon Uwesue, 40 in a hut located inside a cannabis farm measuring 2.367308 hectares which was destroyed, with 92kgs already processed skunk recovered, while 49kgs of same substance were also seized at Ogbeturu camp.

The Commands across the country balanced their drug supply reduction operations with War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaigns to schools, markets, worship centres and communities. Some of these include: WADA sensitisation lecture on Drug Use and Mental Health for students of 15 secondary schools in Ibadan metropolis at the University of Ibadan, Oyo state; WADA sensitisation lecture for students of Ascension College, Iworo Imeke, Badagry Lagos; WADA sensitisation lecture at Modern Comprehensive College, Amokwe, Udi LGA, Enugu; WADA sensitisation lecture for students of National Secondary school, Awka; Students of JIBWIS Islamic Science Secondary school, Herwagana, Gombe; students of Government College, Makurdi, Benue; students of Government secondary school (Boys), Kafin Maiyaki, Kano and students of JNI Special Model primary School, Gusau, Zamfara.

While commending the efforts of the NAIA, MMIA, Kogi, Sokoto and Edo Commands of the Agency as well as the Special Operations Unit targeting the drug cartels, for jobs well done in the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) assured that officers and men of the Agency will never let down their guards no matter the tricks and distractions orchestrated against it by criminal networks.

Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters Abuja
Sunday 15th October 2023

CBN Restates Commitment To Boost Liquidity in FOREX Market

1. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will continue to promote orderliness and professional conduct by all participants in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market to ensure market forces determine exchange rates on a Willing Buyer- Willing Seller principle.

2. The CBN reiterates that the prevailing Foreign Exchange (FX) rates should be referenced from platforms such as the CBN website, FMDCQ, and other recognised or appointed trading systems to promote price discovery, transparency, and credibility in the FX rates.

3. As part of its responsibility to ensure price stability, the CBN will boost liquidity in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market by interventions from time to time. As market liquidity improves, these CBN interventions will gradually decrease.

4. Importers of all the 43 items previously restricted by the 2015 Circular referenced TED/FEMFPC/GEN/O1/010 and its addendums are now allowed to purchase foreign exchange in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

5. The CBN is committed to accelerating efforts to clear the FX backlog with existing participants and will continue dialogue with stakeholders to address the issue.

6. The CBN has set as one of its goals the attainment of a single FX market. Consultation is ongoing with market participants to achieve this goal.

Participants and the general public are to be guided by the above.

Isa AbdulMumin, PhD
Director, Corporate Communications
October 12, 2023

Elon Musk has until the end of Wednesday to respond to demands from Brussels to remove graphic images and disinformation linked to the violence in Israel from his social network X — or face the full force of Europe's new social media rules.

Thierry Breton, the European Union commissioner who oversees the bloc's Digital Services Act (DSA) rules, wrote to the owner of X, formerly Twitter, to warn Musk of his obligations under the bloc's content rules.

If Musk fails to comply, the EU's rules state X could face fines of up to 6 percent of its revenue for potential wrongdoing. Under the regulations, social media companies are obliged to remove all forms of hate speech, incitement to violence and other gruesome images or propaganda that promote terrorist organizations.

Since Hamas launched its violent attacks on Israel on October 7, X has been flooded with images, videos and hashtags depicting — in graphic detail — how hundreds of Israelis have been murdered or kidnapped. Under X's own policies, such material should also be removed immediately.

"I urge you to ensure a prompt, accurate and complete response to this request within the next 24 hours," Breton wrote on X late Tuesday. "We will include your answer in our assessment file on your compliance with the DSA."

Michelle Donelan, the British minister in charge of the U.K.'s separate online content rulebook, also plans to meet some media companies, including Google, Meta, X, TikTok and Snapchat, on Wednesday to remind them of their obligations to remove content involving antisemitism and extreme violence in the wake of the Hamas attacks.

"We are taking action to stand in solidarity with Israel and our Jewish community," Donelan wrote on X.

A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In response to Breton’s post on X, Musk asked the French politician to outline how his social media company had potentially violated Europe’s content rules. "Our policy is that everything is open source and transparent," he added. Breton replied: "Up to you to demonstrate that you walk the talk."

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a 67-year-old trafficker, Chukwuemeka Clement, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja for ingesting 100 wraps of cocaine, a criminal enterprise he claimed he ventured into to raise enough money to marry a new wife and start life afresh after wasting 30 years of his life in Brazil, Ethiopia and Thailand.

Chukwuemeka was arrested on Tuesday 3rd October during the inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight 951 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and taken for body scan, which revealed multiple pellets in his stomach. While under observation, he excreted a total of 100 wraps of cocaine weighing 2.195 kilograms in four excretions.

In his statement, he claimed to have spent 30 years in Brazil, Ethiopia and Thailand, while he was once married, but lost his wife and without a child. He added that was why he decided to go into drug trafficking to raise enough money to marry a new wife and start life afresh.

On the same day, Tuesday 3rd October, NDLEA operatives at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, intercepted a 45-year-old woman, Bilkisu Mohammed Bello while preparing to board a Saudia Airlines flight to Saudi Arabia.

While being interviewed, she confessed that pellets of cocaine given to her to swallow before her flight were kept in a house in Farawa area of Kano. When she led NDLEA officers to the house, 52 wraps of the illicit substance with a total weight of 767grams were recovered.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives supported by officers and men of the Nigerian Army, Civil Defence Corps and Amotekun personnel on Tuesday 3rd October stormed James town, in Ogunmakin, Obafemi Owode local government area of Ogun state where they located and destroyed 10.38 tonnes of cannabis sativa covering over 4.152 hectares.

While on their way back from the operation, the team also intercepted a truck marked FS548XN carrying a 40ft container loaded with logs of wood. A search of the container led to the recovery of two bags of cannabis sativa weighing 20kgs while six suspects: Ahmed Yusuf, Olaniyi Babatunde, Adedeji Babatunde, Richard John, Osolale Olamilekan and Abdulazeez Saied, in the truck were arrested.

In the same vein, operatives on Sunday 1st October raided Obi camp in Owan West LGA, Edo state where 30 sacks of skunk weighing 300kgs and concealed in charcoal were evacuated from an old dilapidated mud house. Similarly, two cannabis farms measuring 1.179065 hectares at Igbanke forest in Orhiowon local government area of the state were identified and destroyed on Friday 6th October while four suspects: Tersoo Zaria, 28; Ifeanyi Osai, 53; Moses David, 19, and Daniel Gabriel, 20, were arrested.

In Gombe state, a suspect, Auwal Bindow was arrested on Friday 6th October along Bauchi - Gombe road with 50,000 capsules of tramadol, while in Oyo state, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway nabbed Anuoluwapo Blessing Iyanu, 32, with 52 blocks of compressed pawpaw shaped cannabis sativa weighing 30kgs on Wednesday 4th October.

With the same vigour, the various commands of the Agency across the country continued with the War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaign in the past week. Some of them include: WADA sensitisation lecture for students and teachers of Igbonnibi High School, Ila Orangun, Osun state; WADA sensitisation lecture at Royal Ambassador Secondary School, Makurdi, Benue state; WADA sensitization lecture at Ilora Baptist Grammar School, Ilora, Oyo state and LGA WADA sensitisation lecture for students of Beth-Root Model Secondary School, Onitsha, Anambra state.

While commending the officers and men of the NAIA, MAKIA, Ogun, Oyo, Edo, and Gombe Commands of the Agency for their outstanding feats in the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) equally applauded their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying their WADA advocacy lectures thus creating a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.

Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters Abuja
Sunday 8th October 2023

The organised labour has rejected President Bola Tinubu’s N25,000 provisional wage increment for the average low-grade worker to cushion the effect of the removal of the petrol subsidy.

TheCable understands that the labour is demanding a 100 percent wage increment as part of its requests in the ongoing meeting with the representatives of the federal government at the presidential villa, Abuja.

His Excellency, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno has approved the appointment of the following persons as Personal Assistants to the Governor with effect from 1st October, 2023.

See copy of the list attached.

Consequently, the appointees are invited to the inauguration ceremony on Monday, 2nd October, 2023 at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Uyo by 10 a.m.

All invitees are expected to be seated by 9.30 a.m prompt.

Prince Enobong Uwah
Secretary to the State Government
Akwa Ibom State

A drug kingpin wanted for attempts to ship illicit drug consignments to the United Kingdom tops the list of arrests made by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA through interdiction operations that led to the seizure of four tons of illicit substances in the past week.

Obiorah Chigozie Samuel has been on the wanted list of the Agency since 15th September 2023 when a consignment of 1.500kg skunk concealed in flour going to London, UK was intercepted at the SAHCO export shed of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos, and his freight agent, Nworah Adaugo Precious arrested.

Convinced that the 1.500kg consignment had sailed through, Obiorah walked into the Agency’s dragnet on Thursday 28th September when he personally brought another tranche of 2.00kg concealed in cartons to the airport for shipment to the UK. In his interview, Obiorah claimed he was into shoes sales in Lagos before venturing into the illicit drug business.

Meanwhile, operatives of the Federal Capital Territory Command of the Agency on Friday 29th September intercepted a container truck with registration number BD G41 XM coming from Lagos to Kano at the Gwagwalada area of the FCT. No less than 1,188 kilograms of skunk loaded at Owo, Ondo state and hidden under cartons of tooth paste were recovered from the truck and its driver, Amafan Fattison, 28, arrested.

In the same vein, NDLEA officers in Bayelsa state on Wednesday 27th September seized 432kgs of the same substance from an abandoned J5 bus along Saipem road, Opolo, Yenagoa. The vehicle was equally recovered from the scene for further investigation.

In Kano, a septuagenarian grandpa, Ado Mai Unguwa, 70, was arrested on Saturday 30th September with 143.2kgs skunk in Dindere village, Tofa LGA, while operatives in Enugu same day recovered 110.6kgs of same substance from a locked-up shop at Aria new market.

Operatives in Lagos also on Saturday 30th September stormed the notorious Idi-Oro drug enclave in Mushin where they seized 212.5kgs of cannabis sativa belonging to a wanted drug lord. This is even as NDLEA officers in Kwara state recovered 104kgs of skunk from a Toyota camry car in Offa area of the state, while a Chadian, Mohammed Ibrahim, 25, was nabbed at Mafa check point, Borno state with 11.8kgs of same substance on Monday 25th September.

In Plateau, the state police command in the spirit of inter-agency collaboration transferred four suspects: Yusuf Akim; Frank Gah; Jackson Ejeh and Joseph Utsu, and 1,978kgs cannabis recovered from them to the state command of NDLEA, while in Cross River, operatives on Monday 25th September seized 40,000 ampules of pentazocine injection from two suspects: Fajulugbe Adeshola Temitayo, 35, and Nnaorji Agwe Solomon, 54, at Mobil by MCC road, Calabar.

Also in Kogi state, NDLEA officers on Wednesday 27th September arrested a suspect, Ifeanyi Odoh, 25, with 59,867 pills of opioids including Tramadol and 4.03kgs cannabis sativa at Idah area of the state.

War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy activities equally continued across the country in the past week. Some of them include: WADA advocacy visit to the Director/CEO, Nigeria French Village, Badagry, Lagos, Prof. Lateef Babatunde Ayeleru by the Seme Special Area command of NDLEA; WADA sensitisation lecture at Ar-Rahmania College of Health Sciences, Minna, Niger state; WADA advocacy lecture at Pentecostal Academy, Aba, Abia state and WADA sensitisation lecture for students and staff of School of Nursing, Eket, Akwa Ibom state among others.

While commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, FCT, Bayelsa, Borno, Kogi, Kwara, Cross River, Borno and Enugu Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) equally praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for ensuring a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.

Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters Abuja
Sunday 1st October 2023

A Federal High Court sitting in Kano on Friday ordered the Kano State Government to pay N30 billion as compensation to shop owners whose properties were demolished at Kofar Mata Eid praying ground in Kano city.

The applicants Incorporated Trustees of Masallacin Idi Shop Owners, Traders Association and 56 others, through their Counsel, Dr Nuraddeen Ayagi, prayed the court for the compensation.

They filed a motion exparte seeking for their enforcement of fundamental rights, right to own properties and damages against the State Government for demolishing their shops.

The respondents in the suit are: Kano State Government, Kano State Urban Development Authority, Attorney General of Kano, Nigeria Police, AIG Zone 1, Commissioner of Police Kano.

Others are Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and NSCDC Kano Commandant.

The presiding Judge, Justice Simon Amobeda, averred that the Kano state government and seven other respondents action of forcefully demolishing and vandalising the applicants shops without due process to law is illegal and unconstitutional.

“The demolishing violates the applicants right to own property, right to life cum livelihood and right to dignity of human face as unprofessional.”

Amobeda ordered the first to third respondents to jointly pay the applicants the sum of N10 billion as general damages for violation of the applicants fundamental right to life and ownership of property as guaranteed by law.

“I hereby ordered the respondents to also pay the applicants additional sum of N20 billion for punitive and exemplary damages,” Amobeda said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the respondents are yet to react to the judgment.

Clarification regarding the money provided by the FIRS to the Joint Tax Board to fund the activities of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee.

We are aware of a recent story regarding some funds transferred by the FIRS to the Joint Tax Board (JTB) for the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee.

The Committee's budget includes provisions for a national "Data for Tax" project which the JTB has been championing for over 2 years. The project was presented to the National Economic Council in 2022 and was meant to be funded by the federal government and the 36 states. However it stalled due to lack of funds. Given the importance of the project to the effective reform of our tax system, it was included in the Committee's budget.

Other expenses included in the Committee's budget, which has the approval of the National Assembly, include setting up of offices for the Committee in Lagos and Abuja, payment of salaries for the full time staff engaged by the Committee, travels and other logistics for over 70 members representing more than 40 institutions and stakeholder groups mapped to 6 different Subcommittees, more than 30 Secretariat personnel and over 40 students across the country. In addition, the budget covers planned stakeholder engagements with various sectors and interest groups, as well as international engagements and understudy of some leading tax regimes around the world, and so on. The budget covers a period of one year being the lifespan of the Committee.

It should be noted that the Committee was not set up simply to produce reports and recommendations, we are also charged with the implementation of recommended and approved proposals which need to be funded.

The Committee's mandate includes ensuring prudence and accountability in the management of our national resources. It will therefore be a contradiction for the same Committee to be wasteful or reckless in its own affairs. Members of the Committee work on a volunteering basis and are only paid reasonable allowances to cover their out of pocket expenses as we cannot afford to pay the commercial value for their time, skills and experience. As the Chairman of the Committee, despite working full time on the assignment, I do not receive a salary.

All the expenses of the Committee are properly documented and available for audit. We collect receipts for fuel, stationeries, and virtually every Naira that we spend to the extent possible. Over N4 billion of the said funds transferred by the FIRS to the JTB for the Committee's work is yet to be spent and very much intact in the JTB account.

We will be responsible, prudent and accountable with every Naira of public funds we have been entrusted with.

Thank you all for your show of support and for the confidence reposed in us and our work. We will not let you down.

Signed,
Taiwo Oyedele
Chairman, Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee

Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) have asked their members to join the national strike billed to start October 3.

NUPENG’s decision to join the strike represents a significant escalation of the planned shutdown of the country as the union represents a myriad of workers across the entire value chain in the oil and gas sectors, including upstream oil platform workers, fuel tanker drivers and pump attendants.

Two central Labour unions – Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) are masterminding the strike, despite warning by the country’s justice minister that they will be breaching a court order by doing so.

The National Executive Council of both the TUC and NLC has resolved to shut down the country if the October 1 address of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu failed to address their demands.

The two unions are mobilising affiliate unions to join the strike.

We write to notify you of the nationwide strike by the organised Labour movements in Nigeria (Trade Union Congress of Nigeria and Nigeria Labour Congress) to commence nation-wide strike on Tuesday, 3rd October, 2023 as a result of failure of government to meet the demands of labour.

Based on this development, members are advised to join the strike action and take necessary precaution to ensure their safety and that of the properties of the organisation in the likelihood of hoodlums and miscreants taking advantage of the situation to foment trouble or vandalize business premises.

While we will avail you of further information as event unfolds, please accept as always the warm regards and assurances of the National President.

Over four tons of illicit and controlled drugs including consignments of nitrous oxide popularly known as laughing gas, skunk, codeine syrup, methamphetamine and tramadol have been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, during interdiction operations in Lagos, Kogi, FCT, Jigawa, Kaduna, Sokoto and Edo states.

No fewer than 1,194 cylinders of laughing gas with a total weight of 2,547.2 kilograms loaded in two Toyota Sienna buses were on Friday 22nd September intercepted by NDLEA operatives along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway. Two suspects: Onyebuchi Ikpozu and Kenneth Igwe who were taking the consignments to the nation’s Federal Capital Territory for distribution have been arrested and taken into custody.

While one of the Toyota Sienna buses marked KTU 582 HV was conveying 99 cartons containing 594 cylinders weighing 1,267.200kgs, the second bus with registration number FKJ 329 YA was conveying 100 cartons of the substance with 600 cylinders weighing 1,280kgs. A 48-year-old woman, Mrs. Ugo Eluba was also arrested in Abuja in a follow up operation after 2,400 ampules of pentazocine injection and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 intercepted in Kogi state were traced to her.

In the FCT, operatives intercepted 977 kilograms of skunk on Wednesday 20th September in a trailer marked LSR 343 XW, bearing cartons of maggi. The skunk consignment was loaded into the truck at Ipele junction in Ondo state. While 959kgs of the substance were meant for distribution in Sokoto state, the rest was to be dropped off at Gwagwalada. Two suspects: Auwal Mohammed and Abdullahi Abubakar have been arrested in connection with the seizure, while two other suspects: Mutari Abdulazeez, 31, and Ayuba Madaki, 28, were also arrested on Saturday 23rd September at Zuba area of the FCT with different quantities of methamphetamine, cannabis and 13, 930 pills of tramadol.

In the same vein, Shuaibu Yusif, 27, and Abubakar Hussaini, 20, were on Saturday 23rd September nabbed with 89.1kgs of skunk along Kano -Hadejia road, Jigawa state during a stop and search patrol by NDLEA operatives.

No fewer than 6,000 ampules of pentazocine injection were recovered from a suspect, Usman Musa Sidi, 35, on Monday 18th September along Abuja - Forest road, Kaduna while on his way to Bauchi state. A follow up operation in Bauchi led to the arrest of the actual owner of the consignment, Dominic Chukwuma, 35, on Tuesday 19th September, with at least 2.58kgs of Diazepam and 36.55kgs of pentazocine injection recovered from his home. Two other suspects: Inuwa Nuhu and Isiyaku Dahiru Sani were also arrested same Tuesday in connection with the seizure of 49 blocks of cannabis sativa concealed in a black sack weighing 26kgs in a commercial vehicle coming from Ogere, Ogun state to Kano.

While a total of 183kgs of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis, were recovered from body compartments of a J5 bus intercepted in Lagos on Wednesday 20th September, operatives in Sokoto, on Tuesday 19th September arrested one Charles Okeke, 44, with 473 bottles of codeine syrup at Unguwar Kosai area of Sokoto. In Edo state, 365 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 258kgs were recovered from a Toyota Camry car marked KTU 886 EZ at Igarra, Akoko Edo LGA.

In a massive operation between Monday 11th and Wednesday 13th September, NDLEA operatives stormed thick forests in Ijesha Isu-Ekiti, Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti state, where they destroyed 40 tons (40,000 kilograms) of cannabis plants covering 16 hectares of farmland.

Meanwhile, across the country, NDLEA Commands continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization lectures and advocacy visits to worship centres, schools, workplaces, palaces of traditional rulers and communities all through the week. Instances include: WADA sensitization lecture at Madarasatu Tarbiyyatil Aulad Islamiyyah Izala Mosque, Sabon Gari Wudil, Wudil LGA, Kano; WADA sensitisation town hall meeting with principals of secondary schools in Kaduna north and south LGAs organized by the Zone J command of the Agency; WADA advocacy visit to the palace of Igwe Emmanuel Ugwu, traditional ruler of Ibagwa Nike, Enugu state and WADA sensitisation lecture for students of the Oyo State College of Science and Health Technology, Ibadan, among others.

While commending the officers and men of the Lagos, FCT, Kaduna, Jigawa, Kogi, Sokoto and Edo Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) also applauded their compatriots in all the commands across the country for intensifying the WADA sensitization lectures and advocacy messages to every part of their areas of responsibility.

Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters Abuja
Sunday 24th September 2023

Dr. Olayemi Cardoso Assumes Duty As Acting CBN Governor

Dr. Olayemi Michael Cardoso, recently nominated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has on Friday, September 22, 2023, formally assumed duty, in an acting capacity, as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), pending his confirmation by the Senate.

This follows the resignation of Mr. Godwin Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Similarly, the Deputy-Governors-Designate have also assumed duty, in acting capacities, sequel to the formal resignation of Mr. Folashodun Shonubi, Mrs. Aisha Ahmad, Mr. Edward, Lametek Adamu, and Dr. Kingsley Obiora as Deputy Governors of the CBN.

Dr. Cardoso and his colleaques subscribed to the relevant oaths of office at a brief ceremony held at the Bank's Head Office in Abuja on Friday, September 2023, and have since settled down in the task of administering monetary and financial sector policies of the Federal Government.

An Economic and Development Policy Advisor, Financial Sector Leader, former Chairman, Citi Nigeria and Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos, Cardoso brings over three decades of managerial experience on board.

He is an alumnus of Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom, where he studied managerial and administrative studies. He also holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, United States of America.

It will be recalled that Dr. Cardoso and his colleagues were appointed to their respective positions at the Bank on September 15, 2023, subject to their confirmation by the Senate.

Isa Abdulmumin PhD
Director, Corporate Communications
September 22, 2023