The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has so far disbursed N864 billion to 4.1 million farmers to cultivate 5.02 million hectares of land under its Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) since inception in 2015. The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele made the revelation while presenting the communiqué from the recently held Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the apex bank in Abuja. Emefiele said that, between September and October alone the apex bank, under the ABP disbursed N43.19 billion to support the cultivation of over 250,000 hectares of maize, sorghum, soya beans and rice in the 2021 dry season.…
Author: Newsdesk
The UNICEF on Wednesday, applauded Sokoto government for signing the Sokoto State Child Protection Bill into law, saying it is a “major step forward for children’s rights in Nigeria.” The state governor, Aminu Tambuwal signed the bill into law on Monday, 18 years after the federal government of Nigeria enacted the Child Rights Act 2003 and urged state governments to domesticate the Act. According to a statement by UNICEF on Tuesday, 28 states, including Sokoto, have so far domesticated the Act into law, with nine remaining. The states that have yet to domesticate the Act are Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe,…
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday, presented two more witnesses at the ongoing trial of Emmanuella Eteta Ita, Head of Stakeholders Unit of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, and Surestart School Limited before Justice F. Giwa Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court, Abuja. The fourth prosecuting witness, Ijeoma Matilda, an operative of the EFCC, while being led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, told the court that sometime in November 2015, the Commission received an intelligence report alleging that the former Coordinating Director of the FIRS, Peter Hena conspired with the first defendant using staff…
The epoch, July to October 2021 was like a harvest season of death. The rate and places of occurrence, gender, age, and class differences of the affected people became very alarming. From known to an unknown number, reported to unreported, those killed by treatable diseases to untreatable, accidental deaths to cold-blooded murders. The statistics kept growing until the story of death became part of our daily news. Sadly, we are yet to get out of this ugly trend. Death is a perfect punctual event that neither adds or subtracts a fraction of a second nor fails to take place. Death…
MTN Nigeria Commnications Plc (MTNN) has obtained the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the offer for sale of up to 575 million ordinary shares in MTNN held by the MTN Group This is contained in a notice signed by the MTNN Company Secretary, Uto Ukpanah, posted on the website of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Ltd. on Tuesday in Lagos. As previously communicated, the offer will be by way of bookbuild to institutional investors (institutional offer), and subsequently, a fixed price to retail investors (retail offer). “The institutional offer opens today at 12.00 noon, November 23, and…
The Benue House of Assembly on Tuesday approved a request made by Governor Samuel Ortom to borrow N18.225 billion from the federal government. Ortom asked for approval to take the loan to cushion the effect of repayment of bailout funds collected in 2015 and 2016. He told the House in a letter read by the Speaker, Titus Uba, that the federal government had offered a bridging finance facility window for state governments to access such loans. He told the House also that the federal government provided funding windows (bailout) at the inception of his first term in 2015. The bailout,…
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday voted to hold the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 11.5 per cent for the umpteenth time. Reading a communiqué after the committee’s 282nd meeting on Tuesday, Mr Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor, said the MPC also unanimously agreed to hold all other monetary policy parameters constant. The Asymmetric Corridor was thus retained at +100 and -700 basis points around the MPR, the Cash Reserved Ratio (CRR) at 27.5 per cent and the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent. Emefiele said the parameters were retained to sustain…
The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), has alleged that the recent calls and visit to President Muhammadu Buhari by Igbo leaders for the release of leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu is a sign that they have, all along, supported his actions. This is contained in a statement by its spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman made available to ASHENEWS on Monday. According to the CNG, “The composition of the Igbo elders’ group has vindicated the position we have espoused since, 2017 that the diabolical scheme planned and exhibited in the criminal actions of Kanu and IPOB, is…
The Federal University of Technology Akure, FUTA, is set to award 160 students with first class degrees during the 23nd convocation ceremony, which will also coincide with the 40th anniversary of the institution. At a Press Conference to kick start the event on Friday, November 19, 2021, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Joseph Fuwape, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Development and Chairman, Ceremonials Committee, Professor Philip Oguntunde said the 160 represents 5% of the 3,205 graduands for the 2019/2020 academic session. According to him, 1,334 (41.6%) graduated in second class upper division; 1,483 (46.3%) in second class lower division; 222…
Cititrust Holdings Plc has bagged the African Financial Brand of the Year award at the prestigious BusinessDay’s Bank and other Financial Institutions Awards (BAFI). The Group Chief Executive of Cititrust, Mr Yemi Adefisan, disclosed this in a statement made available on Sunday in Lagos. Adefisan, while receiving the award on behalf of the company, expressed his delight at the recognition from BusinessDay. “This award marks another milestone for Cititrust Holdings and is a testament of the resilience and diligent execution of the firm’s strategic initiatives on customer service. “Being recognised as African Financial Brand of the Year complements our commitment…