Author: Olu Anisere

Senate Passes 2024 Appropriation Act Amendment Bill of N6.2trn The Senate on Tuesday at plenary, passed the 2024 Appropriation Act Amendment Bill of N6.2 trillion, presented for consideration by President Bola Tinubu on July 17. This, followed presentation and adoption of report of Committee on Appropriations on the bill by its Chairman Sen.Solomon Olamilekan (APC-Ogun). Olamilekan in his presentation said out of the N6.2 trillion,N3.2 trillion was for capital expenditure, while N3 trillion was for recurrent expenditure. He said the 2024 appropriation act amendment bill sought to make available, additional funds for the renewed hope Infrastructure development projects, to be…

Food Prices Rise in June- NBS The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says prices of beans, tomatoes, irish potatoes, garri, yam and other food items witnessed significant price increases in June 2024. The NBS said this in its Selected Food Prices Watch report for June 2024 released in Abuja on Tuesday. The report said that the average price of 1kg of brown beans increased by 252.13 per cent from N651.12 recorded in June 2023 to N N2,292.76 in June 2024. “On a month-on-month basis, 1kg of brown beans increased by 14.11 per cent in June from the N2,009.23 recorded in…

$200m Fine on Meta, WhatsApp, Based on Discriminatory Practices — FCCPC The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says the $200 million fine against Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp LLC was based on discriminatory practices and sanctionable offences committed. The acting Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr Adamu Abdullahi, said in a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, that the penalty was slammed on the companies after three years of intensive investigations. Abdullahi said the companies were found culpable of denying Nigerian data subjects the right to self determination, unauthorised transfer and sharing of personal data which was…

Senate Passes 2024 National Minimum Wage Amendment Bill The Senate on Tuesday at plenary, passed the 2024 National Minimum Wage Amendment Act Bill. This, followed presentation and adoption of a report on the bill,by leader of the Senate Sen.Opeyemi Bamidele (APC-Ekiti). The News Agency reports that the bill which was transmitted to Senate by President Bola Tinubu on July 23, was given accelerated consideration, resulting into its first and second reading in line with Senate rule 80. Opeyemi in his lead debate on the general principles of the bill said the bill sought to amend the national minimum wage act,…

Tinubu Seeks Senate Approval for National Minimum Wage Amendment Bill President Bola Tinubu has urged the Senate to approve the national minimum wage Act amendment bill 2024. Tinubu’s request is contained in a letter addressed to President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and read at plenary on Tuesday. According to Tinubu , the bill is to prescribe the national minimum wage and also provide for legal framework for review of the national minimum wage and for other purposes. “While appreciating the senate’s expeditious consideration of this bill, please accept distinguish senate President and distinguished senators the highest consideration,” Tinubu said.…

Money Market Rates Crash as FAAC Credit Boosts Liquidity Pressure in the money market eased as inflows boosted the total balance in the financial system. Short-term benchmark interest rates declined as the financial system remained strong after the Federal Account Allocation Committee credit. Banks borrow from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) due to improved liquidity levels in the money market, driven by inflows from FAAC and FGN bond coupons. Data from the FMDQ platform showed that the open repo rate declined by 605 bps to 25.34%, while the overnight rate decreased by 621 bps to 25.81%. The Nigerian Interbank…

WTO: African Group Votes Okonjo-Iweala for 2nd term The African Group at the World Trade organisation (WTO) presented a proposal at its General Council (GC) to re-elect Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as director-general of the organisation. Adebayo Thomas, the Director, Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, said this in a statement in Abuja. According to him, the proposal is for members to consider Okonjo-Iweala to run for another term as chief executive officer of the organisation. He said ithe proposal was to also enable the Chair, of the General Council (GC) to commence the process of the appointment…

Messi out of MLS All-Stars Game Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi will not play in this week’s MLS All-Stars Game, Major League Soccer (MLS) said on Monday. This has come eight days after the Argentine superstar left the Copa America final match with an ankle injury. Messi was listed among unavailable players for Wednesday’s match in Columbus, Ohio, pitting MLS All Stars from 18 league clubs against top talent from Mexico’s LIGA MX. The game would have been the 37-year-old’s MLS All-Stars Game debut after he joined Inter Miami in July 2023 following a storied career in Europe. The eight-time Ballon…

Convicted Rapist Competing for Netherlands Barred From Speaking With Media The Dutch Olympic Committee is taking measures to mitigate the impact of including a convicted rapist on their squad, its chef de mission said on Sunday. Steven van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain in 2016 following the rape of a 12-year-old girl two years earlier when he was 19. After serving part of his sentence there, he was transferred to the Netherlands and his sentence was adjusted to the norms of Dutch law. Van de Velde has been competing in beach volleyball again since…

NGX Delists Niger Insurance, 2 Others, as Investors Gain N488bn The Nigerian Exchange Ltd.(NGX) has delisted the shares of Niger Insurance Plc, Resort Savings and Loans Plc and RAK Unity Petroleum Plc from its facilities, effective July 18. NGX, in its weekly report, said that the three companies were delisted on the grounds that they were operating below the listing standards of the Exchange. The Exchange noted that the securities of the affected companies were also no longer considered suitable for continued listing and trading in the market. It said: “Trading license holders and the investing public are hereby notified…