Author: Staff Editor
The foreign exchange (FX) market witnessed increased demand during Thursday’s trading session, driven by risk-off sentiment among Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs). The heightened demand tilted the market toward the bid side, exerting upward pressure on rates. As a result, benchmark rates weakened across the board, shedding ₦3.24 to settle at ₦1,341.35/$. The official window recorded increased dollar demand during the session, largely attributed to risk-off sentiment among FPIs. The stronger demand tilted the market toward the bid side, exerting additional pressure on the naira across official benchmarks. Throughout the session, intraday trades fluctuated between a high of ₦1,350.00 and a…
The Senate on Tuesday confronted the President’s economic team over the poor implementation of the 2025 budget and what it described as unrealistic assumptions underpinning the proposed ₦58.7 trillion 2026 budget, raising the possibility of reducing the estimate. During a tense budget defence session before the Senate Committee on Appropriations, several lawmakers expressed concern over widespread complaints from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) regarding the non-funding of the 2025 budget. Some senators described the exercise as one of the worst budget defence sessions in recent times, citing unpaid contractors, a controversial centralised payment system, inadequate capital releases, and a rising…
Ahead of the Saturday, February 21 Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has declared Friday a work-free day and announced a restriction of movement from 8 p.m. on Friday to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Wike made the announcement in a special broadcast on national television and radio stations on Thursday, urging residents of the FCT to come out en masse to vote for candidates of their choice. This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister, Lere Olayinka. In the…
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has confirmed that Nasir El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna State, is currently in its custody as part of an ongoing investigation. In a statement issued just before midnight on Wednesday, J. Okor Odey, Head of Media and Public Communications and spokesperson for the ICPC, said: “The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) writes to state that Malam Nasir El-Rufai, the former Governor of Kaduna State, is in our custody in connection with ongoing investigations.” The commission did not provide additional details regarding the nature of the probe…