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Friday, 05 April 2024 04:57

What to know about the new students loan law

PRESS RELEASE President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, 3 April 2024, signed into law the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2024. The Act seeks to guarantee sustainable higher education and functional skill development for all Nigerian students and youths. WHY THE PREVIOUS ACT WAS AMENDED The repealed Student Loan Act, 2023, had some challenges bordering on governance and management, purpose of the loans, eligibility criteria for applicants, method of application, repayment provisions, and recovery of the loans. THE AMENDMENTS UNDER THE NEW ACT Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Act, 2024 sufficiently resolved…

Thursday, 04 April 2024 04:51

Labour, manufacturers fume as FG triples electricity tariff

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), manufacturers and energy experts have flayed the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC) decision to hike electricity tariff for Band A customers from the current N66 per kilowatt hour to N225, representing a 240 per cent increase. They described the move as insensitive, discriminatory and predatory. Band A consumers are those who have electricity supply for upward of 20 hours daily. NERC had in 2020 introduced Service-Based Tariff (SBT) to improve service delivery to end-user customers and ensure that electricity tariffs paid by end-user customers are a reflection of the services delivered by the Distribution Companies based…

Thursday, 04 April 2024 04:44

Tinubu signs re-enacted student loan bill into law

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday signed the student loans re-enactment bill into law. The signing of the bill by the president came after the announcement of a temporary suspension of the commencement of the student loan scheme. The law will allow Nigerian students in tertiary institutions to access low-interest loans for tuition and other academic needs. Signing the bill at the State House, Abuja, the president said no one would be excluded from quality education and opportunity to build their future regardless of their background. The executive bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to repeal the Students Loans…

Wednesday, 03 April 2024 04:52

Electricity tariffs to go up as FG increases prices of natural gas

The federal government is planning an almost 300% increase in electricity tariffs in the coming weeks in a bid to attract investment into the sector according to reports from Bloomberg. According to the reports, unofficial sources state that electricity firms may hike tariffs for those in urban areas to N200 per kWh, up from N68. Those in urban centres represent just 15% of the population but reportedly consume around 40% of the nation’s power the anonymous source said. Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga told Bloomberg that NERC would announce a price increase soon and…

Wednesday, 03 April 2024 04:50

FIRS apologises for ‘Jesus paid your debts, not your taxes’ flier

Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has stated that it would never denigrate Jesus Christ as it apologized to Christians for posting on its social media platforms a flier bearing the headline, “Jesus paid your debts, not your taxes.” A statement signed by Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser, Media to the FIRS chairman, Zacch Adedeji conveyed the Service’s “unreserved apologies for this misinterpretation.” The FIRS spokesperson’s statement reads in full: “Our attention has been drawn to a statement by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) about a flier posted on our social media platforms with the headline ‘Jesus paid your debts, not…

Wednesday, 03 April 2024 04:49

Hardship: Residents loot truck carrying Tinubu-branded food items in Ondo

A truck conveying food items was looted by some residents of Ondo state amid the current hardship ravaging the country. The driver of the truck was overpowered after his vehicle developed a mechanical fault at the popular cultural centre junction on Ondo express road. Remnants of the food items were observed on the roadside when our reporter visited the scene. The fully loaded truck was said to be conveying food items, particularly grains in some cartoons branded in President Bola Tinubu’s name. Several witnesses who confirmed the development to our reporter revealed that those who attacked the truck and also…

Tuesday, 02 April 2024 04:51

Hardship: Kebbi residents break into govt, private warehouses, loot food items

Some residents of Kebbi State attacked a government warehouse at Bayan Kara area of Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, on Saturday night and carted away food items. The residents, who defied security operatives stationed at the warehouse, also broke into some private warehouses and shops in the area and stole food items. They also looted a broken-down truck loaded with assorted grains meant for distribution in Birnin Kebbi. Attacks on warehouses had occurred at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and Suleja in Niger State. This is amidst the cost of living crisis largely believed to have been caused by the…

Monday, 01 April 2024 04:49

FG’s borrowing via Treasury Bills rises to N2.6trn - CBN

Investors demand for treasury bills has reached a record high as the total subscriptions have risen to N2.62 trillion, with particular interest observed in the longer-dated bills, accounting for N2.48 trillion. According to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s website, instruments worth N161.33 billion, comprising N17.61 billion of the 91-day, N1.56 billion of the 182-day, and N142.16 billion of the 364-day bills were offered by the apex bank during the primary auction at the Nigerian Treasury bills secondary market. The bullish sentiments persisted in the Nigerian Treasury bills secondary market, as the average yield across all instruments…

Sunday, 31 March 2024 04:53

CBN removes limits on transactions in intra-Africa payment and settlement system

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has removed the limits and restrictions on transactions on the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS). This is contained in a circular dated March 12, signed by Hassan Mahmud, CBN’s director of trade and exchange department. PAPSS is a cross-border financial market infrastructure enabling payment transactions across Africa, bridging trade challenges in a continent with over 41 known currencies. In June 2023, PAPSS signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with five African multinational commercial banking groups such as UBA and Access Bank for seamless cross-border trade payments. One month later, the apex bank pegged the…

Sunday, 31 March 2024 04:52

NIMC restates fees for correcting NIN biodata on mobile app

National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced fees that Nigerians are required to pay to modify the data on their National Identification Number (NIN). NIMC last weekend disclosed that corrections can be made to name, date of birth, and phone numbers incorrectly registered with their NIN on a newly launched mobile application. The application and online portal allows visitors to register to use the service. Thereafter, it requests for visitors’ NIN, last name, and email address before launching the data modification channel. NIMC did not initially announce a fee for the modification of data until seven days later amid complaints…

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Saturday, 30 March 2024 04:45

FG shells out N90bn to subsidize 2024 Hajj fares, asks media not to report it

The federal government has released N90 billion to subsidise the 2024 pilgrimage to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. An impeccable source within the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) revealed this to Daily Trust on Thursday. The source, who asked not to be named, noted that without this intervention, each of the intending pilgrims would have been requested to add at least N3.5 million to the initial fare which was pegged at N4.9 million. A top official at the Presidency also confirmed that the federal government “actually provided some financial support for the hajj exercise”. Recall that the NAHCON had,…

Friday, 29 March 2024 04:48

Top military chiefs abducted, detained senior journalist for 14 days. Here’s the heart wrenching account of what the editor went through

FirstNews editor Segun Olatunji, who regained his freedom on Thursday after 14 days in military detention, has recounted his ordeals in the hands of his abductors. Olatunji was abducted from his Lagos home on 15 March by the military, taken to Abuja and held incommunicado until his release. While in detention, the journalists’ unions and his organisation relentlessly demanded his freedom. His colleagues at FirstNews also went spiritual in the quest to get him released. Shortly after his release, Olatunji gave a vivid account of his ordeals at a joint presser organised by the International Press Institute (IPI), the Nigerian…

Friday, 29 March 2024 04:46

Nationwide blackout as power grid collapses yet again

Nigeria was thrown into darkness on Thursday following the collapse of the electricity grid controlled from Osogbo, Osun State, around 4:32 p.m. A source in one of the distribution companies (DisCo) said the feeders for most DisCos nationwide were out of supply. The development, the source added, has left virtually all franchise areas for DisCos across the 36 states in darkness. According to the source, as of 4p.m, the grid output was 2984 megawatts. But by 5 p.m., the 21 plants on the grid had zero output. In February, a grid collapse also left the nation in darkness. A last…

Friday, 29 March 2024 04:46

Detained Binance executives sue National Security Adviser, EFCC

Two executives from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, have sued Nigeria's national security adviser's office and the anti-graft agency for violating their fundamental rights and asked the court to set them free. Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and Binance's head of financial crime compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan who is Binance's regional manager for Africa, flew to Nigeria following the country's decision to ban several cryptocurrency trading websites and were detained on arrival on Feb. 26. Anjarwalla fled the country last week and now faces the prospect of an international arrest warrant. On Thursday, Gambaryan appeared in a…

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