Tag: Nigeria

A roadside banner branded a woman a “homewrecker” and even included personal information about the woman.

 

The woman, named only as “Emma” had two pictures of her face plastered on the sign, alongside the warning, “Watch your husbands”.

 

The other information about Emma they gave was that she worked in a supermarket, Morrisons. 

 

A photo of the banner circulated on X (formerly Twitter) this week. It quickly went viral, racking up views. 

 

Most people joked about the situation.

 

Someone asked: “Does she work on the meat counter?” 

 

Another said: “More reasons to shop at Morrisons!”

 

Another person also said: “I’ve been to 67 different Morrisons since Sunday and can’t find her despite wearing my best Old Spice after shave.” 

 

Some other people were impressed by the quality of the sign, as one X user wrote: “I wonder if they hired a graphic designer or did it themselves.” 

The hearing of the bail application of Binance Holdings Limited and one of its Executives, Tigran Gambaryan, before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja was on Thursday stalled.

 

This followed a fresh application filed by the counsel for the second defendant, Mark Mordi (SAN), a statement the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, said on Wednesday.

 

The defence’s application, a further affidavit in response to the opposition of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the initial bail application filed before the court, could not be heard because the EFCC’s counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, prayed for an adjournment to properly respond to it.

 

“My Lord, this is a criminal trial, we need to do the needful. It will be unfair for me to be shut down on the issue of fair trial.

 

“It’s not even convenient on my own part to seek for this adjournment, but the needful needs to be done, my Lord. That is why we are applying for a short adjournment for Monday or Tuesday to reconvene, and to file our further counter affidavit,” he said.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Mordi didn’t oppose the prosecution’s prayer for adjournment but said the prosecution was claiming they had intelligence that the defendant was a flight risk and might run away.

 

“My Lord, it is a fact we didn’t know, that they had an intelligence that the defendant may run away because he has dual nationality. He knew it, he didn’t say it, and all we are doing is to respond to what he will say here in the court.

 

“He can say that now and we can continue. We can give him two hours to do so because the liberty of my client is at stake,” he said.

 

Justice Nwite, after listening to the counsels, adjourned the matter till April 22, 2024, for the hearing of the bail application.

 

Tigran Gambaryan is facing trial by the EFCC over alleged $34,400,000 (Thirty-Four Million, Four Hundred Thousand United States Dollars), money laundering charges.

 

He was arraigned alongside Binance Holdings Ltd and Nadeem Anjarwalla, (who is currently at large) on five counts bordering on alleged tax evasion, currency speculation and money laundering.

The Lagos State Government Environmental Sanitation has arrested 26 suspected miscreants, including a Lebanese national, for squatting under pedestrian bridges.

 

The  state Commissioner of Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, who disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, April 18, 2024, said the 26 miscreants were arrested by officials under the bridge at Law School, Victoria Island, Ozumba Mbadiwe and under the bridge around Muri Okunola. 

 

Wahab further disclosed that 82 individuals were apprehended at Onipanu, Ladipo, Ile Epo, and Oshodi for not using the pedestrian bridge. 

 

He added that 29 street traders were also arrested at Ikorodu Road, Ojuelegba, Yaba, Oyingbo, Victoria Island and Lekki. 

“Today, 26 miscreants (including a Lebanese) were arrested from under the bridge at Law School, Victoria Island, Ozumba Mbadiwe and under the bridge at Muri Okunola. 82 individuals were apprehended at Onipanu, Ladipo, Ile Epo, and Oshodi for not using the pedestrian bridge. 29 street traders were also arrested at Ikorodu Road, Ojuelegba, Yaba, Oyingbo, Victoria Island and Lekki. They have all been charged to court for prosecution,” the statement read.  

 

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Olayemi Cardoso says the naira’s recent sharp rise is a positive verdict on policy action to curb inflation, not because the authorities have been intervening in its support.

A Bloomberg report this week said Nigeria was burning through its foreign exchange reserves at a rate not seen in four years, raising concerns that the central bank was depleting its dollar holdings to support the naira after pledging it would allow the currency to float more freely.

Liquid reserves declined 5.6% since March 18, when the naira started its rebound from record-low levels against the dollar, to $31.7 billion as of April 12, according to Bloomberg’s calculations based on the latest available data from the CBN.

That’s the biggest decline in a similar period since April 2020, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“It is not our intention to defend the naira,” Cardoso said on Wednesday during an event at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington. “The shifts you’ve seen in our reserves have really little or nothing to do with defending any naira and that’s certainly not our objective.”

He said the shift in the reserve is what is found in “any country’s reserves situation, where for example, debts are due and certain payments need to be made, and they are made because that is also part of keeping your credibility intact.”

 

Cardoso, who took the job in September 2023 after a long career as a private sector banker, played down the shift in reserves and said that about $600 million had flowed into the account in the last two days.

 

“We are looking toward ensuring that we have a market that operates on its own: Willing buyer. Willing seller. Price discovery,” he said. “Ultimately, I perceive a future where the central bank will really not need to intervene except in very, very unusual circumstances. What is important to us is that there’s sufficient liquidity in the market.”

 

The currency of Africa’s largest oil producer has recovered most of its losses since a 43% devaluation in January. The move follows 600 basis points of monetary tightening in February and March and a raft of other steps by the central bank to improve local dollar liquidity and clear a $7 billion backlog of foreign currency orders.

 

Rather, Cardoso said the rise in the currency was a sign that the central bank had convinced investors that it was willing to do whatever was necessary to stabilize inflation.

 

The turnaround in the naira’s fortunes has been a roller-coaster. After years of being pegged at an artificially strong level against the dollar, foreign exchange reforms in June began a decline that at one point had wiped more than 70% from its value against the greenback before it began to rally in mid-March.

 

“When I started, we had a situation where within a month or two we were regarded as having the worst performing currency of any country,” he said. 

 

“Six months later we are judged to have the best performing currency of any country. I think those things speak for themselves.”