Okonjo-Iweala should be included in probe- Oshiomhole insists

Edo state governor Adams Oshiomole yesterday called for the inclusion of Okonjo-Iweala in the ongoing probe on missing $2.1billion arms deal. Oshiomole said this while speaking to state house correspondents after a meeting with President Buhari at the state house yesterday December 9th.

Adesina's appointment shows I had a good team - GEJ

Former President Jonathan says that the recent appointment of former Minister of Agriculture Akinwunmi Adesina as the 8th President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, is an attestation to the fact that he had a very good team during his administration. Jonathan said this in a congratulatory letter he sent to Adesina on his new appointment

"Given your exemplary record of performance, while serving as the Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development in my cabinet, I have no doubt that you will deploy your energy and the bank’s resources to ensure that Africa experiences a new era of accelerated development.

You were not only a critical voice in my economic team, you also walked the talk, and earned the praise of our countrymen and women, by ensuring that Nigeria’s quest for self-sufficiency in food production became an achievable dream. I am particularly pleased with your emergence as the AfDB boss; a development, I believe, has come as a reward for having served your country meritoriously.  It also attests to the fact that my Administration had a good team that managed the affairs of the country.”the letter read

Cost of President Buhari's trip to the US grossly exaggerated - Presidency

Press statement from the presidency...

Our attention has been drawn to an editorial published in the Nigerian Pilot of August 2, 2015 and an earlier report in which the total cost of President Muhammadu Buhari's recent trip to the U.S. was estimated at N2.2 billion. It is very sad that in this age of free-flowing information and in this era of change, a media organisation would make itself available as a vehicle to peddle a lie of such low and ignominious quality. 

Contrary to the newspaper's assertions, the total cost of the trip to the Nigerian taxpayer was at the most minimal, in line with the policy of this administration to cut waste and extravagance. In point of fact, the total amount expended on the trip by the Office of the President amounted to nothing near ten per cent of the speculated figure. 

FG receives $2.1bn credit from World Bank to rebuild North East Nigeria

The Federal government has received a 2.1 billion credit facility from World Bank which will be used to rebuild the troubled North East zone in Nigeria. This was announced in a statement released by the Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, The statement below. 

The World Bank has unfolded a package which would see it spending up to $2.1 billion in rebuilding the badly devastated North-eastern part of Nigeria, ravaged for the past six years by the Boko Haram insurgency.

World Bank approves $200m loan for Lagos reforms

Ms. Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly

The World Bank group has approved $200m credit to Lagos State to support a range of reforms in regards to fiscal sustainability, budget planning, budget execution and the investment climate in the state.

A statement issued by World bank on Wednesday said the facility would help sustain the state’s recent economic growth and poverty reduction, while delivering social services to the expanding population.

The funds from the International Development Association segment of the World Bank Group supports the Third Lagos State Development Policy Operation and is the last of a series of two development policy operations, which aim to improve public finances and investments in a fiscally sustainable manner.

Banks May Deny 14.6 Million Customers Services By Wednesday

Barring any last minute extension by the Bankers’ Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Deposit Money Banks will on Wednesday start to deny about 14.6 million customers from enjoying banking services over their failure to obtain Bank Verification Numbers.

The BVN project, which commenced in February 2014, will officially close on Tuesday, June 30, 2015.

The Bankers’ Committee, which comprises of the CBN, bank CEOs and a few other stakeholders, had given June 30, 2015 as the deadline for the customers to do their biometric registration and obtain their BVNs.

However, as of June 11, 2015, the committee said only 14 million customers had been registered under the BVN project.

Challenge Buhari Over Economic Policies, Falana Tells Nigerians

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has criticized President Muhammadu Buhari for attending the just concluded G7 meeting with a shopping list of Nigeria’s problems. Mr. Falana spoke today at a civil society round table on the state of the nation organized by the Nigerians United for Democracy in Lagos.

The group of seven industrialized nations had urged Mr. Buhari to attend the Munich event with a “wish list” for their consideration and assistance.

“Our president went to the G7 and we are happy. And he went there with a bowl, ‘please do this for us, do this for us,'” said Mr. Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.