Category Nigeria News

The Federal Government says Nigeria’s economy is in good shape despite the tensions rocking the Middle East occasioned by the Iran-US/Israel war.

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance of Wale Edun, said this during an exclusive interview aired on Wednesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.

“We are on our way out of the woods. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel as long as we stay the course,” Edun said.

“The global shocks are a factor. It is the resilience against global shocks that you can keep going when things change drastically at the international level,” he stated.

“That resilience is what we are trying to build in the economy, and that is what we have built so far. Of all the things that have happened till date, Ukraine has continued beyond what people expected, and of course, we have this new flare-up in the Middle East.

“Through all these global events and shocks, the Nigerian economy has managed to stay on course, with exchange rates stable, reserves building up, and growth accelerating. It is that trajectory we are now concerned with protecting.”

During the interview, Edun also spoke about the hike in the cost of fuel and attributed it to market realities.

“The market price for petroleum products is what has been instilled by Mr. President—a mechanism that was missing for so long. It is important to understand that this is not a one-way street,” the minister.

“We have seen Dangote [Refinery] reduce prices from around 1,200 Naira to just over 1,000 or 1,050 Naira; those are the natural dynamics of the market.”

He said, “the resilience that the Nigerian economy has is coming largely from the fact that we do have that investment by the private sector, by Alhaji Aliko Dangote, in refining, and we need to support our refiners just as others are supporting them to keep petroleum products flowing.

There is “practically nothing left to target” and the war will end “soon,” Trump was quoted as saying in an interview with news outlet Axios. “Any time I want it to end, it will end.”Trump has given repeated mixed messages about the timing and aims of the war that began on February 28 but has increasingly hinted at ending it soon as global oil prices spike.Accusations that the White House launched the war without preparing for consequences, including Iranian disruption of oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, are putting the 79-year-old Republican under political pressure.

Iran fired on two commercial ships in the Gulf on Wednesday, setting at least one vessel on fire.

Speaking to reporters as he left the White House for a trip focused on the US economy, Trump insisted that “you’re going to see great safety, and it’s going to be very, very quickly” in the strait.

READ ALSO: Iran Rules Out Ceasefire As Trump Steps Up Threats

Trump said US forces “took out” most of Iran’s mine-laying ships in “one night”, though adding that he did not believe Tehran had placed any of the devices in the waterway yet.

The US leader also doubled down on his claims that Iran was near defeat, saying Iran’s navy, air force, air defenses and leaders were “gone”.

But he added that “we’re not finished yet.”

Trump’s administration has previously also said that ensuring Iran cannot develop and nuclear weapon and eliminating Tehran’s ballistic missile program are also among its war goals.

It has not explicitly said that regime change is among them, despite the killing of Iranian leader Ali Khamenei. Trump would not comment Wednesday when asked if he would declare victory while new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the late leader’s son, was still in power.

Before Trump spoke, the US military warned Iranians that it considers civilian ports in the Strait of Hormuz to be legitimate targets, alleging the Tehran government was using the facilities for military operations.

The “Iranian regime is using civilian ports along the Strait of Hormuz to conduct military operations that threaten international shipping,” the US military’s Central Command said in a statement.

The United States has already been accused of hitting an Iranian elementary school in the first hours of the war.

The New York Times reported that a US military investigation had found an American Tomahawk missile struck the school because of a targeting mistake.

Asked by reporters about the Times report on Wednesday, Trump said: “I don’t know about it.”

Speculation is mounting that Trump may seek a quick exit in an attempt to save his party from further damage ahead of November midterm elections for control of Congress.

However, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that “this operation will continue without any time limit, as long as necessary, until we achieve all the objectives.”

And Iran says it is ready to fight back.

Just Wednesday, the Revolutionary Guards said they had struck a Liberia-flagged vessel and a Thai bulk carrier in the Hormuz maritime chokepoint.

Amid the hike in the cost of fuel, the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, says the current prices reflect market realities and believes Nigerians should be thankful that the country can refine petroleum products. 

With the Middle East crisis stretching into weeks, the cost of petroleum products has spiked in recent days, leading to a rise in transportation costs.

But Edun said the development is an interplay of the market forces.

READ ALSO: FG Monitoring Middle East Tensions To Protect Nigeria’s Economy — Edun

“It is very important to know that at this time, the resilience that the Nigerian economy has is coming largely from the fact that we do have that investment by the private sector, by Alhaji Aliko Dangote, in refining, and we need to support our refiners just as others are supporting them to keep petroleum products flowing, ” the minister said during an exclusive interview, which was aired on Wednesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today. 

“I think we should be thankful at this time for the capacity we have in Nigeria to refine crude into petrochemicals and petroleum products.”

President Bola Tinubu has nominated a former Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Lamido Yuguda, as deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

He said the nomination is subject to confirmation by the Senate, adding that the appointment was made in line with Section 8(1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.

“The President charges them to discharge their responsibilities with renewed dedication, professionalism, and commitment to Nigeria’s economic stability and growth, in their respective roles,” the statement read.

The President urged the nominee to discharge his duties with professionalism and commitment to Nigeria’s economic stability and growth.

READ ALSO: Tinubu Writes Senate To Confirm Oyedele As Minister, Abe As NUPRC Chairman

Yuguda served as Director-General of the SEC from 2020 to 2024.

Yuguda’s nomination follows the recent appointment of the former CBN Deputy Governor, Bala Bello, as Special Adviser to the President on Political Economy.

The economist is also said to be a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and a charterholder of the CFA Institute.

Yuguda reportedly began his career at the CBN in 1984 as a senior supervisor in the foreign operations department, and later worked as an economist in the Africa department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1997 to 2001 before returning to the CBN.

He retired from the apex bank in 2016 after serving as director of the reserve management department for six years.

The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) has dismissed a complaint filed against the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, on the ground that no prima facie case was established against him.

The LPDC panel held that the allegations bordering on NYSC participation, Nigerian Law School training, and enrolment at the Supreme Court fall entirely outside the LPDC’s jurisdiction as it dismissed the complaint for being fundamentally flawed both procedurally and substantively.

READ ALSO: Science Minister Uche Nnaji Resigns Over Certificate Scandal

The panel noted that the Statement of Facts was erroneously addressed to the Chairman of the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee rather than the Chairman of the LPDC, as required under Rule 4 of the LPDC Rules, 2020. While the panel chose to overlook this error, it could not rescue the complaint on merit.

The LPDC stressed that it is established solely to regulate the professional conduct of enrolled legal practitioners in the discharge of their duties to the public, as provided under Section 10 of the Legal Practitioners Act.

A prosecution witness in the alleged money laundering trial of the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has said that the transactions between January 1, 2016, and April 2023, linked to the Kogi State government in Exhibit AH1, were done before he joined Access Bank Plc.

The witness, Olomotane Egoro, also noted, during the continuation of cross-examination on Wednesday, that he was not the account officer of the account in question.

Egoro, who is the 10th witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the ongoing trial, admitted, when asked, that his bank did not flout any rule of the Central Bank of Nigeria by approving the cheques brought by the third defendant, Abdulsalam Hudu.

On Exhibit AP, the banker noted that the opening package of that particular account (Fazab Business Enterprise) was not before the court.

He said he could not confirm the business for which Fazab Business Enterprise was registered, though he admitted that opening a corporate account required incorporation documents.

The banker added that he would also not know why the various local government areas paid money into Exhibit AP unless stated.

READ ALSO: Yahaya Bello Still Not Linked To Transactions – EFCC Witness

The defendant’s counsel, Zakari Abbas, asked if Access Bank approved all the cheques brought by one Yakubu Abenege; he answered in the positive.

“All the withdrawals were approved by the bank,” the witness responded.

He added that the bank did not breach any of the CBN rules.

The witness’s attention was then drawn to transactions of May 6, 2022, in Exhibit AP, where narrations were stated for the inflows.

He confirmed that the inflow into the account from Okehi Local Government was for the supply of medical items.

After cross-examination, Justice Maryann Anenih adjourned the case till Thursday, March 12, for the continuation of the trial.

The EFCC is prosecuting Bello, who served as governor of Kogi State from January 2016 to January 2024, on 19 counts of money laundering.

The charges allege diversion of ₦80.2 billion from the accounts of the Kogi State government and some local governments while he was in office.