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Zimbabwe’s illegal forex traders resume operation after launch of new currency

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Zimbabwe’s illegal forex traders resume operation after launch of new currency

Zimbabwe’s illegal money changers are back on the streets after a brief hiatus following the launch of a new gold-backed currency in the country. The newly launched gold-backed currency is known as the Zimbabwe Gold (ZIG).

 

According to the East African, the new gold-backed currency is not yet physically available as the new notes and coins are still under production but the money changers are offering the currency electronically.

 

The money changers are offering slightly higher rates than the official exchange rate, which stands at $1 to 13.3437 ZiG according to ZB Financial Holdings,

 

The black market was however offering about 15 ZiG (buy rate) and around 20 ZiG (sell rate) to the US dollar, according to money changers.

 

A money changer conducting his business at the Westgate Shopping Mall northwest of Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, said that he and his colleagues were always on the lookout for the police.

 

“Our selling rate is $1 to 20 or 21 ZiG depending on the amount transacted, and our buying rate is between 15 and 16 ZiG to the U.S. dollar, also depending on the amount transacted. Those disposing of higher amounts get more favorable rates,” he said.

The move to introduce Zimbabwe’s sixth currency since its independence was met with skepticism by the Zimbabwean people while some agreed it was a good move to salvage the inflation-battered Zimbabwean dollars and improve the economy of the country.

 

The ZiG started trading on April 8 at an exchange rate of 13.56 to the US dollar as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) sought to battle the high demand for US dollars as a store of value and instill lost confidence in the country’s new local currency.

 

The new gold-backed Zimbabwean currency was introduced as the Zimbabwe market was swaying into full dollarization as over 80% of transactions were conducted with the US dollar which continues to dominate the inflation-battered Zimbabwean dollars.

 

The Zimbabwean government has long issued warnings that it will deal with illegal money changers as it seeks to protect the new currency.

 

What to know

Zimbabwean economic experts remain optimistic about the success of the new gold-backed currency in the country’s economy. they cited the need to eschew individual interest and think only about using the new currency to fix the country’s economy.

Zimbabwe has changed its currency six times since its independence as it seeks to battle hyperinflation which has seriously depleted the value of its local currencies. The New gold-backed currency attempt is the latest trial.

 

NAFDAC conducts a raid on Sahad stores, H-Medix, and other establishments in Abuja, seizing fake cosmetics and drugs

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NAFDAC conducts a raid on Sahad stores, H-Medix, and other establishments in Abuja, seizing fake cosmetics and drugs

In Abuja on Thursday, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) conducted a raid at Sahad Stores, a well-known supermarket, for the sale of counterfeit products.

 

The authorities conducted simultaneous raids at H-Medix outlets in Wuse 2 and Gwarinpa, 3rd Avenue, along with the Utako market in the FCT. Counterfeit cosmetics were uncovered and confiscated during the operation at H-Medix, while fake medications were seized at the Utako market.

 

Embugushiki-Musa Godiya, the NAFDAC Head of Investigation and Enforcement/Federal Taskforce, FCT, Abuja, mentioned that the enforcement team also conducted operations at Kugbo market in Nyanya and the Mararaba area in Nasarawa State on Tuesday.

 

He informed the press that the team also conducted a raid at Wuse Market on Wednesday, seizing goods valued at millions. Godiya mentioned that the three-day operation was conducted following valuable intelligence gathered by the agency from concerned Nigerians.

 

“We have been able to successfully recover some of the counterfeit products, evacuate them for destruction. Our concern is one of the products, purported to be NIVEA NAFDAC regulated product, but it is not.

 

“The most shocking to me is that such substandard NIVEA cream and other cosmetics are even more expensive than the ones approved by NAFDAC, this is criminal.

 

“The market value of what we have seen so far for drug hawking is N5 million, and for the NIVEA products, other cosmetics and other products including Jik bleach, Harpic toilet cleaner and Airwick room freshner, all counterfeit in large quantity, valued at N45 million.

 

“The total value of all the goods seized during the operation is N50 million”

Bobrisky didn’t commit capital offence, still in Ikoyi prison – Officials

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Bobrisky didn’t commit capital offence, still in Ikoyi prison – Officials

The Nigeria Correctional Service has refuted claims that controversial cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye aka Bobrisky, who was handed a six-month prison sentence over abuse of the naira notes, was moved from the Ikoyi custodial centre to its other facility in Kirikiri, Lagos State.

 

Bobrisky was reported to have been discreetly transferred to Kirikiri Prison last weekend where he was expected to complete his term.

 

An NCoS official however told PUNCH Metro on Thursday that he was still held in the Ikoyi prison.

 

The official who pleaded anonymity as he was not permitted to speak on the matter, said the convict did not commit a capital offence to warrant his transfer to a maximum prison where inmates serving life and death sentences were mostly kept.

 

“Bobrisky has not been moved, he is still here in Ikoyi. He was not sentenced to death and didn’t get a life sentence either. Those people sentenced to death and given life sentences are mostly kept in the maximum prison. That is mostly based on capital punishment. As for Bobrisky, he didn’t commit a capital offence, so why would they take him to Kirikiri,” the source said.

 

Another official who also preferred not to be mentioned as he was not in the official capacity to speak to the press, said that although there were plans to move some inmates across the custodial centres in the state, it was still being proposed.

 

The NCoS official added that the move was for decongestion.

 

“Sometimes, when we discover that the population of inmates is much in a facility, we decide to move them just to decongest. We are only considering that at the moment and not that anyone has been moved. If the prison authorities want to move, they have the right. We also do so if the person has a communicable disease or because the inmate requested it for proximity to the family or an appeal on humanitarian grounds.

 

“The leadership might also say, ‘Let’s spread those who have less than one year sentence’, which may apply to Bobrisky, just to create space for those awaiting trial. But such people rarely go to the maximum prison,” the source disclosed.

 

Calls made to the spokesperson for the Lagos State Command of the NCS, Rotimi Oladokun, went unanswered. A text message sent to him had yet to be responded to as of the time this report was filed.

 

PUNCH Metro reported that the crossdresser shares the same cell with male inmates and was examined at the point of admission while the outcome of the examination revealed that he had no realignment of gender or genital organs.

 

An official source who disclosed this to our correspondent added that the convicted crossdresser had been observing the rules and procedures obtained in the facility.

 

Bobrisky was arrested and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. According to the commission, Bobrisky was invited due to a video report of spraying new naira notes at the premiere of Eniola Ajao’s movie titled, ‘Ajakaju’, which was held at FilmOne Circle Mall, Lekki, Lagos, on March 24, 2024.

 

He was convicted by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Friday, April 5, 2024, after pleading guilty to the charges of naira abuse levelled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

 

The EFCC filed six counts against him, with the first four counts related to naira abuse, and the last two counts concerning alleged money laundering.

 

Before reading the charges, the EFCC prosecutor requested the court to dismiss counts five and six.

 

Bobrisky pleaded guilty to the four counts of naira abuse. Before his conviction, he asked to be pardoned, adding that he was not aware of the laws binding the naira abuse and vowed to educate his fans on social media about it.

X Accounts Involved In Engagement Farming Risk Suspension, Elon Musk Warns

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X Accounts Involved In Engagement Farming Risk Suspension, Elon Musk Warns

The Chief Executive Officer of X, formerly Twitter, Elon Musk, has warned that any account involved in engagement farming on the social media platform will face suspension.

Engagement farming is said to refer to practices done in order to get more interaction metrics on social media without adding any specific value.

 

Musk made this announcement in a tweet on his X handle on Friday.

 

He wrote, “Any accounts doing engagement farming will be suspended and traced to source.”

 

PUNCH Online reported in March that Musk said he may remove visible engagement metrics such as likes and reposts from posts on the X platform.

 

In July 2023, he also set temporary limits on the social media platform to address extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation.

 

Credit: X|elonmusk

Heritage Bank’s Head Office Shut Down Over Sack Of Over 1,000 

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Heritage Bank’s Head Office Shut Down Over Sack Of Over 1,000 

The National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), has shut down Heritage Bank’s head office in Lagos following the sack of over 1000 personnel by the management of lender led by Mr. Akinola George-Taylor without following due process, THE WITNESS reports.

 

The union said it had resolved to continue with the picketing until the management of the bank decides to do the needful by ensuring the sacked workers get their legitimate severance package.

 

The aggrieved ex-staff of the bank have locked the gate and prevented anyone from going in or out of the bank’s head office located at 143 Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos.

 

Recall, THE WITNESS had exclusively reported in October 2023 that in less than one year after assuming office as Heritage Bank’s chief executive officer, Mr. Akinola George-Taylor forcefully booted out over 70 senior staff members of the bank, while a number of others were asked to resign plunging the bank in further crisis. More worrisome was the fact that the affected staff were disengaged without paying them their accrued entitlements and allowances.

 

THE WITNESS had also reported that the internal crisis allegedly instigated by the bank chief was in an attempt to rid the bank of those suspected to be loyalists of some board members, and employ his own people. The move, sources disclosed, were unconnected with the new bank chief’s plan to oust some board members who are said to be at loggerheads with him, from the bank. The bank’s chief was said to be enjoying the support of a top shareholder of the bank whom sources say is allegedly determined to solely take over the bank and get rid of the owners.

 

When contacted by our reporter, Ozenna Utulu, the head of Corporate Communications of Heritage Bank promised to get back to our reporter but never did as at the time of filing this report.

Toe Decency Path, Submit Yourself For Probe, Federal Gov’t Tells Ex-Kogi Gov Bello

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Toe Decency Path, Submit Yourself For Probe, Federal Gov’t Tells Ex-Kogi Gov Bello

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has called on the immediate-past governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, to follow the path of decency and submit himself for probe.

 

Bello is being wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged corrupt practices while in office as governor of Kogi State.

 

LEADERSHIP reports that in the last 24 hours, there have been dramas and hide and seek game between both parties over the move to arrest the former governor for arraignment this Thursday.

 

According to the AGF, in a statement he personally signed on Thursday, EFCC is empowered by law to invite any Nigerian for interrogation.

 

He also described the action of the incumbent governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Ododo, who used his immunity to prevent Bello’s arrest on Wednesday as ‘disquieting’, adding that embarking on a temporising self-help and escapism that can only put Nigeria in bad light before the rest of the world is not the way to go.

 

According to him, he stands for the rule of law and will ensure no right of any Nigerian is trampled upon.

 

The AGF said in the terse statement: “The bizarre drama confronting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the course of its efforts to perform its statutory duty has come to my notice (Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice) as a matter of very grave concern.

 

“It is now beyond doubt that the EFCC is given power by the law to invite any person of interest to interact with them in the course of their investigation into any matter regardless of status. Therefore, the least that we can all do when invited, is not to put any obstruction in the way of EFCC but to honourably answer their invitation.

 

“A situation where public officials who are themselves subject of protection by law enforcement agents will set up a stratagem of obstruction to the civil and commendable efforts of the EFCC to perform its duty is to say the least, insufferably disquieting. A flight

from the law does not resolve issues at stake but only exacerbates it.

Dangote sets up London trading office, hires crude oil manager, per Reuters 

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Dangote sets up London trading office, hires crude oil manager, per Reuters 

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has hired a crude oil manager as he builds a London trading office to manage crude and fuel deals for his new mega refinery near Lagos, three sources familiar with the matter said.

Graham Campbell has been hired as the team’s crude oil manager, the sources said, and is expected to start in the next few months.

 

Campbell, who is at British oil firm Prax, will be joined by a senior refined products trader as well as a senior tanker charterer, and a risk and derivatives trader. The traders will be based in London and report to Radha Mohan who joined Dangote in 2021 from Indian refiner Essar. Campbell also worked at Essar prior to Prax.

 

The world’s biggest oil traders and state-firms have been vying for supply and pre-finance deals but so far, Dangote has not signed any long-term contracts. Instead, he wants to set up his own team.

 

However, he has done small financing deals with Vitol and Trafigura to cover some of of his operational costs. Building the refinery drained him of cash as costs ballooned to $20 billion.

 

The refinery is also procuring several cargoes per month of Nigerian crude from state-owned NNPC that has a stake in the plant and secured U.S. grade WTI cargoes from the spot market.

 

The 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Lekki, Nigeria started operations and its first products were sold in February. The plant has sold cargoes of straight-run fuel oil, diesel and naphtha so far.

 

Gasoline production is expected to start by the middle of this year.

QUEST FOR DIGITAL SOLUTION TO GRID RELIABILITY: TCN DEPLOYS GLDS 

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QUEST FOR DIGITAL SOLUTION TO GRID RELIABILITY: TCN DEPLOYS GLDS 

As TCN continues to make efforts to enhance grid management, its engineers have recently deployed the Generation Dip/Loss Detection System (GLDS) which plays a pivotal role in detecting and responding to sudden drops or dips in power generation across the network. This new innovation stands as a testament to the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s (TCN) commitment to advancing grid management capabilities.

 

Designed to empower the National Control Center (NCC) in Osogbo, GLDS provides grid controllers in NCC with advanced tools for real-time monitoring and analysis of grid performance. Its intuitive interface allows for the setting of parameters, continuous monitoring of power generating stations, and comprehensive reporting functionalities, enabling swift responses to grid disturbances.

GLDS incorporates sophisticated data analytics and machine learning algorithms to analyze real-time data and identify patterns associated with sudden generation loss. By leveraging anomaly detection techniques, GLDS can promptly alert grid controllers on deviations from normal grid behaviour, facilitating proactive intervention to prevent widespread disruptions.

 

Furthermore, TCN ensures seamless communication between GLDS and IoT cloud servers, enabling a more rapid response and coordination of mitigationstrategies. This connectivity underscores TCN’s commitment to enhancing grid resilience and ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of electricity to consumers across Nigeria.

 

Previously, TCN engineers had developed an in-house design that leverages on IoT technology as aninnovative solution in response to the challenge of limited visibility of power generators. The IoT devices, which were strategically deployed across power stations and some substations, facilitate the collection of near real-time data, including power generation levels and gridperformance metrics.

 

The IoT enabled the expansion of visibility of power generating stations from 6 to 27, this has helped TCN significantly improve its ability to monitor grid load and identify potential issues before they escalate.Recently, the IoT device was also used to capture generation from Taopex Gs and Zungeru Hydro Power Station, bringing the total number of power stations visible to the National Grid to 29.

 

GLDS and the IoT represent a significant step forward in bolstering grid stability andreliability. These initiatives not only empower TCN’s grid controllers with the insights needed to proactively address challenges and minimize disruptions but also demonstrate TCN’s dedication to meeting the evolving demands of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).Ndidi Mbah

GM, Public Affairs

17/04/24

Wike emerges victorious as the National PDP Caucus approves Damagum’s stay in office to continue.

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Wike emerges victorious as the National PDP Caucus approves Damagum’s stay in office to continue.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, remains in control during the leadership dispute affecting the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). During a recent meeting of the party’s national caucus, it was decided that the acting National Chairman, Illya Umar Damagum, should stay in his current position, aligning with Wike’s wishes.

 

In order to ensure focus on continuity, today’s NEC meeting will not discuss leadership changes until the upcoming national convention of the party.

 

The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, revealed the decision to promote reconciliation and unity within the party. He explained that the caucus had instructed the party’s leadership to establish a committee focused on discipline and reconciliation to mend relationships among all members.

 

“NEC meeting will not discuss any change in leaders. Rather, attention is focused on unity and reconciliation.

 

“Caucus agreed that all congresses in the states and local government should be concluded between June and August this year.

 

“Caucus agreed on the extension of the constitution review committee of the party to accept new recommendations,” Ologunagba said.

NCos Moves Bobrisky From Ikoyi To Kirkiri Prison

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NCos Moves Bobrisky From Ikoyi To Kirkiri Prison

Fresh facts have emerged that the embattled cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye popularly known as Bobrisky who was sentenced to a six-month jail term for abusing the Naira has been transferred from the Ikoyi Correctional Center to the Kirikiri Prison by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS).

 

This is contrary to reports that Bobrisky is still being held at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre.

 

A very reliable source who is an official of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) told @goldmynetv that the popular cross-dresser is presently held at the Kirikiri Prison and was discreetly transferred since last weekend to Kirikiri.

 

He stated, “It is procedural that he is moved to Kirikiri since it is an expansive prison compared to what we have here.”

 

He added that due to security reasons, Okuneye was quietly moved to the facility where he will serve his term.

 

It would be recalled that Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced the cross-dresser to six months imprisonment.

 

While sentencing the convict on Friday, April 12, 2024, the judge said the verdict would serve as deterrent to others who are fond of abusing and mutilating the naira.

 

Bobrisky is being identified as a male based on his admission at the court last week and according to reports that there is no realignment of gender or genital organs.

 

@goldmynetv source affirmed that the convict has been taken to the male cell with other inmate “and so he will be treated as a normal inmate,” he said.

 

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Tags: BobriskyNigeria Correctional Service (NCoS)

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