The Federal Government should simplify taxes and reduce fees involved in laying fibre optic cables to encourage development of infrastructure for the technology industry, Google’s Manager in Nigeria, Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor, has said. Ehimuan-Chiazor told Reuters, that boosting the technology industry will help diversify Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy, which is now in its second year of a recession caused mainly by low …

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its partners in a new scheme are targeting a 285 per cent boost in domestic gas supply from 1.3 billion standard cubic feet per day (scf/d) to 5bn scf/d by 2020. The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Kacalla Baru, said this Tuesday at the 7 Critical Gas Development Projects (7CGDP) stakeholders’ …

Shareholders at the  48th Annual General Meeting  of Union Bank Plc plans to  launch a rights issue in the second quarter of 2017 to raise up to Fifty Billion Naira (N50 billion) in Tier 1 capital as it looks to accelerate business growth and position as a leading commercial bank in Nigeria. The additional funding will also allow the bank …

A former central bank governor, Professor Charles Soludo, has called for the complete elimination of the “41 restricted item” by the CBN if it hopes to archive a unified exchange rate regime. Soludo made the call at the Recap Conference in Lagos, while speaking on the theme ‘Nigeria’s Current FX and Interest Rate policies: Thought and Suggestions’. He said: “Eliminate …

Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, yesterday, disclosed that it has set aside N5 billion as seed capital for the take off of the proposed Nigerian Capital Market Development Fund, NCMDF. The Commission also warned that it would henceforth prosecute investors using false identity for share subscription. The apex capital market authority also indicated that its shares dematerialization programme has run …

Dayo Emmanuel Former Attorney General of Lagos State and ex-Chair of the state’s Independent Electoral Commission, Justice Ayotunde Phillip, has been appointed into the newly-constituted FIFA Ethics Committee. The appointment took place at the Congress of the world football governing body taking place in Manama, Bahrain. Phillip, 68 was the fourth female Chief Judge of Lagos State. She studied Law …

Dayo Emmanuel Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Monday Igbuya has been impeached Thursday morning. The impeachment took place when 22 of 29 members of the state House of Assembly signed the impeachment notice. Hon Sherriff Oborevwori has been elected as the new speaker of the House. Hon. Igbuya was accused of incompetence and high handedness …

Tayo Olanipekun   The integrated rice value chain approach of Stallion Popular Farms and Mills Limited has fetched the organisation the Feed Nigeria Summit “Agro Processor of the Year Award” at Nigeria Agriculture Awards in Lagos, recently. The award was its second, following the IBCA “Outstanding Projects and Business Leaders of the Year Award,” earlier bestowed on the company. According …

The Kano State House of Assembly has set up an eight-man committee to investigate the allegations levelled against the Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammad Sanusi II, bordering on his purported misconduct and alleged misappropriation of funds belonging to the Kano Emirate Council. The Speaker of the state assembly, Kabiru Alhassan Rurum, who presided over plenary on Wednesday, constituted the panel …

  A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Charles Soludo, says the apex bank’s official exchange rate of N306 to the dollar has become redundant, describing it as an instrument for rent seekers and arbitrary allocation of scarce foreign exchange in the country. As a result, he said the CBN must achieve a unified market-determined exchange rate …