Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Connect with us

News

Adesina Wins AfDB Presidency

Published

on

Akinwumi Adesina, AfDB President
Kindly share this post

Akinwumi Adesina yesterday became the eighth President of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) after winning in a tight race.

Cape Verde’s Cristina Duarte, the first woman to seek the post, Chad’s Finance Minister Kordje Bedoumra and Adesina, were the only remaining candidates in the race after shareholders dropped five candidates in quick succession.

The election was part of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast capital.

“I’m honoured and humbled by support I’ve received and the confidence placed in me. Our best days are ahead,” Adesina, 55, tweeted minutes after he was announced the winner.

Mr Adesina and Ms Duarte were considered strong candidates even before the voting began but the endurance of Mr Bedoumra remained an element of surprise in the race.

Thomas Sakala of Zimbabwe who was backed by the South African Development Community bowed out less than 40 minutes after Tunisia’s Jaloul Ayed was eliminated in the afternoon session.

Three candidates – Sufian Ahmed of Ethiopia, Birama Sidibe of Mali and Sumara Kamara of Sierra Leone were eliminated in the morning session.

Mr Ahmed is the candidate who was being supported by East African countries with the exception of Tanzania, a member of SADC which was supporting Zimbabwean Thomas Sakala as a bloc.

Mr Adesina enjoyed the backing of Nigeria and to some extent countries in the ECOWAS sub region – a constituency which Ms Duarte, who was backed by mostly non-African shareholders of the bank – had also courted.

Mr Bedoumra, a former AfDB vice president, is believed to have got the backing of Francophone Africa for which he was the only one remaining in the race.

President Muhammadu Buhari, then president-elect, took over Adesina’s campaign after former president Olusegun Obasanjo enlisted his support.

Buhari sent emissaries including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, to South Africa. Atiku is a known close friend of South African President Jacob Zuma.

Mr Adesina will succeed Dr Kaberuka who steps down from the bank on September 1, after serving two terms.

Dr Kaberuka took the reins of AfDB in 2005 with a commanding mandate of 78 per cent from the shareholders during a special general meeting after a stalemate with a Nigerian candidate during the annual assembly.


Kindly share this post

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

News

FG May Forfeits $4m from World Bank Loan over Audit Flop

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Federal government may lose $4 million from a World Bank loan after failing to get a pass mark on key audit standards in its revenue-generating agencies, such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Customs Service.

FG May Forfeits $4m from World Bank Loan over Audit Flop

This is according to a World Bank restructuring paper dated June 2025.

The amount, which is the equivalent of around N6.2 billion with an exchange rate of N1,568 per dollar, could have helped to address one of Nigeria’s infrastructural deficits.

The fund formed part of the $103 million Fiscal Governance and Institutions Project, a public financial management initiative financed through a credit facility from the International Development Association.

Accordingly, the revenue assurance audit covering the FIRS and Customs for the 2018 to 2021 financial years was assessed as not achieved because the reports submitted did not meet international auditing standards.

“Revenue assurance audit of Main Income Generating Agencies, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigeria Customs Service for FY 2018–2021, with an allocation of $4m.

“These Intermediate Results to be implemented by the Office of Auditor-General of the Federation were assessed as not achieved by the Independent Verification Agent because the reports submitted for verification did not meet the requisite international auditing standards.”

Also, the unsuccessful audit was one of ten performance-based conditions under the project that the government could not deliver before the closing date of June 30, 2025. Consequently, the Federal Ministry of Finance formally requested the cancellation of $10.4 million in project funds.

“The FMF has requested cancellation of $0.9m of unused funds for technical assistance and $9.5m, which is the amount allocated to 10 performance-based conditions, which will not be achieved by the close of the project on June 30, 2025,” the document read.

Further analysis shows that $4.5 million was tied to the uncompleted Revenue Assurance and Billing System, while $1 million was allocated to the development of a National Budget Portal.

According to the document, the Budget Office of the Federation, which was responsible for the portal, did not submit any evidence of achievement. In addition, $0.9 million in technical assistance funding was left uncommitted and has also been cancelled.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

News

CDCFIB Warns against Recruitment Racketeers

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB) has warned job seekers to be wary of fraudsters circulating inappropriate recruitment information.

CDCFIB Warns against Recruitment Racketeers

The warning came against the backdrop of social media publications that President Bola Tinubu has ordered massive recruitments into some government agencies.

The agencies listed in the report were the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS); the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) and the Federal Fire Service (FFS)..

The agencies are all under the Ministry of Interior, headed by Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.

However, while responding to the reports, the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB) cautioned Nigerians against falling into the traps of job racketeers.

The Board acknowledged a Presidential approval for the recruitment of personnel in the four (4) Paramilitary Services under its purview, but insisted that due process would be followed on the matter.

Major Gen. Abdulmalik Jibrin (rtd), board secretary, said in a statement that “there are series of processes which leads to the actual recruitment exercise.”

“The Board wishes to reiterate that for all its recruitment processes, appropriate notifications would be done via adverts in the national dailies and it would be carried out in a fair and transparent process devoid of payment of any fee.

“To this effect, members of the public should be weary of the activities of recruitment racketeers who may want to take advantage of unsuspecting job seekers to rob them of their hard-earned resources”, Gen Jibrin said.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

News

Concerned Nigerians Ask EFCC  to Release Abiodun, CBEX Promoter

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Adefowora Abiodun, one of the alleged promoters of the CBEX investment scheme, who voluntarily surrendered to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in April following a ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, is still languishing in the custody of the anti-corruption agency.

Concerned Nigerians Ask EFCC  to Release Abiodun, CBEX Promoter

Adefowora Abiodun, one of the alleged promoters of the CBEX investment scheme,

Concerned Nigerians who have been following the matter have urged the EFCC to release him unconditionally since he honoured their invitation without being arrested.

The court had approved the EFCC’s request to arrest and detain six individuals connected to the scheme, including Abiodun.

Alongside Abiodun, five other individuals—Adefowora Oluwanisola, Emmanuel Uko, Seyi Oloyede, Avwerosuo Otorudo, and Chukwuebuka Ehirim—were declared wanted by the EFCC for their involvement in the alleged fraudulent investment scheme, which was valued at over $1 billion.

Fadila Yusuf, EFCC’s legal counsel, had submitted evidence that led to their public declaration as wanted individuals.

After the announcement, Abiodun, who was shocked by the declaration, alongside his legal team, presented himself to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, expressing his willingness to cooperate with the investigation.

Babatunde Busari, his legal counsel, explained that Abiodun’s decision to submit voluntarily was made in order to clear his name and address the media narratives circulating about the case.

Despite the return of investor funds and CBEX’s assurance that withdrawals would be allowed by June 25, Abiodun has been in detention for over a month, triggering speculation about the EFCC’s high-handedness and rights abuse.

His legal team is now advocating for his release on administrative bail, emphasizing that the ongoing detention is unwarranted under the circumstances since he submitted himself for investigation.

According to one of the family sources, “Keeping him in a cell for over one month would send a negative signal to other Nigerians who would be declared wanted by the EFCC in the future. It would discourage Nigerians who have clear cases from surrendering themselves voluntarily to security agencies if, at the end of the day, they don’t receive mutual respect for surrendering themselves.”

He added that CBEX is not a Ponzi scheme.

Reacting to the agitation by concerned Nigerians, Dele Oyewole , EFCC spokesman hinted that the agency obtained a remand order to keep him beyond 48 hours.

According to him, “Anybody that we are holding beyond 48 hours, be rest assured that we have a lawful remand order from the magistrate court to hold him beyond 48 hours.

“We are a law-abiding commission. Concerning that suspect, we are holding him on the basis of that remand order.”

 

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending