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Postal Sector Regulation: More Words, Less Action

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One may be tempted to ask the relevance of a pill to a dead horse. Pills are supposed to be corrective measures used to sustain life but which must be used at the right time otherwise the use will become of no effect and consequence if life is totally lost before the application.

The postal and courier sector has left no one in doubt that within the environment where it operates, with a lot of challenges that it needs to be resuscitated. This need has been identified by stakeholders in the postal sector both in the government and in private circle.

It is one demand, Nigerians have been fair enough to voice out what they feel could salvage sector. But what has left most Nigerians confused is why the issue has not been given the urgent attention it requires.

Since the turn of the year, all we have been reading and hearing from stakeholders in the postal industry, whom we look forward to getting authentic information about the position of the postal document, is always vague. Their statements are usually very soon, soon and so on, portraying government’s readiness to appoint an independent commission for the postal sector. From January this year up until now that we have barely 75 days to the end of the year, it is still the same story of independent regulatory body for the postal sector to be made known soon, very soon and plans are underway to appoint an independent regulatory body for the postal sector.

This correspondent has sampled on the matter the opinions of Minister of State for Communications, Dasuki Nakande, senate committee chairman on Information and Communications, Sylvester Anyanwu , Mori Baba, postmaster general of the federation, Dr Simon Emeje, Courier Regulatory Department (CRD) boss, Toyin Olufade, ANCO president and some other stakeholders in the postal/ courier industry and one thing is clear, that all identified the urgent need to salvage the postal industry but they varied in their opinions on the present position of the document or process to appoint an independent regulator for the sector.

For instance, at the recent Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO) summit held in Abuja, Sylvester Anyanwu told journalists that the effort to regulate the postal sector has passed the first reading in the National Assembly and only being waited for the second reading.

At the World Post Day celebration at the Nipost headquarters in Abuja recently Mori Baba also said that very soon, probably before the end of the year that we might have the postal commission in place. He made the same statement at the Nipost staff award which held in Abuja few weeks ago.

Some time in May too, Dasuki Nakande when prompted by this correspondent on the position of the document to regulate the postal sector, he assured that government was going to appoint a commission for the sector soon. His counterpart in the Information and Communications ministry, John Odey has also been quoted severally giving the hope that government was going to address that issue soon.

Since it is clear that an independent regulator is the best thing to happen to the postal and courier sector, one would have expected that the issue would have been given accelerated hearing and action but this never came to be. We should take a cue from the fact that telecommunications was once part of the post but when the telecom sector was liberalized it became the toast of the economy. The same can happen to the postal sector.


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Nigeria Week Ahead: Inflation, Oil and Naira in focus

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By Lukman Otunuga, Senior Market Analyst at FXTM.

A flurry of high-risk events may pump global financial markets with fresh volatility this week.

Top-tier data, including US Inflation, the unofficial start of earnings season, and US Congress Crypto Week,” among other themes, could spell fresh opportunities.

Amidst this, uncertainty over global trade will add to the mix after President Donald Trump threatened 35% tariffs on the EU and Mexico over the weekend.

Regarding US inflation, this may impact bets around Fed cuts in the second half of this year. Markets are forecasting CPI to rise 2.6% from 2.4% in the prior month, with core CPI rising to 2.9% from 2.8%. Signs of rising prices may shave bets around the Fed cutting interest rates – boosting the dollar as a result.

Closer to home, Nigerias June CPI data due July 15 is expected to show signs of cooling inflationary pressures. This could offer some relief to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which aggressively hiked interest rates throughout 2024. Inflation is expected to have eased to 21.4% year-on-year from 23% in May – marking the 4th consecutive month of decline. However, the slowdown is largely a technical adjustment aided by the recent gains in the Naira amid higher non-oil exports and a weaker dollar.

The CBN is scheduled to meet later this month and will most likely keep rates unchanged at 27.5%.

One key challenge for the country will be how to re-tweak its budget for lower oil prices. Indeed, the budget was based around oil production at 2 million barrels and oil prices of $75. Brent is trading around $70 with the nation producing 1.544m b/d of crude in May according to OPEC. Nigeria is hoping to raise production to 1.9m b/d by the end of 2025. But its impact on the economy may be muted if oversupply and tepid demand keep oil prices subdued. Brent is up 4% this month but still down over 6% since the start of 2025.


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EFCC: Accusations Against Our Chairman Are Baseless and Misleading

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Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has strongly denied allegations of lack of integrity and transparency directed at its chairman, Ola Olukoyede, by columnist Steve Osuji.

In a statement issued by Dele Oyewale, spokesperson, EFCC. the commission described the claims as “worrisome and unjustifiable,” particularly criticizing the personal attacks on Olukoyede.

“More worrisome was his attack on Olukoyede for no justifiable reason. Allegations of lack of transparency, accountability and integrity deficit are wild and clearly off the mark,” Oyewale said.

He questioned the basis for the allegations and defended Olukoyede’s leadership since taking office.

“The question is: in what way has Olukoyede fallen short? Is it by insisting that the right things should always be done? By moving the nation’s anti-graft war forward radically and unprecedentedly?

“By bringing forth a preventive framework to tackle corruption and reaping bountiful gains for the nation?

“By recovering the globally-acclaimed 753 duplexes and other apartments, which are proceeds of fraudulent dealings for the nation?

“By launching the EFCC into a global map of accomplished anti-graft agencies? By handling 50,000 case files in one year?

“By embarking on a courageous internal cleansing system and other progressive initiatives to deepen and strengthen the anti-corruption fight?

“It is cowardly and uncharitable for any columnist to hide under vague and opaque cover to splash mud on Ola Olukoyede, arguably one of the finest breed of anti-graft czars around the world.”

Olukoyede, through the statement, reaffirmed that the EFCC has consistently submitted its annual reports to the National Assembly as required by law.

“Equally preposterous are claims of re-looting of assets by officers of the Commission. For the purpose of clarification, the Commission does not recover monetary assets into its covers and the non-monetary assets that are recovered are disposed of following clear pronouncements by court and proceeds paid into the Confiscated and Forfeited Properties Account account in the Central Bank in line with provisions of the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, 2022.

“The EFCC does not operate in secrecy. All its operations are regularly communicated to the public, including public auction of assets. To deliberately cast the Commission in the mould of fraudulent engagements or criminality is not only mischievous but also untenable,” the statement concluded.


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EFCC Says Corrupt Politicians are Using Crypto Wallets to Launder Money

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Ola Olukoyede, chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has raised the alarm that some corrupt Nigerian politicians are now hiding their illicit wealth in cryptocurrencies to evade scrutiny and detection by anti-graft agencies.

EFCC Says Corrupt Politicians are Using Crypto Wallets to Launder Money

Ola Olukoyede, chairman, EFCC

The EFCC boss said the agency had uncovered a growing trend where fraudulent public officials now used cryptocurrency wallets to stash stolen public funds and conduct illicit transactions.

Olukoyede made the revelation at  an event commemorating Africa Anti-Corruption Day.

The event was held simultaneously in Abuja, Lagos and Ibadan, Oyo State.

Other speakers at the event lamented that Nigerians usually fell victim to crypto fraud, including the recent CBEX scam, where Nigerians lost over N1.3tn.

Olukoyede said, “Virtual asset fraud is on the rise. Our findings show that fraudulent politicians are already perfecting schemes and hiding their loot in cryptocurrencies to beat the investigative blackness of anti-corruption agencies.

“Stolen funds and unexplained wealth are being warehoused in wallets and payment for services are being done through this window,” he said.

Olukoyede warned that while the rise of virtual assets had transformed financial transactions globally, it had also created new avenues for money laundering and financial crimes.

He said, “Technology is moving at a supersonic speed around the world.

“The advent of virtual assets is a response to one of the qualities of money as a store of value like it is known in our elementary economies.”

“However, as with every progressive innovation, fraud starts to usually evolve, evolve ways of perverting their genuine purposes,” he said.

He added that the EFCC was not helpless in the face of the sophisticated schemes, noting that proactive training and intelligence sharing had enabled the commission to identify and investigate such cases.


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