The Federal Government has officially ended “fuel and Foreign Exchange (FX) subsidies,” Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, “Wale Edun,” announced on Thursday during the presentation of the Nigeria Development Update by the World Bank in Abuja.

Edun disclosed that the subsidies had significantly strained the nation’s economy, costing Nigeria around “N10 trillion,” which is about five percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Fuel and FX subsidy are extinguished,” the minister stated, marking a major shift in economic policy.

In response to growing unemployment, the government is launching a new plan focused on housing finance.

The initiative includes a mortgage scheme with near single-digit interest rates, intended to boost construction and generate considerable job opportunities.

At the same event, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, “Olayemi Cardoso,” discussed the recent half-percent interest rate hike by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), attributing the increase to inflationary pressures.

He assured that future policies would be “data-driven and evidence-based.”

The United States government has requested the District Court, Northern District of Georgia, to approve the forfeiture of approximately “$14 million” in assets from Allen Ifechukwu Onyema, CEO of “Air Peace,” following a recent superseding indictment.

The indictment outlines allegations of fraud and money laundering against Onyema and his associate, Ejiroghene Eghagha, who serves as Chief of Administration and Finance at “Air Peace.”

The indictment includes multiple counts: Count One alleges “conspiracy to commit bank fraud,” while Counts Two through Four involve instances of “bank fraud.”

Count Five pertains to “conspiracy to commit credit application fraud,” and Counts Six through Eight are for “credit application fraud.” Counts Nine through Thirty-Five address “money laundering.”

If convicted of the charges in Counts One through Five, the defendants must forfeit property gained through these alleged crimes, including substantial sums in business-related bank accounts.

The U.S. government specifically seeks the forfeiture of “$4,017,852.51” from a JP Morgan Chase Bank account held by “Springfield Aviation Inc.,” “$4,393,842.05” from a Bank of Montreal account linked to “Springfield Aviation Inc.,” and “$5,634,842.04” from a Bank of Montreal account associated with “Blue Stream Aero Services, Inc.”

The indictment states that if these assets are unavailable, the U.S. will pursue other assets of the defendants of equivalent value.

The legal case is being led by U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan, with Garrett L. Bradford and Christopher J. Huber.

On October 13, it was reported that Onyema and Eghagha had been initially indicted in 2019 on charges of “conspiracy to commit bank fraud,” “bank fraud,” and “money laundering.”

The scheme allegedly involved using falsified documents to purchase aircraft and laundering over “$16 million” in proceeds.

In response to these charges, “Air Peace Limited” stated that its legal team is engaged in the matter and working to ensure justice.

Onyema now faces new charges for allegedly “obstructing justice” by submitting false documents to halt an investigation into earlier bank fraud and money laundering charges.

Eghagha is also implicated in the obstruction scheme and faces additional charges tied to the original bank fraud counts.

This information was disclosed in a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia.

“After allegedly using his airline company as a cover to commit fraud on the United States’ banking system, Onyema, along with his co-defendant, allegedly committed additional crimes of fraud in a failed attempt to derail the government’s investigation of his conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.

“The diligence of our federal investigative partners revealed the defendants’ alleged obstruction scheme, making it possible for the defendants to be held accountable for their aggravated conduct of attempting to impede a federal investigation.”

US Attorney Buchanan further revealed that Onyema is linked to a complex financial scheme.

According to the superseding indictment and court records, Onyema, founder of “Air Peace” (established in 2013), frequently visited Atlanta between 2010 and 2018.

He is accused of opening multiple personal and business bank accounts in Atlanta, through which over “$44.9 million” was allegedly transferred from international sources.

Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), has seen his wealth double to $27.8 billion after the operationalization of his multibillion-dollar oil refinery.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote’s net worth increased by $15.1 billion, bringing it to $27.8 billion as of October 18, 2024.

The business mogul now ranks 65th, making him the only African among the top 100 richest people globally.

This new ranking places Dangote more than 100 spots ahead of Johann Rupert, the South African billionaire, who ranks 174th.

His increased fortune has elevated his position by more than 40 places from his 111th ranking on June 30, 2023.

This surge follows over a year after the inauguration of his refinery in May 2023. The refinery, which has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is located on 2,635 hectares of land in the Ibeju-Lekki free zone in Lagos.

The facility began producing diesel on January 12, 2024, though petrol production was delayed until September 3 due to several challenges, including issues with crude supply.

The difficulty in accessing crude feedstock from international oil companies (IOCs) in Nigeria forced the company to import crude from countries like Brazil and the United States to cover the gap.

On June 4, 2024, Dangote noted that some IOCs were struggling to supply crude to his refinery.

After intervention from President Bola Tinubu, the federal executive council (FEC) approved the sale of crude oil to Dangote’s refinery and other refineries in naira on July 29, 2024.

On October 5, 2024, the federal government announced that Nigeria had officially begun selling crude oil and refined petroleum products in naira, with the Dangote refinery and the national oil firm participating in the naira-based transactions.