The federal executive council (FEC) says all new vehicles, generators or tricycles procured by the government and its agencies must be powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), solar or electric.

Among the significant decisions made during the FEC meeting on Monday was this one.

Sources claim that the decision had an impact on fresh demands made by the shipper’s council, an organisation related to the marine and blue economy, and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

According to the sources, customs and the shipper’s council had applied for permission to purchase several hundred gasoline-powered operating cars.

Also, a request by the federal capital territory (FCT) to buy petrol generators was approved, however, the council insisted the generators must be powered by CNG or solar.

Likewise, the government also expects agencies to begin to convert petrol and diesel vehicles or generators to CNG.

On April 21, the presidency said it would launch the CNG initiative ahead of the first anniversary of Tinubu’s administration on May 29.

The presidency said the presidential CNG initiative (PCNGI), in collaboration with the private sector, will deliver 100 conversion workshops and 60 refuelling sites across 18 states before year-end.

Also, on July 31, 2023, Tinubu said his administration made provision to invest N100 billion between then and March 2024 to acquire 3,000 units of 20-seater buses powered by CNG.

Two months later, the federal government announced value-added tax (VAT) would be waived on CNG bus purchases, with plans to waive duty on parts.

Former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, is scheduled to be charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday before an FCT High Court for authorising the manufacture of N684.5 million naira notes at a cost of N18.96 billion.

The court and the parties worked together to reschedule the arraignment before Justice Maryann Anenih, which was first set for April 30, 2024.

In the four-count charge filed against former CBN governor, the EFCC alleged that Emefiele disobeyed the direction of law with intent to cause injury to the public during his implementation of the Naira swap policy of the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The anti-graft agency also accused Emefiele of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of N124.8 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federation.

This arraignment will bring to three the number of court cases instituted by the EFCC or the Office of the AGF against the former CBN governor.

Recall that on November 17, 2023, Emefiele was arraigned before Justice Hamza Muazu of FCT High Court on a six-count charge of procurement fraud, to which he pleaded not guilty.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso has hinted interest rates would remain high until inflation rate subsides.

Cardoso, on Monday, in a Financial Times report also noted that orthodox policies would be implemented to tame inflation.

In March, Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 33.20 percent, from 31.70 percent in February.

Consequently, CBN’s monetary policy committee (MPC) raised the interest rate by 200 basis points in March to 24.75 percent.

Cardoso said there is “every indication” that MPC would “do whatever is necessary” to rein inflation.

“They will continue to do what has to be done to ensure that inflation comes down,” Cardoso said.

“Let’s face it: for a long period of time, the CBN did not embrace orthodox monetary policies.

“We want to go back to using an orthodox method, and it will take us to where we want to go.”

Cardoso said the apex bank had been “reoriented” to focus on “price and monetary stability”.

He said the official window of the foreign exchange (FX) market has been stabilised.

According to the governor, investors previously had a “tendency to head for the window” in response to currency fluctuations, however, there has been a “fundamental shift”.

“They’re getting more comfortable with the market,” Cardoso said.

The naira fell to its lowest level of N1,627.40/$ in the official FX window on March 8 but rallied to N1,154.08/$ on April 18, after which the local currency began to lose its gains.

As of May 10, the official FX rate stood at N1,466.31/$.

Also, Cardoso maintained that raising interest rates has been crucial.

He hoped that high interest rates would not linger for too long and act as a disincentive to investment and production.

“Hiking interest rates obviously has had a dampening effect on the foreign exchange market, so that has begun to moderate. It’s not a zero-sum game. You lose on one side, you get on the other,” he said.

He said inflation was higher than he had hoped, blaming “distortions” mainly due to high food prices.

Cardoso said it is not directly within CBN’s control.

Food inflation rose to 40.01 percent in March, compared to the 24.45 percent rate recorded in the same month last year.