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Foreign Reserves Return To Growth After Almost 3 Months Declines

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Nigeria’s foreign reserves may have begun a gradual comeback after nearly three months of straight falls.

The reserves concluded the weekend at $33.954 billion, up from $33.949 billion the previous week.The increase is the first in 11 weeks.At the unified market-driven platform, the naira rose by 4.4 percent to N743.07 per dollar. Unmet forex demands continue to put pressure on the local currency, which remains volatile.

The reserves had recently been under significant pressure as the government grappled with a multiple exchange rate system. There was a 300-basis-point difference between the official and parallel market rates.

The reserves peaked at $37.211 billion on January 16, 2023, after closing at around $37.08 billion in 2022. It stayed on the decline, in many cases falling for several weeks in a row. In the first half of 2023, the reserves lost nearly $2.9 billion.

In accordance with President Bola Tinubu’s economic policy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) eliminated the multiple exchange rate system and its close-managed official rate on June 14, 2023.

The central bank implemented a market-determined system that primarily leaves the country’s currency to forces of demand and supply.

Experts agreed that the foreign reserves would remain under pressure in the meantime due to a backlog of demand, limited supply, and the customary policy time lag required for transitional effects.

Several analysts were however optimistic recent policy mix by the new government would substantially alter the forex position, providing a stable point for a steady build-up of forex reserves and a stable naira.

According to analysts, a mix of increased oil receipts, foreign investments, remittances, and reduction in forex management could boost reserves and naira stability in the medium to long term.

Global rating agency, Standard and Poor’s (S&P), at the weekend, upgraded Nigeria’s credit outlook to stable from negative. The agency premised the upgrade on recent policies by the Tinubu administration.

The latest report on foreign portfolio investments (FDIs) shows that Nigeria returned to a net positive position in the second quarter of 2023, driven largely by foreign inflows in the last two months.

Managing Director, Arthur Steven Asset Management, Mr Olatunde Amolegbe, said the modest recovery in forex reserves might not be unconnected with a reduction in demand due to the removal of fuel subsidy and new forex policies.

“The expectation is that the pace of accretion might accelerate due to increased in foreign inflows and improved oil export if the issue of theft and security could be tackled,” Amolegbe, a former president of Chartered Institute of SStockbrokers (CIS), said.

He, however, noted that the apex bank may eventually settle for a managed float regime in order to cure the policy time lag and avoid undue damage to the economy before attaining forex stability.

This implies that the apex bank may intervene from time to time to ensure the naira remains within a range.

President Tinubu had also hinted that while the government remains committed to a market economy, it would take due cognizance of undue volatility and take appropriate measures to support stability.

Analysts at Cordros Capital Group said they expected currency pressures to remain intact in the near term, given seasonal-induced demand.

They noted that the forex supply is still frail despite recent policy measures.

“On forex supply, we expect foreign investors to remain on the sidelines in the near term, as they continue to look for signals on market interest rates and solutions to the existing forex backlog and supply issues,” Cordros Capital Group stated.

President of the Association of Capital Market Academics, Prof Uche Uwaleke, said the forex accretion might be due to recent policy measures, although the outlook remains grim.

His words: “The accretion may be the result of favorable oil price and improvements in crude oil output. It could also have been helped by the recent increase in foreign portfolio investments in the wake of the unification of exchange rates.

“But it is very marginal and insufficient to make any significant impact on the exchange rate in view of the unmet demand as well as increasing demand pressure.

“External reserves serve many purposes including being used to defend the value of a country’s currency.

“Unfortunately for Nigeria, crude oil sales still account for over 90 percent of forex earnings.

“In this regard, the outlook for forex will remain grim until we can establish multiple streams of forex including through diversifying the country’s export base.”

BIG STORY

Police To Resume Nationwide Tinted Glass Permit Enforcement January 2, 2026

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The Nigeria Police Force has announced that it will resume the nationwide enforcement of the tinted glass permit policy from January 2, 2026, citing growing security concerns linked to the misuse of unauthorized tinted vehicle glass.

The announcement was contained in a statement issued on Monday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Chief Superintendent of Police Benjamin Hundeyin.

The police said the decision followed a review of emerging security threats and the need to enhance public safety, pending the final determination of a related matter currently before the court.

The Force clarified that there was no court order restraining it from enforcing the law regulating the use of tinted glass on vehicles.

It explained that enforcement was earlier suspended in the interest of transparency and public convenience, to allow motorists sufficient time to regularize their documentation and complete the permit application process without pressure.

According to the statement, recent security trends have revealed a rise in criminal activities carried out with the aid of vehicles fitted with unauthorized tinted glass.

Such vehicles, the police noted, have been used by criminals to conceal their identities while committing offences including armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes.

In view of these developments, the police said the resumption of enforcement had become necessary and urgent as a proactive step to safeguard lives and property across the country.

“Recent trends, however, reveal a disturbing rise in criminal activities perpetrated with the aid of vehicles fitted with unauthorized tinted glass.

“Some individuals and organized criminal groups have exploited this gap to conceal their identities and facilitate crimes ranging from armed robbery to kidnapping and other violent crimes.

“In view of this, the Nigeria Police Force has found it both necessary and urgent to resume full enforcement as a proactive measure to safeguard our communities. Consequently, enforcement of Tinted Glass Permit will resume on 2nd January, 2026,” the statement read.

 

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BIG STORY

Buhari Believed Aso Rock Gossip I Planned Killing Him, Began Locking His Room —— Aisha

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Former First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has narrated how her husband, the late President Muhammadu Buhari “began locking his room” following gossip in Aso Rock that she (Aisha) planned to kill him.

The ex-First Lady also said the health crisis that forced Buhari, to take 154 days of medical leave in 2017 began with a broken feeding routine and mismanaged nutrition.

She argued that Buhari’s illness was not a mysterious ailment or poisoning.

Her account of the health crisis appeared in a new 600-page biography, ’From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari’, authored by Dr. Charles Omole, launched at the State House on Monday.

It read, “According to Aisha Buhari, her husband’s 2017 health crisis did not originate as a mysterious ailment or a covert plot. It started, she says, with the loss of a routine; ‘my nutrition,’ she describes it, a pattern of meals and supplements she had long overseen in Kaduna before they moved into Aso Villa.”

The former First Lady convened a meeting with close staff, including the physician, Suhayb Rafindadi; the CSO, Bashir Abubakar; the housekeeper, and the SSS DG to explain the plan.

She said, “Daily, cups and bowls with tailored vitamin powders and oils, a touch of protein here, a change to cereals there.”

“When the Presidency’s machinery took over our private lives, she explained the plan: daily, at specific hours, cups and bowls with tailored vitamin powders and oil, a touch of protein here, a change to cereals there. Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support,” Omole narrated.

However, the routine frayed.

“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him,” the book quotes her as saying.

“My husband believed them for a week or so,” she said, revealing that the President began locking his room, changed small habits, and crucially, “meals were delayed or missed; the supplements were stopped.”

“For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she added.

The deterioration culminated in Buhari’s two extended medical trips to the United Kingdom, totalling 154 days in 2017, during which he ceded authority to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Upon return, he admitted to being “never so ill” and having received blood transfusions.

Buhari’s absences “sparked rumours, speculation, and even conspiracy theories,” Omole wrote.

Mrs Buhari debunked stories of plots to poison her husband.

Her contention, Omole noted, is that “loss of a routine, ‘my nutrition,’ was the genesis of the crisis.”

In London, doctors prescribed an even stronger regimen of supplements, he explained.

Initially, Buhari “was frightened and not taking them as prescribed. So she took charge of his welfare, slipping hospital-issued supplements into his juice and oats,” it read.

The former First Lady described the turnaround as swift, noting, “After just three days, he threw away the stick he was walking with. After a week, he was receiving relatives.”

“‘That,’ she says, ‘was the genesis, and also the reversal of his sickness,’” the book stated.

According to Omole, critics said Buhari’s reliance on UK hospitals exposed the failure of Nigeria’s health system.

A “more compassionate perspective,” he wrote, recognises that a man in his 70s may require specialised care “not readily available in Nigeria” after “decades of underinvestment.”

He also noted Buhari’s habit of handing power to his deputy during absences, which, he said, ensured “institutional propriety, even during personal health crises.”

The book also revealed a climate of mistrust around the Presidency.

Mrs Buhari alleged surveillance, the bugging of the President’s office with listening devices and playback of private conversations, saying, fear and conscience “contributed to taking his life.”

She refuted the long-held rumour that Buhari had a body double, popularly known as “Jibril of Sudan,” as absurd, arguing that poor strategic communication in government allowed simple, banal developments to metastasise into conspiracies.

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BIG STORY

Dangote Releases Details of ‘$5m Spent By NMDPRA CEO’ On His Children’s Secondary School Education In Switzerland [PHOTO]

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Aliko Dangote, chairman of the Dangote Group, says Farouk Ahmed, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), spent about $5 million on the secondary school education of his children in Switzerland.

In a paid newspaper advert on Tuesday, the billionaire said Ahmed paid the said amount for four of his children, covering a period of six years.

On Monday, Dangote had alleged that Ahmed Farouk “paid $5 million” to a Swiss secondary school for his children’s education, describing the act as “economic sabotage and corruption”.

Releasing details of his allegations, in the newspaper advert, Dangote listed the four children as Faisal Farouk, Farouk Jr., Ashraf Farouk, and Farhana Farouk.

According to the billionaire entrepreneur, the secondary schools the children attended for a duration of six years were Montreux School, Aiglon College, Institut Le Rosey, and La Garenne International School.

Dangoted also presented estimated annual tuition, living expenses, air travel, and upkeep, which were multiplied across four children and several years of study.

He said the annual cost of tuition, airfare, and upkeep per child was $200,000, which totals $800,000 per year for his four children.

The businessman further explained that the total living expenses and air tickets per child over six years was $1.2 million, amounting to $4.8 million for all four children.

Overall, Dangote estimated that the combined cost of tuition and upkeep for all the children reached $5 million.

He also listed the tertiary education expenses for Ahmed’s children, noting that tuition, upkeep, airfare, and other costs average approximately $125,000 per year over a four-year period.

According to the billionaire, this adds up to $500,000 for four years per child, totaling $2 million for all of them.

“Faisal just finished the 2025 Harvard MBA at $150,000 and $60,000 for upkeep, tickets and other incidentals. Total =$210,000 spent in 2025 for Faisal’s MBA,” he added.

Dangote said Nigerians deserve to know the source of the money “paid by a public officer while many parents in his home state of Sokoto cannot afford to pay N10,000 school fees for their children and wards”.

 

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