Buhari sacks NIPC boss, Umar
President Muhammadu Buhari has terminated the appointment of Saratu Umar as the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, with immediate effect.
Niyi Adebayo, the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, said that the directive, which came on Thursday, also mandated the most senior director in the Commission to immediately take over in the interim.
Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, disclosed this in a statement he signed on Thursday titled “President Buhari terminates appointment of Saratu Umar as NIPC boss.”
The directive brings Umar’s eight-month stay to an end. The reason for his disengagement was not given.
Read also: Buhari inaugurates council on digital innovations, presides over executive council meeting
Invite policyholders with outstanding claims for settlement, NAICOM direct insurers
Ben Ujoatuonu, a member of a Sub-committee on Publicity of the Insurers Committee, said at a news conference on the outcome of the 14th Insurers Committee meeting held on Thursday in Lagos, that the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has directed the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of insurance companies to invite policyholders with outstanding claims with their firms, through advertisement placement, to come forward and present their claims for settlement.
The Insurers Committee is a body consisting of NAICOM and the CEOs of all companies underwriting insurance in Nigeria and operates under a mandate to activate the industry’s change agenda and strategically reposition the industry.
Ujoatuonu, also Managing Director of Universal Insurance Plc, said that the regulator was optimistic that the implementation of the directive would boost the confidence of the public in the insurance market.
“One of the critical issues discussed at the meeting is the issue of claims. NAICOM has directed underwriters to advertise for people to come forward to present their unpaid claims so that they can be paid,” he said.
NNPP disowns Gov. AbdulRazaq’s new appointees
The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) says the three newly appointed special aides by Gov. AbdulRaman AbdulRazaq of Kwara are not its members.
The state chairman of the party, Malam AbdulSalam AbdulRazaq, made this known in a statement made available to newsmen in Ilorin on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that AbdulRazaq recently appointed four members of the NNPP as his special advisers as redemption of his inclusive governance.
But the party chairman asserted that the appointees were not known to the NNPP in the state. (NAN)
Naira lost 10% value in 2022, says World Bank
The Nigerian currency, the naira, lost 10.2 percent of its value in 2022, according to the World Bank.
The World Bank, in its latest Africa’s Pulse report for April 2023, attributed this loss to the rising food and fuel prices that drove up inflation in the country in 2022.
It explained that the worst-performing currency in the Sub-Saharan African region was the Ghanaian cedi in 2022, which lost 40 percent of its value in the year.
Speaking on the naira, the bank said, “Other currencies with significant losses last year include those of Sudan (23.6 percent), Malawi (20.7 percent), The Gambia (14.6 percent), and Nigeria (10.2 percent).”
Senators seek probes into report on undisclosed luxury trips by Supreme Court’s Thomas
Conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has for decades accepted luxury trips from a Dallas businessman without publicly disclosing them despite a federal law requiring disclosure of most gifts, a media report said on Thursday, prompting Senate Democrats to call for an investigation.
The report by ProPublica found that Thomas has repeatedly vacationed with real estate magnate and Republican donor Harlan Crow, including on his private jet and superyacht in the United States and around the globe.
The news outlet said the frequency of the gifts has “no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Thomas and Chief Justice John Roberts did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The report raises new questions over potential conflicts of interest involving the justices and the court, which has endured escalating criticism for its lack of a formal ethics code.
Crow told ProPublica in a statement that he and his wife have been friends with Thomas and his wife since 1996 and have “never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue.” (Reuters)
