Sultan of Sokoto declares Thursday as first day of Ramadan
The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has declared Thursday, March 23, the first day of Ramadan in Nigeria.
Speaking in his palace, the Sultan said that Thursday becomes the first day of Ramadan, 1444 AH. He urged all Muslims across the nation to use this holy month to pray for the nation and the success of the incoming administration for those who emerged victorious.
“Consequently, tomorrow, Thursday, the 23rd March 2023, becomes the first day of Ramadan, 1444 AH. We, therefore, call on the Muslim community, the Ummah, to commence fasting accordingly,” he said.
INEC declares Peter Mbah winner of Enugu State Guber Poll
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the winner of the March 18 Enugu State Governorship Poll.
Prof. Madu Iwe, the State Returning Officer and Vice-Chancellor of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, declared the results on Wednesday at the State Collation Centre, INEC, in Enugu.
Iwe said that Mbah of the PDP polled 160,895 votes to defeat his closest rival, Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party (LP), who polled 157,552 votes.
Frank Nweke of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) scored 17,983 votes, while Chief Uchenna Nnaji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 14,575 to emerge in third and fourth positions, respectively.
Read more:INEC declares Peter Mbah of PDP winner of Enugu State Governorship Poll
FAAC shares N722bn among FG, states, LGs
In a statement made available to the press on Wednesday, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) said that it shared N722.68 billion among the federal government, state governments, and local governments for the month of February 2023.
This disclosure came at the end of its meeting held in Abuja, where it also revealed that the amount shared represents a further drop in revenue shared of N27.49 billion when compared to N750.17 billion shared in January and N990.19 billion shared in December 2022.
Accordingly, this amount includes value added tax, electronic money transfer levies, gross statutory revenue, and support from the forex equalization account.
FAAC explained that the local government received N43.21 billion, the state governments received N236.5 billion, and the federal government received N269.063 billion.
It revealed also that the revenue from VAT decreased by more than N9 billion to N240.799 billion as opposed to N250.51 billion in January.
Maritime expert urges Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu to address industry issues
Ronke Kosoko, Chief Executive Officer, Employment Clinic, has urged President-elect Bola Tinubu to appoint experts who would turnaround the maritime industry.
Kosoko, who said this at a news conference in Lagos on Wednesday, appealed to Tinubu to look into creating job opportunities and addressing the infrastructure deficit in the maritime industry.
Kosoko also congratulated Tinubu and Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu for emerging victorious in the presidential and governorship polls held on February 25 and March 18, respectively.
According to Kosoko, over the last decade, the industry has been going down, hence the call on the incoming government to tackle its challenges.
“The entire industry is looking forward to Sen. Bola Tinubu and Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu for revival.
“There has been a dichotomy between the state and the federal. Now, we want to ensure that the centre aligns at some levels because if Lagos works, Apapa, for instance, is affecting the whole nation; if it works, if Lekki works, other states will work.
“That is the reason why some people look forward to having Tinubu as president; it’s because of the work he did in Lagos. If he can unplug Lagos from the string of the federal government, we can do it in our state,” she said. (NAN)
First Republic shares fall as Yellen says not considering ‘blanket insurance’ on bank deposits
A “bull case” scenario for the shares of beleaguered First Republic Bank as it considers its options became more difficult on Wednesday after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said there is no discussion on insurance for all bank deposits without approval from the U.S. Congress.
First Republic, whose shares have lost much of their value since the banking crisis started in the U.S. on March 8, is among banks speaking to peers and investment firms about potential deals in the wake of U.S. regulators’ taking over Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank following bank runs.
Morgan Stanley analyst Manan Gosalia, in a report earlier this week, set a target price of $54 for First Republic shares in a best-case scenario. The stock on Wednesday closed at $13.33, down 15.5 percent The optimistic case was based on a scenario in which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) insures all consumer deposits through the end of the banking crisis, triggering a return of the majority of customer deposits, according to the report. (Reuters)
