Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf has reshuffled his cabinet, sacking the Secretary to the State Government, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Commissioner of Information and four other commissioners.

According to his spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa the development forms part of a major political decision to effect pragmatic political realignment of his administration.

According to the statement by Bature, Governor Yusuf maintained the much awaited decision that finally came to enable optimum performance that will drive more dividends of democracy to the good people of Kano State.

Those affected by the major shakeup are the Chief of Staff, Alh. Shehu Wada Sagagi whose office is now scrapped, and Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Abdullahi Baffa Bichi, who was dropped on health ground.

According to Bature, Governor Yusuf removed some cabinet members and reassigned others to enhance administrative performance and political retool.

Those who retained their positions are Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Haruna Isa Dederi, Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Danjuma Mahmoud, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Labaran, Commissioner for Land and Physical Planning, Hon. Abduljabbar Mohammed Umar, Commissioner for Budget and Planning Hon Musa Suleiman Shannon and Commissioner for Works and Housing Engr. Marwan Ahmad.

Also retained are Commissioner for Solid and Mineral Resources, Sefiyanu Hamza, Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Shiekh Ahmad Tijani Auwal, Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Hon. Mustapha Rabiu Kwankwaso, Commissioner for Investment and Commerce, Adamu Aliyu Kibiya and that of Internal Security and Special Services, Major General Mohammad Inuwa Idris Rtd.

According to the statement, those reassigned are the Deputy Governor, Comrade Aminu Abdulssalam, who was moved from Ministry of Local Government to Higher Education; Hon. Mohammad Tajo Usman moved from Science and Technology to Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and Dr. Yusuf Ibrahim Kofar Mata from Higher Education to Science, Technology and Innovation.

Others on reassignment list include Hon. Amina Abdullahi from Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation to Ministry for Women, Children and Disable; Hon. Nasiru Sule Garo, from Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to Ministry of Special Duties.

Commissioner for Project Monitory and Evaluation Hon. Ibrahim Namadi now moved to Ministry of Transport, while Hon. Umar Haruna Doguwa of Ministry of Education now moved to Ministry of Water Resources.

On the reassigned list, are Hon. Ali Haruna Makoda moved from Water Resources to Ministry of Education, Hon. Aisha Lawal Saji from Ministry of Women, Children and Disable to Tourism and Culture, and Hon. Muhammad Diggol from Transport to Ministry of Project Monitoring and Evaluation.

Meanwhile, Governor Yusuf has dropped five members of his cabinet to include Ibrahim Jibril Fagge, of Finance Ministry; Ladidi Ibrahim Garko, Culture and Tourism; Baba Halilu Dantiye, Information and Internal Affairs, Shehu Aliyu Yammedi, Special Duties and Abbas Sani Abbas, Rural and Community Development.

Also, the Governor has directed the Chief of Staff and the five commissioners that are dropped to report to the office of the Governor for possible reassignment.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike has defended the demolition of properties in the nation’s seat of power, saying he won’t be swayed by blackmail.

Wike said the structures being demolished by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) are properties illegally built on government lands.

“Let me use this opportunity to tell Nigerians and residents of Abuja, we are not afraid of blackmailing,” the minister said during the distribution of operational vehicles to security agencies at the FCTA Secretariat in Abuja on Thursday.

“In fact, you cannot be in this kind of position and say you cannot be blackmailed particularly as regards this Abuja. There are so many land grabbers. Some of us have come to put our feet down. Let heaven fall. It is even better that heaven comes down now so that we would not be fasting again to go to heaven.”

In recent months, the FCTA has intensified the demolition of what it deemed as illegal structures in estates and shanties in Abuja.

According to Wike, while some of the structures pose security risks, the rest were built on lands belonging to the government.

The move has triggered a backlash and protests but Wike has insisted there is no going back and vowed to go after more illegally constructed buildings and shanties.

“We would stop anybody who thinks they will take government land for whatever reason with formal approval. We would not look at your face. If you like be a civil rights activist or a television personality,” Wike, the immediate past governor of Rivers State, said during the event.

“What is wrong is wrong; no amount of blackmail can stop us. People take government property without approval or documentation.”

Wike’s comment came on the same day that the Senate ordered a probe into the demolitions in the FCT, setting up a committee to look into the development.

The Senate’s move followed a motion sponsored by the Senator representing FCT Ireti Kingibe who raised concerns over the demolitions and called for an order to stop them.

It set up an investigative committee to probe the demolitions. The group is expected to also invite Wike to the Senate so he can explain the reasons for the demolitions in the nation’s capital. The committee is led by the Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin.

In a continuation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) increased scrutiny of fintech startups, two of the country’s most prominent unicorns, Moniepoint and OPay, were fined ₦1 billion each in the second quarter of 2024, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told TechCabal.

While several other fintech companies were also penalized, the two firms were the hardest hit.

The penalties followed a routine CBN audit of the fintech sector, which revealed compliance issues. According to two sources familiar with the process, these regulatory checks are a standard procedure for banks and financial institutions under CBN oversight.

At least four other fintech companies were similarly penalized, though the details of these fines remain unknown.

“Let Heaven Fall” – Wike vows to demolish more properties in Abuja

The CBN has increasingly relied on fines to enforce regulatory compliance. In 2023, Nigerian banks paid a combined ₦678 million in penalties. In October 2024, the central bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) imposed a ₦15 billion fine on ten commercial banks, including two banks, for various infractions in the first half of the year.

Until recently, Nigeria’s rapidly growing fintech sector largely operated without CBN interference. However, the rapid expansion of fintechs like OPay and Moniepoint, which now serve millions of users, has invited greater scrutiny. OPay, for instance, claims a customer base of around 40 million, while Moniepoint, which processed 5.2 billion transactions in 2023, does not disclose specific customer numbers but is similarly large.

As these fintech giants have grown in influence, so too have concerns over their regulatory frameworks. A significant issue is that many fintechs, including OPay and Moniepoint, still operate under microfinance bank licenses. Originally intended to support micro, small, and medium enterprises, these licenses have allowed the companies to expand rapidly and service millions of customers. However, with that expansion has come heightened concern that the current licensing framework is inadequate to safeguard customers effectively, according to one source.

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Beyond licensing, the CBN has also expressed concerns about the fintechs’ compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) processes. In April 2024, the central bank imposed a two-month ban on customer onboarding for several fintech companies, including Kuda Bank and Palmpay, citing non-compliance with KYC standards. The ban forced fintechs to overhaul their onboarding procedures and commit to improving their compliance measures.

Moniepoint declined to comment on any part of this story.

“We categorically refute the claims that OPay Digital Services was fined by the Central Bank of Nigeria to the tune of ₦1 billion for regulatory infractions,” OPay said in a statement to TechCabal. “These claims are entirely false.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria did not immediately respond to a comment request.

For truce in the ongoing criminal defamation matter, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) might have given conditions to Dele Farotimi, it was learnt yesterday.

The police are prosecuting Farotimi, a Lagos lawyer in Ado-Ekiti, following a petition by Chief Babalola, who alleged criminal defamation of his character in the book: Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System, written and published by Farotimi.

Farotimi is before a Magistrate’s court and the Federal High Court both in Ado Ekiti for criminal defamation and cybercrime respectively.

He has been remanded in Ado-Ekiti Correctional Center since last week.

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election Peter Obi, accompanied by the Southwest Coordinator of his campaign in that election, Mr. Sola Ebiseni, visited Chief Babalola in Ado-Ekiti on Monday over Farotimi’s ordeal. The duo also visited Farotimi where he is kept in Ado-Ekiti prison.

Sources said yesterday that during the two-hour meeting between Obi and Chief Babalola, the legal giant reportedly gave the conditions.

The conditions are for Farotimi to retract his not guilty plea and thereafter publish the rebuttal in major newspapers.

It was gathered that before Obi’s visit, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese Matthew Hassan Kukah had reached out to Chief Babalola on the issue.

Farotimi was one of the spokesmen of the Obi/Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation in 2023.

Farotimi, was arrested in Lagos last week and taken before Magistrate Abayomi Adeosun in Ado-Ekiti for criminal defamation.

He was remanded till December 10.

But on Monday, he was arraigned before the Federal High Court on cybercrime and subsequently granted bail for N50 million.

Yesterday, when he returned to the Magistrate’s court, the remand order was extended till December 20.

Babalola was said to have told Obi to ask Farotimi to plead guilty to the criminal defamatory charge, failing which he must prove his allegation against him.

“Baba Afe told Obi that he (Babalola) has nothing to gain by Farotimi’s incarceration. If he says the allegations are false and offers apology in some newspapers, then, the case can be withdrawn,” a source said.

The source added that, Farotimi, who reportedly told Obi that he did not invite anybody to plead on his behalf, demanded that the case against him be withdrawn first as pre-condition for his apology.

Another source confirmed that the Monday’s visit of Obi and Ebiseni to Babalola was not at Farotimi’s behest but an Obi initiative.

The source said Obi took the step to identify with a member of his presidential campaign team who is in trouble.

It was learnt that Obi requested Ebiseni to accompany him to see Babalola.

The source, who also confirmed the interest already shown by Obasanjo and Kukah in the matter, said he believed it would be resolved.

Farotimi will remain in prison custody till December 20 when Magistrate Adeosun will rule on his bail application.

Babalola had petitioned the Police over aspects of the 104-page book he considered as defaming him.

Farotimi, however, pleaded not guilty to the 16-count charge preferred against him by the Police.

At the resumed hearing yesterday, Police prosecuting counsel, Samson Osobu, opposed the appearance of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, for the defendant.

Osobu told the court that the SAN, Olumide-Fusika, under the law, cannot appear before a magistrate’s court.

He cited a July 16, 2024 judgment of a Court of Appeal in Ibadan, Oyo State, to buttress his position.

But in his submission, Olumide-Fusika explained that the Ekiti State magistrate court law allows lawyers, irrespective of status and title, to appear in magistrate’s court, especially in criminal matters.

The senior advocate urged the court to reject the argument by the prosecuting lawyer, noting that the verdict he cited might not have put into considerations all magistrate court laws across the country.

The magistrate said he would step down his ruling in order to read the judgment cited by the prosecutor.

He, however, asked Olumide-Fusika to step down and allow the most senior lawyer in the defendant’s team to continue the case.

A member of the defence team, Taiwo Adedeji, continued the case on behalf of Farotimi.

The court then adjourned the case till December 20.

The court room and the premises were filled to capacity with crowds, many of them taking sides.

There was even a clash outside the court by supporters of the lawyer standing trial and those against him.

The Nation/OperaNews

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday dismissed a circular authorising sales of foreign exchange (FX) to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in the country.

The controversial circular, dated 10 December, suggested that the CBN would sell $20,000 to each BDC to meet the demand for invisible transactions, at a rate of N1.301/$.

It also claimed that BDCs could sell the foreign currency to end-users at a margin not higher than 1per cent above the purchase rate.

“Following the on-going reforms in the foreign exchange market, aimed at achieving an appropriate market determined exchange rate for the Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has observed the continued price distortions at the retail end of the market, which is feeding into the parallel market and further widening the exchange rate premium,” the fake circular reads.

“To this end, the CBN has approved the sale of foreign exchange to eligible Bureau De Change (BDCs) to meet the demand for invisible transactions. The sum of $20,000 is to be sold to each BDC at the rate of N1.301/S-(representing the lower band rate of executed spot transactions at NAFEM for the previous trading day, as at today, December 10, 2024.

“All BDCs are allowed to sell to end-users at a margin NOT MORE THAN one percent (1%) above the purchase rate from CBN.

“All eligible BDCs are directed to make the Naira payment to the designated CBN Foreign Currency Deposit Naira Accounts and submit confirmation of payment, with other necessary documentations for disbursement at the appropriate CBN Branches ABUJA, AWKA, LAGOS and KANO).”

In a statement posted on X, the CBN refuted the claims, describing the circular as misleading and unauthorised.

“This information is misleading and not affiliated with the Central Bank of Nigeria,” the post read, urging the public to disregard the document.

The bank had earlier disclosed that it sold a total of $543.5 million to authorised dealer banks between 6 and 30 September.

Vice President Kashim Shettima has tackled Kemi Badenoch, the newly elected leader of the UK Conservative Party, for making disparaging remarks about Nigeria.

Shettima spoke on Monday at the 10th Annual Migration Dialogue held at the State House in Abuja.

The Vice President expressed both pride in Badenoch’s achievements and disappointment in her comments about her country of origin.

He stated, “Kemi Badenoch, leader of the British Conservative Party — we are proud of her despite her efforts to denigrate her nation of origin.

“She is entitled to her opinions, even her right to remove ‘Kemi’ from her name, but that does not negate the fact that Nigeria is the greatest Black nation on earth. One in every three or four Black people is a Nigerian, and by 2050, Nigeria will be the third most populous nation on earth, alongside the United States.”

The Vice President also underscored the vital contributions of migrants to society and economic growth.

He reaffirmed the Nigerian government’s commitment to safeguarding migrants’ rights while honouring their legacies and contributions to national development.

Prior to being elected leader of the UK Conservative Party, the 44-year-old British Nigerian, criticized Nigeria, saying she doesn’t want Britain to become like the place she ran away from

Badenoch was born in Wimbledon, but spent her childhood in Nigeria before returning to the UK as a teenager.

“I will always be grateful for being lucky enough to be born here.

“It was very much fate, and I would do anything for this country – I would go to war for this country, I would fight for this country. I would die for this country.

“This is my country. I love it the way it is. I don’t want it to become like the place I ran away from. I want it to get better and better, not just for me, but for the next generation,” she said in an interview with Mail Online.

Earlier, she had also claimed that her childhood in Nigeria was filled with tales of horror, with screams of neighbors every night being attacked, leading to fears whether their apartment could be the next.