Ex-central bank chief of Nigeria remanded in custody pending bail hearing

A Nigerian court on Friday remanded former central bank governor Godwin Emefiele in custody on charges of procurement fraud, pending a bail hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Emefiele applied for bail after pleading not guilty to six new graft charges that accused him of "conferring corrupt advantage". Prosecutors cut the charges from a previous 20-count indictment, which he faced along with two others, so he could be tried separately and quickly.

"The matter is hereby adjourned to Wednesday, November 22, for ruling on the bail application. Meanwhile, the defendant should be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre pending the ruling on his bail," Justice Hamza Muazu said.

The main trial is set to start on Nov. 28, the judge said.

Last week, Emefiele was granted bail by a separate judge after successfully challenging five months in detention.

Emefiele, who has not commented publicly on the case, was suspended by President Bola Tinubu on June 9 and was arrested a day later.

He resigned in August while in detention, paving the way for the appointment of new central bank governor Olayemi Cardoso in September. 

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

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Naira briefly drops to record low on official market

Nigeria's naira briefly slumped to a record low against the dollar in thin trading on the official market on Thursday, bringing the official exchange rate within touching distance of the parallel market rate.

The currency of Africa's biggest economy fell as low as 1,105 naira to the dollar from 830 at Wednesday's close, LSEG data showed, before recovering to trade firmer on the day around 800 to the dollar.

A central bank spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the naira's fall or its plans for the currency when contacted by Reuters.

The naira's official exchange rate has been drifting towards the parallel market level for the past two weeks, traders said.

The naira was quoted at 1,135 to the dollar on the parallel market on Thursday, while lenders had been quoting the currency within a range of roughly 750 naira to 990 naira on the official market before Thursday's trade.

"We suspect this is an anomalous rate in a liquidity squeeze due to increased demand in the I&E window (official market), and don't expect this to be reflective of a true market rate going forward," said Kyle Chapman, FX markets analyst at London-based Ballinger & Co.

Olayemi Cardoso, the central bank governor who took office in September, has been silent about where he wants to see the trading band for the naira or when further liquidity might be injected into the market.

The central bank has not intervened on the official market since October, which has helped accelerate the naira's slide, traders said.

Last week the naira recovered from a record low of 1,300 on the parallel market after the central bank sold dollars to 14 lenders to clear outstanding currency forwards. Some other lenders are yet to get settlement.

The government has said it is expecting $10 billion in foreign currency inflows that will improve market liquidity, but it is not clear when those funds will arrive.

By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo and Chijioke Ohuocha, Reuters

Related story: Nigeria Inflation Hits 18-Year High

Oladips: Nigerian rapper dies aged 28

 Tributes are pouring in for popular Nigerian rapper Oladips, following his death at the age of 28.

"We are still in shock as we speak," his management said in an Instagram post.

The cause of death is unclear but the post read he "kept his battles within himself" for two years.

Oladips was a talented musician who rapped about political issues like the ENDSars protests against police brutality.

He also touched on the subject of mental health and depression in his songs.

"His story telling rap was top notch" one fan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Big Brother Naija contestant Hermes Iyele expressed his shock over the young rapper's death saying: "May God grant the family the grace to carry this grief."

The rapper was due to release his new album titled SUPERHERO ÀDÚGBÒ (The Memoir) on Thursday. His last single was called Die Young.

Oladips rose to fame when he won a rap competition called the King is Here hosted by Nigerian music giant DBanj in 2015.

Oladips's death comes a few months after another popular musician, Mohbad, died in September, leading to countrywide protests.

By Danai Nesta Kupemba, BBC 

Workers in Nigeria Strike Over Attack on Union Leader, Unpopular Economic Reforms

Nigeria's labor unions have begun an indefinite strike to protest the beating of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) president Joe Ajaero on November 1. The labor leader was to lead workers in protest over unpaid salaries in Imo state when he was picked up by security agents, who allegedly beat him.

For a second day Wednesday, the nationwide strike called by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) held firm.

Compliance is stricter in the capital, Abuja, the operational nerve center of the workers' unions.

Police have denied beating the NLC president, saying agents only took Ajaero into protective custody to save him from an angry mob.

Benson Upah, spokesperson of the Nigerian Labour Congress, said the NLC president is still recovering from the incident.

"He was in a bad shape, he lost his bearing, his right eye was popped and recognition was poor," Upah said. "Up till this moment, there has been no condemnation for what happened. No one has been arrested let alone prosecuted for this heinous act. It is about the right of every citizen to freedom and justice. The issues that led to the movement of NLC and TUC people to Imo, those issues have not been addressed.”

But Ajaero's beating is not the only reason for the strike. The unions also blame authorities for failing to honor agreements made to cushion the cost-of-living crisis triggered by the government's economic reforms, introduced in May.

Earlier this year, President Bola Tinubu scrapped expensive fuel subsidies and floated the Nigerian currency in a bid to unify a multiple exchange rate system. However, the decision has hurt the economy and millions of citizens.

In August, workers staged nationwide street protests against the reforms and in September embarked on a two-day warning strike.

Authorities promised to respond.

Last Friday, the National Industrial Court of Nigeria ordered the workers' unions to not go on another strike.

Eze Onyekpere, executive director of the Center for Social Justice, a pro-union NGO, said, "The regime came on board and removed fuel subsidy and floated the naira, which has led to a situation where the minimum wage virtually less than $30. Things the government was supposed to do to reduce the hardship in the land, they didn't do, so for people like me, this strike is long overdue."

On Monday, the presidency criticized the strike, calling it unwarranted, and said authorities have launched a probe into the attack of the union leader.

Onyekpere said the government must not make empty promises or there will be consequences.

"We're going to degenerate to a state where any riffraff simply because he's in power will simply be beating up everybody," he said. "The day Nigeria descends to that level and workers don't speak out or workers don't show their strength, then Nigeria is gone to the dogs."

The unions say authorities must prosecute those who beat Ajaero, offer an apology, and take steps to improve the welfare of workers and citizens. Without those measures, they say, the strike will continue

By Timothy Obiezu, VOA

Nigeria Inflation Hits 18-Year High

Nigerian inflation quickened to a new 18-year high in October as higher input costs and a weaker naira sent food and goods prices soaring, adding pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates.

Consumer prices rose 27.3% from the prior year, compared with 26.7% in September, according to data published on Wednesday on the National Bureau of Statistics’ website. The median of 10 estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists was 27.7%. Prices rose 1.7% in the month.

Prices in the nation with the second-largest poor population in the world have surged after the easing of foreign-exchange restrictions in June led the naira to plunge 45% and the scrapping of a fuel subsidy a month earlier caused transport costs to almost triple.

Annual food inflation quickened to 31.5% in October from 30.6% and core price growth, which excludes farm-produce and energy costs, accelerated to 22.6% from 21.8%.

To restore price stability, the Abuja-based Central Bank of Nigeria, which is due to convene its first monetary policy committee meeting since July next week, is expected to lift interest rates for a ninth time in a row. It’s already raised rates by 725 basis points since May 2022 to 18.75%.

Read More: Nigeria Increases Bond Yields to Curb Liquidity, Halt Naira Rout

“We expect the MPC to raise the key policy rate further by at least 100 basis points,” said Abdulazeez Kuranga, analyst at Lagos-based Cordros Capital Ltd.

He sees inflation potentially reaching a 28.3% peak in December and said that a hike of that scale will send a strong message that the central bank “is not relenting in its inflation fight, particularly as near-term inflation expectations are tilted to the upside.”

The MPC meeting, expected to be held on Nov. 20-21, will be the first to be chaired by Olayemi Cardoso.

Since becoming governor in September, the central bank under his leadership has worked hard to eradicate financial market dysfunction, aid the slumping currency and mop up excess liquidity.

It’s cleared matured forward foreign-exchange contracts with an unspecified number of banks, lifted a ban on the purchase of dollars on the official market to import 43 specified items and started offering local bonds at higher yields.

The central bank is also working on a document that will set rules to ensure the foreign-exchange market is “predictable and without flip-flops,” Cardoso said last month.

By Emele Onu and Ruth Olurounbi, Bloomberg