On June 26, 2024, Nigeria’s external reserve reached a record high of $34.07 billion.

This is according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest FX data on its official website.

The figure represents the highest level since March 2024.

Recall that last week the external reserve reached a three-month high when it rose to $33.5 billion.

Reserves have continued to surge since then, topping $34 billion for the first time since March 21, when it was $34.2 billion.

The external reserves have increased by a substantial $1.3 billion since June 2024.

The development comes as the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Olayemi Cardoso said its reforms attracted $24 billion inflow in the first quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, despite the rising FX reserves, the Naira depreciated to N1510.10 per Dollar at the forex market according to FMDQ data on Thursday.

Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd), a former Head of State, has spoken about the requirements to sustain democracy in the country.

Represented by Gen. Adamu Jidda on Thursday in Abuja at the second edition of ThisNigeria Newspaper Gold Prize and Annual Lecture Awards on the theme of the lecture; “25 Years of Nigeria’s Unbroken Democracy – Prospects and Possibilities”, Abubakar noted that electoral integrity, human rights, economic development and social justice remained critical areas that demand the country’s collective attention and action.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he believed that the nation’s democratic journey had not been without its trials.

The results of candidates of the supplementary Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME have been released by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.

The supplementary UTME was conducted between Friday, June 21st and Saturday, June 22nd, 2024.

JAMB’s spokesman, Fabian Benjamin, directed candidates on how to check their results.

“To check their supplementary UTME results, candidates are to send UTMERESULT to either 55019 or 66019 through the same phone number they had used to generate their profile codes at the start of registration,” he stated.

Benjamin said the supplementary examination was conducted for 28,835 candidates, who were unable to be biometrically verified during the main 2024 UTME and were unable to take their examination.

A statement by Benjamin said: “Similarly, the other category of candidates were those suspected to have been involved in examination malpractices during the main UTME but who were given a second chance to sit the examination.

“The exercise, which recorded a huge success nationwide, was marked by heightened security measures put in place by the Board to preclude any instance of examination infractions. As such, some nefarious characters, who had attempted to impersonate bona fide candidates were apprehended and handed over to law enforcement agencies for further investigation and prosecution.

“The Board would continue to ensure that no candidate benefits from any acts of infractions through the deployment of state-of-the-art technology before, during and after its examinations.

“Candidates are, therefore, urged, in their own interest, to refrain from engaging in any form of irregularity during their examinations. They are also enjoined to desist from soliciting score upgrades from fraudsters or engage in the mutilation of their result sheets while trying to generate fake result sheets with higher scores.”

Nigerian-born British heavyweight boxer, Anthony Joshua, doesn’t want to wait for too long to fight a fellow British boxer, Tyson Fury.

The rivalry between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury has been raging for years but the two boxers haven’t been able to agree on a bout even though they were close to doing so a couple of times.

Due to the online banter between the boxers, especially from Fury, most boxing enthusiasts are anxiously looking forward to when the two Britons will finally clash in the ring.

Hence, it is expected to be one of the most talked about and lucrative fights of all time especially if it takes place now that they are still at the peak of their respective boxing career.

But currently, the two fighters are preparing for different bouts. 35-year-old Fury is preparing for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in December, while 34-year-old Anthony Joshua is preparing for his IBF world title fight with Daniel Dubois on September 21.

If Fury beat Usyk and Joshua beat Dubois, the two British veteran boxers will finally face off in a unification bout. But AJ told the BBC that his meeting with Fury is long overdue.

“It’s a fight that’s been brewing for a long time,” Joshua said on Thursday.

“I can’t wait until I’m 50 to fight Fury because I’d have had so many wars, I can’t sit around and wait, I’ve got to continue to fight.”

The Federal Government has through the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), relieved a senior officer at the level of Controller of Corrections and two other personnel of their service over alleged misconduct.

In a statement released on Thursday, the spokesperson for NCoS, ACC Abubakar Umar, said the service had conducted a thorough review of multiple instances of unprofessional conduct and improper behaviour exhibited by its personnel.

These misconducts encompass a range of offences such as unauthorized absence, severe negligence in performing duties, involvement in illicit item trafficking, and manipulation of results, among other transgressions.

The NCoS statement reads: “In a letter by the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire, and Immigration Services Board CDCFIB, a total of 20 personnel have been discharged and acquitted of the various offences for which they were accused, while an officer who was previously suspended was reinstated after the review exercise.

“Three personnel were compulsorily retired, 13 personnel attracted plain warning, while six had their ranks reduced.

“These are in line with the zero tolerance on staff misconduct, a cardinal mantra of the Controller General of Corrections, Haliru Nababa, and targeted toward ridding the Service of unscrupulous elements and misfits, so as to improve professionalism as well as to entrench discipline, ethics and excellence in its officers and men.”

President Joe Biden was supposed to put the nation’s mind at ease over his physical and mental capacity with his debate showing Thursday night. But from the onset of the debate, the 81-year-old struggled seemingly even to talk, mostly summoning a weak, raspy voice.

In the opening minutes, the president repeatedly tripped over his words, misspoke and lost his train of thought.

In one of the most notable moments, Biden ended a rambling statement that lacked focus by saying, “We finally beat Medicare,” before moderators cut him off and transitioned back to Trump.

While Biden warmed up and gained more of a rhythm as the debate progressed, he struggled to land a punch against Trump.

According to NBC news, Trump, unleashing a torrent of bad information — didn’t hesitate to pounce on Biden, saying at one point that he didn’t understand what Biden had just said with regard to the border.

“I don’t know if he knows what he said either,” Trump said.

Nearly an hour into the debate, a Biden aide and others familiar with his situation offered up an explanation for the president’s hoarseness: He has a cold.

Even the Biden campaign acknowledged that the debate would be a critical moment in the election, with officials hoping it could shake up the race to the president’s benefit. Most polls have found the race to be neck and neck, a razor-thin margin that has remained unchanged for months, even after a jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts.

Questions about Biden’s age and frailty have dragged down his polling numbers for months. The public concerns are exacerbated by deceptively edited videos, some of which have gone viral, that cut off relevant portions of an event, making it appear as if Biden is wandering or confused. This was Biden’s first opportunity — since the State of the Union speech — to dispel that narrative.

Instead of a new beginning, many Democrats saw it as a moment for panic.

“Democrats just committed collective suicide,” said one party strategist who has worked on presidential campaigns. “Biden sounds hoarse, looks tired and is babbling. He is reaffirming everything voters already perceived. President Biden can’t win. This debate is a nail in the political coffin.“

“It’s hard to argue that we shouldn’t nominate someone else,” a Democratic consultant who works on down-ballot races added.

Biden did ramp up as the debate progressed.

“Only one of us is a convicted felon, and I’m looking at him,” Biden said to Trump. That was one moment that tested really well with internal simultaneous Biden campaign polling at the time of the debate, according to a person familiar.

A Biden aide said that it was “not an ideal start” for the president at the beginning of the debate, but that there was “no mass panic” at the campaign headquarters in Delaware.

Trump, meanwhile, has fended off his own questions over whether he’s diminished by age, including that he struggles to stay on topic and meanders when speaking. Biden has posited that the former president “snapped” after his 2020 election loss and is unstable. Biden, though, had prepped for the possibility of “two Trumps” appearing on the debate stage Thursday, and had planned to try to bait him into revealing “the true Trump.”

The muting of the microphones, a stipulation agreed to before the debate by both campaigns, added a new dimension to the face-off. The two men’s first match-up in 2020 was marked by repeated interruptions by Trump, leading to moments of frustration for Biden.

“Will you shut up, man?” Biden complained in that first Cleveland debate.

“I’m thinking the Democrats are thinking about who the Barry Goldwater is who can walk in tomorrow and tell the president he needs to step aside,” Ben Proto, chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, said.

In 1974, after key Watergate tapes were made public, then-Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., went to see President Richard Nixon along with other prominent lawmakers and told him that he would be convicted by the Senate and should step aside— which Nixon did

Martin Griffiths, United Nations (UN) under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, says $11 million has been allocated to support the fight against malnutrition in north-east Nigeria.

In a post on X on Thursday, Griffiths said: “Acute malnutrition is increasing rapidly in northeast #Nigeria and food insecurity has reached the highest level in 7 years.”

“To provide immediate support to the most vulnerable, I’ve allocated $11 million from @UNCERF. This is a start; more support is needed,” Griffiths wrote.

In 2023, the UN  listed Nigeria among the 15 countries where children would suffer acute malnutrition and wasting.

In June last year, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said over 700,000 kids in the north-east would require treatment for acute wasting.

In December 2023, Vice-President Kashim Shettima inaugurated the nutrition core working committee to address malnutrition prevalence in Nigeria.

Shettima said the cases of severe malnutrition in Nigeria were at 33 percent, adding that the country loses $2.5 billion to nutrition deficiency annually.

He said only 88 out of 100 children under the age of five can survive the nutrition crisis in Nigeria.

Ola Olukoyede, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has ordered the arrest of two officers of the agency for manhandling a female worker at the Regional Hotel in Ojo, Lagos.

In a statement on Thursday, Dele Oyewale, the EFCC spokesperson, said Olukoyede also ordered a detailed investigation of the operations carried out at the hotel.

A viral video shows some EFCC operatives invading the Regional Hotel on June 27 at about 4am while guests were asleep.

The officers were also seen in the video assaulting a female worker at the hotel while they reportedly fired shots and arrested some people.

“The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has ordered the arrest of two officers of the commission allegedly involved in the manhandling of a female staff member of the Regional Hotel, Ojo, Lagos,” the statement reads.

“The officers were sighted in a viral video assaulting the staff of the hotel in an early morning sting operation in Lagos. The operation yielded a sizable number of suspects who are still being profiled.

“The EFCC’s boss has also ordered detailed investigations of the operation carried out at the hotel and assured that appropriate disciplinary measures would be taken against any of the officers found to be culpable.”

Oyewale added that the EFCC chairman assured Nigerians that the agency would continue to carry out its duties “professionally and with profound respect for the rule of law”.

President Bola Tinubu has approved the National Construction and Household Support Programme during the National Economic Council meeting on Thursday in Abuja.

According to a statement issued by the presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, the programme is aimed at boosting agricultural productivity, strengthening the economy, and providing immediate economic relief for Nigerian households.

Ngelale added that the programme, which was supported by the NEC, includes financial allocations and infrastructure projects across all geo-political zones in the country.

He added that a key component of the programme is the approval of the N50,000 uplift grant to be distributed to 100,000 families per state for three months.

Ngelale revealed that another N155 billion was earmarked for the purchase and distribution of assorted foodstuff across the nation to address concerns about food security and affordability.

He disclosed that the programme will also cater to infrastructure projects, including the Sokoto-Badagry Highway, which will traverse seven states and is considered key for agricultural sustainability. He added  that the states along this axis form the food belt of the nation.

Other infrastructure initiatives include the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Trans-Saharan Highway. Tinubu also approved full counterpart financing for the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Railway and the Ibadan-Abuja segment of the Lagos-Kano Standard-Gauge Railway.

In addition to the projects, Ngelale said the NEC approved the allocation of N10 billion to each state and the Federal Capital Territory for the procurement of buses and implementation of the Compressed natural gas uplift programme.

According to the presidential spokesman, provisions were also made for labour unions and civil society organizations.

During the NEC meeting, Tinubu urged state governors to collaborate in meeting the needs of citizens and boosting food production in the country.

He said, “Our states must work together to deliver on the critical reforms required of us to meet the needs of our people. Time is humanity’s most precious asset. You can never have enough of it. It is getting late.

“We are ready and able to support you in the form of the mechanization of your agricultural processes and the provision of high-quality seedlings.

“We are prepared to provide solar-powered irrigation facilities to support our farmers across seasons, but we must now produce. We must produce the food our people eat, and it will require coordination and intentionality between members of the National Economic Council (NEC).

Nigeria Governors’ Forum or NGF, after its meeting that ended on Thursday morning failed to agree on minimum wage, unlike the proposition from the federal government.

Instead, the NGF pleaded with Labour for more time for expanded consultation to arrive at what would be payable to all.

The federal government had said it was willing to pay N62,000 as minimum wage for workers but deferred a final resolution on the wage it would pay at the last federal executive meeting.

Although the organised labour said it would only take N250,000 as the minimum, it was agreed at the last FEC meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu that more consultation was needed.

It was expected that NGF would make its position known with the least likely being an endorsement of the Federal government proposition of N62,000.

However, rising from its meeting on Thursday morning, the forum via a communique signed by NGF acting Director, Media, Ahmed Salihu, equally said more time was needed for consultation to arrive at a payable wage.

The communique read, “The Forum received a presentation from the Minister of Women Affairs on the World Bank-Nigeria for Women Project Scale-Up, along with other activities of the ministry.

“Members noted the importance of the project and emphasised the need to implement it at the state level as initially conceived, as the states are the primary obligors of the project.

“The governors acknowledge the work and contributions of the Ministry of Women Affairs in promoting gender equality, empowering women, and advancing social development across Nigeria.”

On the issue of the wage, it said, “The Forum discussed the new National Minimum Wage. The governors agreed to continue engaging with key stakeholders to reach a mutually agreeable solution.

“We remain dedicated to the process and assure that better wages will result from the ongoing negotiations.”

The 36 state governors highlighted the significance of the World Bank-Nigeria for Women Project Scale-Up and stressed the necessity of implementing it at the state level as originally intended, given that the states are the primary entities responsible for the project.

“We, members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), at our meeting held today, deliberated on issues affecting the country,” it added.

It stated further that, “Members received the Acting Country Director of the World Bank, Mr Taimur Samad, and his team to discuss the bank’s various programmes currently being implemented in the states, including HOPE Series of Projects: Nigeria Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equality, Food and Nutrition Security, NFWP-SU: Nigeria For Women Project Scale Up, NG-CARES: Nigeria Community Action (for) Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme SABER: State Action on Business Enabling Reforms Program, SPIN: Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria Project.

“Members expressed willingness to continue to provide the much-needed support to ensure programme effectiveness across the country.

“Members received a briefing from Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee. He highlighted the progress made regarding the ongoing Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms. He sought the input and support of their excellencies on a number of proposals which would directly impact the subnational level of government.

“Members pledged their support for the Committee to ensure the successful implementation of these reforms and to collaborate closely to address any challenges that may arise.”