The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must choose its fights sensibly. An Ijele doesn’t go about dancing at babies’ birthday parties just to be noticed. The EFCC must leave some jobs for local Police DPOs. So, it can focus on serious financial crimes. This gbegboro attitude inhibits specialisation. More importantly, the EFCC must never forget that it wrestles against principalities and powers against whom it needs the confidence of the masses. Seeking to clean cobwebs while elephants freely defecate in the room is self-deceit.

The EFCC has recently set up a task force to prevent the abuse of the Nigerian currency, the naira. The focus of this task force has been on preventing celebrities and, perhaps, the public from spraying the naira at social events, as the EFCC sees this as a form of irreparable damage to the currency. Although the law is in place to preserve currency notes and save reprinting costs, the EFCC has taken it to be a serious financial crime. If lawmakers had trained their focus on stopping the display of exhibitionism or money worship in order to prevent the spread of lasciviousness and reset societal values rather than mere naira abuse, the people would have been happy. However, enforcing laws against harmless cultural practices portrays law enforcement as bereft of a critical sense of priorities.

In the United States, celebrities spray money on strippers. So, spraying cash on people isn’t such a universal crime as the EFCC’s preoccupation with it suggests. In Igbo land, if a grandma dances, she has to be sprayed cash. Putting the money in her bag or pocket drains the ritual of the ceremony. If that damages the naira, then the quality of the notes needs improvement to meet significant cultural uses. Money is more than a sterile medium of exchange. We used to have pseudo-plastic notes in the past. But this new meddlesome law also forbids the throwing of coins. So, the primary motivation for the prohibition can’t even be mutilation because it’s so non-discriminating. Now, the EFCC wastes its time and scarce resources pursuing young men and women spraying their hard-earned naira on their friends and relatives while indicted criminal suspects occupy ministerial positions at the nation’s capital

An institution with limited resources ought to define its priorities soberly. While the EFCC was running around Borisky, Yahaya Bello, who likes to call his narcissistic self White Lion, was still at large. If the EFCC was thinking of the Broken Windows Theory, then it should have focused on the obscene display of wealth, not the spraying of naira, which almost all poor and decent people in Nigeria do anyway. Now, Bobrisky is in prison after pleading guilty as a first offender, but Yahaya Bello can’t be arrested.

He wasn’t arrested a couple of days ago because after the EFCC laid a siege on the house where he refuged, the policemen protecting the man at large shut out the EFCC violently. That wasn’t the peak of the absurdity. While the EFCC agents were languishing in helplessness under the angry sun, a governor stormed the cordoned area with thugs and gained easy entrance into the house. The humiliated EFCC men watched like schoolboys. Such life-sucking impotence. All these happened a stone’s throw from the seat of power. The godson shoved the EFCC aside and whisked away his godfather from the trembling hands of the timid law. Sheer movie stuff. Blockbuster gangsterism.

After the EFCC chickened away in peace, it issued a press release. In that gutless release, it couldn’t dare to be specific let alone name names. In that statement that reeked of abject impotence, it found the verve to warn the public that in future, it would deal decisively with people who employed thugs to disrupt or obstruct its operations. A governor might have immunity, but does his immunity permit him to handcuff EFCC agents or commit criminal offences while law enforcement agents watch?

His immunity doesn’t confer anything on all the aides and security agents who may choose to assist him in committing the crime before newsmen.The next day was court sitting. Yahaya bello was still at large. The EFCC said they could be forced to invite the military to assist them. What more do they want to suffer? However, that statement was a naked indictment of the police and DSS. Granted, both can’t often handle bandits, but should a chicken-hearted white lion hiding in the Government House in Lokoja require military intervention too?

The helpless EFCC has declared the man wanted, begging the public to help track the man. The public is supposed to find the man the EFCC had in its claws and let a baby governor snatch away? The public should find a man being protected by the state. The world is watching. The Attorney General could have struck while it was hot in Abuja. But he dilly-dallied. A firm pronouncement from the Chief Law Officer to the police and DSS would have drained courage from the lawless governor.

When the Attorney General woke up from slumber the next day, he preached that citizens must always submit themselves to law enforcement agents when needed. He called no names. He issued no public orders. Tepidly, he said the world would have no respect for the country if governors started to act like wild animals. Such preposterous lukewarmness. Tomorrow, we will attend an African Union meeting and expect respect. He should remind the president that foreign investors are watching the spectacle of the travesty of the rule of law.

This atrocious precedent took place under the presidency’s nose. Many thought that naked disruption of EFCC operations by other law enforcement agents had ended with Buhari. If it had been some Bobrisky rather than the revered Bobkogi who mobilised thugs to evade that arrest, the security agencies would have remembered they had breached presidential security. Rightly, but belatedly, the policemen attached to Yahaya Bello have been withdrawn, but when will they be prosecuted? After all, we are only a generator republic and not yet a plantain republic.

The EFCC must choose its fights wisely. Some bemused young people are now planning to switch to spraying dollars at social events. That could mean more naira chasing the dollar. Some laws only exist to be part of the general legal architecture. And there are others, that must attract attention and venom. The EFCC’s greatest existential problem is corrupt politicians. However, it appears the agency has an exceptionally elastic capacity to absorb humiliation from powerful politicians.

Often, the public looks away with disinterest not just because the EFCC likes to make up by chasing small fries, but after the EFCC went through the roof to arrest Rochas and charge him, the then Federal Attorney General hijacked the case from the EFCC. That gradual and steady emasculation of the EFCC by big politicians has been quickened by Ododo. He knows he will suffer no consequences. Last year, an ex-governor publicly ridiculed the EFCC chairman who had fingered him for corruption. That ex-governor is now a minister. The EFCC lingers on his filthy files.

How does the EFCC feel when it goes against relatively innocuous offenders while those who have embezzled the state into penury swagger about in the corridors of power and thump their noses at it? Bobrisky went to prison at the speed of light. Bobkogi is still at large. When he is eventually arraigned, he might appear in a lion-skinned attire. His lawyers will secure his bail despite his having shown that he is a flight risk. Then he will return to Kogi to a hero’s welcome, drums beating, and women dancing under the sun, all arranged by his godson, Ododo. Most of the policemen withdrawn from him will return with him to Kogi for the triumphant homecoming. They might even receive awards from the state. We live right in a circus. Aristotle said, “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice, he is the worst.”

The EFCC must reassess its priorities to prevent politicians from turn the eagle into a chicken, a scaveger for small things.

At the end of AFCON 2023 in February, Jose Paseiro, the Portuguese Manager that took the Super Eagles to Cote D’Ivoire became history. His contract was not renewed by the Nigeria Football Federation despite getting to the final of the championship and putting up a credible performance through most of the championship. The majority of Nigerian football fans insist that he is not good enough for Nigeria’s ambitions into the future.

Since then, some 6 weeks later, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, have been unable to announce a new gaffer for the senior national team. There appears to be a ‘go slow’ at the bottleneck of selecting the right manager for what would be a new national team.

Two friendly matches were played under a temporary arrangement with the Nigerian assistant coach to Paseiro, Finidi George, in charge. The team won the first friendly against Ghana, but lost the second. The loss to Mali may have sealed Finidi’s fate as the new coach. Despite the team’s unpreparedness for the insignificant friendly match, Finidi working alone on the bench without any other member of the technical crew, and several players not available or reluctant to play, those that don’t like the face of a Nigerian as head, have been unrelenting in condemning Finidi’s seemingly poor technical performance in that match.

Since then, with 6/7 weeks to the next very important World Cup qualifying match to play, the debates and controversy have dominated the media space over who should lead the team. Should it be another foreigner, or a Nigerian for a change? There have been 200 million opinions. Every Nigerian has become an expert. In the midst of these discordant voices, the NFF must make an announcement soon.

One thing is clear, except amongst some academic hard-line critics of Nigerian coaches, there appears to be little appetite for another half-baked foreign coach in Nigeria. The rackets attached to the hiring of foreign coaches may not find accommodation in a beleaguered government trying to reduce corruption in the system. The NFF does not have the funds, and the federal government will not accommodate the humongous fees of foreign coaches in the present dispensation.

So, it will be a Nigerian as next manager of the Super Eagles.

Why has the NFF not identified the most suitable amongst those that have indicated an interest, or that the body has identified and appointed a new national coach?

There is a lot of politicking ongoing. Nigerian coaches appear not to tick all the boxes of requirements, not eliciting the confidence of several officials of the NFF with vested interest in particular aspirants.

As things stand, however, a decision has to be taken now.

Most fingers point in the direction of a former international player.

He appears to be the preferred choice of most Nigerians in the media, particularly the social media.

I will not be surprised if Emmanuel Amuneke gets the final nod to lead the team. It will become a huge task to dispel the serious reservations about his choice by those familiar with his antecedents when he was in one of the junior teams.

PARIS 2024 Olympics – My Olympics story!

I have just made up my mind to attend the Paris Olympic Games this summer.

It will be my first time at the Olympics and not as an athlete.

In 1976, at the Montreal Olympics in Canada, I attended as an athlete but did not participate. Along with the rest of the world, I tasted the incursion of politics into sport and the first deployment of sports diplomacy in international affairs. the names of all the athletes from 30 countries that were involved in the boycott of the games were not recorded in the International Directory of Olympians at the International Olympic Committee, IOC.

In 1980, without officially qualifying for the Moscow Games, but benefitting from the crisis that followed Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan, leading to the boycott by several Western countries led by the USA, the Green Eagles were invited to the Moscow Olympics. I led the Nigerian national football team and doubled as co-captain (with Ahmeed Adio) of the overall contingent to become a registered member of the exclusive club of Olympians.

I would have attended the 1996 Games in Atlanta, USA, as manager of Chioma Ajunwa and Charity Opara. Unfortunately, when I applied for a visa to the Games from my base in the UK at the time, the interview date given at the American embassy was weeks after the Games would have ended. That’s how I sat at home in London, and missed the opportunity of attending the Olympics as a manager of athletes. My two wards won a Gold and a Silver medal.

At the 2010 Games in London. I was at ‘home’. I watched the Games as a tourist, attending a few events LIVE from the stands, but most from the giant screens at the Nigerian village set up for the huge Nigerian population in the UK.

During the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, I became inventive. I did the seemingly impossible. I became an invisible ‘fly on the wall’ reporting from Nigeria everything about the Nigerian contingent at the games with the deployment of technology and the collaboration of athletes and officials at the games.

Now, Paris 2024 Games are here.

I have a strong feeling Nigeria will come away with several medals. The feeling is strong. There are some obvious athletes in the winning zone already.

Having said that, the spirit of the Olympics is more in participating than in winning. That’s why as many athletes as have achieved the qualifying times and distances should be given the opportunity to experience the Olympics. I hope Nigeria will take all the athletes that attain the qualifying standards to Paris 2024.

Winning’ is not only about coming ‘first’.

From AFCON 2023, Nigeria gave a new and interesting definition to ‘winning’.

The country’s national team, the Super Eagles, for 4 weeks, provided the glue that united the country at a time when the country was going through difficult times in perennial economic, political and social challenges. As the Super Eagles, a team that was not given a chance to win by fanatical Nigerian football fans on the even of the championship, started to play well and to win matches in dramatic fashion, the spirit of nationalism took over the country. Temporarily, for a few weeks, Nigerians set aside their hardship, divisions and differences, and focused attention on the feel-good success of the Eagles on the football field. Even President Bola Tinubu became a part of the championship, following the Super Eagles on television all the way to the final match. With hopes sky-high, the entire country rallied around the team and supported their bid to win the most prestigious sports trophy in Africa, only for the hopes to be dashed at the last hurdle.

Despite the disappointment of that defeat, the country demonstrated uncommon appreciation of what the team had done for the psyche of the citizens during the period, a reminder of positive possibilities beyond AFCON, by spreading out the Red Carpet to welcome back the football heroes, compensating the team that came second with rewards unheard of in sports history. It was a beautiful confirmation of that Olympic truism that to be a ‘winner’ you do not have to come ‘first’.

God willing, I shall be at the Paris 2024 Olympics to report Nigeria’s success, first hand!

Nigerian chess master, Tunde Onakoya has reached a Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon when he reached the 57-hour mark, surpassing the previous record of 56 hours and 9 minutes.

Onakoya currently aims to reach the 58-hour target.

The previous record of 56 hours, 9 minutes, was held by Norwegian players Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad in 2018.

According to The Gift of Chess on X who posted at 12:34 am on Saturday, “56 Hours Straight. The Record Is SET TO BREAK.”

Recall Vanguard reported how Multiple award-winning Afrobeat singer, Davido and other Nigerian celebrities had turned up to cheer Onakoya while he attempted to set this record.

Details later …

The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, Richard Teng, yesterday said that the company is working very closely with Nigerian authorities following the detention of the company’s Head of Financial Crime Compliance.

A Nigerian court has adjourned until May 2 a case against the executive, Tigran Gambaryan, and another Binance official, who are accused of laundering more than $35 million, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said on April 8.

“What I can say is we are working very closely with the Nigerian authorities to try to resolve the matter,” CEO Richard Teng said, while speaking about Gambaryan’s case at a crypto conference in Dubai.

The other executive Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan who is a regional manager for Africa, fled Nigeria last month.

Anjarwalla and Gambaryan flew to Nigeria following the country’s decision to ban several cryptocurrency trading websites and were detained on arrival on February 26 by EFCC.

In addition to the case brought by the anti-graft agency, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria’s tax agency, has charged Binance and the executives with tax evasion, a case that will be mentioned before a court today (Friday).

“This was a one-off. It’s never happened to us before,” Binance’s Head of Regional Markets, Vishal Sacheendran told Reuters on the sidelines of the Dubai conference when asked about the detentions.

Sacheendran declined to comment on the charges against the company.

A money laundering case to the tune of N300m against former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke has ended after seven years.

The presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed the trial on Friday.

Ekwo upheld Adoke’s “no-case” submission against the money laundering charges against him because the prosecution, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) failed to establish a prima facie case against him.

In 2017, the EFCC had prosecuted Adoke and a property developer, Abubakar Aliyu, alleging money laundering.

charges before Justice Abubakar Kutigi of the FCT High Court, even though the case did not mention the Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 transaction.

Although the EFCC admitted before Ekwo that it was a mortgage that Adoke took from Unity Bank, it alleged before Kutigi that the money was a bribe from the sale of the oil block by Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd. in 2011.

However, on March 28, Kutigi identified the paradox, and subsequently dismissed the charges against Adoke and other defendants, chiding the EFCC for wasting the court’s time for four years.

Ekwo further upheld the no-case submission, and consequently discharged and acquitted Adoke.

The Commissioner of Police, FCT, CP Benneth Igweh, has expressed heartfelt gratitude on behalf of the management and personnel of the FCT Police Command for the kind gesture of the minister, FCT, Chief Barr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, for fulfilling his promise to the Command.

The minister had directed the FCT Command to hunt down and arrest or neutralize two wanted bandit/kidnapping kingpins who had been terrorizing Abuja particularly the Bwari, Dutse Alhaji and Kubwa axis.

He backed the decisive action/directive by placing a bounty of twenty million naira (₦20million) on two notorious and most wanted kidnappers on February 14, 2024, and has matched his words with action following the arrest of the two wanted kidnappers.

A statement by FCT Command said, “The implementation of such measures reflects the minister’s leadership and responsiveness to the security and safety of residents.

“The Command is therefore highly honored and grateful for his unflinching and continuous support in combating crime and ensuring the well-being of the residents.

“The CP ensured that the fund was distributed amongst the tactical teams and the divisional police officers of the command to ensure better service delivery.

“He also reassures the Minister and the residents of FCT that the command under his leadership will leave no stone unturned in the fight against crime and criminality and will continue to work assiduously to ensure the safety of residents.

“He urges residents to be vigilant and take advantage of the police emergency lines to report suspicious activities through: 08032003913, 08028940883, 08061581938, and 07057337653 PCB:
09022222352, CRU: 08107314192″

The Nigerian Senate has postponed the resumption of plenary from the 23rd of April 2024 to the 30th.

The postponement was contained in a notice issued by the Clerk to Senate, Chinedu Akubueze which was released on Thursday in Abuja.

Part of the notice read: “Distinguished Senators are hereby, respectfully informed that resumption of plenary, which was earlier postponed to Tuesday 23rd April 2024, has further been postponed to *Tuesday 30th April 2024 at 11 am.

“Kindly note that the plenary sitting will be held at the main Chamber of the Senate.

“All inconveniences this postponement may cause Distinguished Senators are highly regretted, please.”

DAILY POST reports that the latest postponement is the second since Lawmakers in the upper and lower legislative Chambers went on Easter and Sallah recess.

President Bola Tinubu has said his administration remains undeterred in its pursuit of comprehensive economic security for the country.

He also promised to address foundational challenges and create a fair and equitable system in which all Nigerians can thrive.

Tinubu made the promise when he received leaders of Afenifere, the respected Yoruba Socio-Cultural Organization, at the State House in Abuja, on Wednesday.

President Tinubu said his administration is re-engineering Nigeria’s finances and seeking to boost the purchasing power of citizens and spread prosperity down the line, by instituting a credit system where the element of cash is not an impediment to a significantly enhanced standard of living for all citizens.

The President said Nigeria must secure itself economically first before it can achieve any of its more sophisticated objectives.

He said: ‘’We are committed to the economic survival of our country. To re-engineer the finances of our country, we must start in earnest. So first, retool, revamp the economic opportunities available, and resolve to continue taking the firm and steady baby steps that are necessary.

‘’Education is a strong weapon against poverty. To empower the people, we must invest in the future of our youths. We have seen the problems parents face in training their children in school; it is the reason why we established the National Student Loan Programme, which is taking off well.

‘’We are equally examining what to do with the high degree of unemployment. We must help vulnerable people by providing social security. We are looking at how to provide allowances for the unemployed, and we are developing ways to boost the purchasing power of citizens with the Consumer Credit Scheme. If we remove the cash upfront element to buy a car or a house, we will reduce the propensity for fraud and corruption across the land.”

Speaking on security, the President declared that those who threaten the sovereignty of Nigeria would pay a heavy price.

“I am irrevocably committed to the unity of Nigeria and constitutional democracy. Constitutional democracy has been reflected greatly here since we assumed office.

“What we face now is the challenge of terrorism. Security of life and property is very necessary for development. I can tell you we are achieving success. We have degraded terrorism to a level that they cannot threaten the sovereignty of Nigeria any longer.

‘“Banditry and kidnapping will be defeated. And there is no payment of ransom whatsoever. We are taking the battle to them. We are getting results more rapidly than before.

“We are working hard on intelligence gathering. Those who think they can threaten the sovereignty of Nigeria will have themselves to blame. They have a price to pay. And we are not going to relent,’’ he affirmed.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will today (Thursday) arraign a former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

Naija News reports that the governor will be arraigned alongside three other suspects, Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman, and Abdulsalam Hudu.

The EFCC is arraigning them before Justice Emeka Nwite on 19-count charges bordering on money laundering to the tune of N80, 246,470, 088.88 (Eighty Billion, Two Hundred and Forty-Six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand and Eight Nine Naira, Eighty Eight Kobo).

They will face 19 counts of alleged fraud in a charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/98/2024 filed on March 6, 2024, by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr. Kemi Pinheiro.

Pinheiro and two other SANs – Jubrin Okutepa and Rotimi Oyedepo – will lead seven other lawyers from the EFCC against the defendants.

Count 1 of the charge reads: “That you, Yahaya Adoza Bello, Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman, and Abdulsalam Hudu (Still at large), sometime in February 2016, in Abuja, conspired amongst yourselves to convert the total sum of N80,246,470,089.88 which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activity to wit: criminal breach of trust and you thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 18(a) and punishable under Section 15(3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended.”

Count 2: “That you, Yahaya Adoza Bello, sometime in 2023, in Abuja, indirectly procured one Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman, and Abdulsalam Hudu (still at large) to use the sum of N950,000,000.00 for the acquisition a property lying, being and situate at No. 35 Danube Street, Maitama District, Abuja, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of your unlawful activity to wit: criminal breach of trust, and you thereby committed an offense contrary to section 18 (c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.”

Count 3: “That you, Yahaya Adoza Bello, sometime in February 2021 in Abuja, indirectly procured one Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman and Abdulsalam Hudu (still at large) to use the sum of N100,000,000.00 for the acquisition a property lying, being and situate at No. 1160, within Cadastral Zone C03, Gwarimpa II District, Abuja, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of your unlawful activity to wit: criminal breach of trust, and you thereby committed an offense contrary to section 18(c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.”

Count 4 “That you, Yahaya Adoza Bello, sometime between 2018 to 2020, indirectly procured one Yakubu Siyaka Adegbenga, Iyadi Sadat and Abba Adaudu to use the sum of N920,000,000.00, for the acquisition a property lying, being and situate at No.2 Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Street, Asokoro, Abuja, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of your unlawful activity to wit: criminal breach of trust, and you thereby committed an offense contrary to section 18(c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.”

Count 5: “That you, Yahaya Adoza Bello, sometime in 2022, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, indirectly procured one Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman, Rabiu Musa Tafada Global Ventures and Abdulsalam Hudu (still at large) to use the sum of N170,000,000.00 for the acquisition of a property lying, being and situate at block D Manzini Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of your unlawful activity to wit: criminal breach of trust, and you thereby committed an offense contrary to section 18(c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.”

The EFCC also accused Bello of procuring a firm to transfer the aggregate sum of US$570,330.00 to an account number in TD Bank, United States of America, “which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of unlawful activity to wit: Criminal breach of trust.”

The last count accused the former Kogi State Governor of indirectly procuring E-Traders International Limited, Aleshua Solutions Services, Whales Oil and Gas, Forza Oil and Gas, Dada Grand Merchant Limited to transfer $556,265 to account number 4266644272 domiciled in TD Bank, United States of America “which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of unlawful activity to wit: Criminal Misappropriation and you thereby committed an offense contrary to section15(2)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15(3) of the same Act.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reduced the Loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) of banks to 50 per cent from 65 per cent.

The apex bank made this known in a circular to Deposit Money Banks titled “Re: Regulatory Measures to Improve Lending to the Real Sector of the Nigerian Economy”.

The circular was signed by the Acting Director of the Banking Supervision Department, CBN, Adetona Adedeji.

In a bid to increase lending to the economy especially Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, retail mortgage and consumer loans, the CBN on July 3, 2019, increased Banks’ LDR to 60 per cent from 57 per cent.

The LDR was further raised to 65 per cent in January 20020.

The reduction in the LDR according to analysts at Afrinvest Securities is to allow banks to comply with the Cash Reserve Ratio, CRR of 45 per cent.

They said, “Today, the CBN in a circular to Deposit Money Banks titled “Re: Regulatory Measures to Improve Lending to the Real Sector of the Nigerian Economy” announced a scale down of the Loans to Deposits Rate (LDR) by 15.0ppts to 50.0% – reversing previous threshold set by the past CBN administration in January 2020.

“In our view, this downward review of LDR allows banks to comply with the 45.0% CRR directive, and eases off pressure on the lenders considering the restrictive nature of other CBN directives including the Net Open Position (NOP) ceiling of 20.0% short and 0.0% long. Thus, we believe this policy would enhance the ability of banks to sweat out assets without creating unnecessary risks.”