Author: Opalim Lifted

Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says the country is set to play a central role in designing Africa’s future single-currency framework, following the African Union’s latest approvals on the African Monetary Institute (AMI). On February 13, the executive council of the AU agreed to grant Nigeria a permanent seat on the board of the African Central Bank (ACB). In a recent statement, Cardoso said the decision for Nigeria to host the African Monetary Institute (AMI) and, eventually, the African Central Bank (ACB) positions the country at the heart of Africa’s emerging monetary union and strengthens…

The United Kingdom has announced that all new UK Visit visas for Nigerian travellers will be issued digitally from February 25, 2026, marking a major step in modernising its visa process. In a statement signed on Monday by the Senior Press and Public Affairs Officer at the British High Commission, Onyinye Madu, the UK said that from the effective date, Nigerian applicants will receive an electronic visa (eVisa) instead of the traditional vignette sticker in their passports. “The only change is the visa format: travellers will now access their visa digitally through a UKVI account,” the statement explained. The move…

Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have intercepted N37 million and several mobile phones suspected to be linked to terrorist financing in Borno State. In a statement on Monday, Sani Uba, media information officer of the North-East Joint Task Force, said the recovery was made at the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Chabbal checkpoint. Uba said troops stopped a vehicle conveying five occupants, three men and two women, and discovered about N37 million concealed in bags. He added that multiple mobile phones, believed to be connected to terrorist coordination and funding activities, were also recovered from the suspects. He noted that the…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained Nasir el-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State, over alleged financial improprieties during his time in office. Sources confirmed that the EFCC detained Nasir El-Rufai on Monday after he voluntarily honoured an invitation at the agency’s headquarters. Investigators are questioning him over allegations of mismanagement and diversion of public funds while serving as governor between 2015 and 2023. “He is in our custody, and he is going to spend the night there,” a source disclosed. The detention comes months after the Kaduna State House of Assembly indicted El-Rufai in 2024 over…

Robert Duvall, the US actor best known for his roles in The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, has passed away at the age of 95. Luciana Duvall, his wife, announced his death in a statement shared on his Facebook page on Monday. Sharing a photo of herself and Robert, she disclosed that he “passed away peacefully” at home on Sunday. She also praised his dedication to his craft and expressed appreciation to those who supported him throughout his career. “Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away…

X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has been restored after a global outage. The outage, which began on Monday afternoon, affected both the mobile app and the desktop website, leaving users worldwide unable to access the service. When attempting to visit the site, users were greeted by a blank page displaying only the platform’s X logo, with no timeline or posts loading. According to outage-tracking website Down Detector, the problem appeared to be global, with users across multiple continents reporting access issues. Unlike many major tech companies that operate dedicated status pages to keep users informed during…

The United States (US) has frozen the assets of eight Nigerians over alleged links to extremist groups, including Boko Haram and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The action was detailed in a 3,000-page publication released on February 10 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the sanctions arm of the United States Department of the Treasury. The document, titled the “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List”, outlines individuals and entities whose assets have been frozen under US counter-terrorism sanctions. Among those listed is Salih Yusuf Adamu, also known as Salihu Yusuf, born August 23, 1990. OFAC…

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State has apologised after mistakenly listing a deceased Army General and a serving Supreme Court Justice among stakeholders invited to a meeting with Governor Bassey Edet Otu. The party admitted the error following public outrage over the controversial invitation list circulated ahead of its pre-congress stakeholders’ meeting. In a statement dated February 15, 2026, and signed by the state Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Edem Inyang, the APC acknowledged that several names were published in error and have now been withdrawn. Those affected include the late Major General Edward Ushie Unimna, whose death and…

An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness on Monday linked a series of fund transfers traced to the Kogi State Government to Ali Bello, chief of staff to Usman Ododo, governor of the state, in the ongoing N10.2 billion fraud trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja. Ahmed Abubakar, the 17th prosecution witness and an EFCC investigator, told the court that financial records recovered during the investigation detailed inflows and outflows allegedly connected to Bello and his co-defendant, Dauda Sulaiman. Ali, a nephew of Yahaya Bello, former Kogi governor, and Sulaiman are standing trial on a 16-count amended…

The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed a three-count charge against Nasir El-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State, for allegedly intercepting the telephone conversation of Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser (NSA). The charge was filed by DSS counsel on Monday at the Federal High Court in Abuja. DSS said the alleged offences contravene the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, and the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003. According to the charge, El-Rufai allegedly admitted during an interview on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme in Abuja on February 13, 2026, that he and his associates unlawfully intercepted the phone…