- NATCOM seeks two-week extension for NIN-SIM linkage deadline
- Nigerian banks lose $25.7 million to fraud in Q2 2024
- FAO warns of worsening food insecurity, says 31.8m at risk
We have highlighted the five most important developments in the news today, Monday, September 16, and present them below.
5 issues in the news that should matter to you today
1. NATCOM seeks two-week extension for NIN-SIM linkage deadline: The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers has appealed to the Nigerian Communications Commission for an extension of the NIN-SIM linkage deadline from September 14 to September 30.
The National President of NATCOMS, Mr Deolu Ogunbanjo, said on September 15 that an extension was needed due to challenges with the National Identity Management Commission’s portal.
2. Obi slams Presidency over attempt to divert attention with US polls: The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 elections, Mr Peter Obi, has flayed the Presidency over what he described as a futile attempt to cast him in a bad light using the American presidential election.
Obi, who spoke through his media office in a statement titled “Why desperate OBI traducers are kissing the dust?” signed by his spokesman, Ibrahim Umar, in Abuja on September 15, said desperate propagandists, along with their presidential enablers, were indulging in the distortion of facts in a bid to destroy his impeccable image.
3. Nigerian banks lose $25.7 million to fraud in Q2 2024: The Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), a Nigerian financial training and research centre, has reported a significant rise in fraud losses across the country's banking sector in Q2 2024.
In its recently released Fraud and Forgeries Report, FITC reported that fraud cases in Nigerian banks increased only slightly in Q2 2024, with 11,532 incidents compared to Q1’s 11,472. Yet, there was a massive jump in the amount lost to fraud from ₦468 million ($283,000) in Q1 2024 to ₦42.6 billion ($25.7 million) in Q2 2024.
4. SERAP sues Fed Govt over petrol price hike: The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued the federal government over the failure to direct the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to reverse what it termed an unlawful increase in the pump price of petrol. The suit was also filed over the government's failure to probe the allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the NNPCL.
Joined in the suit as respondents are the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), and the NNPCL.
5. FAO warns of worsening food insecurity, says 31.8m at risk: The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned about worsening food insecurity in Nigeria following escalating floods in many states.
The organisation, a United Nations (UN) agency, said in a statement on September 15 that nearly 31.8 million Nigerians are currently at risk of acute food insecurity. It noted that the ravaging floods have already impacted 2.5 million people and displaced 200,000 in 29 states.