Category: Daily Trust

LOTUS Bank, one of Nigeria’s leading non-interest financial institutions, has been named the Best Ethical and Financial Inclusion Bank of the Year at the 2025 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.

The award recognizes the bank’s strong commitment to ethical banking, financial inclusion, and sustainable prosperity across Nigeria.

Since its establishment, LOTUS Bank has focused on providing innovative, non-interest banking solutions that empower individuals, small businesses, and communities through transparency and shared value.

Reacting to the win, the Acting Managing Director of LOTUS Bank, Dr. Isiaka Ajani-Lawal, expressed appreciation to the award organizers and restated the bank’s mission to make banking a force for good.

‘This award reflects our belief that banking should drive positive change,’ he said, adding, ‘At LOTUS Bank, we are deliberate about creating a system that gives people access to finance built on integrity, empathy, and innovation. We dedicate this recognition to our customers, partners, and employees who share in our vision of ethical prosperity.’

The BAFI Awards, organized annually by BusinessDay, celebrate excellence and innovation in Nigeria’s financial services industry.

‘We see this recognition not as a destination but as a motivation to keep deepening financial inclusion and building a more equitable banking system for everyone,’ Ajani-Lawal added. LOTUS Bank in a statement said it remains committed to offering innovative, non-interest financial products and services that serve the needs of both the banked and unbanked populations.

Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State has said that Africa is not in search of charity but genuine collaboration founded on mutual respect, fairness, and shared values.

A statement issued by the governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, said Lawal made the remarks while delivering the keynote address at the Canada-Africa Trade and Investment Expo 2025, held on September 17 at the Toronto Marriott City Hotel in Canada.

The event, themed ‘Strengthening Canada-Africa Partnerships in Trade, Investment, and Sustainable Growth,’ brought together policymakers, investors, and business leaders to explore opportunities for deeper economic ties between the two continents.

He said: ‘If Africa is to realize its potential fully, we must recognize that development is not just a matter of national policy; it is also a function of sub-national action. While our Federal Governments provide policy direction, it is within our States, provinces, and Local Governments that the promises of trade, investment, and growth must be translated into tangible realities.’

The governor explained that his presence at the event as a state leader underscored the crucial role of sub-national entities in driving Africa’s economic renaissance.

‘Sub-national Governments are the places where farmers cultivate the crops that feed nations, where mining operations either succeed or fail, where young people seek opportunities, and where investors look for clarity, stability, and fair return,’ he said.

Lawal added that Zamfara State is deliberately reshaping its governance and investment environment to attract responsible partners who share the values of transparency, accountability, and sustainability.

‘Agriculture is central to our economy. With over 70% of its land arable, Zamfara could become a food basket for Nigeria and the African continent,’ he said. ‘We seek partnerships in mechanization, irrigation, post-harvest management, storage, and agro-industrial chains. Canadian expertise, paired with our farmers’ resilience, can set a new food security model for Africa.’

The Zamfara State Government has approved the reinstatement and payment of seven months’ salary arrears for 103 teachers earlier affected by the verification exercise conducted by the Ministry of Education, Science and lTechnology.

Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Malam Wadatau Madawaki, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the outcome of the review of the teacher verification exercise.

Madawaki said the affected teachers were wrongly omitted from the list of verified staff due to what he described as ‘commission or by omission’ during the verification process.

‘After the verification exercise, we found out that 103 of these teachers were mistakenly affected. They were supposed to be in the list of declared teachers,’ he explained.

The commissioner said following the discovery, the ministry wrote to Governor Dauda Lawal seeking his approval for the reinstatement of the affected teachers and the payment of their withheld salaries.

‘From January up to July 2025, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology wrote a letter to His Excellency, the Executive Governor, requesting him to graciously approve the registration of these 103 teachers,’ he said.

‘Alhamdulillah, the Executive Governor, as a caring father, has approved their registration and also the payment of their outstanding monthly salaries from January to July 2025’, he said.

He emphasized that the ongoing reforms in the education sector are part of the government’s broader efforts to sanitise the system and ensure efficiency in public service.

Lere Olayinka, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication and Social Media to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has responded to recent comments by Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, accusing him of making unfounded criticisms merely to attract media attention.

Obi had recently visited the LEA Primary School in Kubwa, Abuja, where he described the condition of the school as a ‘national disgrace’ and said it reflected the country’s lack of commitment to education.

He specifically noted that classrooms lacked chairs and toilets.

Obi also stated that, during his time as governor of Anambra State, he visited all primary and secondary schools and left public funds for the state upon leaving office.

But in a statement, Olayinka accused Obi of constant criticism of government actions. He countered that the current FCT administration, under Wike, is renovating 73 schools across the six Area Councils, with 21 already completed.

A Shari’a Court sitting in Danbare, Kano State, has arraigned a man, Malam Shaddadu, for allegedly selling his son’s house without his consent.

The complainant, Muhammad Shaddadu, told the court that his father had previously bought two tricycles for his half-brothers.

He said tragedy struck when one of them was attacked and killed by hoodlums, who also stole his tricycle.

Muhammad explained that his father wrongly blamed him for the incident, took him to court, and he was subsequently remanded in prison. However, he said the court later acquitted him of all charges.

Upon his return home, Muhammad alleged that his father had sold his house, under the assumption that he would not return.

However, when the charge was read, the father denied the allegation and pleaded not guilty.

In his ruling, the presiding judge, Malam Munzali Idris Gwadabe, observed that the matter was a family dispute between father and son.

He subsequently transferred the case to the Court of Arbitration for reconciliation between the parties.

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have launched a deadly ambush on security forces in Kashimiri village, Bama Local Government Area of Borno State, killing the Commanding Officer of the 202 Battalion, five soldiers, and three members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF).

Several other soldiers, including the Commanding Officer of the 222 Battalion, Konduga, sustained injuries, while one soldier was abducted by the assailants.

Daily Trust gathered that the troops, who had conducted a clearance operation on Friday, were ambushed while returning to Bama.

A survivor of the attack said the incident occurred at Kashimiri, located about 25 kilometres from Bama town and 93 kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The soldier said, ‘We were deployed for a clearance operation after intelligence indicated that a coalition of terrorists from various locations had gathered to launch an attack on Bama, Kawuri, or Awulari.

‘Our assignment from the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army was to disrupt their plan. We achieved our mission – destroyed their camp, and rescued women and children. Unknown to us, they had prepared an ambush ahead.

‘We lost the Commanding Officer of the 202 Battalion, five soldiers, and three Civilian JTF members instantly. They opened fire from behind; when we turned to face them, another group launched RPGs from the front. Bullets rained from both sides.

‘The Commanding Officer and the soldiers around him died on the spot. One RPG hit a Civilian JTF member, killing him instantly. It hurts when people say we were killed during a clash – we completed our mission successfully, only to be ambushed on our way back to Bama. That’s the reality of war.’

He further revealed that troops under the Joint Task Force North East, codenamed Operation Hadin Kai, killed dozens of the terrorists during the clearance operation, with several others fleeing with gunshot wounds.

‘They are still picking up the corpses of the terrorists we neutralised, but no one talks about it. As security forces, we are ever ready to sacrifice our lives to protect our nation.

‘We evacuated all eight corpses – five soldiers and three Civilian JTF members – but intercepted radio communications indicating that one of our soldiers, Bello, was captured alive.

‘They use Channel 8 for communication, and we have continued to intercept their signals. They call the names of their fighters, and when someone doesn’t respond, they say, ‘he has slept,’ meaning he’s dead,’ he said.

A senior military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the attack but noted that troop morale remains high.

‘Operations are ongoing on all fronts to maintain pressure on the terrorists, rescue the abducted soldier, and deny them any breathing space,’ he said.

He explained that the troops used motorcycles due to the difficult terrain of the area.

‘They successfully completed their mission, but unfortunately, we lost some of our men. Because of the flexible nature of motorcycle operations, engagements rarely last more than 30 minutes,’ he added.

The source also confirmed that reinforcements had been deployed to track down the abductors.

‘Based on our intelligence, Bello was captured alive, and we will do everything possible to rescue him,’ he said.

Bama has witnessed a resurgence of insurgent activities in recent months.

On September 5, 2025, terrorists killed more than 60 people in an overnight attack on Darul Jamal village, just a few kilometres from the latest ambush site.

Following that attack, the Nigerian Air Force carried out airstrikes that reportedly killed 30 militants after receiving reports of the massacre in the community, where residents had only recently returned after years of displacement.

In another incident, insurgents attacked a military base in Banki, nearly overrunning the barracks and looting arms and ammunition.

Last Friday, I watched the Senate screening of Professor Joash Amupitan with a mild sense of déjà vu. The professor was nominated to fill the vacant post of Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). I wasn’t expecting anything dramatic, as this Senate and the executive have been working hand in glove, and one would not expect them to truncate the nomination. Nevertheless, the senators put some hard questions to Prof Amupitan, and as expected, he answered brilliantly. It was a well-choreographed event which produced the expected result. At the end, the Senate President didn’t even need to count the votes; loud ayes confirmed Prof Amupitan as the next INEC Chairman.

When President Tinubu proposed Prof Amupitan as the new INEC Chairman, what immediately caught the eye was that the president had deemed it convenient to relinquish the post to the region away from his own, as President Goodluck Jonathan did in 2010, when he appointed Professor Attahiru Jega to replace Professor Maurice Iwu. It’s a pity that when Prof Jega’s tenure ended in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari jettisoned that formula and decided to appoint his successor, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, from his home region. As a result, the appointment didn’t sit well with the public and was criticised initially. In the long run, it was only the even-handed performance of Professor Yakubu that overturned the initial misgivings about his appointment.

Prof Amupitan came to the INEC chair with rich credentials. Though born and raised in Kogi State, he lived most of his adult life in Jos. He is a thoroughbred product of the University of Jos (UniJos), having earned most of his academic credentials from there. He studied law there and graduated with an LLB in 1987. After his sojourn in Law School and his call to the Bar, he returned to the university in 1989 and joined his department as an academic. In due course, he earned the LL.M. and the PhD and rose to become a professor.

He went through the mills, teaching and researching, producing learned articles for journals and writing books. For administrative experience, Amupitan headed his department, then became dean of the faculty and rose to the post of Deputy Vice Chancellor of the university. His peers in the learned profession recognised him as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

By a curious coincidence, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who is handing over to Professor Amupitan, also began his academic career in 1986 at the University of Jos. Born and raised in Bauchi State, Yakubu toed the teaching line early in life. He attended the Teachers College, Toro, and proceeded to Sokoto University, where he garnered a first-class degree in history. He is reputed to be the first to have a first-class degree in history from the northern part of the country. He joined UniJos as an academic from 1986 to 1992, and during this period, attended Cambridge University and Oxford University, both in the United Kingdom, for M.Phil. and PhD, respectively.

He thereafter moved to the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, where he served as Head of the Department of History, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, and Dean of the Postgraduate School. As an academic, Yakubu had a pedigree, having published well-regarded books, such as Sa’adu Zungur: An Anthology of the Social and Political Writings of a Nigerian Nationalist and Emirs and Politicians; Reform, Reaction and Recriminations in Northern Nigeria 1950-1966, among others. On many instances, on this page, I have had occasions to make references to Emirs and Politicians, a book that I have found to be unsurpassed in dealing with the intricate and testy relationship between the two antagonists of that period, which still reverberates today.

Prof Yakubu gained further public exposure when he was appointed as the Secretary of the Education Trust Fund (ETF), the precursor of the present-day Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). Shortly after leaving TETFUND, he was named INEC Chairman in 2015. By the time he left INEC, Mahmood Yakubu had served a record of 10 years. His tenure, though long, had been relatively quiet without the hullabaloo that had characterised tenures of past INEC Chairmen. We must admit that Prof Yakubu has been an achiever at INEC, especially by the deployment of technology to solve long-standing credibility problems associated with elections. In particular, the introduction of BVAS and IREV has enhanced confidence in election results and boosted trust in the outcomes of the election more than at any time in the past.

Prof Amupitan will be expected to build on what has so far been achieved in INEC. This much is what he had pledged to the senators during the screening exercise. The great lawyer that he is, I am not surprised that he never shied away from giving a direct answer to each question posed by the senators, even when the query challenged his integrity. When Senator Seriake Dickson asked him to respond to the rumour that during the last presidential election, he was part of the Tinubu defence team at the courts, Prof Amiputan gave a robust reply, challenging any interested party to check the 2023 Law Report and see whether his name was listed among the lawyers in that suit.

Despite efforts to empower Micro and Medium Enterprises in the country, most businesses in the informal sector still earn low amidst high cost of doing business, a report by financial technology company, Monieppint has shown.

According to Moniepoint, the informal economy is still largely youth-driven, with 73 per cent of business owners aged between 18 and 44.

‘Businesses owned by people aged 35-44 increased to 35 per cent, compared to 29 per cent in 2024,’ it noted.

However, the report noted that women-owned enterprises declined slightly to 35 per cent, while men controlled 65 per cent.

It also added that ’44 per cent of informal businesses make less than N20,000 daily in revenue,’ while ’70 per cent earn below N50,000 in profit’ it stated.

A breakdown of the report by Daily Trust further showed that cash remains the dominant payment method for most informal enterprises in Nigeria.

The report launched to mark the fintech’s decade of operation over the weekend noted that one in four informal businesses report that digital payments account for less than 10 per cent of their total business revenue.

‘For most informal businesses, digital payments are an option, and typically not the full story. 1 in 4 of them say that digital payments account for less than 10 per cent of their total business revenue.

‘Only 16 per cent of them say that digital transactions account for over 50 per cent of their business revenue.’

The finding sits alongside other constraints, low profits, multiple levies, and limited access to large loans, which keep most operators reliant on offline transactions despite rising use of transfers for supplier payments.

‘The number of businesses in retail and trade increased to 44 per cent, followed by other services (33 per cent), agriculture (7 per cent), arts, entertainment, and recreation (4 per cent),’ according to the study.

Despite this dominance, ‘profit margins are low and often eroded by inflation, multiple taxation, and lack of access to credit,’ Moniepoint reveals.

Gender inequality persists, as ’41 per cent of women-owned businesses earn less than N10,000 per day in profit, compared to 34 per cent of men-owned.’

The gap underscores structural financial and cultural barriers to female entrepreneurship.

The report details the demographic, operational, financial, and digital trends shaping the sector amid rising inflation and evolving policy efforts.

The South-West, led by Lagos, continues to dominate, hosting one-third of all informal businesses. Lagos alone accounts for ’16 per cent of businesses in the informal sector – about the same as the North-East and South-East combined.’

In terms of structure, 85 per cent of operators are sole proprietors, and only 40 per cent employ labour – mostly one to three workers.

Moniepoint revealed that longer-established businesses are twice as likely to hire staff, indicating that survival and growth are critical to job creation potential.

The report also highlights that many informal operators ‘pay some form of taxes or market levies (89 per cent).’

However, poor understanding of business registration and its benefits continue to deter formalisation.

Under ‘Credit, Taxation, and Financial Behaviour,’ the report indicates that 70 per cent of informal businesses depend on informal credit sources like family and friends, while digital payments are gradually replacing cash transactions, signalling improved financial inclusion.

On the policy front, experts emphasised the need for simplified registration systems, gender-sensitive financial products, and digital literacy support.

Dr. Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro noted that inflation rose from ‘22.41 per cent in May 2023 to 34.8 per cent by December 2024,’ before easing to 21.88 per cent in mid-2025, urging targeted interventions such as conditional cash transfers and accessible credit.

Similarly, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Director-General, Dr. Chinyere Almona, called for ‘coherent regulatory empathy’ and tiered compliance structures to prevent excessive taxation from driving small businesses deeper into informality.

According to Moniepoint, while Nigeria’s informal economy remains resilient and adaptive, structural barriers in finance, regulation, and digital infrastructure hinder its potential to contribute sustainably to GDP and formal employment.

Ahead of the FCT area councils’ chairmanship elections scheduled for February 21, 2026, not less than 104 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kuje Area Council have dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The APC’s chairmanship candidate in the council, Danjuma Samuel Shekwolo, received the decampees at the weekend.

Shekwolo, who was joined by the party chairman, state welfare secretary, and some party leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), received the defectors at a brief ceremony at Kayarda-Kasa in Kuje Area Council.

Our correspondent reports that among the defectors were the Special Adviser on Nomadic Affairs to the incumbent chairman of the Kuje Area Council, Surajo Suman, Alhaji Bala Umar, Mallam Ibrahim Bello, among others.

The APC chairmanship candidate, while addressing the decampees, congratulated them for making a wise decision to join the ruling party and assured them that they would not regret their decision.

He described the decampees as leaders and solid members of the PDP and assured them that the APC would provide equal opportunities and privileges for both old and new members, adding that the party doors were still open for others to join.

Speaking on behalf of the decampees, Mr. Surajo attributed their decisions to the absence of pro-people leadership in the PDP administration in the council.

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has called for disciplinary measures against Aloy Ejimakor, one of the lawyers representing the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Onanuga accused the lawyer of professional misconduct after he participated in a protest in Abuja demanding the release of his client.

Ejimakor was among demonstrators led by activist, Omoyele Sowore, who converged on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Monday to call for Kanu’s freedom.

The IPOB leader has remained in custody since his re-arrest in 2021 and is currently facing trial on charges bordering on treasonable felony. Reacting to the protest, Onanuga took to his official X handle to criticise Ejimakor’s action, describing it as ‘shambolic’ and unbecoming of a legal practitioner.

‘I wonder what Mr. Ejimakor was thinking when he decided to join this shambolic protest,’ Onanuga wrote.

‘As a lawyer, he should be aware of the principle of sub judice, particularly in relation to the ongoing treason case before the court.

‘The prosecution has concluded its case, and it is now incumbent upon Mr. Ejimakor and the other lawyers to mount a strong defence for Kanu.’

The presidential aide accused Ejimakor of abandoning his professional responsibilities in favour of what he termed ‘extra-legal tactics’ aimed at influencing judicial proceedings.

‘Rather than focusing on preparing a strong case, Mr. Ejimakor has resorted to extra-legal tactics, joining a career anarchist, to influence the process,’ Onanuga said.

He further questioned the lawyer’s adherence to professional ethics and urged relevant legal bodies to intervene.

‘Ejimakor’s action questions his commitment to the ethics of the legal profession. Legal authorities should consider appropriate sanctions for the unethical conduct of the bearded lawyer,’ he added.

Meanwhile, Ejimakor said he had been arrested alongside some protesters and taken to the Federal Capital Territory Police Command headquarters in Abuja.

The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), which is responsible for maintaining ethical standards within the profession, is yet to issue any statement regarding Onanuga’s call.