Top 5 Stories Of The Day | Tinubu Sacks Five Ministers, Appoints Seven and Reshuffles Cabinet

• Tinubu sacks five ministers, appoints seven and reshuffles cabinet
• CBN announces Diaspora Nigerians will get a non-residential BVN platform
• FG drops all charges against Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan
• Falz reveals that VeryDarkMan could be arrested
• Nigeria’s debt hits ₦134 trillion in the second quarter of 2024

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss.

Tinubu sacks five ministers, appoints seven and reshuffles cabinet

Upon returning to the office after his two-week leave, the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, reshuffled his cabinet as he sacks five ministers and appointed seven new Ministers.

The President made a shocking move on Wednesday, 22 October by sacking five Ministers. The ministers fired were Uju-Ken Ohanenye (Minister of Women Affairs), Lola Ade-John (Minister of Tourism), Tahir Mamman (Minister of Education), Jamila Ibrahim (Minister of Youth Development), and Abdullahi Gwarzo (Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development).

Though it was tragic to witness the release of these five ministers, the newly appointed ministers in President Tinubu’s cabinet are Bianca Ojukwu (Minister of State Foreign Affairs), Dr Nentawe Yilwatda (Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction), Yusuf Abdullahi (Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development), Jumoke Oduwole (Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment), Maigari Dingyadi (Minister of Labor and Employment), Suwaiba Said (Minister of State Education), and Mukhtar Maiha (Minister of Livestock Development).

CBN announces Diaspora Nigerians will get a non-resident BVN platform

Ahead of the return of Diasporan Nigerians returning to the country for festivities in December, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso has announced that the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System will launch a non-resident Bank Verification Number (BVN) platform.

The purpose of this platform is to aid Diasporan Nigerians to manage their domestic bank accounts, perform transactions and meet the KYC requirements.

“Starting in December 2024, Nigerians in the diaspora will no longer face the hurdle of travelling long distances for physical biometric verifications to access financial services,” the Governor said.

FG drops all charges against Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan

The federal government has surprisingly dropped all charges against convicted Binance Holdings executive, Tigran Gambaryan, releasing him to treat himself as he had fallen very ill in custody.

Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen and an alleged executive in crypto firm Binance Holdings was accused of money laundering by the EFCC in April and has been in Nigeria’s custody, with judge Emeka Nwite denying him bail twice.

Falz reveals that VeryDarkMan could be arrested

Nigerian singer and rapper, Folarin Falana (Falz) spoke up in a recent interview on a podcast, explaining what transpired between him and controversial self-proclaimed activist Martins Vincent Otse (VeryDarkMan).

When asked about the allegations that VeryDarkMan had levied against him and his father, Femi Falana, Falz stated that he could have had the activist arrested for his allegations which were unpleasant and damaging to his image as a public figure. He also said Martins has refused to take down the video so the rest of the conversation will be done in court as he has also not fully apologised for his actions.

“He could very well have been arrested, but I chose not to go down that route. Now they’re trying to paint a narrative that my family and I are oppressors because we have legal power. Come on, I don’t look for trouble,” Falz said.

Nigeria’s debt hits ₦134 trillion in the second quarter of 2024

The Nigerian economy further sinks into debt as its public debt has now passed a milestone of ₦130 trillion only in the second quarter of 2024.

This report is a sharp increase from the previously recorded debt of ₦121 trillion. The reason for the country’s debt can be traced to the naira devaluation, as the foreign exchange rate between the naira and the dollar has not changed much.

Nigeria’s debt is separated into two, domestic and external loans, with 53% being local and owed to creditors within Nigeria and 47% being owed to external creditors. The local debt amount is ₦71 trillion and the international debt is ₦63 trillion.