• CIA affirms President Tinubu is an active asset
• CBN claims 28 million Nigerians have no access to banking
• Nigeria and Saudi Arabia set eyes on improving Nigeria’s energy and agriculture sector
• Minister of Interior reveals Nigerian international airports got an upgrade in identifying travellers
• Naira trades at ₦1,689/$, crashes to lowest exchange rate in history in the official window

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

CIA affirms President Tinubu is an active asset

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has released a document alleging that Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is an active asset to the agency.

The exposure of Tinubu as an asset happened at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia as the CIA, FBI, and DEA filed a memorandum negating a civil lawsuit memorandum opposing a civil lawsuit requesting summary judgment and redactions in the Freedom of Information (FOIA) disclosure case about President Tinubu’s drug trafficking records.

“We oppose full, unredacted disclosure of the DEA’s Bola Tinubu heroin trafficking investigation records because we believe that while Nigerians have a right to be informed about what their government is up to, they do not have a right to know what their president is up to,” the DEA statement reads.

This news comes after allegations made by celebrated journalist David Hundeyin published articles claiming the President was connected to drug crimes amidst other crimes that should not be befitting of the leader of a nation.

CBN claims 28 million Nigerians have no access to banking 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that no fewer than 28 million rural Nigerians cannot access banking services.

The CBN’s Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Philip Ikeazor, backed this statement by adding that the Central Bank of Nigeria and stakeholders have been tasked with reducing the number of people without access.

According to the Deputy Governor, the demographic shows that the financial exclusion ratio includes women, youths, rural communities, and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Nigeria and Saudi Arabia set eyes on improving Nigeria’s energy and agriculture sector

The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have struck a deal to explore more ways to improve Nigeria’s economy through the agriculture and energy sector.

The two leaders also agreed to establish a Nigeria-Saudi Business Council to promote the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, affirmed that the Saudi Crown Prince promised to support Nigeria’s economic reforms as President Bola Tinubu attended the Joint Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Minister of Interior reveals Nigerian international airports got an upgrade in identifying travellers

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has revealed that all of Nigeria’s international airports are fully equipped and supervised by the ministry’s control centre, which was created to reduce the illegal entry of foreigners into the country.

The minister stated that the centre has begun a 24-hour operation since November 11, reminding the public that on October 28, the federal government had planned to establish a command control centre to monitor suspicious entries into Nigeria.

“All our international airports are on it. It’s there, live and direct. Even our land and sea borders are being integrated there because of what we call a regular migration control centre,” he said.

Naira trades at ₦1,689/$, crashes to lowest exchange rate in history in the official window

The Naira has depreciated to the lowest rate in the history of the official window exchange rate market.

According to reports, on November 12, the Nigerian currency traded at ₦1,689.88/$ from ₦1,681/$.

This devaluation of naira against the US dollar is said to be due to the drop in the supply of daily FX to the market, which was reduced to $106.44 million from $471.50 million.