• Court supports CBN’s order for banks to request for Nigerians’ social media handles
• ASUU threatens ‘No Pay, No Work’ after two weeks
• FG debunks rumours claiming it has access to pension funds
• EFCC Chairman claims some youths trading crypto are used to fund terrorism
• Naira appreciates in FX after days of depreciation

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

Court supports CBN’s order for banks to request for Nigerians’ social media handles

The Federal High Court, Lagos, has backed a new Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulation, which insists that all Nigerian commercial banks are to request the social media handles of customers as part of the Know-Your-Customer procedure.

The presiding judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, stated that the request for social media handles was not a form of invasion of privacy of bank customers. Still, it is also the same as requesting emails and phone numbers, which will allow the customer to be reached across all platforms.

According to Justice Dimgba, having a social media account was solely for people’s voices to be heard, and it would be highly unprofessional if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) breached that privacy for selfish reasons.

ASUU threatens ‘No Pay, No Work’ after two weeks

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called out the federal government for its unfairness and refusal to pay the remaining three-and-half months of 2022 withheld salaries of federal universities’ lecturers.

ASUU stated that if the federal government could award trillions for road contracts, then there should be no issue paying lecturers their owed fees.

The President of ASUU, Emmanuel Osodeke, expressed his displeasure with the FG choosing to pay only four months out of the seven-and-half months that the Union is owed, saying, “Pay the three-and-half months’ salaries that are still being withheld having completed the work. It’s ‘no work, no pay’; we have done the work, they should pay us. If not, we will also bring the theory of ‘no pay, no work’.”

FG debunks rumours claiming it has access to pension funds

The federal government has debunked the rumours suggesting that it would gain access to the pension funds to fund infrastructure projects in the country.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, affirmed that Nigerians had nothing to worry about as their hard-earned and saved funds were perfectly safe and would remain untouched by the government.

“There are rules and well laid out limitations about what pension fund assets can be invested in, and what it cannot be invested in… these regulations serve as safeguards to protect workers’ pensions,” he said.

EFCC Chairman claims some youths trading crypto are used to fund terrorism

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, made severe claims against Nigerian youths, claiming that these youths dealing with crypto trading were unknowingly being used to fund terrorism and other criminal acts in the country.

The Chairman revealed this at an event, further clarifying what he said by stating that some of the youths in crypto were likely unaware that their financiers are sponsors of terrorism and would sooner see the country in ruin.

“Some of you know our activities investigating virtual currency trading and cryptocurrencies; they are potential platforms to fund terrorism. A lot of us don’t understand that. Our discoveries while investigating some of these platforms were mind-boggling […] They used some of these young men; some of them don’t know that the people who gave them money to trade are people who fund terrorists,” he said.

Naira appreciates in FX after days of depreciation 

The naira has seen the sun as it appreciates in the foreign exchange market, recovering some of its losses.

According to data from the FMDQ securities, the US dollar trades at ₦1,459/$ in the official market compared to its previous rate of ₦1,520/$. In contrast, the black market continues to take a downturn in the foreign exchange market.

However, despite the gain against the US dollar, the naira remains at a loss against other currencies like Pounds Sterling and Euros as it ₦1,890/£ compared to its previous rate of ₦1,767/£ and it sells at ₦1,625/€ versus its earlier rate of ₦1,520/€.