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Alcohol Manufacturers Seek Tinubu’s Intervention as Tension Persists with NAFDAC

“We are not criminals. We are workers. We are producers. We are taxpayers. We are Nigerians.”

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SACHETS alcohol manufacturers have again confronted the NAFDAC Lagos Office demanding that the agency reopen their sealed warehouses, indigenous factories and depots across the country.

Chanting “No Work for Us, No Work for You”, and “We are not criminals. We are workers. We are producers. We are taxpayers. We are Nigerians ,” the workers accused the agency, under the leadership of Mojisola Adeyeye, of shutting down entire manufacturing facilities instead of applying what the union termed “controlled and targeted regulation.”

They called for urgent intervention from Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Senate, the House of Representatives, governors, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and civil society groups.

During the protest on Wednesday, Comrade Anthony Oyaga, Secretary of the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB), described the situation as one marked by “deep pain, growing fear, and a heavy sense of injustice.

According to the FOBTOB, multiple facilities producing sachet products and 10cl PET bottled beverages have been sealed nationwide, including warehouses containing other lawful products unrelated to the targeted items.

“This is not regulation; this is calculated economic suffocation,” said the union, adding that factories are not just buildings; they are ecosystems.”

The statement emphasised, listing transporters, raw material suppliers, distributors, retailers, market women, warehouse operators, artisans, and logistics workers as part of the affected chain.

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Cardoso Urges Banks To Lend Out Idle Funds With CBN * Retains MPR at 26.5%

Cardoso made the call on Tuesday after the 306th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja from July 20 to July 21.

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Olayemi Cardoso , urged banks from keeping idle funds with the apex bank and encouraging increased lending into the economy.

Cardoso made the call on Tuesday after the 306th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja from July 20 to July 21.

The apex bank retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), also known as benchmark interest rate, at 26. 5 percent.

This decision marks the second consecutive retention of the MPR at 26.5 per cent, following a 50-basis-point reduction in February from 27 per cent.

“The committee’s decision to maintain the current policy stand follows a thorough assessment of the balance of risk,” said Cardoso.

He emphasised that although headline inflation moderated marginally in June 2026, global uncertainties have heightened due mainly to the renewed hostilities in the Middle East.

The MPC also adjusted the asymmetric facilities corridor around the MPR to +50/-450 basis points—a move aimed at discouraging banks from keeping idle fund with CBN.

Furthermore, the committee maintained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks at 45 per cent, retained the rate for merchant banks at 16 per cent, and kept the CRR on non-TSA public-sector deposits at 75 per cent for liquidity management considerations.

Cardoso said despite the global uncertainties, the Nigerian economy has “remained largely resilient to the external shocks”.

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CBN admits it opened domiciliary accounts for PFIPC agency

Represented by the Director of its Banking Services Department, Hamisu Ibrahim, the CBN said that the accounts are one in US dollars, the other in British pounds sterling, were opened following a mandate received from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

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File photo : PFIPC agency DG, Adeniyi Adeyemi

The Central Bank of Nigeria had admitted that it opened two foreign-currency domiciliary accounts for the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).

The apex bank made the confirmation, yesterday, during the public hearing convened at the National Assembly Complex by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the existence and operations of the PFIPC, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi and inaugurated by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

Represented by the Director of its Banking Services Department, Hamisu Ibrahim, the CBN said that the accounts are one in US dollars, the other in British pounds sterling, were opened following a mandate received from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

He explained that on July 30, 2025, CBN received a mandate dated July 29, 2025 from the Office of the Accountant-General.

“We received the mandate to authorise two accounts, one a US dollar domiciliary account, the other a pound domiciliary account, for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council,” Ibrahim told the committee.

He explained the CBN’s verification process, “The process of opening an account requires a mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

“Once we receive that mandate, we perform all the necessary verifications to confirm that this mandate is actually coming from that office.

The department that handles the mandate is different from the department that actually does the account opening,” he said.

Nevertheless, he noted that no one came to activate the accounts after they were opened.“We did not receive any correspondence, mandate, signature or mandate cards. We were not introduced to the authorising or approving officers.“Based on that, those accounts remain inactive, with zero balance. There have been no foreign exchange allocations.

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Naira Exchange Rates At The Parallel/ Official Market Tuesday, 21 July

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BLACK MARKET RATES

US DOLLAR (USD) Buy ₦1, 410 Sell ₦1,415

GREAT BRITISH POUND (GBP) Buy ₦1,890 Sell: ₦1,910

EURO (EUR) Buy ₦1,580 Sell ₦1,600

CANADIAN DOLLAR (CAD) Buy ₦1,020 Sell ₦1,080

SOUTH AFRICAN RAND (ZAR) Buy ₦75 Sell ₦90

UAE DIRHAM Buy ₦350 Sell ₦370 CHINESE YUAN Buy ₦190 Sell ₦205

GHANA CEDI (GHS) Buy ₦95 Sell ₦110

WEST AFRICAN CFA Buy ₦2, 300 Sell ₦2, 400

CENTRAL AFRICAN CFA Buy ₦2,150 Sell 2,250

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR Buy ₦800 Sell ₦900

CBN OFFICIAL EXCHANGE RATES

US DOLLAR (USD) ₦1,380.11

GREAT BRITISH POUND (GBP) ₦1,857.35

EURO (EUR) ₦1,575.95

SWISS FRANC (CHF) ₦1,705. 31

JAPANESE YEN (JPN) ₦8.50

CHINESE YUAN (CNY) ₦203.94

WEST AFRICAN CFA (XOF) ₦2.40

WEST AFRICAN UNIT ACCOUNT (WAUA) ₦1,874. 32

SAUDI RIYAL (SAR) ₦367.49

SOUTH AFRICAN RAND (ZAR) ₦83.69

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