Author: Alade Adisa

…Demands $2bn in unpaid taxes The Nigerian Government has filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange company, Binance Holdings Limited, seeking $79.51 billion and ₦231 million in damages for alleged economic losses caused by its operations in the country. According to the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1444/2024, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), is also demanding $2.001 billion in income taxes for 2022 and 2023. Binance and its executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, are accused of violating Nigerian laws, including failure to register with the FIRS for tax compliance. This lawsuit is the third currently before the Federal High Court in Abuja…

….Also accused of planning to poison incumbent president Lula Jair Bolsonaro and 33 other suspects were hit with five charges over the alleged bid to prevent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office after a bitter election race. The Supreme Court will now weigh the charges and decide whether to initiate proceedings. Brazil’s attorney general on Tuesday, February 19, formally charged far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro and 33 others over an alleged coup attempt after his 2022 election loss. Bolsonaro, 69, and his co-accused were hit with five charges over the alleged bid to prevent President Luiz Inacio…

The President of Aliko Dangote Industries and Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has been ranked the 86th richest person in the world by Forbes magazine. According to the renowned publication on Monday., the fortune of the Chairman of Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals has risen to $23.9 billion. Dangote’s wealth increased by 85.27 percent or $11 billion year-on-year, from $12.9 billion net worth reported by Forbes on February 18, 2023. According to Forbes, the fortunes of Africa’s wealthiest man were primarily due to his 92.3 percent stake in Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals. The 650,000 barrels per day (bpd)…

Brazil’s Mines and Energy Minister has announced that the country has joined the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) two years after the group extended an invitation, adding, however, that its membership will not be binding with regard to production cuts. Alexandre Silveira, the Mines and Energy Minister, after announcing the Brazilian government’s decision to join the group, described OPEC as “a forum for discussing strategies among oil-producing countries.” The AP quoted the minister as saying, ”We should not be ashamed of being oil producers. Brazil needs to grow, develop and create income and jobs.” Brazil is already one of…

The Department of State Services (DSS), has threatened to institute legal proceedings against two major television stations over their coverage of the Lagos State House of Assembly crisis. The Nigeria’s secret police alleged that Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Channels Television made false and damaging reports about its role in events at the Assembly on February 17. The DSS, through its lawyer, Adedeji Adedipe, claimed that it was only helping other security forces and didn’t do anything wrong. The agency wants both TV stations to retract their reports and apologize on air for three straight days, warning that should they…

For the past week, there have been verbal alterations between a cryptocurrency firm, Binance’s boss, Gambaryan and some members of the House of Representatives over the former’s claims that the lawmakers demanded a $150million bribe to give him a soft landing in the case of a fraud allegedly committed by the firm. However, the named lawmakers have fired back, affirming that Gambaryan’s allegation is a tale of falsehood and sheer blackmail. In this report, Damilola Olufemi, traces the genesis of the crisis and the underlying issues in the whole bribery saga It is an understatement to say that the mere…

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) being championed by tech billionaire, Elon Musk announced on its official X account that $1.9 billion of misplaced funds have been recovered from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), adding that former President Joe Biden’s administration was to blame. ‘These funds were earmarked for the administration of financial services, but were no longer needed,’ DOGE wrote in a post on X on Saturday, adding that the funds were lost in the first place due to a ‘broken process.’ ‘@SecretaryTurner and @DOGE worked together to fix the issue and de-obligated the funds which…

New star on the block, Omar Marmoush introduced himself as Manchester City’s own ‘Egyptian king’ with a superb 14-minute hat-trick against Newcastle to send Pep Guardiola’s side fourth in the Premier League. Marmoush, who joined City for £59m from Eintracht Frankfurt last month, clearly has a long way to go before he can get close to the authentic Liverpool version – but broke his scoring duck in style after four matches without a goal. Just 13 minutes and 54 seconds separated the forward’s opener – taking advantage of Kieran Trippier’s failure to read a long ball from City goalkeeper Ederson…

Djibouti’s foreign minister, Mahamoud Youssouf, has been elected as the new chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission. In the election that took place on Saturday, Youssouf won after seven rounds of voting by the union’s 49 member states. He won the election with 33 votes in the final round, constituting the required two-thirds. Kenya’s former prime minister, Raila Odinga, and Richard Randriamandrato, Madagascar’s ex-economy and finance and foreign affairs minister vied for the AU top position in the tightly contested race, however, Youssouf secured a win in the final voting round. The multilingual politician who speaks Arabic, English, and…

The agency that has been in the crosshair of the duo of President Donald Trump and tech billionaire, Elon Musk for almost a month now, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has gotten itself in another seemingly intractable mess as it has been accused of funding terrorist organisations, including Boko Haram, ISIS, and Al-Qaeda. A United States lawmaker, Scott Perry, has made the accusations during the first hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), The Economist reported. The session, titled, “The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud,” focused on allegations…