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The Senate has approved the d£ath sentence as a penalty for drug traffickers in the country, as it passes through the third reading, the 2024 NDLEA Act (Amendment) Bill.

The proposal was adopted on Thursday when the Senate dissolved into a committee of the whole for a clause-by-clause consideration of a report of the Chairman of the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights & Legal Matters and Drugs & Narcotics National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Senator Tahir Munguno.

In a review of the penalty provisions of the amendment bill towards strengthening the operations of the agency, a proposed amendment to award a death sentence to drug traffickers rather than just a life sentence was raised by the Senate Chief Whip and Sen. Peter Nwebonyi Under clause 11.

When the matter was put to a voice vote, it appeared the nays had it. However, when the question was put on a second vote, the Deputy senate President ruled in favour of the i’s. A slight uproar ensued as some lawmakers were displeased. Senator Adams Oshiomhole expressed his displeasure over what he considered a hasty consideration and passage of the amended clause.

The Deputy Senate President rejected an objection by Senator Oshiomhole to reverse the ruling, insisting that it came late which is against the rules. The upper chamber also commenced the review salaries, allowances and fringe benefits of judicial office holders in Nigeria in a bid to curb bribery and corruption and ensure independence of the judiciary.

The executive bill seeking to prescribe the salaries of the judicial office holders both at the federal and state levels scaled second reading on Thursday and is expected to nip in the bud, the prolonged stagnation in remuneration to reflect the current socio- economic realities.

Even though the bill was unanimously embraced, some lawmakers canvassed that in the face of the current economic hardship, salaries/ remuneration of Nigerians in other sectors be equally reviewed. The bill was, thereafter, referred to the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters to report back in four weeks.

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Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX announced a new restructuring plan that, if approved, could finally give most of its customers access to money they lost—plus interest.

The new plan provides for 98% of all customers, including those holding claims of $50,000 or less, to receive up to 118% of their allowed claims within 60 days.

FTX forecasts that the total value of assets collected, converted to cash, and available for creditors will be between $14.5 billion and $16.3 billion. FTX owes more than $11 billion to its customers.

The plan will require approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District Court of Delaware.

John J. Ray III, chief restructuring officer of FTX, said: "We are pleased to be in a position to propose a Chapter 11 plan that contemplates the return of 100% of bankruptcy claim amounts plus interest for non-governmental creditors."

A previous plan proposed refunding up to 90% of distributable assets to customers. The recovered assets were those held by the company in various entities in the Bahamas, Australia, and the U.S.

Investors who withdrew more than $250,000 from the exchange in the nine days before its collapse were expected to pay a 15% fee on the value of the funds to avoid potential clawback.

One of the biggest criticisms of any FTX plans to repay its customers' lost funds is that it's returning money in dollars based on Nov. 11, 2022, cryptocurrency prices, not the cryptocurrency itself or repaying at its current value, which has appreciated greatly.

For example, bitcoin (BTC) was trading roughly around $17,000 on Nov. 11, 2022; today, its price is more than 3.5 times that at about $62,500.

FTX collapsed and filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after commingling of customer funds between FTX and its Alameda Research investment arm meant customers were unable to withdraw more than $8 billion in investments that had been used for other purposes. Former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crypto fraud in late March.

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President Tinubu has returned to work after a 2-week trip abroad.

The president was seen to have returned to his desk in his office as he receives briefing of the Honorable minister of communications, innovation and digital economy Bosun Tijani and also the Honorable minister for Economic Wale Edun.

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U.S. equities were mixed at midday after a number of companies reported quarterly earnings. The Dow rose for a sixth-straight session, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lost ground.

Uber Technologies (UBER) was the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 after the ridesharing firm posted a net loss after reporting hundreds of millions in charges related to revaluations of its investments. Its gross bookings also fell short of forecasts on slowing demand in Latin America and the earlier start dates for the Easter and Ramadan holidays.

Shares of Intel (INTC) declined as the chipmaker changed its current quarter guidance after U.S. regulators revoked its license to sell to Chinese telecom Huawei.

Tripadvisor (TRIP) shares also plunged as the online travel site said a special committee ruled against a potential merger. 

Shares of Arista Networks (ANET) jumped as strong demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) products helped the cloud computing networking equipment maker exceed profit and sales estimates. It also raised its guidance and announced a $1.2 billion share repurchase program. 

Reddit (RDDT) shares took off after the social media platform reported a lower-than-expected loss and soaring revenue on strong ad sales as user traffic hit a record high. It was the company’s first quarterly earnings report since going public in March.

Ad revenue declined at Fox (FOXA), but the media company beat earnings estimates as it rebounded from losses incurred by a legal settlement related to a defamation lawsuit.

Oil and gold futures advanced. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note gained. The U.S. dollar climbed versus the euro, pound, and yen. Prices for most major cryptocurrencies declined.

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The House of Representatives has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to half the proposed implementation of the cybercrimes levy of 0.5% imposed on electronic transactions by bank customers.

Consequently, the House directed the CBN to withdraw the ambiguous circular in existence, and issue an unequivocal circular in line with the letters and spirit of the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2024.

The Green Chamber also mandated its Committees on Banking Regulations, and Banking and other Ancillary Institutions to guide the CBN properly. This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by the House Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda (PDP Rivers) and 359 others.

Moving the motion, Chinda said CBN through a Circular to all commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks; other financial institutions, mobile money operators and payment service providers (“CBN Circular”) dated 6th May, 2024 informed Nigerians of a proposed 0.5% levy on electronic transactions in line with Section 44(2)(a) of the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2024.

He noted that Section 44(2)(a) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024 provides that “a levy of 0.5% (0.005) equivalent to half percent of all electronic transactions value by business specified in the Second Schedule to the Act” be paid into the Cybersecurity Fund. “Further notes that businesses which the said Section 44(2)(a) refers to are listed in the Second Schedule to the Cybercrimes Act to be: a) GSM Service Providers and all telecommunication companies; b) Internet Service Providers; c) Banks and Other Financial Institutions; d) Insurance Companies and e) Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Concerned that the CBN circular mandates all Banks, Other Financial Institutions and Payments Service Providers to implement the Cybercrimes Act by applying the levy at the point of electronic transfer origination as “Cybersecurity Levy” and remitting same.

Further concerned that the wordings of the CBN Circular leaves the CBN directive to multiple interpretations including that the levy be paid by Bank customers, that is, Nigerians against the letters and spirit of Section 44(2) (a) and the Second Schedule to the Cybercrimes Act, which specifies the businesses that should be levied accordingly,” China said.

The lawmaker expressed worry that this act has led to apprehension as civil society organisations and citizens have taken to conventional and social media to call out the Federal Government, issuing ultimatums for a reversal of the “imposed levy on Nigerians” among other things.

He argued that unless immediate pragmatic steps are taken to halt the proposed action of the CBN, the Cybercrime Act shall be implemented in error at a time when Nigerians are experiencing the aftermath of multiple removal of subsidies from petroleum, electricity and others, amid the rising inflation.

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