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Peter Obi has tackl£d the federal government.

As Nigerians continue to groan under extremely difficult economic conditions, largely caused by the Federal Government’s wrong policy choices, the NNPCL has once again raised the price of fuel (PMS) without providing any explanation.

This is both unfortunate and insensitive, considering the wide-ranging negative consequences for our economic survival and well-being.

This is neither how an economy’s resources should be managed nor how a nation should be governed. In this new measure, there is neither sound economics nor necessary compassion. We are told that the NNPCL is now a limited liability company, regulated by agencies such as the NUPRC and NMDPRA, yet there seems to be growing confusion about the roles and responsibilities of the NPCL and these regulating bodies.

Interestingly, both the NPCL and the regulatory agencies are supposed to be under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria serving as the substantive Minister. Who, in arrangement, is regulating who?

With the unprecedented but avoidable hardship that Nigerians are enduring, the responsibility for providing a full explanation, offering alternative options, and most importantly, reversing the sudden price hike falls squarely on the Honorable Minister of Petroleum Resources/President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

We hope and pray that he acts in the best interest of the majority of Nigerians, who are living under unnecessarily precarious conditions, and that he does so before his return from his working vacation.

To casually inflict such a draconian measure on the populace from the comfort of an annual vacation amounts to taking the people’s welfare lightly and for granted.

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The Government of Namibia has approached the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to explore training opportunities, as well as sharing of expertise with personnel of the Namibian Anti-corruption Commission in the f¥ght against corruption.

The position of the Namibian government was made known on Friday when its Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Humphrey Geiseb paid a courtesy call to the ICPC’s headquarters. According to him, Nigeria as a country occupies an exalted position in the fight against corruption in Africa and such expertise that it possessed needed to be shared with other countries in the continent.

The Ambassador revealed further that Namibia also had an anti-corruption agency known as the Anti-Corruption Commission of Namibia (ACC) just as he proposed that the Commission would love to learn about the success story coming from Nigeria, especially in the recovery of stolen assets by the ICPC and its sister agency, the EFCC.

“The f¥ght against corruption is taking a new dimension in the continent and we believe Nigeria should lead in sharing its expertise in the f¥ght against corruption and we hope it will open its doors to other African countries like Namibia to learn. We feel ICPC and the EFCC should be able to go the extra mile to share their remarkable achievements. It’s not good for Namibia to go outside the continent to learn this,” he said.

While responding, the ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, appreciated the presence of the Namibian Ambassador to Nigeria during the launch of ICPC’s Strategic Action Plan 2024-2028, just as he reiterated that the fight against corruption on the continent cannot be fought in isolation.

He maintained that the Commission was ever ready and willing to partner with other anti-corruption bodies on the continent to stem the scourge of corruption in Africa noting that the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, (ACAN) the training arm of ICPC would come handy to see to the training request for personnel of the Namibian Anti-Corruption Commission.

“Those who indulge in corruption have their networks. So, we too on the continent need to come together so that we can distort the illegal methods. By doing so, we’ll have good governance and a vibrant foreign-direct investment on the continent.

We are aware of the MoU signed by my predecessor, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye, I wish to reiterate that our doors remain open for any assistance that the Namibian Anti-corruption Commission may require from us. We have our own Anti-corruption Academy where we train people, I believe when your people come, we can also learn from them as well,” the Chairman said.

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Wholesale prices stayed flat in September, suggesting inflation is on a downward path despite some bumps in the road.The Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand, a measure of wholesale prices, was unchanged in September from August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. That was less than the 0.2% increase in August, and below the 0.1% increase forecasters had expected, according to a survey of economists by and . Over the year, prices were up 1.8%, less than the 1.9% annual change in August.

The PPI is an indicator of where inflation is headed because business costs are ultimately passed on to consumers.

Economists use it, together with other economic data such as the Consumer Price Index, to forecast inflation as measured by Personal Consumption Expenditures, which is due to be released Oct. 31. Based on the data so far, PCE inflation is likely to have risen only moderately in September, economists said.That could have implications for financial markets and borrowing costs for all kinds of loans. PCE inflation is the measure Federal Reserve policy makers prefer to use when considering price increases.

Fed officials cut the central bank's benchmark interest rate in September by half a percentage point, and plan to cut it further in the coming months as long as inflation continues falling toward the Fed's goal of a 2% annual rate.

Higher-than-expected consumer price inflation in September cast some doubt on those plans, but the PPI report suggests they may stay on track after all.

"The latest data won’t throw off the Fed’s plan to recalibrate policy from a position of economic strength," Oren Klachkin, financial markets economist at Nationwide, wrote in a commentary.

The tame increase in wholesale prices in September was largely due to a 2.7% decrease in energy prices. That's unlikely to be repeated in October because conflict in the Middle East has driven up oil prices this month, Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a commentary. Additionally, Hurricanes Helene and Milton could cause "a brief period of price gouging," temporarily pushing up prices, he said.However, Tombs said that inflation is likely to stay on its recent downward trajectory, partly because businesses now have little ability to raise prices without losing customers.

"Disinflation trends remain well-embedded," he wrote.

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Naira Marley has advised Nigerians to take care of home before impressing the street.

He said you should take of home before impressing the street.

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Wells Fargo (WFC) shares rose roughly 6% Friday morning after the bank reported better-than-expected third-quarter revenue and profit.

The lender reported $5.11 billion in net income for the quarter, down from $5.77 billion last year but nearly half a billion dollars better than analysts had expected, according to consensus estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

Wells Fargo's revenue also was down year-over-year at $20.37 billion but came in slightly above estimates. Net interest income (NII) fell more than analysts expected to $11.69 billion.

In addition to Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) reported earnings Friday, with a number of competitors like Bank of America (BAC) and Goldman Sachs (GS) set to follow next week. Investors will be looking to see how the banks plan to adjust after the Federal Reserve last month cut interest rates for the first time since 2020.

Shares of Wells Fargo were up nearly 6% to $61.14 Friday morning. They have gained nearly 25% this year.

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Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL), has lost his 25-year-old daughter, Fatima.

Details of her death were sketchy as of the time of filing this report, but NAN reported that the deceased named Fatima passed away on Friday.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima has condoled with the CEO over the tragic incident. Shettima, who prayed for the peaceful repose of the deceased, asked God to grant the family members the strength to bear the painful exit of their daughter, who was in her prime.

NAN reports that the Vice-President led other mourners at the funeral prayer, held at the Annur Mosque in Abuja.

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