Author: damazah@gmail.com

•Slams N1.69bn penalties on banks’ breaches By Babajide Komolafe Bank customers lodged 23,129 complaints against financial institutions in 2025, representing 11 per cent increase over the previous year, prompting the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to order refunds totaling N19.12 billion and $329.3 million to affected consumers. The apex bank also imposed N1.69 billion in penalties on financial institutions for regulatory breaches, poor complaint handling and failure to comply with its directives, according to its 2025 Annual Report. The CBN attributed the increase in complaints  to  growing public confidence in its consumer protection framework rather than a deterioration in banking services.…

Lloyds Banking Group will cut another £2bn of costs as part of a four-year plan under which its chief executive will use new tech and AI to drive growth.Charlie Nunn said the strategy, which the UK’s largest high street lender will launch in January, would involve investing £13bn into the business by 2030, including for “pioneering technology” to lure new business, improve efficiency and increase payouts for shareholders.That will involve rolling out “AI-powered advice” for wealth and workplace pensions, and using it to offer personalised offers based on customer behaviour, and give “support and guidance” to relationship managers, who are…

The spokesman for Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Ladipo Johnson, has disclosed that the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, is unhappy over the leadership dispute currently affecting the OK Movement. Johnson made the revelation during an interview on Arise Television, where he acknowledged the existence of tensions within the movement but maintained that the disagreement would not derail its political objectives ahead of the 2027 general election. According to him, the crisis is a temporary distraction that should not be allowed to create divisions among supporters of the proposed Obi-Kwankwaso alliance. “Yes, we have, may I call…

Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia are also grappling with the effects of a series of prolonged heatwaves and low rainfall.

World record holder Tobi Amusan on Thursday settle for bronze in the women’s 100m hurdles at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Despite being widely tipped as the firm favourite, Amusan crossed the finish line in 12.60 seconds to place third behind the Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton, who claimed gold in 12.33 seconds, and Jamaica’s Megan Tapper, who secured silver in 12.41 seconds. While the Nigerian would have hoped to retain the Commonwealth title, the bronze medal still marked another significant contribution to Team Nigeria’s growing medal haul at the Games. The result came just hours after Amusan had sent a…

Netflix is being sued for $105m over the theft of a hard drive including an unreleased Nicolas Cage war movie.The streamer’s Los Angeles office was the target of a theft involving a number of hard drives, one of which contained a copy of second world war spy thriller Fortitude.The makers of the $45m-budgeted film are now suing Netflix over the loss.“Netflix disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards,” a spokesperson said in a statement shared with the Hollywood Reporter. “While we do not own the rights to Fortitude,…

The Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, has proffered measures that could be adopted for a gainful retirement after service. Olaopa spoke at a senior citizens’ summit organised by the High-Tech Centre for Women & Youths (HTCNWY) in Abuja on Thursday. Giving the keynote address at the programme with thetheme “Upskilling Seniors in Cottage Technologies for Sustainable Development & Energize Commercialisation Now”, Olaopa said thatthe event resonated with him, being a senior citizen himself and given his experience of sudden retirement at the top level of the civil service after 30 years. He said that the experience taught…

Senate’s latest war powers resolution fails in 49-50 vote as some Republicans side with DemocratsMeanwhile, the latest attempt by Congress to rein-in president Donald Trump’s attacks in the Middle East failed in the Senate on Thursday.The war powers resolution failed in a 49-50 vote.Democratic senator John Fetterman voted with Republicans to sink the measure. But notably, Republicans senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul voted in favor of the motion to prevent Trump from continuing hostilities against Iran.Mitch McConnell was absent for the vote as he recovers from a June fall and has not received clearance to return to…

Barely two weeks before the 15 August governorship election in Osun State, the Accord Party has petitioned President Bola Tinubu, Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu and others over what it described as the police’s pattern of intimidation and politically motivated arrests targeting its members. The party also renewed its call for the immediate removal of the state’s Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, over alleged partisanship, saying his continued tenure could undermine the credibility of the forthcoming governorship election. The petition comes after months of heightened tension between the ruling party and the police, including the controversial raid on the residence…

As the generative AI boom drives steep demand for hardware components, Apple and other hardware makers are facing what outgoing CEO Tim Cook calls “a hundred-year flood [on] memory pricing,” which is severely impacting the cost of producing iPhones, MacBooks, and other devices. Apple described its recent earnings report as its “strongest June quarter ever,” with iPhone and Mac sales performing better than expected, growing 22% and 29%, respectively, year-over-year. Yet the company is bracing for memory shortages, known as RAMageddon, to get even worse. Apple’s biggest challenge is securing the advanced memory nodes used in its Apple silicon chips,…