AMCON Scales Down Arik’s Operations Airline enjoying public confidence, corporation insists
Chinedu Eze with agency report Following its take over of Arik Air over two weeks ago, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has scaled down the flight operations of
Nigeria’s premier carrier to less than 30 per cent of the its capacity. However, AMCON, in a statement yesterday,
said public confidence in the airline was gradually returning and commercial banks more willing to engage with Arik Air.
But AMCON’s statement contradicts reality. When THISDAY visited the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport (MMIA), Lagos yesterday at 11.30 a.m., all the check-in counters of the once rowdy terminal were empty and
PDP Defeats APC in Amaechi’s Constituency… Page 10
totally bereft of passengers. Instead, Arik ground staff were seen at their desks, waiting to attend to anyone willing to travel with the airline. Continued on page 12
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DSS Arrests Suswam After Raiding His Home
Recovers arms, 21 C of Os, 23 luxury watches, keys to 45 cars
Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested the former governor of Benue State, Mr. Gabriel Suswam for alleged illegal possession of firearms, following the raid on his Abuja residence. The DSS said during the search at about 10 p.m. on Friday, in the presence of two private security officers employed by Dunes Investment, the ex-governor’s Continued on page 10
FGC KADUNA CLASS OF ’78 CELEBRATES…
L-R: Mrs. Margaret Okoko; Hajia Aisha Yahaya Gusau; Class President, Muhammad Musa Gombe, Dr. Maryam Muhammad; and Legal Adviser, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Hadiza Yusuf Coommassie, at a reception by the Class of ’78 of Federal Government College (FGC), Kaduna, held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja… weekend
As CBN Pumps Another $221m, Analysts Expect USD’s Slide to N400 Obinna Chima As part of efforts to sustain its defense of the naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday sold $221,371,218.04 to banks in its second special wholesale intervention forwards since the new foreign exchange
(FX) policy actions were announced a week ago. A breakdown of the amount sold by the CBN showed that it auctioned $162,850,000 to 10 banks in a transaction with 30
days tenor, while six banks participated in a separate auction with 60 days tenor in which $58,521,217.04 was sold. Owing to the new measures introduced by the
central bank last week, the naira which had fallen to as low as N525/$ penultimate Friday, strengthened remarkably by N75 in just five days, to close at N450/$ last Friday.
With improved FX liquidity, some market analysts were cautiously optimistic yesterday that the naira could climb to N400-N425 to a dollar in the coming days.
Nigeria Eases Entry Visa for Foreigners… Page 12
Should this happen, the CBN would meet its objective of closing the gap between the interbank and parallel market rates. The acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr. Continued on page 10