“We suspect that he was killed because the family could not raise that outrageous ransom. It is unfair, the man was a businessman who lived on loans and facilities from financial institutions to carry on with his business. It was not as if the man had money somewhere,” —the family source said.

LAGOS — The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, yesterday lifted the ban on banks’ holding of dollar reserves for interbank trading, saying that banks can now keep dollar reserves for interbank trading.

Lagos—Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, signed a budget estimate of N489.690 billion for 2015 into law, saying focus would be on completion of on-going projects before handing over in May.

Media Range Limited, a free online multimedia portal designed to aid Nigerians tell their stories visually has announced the launch of a new indigenous media sharing site, Voto.com.ng.

Akure—IT was mixed reaction, weekend, in Akure, the Ondo State capital, as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, released the lists of the candidates contesting the National and state Assembly elections on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Candidates, PDP.

Global smartphone maker Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has confirmed expectations for its first annual profit decline since 2011, although a pickup in the fourth quarter hinted that earnings may have stabilized in the short term.

There are strong indications that the All Progressives Congress, APC and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Edo State, are wooing Mr. Dickson Oarhe, as they are mounting pressure for him to defect and join their parties ahead of the February general elections.

Lagos—Following the ongoing coroner investigation to the collapsed church guest house of Synagogue church of All Nations (SCOAN) last year, a frontline Youth Activist in Niger Delta, Comrade Jerry Agbalakoko Opuofeni, yesterday appealed to the Magistrate in charge of the investigation to follow the determinate spirit of the inquest or humbly resign for a more objective process.

The General Manager of African Sun Airport Hotel, Sindiso Sibanda, has said that the Nigeria’s image abroad does not represent what is obtainable in the country in the tourism and hospitality sector, challenging the authority for a need to change the perception already assumed abroad.

General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Musa Amadu has confirmed to sl10.ng that the Super Eagles will play more friendly matches after the games against Cote D’ Ivoire and Sudan.