Business
Senate To Delay NPA’s 2014 Budget
The Senate committee on marine transport has vowed not to pass the 2014 budget of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) in the National Assembly until the agency satisfactorily convinces the committee about the success level of projects embarked upon with the previous budget.
This was disclosed by the chairman of the Committee, Hajia Zaynab Kure at the authority’s Headquarters during the oversight visit of the senators to the agency over the performance of the 20 13 budge, recently.
It was gathered that the committee Chairman’s threat was due to the absence of the Managing Director of NP A, Mallam Habib Abdullahi during the visit of the committee to the agency.
Senator Kure disclosed that the committee members came down to Lagos to see things for themselves before passing the agency’s 2014 budget, but was disappointed with the level of reception given to them by the Management of NPA.
Kure said, “We feel it is pertinent that we appraise NPA’s performance with the 2013 budget before passing the 2014 budget of the agency. But now that nobody is here to give us brief of what has been done with the 2013 budget, our hands are tied on what to do with the 2014 appropriation budget.
“If we wanted just the budget performance appraisal, we could do it in Abuja. But we wanted to come and see on-going projects, that is why we came down to Lagos,” she stated.
The wife of the former governor of Niger State tagged Abdulahi’s absence during their statutory oversight visit to the agency as a sign of disrespect to her and other members of the committee.
Reacting, Hajia Zaynab Kure said, “on behalf of my distinguished colleagues, I want to express my disappointment and displeasure, and of cause embarrassment of the Committee at the inability of your MD to receive an esteemed committee made up of distinguished senators that have come on an oversight function to the NP A.”
She further stated that, “this honourable committee wrote about two weeks ago to NPA that we are coming on a constitutional and statutory assignment. If for any reason the MD, who must have received the letter, knew he won’t be around to receive us, he should have written back to us that he has another assignment that he feels is much more important than receiving this committee”, she lamented.
She continued, “But there was no communication. I only got a call from the NP A MD on my way to the airport, by which time all my other colleagues have even boarded the aircraft, informing me that he won’t be able to receive us.”
“I did not tell my other colleagues because I thought that if I had done that, I won’t be doing justice to what has brought us here. I wanted everybody to come and see things for themselves. Except for one of us, every other member of this committee is here for this oversight visit.”
“We are all here because we have taken our job so seriously. Most of us left other important assignment back home because we want to discharge our responsibilities as a committee that is concerned about the maritime sector of this country.
“But for us to get here and the MD is not here, i must tell you that the committee is seriously disappointed and we are not happy at all. We want you to communicate same to your MD.
“We know that you are working as a team but the MD has no right, whatsoever, to have treated us the way we are treated today. We should have known that he won’t be here and would have possibly rescheduled our trip.”
Corroborating her, another member of the committee, Senator Ben Ayade called the action of the NPA MD as an absolute disrespect to the National Assembly.
In his words, “the last time we were here, the NP A MD was eager to receive us, but, that enthusiasm has dwindled.
“If feel highly compromised. I thing there is an absolute disrespect for the National Assembly. This conduct is deliberate. I find it very insulting.
L-R: Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Housing, Mr Tunji Odunlami, Executive Director, Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme, Mr Bayowa Foresythe, Commissioner for Housing, Mr Bosun Jeje and Managing Director, Lagos State Property Development Corporation, Mr Biodun Oni, at the handing over of Shitta Housing Estate, Surulere, by Lagos Ministry of Housing to Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme in Lagos yesterday.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
