Business
Reps Rejects Motion To Probe FIRS
The House of Representatives, yesterday in Abuja, rejected a motion to probe the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) over alleged breach of the Public Procurement Act 2007.
It, however, mandated the sponsor of the motion and Deputy Minority Leader, Rep. Chukwuka Onyema (Anambra-PDP) to provide evidence of breach for the House to take necessary steps.
The lawmaker had argued that the FIRS, as an agency of the Federal Government, was required to comply fully with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act of 2007.
He alleged that there were numerous infractions bordering on gross abuse of the letters and spirit of the said Act by the FIRS.
Onyema listed the allegations to include -compliance with requirements for competitive bidding and abuse of the restrictive tendering option.
Others include alleged award of contracts beyond approved threshold to companies, some of which were registered on the day of award and to companies not having the required compliance documents/certificates among others.
He said that such gross abuse and violation of the Act were partly responsible for the numerous challenges bedevilling the nation, including the current economic recession and infrastructural deficit.
According to him, the FIRS has consistently shown strong penchant to deliberately violate the Act, as it is the case in its engagement of McKenzie which resulted in huge loss of foreign exchange to the nation.
He said that if urgent steps were not taken to investigate these allegations and address any infractions, “the abuse is likely to continue, resulting in further losses to the nation”.
The motion, when put to vote, majority of the lawmakers refused to give their support.
Speaker Yakubu Dogara, however, charged the mover of the motion to provide evidence of breach to enable the House take appropriate steps.
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.