The federal government is considering the reinvigoration of the cashless policy as part of broader efforts to curb the rising wave of kidnappings and related criminal activities across the country.

The consideration of strengthening the policy comes amid intensified efforts by security agencies to dismantle kidnapping syndicates and cut off their sources of funding, as authorities continue to seek sustainable solutions to the country’s security challenges.

Report quoted top security sources as mentioning that senior government officials have advised authorities at the highest level to tighten the policy, which is being viewed as one of the strategies to disrupt the operations of kidnappers, bandits and other criminal groups.

According to the sources, the move is intended to make it more difficult for criminals to receive ransom payments, which are often demanded and collected in cash to avoid detection.

One of the sources said: “Criminals prefer to receive ransom payments in cash because the money cannot be traced. Once ransom is paid through the banking system, it becomes easier to track them.”

Introduced in 2011, the policy was strengthened and made stricter in December 2022. However, after 2023, many of the stricter guidelines were relaxed.

The source further stated that security agencies believe a stricter cashless regime would strengthen intelligence gathering and improve law enforcement’s ability to monitor suspicious financial transactions linked to kidnapping networks.

Nigeria’s inflation rose for the third consecutive month to 15.93 percent in May 2026 from 15.69 percent recorded in April.

The National Bureau of Statistics disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index and inflation data released on Monday.

This means that in May, the country’s inflation rose on a month-on-month basis by 1.75 percent.

Also, the report showed that food inflation also skyrocketed to 16.96 percent in May, up from 16.06 percent recorded the previous month.

“In May 2026, the headline inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was 1.75 percent, which was 0.39 percent lower than the rate recorded in April 2026 (2.13 percent).

On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate rose to 15.93 percent, up from 15.69 percent in April 2026 and down from 26.06 percent in the same month of the preceding year (May 2025).

“The Food inflation rate in May 2026 on a month-on-month basis was 2.98 percent, down by 0.65 percentage points from April 2026 (3.63 percent). On a year-on-year basis, it was 16.96 percent and stood at 24.55 percent in the same month of the preceding year, May 2025”.

Recall that the headline inflation rate dropped in March and April, respectively even as the Central Bank of Nigeria retained the country’s interest rate 26.50 percent in its 305th Monetary Policy meeting.

The World Bank has named Nigeria’s ports among the top 20 improved ports globally.

Word Bank disclosed this in its 2025 Container Port Performance Index, released June 2026.

According to the data, Nigeria’s ports, Tincan Island and Apapa, maintained number 10 and 12, respectively, on the World Bank’s CPP1 for 2025.

Commenting on the report, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Abubakar Dantsoho, attributed the development to improved investment in port infrastructure by President Bola Tinubu’s government.

The investor-friendliness environment provided by Tinubu he said, has also made for the gravitas needed for increased investment to implement “our port infrastructure and equipment modernization drive”.