The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Doomed deadlines

    Doomed deadlines

    Hardball

     

    UNLESS something extraordinary happens about the pace of ongoing registration of Nigerians for the National Identity Number (NIN) by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the deadlines set by government for linkage of the NIN with phone numbers by subscribers look totally unrealistic.

    Government, through the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, had on 15th December, last year, directed all telecoms operators to block phone lines registered on their networks that were not linked to respective subscriber’s NIN by 30th December. Following public outcry against the brevity of the deadline given for implementing the sudden policy, government granted a three-week extension for subscribers already having their NIN till 19th January, 2021, and six-week extension for subscribers who do not yet have the NIN till 9th February. It was not clear how telco systems were to delineate between those who already had their NINs and those who did not in applying the different deadlines. Also not certain is how the new policy affects foreigners resident in Nigeria and subscribed on local networks: will they be registered for NINs to link with their phone numbers; or will another criteria be required, say the number of their international passports; or will they be exempted altogether from the NIN-phone number linkage?

    Given that many Nigerians typically lay back on civic measures until there is a deadline compelling them to act, the threat of disconnection from telco networks has forced huge crowds to NIMC centres seeking registration for the NIN. It was the pressure on those centres that NIMC workers leveraged on last week Thursday in calling a strike that grounded applicants’ quest for the critical number. Many offices and registration centres of the identity commission were shut against desperate members of the public, as the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), NIMC branch, ordered members off work over alleged welfare issues, including exposure of staff to Covid-19 infection and non-provision of personal protective equipment. Although the strike was reported suspended on Friday, workers weren’t due back at their duty posts until today, Monday – a huge time loss on the deadline already pressuring desperate applicants. Even the agency’s management acknowledged the challenges. “The (NIMC) wishes to assure members of the general public that glitches experienced in the enrollment process are being resolved and normal enrollment would resume shortly. We apologise for any inconveniences caused and wish to assure you of our continued excellent service,” it said on its twitter handle @nimc_ng.

    This is a most inappropriate of time for NIMC workers to have issues with things needed for the registration exercise, given the urgency out there to beat the deadline for disconnection from telco networks. But even if all needs were met now, the deadlines yet ought be extended to defuse pressure on registration centres in view of the raging Covid-19 pandemic: registrants need some breather, just as NIMC staff do.

     

  • Where is nanny?

    Where is nanny?

    Sam Omatseye

     

    A GOOD nanny is a parent’s dream. A good nanny, though, can overthrow the parent. That provides a dilemma for a home. But, more so, in the running of a country.

    A government as nanny captures the imagination. When we encounter novels like the Perfect Nanny by a French Moroccan writer Leila Slimani or The Help by Kathryn Stockett, we wonder what a mother-surrogate who thrashes about the cot and kitchen has in common with politics.

    The nanny state, first advanced by a lawmaker Lain Macleod in Britain in 1965, is another way of saying we should choose between a state of affection or the one that leaves citizens to their devices. But no state can be free from the nanny’s apron.

    The nanny state is a welfare state. It spreads its benevolent bosoms over the suckling citizen. In a country like Nigeria where the needs are many, the state should play nanny. And for good reason. But not an absolute nanny. We expect the nanny in special places. We expect such a nanny to be a good one, or else the nanny will unleash a maleficent soul like in the novel Perfect Nanny about a so-called happy family. Things go awry and the children choke. Murder suffocates affection.

    The Buhari administration was born not sure whether it wanted to play the nanny or the aloof parent. It has managed to do both, but unmanaged it. It has left the child at once panting for the nanny and the parent. A Hobson’s choice. A riot of a vision.

    In a country, the state provides infrastructure, security and resources. The parent does that, too. But in a nanny home, the parent does not exude empathy and intimacy. They cannot give the routine joy and play for the child. They are aloof, swum away to workplace avarice. The parent cedes their seed to the maid.

    It reinvigorates the debate as to how much of government we need in our lives. Abraham Lincoln asserted that governments should do for the people what they cannot do or cannot do so well for themselves. Lee Kuan Yew boasted that if he did not run a nanny state, his country would not have leapt ahead. It draws the charge of a despot. Hence we have a democracy after many years of gun-handed mulls on the throne.

    A state plays nanny when it builds roads, bridges, secure army and railways and schools. Dinner table steams with food, the sick get drugs, the jobless work. The nanny state is the capitalist antidote to the smothering blanket of a socialist state. it is a Fabian ideal free of Lenin’s shackles.

    Under Buhari, we see two things working quite well. Work is going on for the Second Niger bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and many restored bridges across the country. We also have witnessed the Lagos-Abeokuta-Ibadan railway project on the verge of formal commissioning. These are the doings of two work horses. One is the Trojan of works, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, and for transportation is Rotimi Amaechi.

    Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka made a subtle point recently in his commute on the train to Abeokuta. He said he loved the train but he was not ready to speak about Buhari. It looks like a disconnect, but it is not. The bard was like the child who loved the nanny but is alienated from the parent. Of course, Buhari will take the credit for the train, a first and even revolutionary approach to transport on that heady corridor and busiest in the sub-continent.

    See the Third Mainland Bridge. But for what Fashola has instituted, that iconic bridge was a prefabricated preface to a major world disaster. Just one rush hour, one crack, then a lagoon roaring with metal frames and blood. Under him, we have the first institutionalised check. It is a story of the nanny checking the cot for fragile hinges. Or else the parent, like in the Perfect Nanny, comes home to a tragedy of broken bones.

    Other elements make the home right. For this essay, I would mention security. Even in keeping the home for the nanny, parents must prioritise safety. The nanny will not do well when the doors are open for robbers and kidnappers. That is one cardinal area of worry.

    That was Bishop Matthew Kukah’s Xmas homily. When people die and the army frails, the parent fails. With a parent aloof, the child drools in a pool of blood. The administration has appointed the right people for works and transportation. Why has he not done the same for areas that would have helped him succeed? In his security outfits, his picks grovel. The service chiefs are chafing, and defence architecture is aching. They don’t bubble with ideas or action. He won’t fire those who fumble. Buhari is scoring with Fashola and Amaechi because he hired the right nannies.

    But the nannies of safety are wrecking the home. Why has he retained them in the kitchen while tuwo burns the palate? The ministers of works and transportation hold his keys to posterity, so why has he not done the same in the areas of welfare, security and finance? He does not need to look at tribe, just the square pegs. If he puts the right people in place, maybe they would have saved his name. But he has stuck to incompetent men. They are his “kinsmen,” not keen men. They have held him in their mesh – as hostage both as a president but also to failure. He should pick those who can make him shine, not those who shine for themselves and at his expense.

    If you must be a nepotist or ethnicist, emulate President John F. Kennedy, who picked his brother Robert as attorney general. Not the sort we have today who pines more for power than justice. We cannot run a diverse country for justice when some groups are barred from the temple. There are competent nannies everywhere, north south, east and west.

    We cannot sugarcoat a disaster like the Borno slaughters or emirs eliminated, or broken schools or power outages.

    In terms of welfare, there were some good ideas. Feeding students across the country has been applauded in this column. But we also saw the scandal that befell it recently when COVID shut down schools. The food was going to ghosts of students. Disembodied hands and mouths shoveling non-existent plates of rice and beans. No student, no food, big budget. The humanitarian lady of the cabinet stuttered afterward to explain why shuttered schools had supplies. After all, we have seen snakes and reptiles digest tens of millions of Naira in the past. The welfare programmes for small-time investors seemed to have a good beginning. But the numbers affected are too small to turn around the poor man’s economy. What happened to its initial momentum?

    If daddy and mummy cannot do it, then find a good nanny.

     

     

    Tambuwal’s counterforce

     

    AS the north cringes under militant hoodlums, the times call for imagination. Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal is not waiting for the service chiefs or Buhari’s architecture. He is taking the fate of his citizens in his hands. He has come with the idea of merging schools, especially those in the perilous areas. The affected schools include GSS Kebbe students who will now couple with GSS Sanyinna, Sultan Muhammadu Tambari Illela to GSS Gwaddabawa, and a quite a few more. The state has seen lords of violence send farmers out of their farms, extort taxes, maim and maul, and send some citizens leaping across the border out of the country just to keep safe.

    Governor Tambuwal’s step only demonstrates how desperate things have become in the country, especially in the northern part of the country. The school merger goes to the safer areas, especially away from the borders. This makes it easier to police and monitor them and keep students safe. Leaving them in clusters in vast stretches of land problematises the ability to track the militants.

    This is a model that other states can follow, especially because the north is a vast geography and moving from one place to another is unwieldy. The felons know that. Governor Tambuwal’s decision is a counterforce of an idea.

     

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  • Hyundai wins Good Design Awards

    Hyundai wins Good Design Awards

    By Tajudeen Adebanjo

     

    HYUNDAI Motor Company has won four awards at the Good Design Awards. Hyundai’s two most progressive EV Concepts, 45 and Prophecy, together with the all-new 2021 Hyundai Elantra and the Hyundai Hi-Charger, an ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure, were recognised in the Awards’ Transportation category.

    The 45 EV concept, first introduced at the 2019International Motor Show in Frankfurt, Germany, is a futuristic homage to Hyundai’s iconic Pony Coupe Concept. The styling of 45 is defined by its monocoque-style form, aerodynamics, light-weight design inspired by aircrafts, and diamond-shaped silhouette.

    The Prophecy, unveiled last March, is Hyundai’s visionary concept that signifies a direction of future EV styling based on the Sensuous Sportiness design identity. It expands on the era-defining example set by the 45 EV concept that stripped away complexity in favour of clean lines and minimalistic structures. Prophecy won ‘Best of the Best’ in 2020 Red Dot Awards’ Design Concept group, and the concept was also named a finalist for 2020 International Design Excellence Awards.

    Another big win went to the all-new 2021 Elantra, which made its debut earlier this year. The seventh generation Elantra offers a futuristic and innovative look and feel, thanks to its Parametric Dynamics design elements. The vehicle’s exterior design is adorned with unique style features including a parametric-jewel-pattern grille and a H-tail Lamp that creates a Hyundai “flying H” logo-like shape. The interior further complements the Elantra’s overall appeal with a 10-inch information-display cluster and infotainment system.

    Read Also: Hyundai to recall Kona EVs over fire risk

    The Hyundai Hi-Charger demonstrates the brand’s commitment to offer a completely new charging experience to EV owners. The 350kW ultra-fast charger enables users to easily power their EVs without feeling the weight of connectors and cables. The user simply chooses the position of a vehicle’s charging port on a digital screen, and a connector automatically rotates and descends to the selected point for an effortless connection. Earlier this year, the Hyundai Hi-Charger won a prize in the User Experience Design category of the 2020 Red Dot Design Awards.

    Senior Vice President and Head of Hyundai Global Design Centre SangYup Lee said: “Hyundai’s design vision to provide lifestyle mobility that coexists with people’s lives has been recognised by winning these awards. Especially through our EV design, we would like to forge a strong emotional connection between humans and automobiles, giving more value to our customer’s everyday life.”

    Celebrating its 70th anniversary, the Good Design Awards programme is one of the oldest design competitions in the world. Every year, the programmes selects a list of products and industry leaders in design and manufacturing that have chartered new directions for innovation and pushed the envelope for competitive products in the world.

  • Geely returns with Mikano to dazzle auto sector

    Geely returns with Mikano to dazzle auto sector

    Hit by the COVID-19 last year, the automotive industry is looking for a brighter year to augment the shortfalls in production and sales. Many will be churning out new brands to woo auto lovers. Geely has already taken the lead by unveiling its locally assembled brands at Karameh City on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State, reports TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO

     

    GEELY Motors is staging a comeback into the country following the launch of its locally assembled Emigrand 7 (EC7 Sedan) and X7 Sports (SUV).

    The emerging auto brand will compete with other established brands for their share in the local market.

    No doubt,  it is going to be a tough fight as  other auto firms will be coming out strong due to the uneventful outing last year due to the ravaging Coronavirus.

    Coming under Mikano Motors, a subsidiary of Mikano International Limited, Geely said its auto brand is entirely different from the former Geely Cars Nigerians used to know.

    At a test-drive held at the company’s new state-of-the-art assembly plant located at Karameh City, on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State, Mikano Motors’ Sales Manager, Everistus Eze, described local assembly of Geely automobile brand as part of his company’s efforts towards boosting the nation’s economy via job creation.

    This current Geely auto brand,” he said, “is a meeting point for the latest automobile technology and modern science. “

    Mikano’s plan for locally assembled Geely automobiles started over two years ago.

    Aside being a Chinese automotive brand that recorded top scores in European Car Assessment Programme (EuroNcap), Geely vehicles, via its acquisition of top European brands, including Volvo and Lotus , are produced in line with European standard.

    Eze said: “Although Mikano has always been known as service provider in many aspects, including Power, Steel and Medical, our decision to invest in the automotive sector was motivated by our belief that Nigeria deserves a better transportation experience, rather than being a dumping area for second hand cars with no history, no warranty and no spare parts.

    “Therefore, we chose to assemble and ultimately manufacture a top quality automotive brand to create jobs for the youths, help stimulate the nation’s economy and further support Nigerian families with most comfortable and affordable means of transportation.”

    To ensure that its customers run their cars with peace of mind, the company has covered many parts of the country with various after sales service centres.

    “Already, we have 3s (Showroom, service centre and Spare parts) and 2s (Showroom and service Centre). The centres are equipped with modern tools to ensure effective after-sales services to our customers.

    “Through our appointed dealership across the country, Geely automobile brand’s spare parts are now available nationwide.  While we are still appointing more dealers to ensure that our parts are available to every location, we are making servicing parts available via various accredited channels to avoid the incident of fake parts,” he said.

    Powered by 1.5-litre engine, the locally assembled Geely EC7 Sedan, comes with a load of safety features, some of which are Seatbelt reminder, Over speeding alarm device, anti-theft alarm device, hand brake unreleased reminder, (Anti-lock Brake System + Electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), Reversing visual system, Door child safety lock, Collision safety fuel cut system, Speed-sensitive automatic door locking system, Explosion-proof and leakproof plastic fuel tank, among others.

    More than that, the car is equipped with Cruise control, Remote central locking, Keyless entry-driver side, Head restraints, Air conditioning system and infotainment.

    While the Geely X7, a Crossover, is powered by a naturally-aspirated 2.4 litre engine, which puts out 150bhp at 5,300rpm and some 225Nm (Newton Meters)

    Equipped with airbags, occupants of the car are also protected with ISOFIX child seat anchorage points, Door child safety lock, TPMS(Tire Pressure Monitoring System), Explosion-proof, leak proof plastic fuel tank, Speed-sensitive automatic door locking system, Anti-pinch function(all 4 windows) and Air filtration purification device.

    The Geely X7 also comes with Internal light delay function, Panoramic sun roof, Cruise control, Remote central locking, Keyless entry, Mobile mapping Central screen, Bluetooth hands-free device, LCD Trim computer, Multi-function steering wheel (with entertainment +cruise switch), Anti-theft protection, Electronic control and alarm system, Active safety functions and  Reversing radar system.

    Taking cognisance of affordability problem, which has trailed made-in-Nigeria vehicles over the years, Mikano, a company which employs over 2000 Nigerians, is already working out a friendly auto finance to take care of this challenge.

    It is also putting together plans to roll out auto gas vehicles and electric cars as soon as the government creates the enabling environment, especially legal backing that would protect local assemblers against imported junks that are taking the chunks of the nation’s automotive market share.

    “The Nigerian auto industry shall effectively compete in the entire African automobile market if the right policies are made by the government,” the Mikano Motors’ boss assured.

    Geely has acquired Volvo 100 per cent, AG Daimler 10 per cent , Lotus Brand 50 per cent, Proton Brand 49 per cent, London Taxi 100 per cent AND Lynk & Co 100 per cent. With all these acquired technology, Geely has succeeded in taking her position as a global brand, coupled with its ability to acquire the highest global and future technologies in the automotive industry. Its sales exceeded 2.1 million cars, placing it among the world’s top car manufacturers.

    Over the past 10 years, Geely has invested more than $14 billion in research and development (R&D), and plans to invest more in the next five years, in a commitment to providing the highest level of modern technologies in the industry.

    Specifically, Geely Holdings, Daimler AG of Mercedes Benz and other Geely family brands have launched plans to collaborate on developing highly effective powertrain systems for next generation hybrid vehicle applications.

  • GEO TAX INSIGHTS: FINANCE ACT, 2019 (19) The Emerging Tax Issues

    GEO TAX INSIGHTS: FINANCE ACT, 2019 (19) The Emerging Tax Issues

    WE shall continue our review today on the emerging/current tax issues by focusing our discussion on Common Reporting Standard to guide corporate and individual taxpayers of the impacts on their businesses.

    The Income Tax (Common Reporting Standard)

    Regulations 2019

    In 2017, Nigeria became a signatory to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Common Reporting Standard Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement On Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information.  In view of this, the Federal Inland Revenue Service published the Income Tax (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2019.

    • Common Reporting

    Standard

    Common Reporting Standard is a set of rules for automatic exchange of financial account information between the tax authorities of countries that have opted to make such exchanges.  To be a party, a country must first sign the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (the MCAA). This is an international framework agreement which operationalises information exchange relations entered into by its member countries. Such relations may exist under bilateral or multilateral treaties.

    The Regulations provide guidance on how Reporting Financial Institutions should identify Reportable Accounts,  perform due diligence on the relevant financial information to be disclosed, outline compliance obligation, mode of compliance and specify penalties for non-compliance.

    • Reporting Financial

    Institutions

    These are the institutions like:

    (1) Depository Institutions e.g. commercial banks;

    (2) Custodial Institutions – i.e. businesses that hold financial assets such as equity and debt instruments and other similar financial investments for customers e.g. custodian banks/asset management companies and brokers.

    (3) Investment Entities i.e. businesses that trade in money markets, provide portfolio management or other investment services, or manage financial assets or cash on behalf of client e.g. asset/portfolio management companies and money market funds.

    (4) Specified Insurance Companies – i.e the insurance companies that are obligated to make payments under an insurance contract like life and composite insurance companies.

    • Non-Reporting Financial Institutions

    The following institutions are classified as Non-Reporting Financial Institutions.

    (1) Government entities, central banks and international organisations and their pension funds;

    (2) Retirement funds such as Pension Fund Administrators that meet certain criteria;

    (3) Qualified Credit Card Issuers;

    (4) Collective investment vehicles that meet certain exclusion rules;

    (5) Trusts where any of the trustees is itself a Reporting Financial Institution that has reported all required information regarding the trust;

    (6) Other low-risk financial institutions as may be designated by the Revenue Service.

    Common Reporting Standard Obligations on Reporting Financial Institutions

    The Reporting Financial Institutions are obligated to perform due diligence to:

    (1) Identify Reportable Accounts – i.e accounts held by tax residents of any jurisdiction with which Nigeria has Common Reporting Standard exchange relationship;

    (2) Collect the financial accounts information mentioned above and thereafter;

    (3) Report the collected information to the Service not later than the 31st May of the year following the year to which the information relates.

    The required information to be submitted to FIRS under the arrangement are:

    (1) Name of the Reportable Person;

    (2) Address

    (3) Jurisdiction of Tax residence;

    (4) Date and place of birth

    (5) Account Number;

    (6)Tax Identification Number;

    (7) Income (including interest, dividends and other income) earned;

    (8) Account balance as at the reporting date;

    (9) Name and identification number of the financial institutions keeping the account;

    (10)        Any other information that may be required by the service.

     

    Penalties for non-compliance

    (1) Where a person fails to comply with a duty or obligation imposed by the

    Regulations, the Service shall impose a penalty of N10million in the first instance and N1million  monthly in which the failure continues.

    (2) Where a Reporting Financial Institution fails to file an Information Return as and when required under these Regulations, the Service shall impose a penalty of N10million in the first month in which the failure occurs and N1million for each subsequent month in which the failure continues.

    (3) Where a person makes a false statement, false report or false declaration or gives any false information or omission in respect of any information required to be included on an Information Return, the Service shall impose an administrative penalty of N5million and such person may also be liable to penalties as prescribed in the Act.

    (4) Where a Financial Institution or a person fails to comply with the requirement of the Service in the exercise or performance of its powers or duties under the Regulations, the Service shall impose an administrative penalty of N1million in the first instance and N1million for each subsequent month in which the failure continues.

    (5) Where a Reporting Financial Institution fails to keep record as required by the Regulations, the Service shall impose an administrative penalty of N10million in the first month in which the failure occurs and N1millin for each subsequent month in with the failure continues.

    We shall continue with the other aspects of the emerging/current tax issues in the next publication.

     

  • IATA releases data on global air freight market

    IATA releases data on global air freight market

     Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

     

    THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) has  released data for global air freight markets for the last two months,  showing that freight volumes improved compared to three months  but remain depressed compared to 2019.

    According to the global airlines’ regulator,  capacity remained  constrained from the loss of available belly cargo space as passenger aircraft remain parked on account of the Covid -19 pandemic .

    Global demand, according to IATA, which is measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), was 6.6 per cent  below previous year levels in , 7.7 per cent for  international operations.

    Read Also: Bankruptcy looms for airlines, IATA warns

    IATA said the figure  was at  par with the 6.2  per cent year-on-year drop as at three months ago.

    The year-on-year decline, the global body said, was  skewed as of  November 2019, when it recorded a boost in demand from the waning US-China trade war.

    Seasonally adjusted demand (SA CTKs), the body said, continued to improve, increasing 1.6 per cent  month-on-month as of  November 2020.

    IATA said  the month-on-month gains indicate that  seasonal adjusted cargo tonnage kilometers would return to 2019 levels around March or April, this year.

  • Polaris Bank to reward savers with N26m

    Polaris Bank to reward savers with N26m

    Our Reporter

     

    POLARIS Bank is sparking up positive outlook for the new year as it plans to reveal the first set of winners of its on-going nationwide savings promotional campaign, ‘Save & Win’ in February.

    A handsome N26 million is on offer from the bank for lucky customers to pocket.

    Updates from branches of Polaris Bank across Nigeria indicate participation in the promo by Nigerians, consisting of existing and prospective customers of the bank, who are desirous to emerge winners and make 2021,  memorable.

    Polaris Bank started the nationwide campaign last November to reward its loyal customers by giving N26million to winners picked through a  e-generated process that would be supervised by regulatory institutions.

    The bank seeks to raise eight millionaires who will receive N1million each while 180 lucky customers would get N100,000 each.

    The promo is aimed at making millionaires of Nigerians by encouraging customers of the bank to save minimum incremental of N10,000 monthly for three consecutive months during the promo, starting from November, last  year to this April, to qualify and be part of the winners of the promo.

    The first draw, which will herald the first set of winners, will be announced next month, February.

    On that day, the first 60 winners of N100,000 each will emerge from the six  geo-political zones, plus one millionaire.

    Read Also: Polaris Bank unveils ‘Save and Win’ Promo

    The same process will be repeated in March while the month of April will be for the Grand-finale leading to the emergence of sixty winners of N100,000 each across the six geo-political zones and six ‘Millionaires’ of N1,000,000.00 (one million naira) each, across the six (6) geo-political zones, bringing the entire draw to a total of 188 winners.

    The Managing Director/CEO of Polaris Bank, Mr. Innocent C. Ike, was excited at the impressive participation in the promo and restated that “the essence of the initiative is to give back to customers and encourage savings amongst Nigerians”. He added that the campaign is a reward for the traders, artisans, public servants and indeed professionals who in spite of the challenging times, are able to put aside some money.

    He reiterated that in tough times such as we are now, there is a compelling need to save, not only to win a prize, but also to plan for the rainy day.

  • Capital Bancorp warns against ponzi investment

    Capital Bancorp warns against ponzi investment

    Our Reporter

     

    CAPITAL Bancorp Plc has advised the public to be wary of firms that offer unrealistic returns on investment to defraud unsuspecting investors.

    Capital Bancorp dissociated itself from a publication that guarantees 100 per cent return on investment, being offered by a company impersonating it through a website: capitalbancorppublicltd.com hosted on a website owned by a company called NameCheap, based in Panama.

    A statement by Capital Bancorp’s management to regulatory authorities and  public indicated that only a money doubling scheme could guarantee such huge returns being offered on the website.

    Capital Bancorp called the attention of the public, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigerian Stock Exchange, NASD Plc, FMDQ Plc and other financial institutions, the Police and EFCC to a company using a website address of capitalbancorppublicltd.com. claiming to be and impersonating Capital Bancorp.

    Read Also: CBN fixes N2b capital for mobile money operators

    According to Capital Bancorp, the bogus website was a vehicle designed to defraud members of the public.

    “Those familiar with Capital Bancorp Plc will easily recognise that the offers are outside the operational mode of Capital Bancorp Plc which in its 33 years of operations has never been known to offer reckless investment instruments, not even in the heydays of finance houses with colourful operators as Forum and Umanah Umanah and such-like bogus finance houses. Capital Bancorp true to its rational and professional management has always survived and indeed prospered through all the turbulent periods in the financial services industry in the last 27 years,” Capital Bancorp stated.

    The investment group warned that the impersonating firm has no physical address and probably exists only on the internet as it is not in any way affiliated with or related to Capital Bancorp.

  • Demutualisation: NSE sets up claims review panel

    Demutualisation: NSE sets up claims review panel

     Taofik Salako, Deputy Group Business Editor

     

    THE Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has inaugurated its claims review panel in furtherance of its demutualisation and pursuant to the provisions of the Demutualisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange Act 2018.

    The panel serves as an independent alternative dispute resolution mechanism for the review and determination of claims made by individuals or entities in respect of any assertion of rights in the shares of the demutualised Exchange.

    Under the arrangements, the panel will sit in an appellate capacity and review claims from claimants’ who are dissatisfied with any decision of the national council of the Exchange on a claim  pre-demutualisation, or the board of directors of the emergent holding company after demutualisation and post demutualisation issues around the Exchange.

    As part of the demutualisation, the NSE, which is a company limited by guarantee, would be converted into and re-registered as a public company limited by shares. Consequently, members of the Exchange will be allocated shares in the holding company, Nigerian Exchange Group (NEG) Plc.

    Read Also: COVID-19: The pandemic, response and hope

    The securities exchange license of the current Exchange would be transferred to Nigerian Exchange Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the holdco, which would carry on the securities exchange business.

    Another subsidiary, NGX Regulation Limited, would be licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to carry out regulatory services.

    The members of the panel included Mr. George Etomi  as chairman, Mr. Seni Adio (SAN), Mr. Abatcha Bulama, Dr. Paul Anababa, SAN and Prince Aghatise Erediauwa.

    The NSE stated that the composition of the penal reflected its desire to to safeguard the independence of the panel, noting that distinguished individuals with the required expertise and extensive track records of integrity, excellence and achievements in their respective fields of specialization were selected.

    At inauguration of the panel, President, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Otunba Abimbola Ogunbanjo, said he expected members of the panel to discharge their responsibilities without any fear or favour in an objective and dispassionate manner, being guided by principles of fair hearing, equity and natural justice.

  • Credit supply to households to rise in Q1 2021

    Credit supply to households to rise in Q1 2021

    Collins Nweze

     

    SUPPLY of secured and unsecured credits to households will increase in first quarter of the year, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) fourth quarter 2020 Credit Conditions Survey report has shown.

    The report indicates that the availability of secured and unsecured credits to households increased in fourth quarter of last year and is expected to rise further in the first quarter of 2021.

    The survey report, conducted last December, presented trends and developments in credit conditions in the fourth quarter, and its expectation in the first quarter of 2021.

    The report noted that changing economic outlook and increased market share objectives were major factors responsible for the increase in supply of secured credit. In addition to these factors, improving economic outlook contributed to increased availability of unsecured credit in fourth quarter 2020.

    These factors, according to the report, are part of the forces expected to drive increased credit in first quarter 2021.

    Despite increased availability of secured and unsecured credit in the fourth quarter of 2020, request for secured lending for house purchase decreased in fourth quarter of 2020. Lenders, however, expect demand for such lending to increase in first quarter of 2021.

    While lending for purchase of houses decreased, demand for mortgage/remortgaging from households increased in fourth quarter 2020 and is expected to increase in first quarter of 2021.

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    The report notes that the proportion of secured loan applications approved decreased. This is understandable, considering that lenders tightened the credit scoring criteria, according to the report.

    Further, demand for total unsecured lending from households increased in fourth quarter of 2020 and is expected to increase in first quarter of 2021.

    Lenders’ resolve to tighten the credit scoring criterion increased the proportion of approved unsecured loan applications in fourth quarter 2020.

    According to the report, the availability of credit to the corporate sector increased in fourth quarter 2020 and is expected to increase in first quarter of 2021, due to “Changing sector specific risk and market share objectives”.