The Nation Newspaper

Tag: fines

  • Court fines ex-unionist N200,000

    An Ogun State High Court in Ipokia Division has fined former labour leader Peter Asamba N200,000. He has an option of a six-month jail. Asamba was convicted on a two-count charge of conspiracy and assault against some staffers of the National Union of Chemical Footwear, Rubber and Non Metallic Products Employees (NUCFRLANMPE).

    He was a leader of the footwear, rubber and leather workers before the merger in 1996 and was at logger heads with NUCFRLANMPE, trying on several occasions to forcefully take over the secretariat of the union.

    In 1999,  during the tenure of Lucas Damulak, Asamba was alleged to have attacked the union secretariat  in Sango-Ota, in Ogun State, leaving  the former General Secretary of the union,  AlhajI Taoreed Ibrahim, almost crippled.

    On July 6, 2006, he was also said to have attacked the union, making the it to seek to redress at the court. The matter, which had been in court for 12 years, was finally laid to rest with Asamba’s conviction by Justice Muhammad Owodunni.

    Joseph Odimba, who was accused along with Asamba, died during the trial, which began on a three-count charge of attempted murder, assault and conspiracy.

    The judge, however, exonerated Asamba of attempted murder, noting that though it was established that he was carrying a gun, but with no intention to kill as he was reported to have shot into the air and wall and not directly at his victims.

    Asamba was accused of going to NUCFRLANMPE secretariat with a bus full of hoodlums, armed with matchets and charms to attack security men led by Akanbi Adesina, who resisted their entry into the secretariat.

    Asamba, according to the judge, claimed that he was at the secretariat to take over as the General Secretary of the union, having received an invitation from officials of the secretariat.

    Justice Owodunni, however, found Asamba guilty on the other two charges of conspiracy and assault, upon which he and the other accused were sentenced to six months each, to run concurrently or pay a fine of N100,000 for each of the sentences.

    Justice Owodunni also stated that Asamba, who had lost his job since 1991, had no business being at the NUCFRLANMPE secretariat. He could only be at the secretariat if he was in employment and a member of the union.

    Reacting to the judgment,  Director, Legislative Drafting in Ogun State, Olusegun Olaotan, who was the lead counsel for the state, said it was a fair as the convict has been restricted from disturbing the union.

    The Investigation Police Officer (IPO), Fatai Idris, who was in charge of the case, also commended the union for being steadfast in ensuring that the convict and his were brought to book.

    The officer said the accused had ran away after committing the crime but were arrested nine months later when he wrote a petition to the Police alleging that one of them was missing.

    The National President of NUCFRLANMPE, Goke Olatunji said the union was pleased with the judgement as  Asamba had caused a lot of problems for the union.

    “It is a good judgment. We’ve been on this since 1996 and the most important thing now is that he has been barred from coming to our union and convicted for all his crimes,” he said.

  • NCRIB President: Insurance penalties, fines killing

    NCRIB President: Insurance penalties, fines killing

    •Bows out next week

    The flurry of penalties and fines being levied on brokers two years ago was killing and disincentive to our business, outgoing President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Kayode Okunoren, has said.

    Okunoren made this known during his Valedictory Press briefing at the NCRIB House, Yaba, Lagos.

    He said the Council, under his tenure, was able to seek concession for members with the regulatory authorities, especially NAICOM and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) through constructive dialogue.

    He said they have surmounted almost all the obstacles and further positioned the Council on a pedestal of greater respect and reckoning in the comity of other professionals in Nigeria.

    He said: “Although it was not a bed of roses, yet the Council recorded some modest feats in the last two years. We were able to also add value to members. It is a pride for any member to belong to the NCRIB, because of the added value members are getting from the Council. Through this value addition we have been able to douse the negative views and a flurry of ill feelings that were the lot of many members about two years ago. We have given value in terms of training and information sharing, leading to facilitation of business through public bids.

    “We have further the frontiers of relationships with international insurance bodies, especially BIBA and the African Insurance Forum (AIF) with the consequential benefits in form of better training and exposure for members. We have realized that for the industry to continue to be relevant, its members must continually learn and unlearn and have the required exposure to deliver value to their clients.

    “Our image has also been boosted  with our corporate visibility project during the period. We realized the need to inch up the image of brokers and pull down several noxious beliefs about their practice. Today, the corporate visibility project has been warmly received by all members and through it the corporate reputation of the Council and its members have been improved significantly”, he added.

  • ‘Management, board must refund fines paid for infractions’

    Investors in the insurance sector have said management and boards of companies that cause their firms to pay fines to the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) for infractions must be prepared to refund such payments.

    The Coordinator, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu, who spoke with reporters  in Lagos, said allowing a company’s management and board to pay for fine imposed by the regulator would help reduce infractions and keep executives on their toes.

    He noted that shareholders have been made to suffer for crimes committed by the managements and boards.

    Nwosu lamented that the huge fines paid would have accrued to shareholders as dividends.

    He said: “Penalties do not give any value to top executives, it is shareholders money that is thrown away, and that was why ISAN has spearheaded a situation to say that if any company is penalised, the management and board should be held responsible to refund the money.

    “This will check the carefree attitude of some management and board. We believe the parties responsible for the penalties would make them play with caution and protect shareholders’ investments.”

  • Code of Conduct: Oliseh slams fines on erring Eagles

    •Players to decide how much

    Super Eagles’ players are now to decide the kind of penalties they will face if they breach the code of conduct which outlines the behavioural pattern expected of the team by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) during camping and major tournaments.

    An authoritative source told SportingLife that Sunday Oliseh, who will take charge of his first game as the Eagles’ gaffer on September 5 against the Taifa Stars of Tanzania, has already keyed into the NFF’s idea of a code of conduct to instill discipline into the squad.

    However, in agreeing with the initiative,Oliseh it was understood wants to bring a new dimension to the dispensation of the penalties that players will face should they breach the rules.

    Our source said:”You know Oliseh is a true professional who also does not condone any form of indiscipline and that’s why he’s in support of the code of conduct introduced by the NFF.

    “But Oliseh wants to make the whole process more democratic by allowing the players themselves to fix the fines they would pay for any offence they commit while camping for matches and tournaments.

    “In doing this, Oliseh believes that the players won’t have any reason to complain since they were the ones who decided on the kind of fines in the first place”

    To this effect, SportingLife gathered that the former Eagles’ captain will hold a crucial meeting with the team when all the invited players must have arrived camp in Abuja to thrash out this issue.

    It would be recalled that after Nigeria’s 2017 AFCON qualifier against Chad on June 13, the NFF queried Eagles’ captain Vincent Enyeama over his remarks about the safety of Kaduna State hosting the game.

    Also Eagles midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi, who earned a straight red card in the same match was issued a letter of reprimand and ordered to produce a written apology and fined the sum of $5,000.

    Though, the two players were later pardoned by the NFF, it is expected that such incidents in the future will be handled within the team if Oliseh’s initiative gets accepted by the players.

  • Pensioners face tax returns, fines under saving revolution

    Tens of thousands of pensioners could be forced to fill in tax returns for the first time or face fines under the government’s “savings revolution”, leading accountants and savings experts have warned.

    They said from April next year people may be required to declare when the interest they earn from their savings exceeds £1,000 for a basic rate taxpayer or £500 for a higher rate taxpayer.

    Pensioners with even modest savings could unwittingly be cut out and face fines and even prosecution by HMRC if they fail to act and declare the income, they suggested.

    Patricia Mock, a tax director at Deloitte, said: “This could particularly hit pensioners, people who are basic rate taxpayers who in the past far haven’t needed to file a tax return. There is going to be a massive communications exercise, it will be very difficult.”

    HMRC denied the claims and said that there is “no question whatsoever of savers having to complete tax returns”. It said it is looking at a “range of options” to make it easier for savers to report income but that this “definitely won’t include filling in tax returns”.

    In his Budget earlier this year, George Osborne announced plans to ensure that 95 per cent of savers equivalent to 17 million people – will no longer have to pay tax on their savings.

    Under the new Personal Savings Allowance, higher-rate taxpayers will be able to earn up to £500 from bank accounts tax-free. Basic-rate taxpayers will no longer pay tax on the first £1,000 they earn from bank accounts.

  • Shareholders blame regulators for imposing fines on firms

    Shareholders blame regulators for imposing fines on firms

    Shareholders in the insurance industry have expressed displeasure over the huge sum deposited at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as statutory deposit by firms.

    The shareholders are also not happy with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) over fines imposed on operating firms in the industry for various offences especially failure to meet deadline for submission of  annual accounts and financial reports.

    The shareholders made this known at the 23rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Cornerstone Insurance Plc in Lagos.

    The Cornerstone shareholders said it was painful to them to see record of N128million fine paid by the company to NAICOM and other related regulators because of various offences recorded against them.

    One of the shareholders, Akinsonya Solomon,  said the incessant fines heaped on operating firms by the regulators are becoming unbearable observing that virtually all insurance firms in Nigeria have been fined for one offence or the other this year.

    Mr Robert Igwe another shareholder of the company wants the NIA as the umbrella body of insurance underwriters to take up the issue of statutory deposit of the industry lying idle with little or no interest with the CBN to the law makers.

    He posited that the huge amount could yield good interest to the various firms if used in business adding that on the alternative, the CBN should pay interest commensurate to the quantum of money deposited by the various companies.