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Tag: implementation

  • SEC, operators discuss new capital requirements’ implementation

    SEC, operators discuss new capital requirements’ implementation

    Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and capital market operators have started discussion towards ensuring that the new minimum capital requirements for capital market operators set by the regulator are implemented in a less disruptive and more effective ways.

    The Nation gatherd at the weekend that the Commission and market operators have formed a joint implementation committee and are working on the key details of the new capital requirements.

    The joint committee, according to sources, included executives of the apex capital market regulator, stockbroking chiefs and dealers under the auspices of Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), which regulates the stockbroking practice and other key stakeholders.

    Sources said the committee is expected to deliberate on key implementation details including valuation methodology, the proportion and definition of liquid to illiquid assets, the status of stockbrokers’ equities in the proposed demutualisation of the NSE, the timeline for implementation of key compliance points, compliance evaluation methodology and possible incentives for operators among others.

    The committee’s deliberations are expected to form major part of the minimum capital status review that the market regulator has scheduled for June.

    SEC had extended the deadline for compliance with the new minimum capital requirements for various capital market functions from December 31, last year to September 30, this year. Before the extension, 262 capital market operators had met their various capital requirements.

    However, the larger segment of the market operators had called for a review of the minimum capital base arguing that it violated the principles of risk-based approach that should govern the capitalisation of multi-operators market.

    SEC had in 2013 announced major increases in minimum capital requirements for capital market functions under a new minimum capital structure that was initially scheduled to take off by January 1, this year.

    Minimum capital base for broker/dealer was increased by 329 per cent from the existing N70 million to N300 million. Broker, which operates with capital base of N40 million, will now be required to have N200 million, representing an increase of 400 per cent. Minimum capital base for dealer increased by 233 per cent from N30 million to N100 million.

    Also, issuing houses, which facilitate new issues in the primary market, will now be required to have minimum capital base of N200 million as against the current capital base of N150 million. The capital requirement for underwriter also doubled from N100 million to N200 million. Trustees, rating agencies and portfolio and fund managers had their minimum capital base increased by 650 per cent each from N40 million, N20 million and N20 million to N300 million, N150 million and N150 million respectively. A  Registrar will now have a minimum capital base of N150 million as against the current requirement of N50 million. While the minimum capital base for corporate investment adviser remained unchanged at N5 million, individual investment advisers will have to increase their capital base by 300 per cent from N500,000 to N2 million.

    As part of its own stakeholders’ engagement process and positioning, ASHON this weekend held a one-day workshop for stockbroking firms on the minimum capital requirements. The workshop also discussed the minimum operating standards (MOS) being implemented by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    According to a source, the workshop collated stockbroking firms for onward engagement with the Corporate Affairs Commission

  • Council urges implementation of Broadband Plan

    The National Broadband Council has urged stakeholders in the information communications technology (ICT) industry to expedite action on the implementation of National Broadband Plan of the Federal Government.

    Rising from its meeting chaired by Communications Technology Minister, Dr. Omobola Johnson, it acknowledged the progress made on the implementation of the Broadband Plan in the last 18 months, especially the increased capacity rolled out by telcos and other infrastructure providers, which had resulted in a two per cent increase in broadband penetration last year.

    The Council also said the successful auction of the 2.3 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum, licensing of the first two infrastructure companies (Infracos) for metro fibre rollout were giant strides, adding that companies that won should quickly rollout to improve the pace of implementation.

    It commended the trial of TV White Spaces approved by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) geared at reducing cost of internet access.

    A statement by Senior Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister, Efem Nkanga, said the Council also commended the telcos for their leadership in the area of base station infrastructure sharing and deployment and resolved that this needed to be extended to fibre.

    “Of particular concern to the Council, and the subject of extensive discussion during the meeting was the need to increase the landing points of international submarine cables beyond Lagos to other coastal states,” the statement said.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Ogoni indigenous government to facilitate the implementation of UNEP report

    Ogoni indigenous government to facilitate the implementation of UNEP report

    The Ogoni people, under the auspices of Ogoni Central Indigenous Authority (OCIA), have declared an indigenous government led by the chairman of Ogoni Governor’s forum, Hon. Lipnee Barika Lawrence.  The  Ogoni government promised to fight for the implementation of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.

    The government said their structure runs from the village council to the districts and to the province, adding that they got their legal backing from UN declaration of rights of indigenous government.

    It would be recalled that the call for the implementation  UNEP report  have generated much controversy leading to different political parties pledging support to the Ogoni people and promising to ensure the implementation of the report.

    The OCIA made up of the eight Ogoni indigenous governors led by its chairman of Ogoni Governor’s forum, Hon. Lipnee Barika Lawrence said Ogoni people are tired of promises from the political class. He noted that the plight of Ogoni people would no longer be politicised but an adequate action would be taken to ensure that UNEP report is implemented.

    While embarking on its first tour to the eight provinces in Ogoni after their inauguration Lipnee said: “After our inauguration as the governor of the eight Ogoni provinces we decided to make this familiarization tour for our people to know what is happening. The struggle of this government has a great emphasis for the execution of the UNEP report. Days are gone when politicians will be coming to Ogioni to use our polluted environment as a campaign to attract vote from Ogoni people.

    “The Ogoni government is on course. Ogonis have elected their governors from the eight provinces. We have come to show ourselves. No one should be afraid of abandonment. We are with our people. If we are not in place, the police would have arrested us as we are moving with siren. Federal Government is aware of our existence and activities. We call on all the Ogoni people to accept our government which is founded on the UN declaration of rights of the indigenous people to have their indigenous government. That is our legal backing.”

    The paramount ruler of Zaakpo community in Bori Province, Chief Sampson Adamugbo, while responding after appeasing the gods for the success of the government, said: “I am happy with the message brought to me today. But I plead that it should be for the interest of Ogoni people else I will not be happy. The things you told me should be real and should not turn out to be false. I pray God’s grace as you continue in this journey.”

    Joseph Kio, a youth leader in Bori who spoke for the youths of Bori Province said: “We align ourselves with the vision of our hero, Ken-Saro Wiwa. We support the struggle of realizing his dreams. We will not fold our hands and watch our oil and efforts waste.”

    Prince Lebosi Eguru who spoke for his father, the king of Luubara, King Dr M S H Eguru, the Gbenemene Kenkana Kingdom encouraged OCIA to be law-abiding in all their activities.

    “Your conducts should be peaceful. It should not involve crisis that may bring Ogoni to be deserted. We want to grow to the point of talking to international communities. The King is rightly behind you in the struggle.” He said

    Hon Dumade Bernard Budam, the Chief of Staff and the Deputy leader Ogoni Legislative Assembly, said that Ogoni has fulfilled all that it entails in the long term struggle for freedom and justice.

    In his words: “I believe that Ogoni has achieved the efforts of Wiwa. We have evoked the United Nation’s declaration of the rights of the indigenous people. We thank President Jonathan for giving us audience because he loves the Ogoni people. If he does not love us he would not have allowed us parade an indigenous government under him. So I believe he loves us and we appreciate him

    “We have made several achievements in course of this indigenous authority. This is because we have structures on ground. The structure runs from the village council to the district, district to province. We are seriously working towards the implementation of the UNEP report in Ogoniland. This government stands on horticulture, that is, agriculture and homeland security for the indigenous Ogoni people.

    “There is no Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) again in Ogoni land. What we have now is Ogoni indigenous government. MOSOP ceased to be a body after the 22nd Ogoni Day anniversary. This is because what MOSOP was established for has been actualised. MOSOP was formed to fight for the freedom of the Ogoni people for justice and for self-government and fair play.

    “Now MOSOP has evoked the UN declaration of the right of indigenes, which is what gave us this right today. There is nothing like MOSOP again in Ogoni. If anybody is talking about MOSOP, it is for the person’s self-gain and interest. The nine affiliates of MOSOP stand as the NGOs that will work with international NGOs to help the government grow. We now have Ogoni Central Indigenous Authority, government of the Ogoni people.”

  • Pencom to begin implementation of new contributory rate

    The National Pension Commission (Pencom) has hinted of plans to begin  full implementation of the provisions of the new Pension Reform Act 2014 from  January 1, 2015. This waiver only applies to the new contributory rate as contained in the law.

    The granting of the forbearance followed the representation by NECA to PENCOM. NECA noted that the Pension Reform Act (2014) would go a long way to promote coverage and compliance, while at the same time nipping in the bud the perennial issue of pension related fraud. NECA praised  Pencom for the forbearance

    Employers both in the public and in the private sectors had raised the issue of difficulty to effect the implementation of the enhanced new rate of 10 per cent  by employers on account of the fact that the increment was not budgeted for at the beginning of the year.

    NECA on behalf of the organised private sector had taken this issue up with PENCOM.

    Commenting on the development, President of NECA, Mr. Larry Ettah said: “By this development, PENCOM has demonstrated how regulatory institutions could engage stakeholders in the promotion of socio-economic development of the country while NECA’s intervention has shown the benefits of meaningful advocacy and constructive dialogue.”

    NECA is a platform for private sector employers to interact with the government, labour, communities and other relevant institutions in and outside Nigeria for the purpose of promoting harmonious business environment that engenders productivity and prosperity for the country.

     

  • Union calls for gas-to-power policies’ implementation

    Union calls for gas-to-power policies’ implementation

    Proper execution of policies on gas will boost  power supply, the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) has said.

    SSAEAC’s National President, Comrade Bede Opara, said: “I think if properly implemented, the policy would in the medium to long-term trigger additional investment in the infrastructure for gas to power.

    “The submission by the Petroleum Resources Minister  that inadequate infrastructure for gas supply has been the bane of the sector since it was privatised, and that a detailed tariff is being worked out by  the Ministries of Petroleum Resources and Power, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Agency (NERC) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to find a lasting solution to the problem  through the  review of gas pricing, will in the short-term, anticipate that this will quickly boost gas supply and in turn, power output, is a welcome development.”

    The union, he said, had urged the Federal Government to build a national gas grid owned by Nigerians, or executed in partnership with credible private sector players in a public-private partnership arrangement.

    “The grid can be put in place in four years, and should have capacity to handle gas volumes far in excess of the present limited domestic and regional demand. Such gas infrastructure will stimulate further domestic demand for expanding electricity requirements and various industrial purposes as well as facilitate domestic gas competition.

    “This is because the Nigeria Vision 2020 Economic Transformation Agenda has it that the overall target for the power sector is to grow installed power generation capacity from 6,000mw in 2009 to 20,000mw by 2015 and 35,000mw by 2020,” he said.

    He said the pronouncement by the Petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, that Nigerians may witness another hike in electricity tariff without improvement in power supply to justify another increase, was unfortunate.

    “Hiking tariff is not justifiable because the burden on citizens is enormous, as they also have to battle with scarcity and high cost of kerosene, diesel and cooking gas. And if the hike is aimed at pleasing investors, it subjects Nigerians to more suffering, indeed, double jeopardy.

    “People should not pay for what is non-existent. The ideal thing is to work towards putting power first. Thereafter, it would be clear to all and sundry that there is a change that could warrant tariff increase. I am of the view that Nigerians need a respite from the unbearable economic hardship in the country,” he said.

    He said there was still an outstanding payments to workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), adding that a review shows that the sub-committee on the processing of staff benefits said the screening was cubersome.

  • Implementation of laws will stem piracy

    Implementation of laws will stem piracy

    Justices of the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal and judges from the Federal High Courts converged last week on Lagos for the Mainframe Seminar. Hassan Bello, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, says the learned men called for the implementation of the municipal laws to stem piracy on our waters. Legal Editor JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU met him.

    WHAT is your assessment of the just concluded Maritime Seminar for judges?

    The 13th edition of the Maritime Seminar for Judges has been adjudged yet another success, what is frightening is that every time we have this seminar, the bar keeps on rising , what was unique about the 13th edition of the seminar was that it was organised by a couple of young  men in Nigerian Shippers Council who were my successors in the Legal Department and  you could see the difference they brought in, the innovation and this time we had the highest participation of judges.

    What do you mean by this?

    Yes, we had the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, the Minister of Transport, President Court of Appeal, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, so all the heads of our superior courts of record were there.  We had six Supreme Court Justices, 31 Judges of the Court of Appeal, and 30 Judges of the Federal High Court,  but more instructive is that we about 80 Judges from the States High Courts. We also had about 54 members of the public, mostly lawyers who paid a token fee  to participate in the Seminar. We also had a representation from the Judiciary of Ghana, the Union of African Shippers with headquarters in Cameroun and also Niger Shippers Council. So it was attended by both Judges and lawyers all over the Country. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine transport, Senator Zainab Kure was also there and we had representation from a cross-section of the maritime industry.

    What issues were canvassed and how do you think they will move the maritime sector forward?

    The issues that were discussed at the seminar were quite relevant and germane for the growth of Nigerian economy. The issues were of significant, we talked about piracy which is a burning issue, and called for the implementation of municipal laws to govern piracy because there is a lacuna there, we talked about the liability of terminal operators, insurance of oil and gas carriage and the Admiralty Jurisdiction Act (AJA). More significantly, we also looked at the introduction to maritime law and admiralty Jurisdiction for the new judges who were there in the over all, I think that we had a very successful seminar by all dimensions.

    The Federal Government has appointed the Shippers Council as economic regulator in the maritime sector. How far have you gone with this assignment and what are the challenges of this responsibility?

    The appointment is a confirmation of the fact that Shippers’ Council has always had some regulatory powers. The Federal Government has shown so much concern about activities at the ports, it has realised the importance of the ports to the economy of this country. So, it has made concerted efforts to make sure that our ports are efficient, they are competitive and that our ports should be positioned so that the contributions of the maritime sector to the national economy  will be substantial. According to the concession agreement, there ought to be an economic regulator right from the onset, but coming right now, it is not too late but you will agree with me that we have a peculiar task because the game had already started when we were introduced. But all the same, because of our pedigree and experience at the NSC, we have been able to brace to address the situation.

    How are you going about this responsibility?

    The first thing that we did was to have wide consultation with all the stakeholders and this consultation has yielded a lot of positive results.  Because we have been welcome warmly, are now an arbiter, we are the referee,  we neutral and  we are transparent. But most of all we are scientific,  all we want to do is to sanitise the ports to make sure that our ports are friendly and efficient.To make sure that our ports are competitive and to ensure that Nigeria becomes the hub of the trade in the region.  Since that time, we have been on it and we have met with all the segments of the ports system and even beyond. We are talking with the truckers, the freight forwarders, the terminal operators, we are talking with the shipping companies, the Nigerian Ports authority (NPA), we are talking with the  Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Authority (NIMASA),  the Nigerian Customs Service, Immigration and so on. We have gone to them and explained our role in the system and now we are consolidating.

     How are you consolidating?

    Yes, we have started actual negotiation with the Shipping, what we want to remove now is arbitrariness, a situation where people or some section fix prices any how without  reference to the Nigerian Shippers Council be you NPA, terminal operator of a freight forwarder it must now be understood that there is an economic regulator. We are on the right path, it is not a quick fix and I also know how impatient Nigerians are, they should give us time to firm up our activities before the results will manifest. Already, we have abrogated certain charges and this will go a long way in consolidating our position but our own is not just to abrogate charges, our own is make sure that each participant or player in the port industry does  its work properly, efficiently, with high level of transparency within the ambit of the law in the overall interest of Nigerian economy.

    What are the major problems of the ports?

    What is really lacking is co-ordination; there are so many interests at the ports; so many players, so you will need to have co-ordinator, you need to have a supervisor, you need to have a referee, you need to have somebody  who will introduce balance and symmetry,  because these things must be done in unison and in a perfect order. What we have now is  a les affair, brigandage  or  chaos at the ports and that we are not going to accept.

    What level of support have you enjoyed from the government and operators in the port system in pursuance of these objectives?

    We have had tremendous support from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE); they have given us tremendous support, we also have had support from Nigerian Customs Service, the Immigration, players like the  shipping  companies and terminal operators, the freight forwarders. So, we are going scientifically, we going systematically, openly and transparently to do these things.

    A corollary to good port system is a good and efficient  transport system. Apapa road has become a night mare of a sort in recent times, how does this affect your regulatory role in the ports? What steps have you taken to make sure good are seamlessly moved to and fro the Nigerian ports.?

    The Federal Government is so concerned about what is happening in Apapa  that they have taken practical steps to find a solution to it. The Special Assistant to the President on Valuation and Monitoring of project,   Prof. Monye  Sylvester together with the Special Assistant to the President on Maritime affairs, Olugbenga  Leke Oyewole,  Shippers Council, NPA, other stakeholders had a meeting recently , this role has been given to us to co-ordinate because what is happening in Apapa first, I think the Port met the city and you will have some problems with that. Some part of the road also is motor able, there is no call system or any system at all put in place to make sure that these trailers are there only when they are needed. So what you have is chaos and chaos will not bring sanity at all, it makes the port environment unwholesome, so we cannot have that so Shippers Council has been given the same role of coordinating this and we are now talking to the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), we are talking with a task force that has been set up, we are talking to Lagos State Government and some agencies.  It is the whole system of traffic management that has to be overhauled. We all the trucks, most of them unserviceable trucks coming to carry goods, there are so many accidents on the way, the containers are not latched to the body of the trailers; these are some of the infringements. The containers fall on the roads and block everywhere, this cannot continue to happen. There must be a well regulated system and the Shippers Council is talking with the Federal Government about this.

    How do you intend to do this?

    We want to make sure that even the truckers must have a system. For example, you cannot, register unless you have so and  so number of trucks, you must have an office, you must have a tracking  system and some other facilities. What we have is one man with his motor boy, it is the motor boys between 17 and 18 that drive those trucks. The owner is somewhere sleeping and waiting for his motor boys to bring money to him, that kind of things can never happen again. So, we want  to reorganise the truckers for their advantages and for their own benefits.  We have to inspect the vehicles together with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) and so on, there must be some conditions and criteria for them to operate,  so Shippers Council is bringing  the whole system together with the NPA and other stakeholders. Secondly, in respect of our traffic management and our truck management system, we ought to have a tracking base, we need to have an effective marshalling yard so that these trailers are well parked when they are not  needed, up to the gate of the NPA, there ought to be some electronic platform, a call system so that trucks are called in only when they are needed it not like what obtains now where you see a lot of vehicles and people moving up and down doing nothing actually, we are advocating that there  must be a system in place.

    People have advocated for the relocation of the tank farms as a solution to the problem, what is your reaction to this?

    The tank farms are  also causing some obstruction at the ports; no doubt,  we must also find  the best way  to manage the tank farms. It is not just like saying remove the tank farms or don’t remove them no, we are studying the system to see how best we can handle the situation. Apapa ports are city ports and access to the ports are mainly by roads. A port should have other modes of transport; they should have  a well defined expansive rail system; they should have linkage with inland water ways so that goods are effectively evacuated but here, we have roads and these roads are not exclusive to the ports, they also lead to other  places and are equally used by individuals. All of us use the port roads, so do the trucks and  the tankers; so you could imagine the chaos and the attendant challenges; that will not happen in other ports that we are developing in this country.

    How are you handling the new ports?

    The situation actually is modern deep sea ports, they have expansive roads, railways, and other facilities that are exclusive to the ports only. Even when you come to Apapa, you will see the difference, it really needs serious coordination. We are seriously meeting over this issue of access roads and I am sure that we are going to find a solution to it.

    Before your appointment as the Executive Secretary of the Council, you had advocated for the expansion of the ports through the establishment of the Dry Ports, otherwise called the Inland Container Depots ( ICD).

    What is the role of the ICDs in the chaos in Apapa?

    The ICDs  are also long term solution to the congestion at the ports and the unwholesome activities of  that we have in respect of access to Apapa because if you have an off dock facility in Ibadan for example, the trucks will stay in Ibadan, all of them have no business coming to Lagos to go and line up in Apapa.  At the Dry Ports, the goods will be inspected there, duty paid. They are ports just like Apapa port or Tincan Island port, only that you don’t see water there.  This definitely reduce congestion, for trucks to come all the way from the north to Lagos to carry goods, nobody does that  anywhere in this  world, so we have to rely on these Dry Ports. The Minister of Transport is on top of it and you know he set up a committee which has provided a legal solutions. These ports are ports of origin and ports of destination, which means that you can consign your goods to these ports, you can have your bill of lading reading Liver- pool to Isiala Ngwa and they will be inspected there.  So, you don’t need all these trucks  coming to Apapa, we are on it and very soon, pa ublic declaration will be made.

    The idea of 48-hour clearing of goods in the country was canvassed, how feasible is this and what is your take on it?

    This is feasible and it is one of the things which we are pursuing. We had a discourse where all the stakeholders came around and we were discussing the 48- hour clearance; we are building a lot of bridges to make sure that Nigerians are able to clear their goods within the shortest possible time without stress. This will definitely promote trade and enhance economic growth. We cannot have the primitive way of clearing goods any more, it cannot happen and that is why we said that freight forwarders will have to be re educated, they should be able to stay in their offices and clear their goods without coming to the ports. We don’t need a multitude or an army of freight forwarders loitering around the ports, no, it is not going to happen, it will soon to an end.

    How are you going to achieve this?

    The shipping companies must provide platforms, the terminal operators must provide electronic platforms just like the custom is doing, leading the way and the Shippers Council will coordinate. We will have a high command where we will co -ordinate information, where we will co-ordinate trade  facilitation,  with this arrangement, you will clear your goods  within 48 hours. It is the human content that has made our ports nauseating,  it is the human content that has made our ports corrupt. The Shippers Council will not allow that to continue, so we are working on several fronts, the work is enormous. I want Nigerians to trust the Federal Government, to trust the Shippers Council and to trust all the other agencies working at the ports because we are all working for the same purpose but what is lacking is co-ordination and the Shippers Council is providing that now.

    It was reported that you met with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Is  the bank part of the agencies working at the ports. What is their own role in the scheme of things?

    The CBN, in fact, all banks are critical to port operations. Since 2008, the Nigerian Shippers Council has been confirming the reasonableness of trade freight rates as a precondition for the purchase of foreign exchange from the CBN by commercial banks on behalf of shippers for the payment of freight rates or Charter party fees. This is done to stem capital flight from the country and to ensure that these freight rates are reasonable, because some people inflate this freight rates and the Nigerian Shippers Council  is statutorily enabled to make sure that these freight rates are reasonable,  they are obtainable in the market, what we have is the use of freight rates as capital flight. Shipping companies operating in Nigeria  are  supposed to have disbursement account through which their principals abroad will finance them for any payment that is not done in local currency.

    All local port charges are supposed to be paid in Naira, not in U.S. Dollas, many deposit  banks were not aware of the illegality of sourcing foreign currencies locally for the payment of freight related charges. The payment of such fees with Nigeria’s foreign exchange amounts to capital flight that affect the nations balance of payment negatively. So, we have collaborated the CBN and our position is that we have statutory powers regarding monitoring and stabilising of freight rates in Nigeria which by extension gives us the power to know how much a shipper has paid to the shipping companies for the purpose of negotiation of freight rates or charter party fees.

    What was the purpose of this?

    The purpose of this was to stem capital flight and also to make sure that these freight rates are reasonable because some people inflate rates and Nigerian Shippers Council is statutorily enabled to make sure that these rates are reasonable, they are obtainable in the market. What we have is the use of freight rates as capital flight, all shipping companies operating in Nigeria are supposed to have disbursement account through which their principals abroad will finance them for any payment that is not paid in local currency. All local port charges are supposed to be paid in Naira not in US Dollars, money deposit banks were not aware of the illegality of  forcing foreign currency locally for the payment of  freight related charges, the payment of such charges with Nigeria’s foreign exchange amounted  capital flight that affect the nation’s balance of payment negatively. So, we have collaborated with the Central Bank and our position is that we have statutory powers regarding monitoring and stabilising freight rates in Nigeria, this by extension gives us the power to know how much a shipper pays  as freight to shipping companies for the purpose of negotiation of freight rates.

     

  • Automotive policy: Is Nigeria ripe for its implementation?

    Automotive policy: Is Nigeria ripe for its implementation?

     ‘The one who adapts his policy to the times prosper, and likewise, the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not.’—-Niccolo Machiavelli

    President Goodluck Jonathan, at his 2014 Democracy Day celebration held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, reportedly inspected laughable locally assembled Nissan vehicles with unfounded aplomb. In the revelry, he unguardedly declared that the vision of his administration to revamp the capability of Nigeria’s automobile sector to export locally manufactured cars is erroneously ‘near realisation’. Till this moment, millions of Nigerians have not seen those locally assembled vehicles on our roads. May be the ones assembled and displayed, for him and acolytes, with nauseating funfair were only enough for the use of the presidency’s team.

    The president, after a recent meeting with Carlos Ghosn, chief executive officer of Nissan Motors during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, deludingly declared that the first made-in-Nigeria 4 X 4 Utility SUV would be on Nigerian roads by April this year. Till now again, majority of Nigerian have not sighted such made-in-Nigeria vehicles from Nissan or any other brand plants in the country. Yet, Ghosn mischievously assured our undiscerning president that it was possible to produce two to three million cars in Nigeria annually with the utopian consequent creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

    The  Jonathan led government has not been quite sincere in its pursuit of this otherwise important policy and this is symptomatic of its bungling of previous hitherto significant policies that were altered on the altar of promoters’/government officials’ greed and egomania. Like previous misplaced policies, the government, through insincere/myopic Olusegun Aganga, Minister of Trade and Investment, recently declared that the new automotive policy is purportedly geared towards discouragement of used automobiles and not its outright ban. To justify the misplaced policy, the minister stopped at nothing to make importation of used vehicles look inimical despite the fact that the government has failed to address challenges that might follow suit.

    In Aganga’s contentious view, tokunbo cars’ importation erroneously takes the biggest share of the country’s foreign reserves. To buttress his chimera, he disclosed recently too that as at 2012, Nigeria had spent a total of N550 billion ($3.4billion) and N660 billion ($4.2 billion) in 2010 on importation of cars. Aganga erroneously believes that the balance of payment problems of Nigerians is traceable to this alone because he thinks that those imported vehicles were a product of capital flight from the country. He has completely forgotten that majority of Nigerians in Diaspora legitimately make several millions of money in hard currency and found it easier to repatriate such hard earned funds by buying vehicles that were sent home to relatives/friends to be sold or used and the proceeds deployed to build houses among other needs, including savings. The balance of payment problem of the country was not a consequence of car importation but that of the unquenchable national fleecing of the few in power and their elite friends/collaborators that criminally transfers ill-gotten public funds abroad.

    Most average-income-earning Nigerians buy tokunbo cars with prices ranging from N550, 000 to N2.5million. It is only those who are in government and the elite class that buy cars with N10 to N50million worth of value. Aminu Jalal, NAC’s Director-General, better amplified the contradiction in government figures through Aganga when he unknowing declared that the nation wastes N400billion on the importation of 200,000 used vehicles and 80,000 new vehicles annually when it has the capacity to produce 150,000 units of vehicles. Yours sincerely believes that the nation’s capacity by Jalal is exaggerated and his calculation on used vehicles spurious. He should tell us the billions wasted on importation of new cars by his and Aganga’s likes in power. Afterall, Stella Oduah while serving as Minister of Aviation bought two BMW armoured official cars for over N230million. This singular incident has put a lie on the Aganga abracadabra on this roguery policy. Let Aganga/Jonathan tell Nigerians what number of poor Nigerians, and how long will it take to import tokunbo vehicles of that value from one single government official? This infamous policy might finally nail the coffin of this administration.

    It is a lie too that this insincere policy of gradual phasing out of fairly used (tokunbo) cars’ importation into Nigeria would create a minimum of 700,000 jobs for Nigerians. It will shock Aganga and ilks to know that retail tokunbo importers/dealers employ majority of Nigerians by creating a large chunk of employment in the informal sector. Contrarily, vehicle assembly plants including Pan Nigeria (formerly Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria), Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company, Toyota Nigeria Limited, Coscharis Motors Limited, Dana Group and KIA Motors employ less because most of their works are automated. They employ fewer Nigerians in their showrooms across the country where they sell new vehicles to Nigerians who by any standards can not be deemed to be poor because of their prohibitive car prices. It is the same unjustifiably now official forsaken tokunbo vehicles from retail dealers that have been the saving grace of Nigerians from the car profiteering tyranny of big automobile outlets that are friends of Jonathan, Aganga and others in power.

    Unfortunately, this roguery policy still allows vehicles produced abroad to be imported in form of Semi Knocked Down (SKD) and Completely Knocked Down (CKD) by deceitfully licensed assemblers. And dubiously too, it also allows Jonathan/Aganga’s anointed vehicle assemblers to import New Fully Built Units (FBUs) vehicles at concessionary import duty rates while ordinary Nigerians as individuals and retail dealers are slammed with prohibitive high custom duty/levy when importing such vehicles. What an injustice! This exposition clearly amplifies the deceits in this automotive policy of the Jonathan/Aganga administration.

    More importantly, this policy will remain a ruse unless power is constant and the value of Nigerian currency to dollar is reasonably steady since those parts will be procured from abroad in hard currency; and until systemic corruption/greed induced by constituency deficient persons including Aganga is reduced to very minimal level. For instance, this column wants to know why the Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) companies would not invest in Nigeria before requesting for protection of their vehicle assembling business interests. Can such senseless request be granted by any serious government in well managed climes across the world? No! The decision to value used imported vehicles as new ones and deemed depreciated by 10 per cent annually for cars and 20 per cent annually for commercial vehicles could be nothing but draconian and condemnable. The Jonathan administration and arm-chair economists like Aganga should be told, in clear terms, that subjecting the residual value to 35 per cent duty and 35 per cent levy is devoid of human face or empiricism in a country where public transportation system is in bad shape and where poverty is colossally rampant.

    This column believes that the only way to reduce the preponderance of tokunbo cars on the nation’s roads is to locally produce the needed quantity and quality of affordable vehicles that can compete favourably with the good and sturdy ones from the United States, Canada and other European countries. Also, there are different markets for new and used vehicles all over the world with each thriving at its own pace. Why is Nigeria’s case going to be different because of Aganga’s greed under a contemptuous President Jonathan? Under this ruse policy, we stand to see how the local demands of not less than official calculated 150,000 vehicles per year can be met in the next five years in the face of shamelessly commencement of the implementation of the new 70 per cent duty and tariff on used vehicles. How many Nigerians can afford new vehicles in the country today?

    The Jonathan government seems to have long been disconnected with the people, otherwise, it would have realised that it is a tall dream for any government to think of discouraging the importation and use of fairly-used cars in a country that can hardly produce wheel spanner like ours. What it calls automotive policy with expectant phantom employment generation capability is a ploy to indulge some few vehicle assemblers/importers, and their promoters in power, to earn undeserved profits, at the expense of poor Nigerians under the guise of producing new vehicles and generating illusive employment for the masses. The policy will lead to increase in car smuggling business through the Benin Republic route. A stitch in time can only save nine for Aganga, who came up with this brutal and punitive idea. Again, time for urgent and honest re-think of this obviously ill-conceived automotive policy, and not undue postponement, is Now!

  • Labour urged to fight for minimum wage implementation

    Labour urged to fight for minimum wage implementation

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have been charged to go beyond the mobilisation of workers against the Senate’s decision to move the national minimum wage from the Exclusive to the Concurrent List of the Constitution.

    The unions have been urged to declare a national protest against the attempt by employers, in the private and public sectors, not to implement the minimum wage.

    The organised labour has also been called to begin the mass mobilisation of workers and the poor for a 48-hour solidarity strike with mass protests and rallies to compel the Federal Government to immediately implement its agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and adequately fund education.

    Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN), a new party for Nigerian workers and masses, made the call in its reaction to the communiqué issued at the end of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the NLC in Abuja.

    According to the communiqué, the NEC resolved to, among other issues, mobilise against the Senate resolution to move Minimum Wage from Exclusive List to Concurrent List; participate/mediate in the current negotiation between the federal government and striking lecturers under ASUU; and take up labour issues in Anambra State.

    The group, in a statement issued by its National Chairperson, Segun Sango, argued that many workers might not warm up to NLC’s mobilisation against the Senate’s decision on minimum wage, having not really benefited from the national minimum wage.

    It therefore called on the labour leadership to start conscious mobilisation of workers against not just the Senate attempt to make minimum wage voluntary for governments and private sector, but also against attempt of various governments to rubbish the minimum wage law.

    “The issue of minimum wage goes beyond issuing threats to the Senate. Therefore, for the labour leadership to effectively mobilise workers against the anti-worker Senate, it must link this with the struggle to ensure full implementation of the national minimum wage.

    “Given the unsatisfactory way the labour leadership had handled some struggles in the past, especially the cancellation, at the midnight of July 20, 2011, of the strike on minimum wage that had been adequately mobilised for and planned to begin on that day and the January 2012 struggle on fuel price hike, it is most likely that any call by labour for a general strike and mass action will be trailed by mass skepticism, even among workers and pro-labour activists.

    “We therefore urge the labour leadership to immediately begin holding mass meetings with workers and pro-labour activists to assure them of their commitment to struggle as part of the preparation for the suggested strike which should also include mass rallies and circulation of leaflets. This must also include immediate resuscitation of Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO) that must come to stay as a fighting platform against all neo-liberal capitalist attacks on the working people and youth,” the group added.

    On ASUU strike, the group kicked against the decision by the NLC to mediate in the current negotiation between the Federal Government and the striking lecturers, stating that the ‘negotiating’ approach of the Congress will lead to unwarranted compromise rather than helping the striking lecturers achieve their demands.

    It argued that the NLC does not seem to be much interested in compelling the government, through direct support to ASUU and mobilising its members for solidarity action, to accede to the demands.

    “With the terrible conditions of education vis-à-vis collapse of infrastructure and falling standards, it is only appropriate for NLC to mobilise its massive support for ASUU and its demands. To limit the issue of ASUU strike to the “interests of students” is like helping the government to pile up pressure on ASUU and force it to raise compromises that will neither end the agitations of ASUU nor resolve by any means, the monumental problems facing education sector.

     

     

     

  • NEITI recovers $2b from audit implementation

    NEITI recovers $2b from audit implementation

    •Traces disputed N4.423b PPPRA remittance to CBN

    The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has helped the federal government to recover $2billion following the implementation of its audit reports.

    Its Executive Secretary, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this to our correspondent at Abuja yesterday.

    She informed that $1 billion was recovered from the first NEITI oil and gas audit of 1999 – 2004.

    Ahmed further explained that the 2005 NEITI audit report also helped the federal government to recover another $515million.

    She added that the transparency agency recovered $447million following the implementation of the 2006-2008 oil and gas audit report.

    Total recoverable revenue emanating from the NEITI audits, according to her, is $9.6billion.

    She explained that NEITI later traced the disputed N4.423billion Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) remittance to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account after the agency tendered documents it did not present in the course of the audit.

    According to her, such discrepancies are bound to occur when there is no full information from agencies.

    Ahmed said: “It was by sitting together and meeting with PPPRA and they provided documents that we didn’t see during the course of audit.

    “We saw that the remittances were actually made. So, this kind of things happen when you don’t get the full information that you require in the course of audit and audit does not last forever and so you have to end the data gathering and write the report. So that is what happened in the case of DPR.”

  • ASUU-OAU demands implementation of panel report

    Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has condemned in its entirety corruption cover up in high places in Nigeria.

    The Chairman Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Chapter Prof Peter Akinola stated this in Ibadan while briefing journalists over the weekend on the Industrial crisis at the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T).

    All the unions at the Institute including Senior Staff Associations, Non-Academic Staff union and Academic Staff Union have been on strike for nine months over allegations of funds misappropriation running into 192.5billion, levelled against the management of the institute.

    Akinola noted that only the Vice Chancellor of OAU, Prof Tale Omole is constitutionally empowered to appoint and remove the embattled Director of the institute Prof Benjamin Ogunbodede so as to restore peace to the Institute.

    The ASUU boss who lamented that many corrupt individuals in Nigeria are being shielded by the powers-that-be called on Omole to ensure full implementation of the fact-finding panel earlier set up to investigate management of the institute.

    “This further demonstrates that it is possible to be corrupt and still remain in office once you are connected to people in power. This is indeed a sad story in Nigeria of today where corruption eats deep into the fabrics of every aspect of our national life. For progress there must be justice, equity, and transparency at all levels in Nigeria including higher institutions.”

    The three unions had last week, jointly staged a peaceful protest demanding the removal of the Executive Director over the mismanagement of aforementioned amount.

    They called on OAU authorities to adopt reports of Prof E.A Odu who investigated the alleged financial mismanagement.

    The workers have also jointly petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) to step into the matter which allegedly accused Prof Ogunbodede of having paid 177.5million as hazard allowance and 15million for crop production.