The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Monthly

  • Kano spends N9b monthly on salary payment, says Gov

    Kano spends N9b monthly on salary payment, says Gov

    The Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, has said his administration spends N9 billion monthly on payment of workers’ salaries.

    He said the feat was achived at a time most state governments have not been able to pay salaries of their workers as a result of the economic situation in the country.

    He spoke at the end of a  workshop for financial journalists held in Kano with theme: ‘The Role of Nigeria Banking Sector: Opportunities, Challenges and the Way forward’.

    The workshop was organised by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) in Kano recently.

    He disclosed that despite being the largest state in terms of population growth, the administration has not owed workers, and all public servants “in the state and local government usually receive their salaries between 26th and 28th of every month.”

    Ganduje who was represented at the event by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Usman Alhaji Usman, also expressed the willingness of the state to embrace public-private partnership (PPP) to revive the ailing cotton industry in the state.

    “We need public private investment in order to revive the cotton industry,” he said.

    He disclosed that the state has invested N10.18 billion in the construction of the Murtala Mohammed road bridge as well as N3.59 billion in the construction of the Bukavu underpass, among others.

    He explained that in the area of environment, the administration was doing enough to address certain challenges. He also listed some of his achievements. Ganduje said: “We have so many empowerment programmes ongoing in the state and they involve market women, and farmers. The Masu Shayi (tea sellers) empowerment is an effort from the government to improve first, the environment. During the inauguration of the empowerment programmes, there was a lecture on the cleaning of their environment and making the tea in good environment.

  • TSA: Govt saves N4b bank charges monthly

    TSA: Govt saves N4b bank charges monthly

    The Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy has enabled the Federal Government to save N4billion monthly from charges that banks collected on its numerous accounts, it was learnt at the weekend.

    Besides, more than N7 trillion has been remitted by banks to the government’s TSA account in compliance with the policy.

    The figure,  as at March, showed that the TSA had been able to consolidate all inflows from government agencies using a single account-Consolidated Revenue Account (CRA), at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The TSA is a bank account or a set of linked bank accounts through which the government transacts all its receipts and payments and gets a consolidated view of its cash position at any given time.

    The implementation of TSA was a nightmare for government until September 2015, when SystemSpecs deployed Remita, locally developed payment software, to drive the policy execution.

    Before TSA, every organisation that collects money payable to the Federal government stacked cash in Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) where they were left to yield interest over the years for faceless individuals and groups while the Federal Government was starved of funds meant for developmental projects.

    The Federal High Court in Lagos two weeks ago, ordered seven commercial lenders to temporarily remit a total of $793.2 million allegedly hidden by them in contravention of the TSA policy.

    Justice Chuka Obiozor ordered the banks to remit the various amounts allegedly being kept illegally in their custody to the designated Federal Government’s asset recovery dollars account domiciled with the apex bank.

    The concerned banks are United Bank for Africa Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc, First Bank Limited, Fidelity Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Limited and Sterling Bank Plc. However, the lenders have all denied keeping such funds, insisting they have remitted the cash to the regulator.

    Head of Treasury at Ecobank Nigeria, Olakunle Ezun, said the TSA has remained a major challenge for most banks, especially smaller lenders.

    He said the TSA has reduced banks’ balance sheet positions and income.

    Ezun said: “TSA remains a minus for banks, and plus for government,” he disclosed.

    He said: “A lot of banks did not honour their obligations, because of liquidity problems. But after a while, some banks met with the CBN and asked to pay gradually. The CBN later gave them forbearance, but increased liquidity in the system, I think they are now expected to remit the cash,” he said.

    Ezun said TSA remains a minus for banks, and plus for government, adding that the affected lenders will have to source the dollar from the parallel market because the law does not allow them to bid at the official market for such funds.

    “A lot of the affected banks will have to source for the funds at the parallel market,  if they do not have the required cash. The banks that were caught in the web were those facing foreign exchange crisis, which made it difficult for them to remit in totality to the CBN,” he said.

    Defending the initiative, Executive Director, SystemSpecs, Adermi Atanda, said the TSA is just a concept, a way and means of banking.

    He said: “So, TSA is just set of arrangements of knowing where your funds are, aggregating them for optimum benefits to the economy. So, that in itself, does not make it threat to banking in any way. It is just that government needs to get more efficient by leveraging on technology, and it goes beyond the banks. It touches how people are able to relate with governments, the ease of payment, delivery of service, accountability of government revenues, taxation and making funds available for national development,” he said.

  • Ortom vows to reduce N7.9b monthly wage bill

    Ortom vows to reduce N7.9b monthly wage bill

    Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has promised that his government will scale down the alarming N7.9 billion monthly wage bill as it can longer be sustained by the government.

    The state’s wage stands at N4.2 billion while the local government council is N3.7 billion monthly.

    Ortom, who addressed State House correspondents in Abuja, said the government has begun a comprehensive staff audit to identify ghost workers and remove those due for retirement.

    The staff audit, which will last for three months, will put the government in a better position to pay outstanding salaries, he said.

    Ortom said: “You will recall that I declared a state of emergency on payment of salaries, because I want to be able to  pay salaries as and when due as a worker deserves his wages.

    “I think a wage bill of over N3.2 billion at the state level is too much. When you add pensions and gratuity, it gets to about N4.2 billion; it is too much for Benue State. At the local government, you have a wage bill of N3.7 billion.

    “Ghost workers, those due for retirement and the dead are still in service, collecting salaries and all that. So, we believe that at the end of the day, we will scale down to a level that we will be able to pay salaries as and when due.”

    The governor added that his administration inherited a monthly bill of N8.2 billion from the Gabriel Suswam-led government, but reduced it to N7.9 billion, which he wants to further scale down.

  • N165b monthly salaries not sustainable, says Adeosun

    The N165 billion monthly salaries to federal civil servants was over-bloated and could no longer be sustained by government,  the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has said.

    The Minister, who spoke at a meeting with the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN)  hosted by her counterpart in the Ministry of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the figure, represented 40 per cent of the total spending of government, an amount she claimed, was too high.

    She pointed out that government was pursuing aggressive measures to detect and eventually prosecute ghost workers and other saboteurs in the system that have resulted in the malaise.

    “We spend 165 billion every month on salaries and when I came in there was no checking.

    “Now, we have created a Unit assigned with the sole responsibility of checking the salaries and catching those behind the over bloated salaries,’’ she said.

    Mrs. Adeosun said the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) introduced by the previous administration was faulty and sabotaged by the elements benefitting from the salary fraud, adding that many Federal Government establishments, including the Police were yet to be captured in the system.

    It is shocking that the Nigerian Railway Corporation which was not fully functioning, still had 10,000 workers in its payroll serviced by government, she said, assurring that government would correct the anomalies in the payroll system and weed out all ghost workers in the service.

    Mrs. Adeosun said the fiscal focus of the administration is to ensure an economic growth that would be measured on job creation and productive sectors.

    “The economy is not measured by how many private jets we have, but how many jobs we create People must be productive for the economy to grow,” she said.

    She expressed disappointment that Nigeria has been a consumer economy, stressing, “we want to be productive and stop buying everything from abroad. We have been borrowing to pay salaries for years and that has to stop because it is not sustainable.”

    She said last year, the nation spent N64 billion on travelling and only N90 billion on roads. Travelling does not grow the economy and this must also stop,’’ she stressed.

    Mrs. Adeosun said that the compound Gross Domestic Product ( GDP) of the country has been growing negatively in the last 10 years, staing that the administration is working to correct the trend.

    Also, the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh said government would reposition the agricultural sector to become the mainstay of the economy.

    “The ministry will give policy direction and coordination to make farming attractive and for people to practice it as business,” he said. adding that government will put policy in place to recover the $22 billion which is floating out of the country’s resources to sustain farms in other countries.

    He said government will also ensure that banks review the two digits interest rate on loan to farmers and other productive sectors.

    Ogbeh assured that the Change promised may appear to be slow, but it is actually taking place, he said saying that year, the country has harvested a million tons of rice..

    The Minister of the Environment, Amina Mohammed said government would complete the clean-up of the Ogoni land in the next one year and ensure the degraded land was revived for productive purposes.

    She said the Great Green Wall project of planting trees to control desert encroachment would also be given priority by the administration.

  • CBN pegs mobile money monthly transactions at N40b

    CBN pegs mobile money monthly transactions at N40b

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has pegged monthly value of mobile money transactions at N40 billion.

    CBN Deputy Governor, Operations, Suleiman Barau, who disclosed it at the maiden edition of the Electronic Payment Financial Incentives Scheme (EFIS) Efficiency Award, said mobile money is where the future of banking lies.

    He urged banks and other stakeholders to ensure that the e-payment space is deepen.

    Barau said the EPIS award would create healthy competition among banks and add more value to customer.

    He said the mergence of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTbank) as the overall winner is a welcome development that should stimulate healthy competition in the industry.

    He also commended the performance of Zenith Bank Plc adding that both lenders have done exceptionally well in the e-payment space.

    GTBank won six out of the 11 bank category of the award, which include Cashless Instant Payment; Cashless PoS issued cards; Instant Payment Transaction Efficiency; Electronic Reference; Automated Direct Debit Mandate; and Customer Experience Satisfaction award.

    Zenith Bank won in the Cashless Bulk Payment Award and PoS Transaction Acquirer categories. FirstBank, Standard Chartered Bank and Diamond Bank won in other categories.

    Barau said that the award was designed to address apathy to electronic payment channels, which greeted the cash-less policy.

    He said: “In 2012 when the cashless policy was introduced, basically to reduce the cash intensity in the economy, and by implication to encourage electronic payments, with a lot of e-channels to drive the policy, these include PoS, multifunctional ATMs, internet banking, NIBSS electronic funds transfer (NEF), NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) that I am very proud about, mobile payments, and others.

    He said the level of merchant apathy was high thereby inhibiting adoption.

    Managing Director/Chief Executive, NIBSS, Adebisi Shonubi said  the award would create efficient payment in the industry.

    He urged banks to work harder to enhance the efficiency of the payment system, adding that banks and other participants in the payment space that do well will always be recognised.

    He said NIBSS has continued to provide the infrastructure for automated processing, settlement of payments and fund transfer instructions between banks, discount houses and card companies in the country.

    “I am not sure you will find so many customers complaining about e-payment. So, there are different levels of dissatisfaction and from the e-payment perspectives, there should not be much. In the payment space I will be very surprised that customers are complaining,’’ he said.

    He insisted that the fees NIBSS takes from banks were within the stipulated regulated threshold, adding that such fees do not determine the fees charged by banks on their customers’ accounts.

  • Lobi Stars introduce Player Monthly award

    Lobi Stars introduce Player Monthly award

    •To honour ex-players

    The management of Lobi Stars FC of Makurdi has revealed plans to reward its outstanding player with best monthly player award.

    SportingLife gathered that the club’s vice chairman Mike Idoko disclosed the plans during his meeting with the club’s management led by the Team Manager, Banarbas Imenger.

    He said the award is imperative to motivate players to do more for the club.

    He also said that the club will put in place a process to honour its former stars that have served and made sacrifices to the team.

    Imenger, confirmed the news to SportingLife stressed that the gesture is to create a competitive atmosphere among the players.

    Imenger said a Technical Committee would put in place to adjudge the winner every month.

    “We have set to reward our most outstanding player with an award every month. There are parameters put in place to discover the winner. The player’s performance to the club would be a yardstick for the award.

    “If a goalkeeper does not concede a goal in a month he may claim the award. A midfielder who provides more assists too can be a potential winner while attacker who scores more goals in a month is in pole position to be rewarded too.

    “At the end of the month a technical committee would put everything together to name the winner. It is a way to create a competitive atmosphere among the players and to encourage them too. Award will be in form of Trophy or plaque,” Imenger told SportingLife.

  • ‘I make over N300,000 monthly from begging’

    ‘I make over N300,000 monthly from begging’

    •Suspected drug addict deported from Germany in 2004

    A suspected drug addict cum beggar has said he makes over N300,000 monthly from begging.

    Kehinde Olatunbosun, who was deported from Germany in 2004 over drug matters, said he made over N10, 000 daily begging at Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Roundabout, beside Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Toyin Street and Opebi, all in Ikeja.

    Olatubosun was among the suspected 13 drug addicts and three peddlers arrested on Friday night at Ipodo in Ikeja, by Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives.

    The RRS decoy team also arrested a three-man gang phone thief.

    The suspects were nabbed at a drug joint in Ipodo when the operatives traced a stolen phone to the place.

    Olatunbosun was working as an electrical engineer in Bauhusa, Cologne, Germany before his deportation. He spent 12 years in Germany.

    The 56-year-old Ibadan Oyo State indigene said he begged under the preference of seeking succour for an ailing relative in LASUTH.

    He said: “Every day, I make over N10, 000 daily doing corporate begging. All days of the week, am always in Mobolaji Bank Anthony Roundabout, Toyin Street Roundabout and Opebi. At times, I collaborate with beggars. Whatever we make, we share but I get a larger share.

    “What I do is that, I get LASUTH drug prescription papers. I get it from their waste bin. I convince motorists, passengers and passersby that I have a relative who is in dire need of money to buy drugs and I show them the prescription papers.

    “This is what I have been doing since I was deported from Germany in 2004. I was in possession of drug when I was arrested in Germany, so they deported me. I have four children. Two are in Germany with my wife. One is in Texas in the United States and another in Nigeria.

    “Unfortunately, all the money I make from this begging goes into drugs. Day after day, I am always there, seven days a week. I make more money on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. I make more than N10, 000 on weekends.

    “As I talk to you, I am not on drug but I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms, that is, the effect of not taking drugs for sometimes.

    “I was in Ipodo drug joint in Ikeja when I was arrested. I was on drug when I was picked up yesterday. I have never been arrested for any offence before. I am praying that RRS releases me. I promise I won’t go back to drug again. Where I live presently was given to me by my in-law.”

    Another suspected addict, who was also arrested at the joint, Dada Ajayi, 48, said drug has destroyed his life.

    Attributing his sorry condition to drug addiction, he said for more than 17 years, he was hooked to drug.

    He said: “I am trying to get over it now; drug has been the cause of my stagnation in life. I frequent that joint because I have nowhere to go. I have lived the better part of my life consuming drugs.

    “As I talk to you, the remains of my wife are in Ikeja mortuary. She was taken to LASUTH. I was asked to bring N150,000 for surgery but I didn’t have N50,000 on me then. She died in the process. Right now, I have lost my family because of my drug addiction. I don’t know where to start my life again. I can’t stop going to that drug joint because it is the only place where I get consolation. It is the only place I am at peace with myself.

    “If anybody wants to help us, they should arrest the drug barons or dealers. Arresting us won’t solve drug problem because without the sellers there won’t be the takers. You arrest the dealers, I mean the merchants, then you have cut the supply and thus saved us from getting drugs. Without out that, we would always find our ways there whenever we are released.”

  • TSA: Kano eyes N10b monthly

    Kano State Finance Commissioner, Prof Kabiru Isah Dandago has said the state government is going to generate N10 billion revenue monthly, through the blockage of leakages and use of  treasury single account.

    The Commissioner who spoke with reporters shortly after the dinner organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) (Kano-Jigawa state branch), said the government is currently in the process of reform, so as to  enhance its revenue base for self-reliance.

    He said: “The present Kano State government was first to introduce single treasury account in July, 2015, before the Federal Government.

    “Single treasury account introduced by Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje-led state government is a deliberate policy to block revenue leakages and jack up revenue generation from N1. 5 billion in the recent past to  about N5 or N10 billion.”

    Also, the Commissioner said all the revenue sources of the government is now remitted into one account, pointing out that no one is in doubt about how or where to deposit government money.

    Dandago said sources of revenue to Lagos State government are similar to that of Kano’s, adding that Lagos  however generates N20.5 billion monthly, while Kano  state government generates only N1.5 billion.

    “Why we are not generating as high as Lagos State is simply because the money goes to different baskets, ending with peanuts,” he said.

    However, Prof Isah admitted that under the present government, they will close up the revenue generation  gap like Lagos government and jack up their revenue base to the region of  N10 billion.

  • New advert platform to reach 5.5m viewers monthly

    • For airport restrooms, lounges

    A new Out-Of-Home (OOH) advertising medium, Magic Mirror advertising channel, has been introduced into the outdoor advertising industry to reach over five million viewers monthly.

    Introduced by Soundz & Meknitz Limited, the magic mirror is said to be one of the world’s latest OOH advertising technologies.

    Described as an innovation in the  Sub-Saharan Africa, the new platform is classified under the emerging media and below the line/indoor advertising category.

    The new media works is interfaced by a specially designed mirror with an inbuilt LCD video and audio programme that also doubles as a viewing mirror. A Television Commercial (TVC) is seen playing on the mirror, with an inbuilt sensor that squeezes the advert message to a corner on approach of a user to present a full mirror and returns after use.

    Managing Director, Soundz & Meknitz Limited, Mr Felix Ugbechie said his company has been granted exclusive permit to install the next generation advertising technology in all the rest rooms on all the airport lounges in Nigeria, a factor he is sure will give maximum value to advertisers.

    He said the advertising medium is unique because it offers the advertiser the opportunity to have something close to personal conversations with individuals who come in contact with it.

    “The mirror, as simple as it is, is a very important tool for managing personal relationships. We must always go to the mirror to appreciate ourselves and determine if we are looking good enough for that all important meeting. It is a personal tool that enables us to have a conversation with ourselves before we go out to meet other people. What we are doing is take this conversation even further by enabling brands to talk to their targets in their most intimate periods. This is a period when conversations are best appreciated and ensure long lasting retention,” he said.

    Ugbechie explained that the Magic Mirror advertising has the distinguishing capability to pass the message to the personality and without interruptions and also overcomes the challenges of no tune out, trashing or flipping pages that have been the disadvantages of electronic  and print media advertising in recent time.

    “The Magic Mirror is like a welcome companion to the often disconcerting privacy of the rest rooms. That is why we say it holds personal conversations because advertisers have the privilege of talking to individuals in this secluded privacy and be able to arrest their attention throughout their stay. This is an advantage no other form and medium of advertising can offer. And it can offer access to a specific gender pin downs of messaging with 100 per cent accuracy. For instance, female toilets can be loaded with messages speaking to the female market and vice versa thereby giving accurate traffic and exposure measurement.”

    He added that the new medium is capable of also offers high brand visibility, with an estimated average 5,000,000 to 5,500,000 views per month, a coverage no other medium can match at same cost.

    “The Magic Mirror is the best channel to help you reach your marketing priority areas or audience.  It offers a high definition video and audio resonance in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. It offers a welcome alternative to looking at a blank wall. Advertisers are also afforded the opportunity to put their advert in desired marketing priority areas at high traffic time at any of the locations, especially in public-private places.

    On whether his company has plans to extend the values beyond airports, Ugbechie said the company was working to have the Magic Mirrors installed in major hotels, shopping malls, high end clubs, eatries and even venues across the country.

    “We want to offer advertisers the best platform to reach their targets and achieve maximum exposure, interaction and retention rate thereby giving them the best value in ad spend,’ he added.

  • ‘Kogi loses N30m to fake teachers monthly’

    The Kogi State government says its verification has uncovered a scam by fake teachers that is costing the state N30 million monthly.

    The fake teachers are said to parade fake certificates from a particular institution he did not name in the state.

    Governor Idris Wada said the teachers had been drawing N30 million as salaries monthly.

    Wada spoke at an inter-denominational service held at the Cathedral of Holy Trinity, Lokoja, to mark the third anniversary of his administration.

    The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Yomi Awoniyi, said following verification conducted by the government, it was revealed that some people disguising as teachers are either not working in any school or operating with fake certificates.

    He also cleared the air on the suspension of payment of West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) fees for students.  He said the policy had not been cancelled but that henceforth the government will only make refunds to parents who can show genuine evidence of payment of these fees.

    He described the rise of the WASSCE bill from N300 million in 2012 to N515 million in 2015 as suspicious and fraudulent.

    He said the practice was being perpetrated by a cabal, which led to the new policy review.

    Meanwhile, the state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called on the governor to fish out those behind the fraud that has thrown the innocent pupils and their poor parents into hardship.

    The chairman of the council, Comrade Ali Atabo, at a press briefing on Monday in Lokoja, said the union praised the state government for taking the responsibility of paying the WASSCE fees over the years, but that the circumstance that led to the stoppage of the payment of the fees must be investigated and those behind it brought to book.

    He said that it was not enough to say that people have committed fraud or that fraud has been discovered but the government should go further to expose those behind the dastardly act.

    He warned that if decisive action is not taken against some of the officials at the state ministry of education alleged to be involved in the scam, the union may take the protest to court of law.