The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nafisat Jimoh

  • NEITI worries over paltry $3.9b oil savings 

    NEITI worries over paltry $3.9b oil savings 

    • Seeks consolidation of oil savings accounts
    The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) was yesterday worried that all that the country could save from its oil proceeds between 1980 and June 2017 is $3.9billion.

    The Executive Secretary, Waziri Adio made this disclosure yesterday in Abuja, during the presentation of its occasional paper titled “the case for a robust oil savings fund for Nigeria.” The report stressed the need for savings and more savings despite the oil bench mark price.

    His words: “Nigeria currently has three oil savings funds. They are the Sovereign Wealth Fund with $1.5billion, the Excess Crude Account $2.3billion, and the Stabilisation Funds with N29.02billion  ($95million).

    “In the last 40 years of oil production, Nigeria has extracted about 31billion barrel of its oil reserves. However, from 1980 to 2015, the country exported crude oil worth about $1.09trillion but has a current balance of $3.9billion as at June 2017 in the three funds.”

    He, however, called on the Federal Government to consolidate all oil trust funds into the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund to yield return on investment.

    He added that with 3.9billion dollars in Nigeria’s oil savings funds which merely accounts for 16% of the 7.44trillion naira of the federal budget shows that the Nigeria economy is highly vulnerable and unprotected.

    According to the NEITI boss, “when people are talking about how we ended in this trouble and how we will get out of it little attention is paid to savings, that we didn’t have enough savings, when the prices were high we thought it would be high forever living in Fools paradise and when the prices fell we didn’t have enough to fall back on.” He added that Nigeria has to move away from its present state of spend it all or even save and spend attitude to real savings culture, otherwise the country will continue to be vulnerable.

    The report disclosed that most countries that established one or more oil revenue funds have accumulated huge savings in their stabilisation accounts. On the other hand, Nigeria’s ECA has been dogged by questions about its Constitutionality, which have hindered regular remittances into the accounts. But the ECA also faces governance issues bordering on transparency and failure to adhere to the fiscal rules guiding the operations of the ECA.

    In the end, distrust by subnational governments about the management of the fund coupled with the lack of political will has prevented the government from effectively implementing its savings and stabilisation policy.

    The Chief Executive Officer
    recalled that this is not the first time we are going to be experiencing an economic downturn, adding that when Nigeria faced a similar challenge in 2008/2009, the country had a chance dealing with the situation and without having to borrow as Nigeria had in excess of 60 billion dollars in reserves.

    In his words “We were one of the very few countries that didn’t have to go and borrow, and we didn’t have to go through what we are going through now and this happened 2008/2009 and by the time the prices started rising again and selling above 100 dollars we were just blowing it”

    The report, however, recommends that The federal government seeks speedy resolution on Supreme Court cases related to oil funds, and delink government expenditures from oil revenues to pursue policy initiatives that pursue prudent macro economic policies, better economic and social environment for the next generation.

    In addition to ensuring that there are constant savings whether oil prices are high or low and provide regular payouts from the return on investment of the funds to compensate beneficiaries for their sacrifice.

  • Customs yet to know expected revenue from e-auction

    Customs yet to know expected revenue from e-auction

    The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hammed Ali (retired) on Monday said that the service was yet to know how much revenue it was expecting from the e-auction that it just commenced.

    Ali, who was fielding questions from reporters in Abuja during the launch of the e-auction platform for forfeited cars, noted that in the long run, the NCS will be able to state the amount so far generated from the exercise.

    He stressed that it was difficult to state the amount from the flag-off since the seizure has no end.

    Asked to state how much revenue the organisation was expecting from the exercise, he said that “at this stage we will be unable to tell you how much we are expecting because it all involves items from seizures from the cargo. As we get them condemned by the regular court we include them into the process. So, it is an ongoing process that we do not schedule and end to it.And for us to say this is how much we are expecting at this stage I think it will not be correct.

    But we know the number of items we have and we know we are still in the process of doing the evaluation of some of them which will be included in the portal. But for us to categorically tell you this is how much we are expecting, I think at this stage is not possible but in the midstream, we will be able to tell you how much so far.

    And for us to say this is how much we are expecting at this stage I think it will not be correct. But we know the number of items we have and we know we are still in the process of doing the evaluation of some of them which will be included in the portal. But for us to categorically tell you this is how much we are expecting, I think at this stage is not possible but in the midstream, we will be able to tell you how much so far.

    The platform which has now replaced the manual process is to ensure effective sales of seized cars, as well as to create an avenue to generate more revenue while ensuring accountability and transparency in the process.

    According to him,  the auction exercise is in line with the provision of Section 167 (2) CAP C45 and section 2(1) and (2) CAP C46 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) which gives the service the powers to dispose seized and overtime cargoes after they must have undergone judicial process.

    The Controller-General in his words, “In the past, stakeholders had accused the service of Nepotism, short-changing the government of revenue through arbitrary auction fees to be paid by allottees and sundry corruption allegation against the service”. Adding that this innovation seeks to put an end to the usual bottlenecks encountered in the auction process.

    The process which is a continuous one, has seized cars in the website which is open to bidders from all works of life and the highest bidder will be notified via email and thereby given the necessary directives.

    Speaking on the process, the technical group disclosed that a website has been made available for interested individuals to visit. Adding that the process has been simplified for the common man to understand as it only involves three key steps.

    Participants are however required to create an e-wallet on the platform, and pay in an administrative fee of one thousand naira to be granted access to bid in any available auction. Participants are expected to bid with a minimum of N10,000. At the end of each auction, the highest bidder(winner) is given five working days to pay, failure to so automatically means the second highest bidder will be declared the Winner.

    He however called on the general public to do the right thing to avoid their goods being seized.

  • Jaiz balance with CBN hits N21.5b

    Jaiz balance with CBN hits N21.5b

    Jaiz Bank on Wednesday said that its cash and balance with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was N21.5billion.

    The money, according to the bank’s annual report and 2016 accounts that were presented to its investors in Abuja, in the year under review, hit N2.58billion cash the at hand, the current account of  N6.3billion and deposit of N12.6billion, totalling N21.5billion.

    It was an improvement over the previous year when the bank recorded total of N18billion cash and balance with the apex bank.

    In the year under review, the bank recorded N5.2billion assets, which was an increase from the N4.1billion in 2015.

    In terms of taxation, the bank noted posted a total of N77million, stressing that its balance brought forward was N43.8million, prior year tax adjustment N11.2million, and charge for the year N11.7million.
    The bank explained that it “operates the unrestricted type of Mudaraba Investment in which the Mudarib (the bank)is authorised by the providers of funds (Rabbul Mal) to invest their fund in the manner which the Mudarib deems appropriate.

    “Profits are shared as a common percentage rate rather than a fixed amount. The investments were jointly funded by the bank and the equity of investment account-holders. The account of N1.18billion paid by the bank to the Mudaraba account holders for 2016 financial year.”

    According to the report, the bank’s profit for the period under review was N343million in 2016 as it declined from N794million in 2015.

    The report said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with the Federal Government of Nigeria represented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (FMA&WR) established the Commercial Agricultural Credit Schemes (CACS).

    But during the year, it did not receive any amount for on-lending to customers as specified by the guidelines.

    The report said that financing granted under the scheme is for a seven year period at an interest rate of 9% per annum.

  • Group seeks consistency in Justice dispensation

    Group seeks consistency in Justice dispensation

    A civil society group, Civic International in collaboration with civil society coalition for judicial reforms on Wednesday called on the judiciary to exhibit consistency in the dispensation of justice to ensure the the supremacy of the law.

    The group’s coordinator, Ameh Ejeh and Secretary, Abdulrazak Ajala, who were represented by Onuoha Oliver in a press briefing in Abuja, insisted that consistency in judgement should be one of the critical reforms the judiciary should take into cognisance especially in similar cases.

    This, according to Civic International, will ensure fair and undiluted dispensation of justice.

    Ejeh said: “The existence of controversial and seemingly incoherent or rather obnoxious judgements are not new in the history of our judiciary, but it took a very dangerous and alarming dimension in the cases occasioned by the aftermath of the 2015  general elections.”

    He added that the whole nation was bewildered by the judgements delivered by judges at different courts in cases that emerged due to the outcome of the election.

    Contrary to similar cases across the country where different judgements were given, the judiciary should ensure that similar justice for any individual involved in similar cases and similar facts should get similar judgements to further boost people’s confidence in the justice system.

    Recalling the alleged presentation of three different birth certificate case against the incumbent Cross River state governor, he said that a similar case involving the Abia state governor, Okezie Ikpeazu is in the Supreme Court awaiting trial and only then could consistency in judgement be tested again.

    According to him, ” delivering judgements on election petition cases and other sensitive political matters are very crucial aspects of the role the judiciary plays in a nation and the Nigerian judiciary must be consistent and principled in rulings if the citizenry are to truly enjoy the dividends of a democratic dispensation “.

    He said that an erroneous removal of a governor by the court amounts to disenfranchisement of the people and inhuman treatment meted on the governor question.

    Explaining why it focused on the Abia State governor’s case, the group said that a state governor is a collective product of the people via election.

    He noted: “We in the civil society participate actively in the process through voter education and mobilization, conduct /monitoring of the main election and in monitoring the outcome so as to make sure that the will of the people will at every time prevail. The masses on their own part undergo whole lots of exercises which at every time involves the exercise of their inalienable rights as human beings.

    “This we notice in voter registration, massive participation in party primaries and campaigns and more especially in casting their votes. The government on their on part mobilizes a lot of Manpower and resources gotten from the tax payers money and our collective wealth as a people into the electoral process to make it credible, transparent and to make sure that the whole exercise is a success thereby enabling the will of the people to prevail.”

  • What DisCos don’t say about escrow account – Fashola

    What DisCos don’t say about escrow account – Fashola

    The Minister of Power Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola on Monday accused the Association of Nigeria Electricity Distributors (ANED) of failing to come to terms with the contract agreement it made with the central bank of Nigeria.

    According to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Communication, Mr. Hakeem Bello what ANED failed to say in its recent publication was that the escrow condition was agreed upon by the association with Central Bank as a condition for offering stabilization funds by way of loans to fund the business they invested in since commercial banks were reluctant to do so.

    The DisCos drew a battle line with the Federal Government upon the announcement of intention to centralise and escrow their accounts. The 11 distribution companies under the auspice of ANED issued a press statement that the Federal Government was intending to nationalise the entities in which they bought 60% stake in 2013.

    But speaking at the 15th monthly meeting of the power sector operators in Jos, the minister said: “What you (DisCos) failed to state was that the loan was at 10% interest which is well below commercial rates.

    “What you also failed to state is that you also agreed under that arrangement to establish letters of credit to guarantee future payments to NBET and TCN Market Operations, that the agreed commercial terms of the letters of credit authorizes NBET and TCN Market Operations to draw on the letters of credit for any default in payment to them, and that such defaults have occurred and continue to occur.”

    According to the minister, ANED has been silent on what the public needs to hear, he disclosed that “you are entitled to fully recover your costs and investment by law and this is the function of how tariffs calculated”.

    He added that “any right-thinking person will accept the principle that any person lending you money must have the right to know what you are doing with the money especially when under collection and underpayment has been a major feature of many Disco performances”

    He said that, since the Government holds 40% of the shares of Discos on behalf of states and local governments and the Nigerian people, it has a duty to ensure that ANED buys parts and other equipment at reasonable and competitive market prices and not through inflated contracts to relatives as we have seen in some Discos in respect of which NERC will take action in due course and sanction those who are involved.

    On the N701.9billion intervention, the minister said that the intervention fund is consistent with Government’s policy and determination to enable businesses to flourish, and it was meant to save the Gencos, the gas companies and their financiers who were providing service, from collapse.

    He said that while the public constantly blames the Government for a service it does not receive money to provide, good corporate governance will only demand that customers are provided with meters to measure their power usage before seeking tariff increase.

    While commiserating with families of the victims of the Electrocution accident in Cross River, the minister recalled that the incident was clearly man-made as the building was located under or close to an electricity line. He added that we must admit as a People that the time to stop cutting corners and violating regulations has come upon us, and the time to change those non-compliant conduct is now, for our own long term benefit.

  • ANEEJ to FG: Bring oil subsidy thieves to justice

    ANEEJ to FG: Bring oil subsidy thieves to justice

    The Executive Director, Africa Network for Empowerment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev. David Ugolor on Thursday told the Federal Government that one of the ways to end oil subsidy corruption in the country is by bringing suspected thieves of the subsidy to justice.

    It was part of the recommendations that he made for ending oil subsidy in Nigeria in his book titled: “Fatality of Nigerian Oil Subsidy,” which was launched in Abuja on Thursday.

    He said for a country to make meaningful progress for the overall development of its people, it must sustain the fight against corruption and ensure transparency and accountable governance system.

    According to him, “In prosecuting the war against graft, it is important to ensure that those involved in grand corruption cannot continue with impunity. They must be brought to justice through active enforcement of anti-bribery laws, and/or that they face restriction ps on their ability to travel, invest or conduct business overseas. They should be immediately dispossessed of the proceeds of crime.”

    The Executive Director said that the citizens must report instances of corruption with the confidence that actionable information will be out to appropriate and effective use by law enforcement agencies and governments.

    The book which was launched by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Justice Reform, Barrister Juliet Nwagu, noted that digital technologies offer new opportunities to strengthening reporting mechanisms by expanding the ways citizens can report cases of corruption, efficiently pooling information from wide range of sources, and speeding up the authorities’ ability to analyze and act on complaints data.

    Continuing, the book calls on the “international community to explore the scope to use unexplained wealth orders and non-conviction based confiscation procedures. This has the potential to make it easier to confiscate the proceeds of corruption and return them to their countries of origin.

    “In Nigeria, the prices of conviction-based approach to fighting corruption is very cumbersome and takes a lot of time and resources, often providing an escape route for the corrupt.”

    One of the salient questions that the title of the book threw up was whether there is still oil subsidy in the country.

    In her remarks, Nwagu however, said that there should be a debate on whether there is still oil subsidy in Nigeria.

    “I can’t answer that question, I think the person who can answer that question is the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and of course the GMD of NNPC will be in a better position to answer that question,” she said.

    According to her, what is now critical is that Nigerian’s are not happy the way the oil and gas sector is managed but they have to ask questions. Nwagu revealed that government is looking into the improvement of the freedom of information act to enable the citizenry to ask questions about the things that bother them.

    She said people have to ask questions about the delay of the cases concerning oil subsidy theft.

  • Centralization: Gencos accuse DisCos of hiding accounts

    Centralization: Gencos accuse DisCos of hiding accounts

    • As FG owes Gencos over N500b
    The crisis in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) got messier yesterday as the electricity generation companies (Gencos) asked the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to open their account books for scrutiny.
    Whereas the DisCos had condemned the request from the  Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to escrow their accounts, the Gencos under the auspices of Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), described it “as not just a welcome development but also a wake-up call to all participants in the electricity market.”
    The APGC Executive Secretary, Dr Joy Ogaji, who addressed reporters in Abuja yesterday, recalled that a fortnight ago the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) likened the move to centralise their revenue accounts to the nationalisation of the Discos.
    Ogaji expressed surprise that Discos are churning out stories and “crying wolf” to gain consumers’ sympathy whereas the NERC enacted the tariff with their consent.
    She added that “there is something that Discos are not telling the people. What government is calling for is not just escrowing but visibility.”
    She, however, explained that the electricity sector is a value -chain that needs to be remunerated as applicable covering the cost of generation, transmission and distribution.
    The Gencos, according to her, are entitled to “60% of markets remittance as they not just generate power but also pay for gas supply and gas transportation. Transmission charge cost 11%, distribution gets 25% while the remaining 4% is meant for regulatory charges and NBET.
    ” The revenue referred to by the distribution companies are not their personal revenue but market funds to which they were made trustees to collect and remit.”
    Continuing, Ogaji revealed that the poor remittance of market funds by the DisCos has prevented the rest of the electricity value-chain from meeting up with their operations and also service their liabilities which includes gas payments.
    The APGC said that Gencos, the supply sector of the industry, can no longer perform required scheduled maintenance and also pay for gas supply.
    This, she said, has made the need to monitor the flow of market funds necessary to enhance transparency in the market and also give the regulator the ability to identify the issues that will progress the sector and act accordingly in advising the government and stakeholders where funds actually needs to be plugged into in order to bring about self-sustenance and competitiveness.
    According to her, the federal government are now owing the Gencos over N500billion that excludes interest, which has made paucity of cash the major challenge of the operators.
    Asked to comment on the N701 government intervention that is underway for the power sector, she said the Gencos were not consulted but only read about it in the newspapers.
  • Customs redeploy 48 officers

    Customs redeploy 48 officers

    In an ongoing reform at the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), The Controller General of Customs Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd) has approved the redeployment of some controllers of customs.

    This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by The NCS Public Relations Officer, Joseph Attah.

    According to the statement, in a major re-jigging of the Service for effective and efficient service delivery, the Comptroller-General of Customs approved the redeployment of 48 Comptrollers of the service. 

    It also revealed that some of the officers who have been moved includes:Comptroller Madugu, M.J from Sokoto/Kebbi/Zamfara to Ogun Command, Comptroller Udo-aka, E.A from Investigation to Oyo/Osun Command and Compt. Isiyaku, K from Tariff and Trade to Port Harcourt 1 among others. 

    According to the statement, the Comptroller-General’s Compliance team has been disbanded and a new team reconstituted. The new Compliance team is divided into three. Team A for Western Axis, B for Northern axis and C for Eastern axis. They are to complement the Federal Operations Units in order to vigorously crackdown on all forms of smuggling activities nationwide with particular focus on the enforcement of non-importation of rice and vehicles through the land borders.

    The new CGC’s Compliance team will be coordinated by Comptroller Azarema, A.A who before now has been the Comptroller License and Permit at the NCS HQ. The Axis will be led by Assistant Comptrollers of Customs.

    While calling on relevant stake holders to support the service by being compliant, the CGC expressed his determination to strategically re-position the Service as a crucial contributor to the success story of the nation,he added that all revenues must be collected, leaving no room for leakages. 

  • AEDC sacks 27 workers over corruption 

    AEDC sacks 27 workers over corruption 

    The management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has disengaged 27employees cutting across various cadres due to alleged corrupt practices and indiscipline. 

    The company’s Director, Corporate Services, Engr. Abimbola Odubiyi, informed the workers via an internal memo saying that 17 of the affected staff had their appointment terminated while nine others were dismissed outright due to various forms of corrupt practices such as fraud, theft and double employment. 

    According to a reliable source, the memo stated that the power firm disengaged one of the affected employees.

    The memo dated 16th of September, 2016 further revealed that AEDC disengaged some of the affected persons on account of disciplinary matters such as persistent absence from duty without permission.

    In the internal memo, the director reminded all employees of the current management’s zero tolerance for all forms of corruption and indiscipline, drawing the attention of staff to Chapter 3 of the Company’s Rules and Regulations which he said is very clear as to what constitutes an infringement on the Policy.

    Engr. Odubiyi said in the memo that “the provisions (in Chapter 3 of the Rules and Regulations) are meant to serve as a guide to employees to be aware of the implications of negative behaviours”.

    It also reminded employees that the current AEDC management, at its discretion, could refer any case involving fraud to law enforcement agencies which have the mandate to handle issues of corruption, especially the Independent Corrupt Practices and related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the police. 

    Sources in AEDC revealed that all the 27 employees affected were disengaged this year and that several other staff have been reprimanded for various offences.