The Nation Newspaper

Tag: nationwide

  • NULGE begins nationwide protests over autonomy

    NULGE begins nationwide protests over autonomy

    The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has begun its nationwide protests to drum up support for local government autonomy. The union has scheduled a rally in each of the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    To NULGE, the protests are a subtle advocacy to create awareness and achieve local government autonomy.

    NULGE, an advocate of local government autonomy, said  it was imperative for it to take the protests to the doorstep of the Houses of Assembly, which are critical to  constitution amendment.

    During the Seventh National Assembly, many state assemblies voted against local government autonomy. The proposal for local government autonomy lapsed since two-thirds of the 36 states did not endorse it.

    NULGE President, Ibrahim Kahleel, said the union began the protest in Nasarawa State in the Northcentral Zone last week.

    He said the advocacy became necessary to ensure that the local governments are politically, financially and administratively autonomous in line with global standard practice.

    Khaleel said the campaign, through the protest, had become one of the most viable options for Nigerians, especially the local government workers, to draw attention to what could be described as the re-colonisation of the people.

    “This rally is expected to end with a meeting with the members of Lagos State House of Assembly, where the union will present its position and make submission to the Speaker. The union will be canvassing major amendments to the constitution, which the union believes will rescue the local government from the state governors and underdevelopment.

    “NULGE wants all the contradictory provisions of the 1999 constitution (as amended) that allow for the confusion and manipulation of local government system by state governments erased,” he said.

    He said the union would insist on strict observance of the provision of Section 7, especially the provisions on elected councils.

    He said: “The constitution should be reviewed such that a provision caters for structure, functions, composition, establishment, funding, status and other matters that affect local governments, rather than delegating it to the state governments or Houses of Assembly.”

    He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the realisation of local government autonomy.

    According to him, one of the demands at the United Nations (UN) meeting was that the local governments across the world be made to be autonomous in line with the democratic principles.

    He said: ‘’Therefore, we have agreed to protest across the six geopolitical zones at the designated centres.

    ”Those other provisions that contradict full autonomy should be expunged from the constitution to avoid the serious contradictions. For instance, the structure, finance, establishment, composition and functions of LGAs should not be vested in the state governments or state Houses of Assembly, but in the Constitution in view of Section 5 that proposes vesting executive powers of the local government council in the chairman.

    “The Constitutional provision on the existence and functions of the State Independent Electoral Commission should be expunged completely in the 1999 constitution because they have become the instruments of anti-democratic practices by state governments,’’ hr added.

  • Debts: DisCos warn of nationwide blackout

    Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) yesterday warned that total darkness was imminent across the country as the huge debt burden owed the power firms takes toll on their operations.

    The burden of distribution, according to the companies, has become unbearable due to the refusal of electricity consumers to pay their bills.

    Electricity consumers across the country are owing electricity distribution companies over N100billion.

    The Executive Director, Advocacy and Research,  Association of Nigeria Electricity Distributors (ANED), Mr. Sunday Oduntan who spoke during a customer consultative forum in Jos, Plateau State capital accused the Nigerian Army of leading the debtors’ lists.

    Some of the customers from Jebu Bassa, the host community of the Third Armored Division, had challenged the DisCos to explain the rationale behind constant electricity supply to the military barracks and the lack of it at their community.

    “We tend to wonder why we the host community don’t have light, but our tenants in the barracks have constant light and we were told that soldiers in the barracks don’t even pay light bill, is it that the companies are afraid of them to cut their supplies as you do to other consumers?

    Responding,  Mr. Oduntan said: “Almost all the military barracks in Nigeria, not only that of Third Division, do not pay electricity bill and that is the major challenge before the DisCos.

    “Military barracks across the country are owing us over N800 billion; they are the leading debtors to the the DisCos.

    “We have put the total debt owed us by all categories of consumers across the country, and out of that debt, the military alone is owing over N800billion.

    “It is not that we are afraid of cutting supply to the barracks, but for security reasons, we cannot cut electricity supply to the barracks. Part of the reason is because, the armouries are being maintained by electricity, to the extent that if there is no supply for a day, the armoury may explode and its explosion can endanger the lives of military and civilian population around the barracks.

    “But then, the inability of concerned government agencies to pay up this debt may eventually force the DisCos out of business and there would be total blackout across the country.

    “This is imminent because at the moment, we are heavily indebted to banks and electricity generating companies (GenCos) as well as those who supply gas and diesel to us. No bank will give us credit facilities to continue to distribute electricity because we have been unable to pay for our loans.”

  • Military pensioners set for nationwide protest

    •Govt accused of discrepancy in pensions

    Military pensioners are planning a nationwide strike against the Federal Government for its alleged failure to meet its pension obligation to pensioners.

    The protest, the military pensioners said, would climax on July 13 at the Aso Rock gate in Abuja at 9 a.m.

    Speaking with our reporter in Enugu, the protest coordinator, Col. Azubuike Nass (retd), said: “We continue to demand our pension rights. We have paid our dues in patriotic service to this nation. We deserve our pension rights when we are alive, not when we are dead.

    “This nation is not too poor to pay our constitutional pensions. We cannot be intimidated into silence on this matter.

    “We (military pensioners) are yet to see any clear sign of being paid part of our pension arrears. Information at our disposal indicates that parts of the arrears were collated by government in September 2015 and included in the 2016 budget draft. Thirty-three per cent arrears, which is government-accepted and computed sum, with official circular to relevant Federal Government offices dealing with pension issues, was understood to be in the budget.”

    Nass queried: “Were our arrears a victim of bureaucratic falsification and mutilation that occurred in Budget 2016? Was it cut down or expunged by the National Assembly in its ‘scrutinisation’? Or, is it covered in a different sub-head yet to be clarified?”

    The military pensioners were sceptical that “Mr President is most likely unaware of the true situation,” adding: “We need to do something to bring the issue to Mr President’s attention.”

    Insisting that 53 per cent pay increase for pensioners was duly approved by the Federal Government in 2010, following similar public service pay increase of 2009 and in accordance with the provisions of Section 173 of the Constitution.

    They regretted that government resisted to pay it for years.

  • New electricity tariff: NLC, TUC to picket DISCOs nationwide

    New electricity tariff: NLC, TUC to picket DISCOs nationwide

    The extended labour unions, including the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have set machinery in motion to picket the offices of the electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) nationwide, The Nation has learnt.

    Rising from a stakeholders’ meeting convened in Lagos at the weekend, NLC president Comrade Ayuba Wabba and his counterpart at TUC, Comrade Bobbi Kagama, and Messrs Adeola Samiel-Ilori, Coordinator, Electricity Consumer Protection Forum, Toluwani Yemi-Adebiyi, a human right activist and Chinedu Bosah, publicity secretary, CDWR, described as illegal, unfair and unjustifiable a further exploitation of the exploited Nigerians the intention to increase electricity tariff come February 1st, 2016.

    Justifying the need for the rejection of the new tariff they said due process was not followed in line with Section 76 of the Power Sector Reform Act, 2005.

    Besides, they said there has been no significant improvement in service delivery just as they accused the DISCOs of reneging on the memorandum of understanding in which the latter promised to provide meters to al electricity consumers but failed to do so.

    Subsequently, they hinted that the labour unions will as a matter of necessity mobilise all Nigerians to resist the new tariff by embarking on mass protest and picketing of all DISCOs’ offices nationwide.

    “We direct all consumers to reject any bill with the new tariff and so many other actions we may deem necessary.”

    It may be recalled that Yemi-Adebiyi who had taken the NERC to court got an order by the Federal High Court in Lagos to stop it from further increasing its tariff, said the injunction granted by Justice Ibrahim Idris against any increment was subsisting and had not been discharged.

    Justice Idris made the order on May 28 restraining NERC from increasing tariff in June.

  • Stolen Lives’ to hit cinemas nationwide

    Stolen Lives’ to hit cinemas nationwide

    AFTER months of rigorous preparation, all is now set for the release of Nollywood blockbuster, Stolen Lives. The much talked about movie is the brainchild of fast rising movie producer, Emmanuel Williams.

    According to Williams, the movie talks about the social vices that affect the modern day Nigerian youths like rape, drugs, and cultism while also promoting poor family values.

    “I made the movie because I actually looked at things happening around me and to an extent, some of my friends and I said something has to be done. The only way I could see something being done is through visuals because we’ve talked and talked and nothing happened. We all know that in Nigeria, we do not have the reading culture. You print something, share fliers but people throw it out. We tend to stick to what we see,” he said.

    By doing a thematic movie, Williams said he hopes to pass a message across. “I felt I could do a movie and I had a friend that has a near experience of rape. So I decided that the issues of rape, drug abuse and cultism can be joined as one because most of the people who commit the act of rape are probably under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” Williams adds.

    Written by award-winning scriptwriter Tunde Babalola, the movie stars the likes of Alex Ekubo, Ik Ogbonna, Ruth Kadiri, Beverly Osu as well as Owumi Ugbeye among others.

  • IGP orders tighter security nationwide

    IGP orders tighter security nationwide

    THE Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, has directed Assistant Inspectors General of Police and Commissioners of Police nationwide to ensure effective and efficient deployment of operational manpower during the celebrations.

    Abba has also directed the AIG in charge of border patrol to ensure that the nation’s borders are effectively manned to prevent cross-border crime.

    The AIG in charge of police air wing has also been directed to provide aerial patrol for the Federal Capital Territory and other states.

    A statement yesterday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, said the directives were to ensure secure and hitch-free celebrations.

    In view of the current security challenges, the IGP urged worshippers both at Jumat and church services to take adequate measures to reduce the number of vehicles around their places of worship.

    Operators of motor parks, shopping malls and recreational centres were also advised  to work closely with the police and other security agencies, as they strive to strengthen general security in their various facilities.

    “The Inspector-General of Police, on behalf of the entire officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force, heartily felicitates with good people of Nigeria as we celebrate the New Year.

    “While saluting the courage and gallantry of officers and men of the Force for their tireless services in protecting lives and property during the year, the IGP charges police personnel to continue to be civil in the discharge of their constitutional responsibilities.

    “He, however, warns that officers found acting contrary to the Force’s vision and mission will be appropriately sanctioned.”

  • Complaints trail cashless policy nationwide

    Complaints trail cashless policy nationwide

    As anticipated, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s cashless policy went nationwide over a month ago, precisely on Tuesday, July 1, 2014, after its efficiency was first tested in Lagos and a few other states two years back. In this report, Bukola Afolabi gives fresh perspectives on how the policy has fared thus far

    Understandably so, a lot of media hype greeted the introduction of the cashless policy, which began nationwide on Tuesday, July 1, 2014.

    The policy places a limit on the amount of cash that could be withdrawn from banks, with more emphasis on the use of mobile and internet banking.

    Besides, the policy allows individual customers to make cumulative withdrawal of N500, 000 daily across the counters and the ATM, while withdrawal above this limit will attract the payment of a processing fee of three per cent for the amount above the limit.

    For corporate customers, they are allowed to make cumulative withdrawal of three million naira daily while withdrawal above the limit will attract a processing fee of five per cent.

    Justification for cashless policy

    The apex bank brought the policy to reduce the use of cash and engender cash inclusion. It was also expected that it would help to reduce corruption and trace stolen money by government officials. It was also expected it would help to reduce and discourage armed robbery incidences as people would now move around with little cash as well as minimise revenue leakages.

    According to CBN statistics in 2012 when the policy commenced, an estimated N192 billion was being spent annually on cash handling and management in the country. If not curbed, the situation could lead to a continuous increase in the cost of cash management, necessitating the introduction of the policy, the CBN argued.

    Successes recorded with cashless policy

    As at the first half of 2013, the CBN report indicated that the volume and value of mobile payments increased during the review period to 5,982 million and N51.79 billion, from 1,668 million and N25.50 billion respectively in the second half of 2012.

    This was attributed to the significant rise in the number of mobile payment users, as well as improved public awareness in the use of mobile banking services. It also revealed that ATMs accounted for 91.42 per cent usage; mobile payments, 3.68 per cent; POS, 3.43 per cent while the internet accounted for just 1.47 per cent.

    However, to tackle the problem, the CBN had indicated that more POS have been deployed in the country with increment from over 5,000 deployed in 2012 to 153,167 as at April 2014.

    POS recorded transactions were 1,624,564 valued at N24 billion transactions in the month of April 2014, compared to 3, 197 transactions valued at N99 million in January 2012.

    Nationwide experience with cashless policy

    After its successful operation in Lagos, where the policy was earlier marred by inadequate preparation such as lack of sufficient Point Of Sales (PoS) machines, fluctuating bank network and few ATM machines, residents of other states where the policy has just kicked off are beginning to also lament the difficulty in abiding with the policy.

    Recall that as soon as the policy started in Lagos, residents went through lots of stress in an effort to abide with the policy. There were hues and cries about the policy as many lamented the difficulty they encountered trying to access their money.

    Though mobile banking has continued to gain popularity in a city like Lagos and more, PoS terminals are now available in major stores, as well as the introduction of various channels outside the banking halls that banks have put in place, yet those experiencing the policy newly are battling to adapt to it.

    Some residents of Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, Osun and Ondo states, and other parts of the country who spoke with The Nation, have started narrating the challenges they are facing adjusting to the new regulation.

    Mrs. Comfort Alabi, a plank seller at the Sango Market, Ibadan, who spoke on telephone, said she is yet to get used to the new policy.

    “It has not been easy adapting to the new policy. Because of the kind of business I do, I have been used to carrying lots of cash up to N1million to buy what I sell but now I can’t do that again because I can’t withdraw more than N500, 000. In most cases, you have to start explaining to some older people you transact business with who are not literate the reason you can’t give them all their money in cash. These are people who have been used to collecting cash and at times keeping it at home,” she lamented.

    In the same manner, Mr. Ayoola Somorin, also a plank seller, said: ” I agree it is a good policy, but the problem is that I expect that by now, some of the problems discovered when it started in Lagos would have been corrected by now before it was extended to other states, but we are also experiencing the same problems. Most times, you find it hard to withdraw from the ATM because of the large number of people at the ATM machines. The machines would have overworked, so by the time one wants to withdraw, you experience cash retract.”

    He further said that lack of stable bank network is making it difficult to make use of the mobile banking as, in most cases, he finds it hard to access his bank details on his mobile phones.

    “Another problem is that anytime I try to log into my bank accounts on my phone, it doesn’t go through. If it eventually goes through, it goes off again before I complete my transaction. I know some people who are experiencing the same thing. The mobile banking is not working well. If you go to the bank and complain, they tell you it is their network and tell you they are working on it without any improvement. However, I am optimistic that it will improve as time goes,” he said.

    Somorin also said the extra charges which apply for withdrawing above the daily officially stipulated amount would not prevent him from moving around with huge cash.

    From Ondo State, Mr. Adelola Ademola, a civil engineer in Akure, also said lack of enough ATM machines, knowledge of the operation of PoS, as well as illiteracy are some of the challenges threatening the smooth running of the policy.

    “There are not enough ATM machines here. The few ones available are not even working, making it difficult to make withdrawal from them. That is why many people still prefer to withdraw across the counter. I think banks should be encouraged to have more ATM machines to ease the stress of going into the banking hall.

    “The mobile banking is not even working because bank network always fails. Large percentages of transactions are still carried out in the banking hall. Where are the PoS? You can’t find them in most public places, only in few places,” he said.

    In Osogbo, Osun State capital, Adedayo Salami, a businessman, also said unstable bank network is one of the major problems they are facing.

    Unintended consequences

    The CBN had also admitted that there are challenges such as illegal charges on mobile transaction, and lack of enough PoS is still hampering the smooth running of the policy. According to the Director, Banking and Payments System Department of the CBN, Dipo Fatokun, mobile money operators have inadequate capital having spent more on agent network, marketing, amongst others, than they budgeted for at the beginning, adding that this has led to inadequate agent network in the country.

    “There is a difficulty in reaching the unbanked especially in remote areas as agents are not available. Apart from being concentrated in the urban areas at the moment, the agents are grossly inadequate,” he said.

    The issue of security is also not ruled out as electronic fraud has made many unsuspecting bank customers to fall victim to fraudsters as fraudsters hack into the online banking platform to dupe bank customers. There have also been cases of unauthorised withdrawals from ATM.

    One of those who had expressed concern over the challenges facing the policy was EPPAN’s Chief Executive Officer, Onajite Regha, who expressed concern over some of the challenges the policy was facing.

    “A lot of people have heard about the policy but many believe it does not affect them. The people concerned felt very upset about the policy, saying it’s a punishment, like the Timber Association in Sapele, Delta State. This was because they didn’t associate themselves with the merit of operating cash-less which involves conveniences and safety for the users,” she said.

    She added:  “Other challenges are the fear of fraud, fear of losing their phones, fear of ATM scam. During the awareness campaign, we discovered that many share their Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) with friends, relatives and office assistants with the ignorance of fraud. We also informed them on the new improvement of the CBN to provide a Consumer Protection Department, exclusively dedicated to the cash-less policy. The department operates 24 hours per day for complaints and problems regarding the cashless policy. We don’t want people to see the adoption of the electronic payment policy as a compulsion but conveniences.”

    To rectify the problems, efforts are, though, being put in place to make sure Nigerians enjoy the full benefit of the policy.

    Giving that assurance, the Executive Director, Business Development, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Christabel Onyejekwe, had said then, “In the last two months, NIBSS embarked on a data clean-up exercise of duplicate and idle PoS terminals on our database and at merchant locations.”

  • SURE-P to fund nationwide automotive mechanic training

    Apart from infrastructural development carried out by the Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P, the federal government has decided to channel part of the fund into training of automotive mechanics so they can upgrade in modern vehicles repair, the SURE-P is in partnership with SMEDAN and the National Automotive Council, NAC.

    The Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Olusegun Aganga, disclosed this at the launch of SURE-P, NAC and SMEDAN nationwide automotive mechanic training in Abuja, stating that this project will go a long way to improve skills within the automotive sector.

    He said, “The inter-agency collaboration amongst various parastatals of government to achieve a single purpose is undoubtedly a step in the right direction.

    “While SURE-P funds the training, NAC provides the trainer training location and textbooks, SMEDAN provides training in entrepreneurship.

    “The tools needed to practice what is learnt would also be provided to the trainees.  This will provide the participants a trade for life. NAC had earlier conducted a skill gap analysis of mechanics in the country. It was discovered that many of our mechanics neither have the skills nor the equipment to properly maintain modern vehicles. This necessitated the initiative by the council to begin various training programmes for auto mechanic and electricians from 2009 till date.

    “Training and skills development is a major component of the National Automotive Council plan. Technology in the auto sector is advancing continually, it is therefore important that we continue to seek to improve our manpower to as to keep abreast with new technologies.”

    The Director-General,  NAC, Aminu Jalal, said the training is aimed at providing solutions to the service and maintenance of high technology motor vehicles through the production of competent craftsmen and women who will be enterprising and self reliant.

  • As cash-less banking goes nationwide

    As cash-less banking goes nationwide

    Ahead of the July 1 nationwide implementation of the cash-less policy, banks and the Nigeria Interbank-Settlement System (NIBSS) have been enlightening customers on the benefits of using the e-payment platform. COLLINS NWEZE examines the challenges.

    Oladipo Abiodun, a 32-year-old entrepreneur, spends part of his business time in banking halls sending money to his suppliers. On one of such visits to a bank in Central Lagos, a cashier who has been monitoring him for months, told him about electronic payment.

    “You don’t need to be present here to pay your suppliers. You can do it at home or even in your shops or even through your mobile phone,” the cashier told Abiodun.

    The use of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Point of Sale (PoS) terminals, web payment, online transfers and even mobile money is just getting popular in Nigeria after years of relying on cash payment for goods and services. Although e-payment saves costs and time, just about four per cent of transactions in the country are carried out through this platform.

    The figure was less than one per cent until January 2012 when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched the cash-less banking initiative in Lagos. The ‘Cash-less Lagos’, as it was called, was later replicated in six other states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) last January. The policy will be implemented across the country from July 1.

     

    CBN’s position

    CBN Head, Shared Services, Chidi Umeano, said the cash-less policy which runs in six states and Abuja would be implemented nationwide on July 1.

    He said: “A decision was reached today that the cash-less initiative would now be deployed nationwide. As you are all aware, the pilot phase was done in Lagos about two years ago and last year we implemented in six other states namely Abia, Anambra, Ogun, Kano, Rivers and FCT.”

    Continuing, he said from the success recorded in those states, the CBN decided to move to other states. “By July 1, we are going live in all the states of the federation. As you well know, this is a critical part of the payment system modernisation and the success registered so far has been very impressive,” he said.

     

    Incentives for customers

    To get more people interested in using the e-payment platforms, the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS) is encouraging the use of cards to pay for goods and services via PoS terminal. The agency, in collaboration with banks, is working out modalities to ensure that bank customers using e-payment cards to pay for goods and services on PoS terminals and web platforms will be rewarded with cash back of 50 kobo for every N100 spent.

    Chairman, Committee of E-Banking Industry Heads (CEBIH), Mr. Chuks Iku, said the committee and member-banks have partnered with NIBSS for the incentive scheme for members of the public. The scheme, he said, will allow cash back rewards to card holders for using their cards to make payments on alternate channels.

    “The objective is to encourage usage of cards on PoS and the Web,” he said.

    As electronic payments gain ground, the number of connected card readers has increased to about 158,000 from 5,000 before 2012, according to the CBN statistics. The value of transactions rose 26 per cent to N1.4 trillion ($8.5 billion) in the first half of last year from the position, a year ago.

    CBN Deputy Governor, Operations, Kingsley Moghalu, told Bloomberg, an online news medium, that the bank was targeting 375,000 readers by the end of 2015. For him, improved e-payment would make the policy more efficient because of the ease of monitoring cash movement.

    The rise of online-shopping websites, such as Jumia and Konga.com, has also spurred Nigerians to consider electronic payments. The value of online retail transactions, estimated at N62 billion in 2011, may rise to N150 billion this year, said Euromonitor International, a London-based researcher.

    Some customers have expressed displeasure over services at PoS and web payments. Monday Adeoye, a civil servant, in Lagos, who was at the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), now Ikeja Distribution Company, Ogba unit to pay his bill, said it took him more than two days to pay because the PoS was not working.

    He said the challenge, which is becoming a daily occurrence, made users to abandon the device and reverted to cash payment. This, he said, led to long queues.

    “We have a long queue because there is only one person that is attending to us; besides the PoS is not working. There is need to get more people involved in bill collection, and also get the PoS working too. I have been here several times today and was told that the server is down,” he told The Nation.

     

    ATMs gain ground

    ATMs withdrawals accounted for 93 per cent of electronic payments by volume in the first half of last year, according to CBN data. Mobile money also hasn’t taken off in Nigeria, with phone payments accounting for a mere 3.7 per cent of all electronic transactions. The mobile money which allows mobile phones to be used to send and receive money, buy recharge cards, pay subscription fees for DStv, pay electricity bills, use of PoS terminals to pay for goods and services among others is under threat.

    The telecoms firms and banks, which are expected to drive the process, are not doing so. Both sectors want to drive the mobile money business and have found it extremely difficult to work together.

    General Manager, IBM Africa, Taiwo Otiti, said strategy being adopted by the key stakeholders is stifling the success of mobile money operation in the country.

    He said: “The approach we have taken in mobile money is the challenge. We have over 30 million unbanked, compared with over 100 million mobile phone users, the people who are unbanked, may have mobile phones, but how would you get them into the financial system? “You must be able to get into his lifestyle for you to be able to get him subscribe to mobile money scheme. But many of the stakeholders are not doing that.”

    Otiti said getting the mobile money scheme running requires both the payment and supply chain properly defined and implemented by the stakeholders. He said there is need for a paradigm shift that sees all the stakeholders working together. “The telcos can’t also do without the banks, so also are the banks. It is only by collaboration, will the mobile money project begin to deliver the needed results,” he said.

    So far, the CBN has licensed 21 mobile money operators, but the challenge remains how to link mobile money to the PoS, among other issues.

    “That is a challenge that we are also working on. If mobile phones can serve as a touch point, our transactions would go up rapidly. So, these are some of the things we are looking at, hoping that by next year, as we roll out more PoS machines, we have to see how we integrate the mobile phones into the network because in the hinterlands, the challenges would be more. We hope to roll-out to all the state capitals by the second quarter of this year,” the CBN said.

    It explained that the second anniversary is an opportunity for operators and regulators to come together and talk about how to continue to transform the payment system in the country.

    “Of course we have ratcheted up transactions around electronic payment. We haven’t done badly at all, but there are still a lot to be covered and we have made significant progress in the area of infrastructure provision, particularly led by the cashless programme of the CBN. We believe that if we continue to drive this, then we will make the payment system a lot more efficient,” it said.

    Also, the CBN said an efficient payment system is good for the transmission of monetary policy adding that it underscores its importance to the apex bank. “It is also good for financial stability because a stable financial system is seen through how efficient the payment system is,” the CBN added.

    While mobile payments increased more than threefold in recent years, only N6 million was transacted using mobile money, compared with N57.2 billion ($352.5million) on ATMs, and PoS.

    The CBN bank wants commercial lenders to drive growth rather than phone operators because they regulate the banks and not the telecoms firms, Moghalu said.

    Even among Nigerians with ATM cards, cash still dominates daily business as connection and network difficulties and delays in transaction times get worse.There have been cases where consumers are debited twice for the same purchase.

    Between 40 and 50 per cent of card-reader transactions also crash because of patchy radio and phone networks, Moghalu said. The CBN is trying to reduce failure to below 10 per cent over time, he said.

    Partner and Head, Management Consulting at KPMG Advisory Services, Bisi Lamikanra, said fixing botched transactions causes “quite a bit of frustration” because they can take months to resolve, said adding that with these hitches, consumers typically rather withdraw cash from the ATM, even if they’re withdrawing it outside the shop. The start of chip-and-pin-card technology in 2010 helped lower incidents of ATM fraud by more than 90 per cent.

    Analysts said critical success factors for mobile payment in the country are the integrity and security of the end-to-end transition during a payment transaction process. They insist that the chain of transaction must be secured from initiation to authentication. Therefore, confidentiality and integrity of the data transition are critical factors in mobile payment.

  • JUSUN begins nationwide strike

    Activities at the Federal High Court, Lagos, were paralysed yesterday as judicial workers began a nationwide indefinite strike.

    But, the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court, Mr. Bello Okandeji, said the inactivity was not due to the strike but the ongoing conference of judges in Abuja.

    There were no legal proceedings in 11 of the 12 courtrooms in the court complex.

    Okandeji said: “As far as I am concerned, activities of the Lagos Division of this court are disrupted due to the absence of our judges, who are attending a conference in Abuja.

    “Although, I will not deny having knowledge of the strike by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), I cannot categorically say it is the reason the courts are empty.

    “Whether there is an ongoing industrial action or not, I am yet to officially receive instructions to that effect.

    “Until I receive directives from the management, I cannot assume and act on my own volition.”

    Some lawyers expressed dismay at the situation.

    Mr. Femi Oguneye said he was disappointed when a court clerk informed him that the court would not sit.

    He said none of the court clerks was able to give him cogent reasons for the situation, but only adjourned cases.

    Another lawyer, Mr. Chijioke Nwankwo, said he was also disappointed.

    Only Justice Okechukwu Okeke heard a case involving alleged importation of arms and explosives to Nigeria.

    He reserved judgment in the case till April 30.

    Also in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, strike by JUSUN members paralysed activities.

    The union is embarking on the strike to protest the non-implementation of the Consolidated Judicial Salary Structure (CONJUSS) in the courts being operated by the Federal Government.

    The court premises were deserted. None of the judges was around.

    Litigants and lawyers were informed of the development at the gate of the court by the security guards. Those who had no genuine reason to enter the premises were turned back.

    A member of JUSUN, who preferred anonymity, said: “We at the Port Harcourt branch were not aware of the development until we got to the office this morning (yesterday morning) and saw the circular pasted at the entrance.”

    Asked what their grievances were and who pasted the circular, he said he did not know.

    In a five-point communiqué issued at the end of JUSUN’s emergency delegates’ session at the Labour House in Minna, Niger State on March 5, which was pasted at the gate yesterday, members are protesting the failure of the Federal Government to implement CONJUSS in federal courts.

    The document was signed by JUSUN’s National President and General Secretary, Marwan Adamu Mustapha and I.M. Adetola.

    The premises of the Sokoto Appeal Court on Kaduna Road and those of the Federal High Court were deserted and the gates locked.

    The Chairman of the Sokoto State branch of JUSUN, Abdulnasir Mohammed, said the strike followed the non-implementation of CONJUSS by the Federal Government.