An Anambra State youth association, Dynamic Minds League, has sued a recording artist, Douglas Jack Agu (alias Runtown) at the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja over an alleged breach of contract.
It is claiming N14.3 million damages from the musician.
The group, through its president Chizuo Anetoh, said it agreed with Runtown to perform at the popular state-wide harmattan carnival held last January 1 in Adazi-Nnukwu town.
The claimant, through its lawyer Raphael Anagbado, said it contacted the musician’s management company, Eric Many Entertainment, and after a meeting with the manager Armani Henshaw, a fee of N800,000 was agreed, which was fully paid.
Based on the agreement, the group said it printed fliers to advertise the show’s ticket prices of N3,000 for VIP and N1,000 regular, which were posted across the state.
The association said it also featured Runtown on the back page of its magazine, booked for two hotel rooms for the musician and his manager, and paid for their flight tickets to Port Harcourt, from where they would head for Anambra by road.
The claimant said Henshaw demanded that four armed mobile policemen be provided to escort them to the venue, but the group was only able to provide two.
According to the claimant, when the artiste and his manager arrived Port Harcourt, they refused to be escorted by the two armed policemen, and eventually refused to attend the event on the basis that it was already late.
“The carnival took place without the attendance of Runtown who was billed to perform between 1-2am. Cash refunds were made to many people who demanded a refund because Runtown was the high point and attraction which justified the ticket prices.
“Due to the absence of Runtown, the association lost millions of naira in expected profit (including cash refunds made) and severe damage to its reputation which has a grave impact on the association’s ability to stage events, attract patrons and compete with rival carnival/show organisers in Anambra State and environs,” the claimant said.
The association is, therefore, praying the court to order Runtown to refund the N800,000, pay it N2million as special damages which covers cash refunds to guests, cost of fliers, radio jingles and hotel reservation; as well as N10million as general damages for loss of revenue; N1million as exemplary damages, and N500,000 as cost of the suit.
During hearing before Justice Josephine Oyefeso, Anagbado said his client called the musician several times to demand a refund without a response. He said he sent a letter proposing settlement, which was not accepted.
The lawyer said his client instead got a reply from Runtown’s lawyer refusing reimbursement and damages demanded, citing breach of contract by the claimant for alleged late provision of armed security personnel as escort to the venue.
Runtown, through his lawyer, Mr E. O. Ekeocha, filed a preliminary objection, asking the court to strike out the suit for lack of jurisdiction.
He said the claimant failed to comply with the court’s rules on pre-action notice.
Arguing the objection, the lawyer said: “The claimant’s demand letter is not a pre-action notice. The rules provide that a claimant must send a pre-action protocol containing the reliefs sought.
“All the claims are at variance with their pre-action letter, which does not activate the court’s jurisdiction. We plead with your Lordship to strike out the suit.”
Justice Oyefeso adjourned until January 25, 2017 for ruling on the preliminary objection.
Tag: payment
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Group sues Runtown for refusing to perform after payment
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Ikeja Electric, UBA partner on payment terminals
Ikeja Electric has launched payment terminals in 20 United Bank for Africa (UBA) across its network offices.
The terminals will provide a secure and convenient payment option for customers in those locations.
Its Head of Corporate Communications, Felix Ofulue, said the initiative would enable Ikeja Electric to bring efficient service closer to customers.
“We are confident that the addition of these payment terminals will help us to do an even better job of meeting the needs of our customers, in making payment of bills a lot easier and more convenient, while also improving their overall experience”, he said.
“We are committed to providing our customers with the greatest level of customer service and introducing these secure and convenient payment terminals is yet another aspect of our service offerings”.
Ofulue appealed to customers to take advantage of the proximity of these payment terminals and avoid making payments to any staff of Ikeja Electric, noting that the company’s linesmen, engineers and technicians are not commissioned to receive cash payments of any kind.
The terminals are in UBA branches in Akowonjo, Abule Egba, Ijaiye Ogba, Akute, Allen Avenue, Ogudu, Ikeja GRA, Ojodu, Ikotun and Ketu.
Others are in Ikorodu, Okota, Bank Anthony (Ikeja), Simbiat Abiola Way (Ikeja), New Oko-Oba, Iju, Dopemu, Iyana Ipaja (NYSC),Oba Akran and Oregun branches.
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Pensioners praise govt, seek payment of arrears
The Nigeria Union of Pensioners has commended the Federal Government on the payment of 12-month arrears of 33 per cent pension increase to its members.
In a statement by its President, Dr. Abel Afolayan, the union appreciated the payment of 30-months’ arrears of same to para-military pensioners, who comprise Customs, Immigration and the Prisons Service, despite the current economic situation.
The union, however, appealed to the Federal Government to ensure the speedy payment of the remaining 18 months arrears to civilian pensioners.
The statement reads: “Equally, we were surprised that as the civilian pensioners collected 24 months, para-military got the entire 42 months’ arrears and the Nigerian military pensioners got 42 months. It is surprising that the Nigeria Police pensioners got only three months. How on earth can someone explain this grave injustice done to the police pensioners? This is highly inexplainable.
“We appeal to Mr. President to please use his love for all and good offices to address this great injustice being done to the members of the Nigeria Police Pensioners, who have used their youthful period to serve the nation.’’
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AppZone’s solution to boost mobile payment
Financial technology solutions provider, AppZone is set to launch social mobile payment service, Zone.
Zone is an innovative financial technology platform that makes use of social and other smartphone features to solve problems that exist with cash and electronic payment options thereby creating a friendly and interactive mobile payment service.
It also provides merchants with more effective ways of connecting with customers to generate instant new or repeat sales. Zone makes use of smartphone features such as phone book, instant messaging and camera.
Its Divisional Head for Mobile Payment, Mr Elendu Uche, said: “Zone is making mobile payments friendly, trendy and interactive and these are characteristics for which millenials love social applications.
“This state-of-the-art technology was created to facilitate Africa’s transition to a completely cashless society by avoiding limitations of current e-payment platforms and instead delivering highly intuitive, interactive and customer oriented features that enable widespread adoption.”
Some of its standard features include “Ask” (Ask for money) which allows users send funds transfer requests to friends or associates, by selecting the target contact from a contact list and entering the requested amount.
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No results, no payment, minister tells states
Minister of Health Prof Isaac Adewole has warned that there will be no more payment for states and others that fail to deliver in the ministry’s Saving One Million Lives Programme for Results (SOMLP4R) project.
Adewole spoke at a meeting with representatives of the states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Kaduna, after the disbursement of $1.5 million to each of them.
It was organised by the Federal Ministry of Health with Maternal, new born, and child health (MNCH2) programme.
Adewole said the programme was motivated by the desire to pay for results, rather than for processes and reimbursments.
The programme has six major pillars and two enablers that can change health outcomes in Nigeria. Adewole listed the pillars as maternal new born and child health, childhood essential medicines and increasing treatment of childhood diseases, improving child nutrition, immunisation, malaria control and elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (eMTCT) of HIV.
The enablers are: promotion of innovation and use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and improvement of supply and distribution chain.
The minister said each state received 82 percent of the grant and that more disbursements would be made based on five factors.
Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai, the chief host at the meeting, thanked the Minister, assuring him of his commitment to SOMLP4R.
el-Rufai emphasised his state’s commitment to completing the establishment of Primary Health Care Under One Roof (PHCUOR) and announced efforts by his government to improve the 255 PHCs and 23 comprehensive health centres, as well as other efforts related to the indicators, such as encouraging routine immunisation through meetings with local government chairpersons and traditional rulers.
“We welcome SOMLP4R and embrace it. I and other Northwest governors are committed to improving healthcare in our states,” el-Rufai said.
el-Rufai pleaded with the Federal Government to support states to implement the State Based Health Insurance Scheme (SBHIS) to reduce out-of-pocket spending and enable the poor and vulnerable to afford medical care.
MNCH2 National Team Lead, Dr. Salma Anas-Kolo, said the SOMLP4R aligns with her programme’s mandate to reduce maternal deaths and improve survival rate. She said the country contributes more than 10 percent of the global burden and highlighted that about 70 percent of the burden in Nigeria is brought by the six Northwest states.
Dr. Anas-Kolo called for an integrated approach to deliver MNCH services using Primary Health Centres (PHCs) as the platform, calling for increased government funding.
She praised the Kaduna State government, saying the programme has witnessed significant improvements in the state, especially in human resources. “If by 2019, MNCH2, in collaboration with the government and relevant partners, are able to improve maternal health and strengthen health systems in the Northwest region, the overall health indices in Nigeria will improve,’’ she said.
Chief of Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank Dr. Benjamin Loevinsoh, explained that the philosophy of the SOMLP4R programme was around these cardinal points: Robust measurement of results, responsibility of states, competition, relevant performance not absolute and reducing risk. He however noted that states would compete against themselves based on their own baseline as progress and improvement is of the most importance to them.
The meeting was attended by key stakeholders in the sector. They include Hajiya Binta Lami Adamu Bello; Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health; Director of Family Health, Dr. Adebimpe Adebiyi; National Programme Coordinator, the SOMLP4R, Dr. Ibrahim Kana; and President, Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria, Prof. J. I.Brian Adinma.
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Fed Govt loses $.39m to visa payment reversals in South Africa
Nigeria’s Consul-General in South Africa Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke yesterday said the Federal Government lost $39,370 (about N10.9 million) as visa and passport fees at processing centres.
Okeke told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Johannesburg, South Africa, that the Online Integrated Solutions (OIS), a firm processing passport and visa on behalf of the Nigeria Immigration Service abroad, reported the loss to the consulate.
‘’Evidence shows a recent compilation of 254 online payment fraudulent reversals of passport applications, which occurred between April and June, 2016.
“These acts were done by Nigerians to defraud their government,” she said.
Okeke said the acts were perpetrated through banks.
She said the South African banking system allowed anyone with a credit card to reverse such payment, if there was a complain, within 30 days.
“Unfortunately, some Nigerians in South Africa have perfected the act of defrauding the Federal Government by going to the banks to report loss or fraudulent use of such cards and the banks will reverse the payment,” she said.
The consul-general said “because of speed in service delivery accorded Nigerians by the consulate at the instance of the Federal Government, the passport would have been produced”.
According to her, Nigerians will pay online; collect the passports within the stipulated 30 days with the passports in their pockets, go back to the bank and reverse the payments.
Okeke said it’s unfortunate some Nigerians defrauded the government through such acts in a foreign land.
“The consulate has compiled a list of those involved and sent to Abuja. The Nigeria Immigration Service will decide whether those passports will be cancelled or withdrawn,” she said.
She said the mission recorded 58 reversals of online visa payments between April and June, 2016.
The envoy added that South African visa applicants reported they paid a Nigerian agent to process for them.
“The Nigerian agent will collect cash from the applicants, use his credit card to pay and reverse the payment thereafter,” she explained.
She said the consulate was on top of the situation and that soon the Immigration Service would be advised on measures taken to deal with the situation.
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Handling critical 5Ps of export business success -Part 5: Payment
The purpose of a business is to solve problems and, thereby, create value while the goal of a business is to make a profit. This, therefore, makes this last factor very critical to the success of any export business. The payment factor in this series focuses on how to source for funds from banks to pay for products or raw materials procured from the local suppliers and how to get payment for the exported goods from the buyers abroad.
The business plan of a new exporter should answer the following questions about payment, both to local supplier and the receipt of inflow from the buyers abroad. These questions include the following: What are the payment methods available in export trade? Where is the place of valid export contract in export financing? When is ordinary letter of credit not reliable as a payment security? Who are those that are eligible to access export finance products? Why are some payment methods not attractive to banks and is there a way to make them acceptable? Which instrument can give banks comfort when financing local supply? How can an exporter mitigate the risk of non-payment?
The first question states that, what are the payment methods available in export trade? This is a very crucial question that is also grossly misunderstood by many exporters and sometimes bankers. The payment methods in an export trade transaction include Open Account (Cash against documents); Bill for Collection, Letter of Credit, Advance Payment and recently, a new one was developed called the Bank Payment Obligations.
Under open account transactions, the exporter ships the goods and sends documents directly to the buyer who then clears the goods and pay the exporter at a later date like 60 days or 90 days after shipment. Bill for collection is another payment method and it involves the transmission of documents through both buyer and seller’s banks and collection of payment through the same channel.
The banks do not have obligations to pay in this arrangement. The importer can pay at the sight of document or at a later. If the importer fails the pay, the exporter will be at a loss. Letter of credit will be treated under the third question. Advance payment is the most secured method for the exporter because Payment is made before shipment is done. A bank payment obligation is not yet in operation in Nigeria. It is a technologically driven payment method that combines the simplicity of Open Account and the security of Letter of Credit.
The next question states that, where is the place of valid export contract in export financing? A bank needs to see and review the export contract before financing an export transaction. This is because the contract forms the premise for the loan request. It helps the banker to know when the preparation for the production and sourcing of products for shipment should commence. It helps the bank to monitor the planning of the shipment with the shipping line. It shows the bank what, where, when, who and how the payment on shipment will be made. It informs the financiers the agreed price of sales for the goods. It also helps the banker to know how best to package the loan facility. Through the contract, the bank is also able to know the liabilities and responsibilities of the exporters. It helps the banker to envisage the likely challenges of the transaction and put in place the mitigants.
The third question is very pivotal and it states that, when is ordinary letter of credit not reliable as a payment security? First of all let me define letter of credit. This is the undertaken of the buyer’s bank (issuing bank) to the exporter to make payment when the shipment is made and all the documents that complies with the terms of the letter of credit are presented.
However, if the letter of credit is coming from a bank in a jurisdiction that is facing a sovereign risk (political and economic risk) or if the issuing bank ranking by rating agencies is very low, then an exporter might need another bank in another country to give an additional undertaken. This concept is called confirmed letter of credit. So, an ordinary letter of credit is the unconfirmed letter of credit. Even though it has the force of a bank’s undertaken to pay however, it becomes unreliable for payment when the issuing bank is exposed to sovereign risks.
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Peterside: we will automate payment process in NIMASA
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is set to automate its payment system for greater efficiency and eliminate revenue leakages.
A statement yesterday by the Head of Corporate Communication Team in NIMASA, Hajia Lami Tumaka, quoted the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside, as speaking when he hosted representatives of major shipping companies in Nigeria under the aegis of the Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) in his office.
Peterside said the payment system was being reviewed to ensure efficiency.
He assured the delegation that NIMASA would institute more transparent ways of calculating the three per cent levy charged on all inbound and outbound cargoes.
“We are automating our payment platform in line with our strategic growth plan to ensure greater efficiency in the payment process.
“The new process will be integrated with similar platforms of sister agencies in order to correctly ascertain levies chargeable per freight and eliminate the bottlenecks currently being experienced,’’ the director-general said.
Peterside said the agency’s commitment to the elimination of piracy and other criminal activities on the waterways was unwavering.
He said the Federal Government through the Office of the National Security Adviser would soon launch a high capacity satellite system which would assist the military in dealing with maritime crimes.
Peterside also urged the shipping companies to support the NIMASA’s capacity building programme by providing sea time experience for cadets sponsored under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).
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Court urged to void Fed Govt’s payment to electricity firm
A Federal High in Abuja has been urged to void an alleged multibillion naira payment made on behalf of the Federal Government under the Goodluck Jonathan administration to a firm Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Limited.
The firm is owned by former Military Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, ex-Rivers State Governor Peter Odili and others.
The request formed part of the reliefs in a suit filed by a lawyer, Baribefi Tebira, who is querying the integrity of the process leading to the Fed Govt’s alleged payment of the various amounts of N4.9b, $59m and $87.8m between 2013 and 2015 to Integrated Energy through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), National Council on Privatization (NCP) and Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The suit queried, among others, the propriety of the force majeure declared by Integrated Energy about 10 days after it took over the management of Yola Electricity Distribution Company (Yola Disco), following which it was paid N4.9b, $59m and $87.8m through the BPE, NCP and NERC.
Defendants in the suit include Integrated Energy, Yola Electricity Distribution Company, BPE, NCP, NERC, Federal Ministry of Power and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).
Tebira, in his statement of claim, stated that upon the execution of a Share Sale Agreement of February 21, 2013, Integrated Energy paid the Fed Govt $59m for the acquisition of 51 per cent as the majority shareholder of Yola Disco. He added that Integrated Energy took over the management of Yola Disco in August 2013 after executing a Performance Agreement dated August 21, 2013 between it, BPE and Yola Disco.
The plaintiff stated that about 10 days after taking over the management of Yola Disco, Integrated Energy, through its Chairman, John Olatunde Ayeni, “declare political force majeure in its letter to the Director General of BPE,” on the ground that the various attacks by Boko Haram in its areas of operation have affected its operation and earnings.
“Due to the constant and incessant complaints by the 1st defendant (Integrated Energy), on the basis that due to the nature of the severity of the Book Haram attacks it has recorded negative cash flow for 11 months and its revenue generated could not sustain the business of power distribution in the four states under its jurisdiction, the 3rd, 4th,, 5th and 6th defendants decided to compensate the 1st defendant to the cumulative tune of N4.9b.”
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Kwara approves payment of 24, 042 verified workers, pensioners
Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has approved the payment of March and April salaries and pensions of 24,042 workers and pensioners, who have been cleared in the staff verification.
A statement by the alternate Chairman of the Committee on Personnel Database Development, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, said the approval followed the final clearance of the affected workers and pensioners by the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBBS).
Gold, who is also the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), said the March and April salary and entitlements of the workers and pensioners would be paid this week.
He said 1,427 workers and pensioners found to have submitted invalid Bank Verification Number (BVN) will have their entitlements withheld, pending further investigation.
Gold said the governor ordered that the 144 workers and pensioners, who had issues with their BVN, but whose defences were genuine, should be paid.
He noted that Ahmed directed that 390 workers and pensioners found to be operating multiple accounts should be re-screened by the committee.
The SSG stressed that any worker or pensioner found to be fraudulently collecting salary or pension would not only be made to refund the money, but would also be penalised.