Nigeria Frozen Bank Accounts Of 'looters' Facing EFCC Trial

The Nigerian government has frozen the bank accounts of suspects being tried in court over allegations of corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), TheCable can report.
This, TheCable understands, is part of the implementation of the Executive Order No. 6 on the “preservation of suspicious assets connected with corruption and other relevant offences” signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in October 2018.
The federal government has also placed a travel ban on the affected persons, but the list is yet to be officially made public.
“I issued a cheque of N250,000 to a friend and it was turned down,” a former minister who was affected informed TheCable.
“When I called my account officer, he invited me for a meeting, where I was told there is a ‘post no debit’ instruction on all my accounts because of the executive order. They told me I am not the only one affected. All persons undergoing trial are affected.”
On Tuesday, Olisa Metuh, former spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said he did not have money to buy even “panadol” because all his accounts had been frozen by the EFCC.
On March 30, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, had released the list of alleged looters following a challenge from Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesman of the PDP.
“The PDP has challenged us to name the looters under their watch. They said they did not loot the treasury. Well, I am sure they know that the treasury was looted dry under their watch. Yet they decided to grandstand,” he had said.
“This shows the hollowness of their apology. This list is just a tip of the iceberg, and the PDP is aware of this. We did not make these cases up. Many of these cases are in court and the records are available.”
Among those listed were Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser; Dieziani Alison-Madukwe, former minister of petroleum resources; Kenneth Minimah, former chief of army staff; Alex Badeh, former chief of defence staff; Inde Dikko, former comptroller-general of customs; and Bala Mohammed, former minister of the federal capital territory (FCT).
Others are Stella Oduah, a serving senator; Babangida Aliyu, former Niger State governor; Jonah Jang, former Plateau governor; Nenadi Usman, former minister of finance; Bashir Yuguda, former minister of state for finance; Femi Fani-Kayode, former minister of aviation; Raymond Dokpesi, founder of DAAR Communications and Uche Secondus, national chairman of the PDP.
The list released in two batches contained 29 names. Dokpesi and Secondus had sued the federal government over the issue but lost and file appeal. The cases are ongoing.

Read More

Nigerian Naira Falls On Anxiety Over Global price of crude Oil

Nigeria's local currency naira on Thursday fell against the dollar by one percent on the parallel market, weakened to 370 per dollar, its weakest since August 2017.
Traders said some black market outlets were hoarding dollars, fearing a recent sharp fall in oil prices could lead to a shortage of the U.S. currency.

The local currency opened the week at 365 to the dollar on the black market and closed at 366 a dollar on Wednesday.
Global prices of oil, Nigeria’s chief export, have dropped more than 20 percent this month. Traders now fear that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may not have enough reserves to defend the currency against a possible further weakening of oil prices as foreign investors have been pulling money out of Nigerian assets.
“There’s no new investment coming in and oil prices have been dropping so investors are watching while some are exiting,” one trader said.
The central bank has been using up foreign exchange reserves to keep the naira stable, spending $2.2 billion in October to prop up the currency as foreign investors have also left the market in favour of rising interest rates in developed economies.
Central bank data released on Thursday showed Nigeria’s foreign reserves stood at $41.9 billion as of Nov. 27, down 12.3 percent from a peak of $47.8 billion reached in June.
Investors have also been pulling out funds from equities. On Thursday, Nigeria’s benchmark stock index fell 1.33 percent to 30,611 points.
The naira also weakened on the over-the-counter market where it is traded by banks. It was exchanged for between 364 and 364.50 to the dollar on Thursday, compared to 363 a week earlier. At foreign exchange bureaus it was quoted at 366 per dollar, while a unit fetched 306.30 on the official market.

The central bank has kept the official rate stable at 306.30 for over a year by frequently intervening in the market.

Dollar shortages could worsen, traders say, as investors close their books for the year unless the central bank increases its intervention in the foreign exchange market.

The central bank has been raising treasury yields to lure offshore funds, traders said, but lower oil prices and the prospect of potentially fractious campaigns ahead of a Nigerian presidential election next year are deterring foreign investors, traders said

Read More

World Bank Expects Nigerian 2018 GDP Growth At Below 2 Pct

The World Bank expects Nigeria’s economy to grow slightly less than two percent this year, largely driven by the non-oil industry and services sectors, as the approach of elections keeps foreign investors away, it said on Wednesday.
Nigeria emerged from a recession last year but growth remains fragile, with the government borrowing both at home and abroad to help fund its budget. It has raised almost $9 billion from the eurobond market since 2017 to boost growth.
“Nigeria’s emergence from recession remains sluggish, and sectoral growth patterns are unstable. In the second quarter of 2018, the oil sector contracted by 4.0 percent,” the bank said in a statement.
GDP grew by 0.83 percent last year after shrinking by 1.58 percent in 2016, its first annual contraction in 25 years. For this year, Nigeria’s central bank is projecting growth of 1.75 percent.
The World Bank said growth in the farm sector, which has been resilient in the past, had slowed to 1.2 percent under the impact of security challenges in the north.
The World Bank said non-oil industry and services, which make up more than half of Nigeria’s economy, had been boosted by growth in construction, transport and communication technology.
But it said investment in human capital, which the government has been seeking to boost, remained low compared with other countries.
Nigeria is largely dependent on its oil sector for government revenues and foreign exchange, but it has been constrained by a subsidy on petrol and other deductions, the bank said, noting that foreign investment was stagnant.
It said higher oil exports had helped current account data in the first half but non-oil revenue had come in lower than expected despite reforms to improve the economy.
The World Bank expected the fiscal deficit to widen in 2018, with portfolio investors exercising caution ahead of the election, despite rising local yields.

Read More

What Oil At $50 A Barrel Means For The World Economy

Just a couple of months ago, major oil trading houses were predicting the return of $100 crude. Now, with oil prices at half that level, here’s a look at what the slump means for the world economy.
Energy importers like India and South Africa will benefit; oil producers such as Russia and Saudi Arabia will hurt. Central banks under pressure to raise interest rates will get a reprieve; those looking to revive prices, such as the Bank of Japan, face another headwind.
Ultimately, much depends on how world oil demand shapes up as it gets battered by a stronger dollar and global trade spats, and how the biggest producers react.
Saudi Arabia sits between Russia on one side, its ally in managing production to support prices, and the U.S., where President Donald Trump is sending Twitter messages to the producer to get prices down. All eyes are on the Group of 20 meeting this week to see if a consensus on output emerges between the Saudis and Russians, and if that can carry through to the OPEC gathering next week.
Here’s a Bloomberg Economics chart showing net oil imports (or exports) as a percentage of GDP -- cheaper oil helps those at the top of the chart and hurts those at the bottom.
What does it mean for global growth?
With the northern hemisphere winter approaching, the oil-price slump will cushion households and businesses during a period of slowing economic growth. Countries that import oil and have current-account deficits, such as South Africa, will also stand to benefit. China is the world’s biggest importer of oil and is already battling a broader moderation in its economy amid a trade war with the U.S. and domestic challenges.
What does it mean for inflation?
Lower oil prices mean less pressure on inflation and less pressure on central banks to raise interest rates. One example: Bloomberg Economics says the energy slump is a game changer for India and could mean the Reserve Bank of India shifts to a neutral outlook.
How will emerging markets handle the price drop?
Every $10-per-barrel fall in oil prices boosts incomes by about 0.5 to 0.7 percent of gross domestic product in major emerging market oil importers, Capital Economics analysts estimate. The same discount will cause a 3 percent to 5 percent loss of GDP in most of the Gulf economies, and a slowdown of 1.5 percent to 2 percent of GDP in the U.A.E, Russia and Nigeria, all on an annualized basis, according to the analysts.
What does it mean for the world’s biggest economy?
Trump has described the slump in oil prices as the equivalent of a tax cut. Still, diminishing American reliance on imported oil due to the emergence of shale production will erode the positive economic consequences at the industry level.

Read More

Ethiopian Airlines Moves To Create Pan-African Hub, Expands Operations

In its bid to sustain its position as the dominant operator in the African continent Ethiopian Airlines has been snapping up stakes in some smaller carriers to lock out potential rivals in the continent.

The airline is currently fast-tracking its strategy create new African routes to soak up traffic on the continent and fly customers towards its more lucrative flights to rapidly expanding Asian markets.
With a long-delayed African “open skies” revolution still mired in red tape, Ethiopian Air strategic partnership and investment in small carriers around the continent may put it as the main pan-African airline.
Currently, the carrier is in talks with Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Republic and Djibouti about either launching airlines or securing landing spots, CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said in an interview with Reuters.
He also said in May the airline was looking to set up carriers in Equatorial Guinea and Guinea through joint ventures.
“The task of African integration is not easy,” Tewolde said in an interview. “The context is the need for air transport. There is a huge demand. We are responding to it.”
Ethiopian’s push comes as Middle Eastern rivals who expanded heavily in Africa are feeling some pain from overcapacity, while African carriers such as South African Airways and Kenya Airways are on the back foot after losing money for years.
The success or failure of Ethiopian’s plan is being watched by long-haul competitors such as Turkish Airlines and suppliers led by Boeing and, more recently, Airbus.
Ethiopian’s fortunes are also important for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government, which has said it plans to sell a minority stake in the airline to domestic and foreign investors as part of broad economic reform pledges.
Ethiopian unveiled its 15-year expansion strategy in 2010, and started small. First, it helped launch ASKY Airlines in the West African country of Togo and then acquired a 49 percent stake in Malawi’s flag carrier in Southern Africa in 2013.
Since May, Ethiopian has announced plans to launch an airline in Mozambique, relaunched Zambia’s flag carrier, established a new airline in Chad to cover West and Central Africa and resumed flights to Somalia after a 41-year hiatus.
REGIONAL HUBS
The prize is growing fast. Air traffic in Africa is forecast to grow 6 percent a year, twice as quickly as mature markets and faster than any other region over the next two decades.
Ethiopian is hoping to snare a greater share of capacity on flights between cities in Africa, which are already 90-percent controlled by African carriers, according to data firm OAG.
In most cases so far, Ethiopian has taken minority stakes in “start-up” airlines and tried to implant its management culture, often in nations haunted by costly failures of state carriers.
Tewolde also wants to claw back market share on routes to and from the continent, dominated by Turkish and Gulf carrier Emirates. This year, 61 percent of capacity to or from Africa has been controlled by non-African carriers, says OAG.
There are big risks.
Ethiopian is spending tens of millions of dollars in some of Africa’s toughest markets and the strategy of buying minority stakes to get a foothold abroad has failed spectacularly for some, such as Abu Dhabi’s Etihad.
Analysts worry accelerated expansion may spread Ethiopian too thinly if traffic doesn’t pick up fast enough at its new hubs in Togo, Malawi and Chad.
The regional hubs are designed partly to channel customers to Ethiopian’s main hub in Addis Ababa and so fill its direct flights to the Middle East and Asia.
OPEN SKIES?
There are also concerns that none is in a major African city. Lome is far smaller than West African cities such as Nigeria’s economic capital Lagos, or Abidjan in Ivory Coast, while Chad’s dusty desert capital is even smaller.
"You want to build (a hub) in a place where you are going to get local traffic and connecting traffic," said Craig Jenks, president of consultancy Airline/Aircraft Projects Inc aap.aero/index.html.
Tewolde said the new airline in Chad would draw in passengers from Cameroon, Central African Republic, Niger, northern Nigeria and Sudan.
Yamlaksira Getachew, a management professor at Loyola Marymount University, warned Zambia’s relaunched flag carrier could steal traffic from Ethiopian’s existing southern African hub in neighbouring Malawi.
Ethiopian has been forced to adopt the piecemeal approach to expansion because full air transport liberalisation has failed to materialise, despite several attempts.
In 1999, 44 African countries signed the Yamoussoukro Decision in Ivory Coast’s capital giving airlines freedom to ferry passengers between two foreign countries.
But the agreement was barely implemented as governments moved to protect domestic carriers.
To try to revive the stalled process, 23 African governments signed another deal this year to forge a single aviation market.
So far, Ethiopian’s plan appears to be working. It says it has clocked average growth of 25 percent a year since 2010 and expects to carry nearly 10.6 million passengers this year, up from 3.7 million eight years ago.
Unlike many African rivals, it is also making money. Net profit rose 2 percent to $233 million in its 2017-18 fiscal year.
It says Western banks are helping to fund plans to boost its fleet of 108 planes, with 66 more on order.
Highlighting the potential riches at stake, Chinese banks are involved too, partly reflecting Beijing’s drive to build a new trade corridor to the Middle East and Africa, bankers said.

Read More

Why Savanah Bank, Fortis, Aso Savings Depositors Are Yet Get Refunds _NDIC

Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Africa's largest economy's deposit insurer has attributed the non-payment of depositors of failed banks to the delay in amending the enabling act establishing the corporation.

Umaru Ibrahim, chief executive of the corporation depositors of one commercial lender, a micro-finance and a mortgage firm are yet to get their deposits refunded due to certain clauses in the Act enabling law of the deposit insurer.

He said depositors of Savanah Bank, Fortis Micro-Finance Bank, and Aso Savings & Union Homes are suffering because they have not been able to recover their monies trapped in the banks since they were liquidated.
He said the suffering of the depositors would continue unless the NDIC enabling Act was speedily amended by the National Assembly.
Citing the defunct Savanah Bank as an example, the MD said the NDIC Act, as presently enacted, inhibits the corporation from reimbursing depositors since their bank licences were yet to be revoked due to protracted litigation.
The NDIC boss on Tuesday, therefore, appealed to the chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Rafiu Ibrahim, to do all within his capacity to ensure the NDIC Act was speedily amended.
On the recent activities of the corporation, the MD provided updates including NDIC’s revocation of the licences of 153 Micro-Finance Banks (MFBs) and six Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Members of the Senate committee were informed the corporation had already commenced the payment of depositors of 25 MFBs and the deposits verification of 50 others.
He listed the challenges encountered by MFBs in particular to include non-performing loans, insider credit and abuse, non-compliance with extant regulations on their establishment and the overbearing indulgence in other fringe operations, along with poor earnings.
The NDIC boss also informed members of the committee of the strong resolve and commitment of the corporation to assist in the investigation and prosecution of all those who contributed to the collapse of the defunct Skye Bank.
Chairman of the Senate committee, Mr Ibrahim, said the committee was committed to the accelerated amendment of the NDIC Act, 2006, to eliminate the gaps hindering the full realisation of the public policy objectives of the implementation of the Deposit Insurance System (DIS) in Nigeria.
The chairman made the remark during his visit to the corporation on Tuesday with his team on an oversight assignment.
The committee chairman commended the NDIC for the excellent quality of its reports on the supervision of banks, which have become the benchmark in the industry.
He however expressed concerns over the recent CBN policy, which raised the minimum capital requirements for Microfinance Banks in Nigeria from N20 million to N200 million, and N100 million to NI billion, and N2 billion to N5 billion for unit, state, and national MFBs respectively.
The policy, he said, would be inimical to the objectives of the financial inclusion strategy.
The committee reaffirmed its resolve to work with NDIC to confront emerging issues in the industry, such as block-chain Technology, financial Inclusion, cybercrime, digital banking, consumer protection and provision of credits to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Read More

Nigeria's 9mobile Starts Repayment Of Loans To Banks After Teleology Takeover

New owners of Nigeria’s fourth-biggest wireless carrier 9mobile, has commenced repayment of part of a loan taken from a consortium of banks few weeks after Teleology Holdings Ltd assumed ownership of the telecoms firm.
“The money has been distributed to the banks,” Abiola Rasaq, head of investor relations at Lagos-based United Bank for Africa Plc, one of the institutions that received a payment, said by phone.
The reimbursement is expected to improve the asset quality of the creditor banks that had classified the loan as non-performing, he said.
UBA made a 15.2 billion naira ($41 million) provision on the loan last year.
The Nigerian unit of Emirates Telecommunications Corp., or Etisalat, was taken over by creditor banks in 2017 after it defaulted on $1.2 billion loan payments. In order to avert a collapse of the company and the risk of contagion in the banking industry, regulators and the firm’s interim board appointed Barclays Africa to prepare it for sale to core investors. Teleology emerged the preferred bidder and took over the firm this month.
Acquisition Proceeds
9mobile repaid $251 million last week from the proceeds of the fund Teleology paid for the acquisition, according to two persons familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because they are not permitted to speak publicly on this issue.
A spokeswoman for 9mobile didn’t respond to phone calls and email messages seeking comments. Spokespersons from six of the creditor banks reached by Bloomberg declined to comment.
More than 10 Nigerian banks syndicated the loan to Etisalat Nigeria, including Guaranty Trust Bank Plc., Access Bank Plc. and Zenith Bank Plc. Some of the lenders made provisions on the loans or classified them as non-performing in 2017 and this year. Each creditor bank was repaid a proportion of the outstanding debt, according to the sources.

Read More

Nigeria Inflation Rate Falls In Oct, it's First In Three

Nigeria’s inflation rate declined for the first time in three months in October even as food-price growth accelerated.
The consumer-price index rose 11.26 percent from a year earlier compared with 11.28 percent in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.

The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey was for 11.4 percent. Prices increased 0.7 percent in the month.
Key Insights:
Food prices climbed 13.3 percent from a year earlier, a third month of acceleration.
Price growth in the West African nation has been above the central bank’s target band of 6 percent and 9 percent for more than three years.
Inflation in Africa’s largest oil producer slowed for 18 straight months through July.
Growth in consumer prices could average 12.4 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
To keep a lid on inflation, the central bank has held its main lending rate at a record 14 percent since 2016.
Late disbursements from this year’s budget of 9.1 trillion naira ($25 billion) and election-related spending before the February vote may quicken price growth, central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele has said.

Read More

Buhari’s govt worsened corruption, chased away investors – Jonathan

Nigeria's immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan has blamed his successor, Muhammadu Buhari for the worsening corruption perception of the country by the global community and exit of offshore investors from the economy due to his utterances and action to rubish his achievement in office.

The ex-president also said corruption is worse now than ever before in the history of the country.

Jonathan in his latest book, "My Transition Hour" the choice of President Buhari to resort to media trials of corruption cases worsened global perception of Nigeria thereby leading to Nigeria’s slip in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index.
“The sundry accusations by the new administration will appear to have baited the media. Media trials are entertaining but have little or no effect in fighting corruption and improving the economy.
“Since I left office, rather than improve on our TI corruption perception record, the situation has worsened with the nation going 12 places backward, becoming number 148 according to the latest CPI ranking for 2014, from 136 in 2014 when I was President.
“It was bad enough that Boko Haram insurgency continued killing people and ruining businesses but what is worse is when politicians downgrade the economy by de-marketing the country internationally.”
The former President said the Buhari administration failed to realise that foreign investors are always very sensitive to the utterances of the government.
He said in the process of trying to dig a hole for him, the Buhari government ended up digging a hole for the nation.
Jonathan added, “You should never try to slander your political opponent by destroying your country’s economy. Capital flight intensified and companies started laying off staff. In all this, I hope a lesson will be learned. If you embark on digging a hole for your enemy, you better make it shallow because you might end up in the hole yourself.
“How do you attract investors you already repelled through your utterances? Investors are an ultrasensitive lot. Money runs away from unstable societies.”

Read More

Pound Sterling Falls Most Since 2017 On Brexit Crisis

The pound slumped and gilts rallied as several U.K. ministers resigned less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Theresa May said she had won cabinet approval for a deal with the European Union.
Sterling slid the most in more than 17 months after ministers including Brexit Secretary

Dominic Raab and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey quit May’s top team. Investors priced out the prospect of a rate increase by the Bank of England next year, with Raab’s departure, in particular, stoking fears of a revolt against May that may ultimately imperil the chances of the U.K. leaving the EU with a divorce deal in hand.
“Brexit worries are sending shock waves through the currency markets,” said Credit Agricole SA head of Group-of-10 currency strategy Valentin Marinov. The pound is lower but “it seems that uncertainty could push it lower still.”
Sterling dropped as much as 1.9 percent, the most since June 2017, to $1.2751. It weakened 1.4 percent to 88.24 pence per euro. The yield on 10-year U.K. government bonds dropped 10 basis points to 1.41 percent as investors sought the safest assets, with trading volumes in gilt futures about twice the average of the past 10 days.
Money markets now see the first BOE rate increase in February 2020, compared with November 2019 at the close of trading on Wednesday. Shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Barclays Plc and Lloyds Banking Group Plc all fell more than 5 percent, while homebuilders also declined. Bank bonds also declined, while measures of credit risk jumped.
Credit-default swaps insuring the debt of U.K. banks and insurance companies jumped to the highest levels in years, indicating deterioration in perceptions of credit quality. Subordinated contracts on RBS Group rose to the highest since May 2012, while senior swaps on Barclays increased to the highest since December 2016, according to data from CMA. Aviva Plc senior swaps rose to the highest in a year, the data show.
One-month pound option risk-reversals plummeted against both the dollar and euro, with the hurdle of getting the Brexit plan through Parliament still looming large even if May dodges a leadership challenge. Investors looking to bet on volatility are now set to pay a hefty price, with one-month volatility spiking to the highest since 2016.
Sterling, which strengthened 1.8 percent this month through Wednesday, could now be headed for a sustained downturn, according to Christin Tuxen, head of currency strategy at Danske Bank A/S.
“The strong November could turn to cold December for the pound,” said Tuxen. “It’s clearly worrying for the pound as this suggests the passing of the Brexit bill in parliament will be even more challenging for May than recent optimism might have hinted at.”

Read More

Nigeria Rice Import To Rise 13 Pct in 2019, Despite...

Nigeria’s rice imports will jump 13 percent next year to 3.4 million metric tons, making Africa’s most populous country the world’s biggest rice importer after China, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“China and Nigeria are projected to remain the largest rice importing countries in 2019, followed by the EU, Cote d’Ivoire, and Iran,” the USDA said in its latest Rice Outlook released Tuesday. 

“Nigeria and Egypt are projected to account for the bulk of the 2019 import increase.”
The forecast growth is a setback for the Nigerian government, which plans to stop rice imports by the end of this year to save foreign currency. Production had increased more than 50 percent since 2012 to 3.7 million tons last year. Domestic demand rose 4 percent to 6.7 million tons in the 2017-18 year that ended in May.
President Muhammadu Buhari wants to diversify Nigeria’s economy away from hydrocarbons, and agriculture is one of the sectors he has bet on. The economy of Africa’s biggest oil producer is still recovering from a slump in 2016, after the crash in crude prices.
Rice farmers in Nigeria have reported a drop in output since last year due to a combination of higher input costs, insecurity and widespread flooding in the main growing regions. At the same time, people are giving up traditional coarse grains in favor of rice in the country of almost 200 million people.
“The rain has not been favorable to rice farmers this year,” Mohammed Sahabi, chairman of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria in Kebbi, one of the main rice-growing states, said by phone. “We lost more than 20,000 hectares of unharvested rice this year in Kebbi alone.”
Current global production exceeds consumption by 2.3 million tons, according to USDA, with 2018-19 “global ending stocks” projected to reach 163 million tons, 17.8 million tons more than previously forecast.

Read More

Global Investors Demand $9.5 bln At Nigeria's Eurobond Issue

Nigeria raised $2.86 billion in Eurobonds on Wednesday across three maturities, to help fund its budget deficit, in a sale that was three times oversubscribed, the government said.
It priced the bonds with maturities of seven, 12 and 30 years at 7.625 percent, 8.75 percent and 9.25 percent, respectively.
Nigerian officials have been meeting investors at a roadshow organised by Citi and Standard Chartered in London this week prior to issuing the Eurobond.
The meeting led by Nigerian Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed, was attended by Budget Minister Udoma Udo Udoma, Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele and head of the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The government said demand for the dollar-denominated bond stood at $9.5 billion from global institutional investors. The bond would help Nigeria fund its budget deficit for 2018 and other financing needs, it said.
“Despite significant oil and wider macro market volatility, Nigeria has successfully raised its external debt requirements for the 2018 budget at a cost considerably lower than many of its peers across Sub-Sahara Africa,” the government said in a statement.
Nigeria sold $1.18 billion in seven-year tenor, $1 billion with 12-year maturity and $750 million for 30-years. The offer would close on Nov. 21.
The upper house of parliament last month approved the Eurobond issue but advised the government to limit foreign borrowing and boost revenue.
Wednesday’s issue is Nigeria’s sixth Eurobond sale.
Last year Nigeria sold $3 billion in Eurobonds, part of which it used to fund its 2017 budget. It then followed with a $2.5 billion Eurobond sale in February to refinance local currency bonds at lower cost.
Lawmakers said the new bond issue will raise foreign borrowing to 32 percent of Nigeria’s total debt, up from 30 percent at June 2018.
Nigeria, which emerged from recession last year, approved a three-year plan in 2016 to borrow more from abroad. It wants 40 percent of its loans to come from offshore sources to lower borrowing costs and help to fund record-high budgets.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who plans to seek a second term in next year’s election, signed 2018’s record 9.12 trillion naira ($29.8 billion) budget into law in June as part of efforts to foster economic growth.
Fitch upgraded the outlook on Nigeria’s sovereign rating to stable from negative prior to Wednesday’s issue, the statement said.

Read More

Should Banks Worry Over Rising Telecoms Firm's Interest in financial Services Business?

By United Capital

In a bid to leverage technology to promote financial inclusion and enhance access to financial services for the rural poor, low-income earners and financially excluded of the society, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently issued guidelines for licensing and regulation of Payment Service Banks (PSBs) in Nigeria.
According to the guideline, telecommunications companies (Telcos) are permitted to serve as a promoter of PSBs via a subsidiary company. 

Thus, it is no surprise that major Telcos are now being touted to take advantage of this new regulation to operate in Nigeria’s financial services space, leveraging their capabilities; technology, infrastructure, distribution network, and subscriber base to drive financial inclusion. 

On the other hand, there is growing concern that the rising interest of Telcos in the financial services sector portends a negative outlook for the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).
In our view, the emergence of Telcos might impact negatively on DMBs transaction fee income. However, given the regulatory limitations of PSBs (restricting their service provisions to lower end customers with high-volume low-value transactions), we expect the impact to be mild. 

Also, we believe this is likely to drive increased partnerships and collaborations between both institutions, to offer more innovative services.

Read More

ICPC To Probe Corruption Allegation Against APC Chairman, Oshiomhole

Chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, may face investigation from the operatives of one of the anti-graft agency the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over allegations that he collected bride during the just concluded Primaries of the party.

This is coming few weeks after the APC leader was grill by

the operatives of the State Security Service over same allegations.

According to the spokesman of ICPC, Rasheedat Okoduwa, the agency will, first of all, verify if there is a petition against the APC chairman and then carry out an assessment of the petition before proceeding to investigate the allegations.

Okoduwa spoke to protesters led by a legal practitioner and civil right activist, Stanley Onukwufor, in Abuja on Wednesday.

“Then, the next step is to investigate the petition and see whether there is anything worthy of investigating in the matter.

“It goes through our normal processes. But let me just sound a note of caution. We receive petitions virtually every hour. So, the petitions is like queuing up and had to be addressed in the sequences they come.
The anti-Oshiomhole protesters at the office of the ICPC carried placards with various inscriptions such as ‘With Oshiomhole APC is nowhere;’ ‘ICPC, probe Oshiomhole now;’ ‘Buhari, remove Oshiomhole;’ ‘Oshiomhole is corrupt;’ and ‘Oshiomhole must go.”

 

Read More

Nigeria Vice President Osinbajo Says Support Fiscal Federalism, State Police

Nigeria Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has restated that he is an advocate of fiscal federalism, stronger state governments and state police.
Osinbajo made this submission while delivering the 40th Anniversary Lecture of the Association of Friends on Monday in Lagos.
He reiterated his stance that good governance was what Nigeria needed rather than geographical restructuring.
“I have been an advocate, both in court and outside, of fiscal federalism and stronger state governments.
“I have argued in favour of state police, for the simple reason that policing is a local function.
“You simply cannot effectively police Nigeria from Abuja; only recently, I made a point that stronger, more autonomous states would effectively eradicate poverty.
“So, I do not believe that geographical restructuring is an answer to Nigeria’s socio-economic circumstances.
“That would only result in greater administrative costs; but there can be no doubt that we need deeper fiscal federalism and good governance.”

Read More

NDIC Says Skye Bank Management Responsible For Lender's Collapse

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has accused the management of failed Skye Bank of being responsible for the collapse of the mid-tier bank.

According to the deposit insurer, it was monitoring investigations of law enforcement agencies into Skye Bank with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to determine the culpability of management in the bank failure.
The CBN had in September revoked Skye Bank’s operating licence and created a “bridge bank” called Polaris Bank to take over the lender’s assets after the regulator shored up its capital in 2016 and sacked its management for undercapitalisation.
Polaris is up for sale by Nigeria’s “bad bank” AMCON which now owns the institution following the bailout.
In October, the government said it will prosecute those responsible for the collapse of Skye Bank in an attempt to set an example that the state will no longer bail out lenders while the culprits go unpunished.
The central bank spent $4 billion on bailing out nine lenders nine years ago to save the banking system from collapse.
“The corporation’s risk assessment and forensic investigation reports revealed that the erstwhile management of the failed Skye Bank contributed to its failure,” the NDIC said in a statement.
Skye’s problems started after it used short-term funds to buy local lender Mainstreet Bank in 2014 but failed to raise fresh cash. It had been in talks with shareholders and investors to raise capital but suspended plans after weak oil prices hit the capital markets and drove foreign investors away.
The central bank had designated Skye as one of Nigeria’s systemically important banks due to the size of total deposits held after it acquired Mainstreet Bank. This meant it had to increase its capital ratio to 16 percent, the industry average.

Read More

Teleology, New Owner of 9Mobile Appoints Board, Takes Over Telecoms Firm

The new owner of Nigeria's telecoms firm, 9Mobile, Teleology has appointed a new board to take over the running of the mobile company, signalling the final take over following approval from the industry regulator.
The new board of directors is headed by 54-year-old Nasiru Ado Bayero, while Stephane Beuvelet will serve as the acting managing director, according to a statement by Mohammed Edewor, a new non-executive director of the new 9Mobile.
Investment holding company Teleology was set up by 12 telecoms industry veterans led by ex-MTN Nigeria executive Adrian Wood.
The appointment of the new board by Teleology has also brought to an end the tenure of the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) appointed board and the transfer of ownership of the firm to the new investors, Teleology Nigeria Limited.
Other members of the board are: Asega Aliga (Non Executive Director), Adrian Wood (Non Executive Director), Mohammed Edewor (Non Executive Director), Winston Ndubueze Udeh (Non Executive Director) and Abdulrahman Ado (Executive Director)
The CBN in collaboration with the Nigerian Telecommunication Commission (NCC), in July 2017 appointed a Board of Directors chaired by Joseph Nnanna, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, to oversee the affairs of the company pending the completion of regulatory due diligence of the bid documents submitted by Teleology and sixteen others for its acquisition.
Teleology was picked as preferred bidder for 9mobile in February, following a bid process arranged by Barclays Africa, after a debt default forced 9mobile’s lenders to step in.
But the sale has taken longer than initially expected with the NCC’s review of Teleology’s financial and technical capacity before signing off the takeover, sources have said.
“The composition of the new board of directors is another significant milestone, and this follows the issuance of final approval ... by NCC,” Teleology said in a statement.
9mobile, formerly called Etisalat Nigeria, was taken over by its lenders last year for failing to keep up with its debt repayments after Etisalat took a loan of $1.2 billion from a consortium of banks in 2013.
Teleology said NCC’s approval marked the end of the acquisition process, adding that its incoming chairman, Nasiru Ado Bayero, would take over from Nnanna, who was appointed after a central bank intervention stopped lenders from placing the telecoms firm into receivership.

9mobile has been losing subscribers. In September, it had 15.36 million users, a 9 percent market share, which was down from 20 million subscribers, or a 14 percent share, earlier in 2017, NCC data showed.

Read More

40m Nigerians Suffering From Mental Disorders

An estimated 40 million Nigerians are believed to be suffering from mental disorder, according to the federal ministry of health.

Abdulaziz Mashi Abdullahi, permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Health attributed the high rate of mental disorder among Nigerians to the inadequate attention paid to mental illness in the country.

Abdullahi, who spoke at a workshop in Abuja noted that there are misconceptions and lack of awareness on the part of many Nigerians about the prevalence of the disorder and the state of their health.

He said more people will be disabled by psychological challenges than complications arising from HIV/AIDS, heart disease, accidents, and wars combined by the year 2020.
He sought the immediate enactment of the Mental Health Act by the National Assembly as part of measures to arrest the situation.

He also wants the government to resuscitate the national mental health action committee for the coordination of stakeholders’ activities on mental health and psychosocial supports in the country. 

“In Nigeria, an estimated 20–30 percent of our populations are believed to suffer from mental disorders. This is a very significant number considering Nigeria has an estimated population of over 200 million. 

“Unfortunately, the attention given to mental health disorders in Nigeria is inadequate. The level of awareness of the Nigerian public on mental health issues is also understandably poor, and with lots of misconceptions. 

According to him, by 2020, it is estimated that common mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse-related disorders, will disable more people than complications arising from HIV/AIDS, heart disease, accidents, and wars combined.

"This is an astonishing statistic and possesses serious questions as to why mental health disorders are not given the needed attention that it currently receives. 

He noted that a policy for mental health services delivery was developed with several key provisions of the policy, including establishing a body at the Federal Ministry of Health to focus on Mental Health issues. 

He said some of the pertinent issues is how to address and dialogue with stakeholders on the burden of mental health, intimate them on the Mental Health policy, identify ways to fast track the enactment of the Mental Health Act and modalities for resuscitating the National mental health action committee for coordinating the activities of various stakeholders on mental health and Psychosocial supports in Nigeria.

Read More

Why EFCC Wants Ex-Petroleum Minister, Diezani Back in Nigeria

Nigeria's anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is seeking the extradition of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke because the United Kingdom authorities have failed to take legal action against her despite being there since 2015.
Ibrahim Magu, acting Chairman of the anti-graft commission said the commission was equipped to successfully prosecute the former minister who has been accused of mismanaging oil funds to the tune of $20 billion.
When asked if her extradition to Nigeria would not affect her pending case in the UK, Magu said, “There is no court trial. She was being investigated even before I assumed office. So, it has taken so long and it is very unreasonable that she is not being tried there.
“So, we are tired of waiting and that was why I said if you cannot prosecute her, bring her and we will prosecute her. There is no prosecution going on in the UK.
“We are involved in the investigation in this country and outside the country including America and London. I have been there. We have worked and sat together. We cannot wait endlessly. I think three years and above is sufficient for you to take her to court. There is no court process against her in the UK. Nobody is prosecuting her there.”

Read More

Set-Back For President Trump As Democrats Take Back Control Of U.S. House

Donald Trump, who spent the past two years wielding the powers of the presidency unbound by party or political convention, is now constrained.
The Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives cripples his conservative agenda and opens the way for unfettered investigations into his scandal-plagued administration, his presidential campaign and his family’s business empire.
His personal tax returns may fall into the hands of his opponents. His re-election -- always far from certain -- may be even more dependent on the economy remaining at full steam.
Democrats picked up at least 26 GOP-held seats to gain control of the House. In the Senate, Republicans preserved their majority. Contests were still too close to call for Senate races in Florida, Montana, Arizona and Nevada.
The president now faces a fundamental choice. He can reach for bipartisan deals in areas such as infrastructure and health care or stick to a well-worn strategy of stoking passions on immigration and other divisive issues to maintain enthusiasm with his supporters.
“The president’s agenda isn’t going to change, regardless of whose party is there,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Tuesday evening as results came in. “We’re still going to be an administration that’s focused on lowering taxes, growing our economy, creating jobs, defeating ISIS, remaking the judiciary, fixing the tremendous opioid crisis that we have. I think we can work with Democrats on that.”
Ambitions Dashed
But Trump’s ambitions to repeal Obamacare, dramatically restrict immigration, and push forward with additional tax cuts are dashed for the next two years with Representative Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, poised to retake the Speaker’s gavel.
“The most likely outcome will be the Trump legislative agenda coming to a screeching halt,” said Doug Heye, a former spokesman for the House leadership and the Republican National Committee. “Look back at the Obama presidency. Election night 2010, the Obama legislative agenda ended.”
Trump’s cabinet, close aides and other senior administration officials face a gauntlet of subpoenas and public hearings in which hostile Democratic lawmakers will be able to rake through embarrassing ethical and political controversies. That, in turn, provides fodder for the field of Democratic challengers who will spend the next two years making the case against Trump’s re-election.
Should Trump decide to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller or pull the plug on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, House Democrats may not be able to stop him. But with control of the legislative chamber, they should be able to surface his findings or even pick up where he leaves off with their own investigation.
Yet a Republican majority in the Senate ensures that Trump can continue to reshape the U.S. judiciary, a top priority for many conservatives.
Senate Control
GOP control of the Senate also gives Trump more leeway to win confirmation of his political appointments and limits Democrats’ ability to constrain his foreign policy. He’ll retain significant leverage in the budget fights expected to erupt in coming weeks as the White House demands more money for his priorities, topped by a wall on the southern U.S. border, and cuts in spending elsewhere in the government.
Still, the president and congressional Republicans must grapple with a remarkable political comeback by Democrats just two years after the GOP swept federal elections.
Few expect Trump to reinvent himself or abandon his confrontational approach. But he has room to make deals.
“I don’t think he’s going to be chastened,” said Jim Manley, a former aide to Harry Reid, the last Democratic Senate Majority leader. “The real question mark here is whether the president is going to want to cut deals or not. What, if anything, do the president and his team want to do over the next two years?”
Infrastructure Week
Trump -- a builder at heart -- has often said he’s eager to strike a deal on infrastructure development, and he may even be willing to buck Republican congressional leadership to do it. During a White House bill-signing ceremony last month, the president told Democratic lawmakers he had “a feeling” they’re “going to be doing a lot of infrastructures together.”
Other potential areas of compromise include reducing prescription drug prices, an overhaul of federal prison sentencing rules and improved workforce training -- issues championed by the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Pelosi has experience working with Trump. The Democratic leader provided key votes on budget bills during his first two years, earning concessions by preserving Democratic unity as the Republican majority fractured.
Trump also agreed to an immigration deal with Democratic leaders in 2017 before reneging in the face of pushback from hard-liners in the White House and Senate.
But that experience left many Democrats skeptical that Trump is reliable, particularly if compromise requires crossing his base supporters.
“Based on what I’ve seen over the past two years, I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Manley said.
Eyes on 2020
Both sides will enter the 116th Congress with an eye locked on the 2020 presidential contest. That means Democrats are likely to spend significant time on legislation intended primarily to show their contrasts with the president on issues including immigration, climate change and taxes, Heye said.
Trump will also feel the sting of congressional investigations.
“You will see us use every arrow in our quiver to find the truth about what’s happening in public policy, what they’re doing to the environment,” Pelosi said earlier this year in an interview with NPR.
Democrats have a long list of subjects already targeted for investigation. Possible inquiries include not only the broad effort to tie the Trump campaign to Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 election, but the use of private planes by administration officials, the use of private email by White House aides, security clearance processes, and regulatory changes.
“They’ve been working quietly and not so quietly on their oversight plans,” said Nadeam Elshami, a former aide to Pelosi. “So it’s not like they’re going to wake up Wednesday morning and take a couple months to come up with a plan.”

Read More

Africa's Richest Man, Dangote Sees Cement Firm London Listing in Sept 2019

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said he is waiting for Nigeria's forthcoming election in February 2019 and for a sell-off in emerging markets to pass before kick-starting an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of his cement company and subsequent listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Dangote said in an interview with Bloomberg that he expects the much-looking-forward to IPO of Dangote Cement Plc in London around September next year after the dust around the coming election would have settled.

He said works on his Petrol-chemical firm, based in Lagos is on track and fuel production projected to start by 2020.

He didn’t give details on how much he wants to raise or what percentage of the company he will sell.
About 15 percent of its stock is already listed in Lagos, where it has a market value of 3.5 trillion naira ($9.6 billion).
Dangote Cement is in talks about a potential acquisition of a company with operations in Kenya and Tanzania, he said in a separate interview with Bloomberg TV without saying the name of the firm.
Up and Running
The oil refinery, designed to process 650,000 barrels a day of crude, should start producing fuel in the first quarter of 2020 and be at full capacity within six months of that, he said.
“We’ll ramp up very quickly,” he said. “There are so many challenges but we are going very fast.”
Dangote is worth $11.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. As well as the refinery and cement, he’s investing billions of dollars in rice, sugar and dairy products and aims to buy oil and gas blocs in Nigeria’s Niger River delta.

Read More

Nigerians In Diaspora Remittance Among Global Top Five

Nigerians in diaspora sent more money home last year than any other Africans did and are among the top five globally, according to the latest report from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

 

Although, the CBN did not provide details of how much was remitted to the country by Nigerians living abroad, but the bank put the total remittance to the continent by Africans in diaspora at $72 billion.
Godwin Emefiele, governor of the CBN who disclosed this through a director of the bank, Mohammed Tumala said Nigeria tops other African countries in remittances inflows and is among the top five globally.

He said that remittances inflows contribute substantially to foreign exchange earnings and household finances in most developing countries.
“Money sent home by migrant workers is among the major financial inflows to developing countries and in some cases, it exceeds international aids and grants.
“According to the World Bank, global remittances have risen gradually over the years to about $613 billion in 2017, of which $72 billion was received by African countries.”
Emefiele said that in recent years, Nigeria has taken measures aimed at attracting remittances inflow to the country and contribute to its economic development.
The measures include the floating of a 300 million dollar diaspora bond by the government and the introduction of electronic Certificate of Capital Importation to Nigerians in diaspora.
He added that Nigeria becoming a member of the International Association of Money Transfer Networks was also one of the measures taken.
He, however, said that compilers of remittances statistics in the country use both banking records and staff estimates of informal inflows, a methodology that had its own challenges.
“We think that a large chunk of migrants’ remittances pass through informal channels and are thus, unrecorded.
“Nigeria is yet to conduct a household based remittances survey to provide scientific estimates of these informal inflows.
“In addition, data from banking records also come with some discrepancies due to classification challenges on the part of reporting institutions.”
The CBN governor said that this informed the decision to request for technical assistance to help in data collection on the inflows.
He added that the workshop would ultimately support improvements in Nigeria’s remittances transactions and enhance the quality of data on remittances as currently reported in the country’s balance of payments.
Tumala, who was represented by Mr Emmanuel Olowofeso, said that with support from the AIR, National Bureau of Statistics and the National Population Commission, structures necessary for the conduct of a remittances household survey being planned for early 2019 was being finalised.

Read More

Bill Gates Unveils New Tech Toilet, To Save 1/2 Mln Lives

C0-founder of Mircosoft Inc., Bill Gates has unveiled a probable future toilet that doesn’t need water or sewers and uses chemicals to turn human waste into fertiliser.
The billionaire philanthropist, whose Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation spent $200 million over seven years funding sanitation research, in Beijing showcased some 20 novel toilet and sludge-processing designs that eliminate harmful pathogens and convert bodily waste into clean water and fertilizer.
Gate thinks toilets are a serious business, and he’s betting big that a reinvention of this most essential of conveniences can save a half million lives and deliver $200 billion-plus in savings.
“The technologies you’ll see here are the most significant advances in sanitation in nearly 200 years,” Gates, 63, told the Reinvented Toilet Expo in Beijing on Tuesday.
Holding a beaker of human excreta that, Gates said, contained as many as 200 trillion rotavirus cells, 20 billion Shigella bacteria, and 100,000 parasitic worm eggs, the Microsoft Corp. co-founder explained to a 400-strong crowd that new approaches for sterilizing human waste may help end almost 500,000 infant deaths and save $233 billion annually in costs linked to diarrhoea, cholera and other diseases caused by poor water, sanitation and hygiene.
One approach from the California Institute of Technology that Gates said he finds “super interesting” integrates an electrochemical reactor to break down water and human waste into fertilizer and hydrogen, which can be stored in hydrogen fuel cells as energy.
‘Substantial Market’
Without cost-effective alternatives to sewers and waste-treatment facilities, urbanization and population growth will add to the burden. In some cities, more than half the volume of human waste escapes into the environment untreated. Every dollar invested in sanitation yields about $5.50 in global economic returns, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Human waste that is properly handled can be a very economically attractive investment due to the health benefits,” said Guy Hutton, a senior adviser for water, sanitation and hygiene with Unicef in New York, in an interview. “Given the unmet need of 2.3 billion people still without basic sanitation, there is a potentially very substantial market and economic gain to be had.”Gates, who with wife Melinda has given more than $35.8 billion to the foundation since 1994, said he became interested in sanitation about a decade ago after he stopped working full time at Microsoft.
“I never imagined that I’d know so much about poop,” Gates said in remarks prepared for the Beijing event. “And I definitely never thought that Melinda would have to tell me to stop talking about toilets and faecal sludge at the dinner table.”
The initial demand for the reinvented toilet will be in places like schools, apartment buildings, and community bathroom facilities. As adoption of these multi-unit toilets increases and costs decline, a new category of reinvented household toilets will become available, the Gates Foundation said.
Small-scale waste treatment plants, called Omni-processors, may be suited for uses beyond human waste management -- such as for managing effluent from intensive livestock production -- because of its low marginal running costs relative to the value of the fertilizer and clean water it produces, he said.

Read More

Finally President Buhari To Announce New Minimum Wage, Labour Calls Off Strike

Nigerian trade unions and the government agreed to a new minimum wage proposal early Tuesday, in an attempt to avert a planned nationwide strike following threats to shut down Africa’s biggest economy, a union official said.
Unions, which have been discussing with the government a new minimum wage proposal, had planned to commence a strike on Tuesday.
Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) General Secretary Peter Ozo-Eson said a committee set up with the government was recommending 30,000 naira as the new monthly minimum wage, after a series of meetings, up from the current minimum of 18,000 naira.
He said the proposal, which was negotiated by senior government officials including Labour Minister Chris Ngige, would be recommended to President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.
“Following ... the signing of the final report recommending 30,000 naira as the recommended new national minimum wage ... the strike called to commence tomorrow has been suspended,” Ozo-Eson said.
“We all need to stand ready in a state of full mobilization in case future action becomes necessary to push for the timely enactment and implementation of the new minimum wage.”
Nigeria’s main unions launched a strike in September after the wage talks broke down. Unions initially wanted the monthly minimum wage raised to about 50,000 naira ($164). But the government, which is facing dwindling revenues due to lower oil prices, declined the proposal.
Unions later suspended strikes on their fourth day, saying the government had agreed to hold talks to discuss raising the minimum wage.
Buhari had vowed to review the wage due to a fuel price hike and currency devaluation in the last two years aimed at countering the effects of a global oil price plunge that hit the country hard. Nigeria is Africa’s biggest crude producer.
Buhari plans to stand for a second term at an election next February and his economic record will come under scrutiny, given previous pledges to raise living standards, tackle corruption and improve security.

Read More

How Buhari’s Govt Illegally Diverted $1.05 Bln NLNG dividend To Fund Subsidy

The Government of President Muhammadu Buhari has been alleged to have illegally diverted $1.05 billion (N378 billion at N360 to a dollar) sourced from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) dividend funds to secretly fund subsidy payment on petroleum products, a PREMIUM TIMES report on Monday has shown.
The diversion details are coming amidst revelations from accusations the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has a $3.5 billion subsidy fund it is spending without appropriation by the National Assembly.
In October, a motion by Biodun Olujimi, (Ekiti-PDP) had triggered debates in the National Assembly on the purported $3.5 billion fund alleged to be managed by the state oil company.
But the NNPC said it had no such fund in its custody. Rather, it said it has a $1.05 billion fund it is using to stabilise petrol supply and distribution in the country.
While the NNPC, through its spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, initially claimed the corporation sourced the fund from an ‘international agency’, Maikanti Baru, NNPC group managing director, admitted last week that the money was sourced from the NLNG dividend fund.
Documents in the possession of this newspaper have now shown that the fund was sourced at the height of the fuel scarcity crisis between last December and January and was secretly diverted into payments on petrol supply and distribution.
The funds came from dividends paid to the federal government by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company, a firm in which the government owns 49 percent equity.
The Nigerian government is represented in the NLNG shareholding arrangement by the NNPC with 49 percent stake. Other shareholders are Shell (25.6 percent), Total (15 percent) and Eni (10.4 percent).
ividends from the gas firm are meant to be shared by the federal, state and local governments of Nigeria. The funds are supposed to be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation rather than spent unilaterally by any tier of government.
The online portal said it has confirmed that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government unilaterally — without required consultation with states and the national assembly– tampered with the NLNG funds. That was also done without the mandatory appropriation by the National Assembly.
Lawmakers say by his action, President Buhari has violated the nation’s appropriation law, and has therefore committed impeachable offences.
The administration has for years paid huge amounts as fuel subsidy (despite increasing the pump price of fuel), while denying making such payments. Federal lawmakers said the payments were surreptitiously and illegally done and have demanded investigation.
The lawmakers say spending on fuel subsidy or related spending without the approval of the National Assembly is extra budgetary and illegal.
Besides, the lawmakers said they were worried about the transparency of the arrangement, as only the group managing director of The NNPC, Maikanti Baru, and the corporation’s chief financial officer in charge of Finance & Accounts, Isiaka Abdulrazaq, were managing the secret funds without appropriation.
But the NNPC said through Mr Ughamadu that what was in existence was a $1.05 billion “revolving fund”, which was adopted by the NNPC as a strategy to comply with the directive by the National Assembly to find all ways possible to resolve the fuel supply crisis in the country late last year.
He claimed the fund, dubbed the National Fuel Support Fund, is jointly managed by the NNPC, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Department of Petroleum Resources and the Petroleum Equalization Fund.
On the source of funds, Mr Ughamadu claimed the agencies jointly sourced the money from an unnamed “international agency”.
But contrary to his claims, documents seen by this newspaper confirmed Mr Baru’s position that the source of the fund was the NLNG dividend account controlled by the corporation.
In a memo dated January 19, addressed to Mr Buhari, the NNPC GMD, Mr Baru, raised concerns over the depletion in the nation’s strategic fuel reserve.
This, he said, was occasioned by massive diversion and hoarding which manifested in the fuel crisis of last year.
To arrest the situation, he said there was need to access the NLNG dividend fund to purchase the required petrol volume to flush supply and boost strategic reserve.
Baru also complained about the daily consumption of petrol, put at 35 million litres per day at the time, which was becoming problematic for the NNPC to manage after oil marketing companies stopped importing the products.
He told the president petrol consumption had exponentially gone up to 47 million litres per day — even though the actual national consumption was estimated at 35 million litres.
“At the current depletion rate, there is the possibility that the available PMS stock that hovers between 18 to 15 days sufficiency will be depleted by the second week of February 2018 to dangerously low levels if no flush funds are secured,” the memo read. “This may adversely impact the current situation and could lead to social unrest.”

Read More

Nigeria's main Opposition PDP Says Buhari WASC Is A Political Certificate

Nigeria's main opposition the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the presentation of attestation certificate and confirmation of school certificate result to President Muhammadu Buhari as a tragicomedy.
Buhari had on Friday received his West Africa Examination Council certificate from Dr Iyi Uwadiae, the Registrar of West African Examination Council (WAEC).
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbodiyan, told journalists in Abuja that, the PDP did not expect the president to, “come this low.”
He said, “it is a tragicomedy. We never expected Mr. President to dramatically come this low because you cannot have a certificate and be calling it an attestation. What are they attesting to? We stand by our position that President has no school certificate.
“It is simply a political certificate. We have said that the Buhari presidency and his handlers are always fretting at the mention of a certificate. So, they want to mislead Nigerians to say that Mr. President has a school certificate.
“If Mr. President has a certificate, why did he not use it in 2015 election? Why is the certificate suddenly emerging few months to the election? And have you checked the photograph that was attached to the certificate? In 1961, was it the requirement of WAEC to have a passport attached to school certificate?
“Even in our own generation, was a condition in WAEC that you must submit your passport to be attached to your certificate? They should come off it. It’s too low.
“You remember they procured Martin Luther Award presented to our president which later was discovered to be fake? This is a similar award, a procured. We are waiting for the story of its declaration as another procured document.”

Read More

Global Banking Giants HSBC, UBS Close Down Nigeria Offices

HSBC and UBS have closed their representative offices in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said in a report on Friday without giving reasons for the closures.
The central bank said foreign direct investment in Nigeria slowed to 379.84 billion naira in the first half of the year from 532.63 billion naira a year earlier.
It said the outlook for the Nigerian economy in the second half was “optimistic” given higher oil prices and production but that rising foreign debt and uncertainty surrounding the 2019 presidential election was a drawback.
Investor confidence in the West African country has been shaken since the CBN in August ordered MTN to bring back $8.1 billion to the country, part of profits which the South African telecoms firm sent abroad.
An HSBC research note dated July 18 said a second Buhari term “raises the risk of limited economic progress and further fiscal deterioration, prolonging the stagnation of his first term, particularly if there is no move towards completing the reform of the exchange rate system or fiscal adjustments that diversify government revenues away from oil.”

Read More

Nigeria's NNPC signs crude-for-product swap deal with BP

Nigeria’s state oil firm NNPC said it had signed a crude-for-product swap deal with oil major BP.
In its brief statement on Twitter late on Wednesday, NNPC said more details would be provided later. BP and NNPC did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
NNPC imports about 70 percent of Nigeria’s fuel needs, mainly gasoline, via swap contracts. NNPC has contracts, known as Direct Sale Direct Purchase, with 10 consortiums that include trading houses Vitol, Trafigura, Mercuria and oil major Total.
NNPC extended the existing contracts to June 2019 but several trading sources in the consortiums said they had requested new price terms.

Read More