Aso Villa Reads for 25/03/2019
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
Business Day (Monday 25 March, 2019, page 6) reports that “Nigeria will expect increased Transfer Pricing (TP) compliance going forward as 72 per cent of respondents in Andersen Tax survey believe the revised TP regulations will enhance their ease of compliance.” The paper analysed that “Nigeria first introduced TP regulations in 2012 but was repealed in 2018. Transfer pricing, according to Seyi Bickerstheth, chairman, Andersen Tax Africa, is the utilisation of pricing policies between head offices and subsidiaries of multinational companies to achieve defined commercial tax objective, and usually the tax objectives are the minimisation of tax liabilities. In its maiden edition of the review of Transfer Pricing Development in Africa, Andersen Tax, Nigeria, described TP as a major tax consideration for Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) across the world.”
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said the power sector achieved a new record after it wheeled grid energy peak of 110,724.93 megawatts hour (MWH) to the 11 Distribution Companies (DisCos) last Wednesday. In a statement by the Public Affairs Manager, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN said it was an improvement on the previous maximum daily grid energy peak of 109,372.01MWH attained on February 2, 2016.” Daily Trust reports that “the new figure is 1,352.92MWH higher than the previous daily grid energy peak attained over three years ago. TCN also recalled on February 7, 2019, the national grid reached 5,375 megawatts (MW) of generated power. It explained that the maximum daily grid energy was the quantum of energy that is wheeled from generators to distribution load centres nationwide daily and is measured in Mega Watts Hour (MWH) while the peak grid generation is a singular high point measured in Megawatts (MW). TCN said the new maximum daily energy and the peak generation (power) show that TCN now has enhanced capacity and capability to wheel and transmit more power, provided the DisCos are ready to serve the load to electricity consumers. “It is also evidence that the ongoing Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Program (TREP) being executed by TCN is paying off,” it added.”
According to Guardian “President Muhamamdu Buhari on Monday received the report of the Technical Advisory Committee on the implementation of the new National Minimum Wage at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. President Buhari had on Jan. 9 inaugurated the advisory committee chaired by an economist and financial expert, Mr Bismarck Rewane, where he reiterated his commitment to an upward review of the minimum wage. The president had on Dec. 19, 2018 while presenting the 2019 Appropriation Bill at the joint session of the National Assembly announced his intention to constitute the committee. He said the committee would recommend “modalities for the implementation of the new minimum wage in such a manner as to minimise its inflationary impact as well as ensure that its introduction does not lead to job losses’’. NAN reports already the two chambers of the National Assembly had deliberated and approved the bill on N30,000 as new national minimum wage.”
This Day reports that “the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it has concluded the process leading to the disbursement of subsidies to the six licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos). This was part of the digital transformation agenda, which the NCC has put in place for actualisation. The subsidy would augment the InfraCos’ capital expenditure (CAPEX). Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, made the disclosure at the weekend when he received a delegation from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) in Abuja. The USTDA team led by its Acting Country Director, Mr. Thomas Hardy, was received at the instance of the NCC Board members and senior management of the Commission, where Chairman, NCC Board, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, called on USTDA to work with the Commission towards addressing deployment challenges being faced by some InfraCo licensees in the south-south geo-political zone due to the riverine, swampy nature of the region.” According to the report, “while providing updates on the Commission’s broadband infrastructure development project, especially the licensing of InfraCos each in the six geo-political zones and Lagos, which was carved as the seventh zone, Danbatta said InfraCo scheme has a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement with a subsidy component that was being worked out for the licensees to fast-track deployment in their respective zones.
“The successes of the Trader Moni, the micro credit interventions by the Federal Government has not gone unnoticed by the international community and at the 63rd UN Commission on the Status of Women, the Executive Director of the Micro Enterprise Division of the Bank of Industry, Mrs Toyin Adeniji delivered a presentation which showed how GEEP is being deployed using technology and how beneficial it has been for empowering women who make up about 53% of beneficiaries across the various GEEP products.” According to Business Day (Monday 25 March, 2019, page 33), at the event, Mrs Adeniji explained “how GEEP is using technology to scale” and “GEEP does not use paper- forms. Beneficiaries are registered via mobile forms on tablets and mobile devices. This enables real- time data quality check and verification and ensures that there are no errors in input and consequently, in interpretation.” Mrs Adeniji revealed that the “complete elimination of paper- based registration has enabled the program scaled fast; registering over 7m micro enterprises in less than 2 years.”
“The Federal Government has kick-started the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refineries. Speaking yesterday at the inauguration ceremony in Port Harcourt, Dr Maikanti Baru, Group Managing Director of NNPC, said the move was part of government’s effort to achieve 90 per cent local refining capacity”. Daily Trust reports that “the first refinery in Port Harcourt was commissioned in 1965 to process 60,000 barrels of oil per stream day (bpsd), and the new plant in 1989, with capacity of 150,000 bpsd. The refineries have a combined capacity of 210,000 barrels per stream day, making it the “biggest oil refining company in Nigeria”. Baru said the rehabilitation would be in two phases, adding that both ENI and the original builders would participate in the process. “We appreciate the commitment of the managers of the Port Harcourt Refineries because you know how much importance NNPC attaches to the revamping of the refineries to make impact and boost local refining. NNPC is committed to seeing they come back on stream,” he said. He said that refineries had not undergone any Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) since 2000. “This project is in phases. This refinery has not done TAM since 2000, so, in this particular phase, we are essentially going to open up every equipment and also review every flow system that is here. We also look at all the flushes, the transmissions; essentially, this is on thorough inspection and where infringement is minimal, it will be fixed and we close back the system,” he said.
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) refineries rehabilitation programme is to commence with the 210,000 barrels per day capacity Port Harcourt Refinery complex. This is coming after several proposals by the corporation to boost the refining capacities of the four local refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna and cut down on the country’s fuel imports failed to materialise.” According to Premium Times “in 2017, the NNPC inaugurated eight committees mandated to return the four refineries to their nameplate capacities by 2019. NNPC’s spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu said the action was sequel to a presidential directive to develop ways to increase local fuel production and cut down on imports. Last year, another plan that was to involve the rehabilitation of the refineries by their original builders also failed. The NNPC Group Managing Director, Maikanti Baru, said discussions were held with Kellog, Brown & Root to work with the Nigerian Engineering and Technical Company (NETCO) to conduct a detailed scoping on the refineries in Port Harcourt and Warri Refinery to determine what needed to be done in each. Mr Baru said on completion of the technical assessment and costing, the NNPC would approach the original designers and builders of the refineries to supervise the reconstruction work.”
“Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning, on said improving healthcare is a priority for the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari, as can be seen in the prioritization of health related expenditures in all the national budgets.” Udoma said that “inspite of the very tight revenue constraints and the demands of other competing sectors, the health sector has continued to receive increased allocations. He explanined that even with a reduction of 3.2% of the aggregate Federal Government expenditure, from N9.120 trillion in the 2018 Budget to N8.3 trillion in the 2019 budget proposal, an increase of 8% was proposed in the 2019 Budget over the amounts allocated for health in the 2018 budget.” Business Day (Monday 25 March, 2019, page 51) reported this.
