Aso Villa Reads for 25/09/2018
Every day, we bring you the best stories the media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
According to Daily Trust, “the Federal government has reiterated its resolve to punish any Ministry, Department or Agency of government that is found disregarding the Executive Order Number Five which prioritises the patronage of Made in Nigeria goods. The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu disclosed this while speaking in Lagos at the launch of Polyurethane Laboratory donated to University of Lagos by Vitafoam Nigeria Plc yesterday. Onu explained that the bane of Nigeria’s economy is over-dependent on importation of goods which weakens currency, creates unemployment and consistently reduce the Gross Domestic Products (GDP). He lamented that Nigeria had over the years relied on income from commodity products, the prices of which are externally determined. He said: “This administration wants to make sure that we respect our laws and regulations and there should be sanction for non-compliance. You can only punish some bodies who have committed offences so as I stand before you, if you know somebody that have committed an offence, you will tell me.”
“Nigeria is set to be one of the early adopters of the world’s first 7nm process mobile phone system on a chip (SoC), as Huawei Technologies has taken the lead in terms of cutting edge technology with its Kirin 980- powered Mate-series devices, scheduled to arrive in Nigeria by early 2019.” Business Day (Monday 24 September 2018, page A3) reports that “the device is the world’s first dual NPU design, and the world’s first chipset to support LTE Cat 21.”
The ICPC website reports that “the Commission has recovered N7.5 million unused grant from 11 lecturers of the Kaduna Polytechnic. The said money was part of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) grant released to the school between 2010 and 2017 for staff capacity development through local and international trainings. ICPC, through its North West Zonal office which coordinated the investigation on the utilization of TETFUND grants in the institution, found that the 11 lecturers failed to attend the trainings despite having received monies.” According to the report, “the trainings were scheduled to hold in Nigeria and three other countries, including the United States of America, Greece, and United Arab Emirates. Some of the lecturers collected as much as N1.39 million while others collected between N149, 000 and N1, 337,000 under the Academic Staff Training and Development Project. The Acting Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Musa Usman Abubakar who handed over the recovered funds to the Bursar of the institution, Mr. Garba Nabayi, said that ICPC would ensure tertiary institutions in the country stop the misuse of TETFUND and other grants”.
Business Day (Tuesday 25 September 2018, page 26) reports that “as Nigerian companies are making efforts to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the current drive of the Nigerian Content and Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the agency has reiterated its commitment to ensure that local content in the oil and gas industry is increased considerably in the industry.” The paper said that the Board revealed that “it would only retain operational vessels, especially those used for logistics that are 100 percent wholly owned by indigenous companies on its platform. This step has become necessary especially now that the board is doing what is called vessel re-identification exercise.”
Daily Trust reports that “one year after the first tranche of N100 billion Islamic bond, Sukuk, was issued by the Federal Government, a second tranche of another N100bn is in the works and would be advertised in October this year. The infrastructure bond, which was used to finance 25 federal roads across the country, was issued in September last year by the Debt Management Office (DMO). Ummahani Ahmad Amin, the MD/CEO, MetropolitanSkills Ltd, said the second tranche is expected in October 2018”. The report explained that “MetropolitanSkills Ltd is the facilitator of the training and also a consultant on Sukuk bonds issuance in Nigeria. Ahmad Amin noted that the first Sukuk was extremely successful, which was why the FG is having the second one. “The Debt management Office (DMO), which is the originator has been very excited about it because all that is required has been done. “All the contractors have been paid. This has never happened in the history of Nigeria for infrastructure. We are doing the second tranche now because the first tranche was successful and oversubscribed,” the MD/CEO noted. She said N100bn was involved in the first tranche and the second tranche will be the same amount adding that just like the first tranche, the second tranche will also be dedicated to roads”.
“The Federal Government has expressed commitment to the industrial policy in a bid to improve local production and enhance competitiveness. Besides, it added that it has attracted over N3.7tn through the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), from its 51 projects through Public-Private Partnerships. Speaking at the Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN) public lecture in Lagos, at the weekend, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, said that government leveraged comparative to make Nigeria competitive for local production and thereby increasing the contribution of manufacturing to GDP. The minister said: “We have stepped up and are aggressively implementing the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) by the establishment of the Nigeria Industrial Policy & Competitiveness Advisory Council (Industrial Council) that comprised of the Government and Private Sector representatives at the highest level”. Guardian reported that Minister Enelamah reiterated: “we are implementing sectoral policies for areas in which we have comparative advantage — primarily in Agriculture and Petrochemicals. Examples include the National Sugar Master Plan; and the new Tomato Policy approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC). Initial results include increased local production of sugar, particularly in Niger and Adamawa States by Golden Sugar and Savannah Sugar. Although some of these areas have been affected by flood, Government is working hard to bring relief to the people and communities.
“Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) says it has commenced a 10-year development plan aimed at retaining 70 percent of the annual $20 billion investment in the oil and gas industry and creating 300,000 jobs. NCDMB director of finance and personnel management, Isaac Yalah, who stated this at a capacity building workshop for energy and business correspondents in Yenagoa, last week, said when the board commenced operations, local content was 5 percent.” Business Day reports that “Yalah said the development plan was borne out of the need to increase local participation in the oil and gas industry, boosting indigenous businesses as well as improving the national economy. The workshop focused mainly on the Nigerian Content Investment Fund (NCIF) expected to increase access to the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF), provide single digit interest loan and enhance competitiveness of indigenous companies in the oil and gas industry. Yalah explained that a critical aspect of the 10-year development plan was the $200 million NCIF, being managed by the Bank of Industry (BoI) to meet the funding needs of indigenous manufacturers, service providers and other key players in the oil and gas industry.”
“The Federal Government has commissioned a solar-powered water plant and a town hall at Ishibori and Abakpa communities in Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River State. The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA), Usani Uguru Usani, who commissioned the projects recently said the ministry was handling many other projects in the area to provide succour to the people.” Daily Trust reports that the Minister “said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to rendering services to the society. Usani charged the benefiting communities and the entire people of the Niger Delta region to remain law abiding, and make effective use of government’s projects in their localities and also ensure the security of the facilities for government to do more.”
Premium Times reported that “the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) says it has so far recovered about N12.7 billion tax revenues from billionaire tax evaders since it launched its accounts substitution policy over a month ago. Early this month, Chairman of the service, Tunde Fowler, said about 6772 accounts with balances of between N1 and N5 billion were identified without their owners having taxpayer identification numbers (TINs) and do not file any tax returns. Mr Fowler promised the FIRS would leverage on the customer data from the 23 deposit money banks to pursue defaulters and recover the tax revenues. Under the arrangement, the FIRS chairman said banks were appointed as tax collection agents to realise the account substitution policy”.
