Aso Villa Reads for 26/03/2019
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
According to Daily Trust “the Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu, says over N1.3 trillion was stolen by 32 entities between 2011 and 2015. Goodluck Jonathan was the president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. Magu disclosed this at an event held in Lagos, on Monday, according to a statement by the commission’s Acting Head, Media and Publicity, Mr Tony Orilade. The event was the “2019 First Batch Conversion Training Programme to Procurement Cadre for Federal Parastatals and Agencies. It was organised by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).”
Business Day (Tuesday 26 March 2019, page 1) reports that “President Muhammadu Buhari is seeking the collaboration of the leadership of the National Assembly to pass a law amending regulations concerning the deep offshore and inland basin production sharing contracts with oil companies before the end of the current legislative term in May this year. He has accordingly directed the secretary to the government of the federation to as, a matter of priority, “liaise with the leadership of the National Assembly to pass the amendment to the deep offshore and inland basin production- sharing contract before this legislative year expires in May 2019.” According to Business Day, “this could be an uphill task as National Assembly workers who spoke to Business Day said preparation for the 2019 budget is the priority of the 8th Assembly before it winds down.”
“The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme Command, said it generated about N1.4 billion from trade across the border in the last two months. The Controller, Seme Command, Mohammed Uba, who disclosed this during the parade of some seized items in Seme, noted that the Command has intensified operations of the enforcement unit, and has drastically reduced smuggling activities to the barest minimum.He listed some of the seized items to include: 23 vehicles, 4,745 bags 50kg foreign rice, 27 jerry cans (25 litres) of vegetable oil, 34 bags of sugar, 261 jerry can (25 litres) of petrol, 80 cartons of poultry products, and 95 new textile materials. Others are: 24 cartons of Maggi, 20 pieces of household effects, 19 boxes of frozen seafood, 68 parcels of Tramadol, 220×6 yards of Ankara textiles, 180 sacks of scrap metals, a Scania 280 truck carrying two Polaris terrain trucks, and others household items.” According to Guardian “Uba said the Command is determined to strengthen its anti-smuggling operations against trans-border crimes, and equally improve revenue, leading to the blockage of illegal routes leading to the Atlas Park (across the border), adding that the standardisation of transit protocol in line with the international best practice has boosted freight forwarding activities. He assured that the Command is working tirelessly to guarantee a smoother experience by clearing the congestion within the shortest possible time. Uba appreciated the European Union/ Economic Community of West African States (EU/ECOWAS Commission) for the continued support in management of the joint border post.”
“The Federal Government has given a total grant of N20 million to four national academies for publication of professional journals to boost Research and Development (R&D). The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, who gave the money yesterday in Abuja, said the grant would go a long way in boosting Nigeria’s economic development. Dr Onu said the N5 million each to the four academies: Nigerian Academy of Sciences (NAS), Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE), Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) and Nigerian Academy of Social Science (NASS), would also help the country’s educational development. The minister said the grant would also assist the academies to produce journals that would fast track information dissemination of research findings toward national development.” Daily Trust reported this.
“Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, has restated the Federal Government’s commitment towards ridding the Nigerian territorial waters of criminality through the Integrated Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, also known as the Deep Blue Project”. According to Business Day (Tuesday 26 March 2019, page 31), Amaechi said that “Nigeria’s 853km long coastline and her location in the Gulf of Guinea made it strategic for both maritime activities and inherent security issues such as piracy, oil theft, sea robbery, and other crimes.” The Ministry revealed that the “project is a conscious effort towards addressing illegality on our territorial waters and, indeed, the Gulf of Guinea.”
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Tuesday resolved to reduce the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), otherwise known as interest rate, by 50 basis points to 13.5 per cent from 14 per cent. The MPR is the rate at which the CBN lends to commercial banks and often determines the cost of borrowing in the economy. CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, announced this at the end of the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja. The committee, however, retained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 22.5 per cent and Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.” This is according to This Day.
“The Security Exchange Commission (SEC), on Friday enjoined investors in the capital market to regularise their shareholding accounts before the December 31 deadline. Mary Uduk, the Ag. Director General of the Commission, gave the advice at the 1st Quarter Post Capital Market Committee (CMC) media briefing in Lagos. She said the committee had made progress in resolving issues relating to share regularisation and multiple accounts, saying this was facilitated through engagement with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). On the issue of implementation of complaint management framework, Mrs Uduk said the Commission had completed work on the framework and waiting for the shareholders to review it and send back to the Commission. “Engagement between the Commission and CBN on margin lending has since started. However, deliberations are still ongoing on the inclusion of bank shares in the margin list. The market-wide committee on identity management and account validation for transactions in the capital market is enjoined to fast track its activities. In furtherance of this initiative, the Commission is to engage the CBN to facilitate the validation process through the Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS). The focus is to ensure that every investor duly regularises the share account because while E-dividend system is growing and reduces the rate of unclaimed dividend, the issue of multiple accounts is a challenge,” Mrs Uduk said.” Premium Times reported that “she said for the regularisation, some investors in the Diaspora had been able to consolidate their investments and urged the local investors to do same.”
“President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday assured the nation that his administration would take quick steps to act on the report on the report on the New National Minimum Wage submitted to him by the Bismark Rewane- led Technical Advisory Committee on the Implementation of an Increase in Minimum Wage. “ The President said this “when he received the committee’s report in Abuja. The committee was inaugurated in January 9,” and that “the report is coming about one week after the Senate approved N30, 000 minimum wage for federal and state workers across the country. The Committee was set up “to develop and advise government on how to successfully bring about a smooth implementation of impending wage increases. The Committee was also asked to identify new revenue sources, as well as areas of existing expenditure from where some savings could be made in order to fund the wage increases without adversely impacting the nation’s development goals as set out in the ERGP.” Business Day (Tuesday 26 March 2019, page 2) reported this.
