Mambilla Power Project: Sunrise demands $400m compensation from FG at ICC

The Mambilla Power Project has suffered another major setback as Sunrise Power Transmission Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPTCL) has filed a new $400 million lawsuit against the Federal Government of Nigeria at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)’s International Court of Arbitration, Paris, France.

SPTLC approached the ICC after it alleged the Federal Government reneged on an agreement both parties mutually reached in January 2020. In an ICC document dated June 2 on the matter entitled “Case Information”, the international court said the parties agreed that all disputes arising “out of or in connection with the present terms of settlement shall be finally settled under the rules of arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce”. Parties also agreed to expedited procedure.

According to documents sighted by this publication, the federal government, under the terms of settlement, agreed to pay Sunrise Power $200 million within 14 days of the execution of the terms of the agreement they reached on January 21, 2020.

The FG also agreed to pay a penalty of 10 per cent in case of a default in fulfilling the settlement agreement. The third major component of the agreement was the restoration of Sunrise as the local content partner for the $5.8 billion project.

Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the federation and Minister of Justice signed on behalf of the FG with Sale Mamman, the Minister of Power while Leno Adesanya signed as Chairman and CEO of Sunrise. It was a precondition to withdraw its arbitration against Nigeria at ICC.

Sunrise claimed that the FG reneged on all the terms of the settlement. It stated that the last two of the three conditions the company reached with the FG were first removed from the revised settlement agreement presented to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Furthermore, it said the Attorney General wrote SPTCL a month after the agreement was reached to review the negotiation on the ground of the “global economic downturn which has resulted in the re-channeling of resources for combating the global Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the fact that the Federal Government’s crude oil earnings have slumped from the meltdown”.

The request for review was based on the response from President Buhari that the federal government did not have $200 million to pay Sunrise Power.


SPTCL swiftly warned the FG not to flout the agreement both parties mutually reached.

The company first dragged Nigeria to the ICC on October 10, 2017 to seek a $2.354 billion award for breach of a 2003 contract to construct the 3,050MW plant in Mambilla, Taraba state, on a “build, operate and transfer” basis.

The company also joined Sinohydro Corporation Limited, the Chinese company handling the project, in the arbitration.

In an effort to resolve legal encumbrances, both parties worked behind the scenes to work on the settlement terms which culminated in the January 2020 agreement.

The 3,050 MW Mambilla Power Project is the largest Power plant in Nigeria and it is the flagship power generation project of the Muhammadu Buhari government.

ATTAHIRU IBRAHIM: A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

Opinion

Nigeria's new Chief of Army Staff, Major General Attahiru Ibrahim is not a stranger to the concerted efforts to end the Boko Haram insurgency and banditry. He was at the thick of the action as the commander of the operations to decimate and exterminate the insurgents in the first half of the first term of President Muhammadu Buhari's administration, a period now regarded as the golden era when significant progress was made against the insurgents.

In 2017, Major General Ibrahim was redeployed as General Officer Commanding (GOC) in charge of 82 Division of the Nigerian Army.

Now in the saddle as Nigeria's Army Chief, the new COAS will bring his extensive experience to bear in the quest by the military to end the Boko Haram insurgency once and for all.

Counter insurgency experts who are familiar with the General's strategem are already projecting that the days of Boko Haram insurgents are numbered with the fresh onslaught launched by the new Service Chiefs appointed on Tuesday, 26th January 2021.

54-year-old Major General Ibrahim, a member of Course 35 of the Nigerian Defence Academy, is a General's General. Upon his appointment as the COAS, he hit the ground running and recently visited Operation Lafiya Dole troops to boost their morale. He interacted with the officers and men, most of whom he had relationships with before his appointment.

A staunch believer in the maxim, "united we stand, divided we fall", the new COAS has given fillip to synergy amongst the Armed Forces with his humble disposition as a team player.

It is a given that the welfare of the troops will receive a big boost under his command as attested to by the jubilation that greeted his appointment in the Army.

During his visit to the troops, he announced an international partnership with Cameroun, Chad and Niger Republic. He is determined to end the Boko Haram insurgency, using multi- pronged military operations.

The Army Chief has also signalled his intention to give training and manpower development a pride of place during his tenure as deduced from the partnership struck by the military with the University of Ilorin.

As General Attahiru Ibrahim marches on in the service of his fatherland, the gentleman officer is pushing for the Army, Air Force and Navy to work collaboratively and support each other to put an end to the protracted insurgency.

His philosophy is that no single arm of the Armed Forces can singularly trounce the recalcitrant insurgents.

This sounds like a breath of fresh air. It has all the trappings to be a game changer in the battle to defeat Boko Haram for real!

Already, his strategy has started yielding bountiful dividends. Just last weekend, news broke that courageous Nigerian troops overran the farm of the outlaw and Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in Sambisa Forest.

Another report said Nigerian troops repelled a surprise attack by the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP).

The reports were clear signs that the Nigerian military has restrategised for victory, hoping that unlike in previous efforts, they would not lose steam this time around.

Why China's dominance of global aviation is inevitable

Fasten your seatbelt and brace up for the disruption of all disruptions in the global aviation industry.

A hawkish challenger, #China's #COMAC is gearing up to break the duopoly of incumbent #Boeing and #Airbus in passenger aircraft manufacturing.

It's all part of China's rising influence in the #aviation sector as it matches towards a certain inevitability to become the dominant player in the aviation sector.

https://buddysliceoflife..com/2021/01/chinas-c919-breaks-airbus-boeings.html

New Power Tariff Implementation: It’s time for DISCOs to embrace greater automation.

By Wumi Oghoetuoma

October 13, 2020


Following a meeting between federal government officials and the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, Nigeria’s government has extended the suspension of the implementation of new electricity tariffs by an additional week up to October 19. The parties also agreed to reduce the tariffs by 10 percent for band A, 10.5 percent for band B and 31 per cent for band C.

While ongoing consultations between government officials and the labour unions may lead to further tweaks to the implementation of the new electricity tariffs, most distribution companies (DISCOs) already have several challenges on their hands.

One challenge is potential complaints from consumers about the quality of service. The new tariff bands are based on specific service delivery commitments by the DISCOs and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the industry regulator, has said that the DISCOs are required to compensate consumers when they fail to meet the agreed service level. Therefore, to dismiss frivolous complaints and to assess valid ones, each DISCO must be prepared to show how much power it supplied its consumers. However, doing so with the manual record keeping methods adopted by many DISCOs today can be challenging and problematic.

In addition, the new tariff regime elevates the need for greater transparency about information relating to electricity distributed to the DISCO’s feeder stations. Such insight eases the transition to a regime where the operations of DISCOs are increasingly scrutinized. DISCO operators can no longer afford to be sloppy with how they organize their operations but may struggle to monitor a complex value chain if they fail to improve how they capture information about what they do.

DISCOs will be under pressure to improve response times to address faults that cut off electricity supply to consumers. In the case of pre-paid customers, DISCOS will have to work out an efficient way to issue credit notes to compensate deserving customers. These require accurate data. Those who struggle to manage the requirements of the revised tariff environment may see their costs rise and revenues come under further pressure.

Cloud technology is underpinning solutions that are transforming how utility and other large companies with complex value chains are able to automate their operations and enhance the customer experience. For example, software as a service (SaaS), is a growing software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis. Adopters of such technology are able to achieve greater automation and efficiency in their business operations through collaborative tools for workflow management, inventory management and customer self-service. Some analysts have estimated that SaaS is currently a $158 billion market and is expected to almost double to $307 billion by 2026.

Crown Interactive’s CICOD suite of software have been successfully adopted in Nigeria’s power distribution sector to good effect. The great thing about SaaS is the flexibility it offers users to select what they need and avoid purchasing expensive off-the-shelve enterprise solutions with redundant modules. The CICOD product suite offers a workflow manager that enables the automation of approval-based business processes across departments, including complaint handling, task management and inventory request management. There is also the Energy Management Control Centre (EMCC) which can be deployed as a private cloud for the DISCO.

The EMCC is Crown Interactive’s control system architecture that allows DISCOs setup a utility network, read data from communication nodes and control feeders and distribution transformers as required, providing timely notifications of electricity downtime to the DISCOs.

Another valuable CICOD module is the inventory management system that enables efficient real-time allocation, disbursement, and tracking of business assets, minimizing losses and leakages in the process. This helps users adopt more efficient inventory management strategies such as just-in-time inventory.

DISCOs must embrace enterprise software as a way to manage the transition to a new tariff regime. Cloud technology offers a cost-effective way to automate their increasingly complex operations. Technology greatly enhances DISCO operations, shoring up revenues by improving response time to operational failures. Additionally, it allows DISCOs to truly redefine the customer experience in a market where consumer apathy and suspicion is rife. Imagine a world where consumers can verify if a DISCO is meeting its obligations under the new tariff regime by viewing the information on a website. With CICOD, this and more is possible at a price that does not break the bank.

Wumi Oghoetuoma is the CEO of Crown Interactive, a software company with its head office in Lagos, Nigeria. Established in 2005, the firm is dedicated to providing innovative business and system process solutions to customer centric organizations across the world. Crown Interactive’s business model is to enable technology to promote industry collaboration and new business models.

https://www.makeitglobal.biz/top-news/no-rift-buhari-osinbajo-says-presidency/



The Presidency on Sunday played down insinuation of alleged rift between President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, saying there was nothing of such.



Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina who said this during a television programme monitored by www.makeitglobal.biz, said he could authoritatively confirm that the insinuation of alleged rift was the figment of the imagination of the authors.



There have been speculations of a major rift between Buhari and Osinbajo, with many linking it to political calculations ahead of the 2023 presidential race.




The President had dissolved the Economic Team headed by Osinbajo, and also directed the Vice President to henceforth get approval for some federal government agencies under him.



Also, a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Timi Frank accused Osinbajo of misappropriating N90billion he allegedly collected from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to execute campaigns for the last general elections in the South West.



Frank had claimed that he got the information from sources within the presidency, a claim that Osinbajo had denied and declared his readiness to waive his immunity to sue for libel.



Reacting, Adesina said: “They are insinuations and they remain in the realm of insinuations. The presidency is one; there is no rift between the President and the Vice President. I am glad that the Vice President has said he would sue for libel to clear his name.”



Also responding to the detention of convener of the #RevolutionNow Protest, Mr Omoyele Sowore despite a court order directing his release, Adesina said the President just came back into the country after attending the United Nations General Assembly in United States, and that he would be fully briefed on the matter and take appropriate action.



A lawyer who also appeared on the programme, Mr Jiti Ogunye had declared the refusal of the Department of State Security (DSS) to release Sowore in accordance with the court order as worrisome, saying the development was clearly against the rule of law.

https://www.makeitglobal.biz/nigerian-news/ease-business-improvement-nigerias-rating-not-reflection-economic-performance-world-bank/


Ease of Doing Business: Improvement in Nigeria’s rating not reflection of economic performance – World Bank


The World Bank has cleared the air on the significant improvement in the latest Ease of Doing Business (EODB) ranking of Nigeria and 19 other countries rated as the Top 20 improvers in EODB globally.

In an explanation posted on https://www.doingbusiness.org/en/reforms/top-20-reformers-in-db2020, the World Bank said the list did “not reflect the best performing/ranked economies, which will be disclosed at the time of Doing Business 2020 launch on October 24, 2019 at 9am EST.”

Following a report released by the World Bank where Nigeria was rated among the Top 20 economies in the world recognised as having made significant efforts to make business transactions in their countries better, a number of Nigerians, citing the unprecedented extreme poverty in the country, had wondered why the World Bank would give Nigeria such an impressive rating.


The World Bank explained that the Top 20 countries listed, including Nigeria, were those that improved the most on ease of doing business score.

The global bank explained that “economies are selected based on the number of reforms and on how much their ease of doing business score improved.”

Said the World Bank, “First, Doing Business selects the economies that implemented reforms making it easier to do business in three or more of the 10 areas included in this year’s aggregate ease of doing business score. Regulatory changes making it more difficult to do business are subtracted from the number of those making it easier. Second, Doing Business sorts these economies on the increase in their ease of doing business score due to reforms from the previous year (the impact due to changes in income per capita and the lending rate is excluded). The improvement in their score is calculated not by using the data published in 2018 but by using comparable data that capture data revisions and methodology changes when applicable. The choice of the most improved economies is determined by the largest improvements in the ease of doing business score among those with at least three reforms.

Apart from Nigeria, other countries which had the distinguished honour of being listed among the Top 20 improvers were Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Djibouti, India, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, The Kyrgyz Republic, Myanmar, Pakistan, Qatar, saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Togo, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe.

Giving the justification for including Nigeria on the list, the World Bank said the country “made starting a business easier by operationalizing a new electronic platform that integrates the tax authority and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The CAC also upgraded its name reservation platform and, in Kano, there is now an electronic platform for registering business premises online, eliminating the need to appear in person. In Lagos, land administration was made more transparent following the digitization of cadastral plans in a geographic information system; digital copies of cadastral plans are now easily obtainable.

“Nigeria also made getting electricity easier by allowing certified engineers to conduct inspections for new connections. Initiatives also made commercial litigation of smaller cases more efficient. The Chief Judges in Lagos and Kano issued practice directions for small claims courts introducing pre-trial conferences and limit adjournments. Finally, customs integrated more agencies into its electronic data interchange system, and port authorities launched an e-payment system, speeding up both exports and imports.”

https://www.makeitglobal.biz/top-news/man-herbert-wigwe-many-court-cases/

Surely, these are not the best of times for Mr Herbert Wigwe, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s most visible financial institutions.

Wigwe is indeed in the eye of the storm and is facing sundry court cases and has been mentioned in multi-billion-naira graft allegations involving some high net-worth individuals.

To some, this may be a familiar turf for Wigwe, having been previously involved in one business transaction or the other that either caught the fancy of anti-graft agencies or led to an explosive legal battle.


Wigwe’s sterling qualities and track record of achievements as an accomplished banker are never in doubt.

Asides having a degree in Accountancy from University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Wigwe has in his kitty an MA in Banking and Finance from the University College of North Wales (Now Bangor), an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of London, and is an Alumnus of the Harvard Business School Executive Management Program. He is also a chartered accountant.

Despite his impressive professional trajectory, Wigwe has, however, been involved in a myriad of court cases and some controversial deals.

For instance, in the wake of the moves by Access Bank to buy Intercontinental Bank, an obviously bigger bank then, a number of court cases were filed to challenge it. Wigwe at that particular point in time was the Deputy Managing Director of Access Bank, and played a lead role alongside the then Managing Director, Aigboje I. Aig-Imoukhuede in the deal.

One of the cases filed then was a petition before the Federal High Court in Lagos by aggrieved shareholders of Intercontinental Bank, accusing Wigwe and Aig-Imoukhuede of being indebted to Intercontinental Bank to the tune of N16.2 billion.

The shareholders, in the petition, filed by their lawyer, Mr Onyebuchi Aniakor, had queried the planned sale on the strength of the fact that it was unthinkable that the same people who were indebted to the bank would also be making moves to buy it.

The shareholders – Okoli Emeka, Ibekwe Adinuba, Sangobiyi Oluyemi, Fatola Olufunmilade, Afolaranmi Olufemi, Quadri Sulaiman, Muogbo Obiora, Awosanya Ojubayo, Ogunyemi Olusegun and Ighekpe Imoape had said they were shocked to discover that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) listed one United Alliance Company of Nigeria Limited amongst the largest debtors of Intercontinental Bank in an advertorial dated August 18, 2009.

They added that upon a search at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), it was discovered that the said United Alliance Company of Nigeria Limited is wholly owned by Aig-Imoukhuede and Wigwe, who are the only shareholders of the company with each holding 450,000,000 shares.

The shareholders further stressed that as at May 31, 2009, Aig-Imoukhuede and Wigwe owed Intercontinental Bank a total of N16,247,686,168.18.

In another legal battle, sometimes in early 2014, Wigwe was slammed with a contempt of court case before an Igbosere High Court over an allegation that Access Bank under his watch, allowed a judgment-debtor to move funds out of its accounts despite being aware of a court order made in favour of a judgment-creditor, one NIYOD Construction Nigeria Limited.

The judge handling the case then, Justice Candide Johnson, had at a point in the course of the matter, said he would not hesitate to refer the matter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation of the criminal aspect of the transactions.

According to the main matter, Silverbird in 2009, secured a multi-billion contract from the Akwa Ibom State Government for construction, design and maintenance of an entertainment centre that would contain inter alia an American styled mall, a 250 bedroom five-star hotel, cinema complex, convention centre and two parks.

Silverbird, in execution of the contract, awarded part of the contract to NIYOD, which is a construction company.

However, in 2010, Silverbird dragged NIYOD before an Akwa Ibom State High Court seeking return of N281.1 million over alleged breach of contractual agreement.
NIYOD, in turn, filed a counter-claim and demanded payment of N382.4 million, being the debt payable for the works done, inclusive of N211 million, which Silverbird earlier admitted via a letter dated March 18, 2010 as amount it owed NIYOD.

Trial judge, Justice Eno Isangedighi, had in a judgment delivered on December 19, 2013, ordered Silverbird to pay NIYOD N211 million representing the special damages for breach of contract which had been proved.

However, in an attempt to enforce the judgment, NIYOD registered it at the Lagos High Court, while Justice Candide-Johnson on February 25, 2014 made an order Nisi directing five banks to file various affidavits to show the state of finance of Silverbird.

The banks were Access Bank, Union Bank, Zenith Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and Skye Bank. Union, FCMB and Skye banks were later discharged after their affidavits proved that Silverbird had no account with them, while Access and Zenith Banks were accused of allowing the judgment-debtor to move funds out of their accounts.

Also, in May 2016, the EFCC arrested Wigwe over his alleged involvement in money laundering
through Access Bank by officials of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), as well as multi-million dollars deal traced to the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Recently also, Wigwe has been battling with two major cases. One is an alleged $6.3 million fraud case before an Ikeja division of Lagos State High Court, and the other is an alleged N2.5 billion fraud case before an Ogun State High Court sitting in Sagamu.

Already, the Lagos State Government has taken over the prosecution of the matter before the Ikeja High Court through the office of Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.

The defendants in the case are Cast Oil & Gas Ltd as the first defendant; Seyi Sanni, second defendant; Adekunle Adebayo, third defendant; Access Bank, fourth defendant; and Mr Wigwe, as the fifth defendant.

The others are Titi Oshontoki, sixth defendant; Chinyere Bishop-Adigwe, seventh defendant; Sunny Amos Offiong, eighth defendant; Augusta Energy Nigeria Ltd, ninth defendant; and one Tunji Abraham who is at large.

The defendants were accused of a $6.3 million fraud, and are being prosecuted before Justice Hakeem Oshodi.

Specifically, the defendants are facing a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretences, fraud, and stealing, preferred against them by the Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU).

The prosecutor, Emmanuel Jackson, a Chief Superintendent of Police, alleged that the defendants committed the offences between January and December 2015.

He said they conspired with one another and with Augusta Energy of Geneva, Switzerland, to allegedly defraud Top Oil &Gas Development Ltd to the tune of over $6.3 million.

Mr Jackson claimed the defendants obtained the said money from Top Oil & Gas Development Ltd by falsely telling the chairman of the company, Don Etiebet, and other officers of the company, that Cast Oil and Gas Ltd had a contract with Augusta Energy of Geneva, Switzerland.

They said the contract was for the supply of 10,000 metric tones of automatic Gas Oil (AGO) by Augusta Energy of Geneva to Cast Oil & Gas, and that the price of the products was $6,382,665.71. They allegedly claimed Top Oil & Gas was the consignee of the products.

Mr Jackson said the defendants had also informed the complainant that after financing, purchasing, supply and importation of the said products into Nigeria from Switzerland, it would take delivery of same in its capacity as a consignee of the product and authorise Cast Oil & Gas to sell the said products on its behalf.

He further said the defendants also ensured that Top Oil & Gas Development recovered the monument invested for the purchase, supply, and importation of the said products, which they allegedly knew was false but induced the complainant to invest the said sum in the purported business, and fraudulently converted it to their own use and benefit.

According to the prosecutor, the defendants allegedly stole $6.3million, the property of Top Oil & Gas Development Ltd, which they deceived company to pay to Augusta Energy of Geneva Switzerland on behalf of Case Oil & Gas as the cost price of 10,000 metric tonnes of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).

It was further alleged that the product which Top Oil & Gas Development Ltd, was deceived to pay for, was not supplied or imported into Nigeria, but they instead converted the money into their own use and benefit.

Mr Jackson said the alleged offences are contrary to Sections 422 of the criminal code, Cap C38, Laws of the Federation 2004, 8 (a) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other related offences Act, No 14 of 2006.

On the other hand, the Federal Government, through the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) in the Federal Ministry of Justice, has taken over the N2.5 billion alleged fraud case against Wigwe, Access Bank and two others before an Ogun State High Court in Sagamu.

Makeitglobal.biz has authoritatively confirmed that the Federal Government had taken over the case.

According to an impeccable source, “The state of the matter right now is that it has been taken over by the DPP of the Federal Ministry of Justice. They will review the case and take appropriate action. That is the state of the matter for now.”

Asides Wigwe and Access Bank Plc, others charged before the court included 41-year-old Alawode Oluseye and Bayo Adesina before Justice N.I. Agbelu of the Ogun State High Court in Sagamu.

The allegations border on conspiracy, fraudulent disposal of trust property, fraudulent conversion, stealing and false representation.

In the charge marked HCS/010/19, SFU alleged that the Access Bank boss and others, sometime in June 2017, at the premises of Metal Africa Steel Products Limited, Kilometre 16, Ikorodu/Sagamu road, Ewe Jagun, Ogun State, conspired among themselves to have unlawfully effected the sale of 23,754.413 metric tonnes of steel billets, belonging to BMCE Bank International Plc for N2,572,500 billion to Africa Steel Products Limited.

Wigwe and other defendants were also alleged to have obtained the sum of N2,572,500 billion, from Africa Steel Mills Limited by false representation that they were the owners of the said steel billets.

SFU also alleged that Wigwe and other defendants, in 2017, forged bill of lading numbers: MJINLOS150007’1A’; MJINLOS150007 ‘1B’; MJINLOS150007 ‘1C’; MJINLOS150007 ‘2A’; MJINLOS150007’2B’; MJINLOS150007 ‘2C’; MJINLOS150007 ‘2C’; MJINLOS150007 ‘2D’; MJINLOS150007 ‘2E’; MJINLOS150007 ‘2F’; MJINLOS150007 ‘2G’; MJINLOS150007 ‘2H’; MJINLOS150007 ‘2I’; MJINLOS150007 ‘2J’; MJINLOS150007 ‘2k’; MJINLOS150007’2L’ andMJINLOS150007’2M’, which they claimed were issued on January 9, 2016.

The offences, according to the prosecutor, Mr. E. Jackson, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), are contrary to and punishable under Sections 518(6), 434, 383(1)(f) and 390(9), 516 and 464 and 467 of the criminal Code of Ogun State of Nigeria, 2006.

The offence is also said to have contravened Section 1(1)(a) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related offences Act No. 14 of 2006.

In another development, Wigwe is also said to be currently under investigation over his controversial business transactions with a former Governor who is also being investigated by the EFCC. Though investigation is still ongoing on the numerous alleged transactions between the said Governor and Wigwe, however top on the list is an allegation that the former Governor heavily funded the deal through which Access Bank acquired Diamond Bank, allegedly using state funds. According to a legal expert who opted for anonymity, Wigwe is presumed innocent in the numerous cases he is standing trial for until he is discharged or acquitted by the courts.

https://www.makeitglobal.biz/top-news/man-herbert-wigwe-many-court-cases/

The President Muhammadu Buhari administration has earned one of its most remarkable global economic credentials since inception in 2015 as the World Bank in its just released annual report on Ease of Doing Business (EODB) rated the Nigerian economy as one of the Top 20 Improvers in EODB in the world. The report is the clearest indication yet that the series of reforms introduced by the Buhari government, with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as the Chairman of the Economic Team, until a few days ago, has started yielding results.

In a report monitored by www.makeitglobal.biz on a website dedicated by the World Bank Group to Ease of Doing Business entitled, “Top-20 improvers in Doing Business 2020”, Nigeria was listed prominently as one of those “improving the most on ease of doing business score.”

The report said the 20 economies including Nigeria were selected based on the number of reforms and on how much their ease of doing business score improved.


Referring specifically to Nigeria, it said the country “made starting a business easier by operationalizing a new electronic platform that integrates the tax authority and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The CAC also upgraded its name reservation platform and, in Kano, there is now an electronic platform for registering business premises online, eliminating the need to appear in person. In Lagos, land administration was made more transparent following the digitization of cadastral plans in a geographic information system; digital copies of cadastral plans are now easily obtainable.

“Nigeria also made getting electricity easier by allowing certified engineers to conduct inspections for new connections. Initiatives also made commercial litigation of smaller cases more efficient. The Chief Judges in Lagos and Kano issued practice directions for small claims courts introducing pre-trial conferences and limit adjournments. Finally, customs integrated more agencies into its electronic data interchange system, and port authorities launched an e-payment system, speeding up both exports and imports.”

The remaining 19 countries in the league of the most improved economies in Ease of Doing Business in alphabetical order are Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Djibouti, India, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, The Kyrgyz Republic, Myanmar, Pakistan, Qatar, saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Togo, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe.

At the 2nd Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) Awards in April, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, said the Nigerian government had in the last three years implemented 140 reforms aimed at making business dealings easier in the country.

He also stated that the World Bank reported that 32 states in the country had grown in their ease of doing business environment in 2018.

“Some of the successful reforms include the ability to: Reserve a business name within four hours; complete the registration of a company within 24 hours online; apply for and receive approval of a visa-on-arrival electronically within 48 hours; file and pay taxes online; and access specialised small claims commercial courts in Lagos and Kano states.

“The World Bank also reported in 2018 that 32 states of Nigeria improved their Ease of Doing Business Environment led by Kaduna, Enugu, Abia, Lagos and Anambra states.

“In 2019, PEBEC set a goal to move Nigeria into the top 100 on the 2020 World Bank Doing Business Index (DBI). To achieve this, we will be pursuing the continued implementation of reforms across all indicators, including the implementation of legislative reforms, specifically the passage of the new Companies and Allied Matters Act and the Omnibus Bills; the expansion of the regulatory reform programme which started with National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), and now to include other regulators; the establishment of a National Trading Platform for ports; and the concession of our major international airports.”

Osinbajo also disclosed that the PEBEC embarked on the fourth 60-day National Action Plan (NAP 4.0) on EoDB, from March 1 to April 29, 2019.

“We have highlighted key action items in all of the focus areas to ensure that they do not unravel, and to ensure we drive sustainability,” he said.

In late July, the United Kingdom commended Osinbajo for his role in driving the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria.

The then newly appointed United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for International Development, Mr Alok Sharma, made the commendation during a visit to the Vice President at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

He also commended the Federal Government for its efforts in ensuring that the country moved up 24 places in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Ranking.

The best placement for Nigeria on the Ease of Doing Business table was in 2014 when the country placed 170.

https://www.makeitglobal.biz/nigerian-news/osinbajo-shines-world-bank-rates-nigeria-among-worlds-20-improved-economies-eodb/

johnad3:
maybe this will allow glo to speed up their internet connection which deh craw like snail

Well, i have contrary view. I use Glo for Internet connection and it is working well and very fast.

If Glo has indeed paid substantial part of the debt in issue, I think the action of MTN against Glo subscribers is clearly in bad faith. It is sad that some people are not looking at it from that prism.

maasoap:


May be you should confess to us the main reason why you find it difficult to exhaust just 2GB data on glo network for a month, we all know the most likely reason. I used glo in the past and I still have two glo sim cards. If you have a stable and smooth 4G on your glo line, you would understand that 2GB of data is almost nothing.

Check the attachment below and tell me if it is possible for you to use over 5GB of glo data in two days even if you have data to burn! It is practically impossible on dead-like glo network

I have noticed this particular guy is always attacking Glo and it will be unfortunate if he is one of the people MTN is using for the corporate xenophobic attack on Globacom. I live in Lekki and I can confirm that Glo Data is working excellently well. As a matter of fact, I have both Glo and MTN lines and in terms of data, I can confirm that Glo services are far far better than MTN.

bigfather:

How are you sure Glo is indebted to MTN to that tune? It's important for one to get his facts right.

A top source in MTN just confirmed to me that Glo has paid the money in issue. So, i don't even know the reason for this fuss. Anyone to confirm this?

It's now so glaring that the primary objective of MTN was to kill Glo. MTN is still in sifia pains over the fact that it was Glo that ended their exploitation of Nigerians. Haba! Wicked people.

Sad!!!

The right question to ask is what is the evidence to back up the allegation against Globacom? That is the right question for every discerning mind. People just go about leveling baseless allegations and some people will just take it hook, line and sinker. That’s not too good. Let’s interrogate this before we take side, please.

Nice one our amiable Gov. This will go a long way to spur the officers and men of the RRS to be dedicated. The Gov should go further by increasing their allowances as well.