₦airaland Forum

The remains of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 other senior military officers, who lost their lives in an air mishap in Kaduna on Friday, have been laid to rest, THE WITNESS reports.

The late 11 military officers who died in a Beachcraft 350 aircraft at the Kaduna International Airport due to bad weather were interred on Saturday at the National Military Cementary, Abuja.

The ten other military personnel are: Brigadier General MI Abdulkadir, Brigadier General Olayinka, Brigadier General Kuliya, Major LA Hayat, Major Hamza, Sergeant Umar, Flight Lieutenant TO Asaniyi, Flight Lieutenant AA Olufade, Sergeant Adesina and ACM Oyedepo.

Earlier, the bodies were moved to the National Mosque and the Nigerian Air Force Protestant Church where funeral prayers were said for the deceased amidst tight security.

READ MORE: https://witnessngr.com/coas-attahiru-10-other-military-personnel-laid-to-rest-in-abuja-photos/

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Kaduna State Government has said that despite the announcement of suspension of strike, it has not seen evidence that “NLC is backing off” yet and hence no negotiation.

Muyiwa Adekeye, Special Adviser to the Governor (Media & Communication) to Governor Nasir El-Rufai made this assertion in a statement Wednesday.

He said, “The Kaduna State Government is yet to see evidence that the NLC is backing off from its campaign of economic and social sabotage against the people of the State.

According to Adekeye, “Electric power is yet to be restored, after it was shutdown at dawn on Sunday, 16th May 2021, in brazen violation of the laws protecting essential services and infrastructure. That action removed any basis for state government officials to meet the NLC last Sunday. Denying our people electricity about 18 hours to the advertised commencement of their organised sabotage was akin to putting a gun on the government’s head. Government has a lawful duty not to indulge blackmail.

READ MORE HERE: https://witnessngr.com/kaduna-workers-strike-no-negotiation-with-nlc-fg-except-el-rufai/

EFCC probes ex-Delta lawmaker & DESOPADEC director, Daniel Mayuku, for not declaring asset in full
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These are certainly not the best of times for Hon. Daniel Mayuku, a former lawmaker in the Delta State House of Assembly and currently the executive director, projects of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) for failing to declare his company, Mayrun Construction Company Limited to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), THE WITNESS learnt.

Hon. Mayuku is said to have been using the construction company registered on 2nd August 2005, to secure contracts from the Delta State government all through his time as a lawmaker, even till date as director of projects, DESOPADEC. Other directors of the company include his brother, Mayuku Ayeoritsetan and one Amurun Gabriel Ukunoritse.

This much we gathered even as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has swung into action against the former lawmaker for violating government rules of securing and executing government contracts as a government official and failing to list the company in his declaration form which he submitted to the CCB recently.

READ MORE HERE: https://witnessngr.com/efcc-probes-ex-delta-lawmaker-desopadec-director-daniel-mayuku-for-not-declaring-asset-in-full/

The Nestoil Group has called for an end to gender bias, just as it said women should be celebrated for their feats and not their gender.

The group at said this in its 2021 International Women’s Day (IWD) webinar with the global theme, “#ChooseToChallenge’’ seeks for a balanced society where roles should be assigned on performance ethos and not restricted to women based on societal bias.

Guest speakers at the event urged women to continuously challenge and self-develop themselves if they are to be taken seriously by society as they agreed that a challenged world is an alert world, and from challenge comes change.

Director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, AOS Orwell, Charlotte Essiet, in her speech titled: ‘’Self Development: A Panacea for Progression of Female Professionals’’, said women will do more for themselves if they focus on themselves by being intentional, accountable and paying more attention to their environment.

Essiet said women must always look for ways to self-improve by investing in their personal development through getting the required education, getting a mentor, and sticking to what the mentor is meant for.

She urged women to know how to manage their time effectively, especially as they juggle between family and having a great career.

Associate Director and a leader of the oil and industry group at PwC Nigeria, Temitope Yusuff, spoke on: ‘Choose to Challenge’, said gender equality is a big issue in the country and the country has a lot to gain if women are accorded their due rights.

She said with 40 percent of Nigerian entrepreneurs being women, the highest ratio globally, the country’s GDP, according to a McKinsey report, could grow by 23 percent or $229 billion if women participated in the economy to the same extent as men.

She said COVID-19 has further exacerbated the bias as, ‘’The impact of COVID-19 on gender parity in the workplace is disproportionately hurting sectors with more female employment and amplifying gender inequalities. It has also worsened the already unequal burden of unpaid care and domestic work shouldered by women that could force more women out of the workforce, reversing progress towards gender equality and stunting economic growth.’’

Yusuff said a survey of women working in corporate jobs showed that women are considering permanently reducing the amount of time they allocate to their careers or leaving the labour market for good after COVID-19.

On how women can challenge themselves, she wants them to have their own definition of success, express their choices, sharpen their skills to earn respect, challenge self-imposed constraints, and to avoid the fear of being judged and seeking constant approvals.

The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has paraded Uduak Frank Akpan, the suspect in the death of a job seeker, Inibong Umoren.

Uduak, according to the state Police Commissioner, Andrew Amiengheme, was paraded today to dispel the rumour that he committed suicide in police custody.

The 26-year-old, who graduated from the Department of Philosophy, University of Uyo, with a CGPA of 4.12, was raped and brutally killed after Akpan allegedly lured her on social media with a fake job interview.

The remains of Ini was interred on Friday at her compound in Nung Ita village in Orok Anam Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom state.

FOR MUCH MORE, PLEASE VISIT: https://witnessngr.com/why-i-killed-job-seeker-ini-umoren-uduak-akpan/

The remains of murdered Akwa Ibom job-seeker, Iniubong Ephraim Umoren, have been laid to rest, THE WITNESS reports.

Ini was interred on Friday at her compound in Nung Ita village in Orok Anam Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom state.

The 26-year-old, who graduated from the Department of Philosophy, University of Uyo, with a CGPA of 4.12, was raped and brutally killed after a man lured her on social media with a fake job interview.

Ini had gone online on April 27, to appeal for the job, but she fell into the hands of a rapist and murderer, who took her life.

SEE MORE PHOTOS HERE: https://witnessngr.com/murdered-job-seeker-ini-umoren-laid-to-rest-in-akwa-ibom-photos/

Congrats

BREAKING: First Bank appoints Gbenga Shobo as MD/CEO designate, Abdullahi Ibrahim as DMD
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The board of First Bank of Nigeria Limited on Wednesday, approved the appointment of Mr. Gbenga Shobo, currently Managing Deputy, as the Managing Director/CEO Designate of the bank. The lender has also appointed Mr. Abdullahi Ibrahim, as its new Deputy Managing Director.

Gbenga succeeds Sola Adeduntan, who will be leaving the bank since January 2016. These decisions will take effect from today, 28 April 2021.

Also appointed is Abdullahi lbrahim as Deputy Managing Director, while Mr. Ini Ebong, Mr. Segun Alebiosu, Mr. Seyi Oyefeso and Mrs Bashirat Odunewu are also appointed as Executive Directors.

According to the bank, the decision is subject to all regulatory approvals.

READ MORE HERE: https://witnessngr.com/breaking-first-bank-appoints-gbenga-shobo-as-md-ceo-designate-abdullahi-ibrahim-as-dmd/

Report of corruption at NIRSAL, CBN’s ABP, lacks credibility, another attempt to smear our CEO – Official
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The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has denied a report by an online medium (not THE WITNESS) that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has halted all further disbursements to it over allegations of corruption.

The online medium had reported that NIRSAL’s flagship Anchor Borrowers’ Programme and its managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), Aliyu Abdulhameed have been rocked by charges of endemic graft in recent months.

The report had quoted that the CBN’s suspension of further loans to NIRSAL under Mr Abdulhameed was contained in a March 10 correspondence that referenced a February 24 meeting in which the decision was taken for an immediate pause on all loans until all outstanding loans out of NIRSAL have been resolved.

But NIRSAL in a statement made available to THE WITNESS on Thursday, said that the report is latest in a string of fabricated attacks and ferocious campaign against the corporation and its CEO, adding that it lacks credibility, and it is ridiculous when clear facts and contexts are considered.

The statement further noted “a routine communication between CBN and NIRSAL Plc to activate a workable loan repayment/recovery agreement with Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) farmers was transformed into a “corruption scandal” allegedly perpetrated by NIRSAL Plc’s leadership.”



Read the full statement below:

NIRSAL PLC AND THE CBN’S ANCHOR BORROWERS’ PROGRAMME: THE INCONTROVERTIBLE FACTS BEYOND BASELESS FICTIONS

This statement is in response to enquiries from concerned stakeholders, partners and other associates following the publication of a sponsored and defamatory report by an online medium that is fast gaining notoriety for the dissemination of elaborate fictions in the name of journalism.

The report was based on a document that was unofficially obtained to hoodwink the public with a distorted interpretation of privileged official communication between NIRSAL Plc and its owner, the Central Bank of Nigeria, which oversees our operations.

In their desperation to throw mud, a routine communication between CBN and NIRSAL Plc to activate a workable loan repayment/recovery agreement with Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) farmers was transformed into a “corruption scandal” allegedly perpetrated by NIRSAL Plc’s leadership.

The report is not only lacking in credibility but is also totally ridiculous when clear facts and contexts are considered.

It is the latest in a string of fabricated attacks against NIRSAL Plc in the ferocious and intensely personalized campaign against the Corporation’s MD/CEO, Mr Aliyu Abdulhameed. Some online news platforms have flooded the online media with innuendos and outright lies against NIRSAL Plc, its Management and its Board with the sole intent of misleading the public, libellously damaging the reputation of the organization and those of its Management and Board of Directors. It is a very meticulously designed and well-funded project that they have embarked upon and have been ferociously executing over the last two years.

To make things clear, NIRSAL Plc is a wholly-owned investee company of the CBN, incorporated with the main mandate to de-risk agriculture and facilitate agribusiness. Being the sole owner of NIRSAL Plc, the CBN does have the right to assign to it other tasks that are related to its core mandates issuance of credit risk guarantees to banks and investors for agriculture and agribusiness projects, technical assistance to project owners and financiers (such as training farmers, project design and management), rating and incentivizing actors in the agricultural value chain and agricultural finance market place, etc.

One such assignment, different from its core mandate of credit risk guarantee operations, is to serve as a Participating Financial Institution (PFI) in the CBN’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) – a scheme through which the CBN provides loans to farmers on very concessional terms. Over the last few years, the ABP has turned out to be one of the most successful programs of the CBN and the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) with outcomes that include reduction in food importation, full capacity utilization of agricultural firms, preservation of scarce foreign exchange and creation of jobs. It is important to note that the ABP has also helped Nigeria exit recession two times in record time.

Under the oversight and inspiration of Mr. Godwin Emefiele, CBN Governor and board chairman of NIRSAL Plc, Mr. Abdulhameed, working with a competent and highly motivated team, has built NIRSAL Plc, from the ground up, into an effective high-profile institution that has facilitated over N120 billion of critical funding into key agricultural projects in the 5 short years of its corporate existence in addition to its well-developed internal governance processes and controls, whilst remaining a steadily profitable going concern as a Public Liability Company.

This success seems to have become his albatross, fueling the anger of a cabal that is determined to rubbish the successes of the Buhari administration’s passionate focus on agriculture and agribusiness in their desperation to hound and destroy Mr. Abdulhameed.

But we are not intimidated. We are confident that, like previous campaigns of falsehood against NIRSAL Plc’s leadership, this will also fail because our performance speaks for us and the truth will ultimately prevail.

NIRSAL PLC will continue to focus on making progress on its mission and mandate as we strive to achieve more critical outcomes and milestones for the agricultural and financial sectors in the larger interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.

More importantly, this statement is an expression of our commitment to rigorous transparency and accountability in the execution of our mandate and the discharge of our responsibilities to the agricultural and financial sectors and, ultimately, the farmers and the ordinary people of Nigeria who are both the inspiration and beneficiaries of our efforts.

The incontrovertible fact is that NIRSAL PLC’s track record as a Participating Financial Institution (PFI) in the CBN Anchor Borrowers’ Programme has been a very positive one characterized by quality performance and significant milestones which have contributed a strong value to the scheme.

It is also an unimpeachable fact that our performance in loan management and loan repayment/recovery from farmers under the ABP, a process which is still ongoing as more farmers are harvesting and selling their produce, is a solid one that compares favourably with peers in the scheme.


HERE ARE THE FACTS:
NIRSAL PLC IS NOT SYNONYMOUS WITH THE ANCHOR BORROWERS’ PROGRAMME

Contrary to the impression given in these false reports, NIRSAL Plc is one of several Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), not the only one involved in the ABP. In fact, the scheme was launched in 2015 (two years before NIRSAL Plc’s involvement) by President Muhammadu Buhari to create a linkage between anchor companies involved in the processing of agricultural produce and smallholder farmers of the said produce. The idea that ABP is solely operated by NIRSAL Plc is completely ludicrous and incompatible with the facts.

Consequently, NIRSAL Plc wishes to state the following:

1. NIRSAL Plc is one of several PFIs assigned by the CBN to facilitate its Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP).

2. NIRSAL Plc is neither the borrower/obligor under the ABP nor the lender.

3. The roles of NIRSAL Plc, as an agricultural organization with field-level experience in the rural areas, is to organize farmers, register them and present them to the CBN for consideration as borrowers for its agricultural loans after due diligence and credit checks to ensure their creditworthiness. The CBN creates these loans directly in the names of these farmers and the farmers bank accounts are credited with the loans accordingly.

4. All funds disbursed by the CBN under the ABP are accountable down to the level of the farmer and his farm. This includes farmer biometrics, home address, telephone number, bank account number, BVN number, photograph, farm location, current loan status, etc.

5. NIRSAL Plc, together with field officers (DFOs) of the Development Finance Department (DFD) of the CBN, monitor these farmers to ensure proper loan utilization throughout their growing cycle.

6. At harvest, farmers are expected to pay back their loans in cash or kind or both.

7. Where farmers cannot pay back over the tenor of their loan facility, the CBN in most cases provides these farmers additional time to enable them to pay back.

8. Where farmers refuse to pay back, the CBN rightly suspends further loan disbursements to these farmers, gives them forbearance to pay back in return for re-consideration to re-join the program through the PFI that organized them in the first place.

9. It is this ordinary, internal, day-to-day program management and administrative communication between two related institutions, that these unscrupulous online media platforms have illegally acquired and made an issue of “corruption scandal against NIRSAL Plc and its Management”.

In line with global standards in credit management and for the proper management of schemes like the ABP, the CBN can suspend disbursement of its ABP loans to those farmers, under any PFI window, where they (Farmers) prove recalcitrant in repaying their loan obligations. The CBN does this via the PFI window that presented these farmers for enrollment into the program in the first place. This was the right step to protect the scheme and ensure that progress towards the attainment of its objectives was not compromised. Therefore, when accumulated loans are not paid, indebted farmers can be suspended from further accessing the facility until they repay their outstanding commitment.

The ABP has a strict framework of roles and responsibilities defined by the CBN which NIRSAL, like other PFIs, complies with. Contrary to the false stories bandied about by some integrity-challenged journalists and their sponsors, NIRSAL Plc could not have taken liberties with ABP funds for the simple reason that (a) no such funds were under its absolute control and (b) NIRSAL itself is owned by the CBN and its entire corporate accounts are operated in and within sight of the CBN as its own banker. Moreover, NIRSAL’s responsibility under ABP guidelines is to organize, structure, document and present pre-qualified farmers to CBN for consideration to be enrolled into the program. The details of the ABP processes are publicly available for anyone to confirm.

Where there were legitimate causes for poor or no harvest, insurance products are available to support farmer repayments. In addition, actors on the disbursement side of the ABP are not oblivious of the state of insecurity, though recently abating, that is confronting farmers and their farms in parts of the country. These posed and continue to pose serious field-level challenges that militate against full loan repayment by smallholder farmers under the ABP. Devastating floods also undermined harvests – the coin of repayment. More recently, the impact of COVID-19 jeopardized the business of many farmers and anchor companies. All of these strongly contribute to the time lag between expected repayment dates and the eventual repayment times by these smallholder farmers.

Against this backdrop, the notion that a typical CBN internal administrative communication, to its own company, was tantamount to a sanction against NIRSAL PLC for “corruption” is a deliberately misplaced, outright falsehood that is totally lacking in basic credibility.


HIGHLIGHTS OF NIRSAL PLC’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE ANCHOR BORROWERS’ PROGRAMME

Between 2017 and 2020, NIRSAL Plc, in its role as a PFI in the CBN’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), contributed significant and measurable value to the scheme to the benefit of Nigerian farmers and Nigerian agriculture.

A few examples: NIRSAL Plc’s ABP efforts have helped to create over 415,000 direct and indirect jobs across the country. Under the ABP guidelines, we facilitated the provision of critical improved farming inputs and facilitated affordable, single-digit interest rate finance to over 130,000 farmers under the program. Due to NIRSAL Plc’s robust risk management framework, loan performance rates also improved, and default by beneficiaries significantly curbed.


LOAN REPAYMENT BY FARMERS: 70% AND RISING

In addition to the number one priority of ensuring that projects executed under its ambit in the ABP deliver on the defined parameters, NIRSAL Plc has also focused rigorously on loan repayments/ recoveries from farmers. This is a key component of the risk management edge it has contributed to the ABP. So far, loan repayments by our farmers are at a healthy 70% under the ongoing 2020 wet season repayment period. These outcomes are not only positive but improving.

Given NIRSAL Plc’s growing experience, field network and diversity of talent, it is the most equipped institution to be invited into the administration of the ABP by the CBN. Providentially, the institution’s participation in the ABP shortened its learning curve in the upstream (farming) segment of the agricultural value chain, thus leading to the development of agribusiness models and commercial financing frameworks that will drive sustainable financing of agriculture in Nigeria for years to come.
UPDATED LOAN RECOVERY STRATEGIES

NIRSAL Plc is not resting on its oars. To improve further on the rate of loan repayment/recovery from farmers, we have adopted a robust ABP Loan Recovery Strategy that is anchored on a holistic plan that will ensure more repayment compliance by the affected farmers within the shortest possible time. These include:

Making loan repayment by farmers in Geo-Cooperative farming groups to be an organic function of the leaders of these Agro Geo Co-operatives (AGCs), supported by peer-pressure tools and cultural/moral suasion methods, a pre-condition for the groups to be eligible for the next round of loan disbursements by the CBN.

The deployment of community-based field intelligence gathering and constant engagement of stakeholders by our project monitoring and reporting officers throughout the country with the support of ABP PMTs, CBN DFOs, Traditional Institutions, etc.

It is clear from the foregoing that NIRSAL Plc, despite many challenges, contributed significant value to the ABP as it has done to other aspects of its core mandate and related responsibilities. We will not allow falsehood and other invented distractions to stop us from doing justice to the credible work we are doing to boost Nigeria’s agriculture/agribusiness economy and the overall economy. Furthermore, the clarifications provided in this statement afford the purveyors of these falsehoods the opportunity to retract their defamatory publications, failing which a libel suit shall be instituted against all such entities that have now made it a full-scale industry to malign and spread defamatory falsehood against NIRSAL Plc and its leadership team.

READ MORE: https://witnessngr.com/report-of-corruption-at-nirsal-cbns-abp-lacks-credibility-another-attempt-to-smear-our-ceo-official/

Power drunk

Danladi Umar, Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has been allegedly caught on camera physically assaulting a security guard at Banex Plaza in Wuse, Abuja.

In the video, Umar was allegedly seen speaking angrily, scolding, and shouting at the yet-to-be-identified man.

The CCT chairman also launched a barrage of attacks on the young man and violently kicked him before he was restrained by the crowd, including police officers attached to him.

He was then forced into his vehicle by the police officers.

Information made available from an eyewitness and the brutalized security guard was to that all the assaulted young man did was to ask Umar to park his car very well at the plaza, only for the CCT chairman to slap him, pull him down and inflict injuries on him.

FOR MUCH MORE, PLEASE VISIT: https://witnessngr.com/cct-chairman-danladi-umar-assaults-security-guard-at-abuja-plaza-video/

Mudassir Amray, the managing director and chief executive officer of Titan Trust Bank Limited, has said that the lender’s ground breaking successes in just 17 months of its commercial operations despite the COVID-19 pandemic, was tied to its unmatched digital technology which has delivered superior customer-centric experience.

In a chat with selected journalists in Lagos at the weekend, the bank’s chief said as a financial service provider that is passionate about the future, Titan Trust Bank positioned itself for delivering seamless banking services to its teeming customers during the pandemic by continued investment in its alternative banking channels which include: the Titan Mobile Application, Titan Internet Banking platform and the Titan *922# Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) solution.

According to him: “At the inception of the bank’s operations in October 2019, we drew up a holistic and integrated approach to business modernization which has formed the foundation for the bank’s superior customer-centric experience. The impact of this strategic decision led to a positive impact in our performance and it has also given us recognition on the global stage where we recently emerged the ‘Best Trade Finance Provider in Nigeria for the year 2021’, an award previously given by New York-based Global Finance Magazine to only the first-tier banks in Nigeria.

“In demonstration of our commitment to deliver superior, convenient and innovative banking solutions to our customers, we have invested substantially in technology and developed fully integrated service models that enable our customers enjoy banking services through a wide range of channels and these have also placed the bank on an upward trajectory.

“As a bank, we are focused on delivering digital and fintech solutions that will position us as Africa’s most trusted financial institution.

“The flawless execution of our digital strategy has seen the introduction of several innovative solutions, new partnerships, digital integration of customer value chains and development of new revenue lines from pure digital solutions,” he said.

“Recently, we launched and deployed the latest version of Oracle’s FCCM module, powering our AML/CFT infrastructure, used in over 120+ sites by top global banks. We have also invested in top-notch infrastructure for AML/KYC, as well as the Oracle Financial Services Analytical Application (OFSAA) to ensure rigorous analysis and measurement of its risk-performance objectives.

“Aside the regular features, our state-of-the-art mobile banking application- the TITAN mobile app has been upgraded with new features such as the generation of referral codes whilst opening accounts, transaction status information, receipt generation for previous transactions, as well as being able to carry out traditional mobile banking services.

“We are also working round the clock to integrate the ‘Titan Pots’, where customers will be able to create targeted savings, investment options, purchase of insurance coverage, cheque deposits, PTA/BTA requests and a new Voice Banking function into our mobile app.”

On its *922# USSD Code banking platform, the bank’s chief said the bank is also working to include additional features such as account opening options, cheque book management, access to Titan loans, automated cash deposits and withdrawals and card-less ATM withdrawals.

“For our POS terminals, we have deployed Android machines as the standard, in keeping with our 21st century cutting-edge outlook. These terminals allow our customers to make cash deposits and withdrawals using only their fingerprints, in addition to electronic funds transfer and debit card transactions.

Speaking further, Amray, the banker with over 25 years of global exposure across six geographies disclosed that the bank’s digital channels are certified by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council and it has also obtained the Payment Card Data Security Standard.

“This attests to the security of our various channels and our commitment to safeguarding our customer’s information,” he concluded.

Apostle Johnson Suleman, the general overseer of Omega Fire Ministries International, has said that although the Oxford- AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is not demonic, it is medically unsafe for use, THE WITNESS is reporting.

There have been a lot of controversies about the vaccine.

Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) declaring the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines safe and effective,

READ MORE HERE: https://witnessngr.com/what-god-told-me-about-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-apostle-suleman/

Jafaru Mohammed: NSA Monguno’s aide begs EFCC for soft-landing over multi-billion naira fraud
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Brigadier-General Jafaru Mohammed, the director, Finance and Accounts in the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) led by Mohammed Babagana Monguno is said to be lobbying the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged multi-billion naira fraud against him which the anti-graft agency is investigating, THE WITNESS reports.

Recall, THE WITNESS reported that the anti-graft agency in the course of over one-year-long investigation, discovered that the General Mohammed owns an oil depot, several filling stations, shopping plazas, mansions, plots in choice areas, among other assets in key cities.

Sources further told this newspaper that the general’s children own 90 percent of shares of Atlasfield Group of Companies and its subsidiaries, which include Gee-Links Beverages & Industries Ltd and other companies belonging to him and his family. It was discovered that 17 official accounts are linked to Mr Jafaru’s Bank Verification Number, BVN.

READ MORE HERE: https://witnessngr.com/jafaru-mohammed-nsa-mongunos-aide-begs-efcc-for-soft-landing-over-multi-billion-naira-fraud/

Monguno The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is said to be investigating Brigadier-General Mohammed Jafaru, the director of Finance in the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, over alleged questionable ownership of multi-billion naira properties.

In the course of over one-year-long investigation, arrests of accomplices and execution of search warrants, the anti-graft agency made startling discoveries of assets linked to the general.

The ownership of an oil depot, several filling stations, shopping plazas, mansions, plots in choice areas, among other assets in key cities were linked to Mr Jafaru.

READ MORE HERE: https://witnessngr.com/efcc-uncovers-nsa-monguno-aides-oil-depot-multi-billion-naira-properties/

Nigerians and civil society organisations have lashed out at the executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Mamman Nami for proposing a whopping N4.131bn as refreshments and meal subsidies in the 2021 fiscal year.

According to budget doc­uments presented before the James Faleke-led Committee on Finance of the House of Representatives, the service is also proposing the sum of N310 million as security vote for the chairman in its 2021 budget estimates.

This was even as members of the House Committee on Finance expressed dismay at FIRS for proposing to expend a total of N1, 819,556,000 on contract drivers in 2021.

The figures which are contained on page 17 un­der the proposed Recurrent Overhead for the Year 2021 of the agency’s budget doc­uments shows that while the sum of

READ MORE HERE: https://witnessngr.com/firs-chairman-muhammad-nami-under-fire-for-n4-131bn-refreshment-budget/

Top Nigerian bank chief executive officers and other top executives are said to be jittery following fresh directives by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for bank employees to declare their assets in accordance with the bank employees declaration of assets act.

The act requires every bank employee to make a full disclosure of all assets within 14 days of assuming duty with a bank.

The anti-graft agency has also set a June 1 deadline for workers to comply with the directive.

READ MORE HERE: https://witnessngr.com/bank-ceos-top-executives-jittery-as-efcc-orders-bankers-to-declare-assets/

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has proposed to spend a total of N4.131 billion on refresh­ments and meal subsidies for its staff in the 2021 fiscal year.

This was even as members of the House Committee on Finance expressed dismay at FIRS for proposing to expend a total of N1, 819,556,000 on contract drivers in 2021.

According to budget doc­uments presented before the James Faleke-led Committee on Finance, and seen by Dai­ly Independent, the service is also proposing the sum of N310 million as security vote for the chairman in its 2021 budget estimates.

The figures which are contained on page 17 un­der the proposed Recurrent Overhead for the Year 2021 of the agency’s budget doc­uments shows that while the sum of N340 million is pro­posed for ‘refreshments and meals’, a whopping sum of N3, 791,456,233 was proposed as ‘meal subsidy’.

However, the total spent on refreshments as a line item in 2020, according to the documents, was N337,320,234.

A closer look at the doc­ument also shows that the concept of meal subsidy as proposed by the service in 2021 is a new introduction to its budget proposal as there was no such thing in 2020.

The agency is also propos­ing to spend another N4.2 billion for staff welfare, fes­tivity, and other unspecified items.

READ MORE HERE: https://witnessngr.com/2021-firs-to-spend-n4-131bn-on-refreshments-n1-820bn-on-contract-drivers/

Nigerian music stars, Burna Boy and Wizkid, on Sunday night, won their first-ever Grammy Awards.

Burna Boy bagged the much-coveted Grammy award in the ‘Best Global Album’ category for his ‘TWICE AS TALL’ album.

He was nominated alongside Tuareg Desert Rock group Tinariwen, NYC afrobeat outfit Antibalas, Brazilian-American Bebel Gilberto, and British-Indian sitar player Anoushka Shankar.

This is the second consecutive time Burna Boy has been nominated for the Grammys.

His previous album, ‘African Giant’ was nominated at the 62nd Grammy Awards for ‘Best World Music Album’, the award went to Beninoise singer, Angélique Kidjo, who dedicated the award to Burna Boy and said he was leading the pack of young Africans who will shake up the global music space.

READ MORE: https://witnessngr.com/grammy-awards-2021-nigerias-burna-boy-wizkid-win-full-list-of-winners/

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has proposed to spend a total of N4.131 billion on refresh­ments and meal subsidies for its staff in the 2021 fiscal year.

This was even as members of the House Committee on Finance expressed dismay at FIRS for proposing to expend a total of N1, 819,556,000 on contract drivers in 2021.

According to budget doc­uments presented before the James Faleke-led Committee on Finance, and seen by Dai­ly Independent, the service is also proposing the sum of N310 million as security vote for the chairman in its 2021 budget estimates.

The figures which are contained on page 17 un­der the proposed Recurrent Overhead for the Year 2021 of the agency’s budget doc­uments shows that while the sum of N340 million is pro­posed for ‘refreshments and meals’, a whopping sum of N3, 791,456,233 was proposed as ‘meal subsidy’.

However, the total spent on refreshments as a line item in 2020, according to the documents, was N337,320,234.

A closer look at the doc­ument also shows that the concept of meal subsidy as proposed by the service in 2021 is a new introduction to its budget proposal as there was no such thing in 2020.

The agency is also propos­ing to spend another N4.2 billion for staff welfare, fes­tivity, and other unspecified items.

READ MORE HERE: https://witnessngr.com/2021-firs-to-spend-n4-131bn-on-refreshments-n1-820bn-on-contract-drivers/

Mike Davids has apologised to Apostle Johnson Suleman after accusing him of having sexual relations with his wife.

Recall that Mike Davids, a former pastor of Omega Fire Ministries, claimed that Apostle Suleman slept with his wife and threatened to make him “disappear”.

He alleged that Apostle Suleman slept with his wife while still in the ministry, then transferred her to Abuja, where she is now heading the church’s branch. He also alleged that the clergyman had stopped him from seeing his three children and threatened his life.

READ MORE: https://witnessngr.com/adultery-allegation-mike-davids-begs-apostle-suleman-for-forgiveness-video/

A group, the Oghara Development Union, Lagos Branch has thrown its weight behind Chief James Onanefe Ibori, a former governor of Delta State over allegations of money laundering.

The group called on the Federal Government to insist that every single penny that has been forfeited by Ibori’s associates in the London trial should be returned to Nigeria.

Ibori is from Oghara town in the Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State.

The union said in a statement by Sunday Agbofodoh, General Secretary and sent to THE WITNESS on Tuesday: “The Oghara Development Union stands squarely with Chief Ibori in maintaining his innocence, and so without conceding that Ibori was guilty as charged, and specifying that the forfeited houses were not bought with illicit funds, we nevertheless call on Nigeria to insist that the full worth of the three buildings seized through a court order, be repatriated to Nigeria.”

Reacting to a story on Tuesday that Nigeria and Britain signed an MOU on the £4.2 million forfeited by the three women associates in the Ibori London case, the union said as the United Kingdom claimed to be acting without ulterior motives on Nigeria’s behalf, that all the monies forfeited should be returned to Nigeria.

READ MORE: https://www.witnessngr.com/group-backs-ibori-says-ex-delta-gov-has-6-2m-with-uk-not-4-2m/